PEACEM A G A Z I N E

BY ALAN

WHITEHORNThe Steps andStages of GenocideG

enocide proceeds in distinctsteps that can be comparedto ascending a muld-storeybuilding that is overseen by

murderers. While the entranceway tothe building may seem benign, the finalstages are more brutal. Between eachlevel, there are crucial steps that enablepotential "genocidaires" to go from onestorey to another. We must compre-hend this architecture to understandhow one step can lead to another.

The academic, government official,and activist Gregory Stanton outlined aframework of genocide with eightstages: Classification, Symholization,Dehumanization, Organization, Polar-ization, Preparation, Extermination andfinally Denial. He provides helpful de-tails on aspects of each of these stages.We can explore each by listing the spe-cific steps within it, adding some stages:Stigmatization and Extrefne Victim-ization. Let's begin with the seeminglybenign.

Nyamata Memoriol Site, Rwanda. Banner readsyour humonity, you would not have stolen mine.

CLASSIFICATIONPeople classify all sorts of things— in-

cluding other people. One easy way is tocreate dichotomous polar opposites (forinstance, familiar/unfamiliar, high/low,strong/weak, like/dislike, friendly/hos-tile). Though this mental habit is ubiq-uitous across cultures, it can lead to theuse of simplistic, dualistic stereotypesthat ignore variations within each cate-gory, as well as overlaps.

SYMBOLIZATIONPeople often employ verbal and visual

shortcuts in classifying, ignoring diver-sity and labelling groups with a simpli-fied name or symbol. Such a label canseize upon a group's characteristicclothing, behavior or alleged physiolog-ical features.

STIGMATIZATIONOne risk in such dualistic thinking is to

unjustifiably slip from describing tojudging. It is easy to go beyond describ-

ing "us in contrastto them" to judgingthat "we are betterthan them." Beforelong the differenti-ation between "us"and "them" be-comes inequality.This is the begin-ning of stigmatiza-tion. Structural in-equality can havedevastating conse-quences for rela-tions between dif-ferent ethnic,

,, . / racial, or religiousIf you were conscious ot °" Fanny Sthertzer photo. groups.

Genocide is ?iot an

accident. Rather, it is

premeditated and

follows recognizable

pattems.

DEHUMANIZATIONIt is natural to be apprehensive about

that which we do not know, so we mayslip into criticizing that which is unfa-miliar. Making tun of others can easilyturn from childish play to adult hatespeech, cruel jokes and vengeful carica-tures. The hazing of youth can becomethe mean taunting of adolescents andthe victimization of adults. Prejudicialwords can be reinforced by parents,school teachers, religious and politicalleaders. T'his process can be accentuat-ed by a history of scapegoating or blam-ing a group for all of society's ills.

The minority group is portrayed asfalling outside the main community andperceived as not belonging. Labels suchas "enemy" are hurled, particularly if thegroup is thought to be consorting with aforeign power. Members of the minori-ty are portrayed as "inferior" or as "infi-dels" and made a target of scorn andwrath.

The victim group is often portrayed insome sub-human category: perhaps asmere cattle or as dirty, disease-ridden,vermin, rats, snakes, bugs, parasites, orcockroaches that must be eradicated.

ORGANIZATIONTo kill humans on a massive scale, or-

ganizational coordination is required.There is mobilization of militia or vigi-lante groups. Ib prepare for this thecentralized state manipulates media im-ages. The victimizers are idealized,while the victims are vilified. State cen-sorship blocks accounts of the victims'desperate pleas for assistance.

PEACE

POLARIZATION AND INCREASEDINEQUALITY

The victim group's rights are strippedaway: the political right to collectiveself-rule, the social right to collectiveautonomy, and even the right to exist aredenied. The authoritarian state formal-izes and magnifies legal inequalities,stripping the vicdm group of its cidzen-ship rights. They are prohibited fromstate employment, particularly at the se-nior levels of government and forbiddenfrom entering the military. It is easier tovictimize an unarmed targeted group.The despotic regime denies the minori-ty group's right to self-defence or toown weapons. Social organizations orpolitical pardes that might represent thevulnerable group are disbanded, leavingthem powerless.

