Genocide Timeline
By Jennifer Genetti and Maureen Miller
Background
There are records of the mass slaughter of peoples from ancient
civilizations to the 21st century. The Bible's Old Testament
describes the genocide of the Amalekite and Midianite peoples and
invokes God's name as justification for their slaughter. In the 13th
century, Genghis Khan orders his Mongol horsemen to kill entire
nations, leaving behind nothing but empty ruins and bones.
1492-1900
Genocide: Political
Cartoon
Native American population drastically decreases due to
(Credit: Ed Stein/Rocky
massacres, illnesses, confiscation of property and forced relocation Mountain News
brought on by the arrival and settlement of European explorers. The (Denver)/Newspaper
Enterprise Association)
Indian Removal Act of 1830 leads to the "Trail of Tears" and the
near destruction of the Cherokee Nation. An estimated 4,000
Cherokee Indians die on the Trail of Tears. Some consider this to be the "American Holocaust" or
the longest genocide in history. Others maintain that genocide was not the intent of European
colonization.
1857-1867
Russian soldiers systematically remove Circassians and Caucasians from villages. During the
removal process and the Caucasian War, more than 400,000 Circassians are killed or starve to
death. Another 400,000 are forced to flee to Turkey, leaving approximately 80,000 Circassians
alive in their native land. In the mid-1990s, scholars call this event a "Circassian ethnic
cleansing." It is later considered a genocide.
1904-1907
German General Lothar von Trotha leads a brutal campaign against the Herero and Namaqua
people of South-West Africa (present-day Namibia). More than 80 percent of the total Herero
population and 50 percent of the total Nama population are killed. It is the first state-organized
genocide of the 20th century.
1914-1920
The Assyrian population of northern Mesopotamia (modern-day Turkey and Iran) is forcibly
relocated and massacred by Ottoman (Turkish and Kurdish) forces under the regime of the
Young Turks.
1915
The concept of crimes against humanity is introduced to
international relations during World War I. The term refers to an act
of persecution or a large-scale atrocity against a group of people,
including genocide. It is the highest level of criminal offense in
international law.
1915-1917
Two million Armenians living in Turkey are eliminated from their
historic homeland by Turks through massacres, death marches and
forced deportations. The Turkish government does not recognize
these events as genocide and refuses to admit that there was ever
an organized campaign to eliminate the Armenians from Turkey.
1932-1933
1915-1917 Armenian
Massacre Memorial
Armenians outside a
memorial commemorating
the massacre and
deportation of more than a
million Armenians in
Turkey between 1915 and
1917. (PHOTO BY
NICOLE ITANO-FREELANCE WRITER)
Through a forced collective farm system, Joseph Stalin, leader of
the Soviet Union, causes a famine which results in an estimated
7,000,000 Ukrainians starving to death. The peasants who perish are deprived of the food that
they have grown through the work of their own hands, as Stalin's policy holds that no family can
consume grains raised from a collective farm until the government's procurement quota is met.
1937-1938
The Japanese Imperial Army marches into China's capital city of Nanking and murders
300,000 of the 600,000 people in the city. The horrific murder, mutilation, torture and rape of
Chinese civilians and soldiers continues for six weeks and becomes known as the Rape of
Nanking. It is during this period that the "comfort women" system is introduced, as girls and
women are forced into slavery/prostitution and exist only for the pleasure of the Japanese
soldiers.
1938-1945
Nazi Germany implements its state-sponsored program of killing six million Jewish men,
women and children who, according to Adolf Hitler, are of an "inferior" race. Hitler calls this
program his "Final Solution to the Jewish Question." During the Holocaust, nearly two out of
every three Jews living in Europe are murdered, as well as Roma (gypsies), mentally or
physically disabled people, Soviet prisoners of war, homosexuals, and political and religious
dissidents. Through the Nazi system of segregation and discrimination beginning in 1933,
European Jews are isolated by forced relocation to ghettos, then murdered by mobile killing units
or sent to concentration camps and death camps where they suffocate in gas chambers at a rate
of nearly 6,000 people per day. Estimates for the total number of people killed in the Holocaust
range from 16 million to 26 million.
1941
• British Prime Minister Winston Churchill states, in reference to
atrocities being committed by the German military, SS
[Schutzstaffel], and police, "We are in the presence of a crime
without a name."
• During World War II, the Ustase--a fascist group in Croatia-Nuremberg Trial
subjects ethnic Serbs, together with much smaller minorities of Jews
and Roma, to a campaign of genocidal persecution. Death toll
November 22, 1945:
estimates range from 500,000 to 1.2 million.
Members of Adolf Hitler's
Third Reich sit in the
1944
witness box with headsets
on, on the third day of the
Lawyer Raphael Lemkin introduces the term "genocide" created
International Military
from the Greek root word geno meaning "family" or "tribe" and cide
Tribunal's war crimes trial
meaning "to kill."
in Nuremberg, Germany.
