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BACKGROUND
DARFUR INFO: A major humanitarian crisis has
been intensifying in the Darfur region of western Sudan,
where the government-backed militia has carried out
atrocities against the local population, including the
destruction of hundreds of villages, the murder of thousands
of people and the rape and assault of thousands of women
and girls. The United States has recognized these acts
as genocide.
Since
early 2003, in an effort to counter rebel groups in
the region (the Sudanese Liberation Army/Movement and
the Justice and Equality Movement), the Government-backed
Janjaweed militia has deliberately attacked and victimized
the civilians in Darfur. The Janjaweed (primarily of
Arab, nomadic ancestry) have attacked civilian populations
(considered of Black African ancestry) which primarily
support the rebel groups. Both the Janjaweed and their
Darfurian victims are Muslims.
To
date, as many as 400,000 people have been killed, over
two million have been displaced from their homes. In
addition to the constant danger of attack (including
the brutal raping of women and girls, the destruction
of goods supplies) from the Janjaweed, the refugees
and those who remain in the villages in Darfur must
deal with rampant hunger and disease, as well as the
threat of seasonal rains. The World Health organization,
the United Nations, and other humanitarian agencies
estimate that 3.5 million people afflicted by the crisis
are suffering from hunger. Regional destabilization
has prevented aid workers from reaching and assisting
those who need help most. The violence has also spilled
over into neighboring Chad, where many Darfurian refugees
have fled, resulting in tens of thousands of Chadians
fleeing their homes.
In
2004, the United States charged Sudan with genocide,
the first time a government has made such an accusation
at another government since the U.N. Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of Genocide was adopted in
1948.
While
a ceasefire was negotiated between the Government of
Sudan and one of the rebel groups in May 2006 in the
so-called Darfur Peace Agreement, little has changed
on the ground. Violence, displacement, and atrocities
by the Janjaweed continue. In addition, increasing fighting
between the rebel groups has further destabilized the
area. The understaffed and underfunded African Union
peacekeeping mission in Darfur has been unable to do
much to protect the civilian population. United Nations
Security Council Resolution 1706 (passed August 31,
2006) authorizing an international peacekeeping force
in Darfur has been stymied by the Sudanese Government.
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