After the tragedies of the Holocaust, genocides are still happening all over the world, even to this day. Genocides are still happening in modern society because people can not learn to get along as individuals with separate views. The genocides in Somalia and Togo are examples of modern society genocides. Both of these genocides deal with their government and military trying to control as a dictatorship. The Somalia genocide started in 1988 and the Togo genocide started in 2004, both still continue into the present day.
Genocide can be defined as, ‘… any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group …'(“Genocide: Defined” 1). A genocide is described as an extinction of a group because they do not believe they are doing any harm to society for it to be considered a killing to them. Genocide can be put into eight different classifications. ‘Classification is when items are placed into defined categories based on particular qualities'(“Stage 1: Classification” 1). Both the Somalia and Togo genocide is ranked as a classification 6, preparation genocide. ‘Leaders often claim, ‘If we don’t kill them, they will kill us'(Stanton 1). This means that in this classification, they build an army and weapons to prepare for what they think is ‘ethnic cleansing’. A step below this classification would be blocking them from transportation and human lifestyle, but the step above this is the extreme way of intently creating a ‘death list’ with an intent to extinct.
The Somalia genocide started in approximately 1991. ‘The United Nations has called the current situation in Somalia the ‘world’s worst humanitarian disaster'(“World Without Genocide” 3). The Somalia genocide is a great example to understand why genocides still happen to this day even after the many tragedies. In 1991, the Somali government was overthrown, which lead to an arise of disagreement with many of the militia and clan leaders about who would become the replacement as the new national leader. ‘Somali civilians remain the targets of atrocities committed by insurgent militias, Somali government forces, and criminal gangs'(“United To End Genocide” 1). This genocide took out an estimated 200,000 innocent civilians. A dictator, Siad Barre, killed thousands of members of the Iraqi tribe who were yearning for independence. Innocent people remain targets event to this day because different groups, with different opinions, can not seem to agree or at least get along.
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In the fourth stage on genocide, ‘Organization is a key part of genocide. Militias, special army units, or informal groups are often specially trained for the eventual extermination'(“Stage 4: Organization” 5). This is a lower level of the extremism of genocide but is the main reason why genocide exists, and why the Togo genocide is considered a genocide. The Togo genocide started in 2004 because one man wanted to remain in control. This man’s name is Gnassingbé Eyadéma. His plan was to continue to the role and keep control of Togo, Africa. To make that possible he used the government and military to get rid of people who opposed him and bribe those who would continue to follow him. He ruled from 1967, when he became president, to 2005, when he died of a heart attack. ‘We are here because after 38 years of only one regime, now we have a chance to bring about change,’ said Hounsou Belami, an amateur soccer player, who had waited in line for hours at a polling station in Lomé, the capital'(“Genocide Watch” 1). This quote shows that people want change but the government wants to control. The Togo government wanted Eyadema’s son to take his place but the people of Togo want change and a new leader, and so the genocide came into place against the people of Togo. Many events like bribing, and rewarding those who kept in office and in control, but he also made sure to get rid of those who opposed him.
It is not just these to genocides that are continuing on to this day, many of genocides are happening all over the world. Laws and acts have been put into place to try to stop these hateful crimes. After World War II, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was put into action by the United Nations. Article 3 states, ‘The following acts shall be punishable: genocide; conspiracy to commit genocide; direct and public incitement to commit genocide; attempt to commit genocide; complicity in genocide'(“United Nations Human Rights” 1). This article plainly states the severity that even the attempt of genocide is punishable yet the hate and anger inside dictators compel them to try to extinct races and gain control all around the world.
The government is not the only group of people that can do something to stop genocide in the world. Any singular person can do something little to stop hate in the world. Just try doing one nice thing a day, one thing may lead to another and spread the train of a single action everywhere. It’s not just singular people either many groups and organizations have formed all over the world to stop the hate and crime of genocides still happening today.
Many still wonder why they continue to this day in other parts of the world. Even after the horrific events that happened in the Holocaust like torturing, sending to victims to concentration camps, and many more terrible things. Both of these genocides started in opposite parts of Africa and multiple years after the horrific event of the Holocaust. Both government involvement with the United Nations and multiple nonprofit awareness organizations have been put in place for genocides all over the world. Overall, hate is what needs to be stopped, Genocides are still happening all over the world because people can not get along as individuals with separate views, but what if they could.
