Racism continues to exert an insidious hold on governments, communities and individuals around the world, causing immeasurable human suffering. While the roots of racism are often buried and its everyday manifestations subtle, our team at the Global Initiative for Justice, Truth & Reconciliation (GIJTR) has worked to identify telltale patterns and signs of how racism leads to large-scale human rights abuses and genocides.
This project, Understanding Racism as a Risk Factor in Atrocity Crimes, was designed with practicality in mind, in order to provide stakeholders on the local, national and global levels with specific action items to prevent future race-motivated atrocities. As part of this project, we have created an actionable toolkit with real-world examples that outlines 13 risk factors of racist practices that can lead to atrocity crimes. These risk factors are:
1. Record of human rights abuses targeting particular racial groups
Such as past acts of genocide, slavery, war crimes, and attacks by extremist groups
2. Policies and legislation that directly limit the rights of or targeting a particular group and/or lack of protections for minority groups
Laws around segregation, restricting marriages, and cultural erasure
3. Presence of structural racism and policies/practices that privilege one race over others
Inequitable access to education, political power, and fair treatment in the justice system
4. Impunity for crimes perpetrated against particular groups
Little to no punishment for race-motivated crimes, and lack of accountability and follow-through on racial justice and reparations
5. Denial and resistance to acknowledgement of history of racism
Erasing histories of racism and genocide in education curriculum; resistance to holidays or events commemorating past atrocities
6. Colonial and repressive security sector
Racial profiling, disproportionate violence in “crowd control” measures, emergency laws that erode fundamental rights, use of military tactics against specific groups
RELATED PODCAST | The Making of Atrocities: Is Racism a Risk Factor?
7. Ideologies based on the supremacy of a certain race or on extremist versions of identity
Existence of racist extremist groups (especially with members holding public office and/or influencing policy makers), narratives that expand negative stereotypes such as one group “stealing” opportunities from another
8. Spread of hate speech, xenophobia and racist sentiments
Unchecked use of hate speech by politicians and other public figures – especially on social media, lack of laws addressing hate speech and misinformation
9. Patterns of racial targeting and violence
Widespread murder and torture of specific groups, vandalizing property and businesses, attempts to intimidate in public spaces
10. Situation of armed conflict or civil war
Conflicts where opposing sides identify with a different racial groups, targeting of entire races in response to terrorist activities committed by extremists
11. Political, economic, social, and environmental instability
Rise of an autocratic regime and/or military coup, laws targeting human rights defenders, economic instability, climate disasters
12. Triggering factors
Elections with increasing hate speech, mass protests, abrupt regime changes, watershed moments such as the killing of a cultural or religious icon
13. Signs of an intent to destroy in whole or in part a protected group on the basis of race
Targeted ethnic cleansing, policies impacting women’s reproductive rights, official documentation of plans to target a particular racial or ethnic group
This is simply a high-level summary of the risk factors identified by GIJTR. Download the full Indicators and Assessment Tool here >>
Not all risk factors need to be present for atrocity crimes to occur, but our research shows that the likelihood of violations and abuses increases with the number of indicators present. On the flip-side — while no society is free from racism — if a community has implemented policies and fail-safes that help mitigate these risks, then there could be a low probability of crimes occurring.
In addition to identifying these risk factors, this project also published five case studies of racism directly leading to atrocity crimes in Brazil, Colombia, Namibia, South Africa, and Sri Lanka. (They are each available to download in Spanish and Português at the bottom of this page.)
While these case studies are globally-focused, there are strategies and tools within them for countries struggling to come to terms with the legacies of historical racism today, including the United States. For instance, Brazil has implemented laws mandating education curriculum about Afro-Brazilian history and culture to combat its long legacy of slavery and racism, and the media has made a great effort to increase representation. In Namibia, the country is still reeling from the effects of apartheid and German colonization – and thwarted legal attempts for formal reparations. Economic disparity continues to run rampant, due to the historical dispossession of land, as do subtle racist biases around everything from interethnic marriages to the inclusivity of certain national days. By studying these successes and challenges, GIJTR hopes to provide a clear path forward in developing meaningful and lasting accountability, reconciliation, and justice measures.
About the Global Initiative for Justice, Truth & Reconciliation: GIJTR is a flagship program of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, a global network of more than 370 historic sites and museums in 80 countries. As experts in truth-telling, forensic analysis, documenting human rights abuses, victims’ advocacy and reparative justice, the GIJTR team works alongside communities to amplify the voices of survivors and inspire collective action in countries struggling to confront human rights violations. By addressing past trauma, we change the future.