Darfur
In March of 2003, two rebel armies, the Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA) that consisted of mainly orphaned children, and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) took up arms against the oppressive Sudanese government complaining about the lack of protection from attacks led by nomads on civilians. The government responded by unleashing Arab militias, the Janjaweed, who attacked hundreds of villages. The Sudanese Government devastated many rebel areas, and as Zoe Chafe of World Watch believed to “empower roaming militias to assist with the killings.” Over 400 villages were entirely destroyed and millions of citizens were killed or forced to flee their homes. The ten years of carnage became known as the Darfur genocide and represented one of the worst atrocities in the modern era, that still rages on today. Many of the defined stages of genocide can be recognised in this period including classification, organisation, preparation, extermination and ultimately afterwards denial. Thanks to the UN, as well as various Journalists, the rest of the world was informed, and thousands of lives have been saved.
Darfur is the major region in the west of Sudan. The major demographic of Sudanese people that live in Darfur are Muslims. When General Omar Bashir took control of Sudan in 1989 through military upheaval, and this allowed The National Islamic Front government to exacerbate the situation. The conflict of Darfur was entirely internal. The Genocide was led by a group of government-armed and funded Arab militias called the ‘Janjaweed’. The Janjaweed systematically destroyed Darfurnians by burning villages, looting economic resources, polluting water, and murdering, raping and torturing civilians. After Sudan became independent from Britain in 1956, Sudan became involved in two lengthy civil wars for most of the remainder of the 20th century. These conflicts were based in the non-Arab southern Sudanese. The competition for scarce resources played a large part in the initiation
Darfur is the major region in the west of Sudan. The major demographic of Sudanese people that live in Darfur are Muslims. When General Omar Bashir took control of Sudan in 1989 through military upheaval, and this allowed The National Islamic Front government to exacerbate the situation. The conflict of Darfur was entirely internal. The Genocide was led by a group of government-armed and funded Arab militias called the ‘Janjaweed’. The Janjaweed systematically destroyed Darfurnians by burning villages, looting economic resources, polluting water, and murdering, raping and torturing civilians. After Sudan became independent from Britain in 1956, Sudan became involved in two lengthy civil wars for most of the remainder of the 20th century. These conflicts were based in the non-Arab southern Sudanese. The competition for scarce resources played a large part in the initiation
Citations: INTERNET "Darfur Genocide | World Without Genocide." Darfur Genocide | World Without Genocide. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2013. <http://worldwithoutgenocide.org/genocides-and-conflicts/darfur-genocide>. Khan, Urooj. "Darfur, Congo, and the Aftermath of Genocide | Daily Gazette." Daily Gazette. N.p., 10 Oct. 2008. Web. 17 Feb. 2013. <http://daily.swarthmore.edu/2008/10/10/darfur-congo-and-the-aftermath-of-genocide/>. Unknown. "EDITORIAL; The Genocide Continues." The New York Times. The New York Times, 17 June 2008. Web. 20 Feb. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/17/opinion/17tue1.html?_r=2>. BOOKS Prunier, Gerard. Darfur: the ambiguous genocide. Cornell University Press, 2005.