Rwanda: Searching for Justice after Genocide

In preparation for class discussions about Rwanda's system of reconciliation and justice after the 1994 genocide, I would like you to spend some time exploring Facing History's Transitional Justice module.  Please read over articles/explore multimedia about justice in Rwanda. 

Please click here to link to the Rwanda overview page. From there, I'd like you to examine: 

• Gacaca: Looking to the Past as a Guide
  
• Rwanda Journal: Looking at Witnessing Gacaca
  
• Gacaca: One attempt at Justice comes to an end. 
  
• When the Killers Returned Home
  

Your assignment is to explore the site and to be ready to both write and talk about it on Monday. 

What role should foreign nations play in intervening in genocide?

Samantha Power, the author of  "A Problem From Hell" (we read pieces of her work during our Armenia unit), explains the shortcomings of American foreign policy in dealing with the Rwandan  Genocide in an article entitled "Bystanders to Genocide". This article originally appeared in The Atlantic Monthly in 2001. 

This is a lengthy article--but you have TWO nights to finish it. When you are done, please post your reflection in the comments section. I will be reading and grading your comments. 

Let me know if you have questions. 

The UNDHR @ 60

What do you imagine were the debates and dialogues that took place as people across the world first considered the notion of a Universal Declaration of Human Rights? How have those conversations changed today? Are there other ways to outline the minimum standards for the treatment of human beings across the globe without the articulation of universal rights?

Connections: Nuremberg's Legacies--Due Thurs/Friday!

The article, "86 Year Old SS Killer Faces Murder Charges" reports on what could be the last war criminal  trial to take place in Germany. In this case, an elderly SS soldier might be put on trial for shooting three unarmed Dutch civilians in 1994. 

Efriam Zuroff, the director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jersusalem says " The passage of time in no way diminishes the guilt of the perpetrator. If you were to set a chronological limit on prosecution we would be saying you could get away with genocide, which is morally outrageous". Do you agree with Zuroff's argument? What is the point of prosecuting an 86 year old man for crimes committed when he was 33 years old?

Connections: Nuremberg and the ICC--comments due WEDNESDAY!

In October, authorities in the Sudan arrested janjaweed militia leader, Al Kushayb, who is widely believed to have  lead and ordered villages to be burned and women raped. 

Please read the New York Times article describing the arrest here and answer the following questions as a journal length response in the comments section. 

1.) What is the responsibility of an international body to intervene when crimes against humanity continue to occur or when the legal system within a country abuses the human rights of its citizens? What are the situations in which you think an international body should act?

2.) In the last few years, there has been growing concern and outrage internationally for the genocide being perpetrated in Darfur. The International Criminal Court has investigated, witnessed the atrocities, and issued three arrest warrants. The ICC can not intervene in a country that has not dedicated its itself into bringing these perpetrators of crimes against humanity to justice. What would you do if you worked for the ICC and wanted to verify that the Sudanese government and legal system was taking the role of bringing criminals to justice seriously?

Extra Credit Opportunity-Learn about the situation in Burma!

Patrick Cook-Deegan, a recent graduate of Brown University, will speak this coming Wednesday at LHS about the crimes against humanity currently being committed in Burma. In 2006, he rode his bicycle through Burma, Laos, Cambodia to raise money to build a primary school in Laos. He ended up raising enough money to build a primary school, a library , and enough to give two K-12 scholarships to two girls in Cambodia. During his ride, Patrick personally witnessed the atrocities being committed in Eastern Burma by the brutal Burmese military regime, was tailed by Burmese officials, and spoke to hundreds of locals about their daily hardships. 

Wednesday, November 19th 7pm

LHS Science Lecture Hall

$2 students 5$ adults

America and the Holocaust

According to a growing number of historians, the United States and FDR watched the extermination of the Jews with such a total indifference that they were actually accomplices--Is this true?

Please write a journal-length response to this statement/question. You may use ideas from this as a way to brainstorm arguments for your upcoming essay. 

The Bad Samaritan? The David Cash Case

Based on the clip that you saw in class today and the article posted here, tell me your views about this case. What should have governed Cash's actions? To what degree should he be held responsible? Are there universal obligations for those who witness a wrong? Different rules depending on the nature of the wrong?

