The Kurds, like many recent victims of genocide, fall into a class of what genocide scholar Helen Fein calls “implicated victims.” Although most of the victims of genocide are apolitical civilians, the political or military leaders of a national, ethnic, or religious group often make decisions (to claim basic rights, to stage protests, to launch military revolt, or even to plot terrorist attacks) that give perpetrators an excuse for crackdown and bystanders an excuse to look away.
