THE STORY OF THE DARFUR GENOCIDE

-Authored by Shivani Kharai

“For the dead and the living, we must bear witness.”

– Elie Wiesel

INTRODUCTION

Millions of men, women, and children have forfeited their lives in mass cruelty or genocides in the last century. This is a significant segment of the total number of individuals that have been raped, tormented or coerced to leave their homes. The Sudan’s western Darfur region has been subjected to political marginalization and economic disregard by successive national governments for years, leaving an approximate 7.5 million population, accounting for over a quarter of the impoverished country's entire population. The genocide in Sudan region of Darfur continued for more than four years and claimed up to 450,000 lives. The Darfur genocide broke out in 2003, but its seeds had been sown years earlier. While the state of affairs has gradually deteriorated over time, the United Nations has done less to cease the bloodbath. Politicians have combined generous humanitarian aid with unfulfilled threats and irresponsible diplomacy. The article throws light on Darfur genocide by examining the chronological events, role and actions concerning this peril caused to humanity.

HISTORY OF SUDAN

Sudan’s history encompasses both the area, i.e., the Republic of Sudan and South Sudan, in addition of a larger region known as Sudan. The year 1956 witnessed the establishment of the modern Republic of Sudan, and Sudan founded in the year 1899 by taking over its borders from the Anglo-Egyptians. Sudan, the largest African country, located in northeastern Africa, adjoining the Red Sea, lies between Egypt, Chad, Uganda and six other countries. Its capital Khartoum is situated in the northeast and Darfur region in the western Sudan area.

Prior to 1899, the use of the term Sudan to refer to the Republic of Sudan's region was a bit antiquated and possibly referred to a more disperse concept of Sudan. Sudan's past has been tormented by internal conflict since its independence in 1956, for example, the first Sudanese civil war (from the year 1955 to 1972), the second Sudanese civil war (from the year 1983 to 2005), which culminated in the secession of South Sudan on July 9, 2011, and the Darfur war (from the year 2003 to 2010). The ongoing catastrophe and divergence in Sudan’s western Darfur region has developed out of several separate events.

The first event being the civil war between national government of Khartoum and the Justice and Equality Movement, as well as the two rebel groups in Darfur and the Sudanese Liberation Army. The two rebel factions were established in February 2003 as a result of Khartoum's political and fiscal ostracism of Darfur. The rebel factions pounced on the military aerodrome and abducted an air force general in April 2003, resulting the government to launch a counter-attack. It gave rise to Khartoum government’s retaliation by sending armed military forces to put down the uprising, in turn resulting in mass violence against Darfur’s citizens.

The next event being the second civil war, raged between Christians, black animists from south and the Arab-dominated government since Sudan’s independence from UK in the year 1956. The violence lasted over 11 years, leaving million people displaced, forcing them to take shelter at other locations in Sudan or across Chadian border. The year 2005 witnessed the end of North-South War and granted additional power to South Sudan in terms of political authority, by formation of a Comprehensive Peace Agreement. However, the said agreement did not account for the war’s impact on Darfur. In March 2009 and July 2010, an arrest warrant was issued against the Sudanese President, Omar al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court for the crime of genocide.

South Sudan secured independence from Sudan in July 2011. Then, in 2013, the Sudanese government stated that the claim made by UN, relating to killing of approximately 3 lakh people by genocide, was grossly and unreasonably high. The death rate increased by 4 lakh in 2015 and the government forces supported by Janjaweed carried out counter-insurgency campaigns in Darfur, repeatedly attacking villages, burning and looting houses, and beating, raping and executing villagers.

DARFUR GENOCIDE - WHAT IS GENOCIDE?

The UN General Assembly defines genocide as a refusal of the entitlement of existence of complete human groups. Article 6 of ICC (International Criminal Court) defines genocide as any act which is committed with an intent to destruct a national, ethical, racial or religious class, and includes the following events, (a) Assassinating members of the class, (b) Causing serious physical or psychological harm to group members, (c) Intentionally affecting the living circumstances of a group to cause total or partial physical destruction, (d) Prevent intra-group births, (e) Forcibly transfer the children from one group to another. Darfur’s genocide can be defined as the ongoing assassination of masses and rape of men, women and children. The violence observed in 2003 was the first 21st century genocide, which continues till date.

HOW DID THE WORLD COME TO KNOW?

The conflict going on in Darfur, Sudan, was announced as genocide by US Secretary Colin Powell on September 9, 2004 in testimony to the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee. On February 18, 2006, President George W. also inflicted economic sanctions on Sudan since 1997. However, after years of cooperation and discussion with the Sudanese government, the US formally lifted its sanctions against Sudan in 2017. This came primarily as a response to the continued positive action taken by Sudanese government to reduce conflicts in disputed areas, improve compassionate access across Sudan and counter terrorism in collaboration with the United States. In September 2006, The Prime Minister of British, Tony Blair, sent an open letter to European Union members advocating for a cohesive approach to the issue and in 2007, the then Prime Minister, Gordon Brown indicated in a statement to UN Security Council that he supported the UN Security Council Resolution authorising the deployment of 26,000 peace-keepers to avoid additional violence and bloodshed in Darfur. These supports lead to the blocking of numerous UN resolutions by the major trading partners, i.e., China and Russia.

JANJAWEED - WHO ARE THE JANJAWEED?

