This week, President Obama nominated Stephen Rapp to become ambassador at large for war crimes issues. As a prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Rapp led a landmark case against three Rwandan journalists charged with and found guilty of genocide, direct and public incitement to genocide, and other crimes. In 2006, Rapp left the ICTR to become the prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. His nomination as ambassador awaits confirmation by the Senate.

Featured in a gallery of eyewitness testimonies in the Museum's new installation, From Memory to Action: Meeting the Challenge of Genocide, Stephen Rapp explains the importance of pursuing justice and his efforts to always put himself in the shoes of the victim. Watch his testimony and learn more about Rwanda and the ICTR.

Not long ago, a Chechen man named Nazir was visited by armed men in camouflage uniforms who gathered boards to start a bonfire alongside his home. Realizing what was about to happen, Nazir pleaded, "Why do I have to pay for the crimes of my relatives over whom I have no influence? But if this has been decided, I can't do anything about it. However, please listen to me. My roof touches my neighbor's roof. If you start burning my house, the fire will spread over to my neighbor's house." Considering the problem, the armed men patiently called a contractor to come separate the roofs before they set fire to Nazir's house. There was no doubt that they acted with deliberation and impunity.

Nazir's experience was not unique. A new Human Rights Watch report documents punitive house-burning, where families of insurgents have been intimidated and their homes burned down by local Chechen law enforcement personnel in targeted arson attacks across Chechnya.

In August 2008, the mayor of Grozny, Muslim Khuchiev, announced on television:

"In the future, if your relatives commit an act of evil, this evil will be brought upon you, your other family members and even your descendants... The evil perpetrated by your relatives from the woods will come back to your own houses and in the very near future every one [of you] will feel it on your own back."

Written in cooperation with the Russian human rights NGO Memorial, the report details these cases and confirms that they are perpetrated mainly by "law enforcement and security personnel under the de facto control of the republic's president, Ramzan Kadyrov."

The July 2009 report, "What Your Children Do Will Touch Upon You", is available at HRW's website here.

Last week, communities around the world observed World Refugee Day in order to draw attention to the plight of the 42 million refugees today who have been forced to flee their homes because of conflict, persecution, or natural disasters. Among the most vulnerable populations in the world, refugees often lack access to clean water, food, sanitation, shelter, and health care.

Although conflicts and disasters have uprooted people throughout human history, the legal definition of a "refugee" developed relatively recently in response to the Holocaust.

During World War II, the Nazis deported between seven and nine million people, mostly Jews, to concentration camps across Europe. Within months of Germany's surrender in May 1945, some six million displaced persons were repatriated, although between one and a half million and two million DPs refused repatriation because of the destruction of their communities and postwar antisemitism.

In response, the United Nations established a new legal definition of a "refugee" and outlined new protections to which they are entitled. The 1951 Convention on Refugees defined a refugee as someone who:

"...owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it."

The 1951 document limited the definition of a refugee to those displaced in Europe before 1951. An additional protocol in 1967 removed both the time and location limitations. Today, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates there are 42 million refugees and displaced people in the world today.

Access more than 50 different interviews, discussions, and other materials related to how refugees are affected by genocide today. Visit our speaker series and filter results by the theme "refugee".

In May, award-winning filmmaker Anne Aghion discussed her documentaries about Rwanda with Bridget Conley-Zilkic in an episode of the Museum's Voices on Genocide Prevention podcast series. Aghion described the three short films and one feature-length film she has produced and directed on the community-based justice process in Rwanda called gacaca. Her films present an intimate view of how Rwandans are living together after the genocide.

Now, Washingtonians have the opportunity to meet Aghion and view her film My Neighbor My Killer at the SilverDocs Film Festival on June 16th and 19th.

Gregory Gordon helped to prosecute the landmark "media" cases in Rwanda -- where hate speech, broadcast over the radio, was directly linked to the genocide of the Tutsi people. Gordon believes that the lesson learned in Rwanda could be applied to Iran and elsewhere, to prevent these incitement tactics from taking hold.

Here, Gordon discusses the power of words with Aleisa Fishman in the Museum's Voices on Antisemitism Podcast Series.

"We don't want another genocide to take place. And I think from a truth-telling perspective, one of the important aspects of what the international criminal tribunals are doing is to make a record of what happened, so that future generations can study it. And when we see these red flags going up, when we see these warning signs, we have to act."

