X

Christian Living

africamatters 01/30/08

"Clear Ethnic Cleansing"

Today, the top American envoy for Africa, Jendayi Frazer, said there's "clear ethnic cleansing" currently going on in Kenya. But she didn't go so far as to call it "genocide." (Click here to read the full story.)

This poses a question…what's the difference between genocide and "ethnic cleansing?"

As journalists, we are taught to always choose our words carefully in our news stories, for our very words may betray our political or moral beliefs. But when using the two of the scariest words that can be uttered - genocide and ethnic cleansing - how do you distinguish between them?

In 2004, Secretary of State Colin Powell made headlines when he called the atrocities in Darfur "genocide." At least 400,000 souls lost their lives in the systematic killing of the black Darfurians by the Arabic militias.

Ten years earlier, the name "Rwanda" forever became linked with the word "genocide." Some estimates say a million people were killed in 100 days.

There seems to be some indistinguishable line that is crossed when "ethnic cleansing" turns in to outright genocide. But where is that line? Is it a number of dead, raped, displaced? Do you use that term once a certain percentage of a people group are erased? Who has the authority to deem it "genocide?"

The two terms are defined in the dictionary thus…

ethnic cleansing: the elimination of an unwanted ethnic group or groups from a society, as by genocide or forced emigration

genocide: the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group

In the wake of the horrific genocide of six million Jews during World War II, the United Nations drafted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Article 2 lists five actions that qualify as genocide:

  • "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;
  • Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group."

One pitfall of reporting an ongoing conflict is getting trapped in merely ticking off numbers...statistics to fit in under thirty seconds.

                          "…800 killed in Kenya…"  

"…and in other news, the death toll has reached a thousand..."

How easily we all forget that that number represents many separate, unique lives that have been snuffed out…

Someone's "Daddy" was killed.

Another person's grandmother was beaten.

A son has been taken away.

A favorite cousin will not be there for the next family gathering.

The Bible says that God knows when a sparrow falls to the ground. (Matthew 10:29-30)  How much more must He weep when He sees His creation hurting? He says in Psalms that He knit each one of those people together in their mother's womb. He knows each name. To Him, a death toll is not an arbitrary number.

If the names are not known to the world, know that God knows their names. Every single one of them.

Pray that this "ethnic cleansing," "genocide," or whatever term you want to use will come to a swift end.

And that repentance, revival and reconciliation will break forth in Kenya.

The e-mails continue to pour in from Kenyans around the world. As Lewis K. wrote to me earlier today…

"God has not rejected us, He knows our pain, He knows our troubles and i believe if we humble ourselves in His presence and pray He will hear from heaven and heal our souls, heal our land and rescue His people.  (II Chronicles 7:14)

Praise the Name of the Lord for His mercy endures forever."

Please e-mail me if you have any comments.

Give Now