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Darfur Genocide. How the Horror Began. Shadowed by the war in Iraq in 2003. 350,000-400,000 people had been killed either from violence, malnutrition, and disease. 2.5 million have been displaced. This is the first genocide of the 21 st century.
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How the Horror Began Shadowed by the war in Iraq in 2003. 350,000-400,000 people had been killed either from violence, malnutrition, and disease. 2.5 million have been displaced. This is the first genocide of the 21st century. Victims of the genocide include non-arab or African tribal groups.
Tribal Groups Fur Massaleit Zagahawa Tunjur Birgrid Dajo Dinka Other non-arab peoples
People are beginning to compete for scarce resources that include: arable land, water. The conflict has been exacerbated by desertification throughout the Sahel region.
The Government Located in the capital city of Khartoum. Made up of Arab peoples Failed to respond to the desperate economic needs. Decayed Judiciary, lack of political representation. These all played a role in leading to armed conflict.
Southern Sudan • An agreement was signed in Nairobi on January 9, 2005 to end the fighting in the southern areas of Sudan. • However, Darfur’s insurgency found early success against Khartoum’s military forces. • This would lead the government to changing policies that would systematically destroy the African tribal groups.
The Emergence of the Janjaweed The primary instrument in this new policy would be the creation or establishment of an Arab militia force. This group is made up of 20,000 men who ride on horse or camel. These men are heavily armed, well supplied, and actively coordinating with the regime’s regular ground and air force, thanks to the government.
Evidence of Genocide • Reports shown by human rights groups illustrate that genocide is occurring. • Evidence includes widespread assaults on men, women, children, and agricultural areas. • Thriving villages have had buildings burned, water sources poisoned, irrigation systems torn up, food and seed stock destroyed, and fruit trees cut down. • Cattle have also been looted on a mass scale.
Genocide in this situation does not just include attack an non-arabs, but also “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.” -1948 UN Convention.
Results Agricultural Production has come to a halt. The United Nations estimates that 3.5 million people will be in need of urgent food supplies (total pop 6.5 million). There is no sign of current planting 2 million people have already become dependent on food aid.
Other Obstacles • Other obstacles can include the rainy season which makes it very difficult to travel to certain regions. • The rain severs any way of gaining access to certain areas where people are in need. • Overcrowded refugee camps. • Lack of medical supplies, shelter, equipment for clean water. • Unsanitary conditions (outbreaks of cholera and dysentery have been rampant). • Data suggests that 350,000 to 400,000 people have died during the last 29 months.
Racism and Islamism in Khartoum • National Islamic Front (NIF) has been unchanged since it gained power from a democratically elected government in 1989 in a military coup. • Hassan-El-Turabi who was the mastermind of the 1989 coup and is still in control of the NIF. • Omar-Al-Bashir retains the presidancy, and Ali Osman serves as the Vice-President and controls the security services.
These are the men that have settled on a genocidal response to the insurgence that emerged in 2003. • These men also ordered the scorched-earth clearances of the oil regions in southern Sudan to provide security for the operations of international oil companies. • The result of these policies was that between 1989 and 2002 hundreds of thousands of Sudanese were killed or displaced.
Civil War First Phase (1955-1972) The second phase of civil war began in 1983 more than five million people were displaced. Sudanese Liberation Movement/Army was created to fight against the tyranny of the Muslim government and militia groups.
Who is Dying? • Prewar population = 6.5 million • 60-65% are non-arab =4 million people • The use of Arabic as first language, agricultural practices, and ethnicity divides the people. • The government of Khartoum and the Janjaweed take full responsibility for the acts that have taken place in Darfur. • Approx 90% of all villages have been destroyed • Many people still go unaccounted for because of the vast population.
The Future of Darfur • There is no sign that agriculture will resume to what it used to be. • No sign of displacement camps being dissolved. • No sign of international funding for humanitarian groups. • No sign of change in the NIF and the new government it dominates. • No sign that peace agreements will amount to anything in Abuja, Nigeria. • No sign of international intervention.
There are signs that: People will continue to die indefinitely
Beyond the Killings: U.S.A Response • The Bush administration made many efforts to end the war between north and south Sudan. • The administration also wanted to secure its intelligence on international terrorism. • The NIF hosted Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaida from 1991-1996, and retained strong relations with Bin Laden when he moved to Afghanistan. • These policies have been the priority for the US government in fighting against terrorism.
Colin Powell Powell stated that Genocide was occurring in Sudan and that the Khartoum government was involved. The agreement made between north and south was seen as a great step forward in foreign policy, making the government hesitant to act on the issue of genocide Khartoum used this peace agreement as a tool to continue their acts of genocide. Because they threatened to revoke the agreement if they felt pressured.
Our Moral Choice • History must not continue to repeat itself. • We must pressure our government to act not just sit idly by while people are being killed. • It is our moral duty to express to others that if international intervention does not happen then the population will face a certainty of death. • People will continue to starve in camps, bombed, raped, slaughtered, and those who do survive will be dependent on food aid.
Work Cited Reeves, Eric. Genocide in Darfur: How the Horror Began. Sudan Tribute: Plural news and views on Sudan. Saturday 3 September, 2005.
