Darfur, Sudan

The Republic of Sudan, or Sudan as it more commonly known, is currently in a state of crisis. Darfur, in western Sudan, is in the middle of the worst humanitarian crisis in the world right now. They are on the brink of genocide, the deliberate killing of a very large number of people from a particular ethnic group or background.

Like Most civil wars the incidents have been occurring for over twenty years. The armed conflict began to get serious in February of 2003. It was then that the Sudanese government in cohorts with the Janjaweed militia engaged in civil strife with two rebel groups. The first of the rebel groups involved being the Liberation Movement Army/Movement (SLM/A), the second the Justice Equality Movement (JEW). The Janjaweed militia is not only targeting the rebels themselves but the civilians that belong to the same ethnic groups as well. This includes the Fur people, the Masaslit people, and the Zaghawa people. The Janjaweed militia became involved at the governments request in an effort to subdue the rebel movement. The government armed the militia with planes, tanks, cars, weapons and ammunition to equipt over 20,000 men.

The government and the Janjaweed combined have been destroying villages and removing anything that would be able to sustain life within them so that the people are forced to move. They are doing so through the use of bombs, fires, and raids. While in the villages the militia are committing murder, rape, and extensive assault. As of now two million people have been forcibly removed from their homes, 200,000 have fled to neighboring Chad, and between than 80,000 and 150,000 have died.

The government still denies that it is as deeply involved with the Janjaweed militia as it is. They have gone so far as to say that foreign journalists and human rights activists have fabricated the situation in Sudan. To the government the Janjaweed is able to be paged as a scape goat for their harmful doings. They have stated that they are unable to control the militias the southern area of Sudan, though there has been no evidence of an attempt to do so. The Sudan government has stated that any barbaric and inhumane acts in Darfur have been at the hands of the Janjaweed militia as a result of ethnic clashes.

Their position contradicts with what Musa Hilal, a Janjaweed commander, told a human rights activist on September 27, 2004 during an interview. He stated that all militia activity was not only government directed but government backed as well. Hilal claimed that all of the orders that he himself and his people carried out were from a field commander in the West. The main overlying command that he has received and passed along to his subordinated is to mobilize the people. According to him he has no idea who is responsible for the mass killings and raids. This seems ludicrous being as he has complete control over the entire region and its happenings. His position is a contradiction to eye witness accounts that place him in military uniform celebrating after a citizen attack.

The Sudanese justice system has been ignoring the individuals responsible for the attacks and the crimes against humanity. In June of 2005 the International Criminal Court (ICC) opened their investigation from outside of Darfur of the situation there. The Prosecutor has not been babe to gain access to Darfur to further conduct the investigation. This is in part a result of the Sudanese governments refusal to cooperate with the ICC on the grounds that it will deal with the prosecution of any of the individuals involve itself. However, it seems as if the government officials, the militia leaders, and the individuals responsible have been facing no immediate threat of prosecution. Hilal, when asked, said that he had no fear of being prosecuted and saw no possibility of jail time due to his participation in the attacks on the Sudanese civilians.

After the attacks the majority of the citizens have fled to Chad. Chad borders Sudan to the West. Here they are being placed in camps where they are entirely dependent

upon international human assistance. There are not enough camps for everyone unfortunately, and only about 1.8 million of the 2 million have been placed securely into the camps. Even within the camps there is a limited supply of reserves for the fleeing citizens. The Sudanese government and the Janjaweed groups have been hindering the humanitarian agencies form reaching this some 2 million people. The upset that is being caused by the militias and the government has caused many of the humanitarian agencies to evacuate from various locations.

The African Union has thus far done what it is able to do with the resources it has. In April of 2004 the African Union tried to settle the dispute with a ceasefire agreement and sent in a monitoring team in May of 2004. The civilians were still under extensive attack and the African Union force (AMIS) needed assistance in controlling the situation. The requested funding from United States as well as other parties. The U.S. distributed $450 Million to Sudan. Though the financial aid helped, Sudan still had insufficient numbers, and equipment to control the situation properly. In the fall of 2004 there were around 6,9000 personnel who were responsible for enforcing the ceasefire act and keeping civilians out of immediate threat.

In May of 2005 the seventh round of peace talks