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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Over the past 100 years, human history has witnessed |
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the horror of the Holocaust and other genocides, and in 2009, the |
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Texas Legislature established the Texas Holocaust and Genocide |
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Commission to further educate Texans about those tragedies and to |
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coordinate memorial events; and |
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WHEREAS, Because numerous genocides have originated in April |
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or have stemmed from events that occurred in April, many |
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institutions around the world have designated that month as a time |
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for raising awareness about how such catastrophes become possible; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, In April 1933, shortly after Adolf Hitler became |
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chancellor of Germany, the Nazis issued decrees that defined |
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millions of Germans as non-Aryan, that banned most non-Aryans from |
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the practice of law and from employment in the civil service, and |
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that restricted their enrollment in schools of higher education; as |
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the ferocious campaign to protect the purity of Aryan blood |
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progressed, millions of people became caught up in the increasingly |
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murderous system; the victims included individuals from many |
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ethnic, national, religious, and secular groups, together with such |
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perceived undesirables as homosexuals, persons with disabilities, |
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prisoners of war, trade unionists, and Communists; targeted for |
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total extermination were the Jews and the Roma; by the time World |
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War II ended, approximately six million Jews, two-thirds of those |
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living in Europe, had perished; estimates for Roma losses range |
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from about 250,000 to 500,000, including approximately |
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three-fourths of those in Germany and half of those in Austria; and |
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WHEREAS, In April 1975, the Khmer Rouge entered Phnom Penh, |
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the capital of Cambodia, and initiated the evacuation of that and |
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all other Cambodian cities and towns in order to reorganize the |
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country as a classless peasant society; during the reign of the |
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Khmer Rouge, it is estimated that more than two million people died |
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as a result of torture and execution, as well as of disease, |
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starvation, and overwork on the new communal farms; and |
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WHEREAS, In April 1992, Serbian forces laid siege to |
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Sarajevo, the Muslim-controlled capital of the newly independent |
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country of Bosnia and Herzegovina; the attack on Sarajevo began a |
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period of "ethnic cleansing," which was aimed at expelling Muslims |
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from territory claimed by the Serbs; among the atrocities that |
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followed, the most notorious was the massacre at Srebenica, in |
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which some 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed; and |
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WHEREAS, In April 1994, the airplane of the Rwandan |
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president, a member of the Hutu ethnic group, was shot down; the |
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attack set in motion the slaying of moderate Hutu leaders by Hutu |
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hardliners and the slaughter, over the next three months, of |
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800,000 Tutsis; in April 2003, the displacement of Darfurians began |
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in Sudan, leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths and the |
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displacement of millions; and |
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WHEREAS, In 2008, the Prevention of Genocide Task Force, |
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convened by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the |
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American Academy of Diplomacy, and the United States Institute of |
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Peace, issued a report stating that in order to stop future |
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genocides and mass atrocities, effective prevention measures must |
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be implemented before a crisis erupts; central to this notion was |
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the idea that educating the public serves to protect individual |
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rights and promotes a culture of lawfulness that can help to prevent |
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future genocides; and |
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WHEREAS, Genocide often begins with the stratification of a |
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community in such a way that one group is ostracized and dehumanized |
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and a spirit of intolerance is created that can lead to the mass |
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murder of the targeted group and its supporters; it is hoped that |
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learning about past and current genocides will create a recognition |
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of the need for society to act when presented with instances of |
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hatred and intolerance and will encourage people to rally to the |
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protection of individual rights; and |
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WHEREAS, The Texas House of Representatives has chosen the |
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month of April to emphasize the need to heighten public awareness of |
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the early stages of human behavior that spawn acts of genocide, the |
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need to build strong communities and prevent future genocides, and |
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the need at the state and national levels to continue to honor all |
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who have been victimized by genocide; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas |
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Legislature, 1st Called Session, hereby recognize the month of |
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April 2011 as Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month as a tribute |
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to all whose lives have been touched by genocide and as a reminder |
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of the need for the protection of human rights and for vigilance |
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against the forces of intolerance. |