Bystanders and Perpetrators: Theories

Theory I: The Banality of Evil (from Hannah Arendt)

"Hilter and the Nazis were extremely skilled at using propaganda and a deliberately gradual process to make the isolation, segregation and ultimately the killing of Jews seem "normal". The Germans who carried out unspeakable crimes were ordinary people who simply accepted the conditions of their context as "normal", "unexceptional"  and "the way things are done" From  Eichmann in Jerusalem. 

Theory II: Conformity and Obedience (from Christopher Browning)

"To break ranks and step out, to adopt overtly nonconformist behavior, was simply beyond most of the men. It was easier for them to shoot. . . If the men of Reserve Battalion 101 could become killers under such circumstances, what group of men can not? From Ordinary Men

Theory III: Anti-Semitism (from Daniel Jonah Goldhagen)

Not economic hardship, not the coercive means of a totalitarian state, not the social psychological pressure, not invariable psychological propensities, but ideas about Jews that were pervasive in Germany and had been for decades, induced ordinary Germans to kill. . .systematically and without pity. From Hitler's Willing Executioners. 

in-school field trip 10/15

On 10/15,  students in my D block class will be visited by Carl Wilkens, the only American to remain in Rwanda during the 100 days of the 1994 genocide. 

Due to time constraints, this is an optional field trip for students in my A and E block. Teachers will be using their discretion in giving permission. 

We will meet in the Library Media Center. 

See you there!

info about Carl: 

"The Other" in contemporary politics

Nicholas Kristof wrote an interesting piece (accessed here ) in last week's New York Times. This is particularly pertinent to  study of we v. they that we started this week and fits in with our discussion of what happens when an individual or group is forced to live outside a nation's universe of obligation. 

Check out the article and give me some feedback--why are we still focusing on *the other* in the 2008 campaign? how does the media's attention on this issue force Americans to focus on ethnic and religious differences instead of similarities?

D&E Blocks: Assignment is below

Antisemitism: The Power of Myth

Please read the article posted here. Answer the following question in the "comments" section. You may comment anonymously, but please remember to write your screen name in your journal, so I can give you credit. 

The connection question: 

What does Corrigan mean when he tells students, faculty and staff, "None are protected unless all are protected"? How is he defining the university's "universe of obligation"? What is he suggesting about the impact of hate speech on the University as a whole? On society as a whole?What is the role f a leader in creating a community where everyone feels safe? Have we had similar situations in Lexington?

What does it mean to forgive? The lessons of The Sunflower

 Today's summer reading discussion went extremely well. Please answer some of the following questions in the comments section if you would like to add to the discussion.  This questions have been selected from your classmates. 

"Perhaps it was a mistake not to have told her the truth. Perhaps her tears might help to wash away some of the misery in the world (94)".  If you were in Simon's position when he went to see Karl's mother, would you have done the same thing (kept silent)?

If the SS man had not been dying would he have been so truly repentant? Would he have felt the same way if he had survived the war and was reflecting on his acts?

Some of the commentators in The Sunflower believe that those who were following orders were just as guilty as those who gave them; others, like Dith Pran, draw a moral line between followers and leaders. Would you hold them equally responsible?

What do you *give* when you grant forgiveness? What does forgiveness look like? Is there a connection to justice?

Remember to check in with me so that I can give you credit for posting!

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to school! I hope you all had wonderful experiences this summer and are rested and ready for the school year. We are embarking together on a journey, as we begin this "Holocaust and Other Genocides" course. It will be a difficult and overwhelming journey. But it will also be an exciting and mind-opening journey. 

My excitement for teaching this course stems from my devotion that we will uncover as the semester unfolds. I sincerely believe that the learning and growing you will do during this course is among the most important that you will experience as young adults. The objective of this course is broader, vaguer than many traditional courses. The goal of this course is to make us all more human, as we examine acts of humanity. 

As we deal with difficult and emotional issues, I ask that you approach this work seriously, thoughtfully, and above all, respectfully. We are all on this journey together. We must respect each other in order to develop a community in which we can all grow.