L-R (front row): Hermann
1945-1946
Goering (writing), Rudolf
Hess, Joachim von
The Nuremberg Trials take place at the Nuremberg Palace of
Ribbentrop and Wilhelm
Justice in Germany where 22 Nazi German leaders are tried on
Keitel, (back row) Karl
charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes, crimes against
Donitz, Erich Raeder,
peace and conspiracy to commit these crimes. Two judges from
Baldur von Schirach, and
each of the Allied Powers preside over the trials. These trials mark
Fritz Sauckel. Military
the first time that international tribunals are used to hold national
police stand behind them.
leaders responsible and accountable for their actions.
(Photo by Hulton
Archive/Getty Images)
1948
United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide makes genocide a
crime punishable by international law, and defines genocide as "acts committed with intent to
destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group." The Convention comes
into force as international law on January 12, 1951.
1950-1987
Massive crimes against civilian populations are committed throughout the Cold War in places
such as Romania and Guatemala. Many scholars still debate whether these actions constitute
genocide.
1972
A Hutu-led coup attempt results in the murder of 100,000 to 200,000 Hutus and Tutsis in
Burundi, Central Africa.
1975-1979
• Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot attempts to form a Communist peasant farming society in
Cambodia which results in approximately 1.7 million deaths from starvation, executions and
overwork.
• The Indonesian military uses starvation--along with napalm and chemical weapons--to
exterminate the people of East Timor. The death toll is reported at 150,000.
1982
Sept.: Lebanese militias massacre Palestinians at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in
Beirut. The number of victims range from 700-3,500. In December, the United Nations condemns
the massacre as an act of genocide.
1987-1989
Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq conducts the al-Anfal Campaign, a genocidal campaign
against the Kurdish population in northern Iraq. Led by Saddam's cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid,
known as "Chemical Ali" for his use of chemical weapons on civilians, the operation results in
2,000 villages being completely destroyed and 50,000-100,000 people killed. In 2007, Ali and 4
others receive sentences ranging from death to life imprisonment for their role in the killings.
1988
U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of Genocide. The U.S. was the first to sign the Convention in 1948, but Congress did
not ratify the treaty until 1986. The Proxmire Act, adopted in 1987, is signed into law by Reagan,
formally criminalizing genocide under U.S. law and reaffirming the commitment of the U.S. to
bring an end to the crime.
1992-1995
Conflict between Serb, Croat and Muslim ethnic groups in the
Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina leads to genocide committed by the
Serbs in which 200,000 Bosnian Muslims are killed. In just one small
town, Srebrenica, 7,800 Bosnjiak men and boys are murdered. The
events in Bosnia are labeled "ethnic cleansing."
1993
Responding to the genocide in Bosnia, the United Nations
Security Council issues Resolution 827, which establishes the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in
The Hague. This is the first international criminal tribunal since the
Nuremberg Trials.
1994
Rwandans Question
Leaders Regarding
Genocide
MICROJUSTICE: JeanBaptiste Habarurema, the
top local official in
Kanombe, answers
charges by his
constituents that he was
involved in the 1994
genocide.
April: Over a period of 100 days, Hutu militia kill 800,000 Tutsis
in Rwanda using machetes and clubs. The genocide is prompted by
the assassination of Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, whose plane was shot
down on orders by Tutsi Paul Kagame. The slaughter comes to an end in July when armed Tutsi
rebels from neighboring countries enter Rwanda and defeat the Hutus.
• The UN Security Council extends the mandate of the ICTY to include a tribunal for Rwanda,
the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), in Arusha, Tanzania.
1998
Sept. 2: The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda issues the world's first conviction for
genocide in an international tribunal. Jean-Paul Akayesu is judged guilty of genocide and crimes
against humanity for acts he committed and oversaw as mayor of the Rwandan town of Taba.
2001
The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at The Hague charges
former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic with genocide and complicity to commit genocide
for crimes committed during the war in Bosnia from 1992 to 1995. It establishes a precedent,
once unthinkable, of having a former head of state face a criminal trial before an international
court.
2003Government-sponsored Arab militias known as the Janjaweed or
Jingaweit systematically murder, rape, torture and wipe out entire
villages of black Africans in the Darfur region of Sudan. Ongoing
violence, displacement and disease continue to kill thousands of
Darfurians.
2004
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell refers to the ongoing crisis
in Darfur as "genocide." The significance of the use of the word
genocide is two-fold: This is the first time in U.S. government history
that the word genocide is used to refer to an ongoing crisis; and
since discussions regarding intervention hinge on the determination
of genocide, this is an integral step to end the genocide in Darfur.
2006
March 11: Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic dies
in his cell of a heart attack just months before a verdict was due in
his trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former
Yugoslavia.
