Darfur genocide | |
---|---|
Part of the War in Darfur | |
Location | Darfur, Sudan |
Date | 23 February 2003–2005 |
Target | Darfuri men, women, and children from Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups |
Attack type | Genocide, mass murder, genocidal rape, arson, scorched earth |
Deaths | 200,000 [1] |
Injured | Unknown |
Victims | At least 9,300 women and men raped [2] Over 3 million Darfuri people affected in various ways |
Perpetrators | Sudan |
Motive | Anti-black racism, Arabization |
Part of a series on |
Genocide of indigenous peoples |
---|
Issues |
The Darfur genocide was the systematic killing of ethnic Darfuri people during the War in Darfur. The genocide, which was carried out against the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups, led the International Criminal Court (ICC) to indict several people for crimes against humanity, rape, forced transfer and torture. An estimated 200,000 people were killed between 2003 and 2005. [1]
The war in Darfur encompassed several separate conflicts. The first was a civil war that occurred between the Khartoum national governments and two rebel groups in Darfur: the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army. The rebel groups were initially formed in February 2003 due to Darfur's "political and economic marginalization by Khartoum".[ citation needed ] In April 2003, when the rebel groups attacked the military airfield and kidnapped an air force general, the government launched a counterattack. It led to a response from the Khartoum government where they armed militia forces to eliminate the rebellion. This resulted in mass violence against the citizens in Darfur. [3] [ page needed ]
A second factor was a civil war that occurred between the Christians, the animist Black Southerners, and the Arab-dominated government since Sudan's independence from the United Kingdom in 1956. The violence that took place for about 11 years left more than a million people displaced by the hostilities: fleeing to other places around Sudan or across the border to Chad.
The ethnic conflict in Darfur has been persistent, with racism at its roots. [4] Darfur is home to six million people and several dozen tribes. Darfur is split into two: "those who claim Black 'African' descent and primarily practice sedentary agriculture, and those who claim 'Arab' descent and are mostly semi-nomadic livestock herders". [3] [ page needed ]
Sudanese commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Janjaweed leader Hemedti were among the perpetrators of the genocide in Darfur. [5]
In 2013, the United Nations (UN) estimated that up to 300,000 people had been killed during the genocide; in response, the Sudanese government claimed that the number of deaths was "grossly inflated". [6] By 2015, it was estimated that the death toll stood between 100,000 and 400,000. [7]
The violence continued into 2016 when the government allegedly used chemical weapons against the local population in Darfur. This led to millions being displaced due to the hostile environment. Over 3 million lives are heavily impacted by the conflict. [8]
The BBC first reported on the issue of ethnic cleansing in November 2003, and earlier that year in March. An administrator from the United States Agency for International Development giving testimony to congress mentioned ethnic cleansing and the "population clearance" which was occurring in Darfur. [9]
In April 2004, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released Darfur Destroyed: Ethnic Cleansing by Government and Militia Forces in Western Sudan, a 77-page report compiled by HRW following 25 days spent in the region. The executive director of the African branch of HRW, Peter Takirambudde, stated: "There can be no doubt about the Sudanese government's culpability in crimes against humanity in Darfur". [10]
The use of rape as a tool of genocide has been noted. This crime has been carried out by Sudanese government forces and the Janjaweed ("evil men on horseback") [11] paramilitary groups. [12] [13] The actions of the Janjaweed have been described as genocidal rape, with not just women, but children as well. There were also reports of infants being bludgeoned to death, and the sexual mutilation of victims being commonplace. [14] [15] [ page needed ]
With the ongoing conflict, it has not been possible for interviewers and activists to conduct population-based surveys in Darfur. However, the rapes reported have mostly occurred in non-Arab villages by the Janjaweed with the assistance of the Sudanese military.
The settings in which these attacks occurred:
According to Tara Gingerich and Jennifer Leaning, the rape attacks were often carried out in front of others "including husbands, fathers, mothers, and children of the victims, who were forced to watch and were prevented from intervening". [16] This genocidal rape has been committed upon a wide age range, that includes women of 70 years or older, girls under 10, and visibly pregnant women.
