The last time the number of deaths in Darfur were counted, the number was 300,000 and growing rapidly. A couple million people were without there families living in refugee camps. Woman and young girls have been raped and murdered, and many kids haven't grown up in a stable home. This was in 2008. Since then it was estimated that another 100,000 people have died. Where did this all start? Why did this start? How could this go so unnoticed by millions of people?
History of Darfur and conflict-
Darfur is the small western region of Sudan that had a population of 8.5 million people. Sudan is the largest country in Africa and has had many problems since its independence in 1956. They have faced civil war with a small 10 year pause. The most recent genocide began in April of 2003. Now it is the light-skinned Arabs against the dark-skinned people in southern and western Sudan. These like-skinned Arabs are the Janjaweed who have been hired by the government to clear out all Darfurians who are dark-skinned. Specifically, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and the Justice and Equality Movement have been going against the Sudanese Government. The government has always favored the nomadic Arab Sudanese over the non-Arab Sudanese and now finally the people are taking a stand. For many years their has been a power struggle between farmers in Fur, Zaghawa, Massaleet and the nomadic Arabs. After being held back for years, you farmers rebelled against the government. The attacks began in 2003.
What is Happening?
The Janjaweed militia are going through Darfur and raping and murdering everyone in their path. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed since the beginning of this genocide in 2003. The Janjaweed are trying to clear all groups and tribes that have not been loyal to the government in Sudan. There have been massive displacements and hundreds of woman are being raped until infertile. These militia are going through and taking anything they can off their victims that they can keep for themselves. They call it ethnic cleansing. Now there is a lack of resources in these areas and those who are left are dying from disease and malnutrition. It is said that ““3.5 million people are now hungry, 2.5 million have been displaced due to violence, and 400,000 people have died in Darfur thus far.” It is scary for any person to leave their refugee camp to go to the market because they don't know who will attack them, rape them, rob them, beat them, or even kill them. Many people are living in fear that their entire family is dead and soon they will be. Already over 400 villages have been destroyed with all of the residents who are either dead or have fled their homes. The government and Janjaweed have been calling it ethnic cleansing.
Young child completely malnourished living in Darfur.
The Government and the Janjaweed-
Omar al-Bashir is the current leader in Sudan. He denies bringing in the Janjaweed to complete this genocide. The Janjaweed are a militia group of nomadic tribes who are going into towns, killing thousands of people and their pay is what they can steal. The entire government denies any involvement with the militia even though it is quite evident that they hired the Janjaweed. People wonder why the government hasn't stopped the Janjaweed if they aren't at all linked to each other . “These militias work in unison with government troops, with total impunity for their massive crimes.” It has been seen by many, government troops and the Janjaweed militia in joint operations, killing hundreds of people in Darfur. In one mission, 136 men in Fur were taken by both groups and shot in the back of the neck. There have also been air raids by military planes, quickly followed by flooding militia in many villages. This may have been planned out between the two groups.
Omar al-Bashir-
This man is the current president of Sudan and has been in power since 1989. In efforts to ends the Sudanese civil war, he completely missed the fact that the genocide in Darfur had began. He wasn't completely in power in 1989, he was a military leader but by 1993 he had named himself president. But it wasn't a independent choice of his to become president, the people voted for him in every election to this day. When the conflict in Darfur had started, Omar sent in Sudanese military and all of a sudden the Janjaweed became a factor. Although it is said that the government has no link to the Janjaweed, as soon as Omar al-Bashir sent in his troops, this nomadic group came up with weapons and began killing tons of Darfurians. Bashir has been wanted for counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Most recently he has a warrant for one count of genocide. Leaders should not have warrants for arrests and criminal activity. Until he is caught, Bashir is still in power.
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janjaweed militia in Darfur
Genocide?
It is questioned whether this truly is a genocide or not. It has been denied by their government but the people demand that it does not go unnoticed. People are wondering how rape is a form of genocide when it is possibly one of the worst forms. Many woman are brutally raped. This leaves them infertile and scarred. They are raped so violently and horrifically that some cannot walk for months. This is also a cause of suicide. All their dignity has been taken away and they no longer have any respect for themselves and feel worthless. Also, mixed races are unacceptable. If a woman is impregnated by a Janjaweed soldier, the child is no longer pure to the tribe in which it belongs. This is very important to these murderers. They are trying to wipe out these tribes and have one clean race. Many woman will then kill themselves and their baby out of the lack of respect. These rapes humiliate woman and leave them permanently scarred. Even though it is well-known that the government helped the Janjaweed with weapons and money, they did not mean for rape to be a large form of this genocide. A Human Rights Activist said “I don't think rape was planned by the government. Killing, and looting, and torture, yes, but not rape.” This is not ethnic cleansing, it is genocide.
Who has helped?
Many unions have taken steps to help Darfur. The African Union has sent in a team of 7,000 peace-keeping team. They have gone into Darfur and have made sure that President al-Bashir will not be elected ever again. Going along with stopping Omar al-Bashir from becoming president, the International Criminal Court has put out warrants for his arrest on counts of war crimes, but they can not yet enforce it. They were given permission to look into this from the UN who have helped the growth of the economy in Sudan. They have promoted peaceful talks between tribes and the government in Darfur. The UN has many refugee camps scattered around Sudan and Chad to help the millions of displaced victims. The UN was not supported by the Arab League who “supported al-Bashir's refusal to accept UN troops in 2006.”
This is really good work Katie. I think that it is important that you wrote about the genocide in Darfur because it is happening right now and is an issue that we should all be concerned with. I already knew a little bit about the genocide but I learned from your history part of the blog post that the Janjaweed were hired by the government to kill people in Darfur. You spent a lot of time on your blog post and it has a lot of info about Darfur.
ReplyDeleteGreat work
-maggie
Chesa I found it shocking what was going on with the raping of the Sudanese women. I had just thought that the Janjaweed were going into these villages and murdering people when in reality they are scarring them for life and leaving them to suffer.
ReplyDeleteThank you both for giving me feedback.
Well good job and thanks because i learned a lot more from reading this then i did when i was researching for my blog because i was focusing on mostly the Janjaweed. I feel as if it is very weird that the government has assigned the Janjaweed to kill the Africans, but yet they won't stop the genocide. Good job on your blog.
ReplyDeleteIt is very important to learn about something as it is happening. Maggie is right. I think if we learn about something that is going on as it is going on, we will be more likely to help. We can't go back in time and help the people who were in the Holocaust, and we can't help all those woman raped and killed in the Rape of Nanking but we can do something now, so eductaion is the most important thing.
ReplyDelete