While the Taliban takeover threatens civilians across Afghanistan, the country’s women and girls and Hazara populations are at particular risk of mass atrocities. Even prior to the Taliban’s seizing control of the country, the Early Warning Project’s Statistical Risk Assessment ranked Afghanistan second in the world for the risk of a new onset of mass killing of civilians in 2020-21.
The ongoing conflict between farming and herding populations in Nigeria exemplifies how climate change can intensify conflict between communities and place certain populations at increased risk of mass atrocities. Nigeria is pioneering a new initiative to change how it raises animals for food and other products. If successful, this system could serve as a model for other countries also threatened by farmer-herder violence related to climate change.
On the fourth anniversary of the Burmese military’s genocidal attacks on the Rohingya population we urge the world not to forget the victims and survivors.
A recent electoral crisis in the Central African Republic drew renewed attention to mass atrocity risks civilian populations have faced since late 2012. In the wake of the December 2020 election, opposition groups disputed the election results and armed rebels mounted coordinated attacks against civilians that continue today. The country now faces what one top United Nations official calls an “unprecedented humanitarian crisis.”
The Simon-Skjodt Center is deeply concerned about the growing risk of mass atrocities in and around the southern Syrian city of Dara’a, where civilian casualties are mounting.
In this interview, Delphin Rukumbuzi Ntanyoma, a PhD candidate and expert on Eastern Congo, discusses ongoing violence and risk of future mass atrocities against the Banyamulenge ethnic group in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He describes conflict drivers, high-risk areas meriting additional attention, and concludes with recommendations for policymakers focused on atrocity prevention.
In this interview, Congolese peace, justice, and genocide scholar Dr. Naupess K. Kibiswa answers questions about drivers of violent conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Congolese govermment's response, details potential triggers of new violence, and concludes with recommendations for to the US government on how to help prevent mass atrocities.
In this interview, Sylvain Saluseke, a Congolese pro-democracy activist, discusses ongoing violence and risk of future mass atrocities in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He describes conflict drivers, high-risk areas meriting additional attention, and concludes with recommendations for policymakers focused on atrocity prevention.
Accessibility to archives of international tribunals is key to understanding and remembering genocides, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.
Perpetrators are using deliberate starvation of civilians as a weapon of war. Here we examine the South Sudanese government's use of intentional starvation as a way to persecute targeted groups.
Find information on historical cases of genocide and other atrocities.