Gordon is Director of the Center for Human Rights and Genocide Studies and Assistant Professor at the School of Law, University of North Dakota.

On May 14th, the House introduced H.R. 2410, the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2010-2011, which includes language requiring reports on the U.S. capacity to prevent genocide and mass atrocities. Section 1002 of the Bill specifically invokes the Genocide Prevention Task Force report, “The December 2008 Report of the Genocide Prevention Task Force, co-chaired by former Secretary of State Madeline Albright and former Secretary of Defense William Cohen offers a valuable blueprint for strengthening United States capacities to help prevent genocide and mass atrocities,” and calls for a feasibility assessment of implementing some key report recommendations and recommends to further strengthen U.S. capacity to prevent genocide and mass atrocities. In addition to the inclusion of language on atrocity prevention rather than response, this is significant because it also paves the way for the Senate to support key provisions from the House State Authorization Bill.

Policy Language:

SEC. 1002. REPORT ON UNITED STATES CAPACITIES TO PREVENT GENOCIDE AND MASS ATROCITIES.

(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
(1) The lack of an effective government-wide strategy and adequate capacities for preventing genocide and mass atrocities against civilians undermines the ability of the United States to contribute to the maintenance of global peace and security and protect vital United States interests.
(2) The December 2008 Report of the Genocide Prevention Task Force, co-chaired by former Secretary of State Madeline Albright and former Secretary of Defense William Cohen offers a valuable blueprint for strengthening United States capacities to help prevent genocide and mass atrocities.
(3) Specific training and staffing will enhance the diplomatic capacities of the Department of State to help prevent and respond to threats of genocide and mass atrocities.

(b) REPORT.—
(1) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report outlining specific plans for the development of a government-wide strategy and the strengthening of United States civilian capacities for preventing genocide and mass atrocities against civilians.

(2) CONTENT.—The report required under paragraph (1) shall include the following:
(A) An evaluation of current mechanisms for government-wide early warning, information-sharing, contingency planning, and coordination of effort to prevent and respond to situations of genocide, mass atrocities, and other mass violence.
(B) An assessment of current capacities within the Department of State, including specific staffing and training, for early warning, preventive diplomacy, and crisis response to help avert genocide and mass atrocities.
(C) An evaluation of United States foreign assistance programs and mechanisms directed toward the prevention of genocide and mass atrocities, including costs, challenges to implementation, and successes of such programs and mechanisms.
(D) An assessment of the feasibility, effectiveness, and potential costs of implementing key recommendations made by the Genocide Prevention Task Force, including the establishment of an Atrocities Prevention Committee within the National Security Council and increased annual and contingency funding for the prevention of genocide and mass atrocities.
(E) Recommendations to further strengthen United States capacities to help prevent genocide, mass atrocities, and other mass violence, including enhanced early warning mechanisms, strengthened diplomatic capacities of the Department of State, and improved use of United States foreign assistance.

John Heffernan discusses his recent trip to the Congo and the importance of genocide prevention in an editorial piece published on May 22 in the Huffington Post:

Last week, the United Nations Security Council traveled to Ethiopia, Rwanda, Congo and Liberia to discuss Africa's hotspots -- areas that are threatened by genocide and mass atrocities. In a report on preventing genocide, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Secretary of Defense William Cohen make the case for why preventing and responding to genocide and mass atrocities is in the moral and strategic interests of the United States. The 140 page report lays out 34 recommendations to point out a choice between doing nothing and embarking on large-scale military interventions. A recent trip I took to the Great Lakes region of Africa dramatically illustrated why this "blueprint" should be taken seriously, and why U.S. leadership is so important in this area.

In the dirt courtyard outside the United Nations-funded hospital wing, in the war-affected border city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, I met Jean Paul, his tiny legs barely holding up his small torso. Inside the white stucco building, other children from the nearby displacement camp were not so lucky as they clung for life, skin hanging off their bones. Jean Paul, who had the most endearing brown eyes, managed to muster enough energy to lift his little hand to give me the internationally recognized high five. Although he appeared to be on the road to recovery, this child of war, who looked to be no more than two years old, held up five fingers when I asked him his age. Jean Paul, a vivid reminder of the consequences of the horrific human toll exacted by mass atrocities and genocide inflicted by man, may also be a reminder of humanity's capacity to prevent such episodes; episodes in which tens of millions have lost their lives over the last century.

