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Background of Darfur Conflict

Genesis of the Conflict

The Darfur region of western Sudan (meaning homeland of the Fur), was an independent kingdom established in the fourteenth century until it was annexed to The Sudan in 1916. Geographically diverse from a sandy desert in the north, extending gradually to a rich savannah in the south, Darfur is inhabited by ethnically diverse farming and ranching communities, including Arabs. All are Muslims. The vast majority of Darfurians identify themselves primarily as African. As Sudan became increasingly "Arabized", the Darfurians were intentionally marginalized in their remote and impoverished region. Sudanese investment remained primarily east of the Nile valley leaving the western regions, Darfur in particular, with scant resources. The negligence of Darfur became more deliberate as the majority of the resources were directed towards the Arab population clustered along the Nile up north, mostly near Khartoum, the capital of The Sudan. The environmental degradation and continued pattern of structural, social, inequality and underdevelopment resulted in economic hardship which led to increased sporadic tensions between the Arabs and Africans since the l980s. Failures of the successive governments to stabilize the region resulted in continuous violence that culminated in an armed resistance movement beginning with Dawoud Yahya Bolad.

The overall situation worsened from 1990's-2002. In February 2003, the Darfur Liberation Movement was announced and quickly changed its name to the current Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) which accused the government of neglecting Darfur. The SLA staged a rebellion against the central government and was initially very successful. The Sudanese Government quickly changed its strategies and began arming Arab militias known as "Janjaweed (devils on horseback)" to crush the rebellion. The Janjaweed empowered and supported by the Sudanese Government fiercely assumed a scorched earth campaign of violence that includes the murder, dismemberment and rape of countless civilians and continues unabated to this day. This, together with the Sudanese army's relentless campaigns of aerial bombardment of Darfurian villages, has caused one of the worst humanitarian crises of our time. Most estimates agree hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians have been killed in a ruthless campaign of ethnic cleansing and over 2.5 million others are living in squalid camps both within Darfur and across the neighboring borders of Chad and Central Africa Republic. Additionally, there are countless refugees worldwide in pursuit of safety.

The Darfur Peace Agreement

While there were great hopes that the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) signed in Abuja, Nigeria in May '06, would quell the violence and pave the way for a lasting peace, the agreement has been plagued by problems from its signing. Only one of the three rebel factions, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) the Mini Minawi faction, signed the agreement with the central government of Khartoum.he other two movement groups, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), Abdul Wahid Nur's faction and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), led by Dr. Khalil Ibrahaim, refused to accept the agreement citing inadequate provisions for security, victim's compensation, justice and political representation (SLM/A) also inadequate protocols on power and wealth sharing (JEM). These groups are more popular among the Darfurian people and their failure to buy into the DPA has left it largely ineffectual, indeed, it is seen as responsible for causing the insurgency to splinter even further along ethnic lines and creating divisions within the camps. The participation of Darfur's women in the peace process is considered crucial. All agree that unless buy-in can be broadened and a larger acceptance of DPA from the Darfurian segments not included in the Abuja negotiations can be obtained, peace will remain elusive.

Current Situation

In July '07, the Sudanese government formally accepted the UN Security Council's Resolution 1769, to deploy an AU/UN hybrid peacekeeping force of roughly 26,000 personnel, commonly referred to as UNAMID, to staunch the flow of blood in Darfur. To date, only a small portion of that force has arrived in Darfur, however, crippled by a lack of resources and logistical capabilities. Additionally, the Government of Sudan admitted attacking the UNAMID convoy of trucks while the Janjaweed continue to further victimize the destitute population of Darfur as well as the aid workers.

After months of pressure from the United Nations and the international community, on October 27th, '07, peace talks between the Sudanese government and an increasingly-splintered group of movement leaders were held in Sirte, Libya under the auspices of the AU/UN. Citing a lack of security for the participants, only about half a dozen of Darfur's rebel factions attended the talks and, as a result, the talks quickly stalled. In the meantime, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) has taken the violence beyond Darfur's borders into nearby the Kordofan region attacking government positions as well as foreign oil workers at a Chinese-run oil field.

February 2007, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), filed a nearly hundred page prosecution document as evidence with the court's judges naming Ahmad Muhammad Harun, a state minister for humanitarian affairs, along with Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-al-Rahman (also known as Ali Kushayb), a leader of the Darfur Janjaweed militia, as responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes. The filing marked the first accusations against the named individuals as a prelude to a trial. May 02, 2007, Pretrial Chamber 1, issued warrants of arrests against the defendents. December 5, 2007, Moreno-Ocampo briefed the United Nations Security Council on the status of his investigations in The Sudan. To date, despite repeated calls from the ICC Chief Prosecutor, the Khartoum government has made no attempt to hand them over and continues to state that they will not hand their citizens over to the ICC for prosecution.

While the Juba Initiative under the auspices of the Government of Southern Sudan had various rebel factions declaring unification into two major groups, it was reported that on Friday, November 30, '07, the Juba Declaration of Unity came into force on Nov. 14, 2007, consented to by several factions in attendance (Sudan Tribune http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article24965). On Saturday, December 15, 2007, it was announced that the Darfur factions, who had been meeting in Juba for more than two months, have succeeded in re-uniting under the name of Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), declaring Ahmed Abdelshafi Toba as Chairman of the movement, Commander-in-Chief of the Sudan Liberation Army and elected him a member of the Supreme Command Council ( Sudan Tribune http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article25196&var_recherche=Darfur%20reunited%20factions%20choose%20Ahmed%20Ab).

January '08, the Sudanese government appointed the controversial Darfurian/Arab militia leader, Musa Hilal, as special advisor to the minister of governmental affairs, a man referred to as the "poster child for Janjaweed atrocities in Darfur" by Richard Dicker of Human Rights Watch. Hilal has admitted to recruiting local Janjaweed militias and rights groups allege that Hilal ran training camps and was present for several raids on Darfur villages. El Bashir's appointment of Hilal is viewed as another way to thwart the already fragile peace process and is expected to be a matter of concern by the world community. This move by the Sudanese government has instigated an outcry from the victimized Darfurians.