A genocidal regime seeks to augmentthe targeted group's social disadvan-tages. It uses confinement, restriction tocertain regional locales, or urban ghet-toes. They can be confined at specificdmes of the day (e.g. evening curfews)and marginalized into only lower castejobs. The goal is to weaken them andmove them closer to annihiladon.

A genocidal state frequently engagesin religious discrimination. Eor exam-ple, it may curtail the celebration of reli-gious holidays or the wearing of reli-gious symbols. Thugs may disrupt aminority group's religious services andthe state may ban religious rites, closereligious schools, monasteries, andplaces of worship, force the disrobing ofreligious leaders, and confiscate reli-gious property.

A key early step is ethnic discrimina-tion. Minority ethnic names arefrowned upon or banned. Hiring prac-dces and promotions to senior posidonsare limited by quotas or forbidden. Inlater stages members of the ethnic mi-nority are dismissed from their jobs,have their savings and property confis-cated, lose their pensions, state benefits,and means of livelihood. Closely relatedis linguistic discriminadon, which be-gins by denying the uniqueness and im-

portance of the minori-ty group's language, butleads to banning thelanguage from com-merce, public discourse,books, and newspapers.Minority languageschools are closed.

Banning an indige-nous language in prima-ry schools puts an ethnicminority at a huge dis-advantage, which maybe accentuated by pre-vendng a group's accessto higher education.Other forms of discrim-inadon may also occur:extra taxes may be im-posed, along with pro-hibition from high sta-tus jobs and theconfiscadon of personalproperty. This is a quickway to acquire wealthand sadate the envy of a rival group.

Another technique is dislocation.Removed from their jobs, homes, his-toric homeland, victims are separatedfrom the rest of society and social sup-port. Inter-ethnic, inter-racial or inter-denominational marriage is banned.Polidcal figures who protest such mea-sures are liquidated.

PREPARATIONGenocide requires substantial prepa-

ration. The intended victims need to beidendfied and located. Step by step, theyare separated from the public and dis-armed—especially men of military age.The regime heads the death lists withthe names of leading persons who mightrally resistance. All members of the vic-dm group are forced to wear idendfyingsymbols. Later, this will speed up the ac-tual mass killing.

EXTREME VICTIMIZATIONAnother stage involves extreme vic-

timizadon, which can involve sufferingand torture. Vicdms may be relocated

Tuol Sleng - S21 Genocide Museum, Phnom Penh, Combodio. Upper-level celmlock, where prisoners were kept in narrow wood-porti-tioned cubicles. Photo by Adom Jones <Gdamjones.freeservers.com>

to inhospitable locales, segregated intoimpoverished, crowded ghettoes orreservadons. Later, they may be relocat-ed yet again to even grimmer concentra-don camps. The survivors of these con-ditions are subsequently sent toextermination camps/sites for execu-tions en masse. The weakened vicdmsnow offer little physical resistance.They have been prepared for death.

With increasing starvadon and expo-sure, the victims are force-marched intoinhospitable locales with insufficientfood, shelter, or medical care.Dedicated foreign humanitarian groupsare denied access to them. The genoci-dal bullies taunt the victims beforekilling them. Ritualized humiliationtakes place to further dehumanize thevictims prior to death. Often this isachieved by stripping the youngwomen, mothers, and even grandmoth-ers naked. Sexual assault of prettyteenage girls occurs but can soon de-scend into gang rape of young innocentchildren and elderly women.

Before the killings violence ranges

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The genocidal regimeoften works feverishly

to destroy as muchevidence as possible

from minor assault to mutilation andtorture. Other family members may beforced to watch the torture and killingbefore it is their turn for death.