The missing women and girls have possibly been released but may have heretofore been unable to reunite with their families. In a statement to the UN, former secretary-general Kofi Annan said "In Darfur, we see whole populations displaced, and their homes destroyed, while rape is used as a deliberate strategy." [16]
The United Nations issued a hybrid United Nations-African Union mission (UNAMID) to maintain peace in Darfur. It was established on 31 July 2007 with the adoption of Security Council resolution 1769. However, it formally took over on 31 December 2007. [17] The Mission's headquarters is in El Fasher, North Darfur. It has sector headquarters in El Geneina (West Darfur), Nyala (South Darfur), Zalingei (Central Darfur) and Ed Daein (East Darfur). The Mission has 35 deployment locations throughout the five Darfur states. [17]
The African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) produced a framework document for intensive diplomatic and political peacekeeping efforts. Sudan's acceptance of the African Union Hybrid Operation in Darfur derived from intensive negotiations by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and several actors in the international community. According to the UNAMID website, "the mandate is renewed yearly, and the adoption of Security Council Resolution 2296 extended it until 30 June 2017." [17]
The peacekeeping mission is confronted with several challenges from security to logistical constraints. The troops that have been deployed operate in unforgiving, complex, and often hostile political environments. Also, the missions are faced with many shortages in equipment, infrastructure, transportation, and aviation assets. As the budget of UNAMID is $1,039,573.2 for the fiscal year 2016–2017. [17]
Yet, with the limited resources and hostile environment, the troops still manage to provide protection to the locals in Darfur and assist the progress of the humanitarian aid operation. UNAMID contributes to promote peace, address the critical roots of the conflict and help end the violence considering "the mission carries out more than 100 patrols daily". [17]
The peacekeepers facilitate cooperation and maintain peace by:
The mission had an authorized strength of 25,987 uniformed peacekeepers on 31 July 2007. The operation included 19,555 troops, 360 military observers and liaison officers, 3,772 police advisers and 2,660 formed police units (FPU). [17]
In mid-2011, UNAMID stood at 90 percent of its full authorized strength, making it one of the largest UN peacekeeping operations. [17]
Although violence is still occurring in Darfur, it is at a low level and the region is increasingly stable. The UNAMID forces are exiting as there had been a reduction to the number of troops deployed in the field in Darfur, Sudan. [18]
The Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Amina Mohammed states:
"We have invested $16 billion in peacekeeping alone over the past ten years, in addition to humanitarian funding and bilateral aid to alleviate the suffering of the population. As the region recovers from war, now is the time to consolidate gains," she said, adding that it was time to "step up and make sure Darfur moves towards peace and prosperity." [18]
In 2007 [19] a former employee of Google, Andria Ruben McCool, conceived the idea of using the high resolution imagery from Google Earth to map what was occurring in Darfur. The project was titled Crisis in Darfur and is run by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in partnership with Google Earth. The software allows users to zoom in on the region, and users were able to see over 1600 destroyed and damaged villages. Mark Tarn writing in the Guardian describes the images as "dramatic" as the area is marked by red and yellow icons which he says "graphically conveys the mayhem that has been inflicted on the people of the region." [20]
In 2004, Colin Powell told the state committee on foreign affairs that genocide had been carried out in Darfur, that the Sudanese government and the Janjaweed were responsible, and that the genocide may still be ongoing. [21] Powell stated that having reviewed the evidence which had been compiled by the State Department and having compared it to information that was freely available throughout the international community he came to the conclusion that genocide had been carried out in Darfur. [22]
On September 21, 2004, during the Senate Foreign Relations convention, Powell said:
"In July, we launched a limited investigation by sending a team to visit the refugee camps in Chad to talk to refugees and displaced persons. The team ... were able to interview 1136 of the 2.2 million people the UN estimates have been affected by this horrible situation." [23]
