February 23, 2000

Eight stages to genocide explained
___STOCKHOLM, Sweden--Genocide unfolds in eight predictable stages and, at each stage, preventive measures can stop it, according to the director of the Campaign to End Genocide based in Washington, D.C.
___The third stage on the genocide scale--"dehumanization"--is the stage that allows humans to overcome their natural revulsion against murder, Greg Stanton told participants at a conference on "Reverence and Reconciliation: A Healing Response to EthnicCleansing."
___"We are first of all human," Stanton said. "Our Creator made us all human, and genocide is a denial of that."
___Several conference participants lamented that while religion too often has contributed to the problem of ethnic and religious division, it could become a part of the solution by seeking to "re-humanize" those who could become victims of ethnic cleansing and other atrocities.
___Stanton outlined genocide and preventative measures in the following stages:
___ Classification. All cultures have categories to distinguish people into "us and them" by ethnicity, race, religion or nationality, he noted. But bipolar societies that lack mixed categories, such as Rwanda and Burundi, are the most likely to have genocide.
___The main preventive measure at this early stage is to develop universal institutions that can transcend ethnic or racial divisions, that actively promote tolerance and understanding.
___ Symbolization. Names or other symbols are given to the classifications. People are named "Jews" or "Gypsies," or they are distinguished by colors or dress. When combined with hatred, symbols may be forced upon unwilling members of pariah groups--the yellow star for Jews under Nazi rule.
___Hate symbols can be legally forbidden to combat symbolization, but this approach will fail if it is not supported by popular cultural enforcement, Stanton said. If widely supported, denial of symbolization can be powerful, as it was in Denmark, when many Danes chose to wear the yellow star, depriving it of its significance as a Nazi symbol.
___ Dehumanization. One group denies the humanity of the other group. Members of it are equated with animals, vermin, insects or diseases.
___Dehumanization overcomes the natural revulsion against murder, Stanton said. At this stage, hate propaganda in print and on radios is used to vilify the victim group.
___ Organization. Genocide is always organized, usually by the state and sometimes by terrorist groups, Stanton said. To combat this stage, membership in these militias should be outlawed and their leaders should be denied foreign travel visas, he said.
___ Polarization. Extremists drive groups apart. Hate groups broadcast polarizing propaganda, and laws may be created to forbid intermarriage or social interaction. Prevention may mean security protection for moderate leaders or aid to human rights groups.
___ Identification. Victims are identified and separated out because of their ethnic or religious identity. Death lists are drawn up. Members of victim groups are forced to wear identification symbols. They often are forced into ghettos, concentration camps or confined to a famine-struck region and starved.
___This is the stage where killing becomes inevitable, Stanton said.
___ Extermination. Mass killing, legally called "genocide," begins. It is "extermination"

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to the killers because they do not believe their victims to be fully human. When sponsored by the state, the armed forces may work with militias to do the killings. Sometimes the genocide results in revenge killings by groups against each other (as in Burundi).
___At this stage, only rapid and overwhelming armed intervention can stop genocide, he said.
___ Denial. This stage always follows genocide, he said. Perpetrators of genocide dig up mass graves, burn bodies, try to cover up evidence and intimidate witnesses. They deny crimes were committed and often blame what happened on the victims. Perpetrators block investigations and flee into exile. They remain in exile with impunity unless they are captured and tried.

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