Genocide (Revised and Expanded Edition)

Genocide was first published in the “Groundwood Guides” series in 2006. The current edition is revised and expanded. The chapter titles and two compilations at the end (Human rights and genocide timeline, and the table Genocides through history) are largely carried over between editions but considerably enlarged and brought up to date. The current edition contains new artwork, a fresh design that includes a larger, more reader-friendly format, and reflects recent developments in the understanding of what constitutes genocide. Full page illustrations in striking red, black and white precede each chapter and visually capture aspects of the topics explored. Ten case studies are now clearly labeled as such and stand apart from the rest of the text due to their rose-coloured backgrounds. Extensive end notes, suggestions for further reading and an index contribute to the usefulness of the volume(s).

Sadly, this book remains timely as genocidal actions are being carried out against the Rohingya in Myanmar and the Uyghurs in northwest China. Ongoing conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the Darfur region of Sudan, and in Israel and Palestine where Hamas militants and the Israeli Defense Forces and settlers engage in activities that meet modern criteria for genocide.

Singer explores the historic development of human rights that culminated with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights passed by the UN General Assembly in December 1948. The UN General Assembly’s initial adoption of an international Genocide Convention that year was groundbreaking but was seriously flawed at is did not include political and social groups and did not include cultural genocide that has recently been acknowledged in Canada in its program of Indian residential schools. In the United States, President Joe Biden only apologized on October 25, 2024, for the historic policy of compulsory assimilationist boarding schools for Indigenous children, many of whom were neglected and abused.

Of special note to Canadian readers, Springer devotes much of her third chapter on mass violence to the role of settler Colonialism in modern history with a discussion of crimes against the indigenous peoples of the Americas and to a lesser extent in Africa and elsewhere. Denial of these crimes remains a stumbling block to ending injustice and moving forward to create respectful relations between people.

A chapter about the theories of genocide considers questions such as Why, Where, When and How does genocide take place. Genocide often takes place under the cover of war. Racism is identified as both a rationale for genocide and being at the root of the double standard whereby western “white” governments that held outsized influence in shaping the development of the Genocide Convention sought to shield their own practices from charges of genocide and took little action in the face of genocide like that in Rwanda because an African life, especially in a place of little economic or geopolitical interest to the west, was not considered with the same urgency as the anti-Muslim genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Springer shields no one in telling hard and uncomfortable truths about individual and state actions and inactions when confronted with genocide.

Gregory Stanton of Genocide Watch identifies 10 stages of genocide that begins with classification or “othering” of an identifiable group, discrimination and dehumanization as demonstrated by equating the targeted people with animals, vermin, insects or diseases. Later stages include polarization, preparation, persecution and execution of the plan, followed by denial. Many of these stages are recognizable in the case studies. What is new is Springer’s identification of the place of gender in genocide and the practice of rape and sexual assault amidst mass violence. It was only in 1998, during the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, that rape was defined as a genocidal act.

The sixth chapter focuses on “Responding to Genocide”. Springer describes how several attempts to broaden the 1947 legal definition of genocide took many decades, during which time ethnic “cleansings,” mass killings, rapes, forced migration and starvation marked genocidal actions in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Tibet, Indonesia, Cambodia, Guatemala, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Iraq and Bosnia-Herzegovina. International response to genocide initially failed the people of Rwanda as the UN thwarted calls by Canadian General Romeo Dallaire to strengthen the UN Peacekeeping team that he was leading in 1993 as the situation deteriorated, culminating in the genocide that took place over two months in the spring of 1994. Four years after it was established, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda delivered judgments in 1998, marking the first time anyone was convicted of Genocide under the Genocide Convention. Years after the Khmer Rouge killed an estimated 21-25% of Cambodia’s population in the late 1970s, only a few perpetrators were convicted before the Khmer Rouge Tribunal that started in 2006 and wrapped up in 2022. Another important legal development was the creation in 2002 of an International Criminal Court with power to prosecute individuals who are responsible for genocide, other crimes against humanity and war crimes. While still relying on the inadequate definition of genocide laid out in 1947, the ICC does include sexual violence under crimes against humanity and war crimes. Unfortunately, nations including China, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia and Turkey have not signed the treaty, and others including Iran, Israel, Russia, Sudan, Syria and the USA have not ratified the treaty.

The final chapter, “Preventing Genocide”, begins with another legal advancement in human rights law: the “responsibility to protect” or R2P whereby the UN and member nations must protect its populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. As with so many other initiatives that originated with the UN, the R2P has not lived up to its potential, in part because taking action can be vetoed by permanent members of the UN Security Council. While the UN and national governments have a place in preventing genocide, some scholars emphasize that a local-first approach is important to try to prevent killing before it begins. Springer outlines the roles that humanitarian and human rights organizations can play, along with the media, corporations, and individuals. While trying to end on a hopeful note, Springer’s final sentence is sobering: Collectively, we have a lot of work to do.

Genocide is not the most straightforward read but remains an important overview for secondary school readers. It may appeal more to students interested in international affairs and politics and will be better appreciated by those who have already studied topics such as the creation of the United Nations, the Holocaust in history, and modern understanding of the roles of settler colonialism in cultural genocide against indigenous peoples. Ongoing genocides and the wars that can mask them remain sorry examples of the failure of humanity to live up to its potential. Genocide is a call to all people to recognize early indicators of genocide, speak up, seek actions, listen to our neighbours, and help those in our midst who have experienced trauma to heal.