The genocide was carried out by Janjaweed, in simple words it translates to "demons on horseback" or "Rapid Support Forces", a group of Arab militias armed and sponsored by the government. The Darfur’s citizens were tortured, killed, raped and their villages were burnt, water resources were polluted and economic capitals were diminished by the Janjaweed. The main rebel fractions, i.e., Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), shared a long history of conflict with the militias. In the following years, over 3,000 villages of Dafuris were ruined. Till spring 2020, the death count was over 480,000 and about 2.8 million people had been displaced and injured. The Janjaweed have also been accused of intruding and attacking Chad, the country neighboring of Darfur. Hundreds of relief workers were evacuated from Chad due to heightened tensions between rebel groups and military authorities. Meanwhile, the Janjaweed attacked Chad, forcing over 100,000 people to flee.

SUDAN LIBERATION ARMY AND JUSTICE AND EQUALITY MOVEMENT

JEM is a predominant Islamist Sudanese armed opposition group in Sudan seeking national reform and regime change. Members of Darfur's three indigenous ethnic groups, the Fur, the Zaghawa, and the Masalit, formed the Darfur Liberation Front. JEM made its first public announcement in August 2001. SLM, a Sudanese insurgent group was active in Darfur, Sudan. The members of the three indigenous ethnic groups founded the Darfur Liberation Front. JEM was founded in 2003 by learned and politically experienced group of Darfurians, including former members of Hassan al Turabi's Popular Congress Party (PCP), the originator of Sudan's Islamic insurrection.

The rebel factions, SLM and JEM began fighting the Sudanese government, accusing it of persecuting non-Arab Darfur population. The government retaliated in the form of ethnic cleansing against non-Arab Darfuris, resulting in hundreds of death. The ICC charged Omar al-Bashir, Sudanese President for genocide and war crimes. The other side of rebel groups was mostly made up of non-Arab Muslim Fur, Zaghawa, and Masalit. Since 2007, JEM has actively sought Darfurian Arab recruits, including janjaweed. JEM has around 5000 men, approximately 1000 vehicles, anti-aircraft guns, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, two tanks and AK-47. JEM remains the most strongest and cohesive military force in Darfur region despite internal splits in the movement.

SUDANESE GOVERNMENT

The Sudanese politics occurred within the framework of a Federal Provisional Government. In a de jure multi-party structure, the President was the head of state, head of the government, and the commander-in-chief of Sudanese Armed Forces. The Legislative authority was officially delegated to the government and two chambers, named National Assembly (lower) and Council of States (higher). The judiciary was appointed by Constitutional Court and acts as an independent body. The cosmic majority of NLA members were elected directly and the remainders were elected from closed lists to ensure proportional representation for women and other ethnic and minority groups. When South Sudan attained independence, the state legislature and President of South Sudan elected all the South Sudanese to become the members of the Council of States. The first year of Sudan's three-year democratic transition following President Bashir's resignation in 2019 was highlighted by a weakening economy, political tensions, and persistent protests for justice and reforms. The Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated these problems. The government implemented some reforms but the majority of the institutional and legal reforms outlined in constitutional charter of August 2019, are yet to be implemented.

UNITED NATIONS AFRICAN UNION MISSION IN DARFUR UNITED (UNAMID)

UNAMID is a joint African Union and United Nations peacekeeping mission established on 31 July 2007 by the UN Security Council Resolution of 1769 to bring stability to Sudan's war-torn Darfur region while the final settlement talks continue. The UN Security Council granted initial authorization for the mission in Resolution 1769 on July 31, 2007. The mission is aimed to contribute for humanitarian and political assistance, execution of agreements, human rights promotion, and monitoring and reporting the border situation with Chad and Central African Republic (CAR). Resolution 2363 of 2017 was adopted by Security Council on June 29, 2017, with the aim to renew the previous mission, reduce UNAMID's police strength and to monitor the ground situation. The broad aim of the mission was, (a) Protect Civilians, (b) Facilitate humanitarian assistance and security through UN agencies, (c) Mediation between Sudanese government and unsigned Doha based armed movement for Darfur’s peace, and (d) Support of conflict mediation in the community. On July 31, 2007, the mission's authorised strength was 25,987 uniformed peacekeepers, including 19555 troops, 3722 police advisers, 2600 police units and 360 military and liaison officers. The mission ended on December 31, 2020.

CONCLUSION

Genocide is most common in countries where various national, racial, ethnic, or religious groups become embroiled in identity-related conflicts that are marked by significant gaps in access to power and resources, advancement chances, and enjoyment of fundamental entitlements and liberty. Given that no society is perfectly homogeneous, early prevention becomes a challenge of good governance and equitable diversity management, which can only be handled by reducing major political and economic imbalances and promoting a common sense of belonging. The US government must respond and take positive actions immediately by levying strict sanctions on Khartoum, supporting efforts to connect rebel factions, and mediating a long-term cease-fire and political consensus to end the disagreement, and Congress should authorise the use of force to end genocide.

REFERENCES

1. Darfur Genocide, (January 2021), http://worldwithoutgenocide.org/genocides-and-conflicts/darfur-genocide

2. What’s the difference between Sudan and South Sudan?, (July 7, 2021), https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/stories/whats-the-difference-between-sudan-and-south-sudan/

3. Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) (AKA JEM-Jibril), “Human Security Baseline Assessment (HSBA) for Sudan and South Sudan (Geneva, CHE: Small Arms Survey, August 2013), https://www.start.umd.edu/baad/narratives/justice-and-equality-movement-jem#_edn1

4. UNAMID, DARFUR, United Nations, https://www.un.org/en/ccoi/unamid-darfur

5. UNAMID FACT SHEEt: AFRICAN UNION - UNITED NATIONS HYBRID OPERATION IN DARFUR, United Nations, https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mission/unamid