The Littered Masses: Atrocities Unforgiven and Unresolved
1. The Paraguayan War
The Paraguayan War (1864-1870) is known as the most bloody and violent interstate war ever fought in Latin America. This conflict involved Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil and was over the previous Uruguayan war. This bloody dispute killed thousands of people, yet somehow it remains as one of the biggest hidden war crimes in history. Additionally, Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay have yet to attempt to repair this mass genocide;no steps for reconciliation have been made.
2. Višegrad Massacres
The Višegrad Massacres (1992) were acts of mass murder committed against the Bosnian population of the town and municipality of Višegrad. There were thousands killed as the Serbian military and police officers who “ethnically cleansed” the town of all non-Serbs (with 13,000 Muslims being killed and expelled). Justice has yet to be entirely fulfilled. This atrocity in Bosnia, committed around 30 years ago seems to be unforgiven, unforgotten, and unresolved.
3. The Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan genocide was a mass slaughter of Tutsi, Twa, and moderate Hutus in Rwanda, which took place between neighbor and neighbor, family and family. Between the 7th of April and the 15th of July in 1994, approximately 500,000 to 1,000,000 people were killed. This mass genocide occurred because the previous imperialistic Belgians favored the Tutsis, who supposedly had more ethnocentric features, over the Hutus: and, finally, after years of oppression, the Hutus lashed out. The Rwandan reparation has broken ground, nonetheless, victims and survivors say that enough has yet been done. However, different from other countries who have experienced genocide, Rwanda has decided to partake in restorative justice.
Restorative justice is a criminal justice system that focuses on the meetings between victims and offenders to create a transformational result. Rwanda, in particular, utilizes this system as a contemporary expression of a timeless manifestation of justice. Restorative justice focuses on recognition as a first step, followed by a joint effort of offenders and victims to work together to create a more equitable society and to repair parts or pieces that have been damaged by the aforementioned offenders. There is a dire need for restorative justice, as the deficit in recognition and popularization of these “hidden” war crimes is extremely lacking in comparison to the more well-known ones. While the Holocaust is more well-known, understandably so because of the multitude of people killed, it is also important to recognize that other war crimes similarly parallel it; not to discount the magnitude of the Holocaust in any way, though. War crimes that have been perpetuated throughout history need to be taught to all. And, if one wants to serve as an advocate for justice, they should keep themselves informed about the atrocities that seem “hidden” around the world--for, as MLK stated, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
