Akvatika Island genocide

Akvatika Island genocide
Part of the Lead-up to the OU intervention in Akvatika
Aerial view of a labor camp on Akvatika Island.
Location	Akvatika (Shaoyu) Island, Zloveshchiy
Date	October 22, 1969 – September 30, 2023 (1969-10-22 – 2023-09-30)
Target	Civilians living on Akvatika Island; Shaoyunese people
Attack type	Genocide, forced labor
Deaths	c. 8 million
Perpetrators	Zloveshchiyan Security Service

The Akvatika Island genocide, also known as the Shaoyu Island genocide, was the systematic oppression and murder of civilians living on Akvatika Island under the administration of Zloveshchiy from 1969. Orchestrated predominantly by the Zloveshchiyan Security Service and mainly aimed at political dissidents, but also anyone who questioned the regime on the island or supported an end to Zloveshchiy's administration. Civilians determined by the state to be dissidents were often placed in labor camps and many would later be executed.

Before the Zloveshchiyan administration, under the Jackian-administered Niao Dao, civilians on the island were under similar laws and human rights protections to those living on mainland Jackson. When Zloveshchiy begun its administration of the island in 1969, most of these laws and protections were removed from the people living on the island, which lead to thousands of people living on the island to abruptly leave, usually heading to Monsilva, Jackson, Paleocacher or Kivu. Older civilians on the island who had lived under Niao Dao were an increased risk to the Zloveshchiyan government, who were cautious that these older civilians might attempt to restore a regime similar to Niao Dao or attempt to re-unify with Monsilva. These assumptions lead to many restrictions on the freedom of speech amongst those who lived on the island, and many older people were targeted by the Zloveshchiyan Security Service due to their increased risk.

From the beginning of the regime in 1969 until 2023, the Zloveshchiyan Security Service had been responsible for the genocide of around 8 million civilians on Akvatika Island. Evidence and records of the genocide were not discovered until August 2023 during an operation by the Pavulturilori National Security Service.

Background

The island of Shaoyu, known as Akvatika at the time of the genocide, was administered by the Jackson Empire from when it seized the island in 1828 during the Monsilvan Civil War until 1969, when it handed the island over to Zloveshchiy. During the Jackian administration, the island was known as Niao Dao. Niao Dao was economically prosperous and boasted a well-regarded liberal democracy. During the early 1950s and the 1960s, many Monsilvans relocated to Niao Dao due to the economic recession and deteriorating democracy taking place in Monsilva. By 1969, the population of Niao Dao had reached an incredibly dense 18.6 million people.

Jackson was initially supposed to return Niao Dao to Monsilva in 1968 as the 140-year-lease, the signing of which prevented Monsilva from claiming the island back before it was finished, reached its end. However, the newly appointed Governor of Niao Dao, Tristan Concorde stated that he would not give the island back to Monsilva as it would be "a death wish". So Jackson held onto the island until mid 1969, when the government was approached by Zloveshchiyan officials who proposed a still undetermined deal which lead to the Jackian government granting Niao Dao to Zloveshchiy on 21 October 1969.

With the news of the handover, an estimated 2-3 million people fled Niao Dao in the following month. Most of those who were ethnically Monsilvan or Shaoyunese headed to Monsilva, while others mostly relocated to Jackson, Kivu, Paleocacher or their countries of origin. The Zloveshchiyan administration had officially begun operation by December 1969, and declared the island to be renamed to "Akvatika". Throughout 1970, the island gradually became more and more cut off from the outside world as foreign media would shut down, television and film from Akvatika was no longer shown outside and international television and film was no longer shown on Akvatika. In 1971, travel between Akvatika and most other nations was ceased.

Onset of genocide

The construction of labor and death camps on Akvatika took place within months of Zloveshchiy acquiring the island. The first camps were established near the capital of San Kong (also known as Newport) and the first prisoners were those who had committed serious crimes such as murder, however gradually the camps began to be filled with citizens protesting against the handover of the island to Zloveshchiy as well as other political dissidents opposing Zloveshchiy's administration as well as its ideology.

By the 1980s, several hundred thousand people were situated in labor camps across Akvatika, and dissident behavior had been significantly supressed. In 1980, around 1.5 million people had already been killed through excessive forced labor, starvation, dehydration or had been executed for a number of different crimes. Between 1978 and 1984, the labor camps reached their peak, with the wave of democracy caused by news of the coups in Monsilva and Uulgadzar increasing support for democracy to return on Akvatika, and for the Zloveshchiyan regime to end. In this period, over 600,000 people were arrested and placed into camps or other prisons.

