THE QUESTION
Why are mass crimes so rarely prosecuted?
The root causes, deepest first. Disagreements stay on the map.
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This room’s map
Root causes on the left, outlined in green. Tap a claim to see its chain.
a link the room certified contested: the room could not settle it
Every claim on this map, with its own address (18)
Each page says what the room certified around the claim, with the counts, and can be cited, embedded, or read as JSON.
The merged map
Folded from 7 rooms (all demos). 2 aren’t counted: nobody has vouched for them.
why
Every room on this question built its own map; these are folded into one. The same claim raised in two rooms is one item, and each link shows how many rooms found it. Where rooms found opposite things, each finding stands, with how many of the rooms that judged the link found it.
1 link found by several rooms · 0 contested · 39 links in all.
found by two or more independent rooms one room another room agrees in its own words, or by a path only rooms that do not count rejected by most rooms that judged it a dispute between rooms
In a claim’s corner, one figure for each room that raised it; past five, a group with the number. Where the caption leaves no room for figures, the number alone (×7).
Under a cause: in how many of the rooms that judged actions against it one of their actions reduces it. Green: at least one room found such an action; grey: none did; uncoloured: no room judged actions against it. The numbers are the actions, listed under the map.
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THE ROOMS IN THIS MAP
Why do atrocities go unpunished?
demo · stands 1 vouch from its source, trusted steward _849bc4bfa2
⚠ demo · up to 38 cards word for word the same as in 6 other rooms here
⚠ demo · votes unusually like 4 other rooms here: agreement up to 1.0 beyond chance on 152 shared pairs, where 0.3 is typical here
counts its verdicts weigh on this map — vouched for by the steward of “Why are mass crimes so rarely prosecuted?”
Why do the people behind atrocities escape justice?
⚠ demo · up to 4 cards word for word the same as in 6 other rooms here
counts its verdicts weigh on this map — steward trusted by this instance
Why are mass crimes so rarely prosecuted?
⚠ demo · up to 4 cards word for word the same as in 6 other rooms here
counts its verdicts weigh on this map — steward trusted by this instance
Why do atrocities go unpunished?
demo · stands 2 vouches from its source, trusted steward _849bc4bfa2
⚠ demo · up to 38 cards word for word the same as in 6 other rooms here
⚠ demo · votes unusually like 4 other rooms here: agreement up to 1.0 beyond chance on 152 shared pairs, where 0.3 is typical here
counts its verdicts weigh on this map — vouched for by the steward of “Why do atrocities go unpunished?”
Why do atrocities go unpunished?
demo · stands 3 vouches from its source, trusted steward _849bc4bfa2
⚠ demo · up to 38 cards word for word the same as in 6 other rooms here
⚠ demo · votes unusually like 4 other rooms here: agreement up to 1.0 beyond chance on 152 shared pairs, where 0.3 is typical here
counts its verdicts weigh on this map — vouched for by the steward of “Why do atrocities go unpunished?”
Why do atrocities go unpunished? ×2
⚠ demo · up to 38 cards word for word the same as in 6 other rooms here
⚠ demo · votes unusually like 4 other rooms here: agreement up to 1.0 beyond chance on 170 shared pairs, where 0.3 is typical here
shown, not counted its links are drawn dotted grey and are never a verdict — unverified: no verified organisation, no trusted steward, no vouch from a standing room within reach
A room counts once someone accountable stands behind it. ● settled before any map was public; ○ after.
RAISED IN MORE THAN ONE ROOM · 37
| Every state judges the case by what it costs them | 7 rooms | on the map |
| Warnings were clear months before anyone acted | 7 rooms | on the map |
| The people in danger are never in the room where it is decided | 7 rooms | on the map |
| Acting early is politically costly and acting late is not punished | 7 rooms | on the map |
| Evidence is gathered for a trial that may happen in fifteen years | 6 rooms | on the map |
| Nobody has ever costed prevention against the response that followed | 5 rooms | not on the map: no link to it was certified |
| A warning that is wrong destroys the credibility of the next one | 5 rooms | not on the map: no link to it was certified |
| Local knowledge is treated as bias and distance is treated as objectiv | 5 rooms | not on the map: no link to it was certified |
| Prevention has no budget line anywhere | 5 rooms | not on the map: no link to it was certified |
| By the time it is a briefing it is a statistic | 5 rooms | not on the map: no link to it was certified |
| Staff who witness it are bound by agreements they did not choose | 5 rooms | not on the map: no link to it was certified |
| The same states arming a party also vote on protecting its victims | 5 rooms | on the map |
WHAT THE ROOMS WOULD DO
Each room judged its own actions against its own root causes, at three quarters of its own votes. Nothing here is a vote across rooms: it counts, cause by cause, what each room found. A room appears once its Actions stage has closed. Each number on the map marks a root cause that action reduces.
Reduced in 2 of 6 rooms:
Every state judges the case by what it costs them
① A standing obligation to answer an early warning in writing, within days · Why do atrocities go unpunished?
② One coordinated testimony, shared, instead of eleven · Why do the people behind atrocities escape justice?
Reduced in 1 of 5 rooms:
Early warning systems produce reports nobody is obliged to answer
③ Fund prevention as a line, not as a response · Why do atrocities go unpunished?
④ Protect the mandate of an organisation that speaks · Why do atrocities go unpunished?
