Assistance to Victims of Genocide in Rwanda - Essay Example

Human Rights Movements: Assistance to Victims of Genocide in Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur There are different ways various human rights movements have sought to assist the victims of genocide in Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. Mostly, these have to do with protests over the state of matters and representation to governments to take action: to implement the laws and bring the culprits to court. It is said that the world's human rights problems are large and deeply entrenched (Stanford, 2003). By comparison however, human rights law and organizations are not very strong - particularly within the United Nations (Stanford, 2003). Hence, history is replete with accusations of the international community not doing anything to stop these genocides (Beardsley, 2005). From April until July 1994, within a period of about 100 days, approximately 800,000 human beings were murdered in the Rwandan Genocide (Beardsley, 2005). In the case of Bosnia, the Bosnian Serb forces targeted for extinction 40,000 Bosnian Muslims living in Srebrenica, a group which was emblematic of the Bosnian Muslims in general. They deliberately and methodically killed them solely on the basis of their identity, fully aware when they embarked on this genocidal venture that the harm they caused would continue to plague the Bosnian Muslims (Prosecutor v. Radislav Krstic, 2004). Meanwhile, estimates for Darfuri Africans killed since February 2003, range from 180,000 to 400,000. Over 2.5 million have been displaced and remain at mortal risk today, facing continued violence, malnutrition and disease ('NCC and NGO's,' 2005). According to Gen. Romo A Dallaire, author of the book Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda, after six weeks of genocide, after an enormous amount of going to and fro the halls of the UN and in certain national capitals, and certainly a lot of screaming from some of them in the field, finally he was told about Rwanda that: 1) the big countries have decided that it is a genocide and that there is no debate on that; 2) but the plan calling for about 5,500 troops to stop the genocide was still under debate (Dallaire, Myers & Wallin, 2005). Dallaire continued - Finally authorization was granted to send the 5,500 troops. But not one developed country bought into it. Not one white country was prepared to send their troops, even with that mandate. Ultimately, the first to arrive were the Ethiopians, then followed by Canada, Australia, the U.K., and the Americans. But the Ethiopians hit the ground nearly two months later in July, when the war and slaughter had been over for nearly a month. From records, however, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have invariably contributed their fair share in this social responsibility. Some of these ways are illustrated in a few cases that follow. Human rights movements, NGOs Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) such as Human Rights Watch and Doctors without Borders are extremely active at the international level in the areas of human rights, war crimes, and humanitarian aid. NGOs allow for collaborations between local and global efforts for human rights by "translating complex international issues into activities to be undertaken by concerned citizens in their own community" (Durham 2004). The functions of international NGOs include investigating complaints, advocacy with governments and international governmental organizations, and policy making. Local activities including fundraising, lobbying, and general education (Durham 2004). Although they do not have the authority to implement or enforce international law, NGOs have several advantages to state organizations in the human rights system. Much of their work includes information processing and fact finding wherein NGOs educate people about their human rights and gather information regarding human rights abuses in violating countries (Claude & Weston, 1992; Durham 2004). In this process NGOs have the benefit of access to local people and organizations and are often able to get direct and indirect access to critical information about current human rights violations (Durham 2004). Once they gather information, NGOs can design campaigns to educate the international community of these abuses. A key function of NGOs is advocacy - urging support for human rights and attempting to influence governments or international groups with regard to specific actions. Advocacy involves education, persuasion, public exposure, criticism and provoking specific responses to human rights abuses (Claude & Weston 1992). Their representatives are seen everywhere in the international human rights system. Many international human rights NGOs attend and often participate in the meetings of UN human rights bodies (Claude & Weston 1992). They provide information about human rights situations through their reports and testimony. They shape the agendas, policies, and treaties of the UN through participation and lobbying (Korey, 1998). Notable examples include NGO involvement in the development