EXTERMINATIONIn the end, genocide is about mass

killing, which usually begins by decapi-tating the leadership of the targetedgroup. Civic and religious leaders areswiftly killed. Prominent journalists,academics, literary figures, and businessleaders are next, then teachers. Once theleadership has been eliminated, it be-comes easier to exterminate the rankand file. The killing grows from smallclusters to larger ones until the genocidebecomes an assembly-line. At somepoint, a pause may occur—not becauseof remorse, but the temporary exhaus-tion of the executioners or the incapaci-ty of the death camps to keep up thefrantic pace.

Once the group's leaders are disposedof, the next sector is that of the males ofmilitary age. This precludes any possi-ble revolt. Young children and pregnantwomen are murdered en masse. Thisensures that the targeted minority hasno future. Sometimes children, particu-larly pretty young girls, are kidnapped.Their names and identities are stolenand they are forcibly converted to thedominant religion. Their original rootsare now hidden from them.

Those who actually do the killing canbe former neighbors from a differentclan who may be seeking material gainfrom the property suddenly available.More often, the killing is by fanaticalvigilante groups, militias, or paramili-

tary special extermination units. Theirwork is facilitated by the police and thearmy. In particularly gruesome inci-dents, the killing is actually done by thevictim's own family members, coercedinto such acts by the genocidaires whothreaten far worse, if their orders are notobeyed. For many, suicide is seen as thebetter option. Forced into a terrible"Sophie's choice," some parents loving-ly spare their young children from fur-ther horror by choosing a swift, bitter-sweet act of deadly relief. Tbe wailing ofgrieving mothers is a haunting soundnever to be forgotten.

Mass killing can range from close useof hand-held weapons to remote, high-tech ones. In antiquity, there are numer-ous accounts of victor armies hacking todeath tens of thousands of non-militarypersons from a defeated rival city or re-gion. In the twentieth and twenty-firstcenturies, this ritual continues with au-tomatic weapons. It is easier now to killentire villages. Genocidaires are fuelledby such hatred that mere killing cannotsatisfy them. They want the victims tosuffer. Scientists can now apply modernlaboratory techniques of killing withgreater precision, while claiming to beadvancing scientific knowledge.

DENIALThe kilhng, for the most part, occurs

in an intense peak of mass slaughter overa relatively short period of time. By con-trast, denial covers a much longer timeand takes place before, during, and afterthe deadly deeds. It can occur even acentury or more later.

Before the genocide begins, tbe con-spirators deny any malevolent intent orthe existence of secret plans. When ru-mors or intelligence reports first circu-late of such possible intents, the public isusually assured that such fears are thework of alarmists.

During genocide, the state employs ascreen of secrecy and censorship. Thosewho dare to defy its decrees are put todeath. The propaganda apparatuslaunches a barrage of misinformation

and public denials. Meanwhile, theregime blames the victims for disloyaltyand even for supposedly committinggenocide. It prevents foreigners' accessto the killing fields. Outside observers,reporters, diplomats, or humanitarianaid workers are confined to the capitalcity or banned from the entire country.

Dying has both a physical and a spiri-tual component, so a genocidal regimerefuses to allow any religious burialrights for members of tbe victim group.

The architects of genocide usually tryto destroy documentary evidence oftheir misdeeds. They order the killingsquads to conceal the bodies or movethem to more remote locales. When thenumbers are too vast to transport enmasse, the regime orders the dismem-berment or destruction of the corpses.This hacking takes place after the mur-ders. Body parts are discarded as foodfor dogs, left for wild animals to devour,or burned, or destroyed chemically. Ifthere is insufficient time for these per-manent acts of obliteration, attemptscan be made to camouflage or bulldozemounds over the mass grave pits.Violent deeds are done to silence poten-tial witnesses, immobilize potential res-cuers, and destroy any documentary ev-idence.

In its final few days in power, the geno-cidal regime often works feverishly todestroy as much evidence as possible.Documents are shredded or burned.Places of religious worship and ceme-teries are dismantled. Centuries-oldhistoric libraries and sites are destroyed.Records of the names of the dead arediscarded. Documentation, demo-graphic files, and statistical tables on thegroup's location and size are altered inefforts to diminish the scope of theregime's crimes.

