Unjust Genocides

Darfur, Sudan, located in northeastern Africa, has experienced a disruptive conflict between Arab Muslims and black Muslims due to tension caused by lack of natural resources.

Sudan gained independence in the 1950s and has been plagued with clashes between the Sudanese government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) who are loyal to the open-minded Islamist leader named Hassan al-Turabi.

According to the Activism for Africa’s website, in the late 1980s, Turabi wanted to unite the country of Sudan with the Islamic faith. However, the present Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir overthrew Turabi and his fighters. Bashir and the SPLM/A agreed to end the civil war with a peace agreement in 2005.

Later, rebels against the peace agreement and the SPLM/A attacked military installations of the Sudanese government. The rebels also gathered weapons to protect their communities against an ongoing campaign by the Janjaweed-- government-backed militias recruited in Darfur and Chad. The Janjaweed have received government support to clear civilians from areas considered disloyal.

The Sudanese Government and the Janjaweed systematically target the disloyal ethnic groups using sexual violence as a weapon of terror. Standard procedure is for the Janjaweed to kill the men in a village and rape the women. Millions of civilians have been forcibly displaced from their homes because of government and Janjaweed attacks.

While the people of Darfur seek safety and refuge within the country, they are finding it very difficult. Internal rebels have accused the government of “burning villages and destroying health clinics,” including clinics where refugees were seeking to escape the fighting, said Olivier Rogez in an interview with an English newspaper in France.

The latest fighting to break out within Darfur was Friday a little ways south of Darfur’s capital, El-Fasher. According to Abu Bakr Kadu, a Sudanese commander with the Sudan Liberation Army, “The fighting was very heavy with government soldiers attacking.” Peacekeepers within Darfur confirmed Kadu’s report, saying, “There are civilians killed and injured… many run away… however, their villages have been destroyed.”

Darfur’s government recently released a statement defending their actions, “The only military action under way was against bandits responsible for… attacks on aid convoys.” These attacks come as Sudanese aid convoys face allegations of bombing Darfur rebels and villages. Darfur insurgents accused Sudan of “launching heavy ground and air attacks on rebel positions and villages in Northern Darfur.”

The United States condemned the Sudanese violence, stating that one of Saturday’s attacks appeared to have targeted former rebel leader Minni Arcua Minnawi, who had agreed to the 2006 peace agreement in Darfur. While a spokesman for the Sudanese forces did not mention any fighting action, he stated that the soldiers had been put into the area to protect the aid from attacks of armed bandits. Ahmed Kubar Jibril, also with the Sudanese Liberation army, stated, “Sometimes [rebels] have been bombing Sudanese positions… villages and civilian areas.”   
        
As civilians flee the ongoing clashes of rebels, government soldiers and aid workers, many find themselves begging for international help and aid as they live in desert areas. Sudan forces claim, “Over 10,000 have been killed in more than the five years of fighting between government and rebel forces.” However aid workers from other convoys other than Sudanese estimated the number to be over 300,000 and more than 2.7 million displaced from their homes and regions.”

According to the Save Darfur website, www.savedarfur.org, “Darfur has received considerable attention in the United States Congress… resulting in a number of legislative proposals.” These proposals include “$400 million to support the United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission to Darfur,” including millions of dollars to train and equip United Nations troops and police to speed up deployment.

The United States Congress also called upon “the government of Sudan and other signatories and non-signatories to the May 5, 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement to cease hostilities,” and demanded that the government of the People’s Republic of China end military and economic assistance as well as oil trade to the Sudanese government until Sudan stops the genocide and engages in peaceful negotiations.