Crisis in Darfur An Introduction…. A note for teachers: This power point is meant as an aid. Please review Daniel Schafer’s Notes for Teachers before attempting to deliver this instructional aid.

Where?? 9 neighbors including Chad and Libya Capital is Khartoum Scattered mountain ranges Population= 41 mil. Source: Geoatlas Nile river

Who?? 80 % are involved in Agriculture Only 7 % of land is arable 70% = Sunni Muslim (mostly northern region) 25% = Indigenous beliefs (mostly Southern region) 5% = Christian 43 %= 14 or younger Possible discussion questions: With 80 % involved in Agr and only 7 % arable land, what problems could occur? struggles over arable land… competition over grazing lands and over crop lands With these percentages, what religion probably has the most influence on government? Islam What could lead to such a large percentage of youth? High birthrate… low life expectancy

Basic History 1882- British Imperialistic rule Much turmoil 1950’s- Sudan gains independence Unstable democracy Repeated military coups Only 11 years of elected govt. ( most were Islamic- led parties) After the British Imperialistic rule end in the 1950’s, Sudan attempted to create a democratic government. However, the democracy has remained unstable while dealing with many military coups. The Sudanese government has only had 11 years of actual elected government. Of those 11 years, most were Islamic led.

Civil War (1955- present…) South North VS. Christian/ Animist Arab- Muslim Alienated in econ., Religion, and Culture Govt. taxes spent on Khartoum And North SPLA formed- Sudan’s People’s Liberation Army National Islam front Dominates govt. 2 leaders: Hassan Al- Turabi & Omar Al-Bashir

VS Janjaweed Militia Sudanese Liberation Army Janjaweed militia has been long established as a government endorsed military force. Sudanese Liberation Army

Darfur 3 provinces in Western Sudan Entirely Muslim population: 40% non- Arab African population: Sedentary Farmers Arab population: nomadic farmers 3 provinces make up Darfur in the Western Sudan. The population is almost entirely Muslim… though 40% are indigenous (non-Arab). Those of African descent are primarily Sedentary farmers and those of Arab descent are primarily Nomadic farmers.

Darfur Local tensions Geography & Environment: Little arable land and spreading desert leads to fighting between Nomadic and Sedentary farmers Political & Economic: all taxes collected are spent on northern Arab regions… not African regions With the spreading of desert into Darfur, the land that can be used for farming and grazing is becoming more and more scarce. This leads to problems between the Arabs and Africans looking for fertile ground to plant crops or graze herds. Though the Khartoum government taxes everyone in Sudan, the majority of the taxes go to projects that benefit Khartoum and the northern (Arab-predominant) regions.

Outside Influences Libya: Darfur is in constant violence!! Chad: Libyan troops stationed in Darfur as Libya tries to overthrow Sudan Govt. Chad: Chadian rebels use Darfur as staging ground for overthrowing Chad govt. Chad rebels use Darfur to stage attacks on the Chad government. Thus Chadian forces often follow rebels in to Sudan fighting. Libya (led by Qaddafi) had sought to overthrow the Sudan government and take over. Darfur has been used to station forces of both Libya and Sudanese military. Darfur has been caught in the middle of Chadian civil war and Libya/ Sudan power struggle for years prior to the current crisis. Darfur is in constant violence!!

Back to Khartoum Turabi vs. Al Bashir Al-Bashir Wins Turabi looks for alternative power base outside of Khartoum… Photo was taken in Dec. 1999… before struggle for power After Turabi is run out of power, he decided to look for allies in those who were against the Sudanese government… specifically the rebel forces in the South and those in the West (Darfur) that would be willing to try to overthrow the Sudanese government. Turabi found those allies in the Sudanese Liberation Army, Justice & Equality movement… The Sudanese Liberation army patrols Darfur trying to protect against Janjaweed militias attacks on villages. The SLA is far too small and under equipped to accomplish any kind of true security of the African villages in Darfur. Al- Turabi

New Divide (Darfur crisis begins) Rebels (Turabi) Khartoum govt (Al-Bashir)- VS Sudan Govt. Army & Northern Militias (janjiwid) Sudan Liberation Army & Justice and Equality movement Turabi gathered as his allies the southern forces (christian and Animist that had been fighting since 1955) and also allied with African muslim in the North western region of Darfur. Instead of a Muslim vs. Non-muslim divide… Turabi has created an alliance of Christian and Animists from the South and Muslims from the North and West… The new divide is not by religion, but by ethnicity… Arab vs. Non-Arab Both groups largely Muslim… no longer Muslim vs. Infidels… Arab vs. African

Civilians Attacked Sudanese govt. wants to deny rebels any support from Darfur villages Airforce, army, and Arab militias (janjawid) bomb and destroy villages Men, Women, & Children Killed Girl & women raped Population driven from villages Photo of Village being burned In order to keep villages from supporting the local rebel forces, the government has sent Sudan’s airforce, army, and recruit Arab militias from the Northern region (IE Janjaweed) to burn and destroy the villages. The airforce bombs villages with helicopters and fixed-wing fighters. Ground assault is by the Sudanese army, Popular Defense Forces, and Arab militias. Men, Women, and Children killed with guns, grenades, knives. Torching of hourses. Reports of men arrested and executed in Mass. Girls and women systemically raped. Population driven from their villages.

Survivors?? Flee to neighboring villages and await another attack End up in refugee camps Can not return to villages Up to half of women have been raped Most have lost family members 3000 to 10000 die every month Janjawid raid camps and steal food aid

Genocide or Civil war? Attacks are from Arab only Sudanese government military or Arab militias (Janjiwid) 3 tribes are primarily targeted (though other African groups are also assaulted): Masalit, Fur, Zaghawa Photo description: Women await treatment for their children at a women's clinic in Riyadh camp Geneina, in west Darfur, March 2007. Ethnic Africans and Arabs continue to be displaced to IDP camps within Darfur due to ongoing intimidation and violence by Arab nomads allegedly backed by the Sudanese Government. Since the beginning of the war in Darfur, over two million people have been displaced from their villages throughout the region, and hundreds of thousands have been killed. Though much progress has been made by NGOs and the United Nations in flighting disease and malnutrition in IDP camps and throughout darfur, many darfurians are still struggling with malnutrition, malaria

Pictures of Darfur Top Photo description: Internally displaced Sudanese await medical treatment at an Egyptian medical centre at Abu Shouk refugee camp, home of some 100,000 refugees in Sudan's troubled western province of Darfur May 26, 2005. U.N Secretary General Kofi Annan on Thursday urged donors to find a bigger African peace mission to help end bloodshed in Darfur, where experts say hundreds are dying daily from war, hunger and disease.

Refugees Sudanese IDP's (internally displaced people) wait at a food and clothing aid distribution point. The government of Sudan and the main Darfur rebel faction, the SLA, signed a peace agreement in Abuja, Nigeria, after weeks of intense negotiations hoping to end the three years of fighting which has killed about 200,000 and left about two million homeless. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called on the Sudanese government to allow a UN assessment team into Darfur.

Camp life in Chad Photo description: Life continues amid makeshift tents for Darfurian refugees in the Breidjing refugee camp in Chad. Hundreds of thousands of African Sudanese from Darfur have fled their country following a violent civil war in Darfur that broke out in 2003, when rebel groups began attacking government targets, saying the government had neglected the region. In response Khartoum mobilised Arab "self-defence militias", or "Janjaweed," which are accused of carrying out atrocities against local black Africans.

resources Sudan and the Darfur Genocide: notes for teachers by Daniel Schafer (Belmont University) Google earth- crisis in Darfur Corbis photography