"Those interviews indicated: ... a consistent and widespread pattern of atrocities: Killings, rapes, burning of villages committed by jingaweit and government forces against non-Arab villagers; three-fourths of those interviewed reported that the Sudanese military forces were involved in the attacks; ... [villages] often experienced multiple attacks over a prolonged period before they were destroyed by burning, shelling or bombing, making it impossible for the villagers to return to their villages. This was a coordinated effort, not just random violence." [23]
"When we reviewed the evidence compiled by our team, and then put it beside other information available to the State Department and widely known throughout the international community, widely reported upon by the media and by others, we concluded, I concluded, that genocide has been committed in Darfur and that the Government of Sudan and the Jingaweit bear responsibility-and that genocide may still be occurring." [23]
Powell concluded by announcing that at the next UN Security Council Resolution an investigation on all violations of international humanitarian law and human rights will occur in Darfur, Sudan with a view to ensuring accountability. [23]
In a speech delivered on May 29, 2007, U.S. President George W. Bush confirmed that the situation in Darfur was a genocide. Citing Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's failure to cooperate, he announced tightened economic sanctions on Sudan and that he would pursue a United Nations Security Council resolution to impose additional sanctions, including prohibiting the Sudanese government from conducting military flights over Darfur. He urged the United Nations, the African Union, and other members of the international community to not obstruct the steps being taken to restore peace to Darfur and called upon President Bashir to cooperate with peacekeeping forces and stop the killings of innocent people in Darfur. [24]
According to Rebecca Joyce Frey, the international community has taken the same stance with regards to Darfur as it did with the Rwandan genocide, that of an "outside observer" or "bystander." Joyce Frey also argues that Bashir, as well as other leaders, have realized that the lack of intervention in Rwanda from the international community gives them free rein to continue the genocide without them having any serious concerns over international intervention. [25]
Nicholas Kristof, writing in the New York Times, has claimed China "is financing, diplomatically protecting and supplying the arms for the first genocide of the 21st century" in Darfur. [26] [27] [28]
China was seen as an enabler for President Bashir's resistance to UN deployment and international attention. China did press Sudan to accept the UN deployments in Darfur; however, China had also supplied Khartoum with weapons and had the power to single-handedly veto resolutions of the United Nations Security Council. [29] China's primary goal is not achieving better human rights practices in the abstract but satisfying Darfur's basic needs for food, shelter, and security. [30]
In a 176-page report carried out by the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur to the United Nations Secretary-General, the Commission determined that the Government of Sudan did not intentionally pursue policies that would lead to genocide. The Commission "found that government forces and militias conducted indiscriminate attacks, including killing of civilians, torture, enforced disappearances, destruction of villages, rape and other forms of sexual violence, pillaging and forced displacement, throughout Darfur." The Commission concluded, however, that "[t]he crucial element of genocidal intent appears to be missing, at least as far as the central government authorities are concerned." The Commission goes on to say that the war crimes and crimes against humanity that occurred in Darfur are just as important as if the situation were determined to be a genocide. [31]
The Save Darfur Coalition, as David Lanz discusses in his article entitled, "Save Darfur: A Movement and Its Discontents", was one of the biggest international social movements and had significant impacts on how the world reacted to Darfur. Some of the achievements that Lanz attributes to the Save Darfur Coalition, that became extremely popular in the United States, was the change in rhetoric from the government. Lanz attributes Colin Powell's consideration of the Darfur Crisis as a genocide as one of the movement's biggest achievements. One other accomplishment that Save Darfur claims responsibility for was their vital role in lobbying the UN Security Council for their referral of Darfur to the ICC. [32]
