I. Identity Documents and Genocide: Case Studies 42 The reason behind the brutal mass killings cannot be reduced to ethnicity alone. Research conducted with ordinary Hutu perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide, as opposed to the genocide’s planners, indicates that they killed for many reasons, including: “opportunism, the urge to gain materially or personally from the downfall of a certain group, careerism, a sincere belief that the country was in danger or simply the desire to be part of something.”101 The national identification card as a symbol of Hutu-Tutsi divisiveness objectified these differences. Rwanda’s post-genocide government took steps to address the problematic national identification card in 1996 when it removed the “ethnic group” category from the cards.102 The government, which was then becoming increasingly authoritarian, also sought to replace these categories with the “shared or superordinate identity” of “Rwandans” to promote national reconciliation through non-legal means.103 In 2001, the government took the approach further by introducing a law to prevent “divisionism” by making ethnic self-identification a criminal offense with penalties of up to 30 years’ imprisonment and fines up to US$8,000.104 The Organic Law of 2003 went on to forbid “ethnic ideology” and “genocide mentality” entirely.105 The government put further restrictions in place in 2008 to prevent the use of the terms “Hutu” and “Tutsi” in public, but especially in the political sphere.106 The government replaced the paper identification cards with plastic electronic ones that continued to exclude racial categories.107 As one Rwandan put it, nearly 90 years after the Belgians first required Rwandans to identify themselves solely as either “Hutu” or “Tutsi,” “We celebrate an ID card which does not allow anyone to hunt us on basis of our ethnicity.”108 Genocide of the Rohingya in Myanmar “[The National Verification Card (NVC)] is the latest step of genocide against the Rohingya.” - Statement by the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights, March 2019109 For the past half-century, union-and state-level laws and policies in Myanmar have contributed to the marginalization and dehumanization of the Rohingya people, leaving them at high risk of abuse. Periodically, the discriminatory laws and policies targeting Rohingya aided in the commission of large-scale mass atrocities, including crimes against humanity and genocide.110 At the union-level, the 1982 Citizenship Law effectively removed the de facto citizenship rights of the Rohingya that they had enjoyed since the early decades of independence, eventually leaving them 101 Smeulers and Hoex, “Studying the Micro-Dynamics of the Rwandan Genocide,” p. 445. 102 Prevent Genocide International, “Group Classification on National ID Cards as a Factor in Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing.” 103 Sigrun Marie Moss, “Beyond Conflict and Spoilt Identities: How Rwandan Leaders Justify Single Recategorization Model for Post-Conflict Reconciliation,” Journal of Social and Political Psychology, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2014, p. 435. 104 Id. at p. 438. 105 Id. at p. 436. 106 Ibid. 107 Tabaro, “The Passport to Death: Story of Rwanda’s Notorious ID,” KTPress. 108 Ibid. 109 Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights, “History of Rohingya Citizenship in Myanmar,” March 2019. 110 See, for example, Fortify Rights, “They Gave Them Long Swords”: Preparations for Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity Against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State, Myanmar, July 2018, https://www.fortifyrights.org/downloads/Fortify_ Rights_Long_Swords_July_2018.pdf. Fortify Rights, Policies of Persecution: Ending Abusive Policies Against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, February 2014, https://www.fortifyrights.org/downloads/Policies_of_Persecution_Feb_25_ Fortify_Rights.pdf, p. 5-6.