of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Declaration on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (Claude & Weston 1992). NGOs with affiliates around the world include Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Commission of Jurists, the International Federation of Human Rights, Minority Group Rights, Doctors without Borders, and Oxfam. Besides these high profile NGOs there are thousands of local and national organizations working on human rights issues (Stanford, 2006). Particularly for Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur, leading non-governmental organizations in the United States, France and Great Britain have urged their countries to immediately sponsor a United Nations Security Council resolution that will mandate peace enforcement operations in Darfur, Sudan ('NCC and NGO's,' 2005). They said peacekeeping forces are needed to protect the civilians in this crisis, and only a concerted effort by those who have influence can actually make it happen. This was expressed by Dr. Antonios Kireopoulos, Associate General Secretary of the National Council of Churches USA for International Affairs and Peace ('NCC and NGO's,' 2005) in the following - "We therefore call on our governments to show leadership and immediately sponsor a resolution at the UN Security Council that will mandate peace enforcement operations in Darfur. Action now, though two years into the genocidal crisis, will go down in history to their credit. Failure to act, however, would go down in history to their shame - and rank alongside the failure of previous governments to prevent mass murder in Bosnia and genocide in Rwanda. Now is the time to show that lessons have been learned, not by words alone but by actions." Aegis Trust. Protect Darfur is a campaign coordinated by the Aegis Trust, which addresses causes and consequences of genocide and crimes against humanity. Founded in 2000, Aegis developed from the work of the UK Holocaust Centre that opened in 1995. It is also responsible for the Kigali Memorial Centre in Rwanda that opened earlier in 2004. It works closely with survivors, educationalists, academics and policy makers in areas relating to genocide education, research and prevention. ('NCC and NGO's,' 2005). Waging Peace, pressure group. Waging Peace (2006) complains that Darfur is Rwanda in slow motion, yet virtually no other pressure groups similar to them are campaigning on Darfur. There is little media coverage, and no sense of outrage that genocide is unfolding in a vacuum of indifference, they said. Waging Peace has acknowledged that it is their role to continue to press the British Government and European Union to stop appeasing the regime in Khartoum. The members hold regular face-to-face meetings with MPs from all parties, and they have produced dozens of Parliamentary questions about Darfur for MPs and Peers who are sympathetic to their cause. Waging Peace (2006) also attends meetings of all-party parliamentary groups on Sudan and genocide, the International Development Committee meetings, and ask questions. They also brief MPs and Peers before these meetings, and in fact had submitted evidence to the International Development Committee follow up report on Darfur in autumn 2005. Waging Peace (2006) had written articles in the press in the UK and USA. They also did some symbolic gestures in the form of a demonstration outside Downing Street on the Bank Holiday before the general election in May 2005, with 200 members of the Darfur diaspora in Britain who lay down in Whitehall, bringing traffic to a halt. They monitor the press and write newsletters to supporters and in their website. Practical help is in the form of helping Sudanese diaspora in Britain raise money and supplies for refugee camps in Darfur (Waging Peace, 2006). Waging Peace also holds party conferences. It had stalls and meetings at both the Liberal Democrat and Labor Conferences in the autumn of 2005. On spreading the message, directors of Waging Peace speak at meetings across the country, often in universities or at churches and synagogues, about Darfur or more generally about genocide or development issues in Africa. Coordinating Board of Jewish Organizations (CBJO) and B'nai B'rith. These two NGOs have submitted a written statement to the Secretary-General of the Commission on Human Rights in its Sixty-first session of February 16, 2005 ('Racism,' 2005). Accordingly, this was circulated in accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/31, saying among others that - In Darfur, crimes against humanity continue to be perpetrated against the native population based solely upon ethnic lines. This is the third time in fifteen years that the international community has failed to act in the face of ethnic cleansing - Bosnia, Rwanda, and now Darfur. The international community has an obligation to end the expulsion, rape and mass murder of the people in Darfur. While the Sudanese government has not adopted a plan of genocide, the UN Commission concluded that it is responsible for atrocities and crimes against humanity that are no less severe. CBJO and B'nai B'rith ('Racism,' 2005) claim that the UN's World Food Program had fed 1.5 million people in Darfur in December 2004, and it estimates that it will have to feed at least 2.7 million people per month in 2005. However, this economic attack on Darfur has a permanent aspect to it, because the government cut down crop-producing acacia and mango trees ('Racism,' 2005). They reasoned that with agriculture, whether subsistence farming or export producing eradicated, the farmers and their families have no reason to return should the situation stabilize ('Racism,' 2005). Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC). This group does much letter-writing to government heads, does representation, and does protests. On May 13, 2004, this Congress wrote to the Prime Minister of Canada conveying "profound concern" in the face of "reports of mass murder, systematic rape and ethnic cleansing in Darfur." It said that since then, the massive suffering continues largely unabated. Inter-ethnic issues have unleashed terrible forces putting well over one million people at risk. The price that has been paid by innocent victims is unconscionable, this group claims ('Letter to,' 2005). CJC is working closely with KAIROS that represents ten Christian churches on domestic and international social justice issues. Actively involved on the Darfur issue, it has co-sponsored an important public rally supported by over forty NGOs. The group reinforces its objectives in correspondence with meetings with senators, and the Special Envoy to the Sudan Peace Process. As a result, various Cabinet Ministers and Members of Parliament called for the immediate disarming of the murderous Janjaweed militias initially unleashed by the Sudanese government; the imposition of "no-fly zones;" intervention by highly experienced, properly funded, well-trained and well-equipped peace-keeping forces; and immediate investigation with respect to the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity ('Letter to,' 2005). References 'Letter to Prime Minister re: situation in Darfur.' Canadian Jewish Congress. Briefs and Correspondence. January 26, 2005. August 22, 2007. http://www.cjc.ca/template.phpaction=briefs&item=78 'NCC and NGO's in U.S., U.K. and France urge UN Resolution on Darfur.' National Council of Churches (NCC). July 22, 2005. August 22, 2007. http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/FPRI-6ENDPTOpenDocument 'Prosecutor v. Radislav Krstic.' Case No: IT-98-33-A. International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia. April 19, 2004. August 23, 2007. http://www.worldlii.org/int/cases/ICTY/2004/7.html#IIA 'Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and all forms of Discrimination.' Joint written statement submitted by the Coordinating Board of Jewish Organizations (CBJO), a non-governmental organization in special consultative status and B'nai B'rith, a non-governmental organization on the Roster. Commission on Human Rights. Sixty-first session. February 16, 2005. August 22, 2007. http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/3822b5e39951876a85256b6e0058a478/7802a0f948f1625b85256fcd00568fe4!OpenDocument. 'Waging Peace.' Pressure group. April 2006. Retrieved August 22, 2007, from http://www.wagingpeace.info/q=node/79 Beardsley, B. Learning from the Rwandan genocide of 1994 to stop the genocide in Darfur. Humanitarian intervention. Canadian Military Journal 41. Spring 2005. http://www.journal.forces.gc.ca/engraph/Vol6/no1/PDF/09-Human_e.pdf Beetham, D. 1995. 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United Nations University Press, New York. Evans, G. "Darfur and the Responsibility to Protect." The Diplomat. August-September, 2004. International Crisis Group. Retrieved August 21, 2007, from http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfmid=2915&l=1 Korey, W. 1998. NGOs and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. St. Martin's, New York. Nickel, J. 2005. "Poverty and Rights," Philosophical Quarterly 5:385-402. Nickel, J. 2006. Making Sense of Human Rights. Second edition. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford. Rawls, J. 1999. The Law of Peoples. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Shattuck, John. The Legacy of Nuremburg: confronting genocide and terrorism through the rule of law. Gonzaga Journal of International Law. Vol. 10:1. Summer 2006. Retrieved August 22, 2007, from http://www.gonzagajil.org/pdf/volume10/Shattuck/Shattuck.pdf Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Human Rights. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rights-human/. July 29, 2006. Retrieved August 22, 2007, from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rights-human/ Stanton, Gregory. Genocide Emergency: Darfur, Sudan. http://www.genocidewatch.org/ Never%20Again.htm>: Genocide Watch, April 2, 2004. pp. 1-3. Straus, S. Rwanda and Darfur: A Comparative Analysis. Genocide Studies and Prevention. Volume 1, Number 1 / July 2006. 41-56. DOI 10.3138/V503-3258-VW87-324T. 1911-0359 (Print) 1911-9933 (Online). University of Toronto Press. October 10, 2006. Retrieved August 22, 1007, from http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/v5033258vw87324t/ Read More