Author: Chalian Meline

THE EIGHT STAGES OF GENOCIDE
By Gregory H. Stanton

Chomedey News, Canada
April 19 2007

EDITORIAL

April should be a month of reflection for humanity on the atrocities
committed throughout our history. We should all reflect on the Armenian
Genocide, commemorated April 24, and on the Holocaust Yom Hashoa,
commemorated April 15.

When Hitler was asked about what will the rest of the world do about
his ‘final solution’ (his attempt to exterminate the Jews) he replied
that it will be forgotten, like the Armenian Genocide.

History has shown that all genocides have something in common. All
start with classification and end by denial, stage seven which is
extermination…

As long as nothing is done to cut a genocide off as early as possible,
at the first stage, humanity will have more genocides to commemorate…

It is imperative to know the signs of these stages that lead to the
extermination of our fellow human beings.

1. CLASSIFICATION:

All cultures have categories to distinguish people into "us and them"
by ethnicity, race, religion, or nationality: German and Jew, Hutu
and Tutsi. Bipolar societies that lack mixed categories, such as
Rwanda and Burundi, are the most likely to have genocide. The main
preventive measure at this early stage is to develop universalistic
institutions that transcend ethnic or racial divisions, that actively
promote tolerance and understanding, and that promote classifications
that transcend the divisions. The Catholic church could have played
this role in Rwanda, had it not been riven by the same ethnic cleavages
as Rwandan society. Promotion of a common language in countries like
Tanzania or Cote d’Ivoire has also promoted transcendent national
identity. This search for common ground is vital to early prevention
of genocide.

2. SYMBOLIZATION:

We give names or other symbols to the classifications. We name people
"Jews" or "Gypsies", or distinguish them by colors or dress; and
apply them to members of groups. Classification and symbolization are
universally human and do not necessarily result in genocide unless they
lead to the next stage, dehumanization. When combined with hatred,
symbols may be forced upon unwilling members of pariah groups: the
yellow star for Jews under Nazi rule, the blue scarf for people from
the Eastern Zone in Khmer Rouge Cambodia.

To combat symbolization, hate symbols can be legally forbidden
(swastikas) as can hate speech. Group marking like gang clothing or
tribal scarring can be outlawed, as well. The problem is that legal
limitations will fail if unsupported by popular cultural enforcement.

Though Hutu and Tutsi were forbidden words in Burundi until the
1980’s, code-words replaced them. If widely supported, however,
denial of symbolization can be powerful, as it was in Bulgaria,
when many non-Jews chose to wear the yellow star, depriving it of
its significance as a Nazi symbol for Jews. According to legend in
Denmark, the Nazis did not introduce the yellow star because they
knew even the King would wear it.

3. DEHUMANIZATION:

One group denies the humanity of the other group. Members of it are
equated with animals, vermin, insects or diseases. Dehumanization
overcomes the normal human revulsion against murder.

At this stage, hate propaganda in print and on hate radios is used to
vilify the victim group. In combating this dehumanization, incitement
to genocide should not be confused with protected speech. Genocidal
societies lack constitutional protection for countervailing speech,
and should be treated differently than in democracies. Hate radio
stations should be shut down, and hate propaganda banned. Hate crimes
and atrocities should be promptly punished.

4. ORGANIZATION:

Genocide is always organized, usually by the state, though sometimes
informally (Hindu mobs led by local RSS militants) or by terrorist
groups. Special army units or militias are often trained and armed.

Plans are made for genocidal killings.

To combat this stage, membership in these militias should be
outlawed. Their leaders should be denied visas for foreign travel.

The U.N. should impose arms embargoes on governments and citizens of
countries involved in genocidal massacres, and create commissions to
investigate violations, as was done in post-genocide Rwanda.

5. POLARIZATION:

Extremists drive the groups apart. Hate groups broadcast polarizing
propaganda. Laws may forbid intermarriage or social interaction.

Extremist terrorism targets moderates, intimidating and silencing the
center. Prevention may mean security protection for moderate leaders or
assistance to human rights groups. Assets of extremists may be seized,
and visas for international travel denied to them. Coups d’¢etat by
extremists should be opposed by international sanctions.

6. PREPARATION:

Victims are identified and separated out because of their ethnic or
religious identity. Death lists are drawn up. Members of victim groups
are forced to wear identifying symbols. They are often segregated
into ghettoes, forced into concentration camps, or confined to a
famine-struck region and starved.