Burned Village in Darfur,
Sudan
Government of Sudan
(GOS) military forces and
GOS-supported militias-collectively known as
Jingaweit--have
systematically burned and
looted towns and villages
of tribal groups that the
GOS claims are
supporting opposition
forces. More than 1.1
million civilians have been
displaced due to these
attacks.
Dec. 12: Former Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam is
found guilty of genocide and other offenses for his role in the mass killings during the Red Terror.
Ethiopia defines genocide as intent to wipe out political as well as ethnic groups. During the Red
Terror of 1977 and 1978, up to 500,000 people died, many of them political opponents of
Mengistu.
2007
Feb. 26: The International Court of Justice (ICJ), upholds the ICTY's earlier finding that the
Srebrenica massacre constituted genocide, but finds that there had been no wider genocide in
Bosnia and Herzegovina during the war, as the Bosnian government had claimed.
June 24: Ali Hassan al-Majid, dubbed "Chemical Ali" for his role in the gassing of tens of
thousands of Kurds in Saddam Hussein's al-Anfal military campaign in 1988, is convicted of
genocide and sentenced to death by hanging.
Sept. 19: Nuon Chea becomes the senior-most surviving leader of the Khmer Rouge regime
to be arrested and charged for his role in war crimes and crimes against humanity by the U.N.backed tribunal, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. He joins Kaing Guek
Eav, aka Duch, who was transferred to tribunal custody in July after being charged with crimes
against humanity for his role in overseeing the notorious S-21 torture prison.
Related Articles
A Brief History of the Armenian Genocide
Social Education Vol. 69, No. 6 Oct. 2005; Lexile Score: 1280; 19K, SIRS Researcher
Cambodia's First Step Toward Justice for Khmer Rouge
Christian Science Monitor Aug. 2, 2007; Lexile Score: 1360; 8K, SIRS Researcher
Cambodia: A Wound That Will Not Heal
UNESCO Courier (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Dec.
1999; Lexile Score: 1010; 13K, SIRS Researcher
Court: Serbia Failed to Prevent Genocide
Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY) Feb. 26, 2007; Lexile Score: 1380; 5K, SIRS
Researcher
Darfur and the Genocide Debate
Foreign Affairs Vol. 84 No. 1 Jan./Feb. 2005; Lexile Score: 1310; 24K, SIRS Researcher
For Sudan Refugees, a Long Hot Wait for World Action
Christian Science Monitor Sept. 10, 2004; Lexile Score: 1200; 9K, SIRS Researcher
Genocide and Justice Since Auschwitz
Congress Monthly Vol. 66 No. 5 Sept./Oct. 1999; Lexile Score: 1250; 22K, SIRS Researcher
Genocide and the Science of Proof
National Geographic Vol. 209 No. 1 Jan. 2006; Lexile Score: 1210; 20K, SIRS Researcher
How Milosevic Death Sets Back Justice
Christian Science Monitor March 13, 2006; Lexile Score: 1290; 8K, SIRS Researcher
Hussein's Cousin Sentenced to Die
Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA) June 25, 2007; Lexile Score: 1100; 9K, SIRS Researcher
Key Khmer Rouge Architect Arrested
Christian Science Monitor Sept. 20, 2007; Lexile Score: 1150; 5K, SIRS Researcher
Making Sense of the Senseless: Understanding Genocide
Contexts Spring 2003; Lexile Score: 1310; 22K, SIRS Researcher
Nanjing Massacre Survivor Tells of Unspeakable Horrors, Fight for...
Agence France-Presse June 7, 2005; Lexile Score: 1340; 8K, SIRS Researcher
Preventing Genocide and Mass Killing: From a ...
UN Chronicle (U.N. Dept. of Public Information) Vol. XLIII No. 1 March/May 2006; Lexile Score:
1390; 14K, SIRS Researcher
Profiles of the 21 Nazi Leaders on Trial at Nuremberg
UPI's 20th Century Top Stories Sept. 30, 1946; Lexile Score: 1170; 11K, SIRS Researcher
Remembering Nuremberg: Court Seeks Justice for Atrocities in Bosnia
Hartford Courant (Hartford, CT) Oct. 15, 1995; Lexile Score: 1130; 32K, SIRS Researcher
Retracing a Grim Past
Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA) Sept. 19, 2004; Lexile Score: 920; 12K, SIRS Researcher
The Dead Must Wait
Detroit Free Press (Detroit, MI) July 10, 1994; Lexile Score: 1060; 28K, SIRS Researcher
Turks Inflict Atrocities on 2 Million Armenians
UPI's 20th Century Top Stories July 29, 1916; Lexile Score: 1230; 2K, SIRS Researcher
Related Internet Sites
Genocide Convention
Prevent Genocide International
URL: http://www.preventgenocide.org/law/convention/