Genocide in Darfur Dr. Jared O. Bell, Assistant Professor of International Relations and Public Administration Faculty of Business and Administration International University of Sarajevo

Sudan The largest country in Africa, Sudan has been in near constant conflict since its independence from the UK in 1956. The first civil war between the north and the south lasted from 1956 to 1972. Map courtesy USAID The second civil war began in 1983 and recently ended with the signing of a peace treaty on January 9, 2005. This treaty does not address the atrocities in Darfur.

Darfur Darfur is located in western Sudan. The region is 25% larger than California, or about the size of France. Darfur is home to some 80 tribes and ethnic groups divided between nomads and sedentary communities. Map courtesy The Save Darfur Coalition

The Fur, Masaalit, Zaghawa, Jebel, Aranga, and other African tribes have been the victims of discrimination and repression by the Government of Sudan. From http://www.islamonline.net

In February 2003, two groups of African Muslims launched an insurgency against the government in Khartoum. Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLA) From www.bbc.co.uk Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) From http://www.islamonline.ne

The SLA and JEM were fighting for socio-economic development for the region an end to tribal militias separation of state and religion a power-sharing government

In response to the SLA/JEM uprising, the Government of Sudan launched a military campaign to destroy entire communities of African farmers. The government armed and organized tribal militias (Janjaweed) to attack and forcibly displace hundreds of thousands of civilians.

Definition of “Genocide” Article II of the 1948 Genocide Convention defines a genocide as “acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” These acts include “Killing members of the group; Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”

The United States government, the German government, the Parliament of the European Union, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's Committee on Conscience and Yad Vashem have all accused Khartoum of “genocide.” While the United Nations has avoided the term “genocide,” the UN has said that “crimes against humanity and war crimes are occurring in Darfur.”

Scorched earth tactics are being applied throughout Darfur, including the deliberate destruction of schools, wells, seed and food supplies, making whole towns and villages uninhabitable…I consider this to be ethnic cleansing. I cannot find any other word for it. United Nations Undersecretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland

Four hundred thousand innocent civilians died in the conflict that started in 2003. Tens of thousands of people have been brutally murdered. The vast majority of these victims are not associated with the SLA or JEM rebels. The only thing they have in common with the rebels is a shared ethnicity.

Almost 2 million people have been forced to flee from their homes. Refugees

1,660,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are living in refugee camps in Darfur. 203,000 Darfurians have fled to refugee camps in neighboring Chad. Displaced People

ICC and Post-Conflict Justice The first warrant for arrest for Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir was issued on 4 March 2009, the second on 12 July 2010. In issuing the warrant, Pre-Trial Chamber I stated that there are reasonable grounds to believe ICC and Post-Conflict Justice

ICC and Post-Conflict Justice From March, 2003 to at least 14 July 2008, a protracted armed conflict not of an international character existed in Darfur between the Government of Sudan (GoS) and several organised armed groups, in particular the Sudanese Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). ICC and Post-Conflict Justice

ICC and Post-Conflict Justice Soon after the April, 2003 attack on the El Fasher airport, Omar Al Bashir and other high-ranking Sudanese political and military leaders of the GoS agreed upon a common plan to carry out a counter- insurgency campaign against the SLM/A, the JEM and other armed groups opposing the Government of Sudan in Darfur. ICC and Post-Conflict Justice

ICC and Post-Conflict Justice A core component of that campaign was the unlawful attack on part of the civilian population of Darfur – belonging largely to the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa groups – who were perceived to be close to the organised armed groups opposing the Government of Sudan in Darfur. The campaign was conducted through GoS forces, including the Sudanese Armed Forces and their allied Janjaweed militia, the Sudanese Police Forces, the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) and the Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC). It lasted at least until the date of the filing of the Prosecution Application on 14 July 2008.   ICC and Post-Conflict Justice

The Sudanese government and the JEM signed a ceasefire agreement in February 2010, with a tentative agreement to pursue peace. The JEM has the most to gain from the talks and could see semi-autonomy much like South Sudan. However, talks were disrupted by accusations that the Sudanese army launched raids and air strikes against a village, violating the Tolu agreement. The JEM, the largest rebel group in Darfur, vowed to boycott negotiations.[ Cease Fire