It’s Not Enough to Say, “Never Again”
This is an incomplete list of genocides since World War Two, since Hitler.
It’s not enough just to say Never Again. That Never Again button which has been on my backpack for years may have kept me aligned with my pacifism, but that just isn’t enough, as you can see from the list below. Look at these numbers. Another thirteen million people have been murdered in genocides, since World War Two alone. If you add in the political genocides of Stalin and Mao, that number jumps to more than 93 million human beings!
If this is to end, we must realize that whenever a human being dies, we all die. We must understand that, whenever there is genocide in the world, we all have bloodstained hands. Only then, I suggest, will we take the necessary steps to end the wholesale slaughter of those with whom we differ. Only then will we do what it takes to end the greed and hatred that fuels our monstrous deeds. Only then, when we know that Mind is the source of unwholesome actions as well as wholesome actions, will we take hold of our minds. Only when our mindfulness has made us skillful in our actions, committed to non-violence, and dedicated to the cultivation of compassion, will this evil end.
| Country and Dates | Estimated Number of Victims |
| Cambodia, 4/75-1/79 | 2,400,000 |
| Pakistan, 3/71-12/71 – in 7 months | 2,000,000 |
| Sudan, 9/83-present -- 500 each day! | 2,500,000 |
| Afghanistan, 4/78-4/92 | 1,800,000 |
| Indonesia, 11/65-7/66 | 750,000 |
| Rwanda, 4/94-7/94 –in 3½ months! | 750,000 |
| China, 5/66-3/75 | 625,000 |
| Sudan, 10/56-3/72 | 500,000 |
| Angola, 11/75-2001 | 500,000 |
| South Vietnam, 1/65-4/75 | 450,000 |
| Uganda, 12/80-1/86 | 350,000 |
| Uganda, 2/72-4/79 | 225,000 |
| Bosnia, 5/92-11/95 | 225,000 |
| Iraq, 3/88-6/91 | 180,000 |
| Indonesia, 12/75-7/92 | 150,000 |
| Burundi, 10/65-12/73 | 140,000 |
| Guatemala, 7/78-12/96 | 130,000 |
| China, 3/59-12/59 | 65,000 |
| Philippines, 9/72-6/76 | 60,000 |
| El. Salvador, 1/80-12/89 | 50,000 |
| Burundi, 10/93-5/94 | 50,000 |
| Iraq, 6/63-3/75 | 45,000 |
| Somalia, 5/88-1/91 | 35,000 |
| Algeria, 7/62-12/62 | 19,000 |
| Syria, 4/81-2/82 | 18,000 |
| Rwanda, 12/63-6/64 | 16,000 |
| Iran, 6/81-12/92 | 15,000 |
| Argentina, 3/76-12/80 | 14,000 |
| Ethiopia, 7/76-12/79 | 10,000 |
| Serbia, 12/98-7/99 | 10,000 |
| Pakistan, 2/73-7/77 | 7500 |
| Chile, 9/73-12/76 | 7500 |
| Congo-K, 2/64-1/65 | 5,000 |
| Burma, 1/78-12/78 | 5,000 |
| Congo-K, 3/77-12/79 | 3,500 |
