End Genocide

“Never Again!” That’s what leaders in the United States and throughout the world declared after the Holocaust. Yet tragically, in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur millions of people lost their lives, lost their families or were forced to flee their homes.

History doesn’t have to keep repeating itself. The powerful movement to end the Darfur genocide showed us that acting together, we can compel our elected leaders to act on their responsibility to protect people from targeted mass violence. Working together we can prevent mass atrocities, we can end genocide. We need to:

• MOBILIZE political will so our elected officials feel compelled to do the right thing anytime, anywhere people are threatened by potential mass atrocities or genocide.
• CHANGE the economic calculus so governments and corporations do not benefit financially from perpetrating or aiding and abetting mass atrocities or genocide.
• TRANSFORM our national agenda to make human rights and genocide prevention core values in U.S. foreign policy.

What is Genocide?

After the Holocaust, the United Nations declared the term ‘genocide’ an international crime, defining it as any of the following actions committed with intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group: Killing members of the group; Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group, or forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

People often disagree – for legal, political or other reasons – on whether a given conflict is truly a genocide. We believe we must take action anywhere we see a population at risk of crimes against humanity or mass atrocities.
 

Past Genocides

In the past 100 years, more than 15 million people have been murdered simply for being part of a particular group. Millions more have been tortured, raped or forced from their homes. Maybe they were considered to be the “wrong” race or religion; maybe they were a target because of their jobs or political beliefs. These victims remind us that we can’t let genocide happen again. We have to listen—and act.

Knowledge about the past is one of our greatest assets in making sure we don’t repeat it. Learn about the history of the major genocides of the 20^th century.

Preventing Future Genocides

The most effective way to end genocide is to prevent it. U.S. leaders must leverage every diplomatic asset and if necessary, demonstrate the political courage to act decisively when sanctions and other threats do not slow attacks on innocent people. That’s why we must be ready and willing to call on our elected officials to do the right thing.

Political will alone is not enough. Federal legislation is critical to ensure that the United States prioritizes genocide and mass atrocity prevention and is prepared and equipped to act when crises arise. Learn about our work to enact effective genocide prevention laws.

Responsibility to Protect

Every nation is responsible for protecting its own citizens from mass atrocities such as ethnic cleansing. Should a nation fail to protect its citizens from mass killings, either intentionally or through inability to act, it is the internationally community’s responsibility to protect the citizens being affected. Learn more about these principles, which were agreed upon by the United States and other nations and ratified by the United Nations as the Responsibility to Protect (or R2P) Doctrine.