At this stage, a Genocide Alert must be called. If the political will
of the U.S., NATO, and the U.N. Security Council can be mobilized,
armed international intervention should be prepared, or heavy
assistance to the victim group in preparing for its self-defense.

Otherwise, at least humanitarian assistance should be organized by
the U.N. and private relief groups for the inevitable tide of refugees.

7. EXTERMINATION:

Extermination begins, and quickly becomes the mass killing legally
called "genocide." It is "extermination" to the killers because they
do not believe their victims to be fully human. When it is sponsored
by the state, the armed forces often work with militias to do the
killing. Sometimes the genocide results in revenge killings by groups
against each other, creating the downward whirlpool-like cycle of
bilateral genocide (as in Burundi).

At this stage, only rapid and overwhelming armed intervention can
stop genocide. Real safe areas or refugee escape corridors should be
established with heavily armed international protection. The U.N.

needs a Standing High Readiness Brigade or a permanent rapid reaction
force, to intervene quickly when the U.N. Security Council calls it.

For larger interventions, a multilateral force authorized by the U.N.,
led by NATO or a regional military power, should intervene. If the
U.N. will not intervene directly, militarily powerful nations should
provide the airlift, equipment, and financial means necessary for
regional states to intervene with U.N. authorization. It is time to
recognize that the law of humanitarian intervention transcends the
interests of nation-states.

8. DENIAL:

Denial is the eighth stage that always follows a genocide. It is
among the surest indicators of further genocidal massacres. The
perpetrators of genocide dig up the mass graves, burn the bodies,
try to cover up the evidence and intimidate the witnesses. They deny
that they committed any crimes, and often blame what happened on the
victims. They block investigations of the crimes, and continue to
govern until driven from power by force, when they flee into exile.

There they remain with impunity, like Pol Pot or Idi Amin, unless
they are captured and a tribunal is established to try them.

The best response to denial is punishment by an international
tribunal or national courts. There the evidence can be heard, and the
perpetrators punished. Tribunals like the Yugoslav, Rwanda, or Sierra
Leone Tribunals, an international tribunal to try the Khmer Rouge
in Cambodia, and ultimately the International Criminal Court must be
created. They may not deter the worst genocidal killers. But with the
political will to arrest and prosecute them, some mass murderers may
be brought to justice.

cleTCN150808.html

–Boundary_(ID_WsDWDw96e/jxHCT1 F3/qog)–

MALATYA ATTACK IS NOT THE REAL FACE OF TURKEY

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
April 19 2007

Turkey was stunned by the news of an abhorrent act that came from
the southeastern city of Malatya, just as it was in the midst of
developments surrounding the presidential election, with the world
watching Turkey.

The three victims were found with their throats slit — the motive
for which has not yet been revealed — at a publishing house that
prints books for missionary work. Phrases such as "hair-raising"
do not adequately describe such an incident.

The confusion, sorrow and anger we felt in the face of this incident
poured from our mouths. "This is not the real face of Turkey; the
traditions and culture of the Turks do not set the stage for such
brutal acts," we want to say. No matter what the motive behind this
abhorrent act is, the massacre of three people, including a German
citizen, at a publishing house can never be reconciled with the values
of Turkishness, Islam or humanity.

It is essential not to look at this issue independent from the
political debates that Turkey has been undergoing recently. While the
possible presidency of a party leader who has a religious background
has been heatedly debated, suspicions that a religious president could
divert Turkey from its secular path have been pumped into the minds of
both the Turkish public and the world. It seems that certain circles
in question thought committing such an abhorrent act would be the best
way to strengthen and consolidate those suspicions in people’s minds.

Although such suspicions should be laid to rest when the acts of the
AK Party over the four-and-a-half years are taken into consideration,
an environment of apprehension was created both at home and abroad
about whether Turkey is being diverted from secularism. The world
has begun to follow developments in Turkey more closely from this
point of view. This brutal act, which has taken place at a time
when apprehension about secularism has reached its highest level,
must have been designed as the strongest way to strengthen suspicion
about Turkey’s secularism when the identity and activities of the
victims are taken into account.

There is no solid information about the motives of the perpetrators of
this brutal act for the time being, but it is necessary to evaluate
this incident as the last in of a series of incidents aimed at
non-Muslims or non-Muslim men of religion in Turkey. Although the way
this brutal act has been committed is similar to the brutal acts done
by the terrorist organization Hezbollah in the late 1990s, it seems
more likely that the incident in Malatya was motivated by rising
neo-nationalist and xenophobic fears rather than religious circles.