I have seen it before in Darfur, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Kosovo and most recently Rwanda and Congo, the direct assault on human values through systematic massacres, forced displacements, mass rapes and the plundering and destruction of homes, wells, crops, livestock and assets meant to sustain life. I know how these horrific acts destroy lives and livelihoods. But these most heinous crimes, genocide and mass atrocities, also threaten U.S. national interests, and we must be better prepared to prevent them.

In Rwanda today significant problems persist, but with assistance from the U.S. and other international donors, the country has worked hard to recover from one of the most brutal massacres of modern times. While vigilance is required to prevent repetition of the past violence in Rwanda, neighboring Congo, a huge country where the Rwandan genocide sparked successive wars involving 7 neighboring countries and resulting in an estimated 5.4 million deaths in the last ten years, needs worldwide attention to help end the reoccurring violence.

Evidence of the spillover effects of the Rwanda genocide were nowhere more apparent than in the displaced persons camps just outside of Goma in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo where Jean Paul lives - camps that the U.S. and other international donors have been supporting since 1994. While aid to Rwanda and Congo supports many important reconciliation and emergency relief projects, early preventive action would surely have been less expensive and could have saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

There's a pattern. We know from past examples that genocide and mass atrocities in one country fuel threats in other weak and corrupt states, and can prompt the type of long term conflicts that know no boundaries. In Rwanda, with refugee flows spreading to Congo and beyond, the international community, including the U.S. was called on to absorb and assist displaced people, provide support for a massive and ongoing humanitarian relief effort. The longer we wait the more exorbitant the price tag. In Bosnia alone, the U.S. invested an estimated $15 billion to support peacekeeping forces in the years since we belatedly intervened to stop the atrocities.

What's needed in these cases is early, high-level attention, facilitated by standing institutional mechanisms within our own government, and then strong international partnerships that can form the basis for effective and coordinated action. We need a comprehensive prevention approach that begins with early warning mechanisms, and involves early action to address high-risk situations, timely diplomatic responses to emerging crises, and greater preparedness to employ military options when those are required.

The genocide prevention report clearly lays out a way forward, starting with the recommendation to create an interagency Atrocity Prevention Committee to analyze threats of genocide and mass atrocities and that warning of these threatened acts be an automatic trigger of policy review. Moreover, the report calls of an investment of $250 million - less than a dollar for every American each year -- in new funds for crisis prevention and response.

We know that the long-lasting consequences of genocide and mass atrocities are enormous. Reconciliation after the fact is possible and essential, but if we shift our focus to prevention rather than response, lives and livelihoods will be saved and threats to our national interest will be mitigated. But, as the Genocide Task Force report emphasizes, for it to work, leadership is the indispensable ingredient. Leadership from the president, Congress, and the American people --, nothing is more central to preventing genocide and mass atrocities. Time is not on the side of Jean Paul. We owe it to him and the millions like him, to make genocide prevention a priority, now.

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum notes with sadness the death of Jack Kemp, who passed away on Saturday, May 2, after a battle with cancer.

A longtime Member of Congress and former vice presidential candidate, more recently Jack Kemp was a committed member of the Genocide Prevention Task Force, which was jointly convened by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the American Academy of Diplomacy, and the United States Institute of Peace. The Task Force released its report "Preventing Genocide: A Blueprint for U.S. Policymakers" last December, and Secretary Kemp's important contributions to that initiative will be a lasting legacy.

April 7, 2009 marked the 15th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide. Joined by an international audience, Rwandans across the country gathered to commemorate the deaths of at least 500,000 people over 100 days in 1994. President Paul Kagame spoke about the need to remember, but also of the future he is trying to build for the country: “This is the constant underlying message: that while we must remember the past, history, events, and facts – we must also remember to shape our future.”

Rwanda’s progress over the last fifteen years has been marked by these two poles: the memory of unimaginable violence, and the imperative to focus on the future and on building a strong, self-sufficient country. The effort to recover from the genocide has included far-reaching justice reforms and innovative legal processes for cases related to the genocide. Resilient survivors have created networks across the country, and the government has focused on educational reform, strengthening the health system, and securing economic advances. These remarkable achievements have transformed the country.

