Introduction: Non-State Aspects of Genocide

The sixth issue of Genocide Studies International takes up the issue of non-state aspects of genocide. The editors originally conceived the topic as non-state actors and genocide, with the term "non-state actor" referring to non-governmental organizations and institutions; official and unofficial political organizations and groups; civic organizations; political and social movements; terrorist organizations; "deep state" networks; paramilitary or armed rebel groups; corporations; criminal organizations; educational, religious, spiritual, cultural, artistic, athletic institutions, organizations, and groups; and any other such entity that is not part of a national, regional, or local government or an international organization created by and comprised of state members, committing or complicit in genocide, bystanders to genocide, victims of genocide, interveners against genocide, or supporters of victims after genocide. GSI received excellent submissions within this range of issues, including a research note that considers the role of NGOs during the Rwanda Genocide and the functioning of the so-called Islamic State as a pseudo-state terrorist organization committing genocide in a war of conquest against various non-state minority groups, including the Yezidis, who have been relegated to the margins of twentieth and twenty-first century politics because of their non-state or low status even among minority groups. But, as we received submissions in response to the call for papers, it became clear to us that the term "non-state" is much more complex and far-reaching than we had previously considered, and refers not only to types of actors but also levels of impact and activity. This is demonstrated by a submission that is one of the first works to look at members of a post-genocide diaspora of perpetrator, rather than victim, group (Germany) and their role in Holocaust denial and identity construction, which is at variance with recognition of the genocide and contemporary notions of German identity in the home state. It then became apparent that even two manuscripts not originally intended for inclusion in this special issue are in fact of great relevance to non-state aspects of genocide. Contrary to the typical focus of victim group political self-advocacy, one of these highlights the means by which memory is transmitted across victim group generations in forms intentionally removed from state intrusion and control. The other sheds light on the complex and intricate process by which genocide has reshaped gender norms in Rwandan society, with both state and non-state forces being integral. With these varied articles in mind, the topic of this special issue evolved into "non-state aspects of genocide.''

The first two articles in this issue, Fazil Moradi and Kjell Anderson's "The Islamic State's Êzîdî Genocide in Iraq: The 'Sinjār Operations'" and Hannibal Travis' "Why Was Benghazi 'Saved,' But Sinjar Allowed to Be Lost? New Failures of Genocide Prevention, 2011-2015," both offer new data about and insights into the unfolding destruction of Yezidis through intentional, coordinated action by the so-called Islamic State (IS). Moradi and Anderson's contribution is multifaceted. Based on fieldwork and direct interviews of Yezidis and others in Iraq, the authors have raised for analysis important aspects of the process of destruction and have documented the genocidal nature of the violence currently being directed against this people. The result is a tightly presented case that combines direct victim and eyewitness testimony with an international human rights law analysis. The article also provides very useful background information on the Yezidis that allows the reader to situate the present-day violence they face within the broader history of their oppression and subjugation to mass violence. The Iraqi state and the world community have abandoned the Yezidis to a terrible fate. The authors capture the coincidence of this abandonment and the totalizing destruction that is at the core of IS ideology:

What Şingālî and 23 other female and male interlocutors had witnessed, brings forth the moments before the arrival of the IS fighters and following the indifference of the Iraqi Federal State and withdrawal of the pêshmerga. As a territory with its inhabitants, Sinjār became a world delivered up to the IS...