The fact that no trace of religious circles were found behind the
murders of Catholic priest Andrea Santoro, who was killed by a teenager
in Trabzon in February 2006, or in the murder of Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink, again by a teenager, in January at least give
some idea about the non-involvement of religious circles in these
incidents. It cannot be a coincidence that evidence gathered from
all three of these incidents point to the neo-nationalist, xenophobic
and protectionist circles.

Despite the widespread view, it is important to note that reactions
to missionary work have always come from circles that have nothing to
do with religiosity instead of groups related to Islam or known as
religious in Turkey. It would be a serious mistake to put the blame
on the shoulders of Muslim groups for the attacks on missionaries
in Turkey.

Apart from a few marginal groups, it is not possible to come across
either feelings of hatred among Muslims against non-Muslims or attacks
targeting them. Nevertheless, we have seen in recent months that ÝP
leader Doðu Perincek or Rahþan Ecevit, an important name from the DSP,
whose connections to religion are a bit controversial, put missionary
work in their sights in an attempt to yield political gains.

The AK Party government has opened up to the outside world in order
to overcome confusion at home and in so doing has consolidated its
place in Turkish politics. It seems that some are now trying to
render this political opening unsuccessful with provocations that
have some connection to the outside world by resorting to the opposite
method. They do not show the slightest hesitation to realize a horrible
act in order to achieve their goals.

Neither Turkey nor the Turkish public, which has internalized the
belief of living together, deserve to be associated with such brutal
acts.

–Boundary_(ID_ywel4bWo2ziHoTwsTi5Fz Q)–

PRIEST ORDAINING HELD AT MOTHER SEE

Noyan Tapan
Apr 17 2007

ETCHMIADZIN, APRIL 17, NOYAN TAPAN. Priest ordaining and anointment
was held at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin on April 15. Karekin
II Catholicos of All Armenians presided the holy ceremony. During the
liturgy twelve deacons got priest’s ordaining from Archbishop Hovnan
Terterian, the primate of the U.S. Western Diocese. The ordaining Holy
Father renamed newly-converted priests with new spiritual names. Noyan
Tapan was informed about it by the Information Sevices of the Mother
See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

On the same day, during the divine service, ceremony of becoming
headgears also took place. Two clergymen, as monastic priests, got a
headgear and completed rows of the congregation of the Mother See of
Holy Etchmiadzin. After finishing the fourty-day period of lent at
the Mother See, the clergymen will be called to pastoral service at
dioceses of the Armenian Apostolic Church and different structures
of the Mother See.

OSKANIAN TO SPEAK AT OSCE PERMANENT COUNCIL

A1+
[06:54 pm] 16 April, 2007

April 16, 2007 – Today RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian left for
Austria on working visit. The RA FM will meet with Barbara Prammer,
Speaker of the Austrian Parliament, and Ursula Plasnik, Minister of
European and International Affairs. Within the framework of the visit
Vartan Oskanian will make a speech in the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna.

On April 17, at 11:30, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian will
address the OSCE Permanent Council, the Organization’s main regular
decision-making body, tomorrow.

He is expected to focus on the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, the
12 May parliamentary elections in Armenia, and the ongoing democratic
reforms in the country.

Nashua Telegraph, NH
April 14 2006

Students educate peers on horrors of genocide abroad

By MICHAEL BRINDLEY, Telegraph Staff

With picture after picture of dead bodies displayed on the screen
behind her, Sarah Weinstein talks about the history of genocide in
the world. Nashua High School South students put on two assemblies
Friday to educate fellow students about the atrocities that have
claimed so many lives in Darfur, Sudan, and other parts of the world.

Order this photo

The uneasiness was palpable, as the audience had just finished
watching a slideshow depicting the horrors of mass genocide over the
past several decades. That was precisely the reaction the students
putting on the presentation were hoping for.

`It just seemed like no one said a word,’ said Kelci Adams, a junior
at Nashua High School South. `It was just silent. One girl was
crying. We weren’t expecting that.’

On the overhead projector in the Nashua High School South auditorium,
the audience, made up of students and school staff, was shown
gruesome images of human brutality, dating back to the Armenian
genocide, which spanned from 1915-17.

Moving ahead in time to the Holocaust and advancing to the 1994
genocide in Rwanda, the students making the presentation finally made
their way to the focus of Friday’s assembly – the genocide occurring
in Darfur, Sudan.

Adams is part of the student organization `Not In Our School,’ a
tolerance committee associated with the student senate. The group
hosted two assemblies Friday to help students understand the
atrocities that continue today in other parts of the world.