In the United States, the Save Darfur movement got the attention of many celebrities, most notably including: Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Mia Farrow and Richard Branson. Farrow famously travelled to Darfur and filmed children playing. Farrow and Branson also posted videos [33] to YouTube, where they, and others, went on hunger strikes in solidarity to the people in Darfur. George Clooney was credited as one of the most influential celebrities to bring the Darfur Crisis onto the world stage. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt had made $1m donation to three charities working in Sudan. [34]
Initially the ICC refused to add the charge of genocide to the indictment for the President of Sudan, Omar Bashir; however, following an appeal this decision was overturned. The trial chamber found that there were "reasonable grounds to believe him responsible for three counts of genocide". [35]
On 14 July 2009, the ICC issued an indictment for Omar Bashir for crimes against humanity and for having facilitated and ordered the genocide in Darfur. [36] On 12 July 2010 the ICC issued a second indictment for the arrest of al-Bashir for genocide, this was the first instance of the ICC issuing an arrest warrant for the crime of genocide. [37] As well as Bashir, another six suspects have been indicted by the court, Ahmed Haroun, Ali Kushayb, Bahar Abu Garda, Abdallah Banda, Saleh Jerbo, Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein. On June 9, 2020, Kushayb was taken into custody by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. [38] His trial began on April 5, 2022. [39]
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, prosecutor for the ICC having filed charges for crimes against humanity, is also pursuing in his application the charge of genocidal rape as such actions can be tried before the ICC as stand-alone crimes. [40]
On February 11, 2020, the government of Sudan agreed that former president Omar al-Bashir will face war crime charges before the ICC. The commitment came during peace talks with rebel groups. [41]
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan confirmed that both Sudan's regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) committed war crimes in Darfur, with a focus on past atrocities in El Geneina. A U.N. report estimated 10,000–15,000 deaths, and the U.S. formally declared war crimes and humanitarian crises, resulting in millions being displaced. [42]
The citizens in Darfur who have fled the genocide in Sudan—and continue to flee today—settle in one of the 13 refugee camps in Eastern Chad. About 360,000 Darfuris suffer in those camps: "The 10+ years they have lived in the camps have been marked by tight resources, threats from inside and outside the camps, and more, but life is getting even harder for the refugees." [43]
UNHCR proposed to the UN Secretary-General to "take responsibility for the protection and voluntary return of IDPs to their villages of origin in West Darfur in partnership with other agencies…". The UN approved of their proposal to govern and create a protective environment in camps, host communities and settlements for the displaced people to a within Darfur. [44]
There have been funding shortfalls which impacted the increase in the refugees and internally displaced persons. The environment and lack of exceptional living conditions is not able to accommodate the refugee community. [44]
As of 2018, a group of refugees that have been in Chad since 2003–2004 are returning to North Darfur. They are the first of thousands who are expected to return voluntarily to Darfur in the coming months. [45] The refugees are provided with transport and packages which include three months of food rations, provided by the World Food Programme (WFP). As the peace and security situation is maintained in Darfur, more refugees will want to return to Sudan.
The documentary The Devil Came on Horseback (2007), focuses on the violence and tragedy of the genocide happening in Darfur. The story is seen through the eyes of an American who returns home to make the story public using the images and stories of lives systematically destroyed.
In 2009, Uwe Boll, a director and producer, released a movie named Attack on Darfur . The story centers on American journalists visiting Sudan to interview the locals about the ongoing conflict. They are confronted with the atrocities the Janjaweed caused in which they try their best to stop the killings and help the villagers faced with genocide.
Filmmaker Ted Braun examines the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. Alongside Hotel Rwanda star Don Cheadle, the film Darfur Now (2007) is a call to action for people all over the world to help the ongoing crisis in Darfur.
Sand And Sorrow: A New Documentary about Darfur (2007) is a documentary film about the ongoing Darfur conflict. Interviews and footage of human right activist John Prendergast, Harvard professor Samantha Power and New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof are shown to depict the origins and the aftermath of the conflict between the Arab and non-Arab tribes in the Darfur region.
Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir is a Sudanese former military officer and politician who served as Sudan's head of state under various titles from 1989 until 2019, when he was deposed in a coup d'état. He was subsequently incarcerated, tried and convicted on multiple corruption charges. He came to power in 1989 when, as a brigadier general in the Sudanese Army, he led a group of officers in a military coup that ousted the democratically elected government of prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi after it began negotiations with rebels in the south; he subsequently replaced President Ahmed al-Mirghani as head of state. He was elected three times as president in elections that have been under scrutiny for electoral fraud. In 1992, al-Bashir founded the National Congress Party, which remained the dominant political party in the country until 2019. In March 2009, al-Bashir became the first sitting head of state to be indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), for allegedly directing a campaign of mass killing, rape, and pillage against civilians in Darfur. On 11 February 2020, the Government of Sudan announced that it had agreed to hand over al-Bashir to the ICC for trial.
The Janjaweed are an Arab nomad militia group from the Sahel region that operates in Sudan, particularly in Darfur and eastern Chad. They have also been speculated to be active in Yemen. According to the United Nations definition, Janjaweed membership consists of Arab nomad tribes from the Sahel, the core of whom are Abbala Arabs, traditionally employed in camel herding, with significant recruitment from the Baggara.
Ali Osman Mohammed Taha is a Sudanese politician who was First Vice President of Sudan from July 2011 to December 2013. Previously he was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1993 to 1995, First Vice President from 1995 to January 2005, and Second Vice President from August 2005 to July 2011. He is a member of the National Congress Party.
The National Congress Party was a major political party of ousted President Omar Al-Bashir, it dominated domestic politics in Sudan from its foundation until it was dissolved following the Sudanese Revolution.
The War in Darfur, also nicknamed the Land Cruiser War, was a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan that began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups began fighting against the government of Sudan, which they accused of oppressing Darfur's non-Arab population. The government responded to attacks by carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Darfur's non-Arabs. This resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of civilians and the indictment of Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court.
The Save Darfur Coalition was an advocacy group that attempted "to raise public awareness and mobilize a massive response to the atrocities in Sudan's western region of Darfur." Headquartered in Washington, D.C., it was a coalition of more than 190 religious, political, and human rights organizations organized to campaign for a response to the atrocities of the War in Darfur, which culminated in a humanitarian crisis. By 2013, reports indicated that the conflict had claimed approximately 300,000 lives and had displaced over 2.5 million people.
While there is a consensus in the international community that ethnic groups have been targeted in Darfur and that crimes against humanity have therefore occurred, there has been debate in some quarters about whether genocide has taken place there. In May 2006, the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur organized by United Nations "concluded that the Government of the Sudan has not pursued a policy of genocide ... [though] international offences such as the crimes against humanity and war crimes that have been committed in Darfur may be more serious and heinous than genocide." Eric Reeves, a researcher and frequent commentator on Darfur, has questioned the methodology of the commission's report.
Ahmed Mohammed Haroun is one of five Sudanese men wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. Despite international pressure on the government of Sudan to surrender him to the ICC, Haroun served as Sudan's Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs until May 2009, when he was appointed to the governorship of South Kordofan. In September 2007, he was appointed to lead an investigation into human rights violations in Darfur. In July 2013 he resigned as Governor of South Kordofan, and was reappointed by Omar al-Bashir as Governor of North Kordofan. On 1 March 2019, President Omar al-Bashir handed over the running of the country's leading political party, the National Congress, to him. He was arrested in April 2019 by local authorities in Sudan following a coup which overthrew al-Bashir.
Musa Hilal is a Sudanese Arab tribal chief and militia leader and adviser to the Sudanese Minister of Internal Affairs. His Um Jalul clan exercised tribal leadership of the Arab Mahamid tribe in Darfur. The Mahamid are part of a larger confederation of camel-herding (Abbala) tribes of the Northern Rizeigat. Musa is the leader of the Janjaweed militia, which was responsible for a massive military campaign against civilians in Darfur in 2003, as part of a counterinsurgency effort against Darfur rebel groups. On 21 January 2008, the Federal Government of Sudan announced the nomination of Musa Hilal as the chief advisor of the Ministry of Federal Affairs in Sudan. This position allows Mr. Musa to coordinate with regional leaders surrounding Darfur, as well as with Arab tribal groups, on the relations of the military regime.
Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, commonly known as Ali Kushayb, is a senior Janjaweed commander who supported the Sudanese government against Darfur rebel groups during the Omar al-Bashir presidency. He was indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes. He was known as aqid al oqada and was active in Wadi Salih, West Darfur.
The Darfur Peace Agreement may refer to one of three peace agreements that were signed by the Government of Sudan and Darfur-based rebel groups in 2006, 2011 and 2020 with the intention of ending the Darfur Conflict.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1935, adopted unanimously on July 30, 2010, after reaffirming all previous resolutions and statements on the situation in Sudan, the Council extended the mandate of the African Union – United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) for a further 12 months until July 31, 2011 and demanded an end to fighting and attacks on United Nations personnel and civilians.
The International Criminal Court investigation in Darfur or the situation in Darfur is an ongoing investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into criminal acts committed during the War in Darfur. Although Sudan is not a state party to the Rome Statute, the treaty which created the ICC, the situation in Darfur was referred to the ICC's Prosecutor by the United Nations Security Council in 2005. As of June 2019, five suspects remained under indictment by the court: Ahmed Haroun, Ali Kushayb, Omar al-Bashir, Abdallah Banda and Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein. Charges against Bahar Abu Garda were dropped on the basis of insufficient evidence in 2010 and those against Saleh Jerbo were dropped following his death in 2013. In mid-April 2019, Haroun, al-Bashir and Hussein were imprisoned in Sudan as a result of the 2019 Sudanese coup d'état. In early November 2019, the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) and Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok stated that al-Bashir would be transferred to the ICC. One of the demands of the displaced people of Darfur visited by Hamdok prior to Hamdok's statement was that "Omar Al Bashir and the other wanted persons" had to be surrendered to the ICC.
Throughout the ongoing Darfur genocide in the Darfur war there has been a systematic campaign of rape, which has been used as a weapon of war, in the ethnic cleansing of black Africans from the region. The majority of rapes have been carried out by the Sudanese government forces and the Janjaweed paramilitary groups. The actions of the Janjaweed have been described as genocidal rape, with not just women, but children also being raped, as well as babies being bludgeoned to death and the sexual mutilation of victims being commonplace.
The following lists events that happened during 2007 in Sudan.
Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, generally referred to mononymously as Hemedti, is a Sudanese military officer and the current head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). A Janjaweed leader from the Rizeigat tribe in Darfur, he was the Deputy head of the Transitional Military Council (TMC) following the 2019 Sudanese coup d'état. Since 2013, Hemetti has commanded the RSF. He was considered by The Economist to be the most powerful person in Sudan as of early July 2019.
The Sudanese peace process consists of meetings, written agreements and actions that aim to resolve the War in Darfur, the Sudanese conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile, and armed conflicts in central, northern and eastern Sudan.
Adeeb Abdel Rahman Youssef is a Sudanese human rights activist and former politician. From 2003 he documented evidence of atrocities in his native Darfur. For his activism he was imprisoned and tortured by Sudanese authorities. At one point he moved to the United States where he remained for several years and studied at George Mason University. After the Sudanese revolution he served as governor of Central Darfur from 27 July 2020 until his removal during the 2021 Sudanese coup d'état on 25 October 2021.
On January 16, 2021, a massacre against Masalit civilians in Krinding IDP camp in Geneina, Sudan by Arab Janjaweed militants killed 163 people, mostly men, and injured 217 others. The massacre was the deadliest attack against Masalit in Geneina since attacks in 2019 against the Krinding camp that killed 72. The attack was also the first event in Krinding where Masalit self-defense groups fought back against Janjaweed.
Between April 3 and 8, 2021, clashes broke out between Arabs and Masalit in El Geneina, Sudan following the killing on April 3 of two Masalit men on a road separating Arab and Masalit neighborhoods in Krinding. At least 144 people were killed and 233 injured in the clashes. The clashes were the second major conflict in Krinding in 2021, with ethnic clashes occurring in January as well that killed 163 people.