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.