Although dissident activity died down during the late 1990s and 2000s, the labor camps were still active. Between 1990 and 2023, over 4.8 million people died in camps or in prisons operated by the regime on Akvatika.

Discovery

Throughout the late 2010s and early 2020s, several operations organized by several foreign governments took place confidentially within Akvatika to gather intelligence on operations on the island. In 2023, these intelligence operations were increased significantly, after rumours of over 6 million people having been killed directly by the regime over the previous 50 years. Although many governments were already aware of camps and prison operating on the island with significant capacities. There had been no previous concrete evidence to suggest these camps were responsible for killing around 8 million people.

This was changed after an operation carried out in August 2023, which managed to infiltrate several camps on the island. The infiltration missions gathered significant evidence leading towards a five decade long operation by the Zloveshchiyan government to genocide almost all non-Zloveshchiyan civilians living on Akvatika in order to "integrate the island into Zloveshchiyan culture". The evidence showed that there were tens of camps operated across the island, and they were full of many people who had not committed any obvious crime and were instead imprisoned for being a native Shaoyunese, or were family members of convicted dissidents.

On 23 August 2023, the Ostlandet Union officially released the information and evidence on the genocide to the general public and announced the union's immediate involvement in the political dispute between Monsilva and Zloveshchiy over the island.

International reaction

Several nations released official statements reacting to the official release of evidence regarding the genocide on Akvatika. Among them are the following:

• Abersiania: Jeremy Hausch, the Prime Minister of Abersiania, stated that the genocide was a "horrifying scene of barbarism and neglect to basic human needs and rights". He then stated that Abersiania officially recognizes the island as Monsilvan territory
• Gjorka: Carter Morris, the President of Gjorka, noted that the "Zloveshchiyan government has had only one goal on the island: the complete annihilation of the local population" and stated that the genocide was "one of the greatest humanitarian crises in the 21st century".
• Hapatmitas: Cormac Gilchrist, the First Minister of Hapatmitas, condemned the genocide on Akvatika and expressed support for the military intervention.
• Kivu: Alexandra Berkhoff, the Chancellor of Kivu, expressed their thoughts with the people of Shaoyu and stated that "they have seen and experienced things that no person on this planet should ever have to" in response to the news of the genocide.
• Monsilva: Chiu Zan, the President of Monsilva, called the genocide "one of the most disgusting acts of humanity ever witnessed on this planet" and affirmed that the genocide was "not just a genocide of a neighbor, this is not just a genocide of innocent people, this is a genocide of Monsilvans".
• New Gandor: Jacek Sekorsky, the President of New Gandor, referred to the genocide as Shaoyunese people being "slaughtered" and that it "will not be tolerated".
• New Illyricum: the Congress of Illyricum presented a statement saying that "sufficient proof has not been shown" that the genocide took place and also stated that "Congress has no belief that the honorable government of Zloveshchiy has committed the crimes they have been accused of.".
• Paleocacher: Ernest Pyle, the OU Councillor for Paleocacher, reported on the genocide stating that the genocide "rivals the ethnic cleansing of the Kavardan people in Terranihil in its barbarity and far outpaces that genocide in scale" and that "immediate action must be taken."
• Pavulturilor: Meir Cohen, the Marshal of Pavulturilor, called the genocide a "great tragedy" and said that it was "purely sins of those who are in control".
• Rakhman: Tzar Aleksandr I of Rakhman stated that Zloveshchiy had "slaughtered millions on Shaoyu" and that the inevitable conclusion is that "Zloveshchiy must perish".
• Tirol: Uorsin Sante, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, stated that the Tiroler Government "stands shoulder to shoulder with our partners and allies in the Ostlandet Union" and called the genocide a "heinous crime" and that "a government that murders its own citizens is an illegitimate government".
• Tumland: Griffin Airhourser, President of Tumland, expressed their aknowledgment and condemnation of the genocide on Akvatika Island.

Aftermath

Only a few days after the discovery and announcement of the discovery of the genocide, the Ostlandet Union voted to recognize the island as Monsilvan territory and issued an ultimatum to the Zloveshchiyan government demanding it return the island to Monsilvan administration. The Zloveshchiyan government denied the ultimatum, doubting its effectiveness. On 31 August 2023, the OU intiated the OU military intervention in Akvatika lead by the OU Task Force for Shaoyu (OUTFS) with the goal of invading Akvatika and establishing an OU-lead mandate on the island.

There was one month of fighting on the island before the final Zloveshchiyan troops surrendered in Yinjiang on 30 September 2023. With their surrender, the OU mandate for Shaoyu was officially established to restore civilian function on the island while the perpetrators of the genocide were convicted in the international courts.