`We just want people to know what’s going on,’ said senior Sarah
Weinstein, chairwoman of the group. She helped start it last year
after learning in her French class about the genocide occurring in
Darfur.

`I had no idea what Darfur was,’ she said, but she knew she wanted to
learn more about it and do what she could to help.According to
savedarfur.org, at least 400,000 people have been killed in a
conflict in the region that has spanned more than three years. In
addition, 2 million civilians have been displaced, forced to leave
their homes.

A militia group known as the Janjaweed is responsible for the
killing. Just last month, as many as 400 people were killed during a
single incident in Chad, an African country that borders the Darfur
region.

Last year, Weinstein made a DVD about the genocide and displayed it
in the hallways as students went to their classes. But she said that
wasn’t effective, so this year, she wanted to organize an assembly.

During the presentation, junior Vijay Setty tried to put the number
of people killed into perspective for the audience, by using the high
school’s 2,000-student population as a measuring stick.

`In less than a week, we would all be dead,’ he told the audience.

Outside of the auditorium, there were sign-up sheets for a `peaceful
gathering’ outside of City Hall on May 19. There were also handmade
bracelets for students to take with them, as a reminder of the
genocide.

The students began planning the assemblies in November. Weinstein
said the group had to fundraise to buy the bracelets, so they could
be provided to students for free. The money for the bracelets went to
help the people in the region.

Weinstein said the group has also sent letters to U.S. Sens. Judd
Gregg and John Sununu, and she received letters back, explaining what
they were each doing to bring attention to the situation in Darfur.

Adams said she and other students would be collecting new and used
blankets to send over to the Darfur region, as part of the Blankets
of Love project for the area.

As part of the presentation, students heard a prerecorded interview
with Assumpta Gakuba, a 2005 graduate of Nashua South, who survived
the genocide in Rwanda, although she lost most of her family.

Gakuba is now a student at the University of New Hampshire. Weinstein
reinforced to students that Gakuba was one of them.

Tom White, coordinator for educational outreach for the Cohen Center
for Holocaust Studies at Keene State College, spoke at the morning
assembly and told students if they felt anything after seeing the
images, they had a responsibility to take action.

`It won’t count unless you do something,’ he said. `Buying a bracelet
is just the beginning.’

He urged students not to rely on the media to tell them what’s
important, because they aren’t going to cover issues like the Darfur
genocide.

Young people need to educate themselves and to make sure elected
officials understand their concerns, he said.

`The most significant thing you can do right now is protest,’ he told
students.

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‘TURKISH-ARMENIAN COOPERATION NEEDED’

The News – International, Pakistan
April 12, 2007

NEW YORK: Fifty-three Nobel laureates are calling for Turks and
Armenians to open their border, improve official contacts and resolve
differences over the mass killings of Armenians by Turks in the early
20th century.

In a letter released Monday by the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity,
the Nobel laureates urged Turkey to end discrimination against ethnic
and religious minorities and to abolish Article 301of its penal code,
which makes it a criminal offence to denigrate Turkishness. They said
Armenia should "reverse its own authoritarian course, allow free and
fair elections and respect human rights."

The letter, which was released to the Turkish and Armenian media,
referred to the Jan. 19 slaying of Hrant Dink, an Armenian journalist
who had made enemies among nationalist Turks by labelling genocide
the mass killings of Armenians toward the end of the Ottoman Empire.

The laureates said that the best tribute to Dink would be "through
service to his life’s work safeguarding freedom of expression and
fostering reconciliation between Turks and Armenians."

PROGRAM ON HUMANITARIAN CO-OPERATION BETWEEN AZERBAIJAN AND RUSSIA ADOPTED

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
April 11 2007

Azerbaijan, Baku / corr. Trend I.Alizade / During the meeting on 10
April of the Milli Majlis [Azerbaijan Parliament], a program on the
co-operation between Azerbaijan and Russia in the humanitarian sector
in 2007-2009 was adopted.

MP Shamsaddin Hajiyev, the Chairman of the Permanent Parliamentary
Commission on Science Baku in 2006. The program envisages the
development of co-operation in the humanitarian sector during the
period 2007 to 2009 and reflects measures on the development in all
humanitarian areas, including concrete co-operation in science and
education. "The program covers work on the expansion of opportunities
for education in Azerbaijani and Russian languages," he noted.

