Genocide+in+Darfur

=Genocide in Darfur=

"//First the government soldiers came with the vehicles and started shelling the villages with RPG [rocket propelled grenades] and heavy weapons and then the Janjawid came and shot at everybody. More than 60 were killed from Bindisi on 16 August [2003]. On 17 August Sunday, after most of us arrived in Mukjar, they attacked Mukjar (and the villages Katodo, Mukjar-Daba, Kudom and Birgi). They shot at everybody, women, children men and more than 70 people were killed.// " -Testimony from refugees in Goz Amer, Chad, May 2004

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=Background= Northern Sudan is populated by lighter-skinned Africans referred to as Arabs, a majority of whom are Muslims. On the other hand, Southern Sudan is populated by darker-skinned Christians and Animists that do not consider themselves to be Arab.

Tensions between the two ethnic groups have been exacerbated by a variety of factors. The two halves of the country have drastically different geography. Northern Sudan is a dry region that contains the Nubian Desert, while Southern Sudan is a lush, wet land filled with rain forests and swamps. The pronounced differences in geography have caused the people of Northern and Southern Sudan to adopt different lifestyles. In the North, a significant potion of the population are herders which must graze their animals to survive. In the South, the majority of the population are farmers due to the higher rainfall.

Historically, there have been conflicts between the Northern herders and the Southern farmers over whether land would be used for grazing or farming. The religious and ethnic differences between the herders and the farmers only complicate the dispute. Making matters worse, desertification has worsened in modern times, drastically reducing the amount of land that is suitable for farming or grazing.

Since a coup in 1989, Sudan has been ruled by [|Omar al-Bashir], a Muslim Arab from the Northern part of the country. Al-Bashir has transformed Sudan's government from a multiparty democracy into an Islamic dictatorship by banning political parties, seizing both complete legislative and executive power, instituting sharia law in parts of the country, and executing his political opponents. From 1983 to 2005, the [|Second Sudanese Civil War] raged between several rebel groups of Southern Sudan and the government. This conflict was motivated by a variety of factors including ethnic tension, natural resources, and religious tensions. Southern Sudan contains the vast majority of Sudan's arable land and oil resources, yet the Muslim Arabs of the North dominated Sudan's government since it gained independence. The toll of the conflict was enormous; over 2 million Southerners were killed and over 4 million were internally displaced. A [|peace agreement] signed in January 2005 by both the rebels and the government ended the conflict. The agreement called for both a cease-fire and a referendum on independence for Southern Sudan.

As conflict between the North and the South was coming to a close, problems were only beginning in the Darfur region of Sudan. Several rebel groups began to argue for the overthrow of the Sudanese government in Darfur because of economic neglect. Darfur had many of the same grievances as the South; although the majority of Darfur's population are farmers like those in the South, Darfur is majority Muslim. The Darfur Conflict began in 2003 when the [|Sudan Liberation Movement], [|Justice and Equality Movement], and the [|Liberation and Justice Movement] launched a series of strikes against military and government targets in Darfur, culminating in the destruction of the military outpost at [|al-Fashir] and the capture of the border crossing with Chad at Tine.



In 2003, the Sudanese Army lost 34 out of 38 engagements with rebel forces; the army was completely unprepared to handle the rebels' hit-and-run tactics and the desert terrain. Furthermore, the Sudanese Army in the Darfur region was perceived as sympathetic to the rebel cause. The rebels' military successes allowed them to advance and seize territory, which caused the government to worry that the war would spread beyond Darfur's borders. In order to counter the rebel advance, the government changed its strategy. The government decided to use the [|Janjaweed], an Arab militia made up of camel and cattle herders, to defeat the rebels.

The military, still overstretched from deployments in the Second Sudanese Civil War, was reduced to a supporting role. The military provided the Janjaweed with arms, training, air support, and intelligence during their conflict with the rebels. The Janjaweed, with the Sudanese military's support, was able to push back the poorly armed rebels. When the Janjaweed captured an area from the rebels, they would burn the villages with African populations and kill their inhabitants, all while leaving similar Arab villages unharmed. The Janjaweed made no attempts to distinguish the rebels from the general population in their killing.



In 2004, the conflict became an international one when the Janjaweed pursued over 100,000 refugees across the border into Chad in an attempt to kill them. Once in Chad, the Janjaweed clashed with Chad's army, which was attempting to protect the refugees. In response to the cross-border incursion, Chad brokered a [|ceasefire] between most of the major rebel groups and the Sudanese government. While the African Union deployed a force of 7,000 troops to monitor the ceasefire, it quickly disintegrated because the Janjaweed continued their campaign in Darfur. In 2006, the African Union and the United States State Department attempted to negotiate a [|ceasefire] in Darfur; however, this agreement was unable to attract substantial support among the numerous rebel factions. Only one faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement and the government signed the agreement.

=UN Involvement= In the summer of 2006, fighting between the Janjaweed and the rebels worsened to a degree that intentional aid organizations were forced to withdraw their personnel due to security concerns. In response to this development, [|UN Secretary General Kofi Anan] called for the African Union deployment of 7,000 to be replaced with a United Nations deployment of at least 18,000 troops. Sudan opposed the deployment of any UN peacekeeping force and countered with a plan to deploy 10,000 of its own soldiers to Darfur. On August 21, 2006 the UN Security Council approved [|Security Council Resolution 1706], which authorized a UN peacekeeping force of 17,300 to deploy to Darfur. In response, Sudan reiterated its opposition to the UN peacekeeping force and demanded that the African Union leave as its mandate was about to expire. In response to Sudanese opposition, the UN deployment was suspended; instead, the African Union deployment was extended and 200 UN peacekeepers were deployed to support their mission. On July 31, 2007, the UN Security Council passed [|Resolution 1769] which authorized the deployment of a j[|oint UN and AU peacekeeping force] of over 26,000. This is the first joint UN/AU deployment and the largest joint peacekeeping force ever deployed. The peacekeepers are allowed to use force to protect civilians and aid in humanitarian operations. Since its deployment, the peacekeeping force has been hampered by logistical problems and a lack of military resources such as armored vehicles and air transport. Still, the presence of the UN peacekeepers along with infighting among the Janjaweed has reduced the intensity of the Darfur conflict. At present, political negotiations are still ongoing between the rebels and the Sudanese Government in Darfur. The AU/UN peacekeeping force is still deployed to Darfur.