3.7.1: case study – the Darfur genocide

the Darfur genocide (Sudan)

• Sudan is very diverse
    * main ethnic groups are Arab, African, and Indigenous peoples
    * main religious groups are Sunni (Islam), Indigenous religious beliefs, and Christianity
• faces great difficulty with political cooperation
    * many conflicts over ethnicity, religion
    * CPA (2005) ends civil war, unrest remains
    * many refugees leaving Sudan
• civil war has led to
    * lack of economic and political development
    * heavy internal displacement
    * huge refugee crisis
• the Darfur region is located in Western Sudan, occupied primarily by marginalized communities
    * majority in the area are ethnic muslims
    * African and Arab communities are often at conflict with each other
      * different religions and ways of life; Africans are generally farmers where as Arabs are generally herders
    * intermarriage between ethnic groups makes it harder to distinguish members of one from another
      * based on ancestry, so most identity through appearance or political ideology
    * notion exists that Arabs are “superior” or more advanced, which creates many conflicts on the local level
• roots of recent conflict
    * competition over dwindling natural resources
    * erosion of traditional tribal leadership structures (political turmoil)
    * Arab resentment of land-owning African communities
    * emergence of armed Darfurian rebel groups
    * flood of arms and weapons into the Darfur region from other countries with (primarily economic) interests in the area
• Sudanese government moved to act due to
    * mounting rebel attacks
    * long-term sentiment against Darfur based on its large non-Arab population
    * desire to control oil reserves in Darfur
    * local food sources and the economy declined following the Northern Darfurian drought in the 1980’s
      * Arabs and Africans competed for land, food, and water control
      * this led Arabs to join the Janjaweed in the 1990’s when it focused on small-scale local raids
• Darfur genocide
    * the mass training of the Sudanese government of Arabs to wipe out non-Arab inhabitants of the Darfur region
    * took place from 2003-present
    * Janjaweed raid villages, beginning with bombings before soldiers are moved in
    * slavery, rape, and looting are also commonly used
    * bodies are thrown in local water sources to contaminate them for survivors and villages are burned
    * the US and UN have tried to prevent it, but to little avail thus far
      * in the UN’s efforts to help, many UN workers have been killed/attacked
      * disarming the Janjaweed is necessary for peace, but it is unclear how this could be accomplished
    * China and Russia have sided with the Sudanese government, mainly for economic reasons (coal = $); roughly 5,000 people are killed every month in the conflict (as of 2020)
      * China’s president has spent millions in aiding Sudan
      * Sudan also regularly steals or ignores the UN’s policies after initially agreeing to them