To advance social and economic goals, the Rwandan government has opted to prioritize security and stability over freedom of expression and political organization. After the experience of the genocide, it is a bargain that the population seems ready to embrace for now. While reconciliation is difficult to measure, Rwandans are certainly providing a remarkable example of coexistence in the aftermath of genocide, as survivors, bystanders and perpetrators find ways to live together and move forward as a country.

Visit World Is Witness to read a first-hand account of the commemoration ceremonies from Museum staff in attendance.

On March 4, 2009, a Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced its historic decision to issue an arrest warrant charging Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with five counts of crimes against humanity and two counts of war crimes for his leadership role in orchestrating the conflict in Darfur.

The charges against Mr. Bashir include murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture, rape, intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population, and pillaging. Notably absent from the warrant is the charge of genocide.

This decision marks the first time the ICC has issued an arrest warrant for a sitting head of state.

Some have contended that an ICC indictment of the President of Sudan, which enforces international law and holds him accountable for his crimes, is necessary for sustained peace. Others are concerned that such an indictment could negatively impact the peace negotiations, prolonging war or perhaps even accelerating it – resulting in more deaths, sexual violence, destruction, and misery. These debates intensified in July 2008, when the ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo presented evidence of crimes to a panel of ICC judges and asked them to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese President al-Bashir on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes for his leadership role in orchestrating violence in Darfur.

The Sudanese government has said it will resist the ICC request, contending that Bashir is innocent. Two others in Sudan – Ahmad Harun, Minister in charge of security, and Ali Kushayb, a janjaweed militia leader – were indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the ICC in 2007. They were not considered senior enough to impact peace negotiations.

Following the announcement of the arrest warrant, the Sudanese government expelled several humanitarian aid agencies from Sudan, jeopardizing the lives of millions.

On March 5, 2009, the Museum issued a press statement, decrying the eviction of aid agencies in Darfur and Southern Sudan.

Podcast Interviews with Experts

Click here for a podcast interview with Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, formerly a judge and president of the ICTY, who discusses the significance of the ICC’s March 4 decision.

Click here for a podcast interview from July with international law expert William Schabas, who discusses the decision of the prosecutor for the ICC to request an arrest warrant for President Bashir.

Background on the International Criminal Court

Based in The Hague, the Netherlands, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is the first permanent judicial body established to try individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. It prosecutes individuals when national courts are unable or unwilling to do so. The Court emerged from the 1998 Conference in Rome and came into force in 2002, after the 60th nation ratified the treaty. Presently, 108 state parties have joined the treaty.

Heavily engaged in ICC negotiations, the United States signed the Rome Statute under the Clinton administration in 2000, but identified certain aspects of the treaty requiring further negotiation. President Clinton recommended that the Senate delay ratification until U.S. concerns were met about the treaty’s jurisdiction over nationals of states that were non-parties for acts committed on territory of states party to the treaty and the prosecutor’s authority to initiate cases on his/her own. Citing these objections, the Bush administration effectively deactivated the U.S. signature on the Rome Statute in 2002.

Since 2002, the Court has received one referral from the United Nations Security Council for Darfur, Sudan and has accepted three state referrals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, and the Central African Republic.

In 2005, the Security Council referred allegations of crimes in Darfur to the ICC. The council referral exempted the nationals of nonparties from any claim of jurisdiction on the part of the court and consequently the U.S. abstained from vetoing the resolution. The ICC subsequently opened an investigation into the crimes committed in Darfur.

Background on President Bashir

Born in 1944, Omar al-Bashir orchestrated a military coup in 1989 that overthrew President Sadeq al-Mahdi’s democratically elected government. He assumed control by banning all political parties and cracking down on the press and other rights. Shortly after attaining power, Bashir appointed himself chief of state, prime minister, and minister of defense.

In 1999, President Bashir consolidated his dictatorial control when he removed his chief threat: once ally and former leader of the National Islamic Front, Hassan al-Turabi, who was then serving as Speaker of the National Assembly. That same year, Bashir declared a state of national emergency, suspended the constitution, and disbanded the National Assembly.

In 2004, Bashir’s government negotiated an end to the two and a half decade civil war between north and south Sudan that killed at least 2 million people, mostly civilians, and displaced more than 4 million people. Around that same time, Bashir’s government started receiving criticism for its role in Darfur, Sudan’s western province where hundreds of thousands have died and millions have lost their homes since 2003. In July 2008, the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked the court to issue an arrest warrant for President Bashir, charging him several counts of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes for the government’s role in orchestrating violence in Darfur.