Addressing the meeting, MP Nasib Nasibli said that in accordance
with the program, Azerbaijan and Russia are to co-ordinate several
humanitarian issues, particularly with regards to the history. He said
that the Russian historians have their own feelings on the Caucasus,
the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict, the Armenians entering the Caucasus
and other historic events. Azerbaijan was under Russian occupation,
while the Russian and Azerbaijan historians have different opinions
on this issue.

Noting the weak potential of Russian universities, the MP opposed
co-operating with this country, describing Russia as a student of
West. He recommended Azerbaijan co-operate with the West with regards
to education.

MP Jamil Hasanli did not agree with his counterparts. He stated that
Russia possesses great scientific potential and believes co-operation
with Russia in this sector to be very fruitful. However, he opposed
the proposal of coordinating the co-operation in the sphere of history.

MP Yagub Mahmudov noted the presence of contradictory milestones
in the second item of the agreement. Article 31 of the program
indicates that Azerbaijanis residing in Russia and Russians residing
in Azerbaijan can receive education in their native language but the
third item of the article contradicted this. Russians can receive
education in their native language in secondary and high schools,
whilst Azerbaijanis only receive education in their native language
at Sunday schools. The MP regarded this as inequality.

After tense discussions, the Milli Majlis adopted the Program.

LONG-LASTING FRIENDSHIP

A1+
[04:46 pm] 11 April, 2007

"Is Armenia Russia’s outpost or military partner?"

Armenian journalists tried to find out the answer to the question
from RF first premier Sergey Ivanov.

"Armenia is Russia’s military partner. This is based on bilateral
military, historical-cultural, humanitarian, economic and other
interests which are derived from the ancient past."

Our military bases in Armenia imply no aggression and aren’t directed
against any country. They merely secure common security as we are
members of the collective security treaty.

This was the toughest question Sergey Ivanov had to answer during
today’s press conference. To recover the situation, RA Prime Minister
Serge Sargsyan kept silent for a moment, then laughed for a few
seconds and added, "I assume that some people benefit from such
speculations. But I am convinced that the author meant well when saying
these words. It was only a stumbling of a tongue." Serge Sargsyan
said his opinion both in Armenian and in Russian to please Mr. Ivanov.

Serge Sargsyan shared his concern that the electoral processes might
mingle with the activity of the government. Further on he added, "On
the other hand, the elections enhance workability as the executive
body does its utmost to fulfill its responsibilities better taking
into account the interests of the electorate. On the whole, the
electoral processes don’t hinder the routine of the government."

As for Serge Sargsyan’s nomination in the RA Prime Minister’s post,
Mr. Ivanov said, "I have known Serge Sargsyan for ages; since last
century." Ivanov said nothing more but the words said everything in
view of the Russia-Armenian political and economic relations.

OSKANYAN HAS PRESENTED TO FITZGERALD KARABAKH PROBLEM

Panorama.am
21:08 09/04/2007

Today Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs,m Vardan Oskanyan received
the US college delegation. To remind, Tamara Fitzgerald, employee of
the division of foreign affairs of the same structure, heads the US
delegation, which has arrived in our country on a fact-finding visit.

As we were informed in the press office of the Foreign Ministry of
Armenia, V. Oskanyan has introduced Fitzgerald with the peculiarities
of NKR problem, as well as the last developments round the problem.

After that the acting minister has given through explanations to the
questions of the guests. They mainly concerned the priorities of the
foreign policy, the issue on the opening of the Armenian-Turkish
border, the processes of recognition of Armenian genocide,
Armenia-Diaspora relations, energy sphere, demographic issues,
anti-corruption arrangements, problems hindering the regional
cooperation.

16th sitting of BSEC Council of Foreign Ministers to be held in Belgrade

ArmRadio.am
09.04.2007 15:08

April 19 the 16th sitting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the
Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) Organization member states will
take place in Belgrade. AnmInfo was told at the Press Service of RA
MFA that, most probably, the Armenian delegation will be headed by the
Acting Foreign Minister of Armenia Vartan Oskanian.

According to the Press Service of the Russian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, the sitting will feature delegations from Azerbaijan,
Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, Romania,
Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine, as well as observers and guests. The
participants of the sitting will sum up the results of the Serbian
presidency over BSEC. Information about the activity of BSEC
structures ` BSEC Parliamentary Assembly, BSEC Executive
Council, the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, the International
Center for Black Sea Research ` will be presented to the
attention of the Foreign Ministers. A number of issues will be
discussed during the sitting of the Council of Foreign Ministers.

According to BSEC practice, during the sitting in Belgrade the
presidency will pass to Turkey for six months (by the end of October).