Q: What
is the significance of the Taliban leaders' plan to mark Hindus living in
Afghanistan by placing identity labels on their clothing?
A: The
announcement resonated with the chilling echoes of the past. It suggests that,
in a country already plagued by preconditions for genocide -- large scale civil
conflict, a history of human rights abuses, leaders with an exclusionary
ideology, and a devastated economy -- the chances of a humanitarian disaster on
the scale of genocide is more likely than ever.
Q: What
is the rationale for policies that single out and identify particular
minority groups in this
way?
A: In
some cases the forced identification of a minority group is a terror tactic.
These policies make targeted groups feel singled out, obvious, isolated, and at
risk. Forced public identification makes it difficult for members of the
targeted groups to move about, gather, or act with relative anonymity, which
makes resistance movements less likely to form or to succeed.
Q: Aren't
there other more efficient ways to track the movements of minority groups?
A: States
use these tactics because they make it easier to monitor groups, and because
they are effective at limiting the actions of minorities. These markers serve
as bureaucratic identifiers that facilitate more efficient efforts at keeping
track of, repressing, rounding up, and even exterminating minority groups.
Q: What
does history tell us about such tactics?
A: There
are too many eerie parallels throughout history. The Nazis forced Jews
throughout Europe to wear yellow Stars of David, and made homosexuals don pink
triangles. Also during the Second World War, the fascist Croatian regime forced
Serbs to wear blue armbands. In the 1970s, targeted Cambodians living near the
Cambodia-Vietnam border were made to wear blue and white checkered scarves, as
opposed to the red and white checkered scarves of the murderous Khmer Rouge
regime. In the 1990s, in some
Serb-controlled portions of Bosnia, Muslims were forced to wear white armbands.
And, using a different kind of identification tactic, Rwandan Hutu extremists
used hate radio broadcasts to publicly identify individuals as Tutsi or Tutsi
sympathizers, and to call for their extermination.
Q: What
might we expect to see in the coming months in Afghanistan?
A: Given
the Taliban's history, and the history of state-sponsored repression and
slaughter in the 20th century, the forced marking of religious
minorities within Afghanistan may be a warning sign of unspeakable things to
come. Many around the world expressed outrage in March when the Taliban regime
destroyed two statues of Buddha in Bamiyan, Afghanistan. The regime has also
come under fire for its severe restrictions on women, and for its support of
Osama bin Laden's terrorist network. Yet these actions pale in comparison with
the potential implications of this most recent announcement. We can only hope
that concerned members of the global community also raise their voices to decry
what could be a step toward the first preventable major human rights disaster
of the new century.
Matthew
Krain studies revolutions, civil wars, ethnic conflict, genocide, international
intervention, democratization, state building, globalization, and international
political economy. He specializes more broadly in comparative politics,
international relations, and political sociology. An assistant professor of
political science at The College of Wooster since 1998, Krain received his
bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton and his
Ph.D. from Indiana University. Krain is the author of Repression and Accommodation in Post-Revolutionary
States, which was published in June 2000. He also edited Globalization and the Challenges of a New Century,
a collection of major articles and position papers on the concept of
globalization, and has contributed articles to a number of scholarly journals.
In addition, Krain has served as a consultant evaluating early warning systems
to help prevent genocides and politicides.