Naming it triggers obligations, so it is not named
③ Fund prevention as a line, not as a response · Why do atrocities go unpunished?
④ Protect the mandate of an organisation that speaks · Why do atrocities go unpunished?
So the organisation that knows most says least
① A standing obligation to answer an early warning in writing, within days · Why do atrocities go unpunished?
③ Fund prevention as a line, not as a response · Why do atrocities go unpunished?
④ Protect the mandate of an organisation that speaks · Why do atrocities go unpunished?
Speaking publicly ends the access that lets us feed people
① A standing obligation to answer an early warning in writing, within days · Why do atrocities go unpunished?
④ Protect the mandate of an organisation that speaks · Why do atrocities go unpunished?
Reduced in 1 of 1 room:
Coverage decides which crisis reaches a minister's desk
⑤ Build and fund the options between a statement and troops · Why are mass crimes so rarely prosecuted?
⑥ A mechanism to lift sanctions when conditions are met · Why are mass crimes so rarely prosecuted?
Justice is offered as a substitute for protection
⑦ Report back to every source what their evidence produced · Why do the people behind atrocities escape justice?
Nobody coordinated, so we relived it eleven times
⑧ Fund local organisations directly, with the insurance barrier removed · Why do the people behind atrocities escape justice?
The alternative to doing nothing is presented as full-scale war
⑨ A standing guarantor arrangement for ceasefires, agreed in advance · Why are mass crimes so rarely prosecuted?
⑥ A mechanism to lift sanctions when conditions are met · Why are mass crimes so rarely prosecuted?
We were warned to be careful because the diaspora is emotional
⑦ Report back to every source what their evidence produced · Why do the people behind atrocities escape justice?
No room found an action that reduces these:
- Acting early is politically costly and acting late is not punished · judged in 6 rooms
- Officials are advised that a wrong word creates liability · judged in 1 room
- So the safest position is a principle nobody applies · judged in 1 room
- The people in danger are never in the room where it is decided · judged in 1 room
FOUND BY 2 ROOMS · 1
| Acting early is politically costly and acting late is not punished | → | Warnings were clear months before anyone acted |
FOUND BY 1 ROOM · 38
| Nobody was ever sacked for caution | → | Reform of the veto requires the consent of those who hold it |
| → | The tools between words and troops were never built | |
| → | An ambassador's career is not made by being early | |
| Nobody coordinated, so we relived it eleven times | → | The people in danger are never in the room where it is decided |
| → | Being from here is treated as a conflict of interest | |
| The alternative to doing nothing is presented as full-scale war | → | Officials are advised that a wrong word creates liability |
| → | Nobody offers the option between a statement and an invasion | |
| We were warned to be careful because the diaspora is emotional | → | Acting early is politically costly and acting late is not punished |
| → | Being from here is treated as a conflict of interest | |
| What we know we cannot say and what we can say is thin | → | By the time it is publishable it is history |
| → | Every state judges the case by what it costs them | |
| A minister will not spend capital on a country with no domestic consti | → | Sanctions are slow, blunt, and hurt the wrong people first |
| Coverage decides which crisis reaches a minister's desk | → | Domestic politics decides which suffering is legible |
| Early warning systems produce reports nobody is obliged to answer | → | Warnings were clear months before anyone acted |
| Justice is offered as a substitute for protection | → | Acting early is politically costly and acting late is not punished |
| Naming it triggers obligations, so it is not named | → | Acting early is politically costly and acting late is not punished |
| Speaking publicly ends the access that lets us feed people | → | Evidence is gathered for a trial that may happen in fifteen years |
| The report was published in a language we do not read | → | Nobody came back to tell us what happened to what we sent |
| The same states arming a party also vote on protecting its victims | → | So warnings are hedged until they are unarguable, which is too late |
| Domestic politics decides which suffering is legible | → | An ambassador's career is not made by being early |
| Officials are advised that a wrong word creates liability | → | So the safest position is a principle nobody applies |
| The people in danger are never in the room where it is decided | → | Acting early is politically costly and acting late is not punished |
| So the safest position is a principle nobody applies | → | By the time it is publishable it is history |
| → | Nobody offers the option between a statement and an invasion | |
| Nobody offers the option between a statement and an invasion | → | Every state judges the case by what it costs them |
| Every state judges the case by what it costs them | ⇄ | So the organisation that knows most says least |
| → | Acting early is politically costly and acting late is not punished | |
| → | The people who decide have never met anyone from there | |
| So the organisation that knows most says least | ⇄ | Every state judges the case by what it costs them |
| → | Each summary removes the part that would require action | |
| → | Warnings were clear months before anyone acted | |
| Acting early is politically costly and acting late is not punished | → | Being from here is treated as a conflict of interest |
| → | Every proposal is heard as the beginning of an occupation | |
| The people who decide have never met anyone from there | → | Balance is a property of coverage, not of what happened |
| Balance is a property of coverage, not of what happened | → | We are asked to testify for a court and not asked what would have stop |
| Being from here is treated as a conflict of interest | → | Our own organisations are told they lack capacity |
| Our own organisations are told they lack capacity | → | Nobody came back to tell us what happened to what we sent |
| We are asked to testify for a court and not asked what would have stop | → | A generation grows up in a place designed for six months |