A genocidal state's successor regimemay continue the denial. Many of therank and file members of society wish tohang onto ill-begotten gains, to escapepossible future imprisonment, to avoidcostly reparations, or to avoid psycho-logical guilt. To foster denial they en-

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gage in historical revisionism. Eormergenocidaires write memoirs denyingdeeds and jusdfying their acdons as hav-ing been required, given extraordinarilydifficult condidons at the dme. Thesepersons employ euphemisms to de-scribe their violent deeds: "forced de-portations" becomes merely "reloca-don", the "crime of murder" becomesthe "vicdms died due to many causes."Senior state officials deny that the label'genocide' is germane in this pardcularsetting. Instead, other factors, such asfamine and disease, are cited. The vic-tims themselves are blamed, in largepart, for causing the terrible times ortriggering what befell them. Key to thedenial is the disputing of the actualnumbers of those killed.

Despite efforts at historical revision-ism, a denialist regime may have toeventually realize that its efforts torewrite history are not accepted by theworld's scholars. Indeed, there is a riskof criminal prosecution. Accordingly,stonewalling is used by the state, whichblocks international investigations ofthe killing fields. The regime denies thelegidmacy of the internadonal court'sor tribunal's jurisdicdon, hoping to "getaway with murder."

Frequently, all posidve references tothe victim group have been removedfrom school history texts. Villages,towns, and regions are renamed and alegal ban is imposed on the journalisdcor academic use ofthe term "genocide."Failure to obey such Orwellian legisla-don can mean severe prison sentencesfor those found "guilty" of trying to dis-turb the state's official orthodoxy.

A state can do more than just deny. Itcan acdvely promote and fund others intheir denial activities and writings.Thus, such a state may direct significantfinancing to writers who are willing tofollow such a lucradve path. Careers andinstitutes can be promoted for thoseacademics who echo the government'sdenial strategy. In some cases, prelimi-nary research, ghostwridng and stocktemplates can be provided for foreign

authors. Media consultants can be hiredand political advertising bought fornewspapers or websites. Overseas foun-dadons or insdtutes may be established,whose purpose is nominally educadon,but whose primary purpose is, in prac-dce, to deny genocide.

In a world of power polidcs and mili-tary alliances, harsh forms of realpolidkmay occur. Overseas, other foreign gov-ernments, which share in a joint aUiancesystem, are warned of grave nadonal se-curity consequences, if they dare to rec-ognize genocide. A high profile author,who defies threats and continues towrite about genocide, is assassinated;thereby conveying a swift and grimwarning to others.

The combination of intra-state andinter-state war can be too much for theautocradc regime to handle. It is thusnot uncommon for genocidal regimes(e.g. Talaat's Ottoman Turkey, Hitler'sNazi Germany, Pol Pot's Kampuchea,and Bagosora's Rwanda) to be defeatedby rival foreign armies—but too late formost victims. If the brutal regime isoverthrown and there is risk of prosecu-don, the genocidal leaders, once full ofbravado, now assume a false idendty andgo into hiding inside the country or fleeinto exile and request protection from a

sympathetic foreign government. Thegoal is to avoid justice. In some cases,suicide is chosen by genocidaires.

If arrested and put on trial, they ques-don the court's authority and claim thatthey did not know what was actuallyhappening. Another tactic is to denypersonal responsibility for the actualdeeds. It is asserted that they were justtaking orders from higher-ranking offi-cials.

CONCLUSIONIf anyone tries to suggest that geno-

cide is an accident, prod them to consid-er how many steps and stages there are.It requires great effort to implementgenocide. It is not just an accident of his-tory or bad luck. Genocide is a result ofill will by a powerful group, which hasthe means of state-sanctioned masskilling.

Nevertheless, an analydcal frameworkcan assist us to recognize the steps andstages of genocide, to "Think About theUnthinkable." Tb understand genocideis the first step in eventually prevendngit. It is essendal if we are to live in peaceand jusdce. •Alan Whitehorn is a professor of politicalscience at the Royal Military College ofCanada.

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