Sudan, located in northeastern Africa, is the

largest country in Africa. Sudan is bordered by

nine countries, including Egypt, Chad and

Ethiopia. The Darfur region is in the western part

of Sudan and is roughly the size of France.

For 21 years, a civil war raged between the North

and the South of Sudan. This civil war ended

with a peace agreement in December 2004. The

current crisis in Darfur is not directly related to

the civil war, but emerged as peace talks became

serious and groups within the Darfur region felt

marginalized in the newly proposed North-South

power sharing agreement.

The current conflict in Darfur started in February

2003 when two groups of rebels mounted a

rebellion against the Sudanese government. In

response, the government supplied Arab militias called the Janjaweed with weapons, uniforms

and air support to fight against the uprising. This fight, however, has been turned against the

civilian population of the region and has led to a campaign of violence where villages have been

torched to the ground, people have been forced out of their homes, many have been murdered and

more have been raped. More than half of the villages in Darfur have been completely destroyed.

Over 400,000 people have died as a result of the violence and more than 2.5 million people have

been driven from their homes. The Sudanese government is directly responsible for the actions of

the militias because it continues to provide support to the Janjaweed.

The conflict in Darfur is not religiously based - nearly everyone involved is Muslim. But there is

a racial and ethnic component to the violence because the largely Arab Janjaweed have targeted

Black villagers. There are documented accounts of racial epithets being used against the Black

villagers by the Arab Janjaweed while they rape, kill or loot.

Because of the violence, over 2.5 million people in Darfur are now living in makeshift camps

inside Sudan, and over 200,000 are in camps across the border in Chad. They are living in

extremely hot conditions in the desert, with little shelter and limited supplies of food, water and

medicine. Conditions in these camps are very bad and there are not enough supplies or protection

to keep everyone healthy and safe. Many of the camps have even been targeted for attacks by the

Janjaweed. Women who leave the camps to gather firewood or food are often raped.

On September 9, 2004 the United States government declared the situation in Darfur to be

genocide. Under the 1948 Genocide Convention, this declaration obligates the U.S. and the

international community to take action to prevent further bloodshed and to punish the

perpetrators.

The attacks by the Janjaweed and the Sudanese government have intended to destroy the Black

population of Darfur by doing many of the acts outlined in the 1948 Genocide Convention,

including

At present, the United States is the only country that has declared the conflict in Darfur to be

genocide. The United Nations published a report in January 2005, documenting evidence of mass

killings, rape, pillage and forced displacement (all activities that constitute war crimes and crimes

against humanity). However, the UN concluded that the violence in Darfur did not amount to

genocide, as the “crucial element of genocidal intent appear[ed] to be missing.”

Many international aid organizations are operating in Darfur and on the border with Chad to help

provide basic needs to the people whose villages have been destroyed and whose homes are

unsafe. Yet while the UN is providing some assistance, the international community has not

donated enough money to enable the UN and other aid organizations to buy food and supplies to

help these people. A November 2006 report by the UN World Food Programme said that 3.7

million people in Sudan (more than half of its six million population) need food. Plus, where the

international community has donated money, they often have not actually paid their pledges to

provide the cash needed to buy and transport the food to Sudan.

The Sudanese government has agreed to allow troops from the African Union, a regional body

that seeks to provide cooperation and security in Africa, to serve as “observers” in Darfur. As of

November 2006, there were 7,000 AU troops in Darfur. Numbers on the ground are soon

expected to grow to 11,000. However, these troops do not have a mandate to actively protect

civilians, only to serve as observers. Currently, the United Nations is considering deploying

around 20,600 peacekeepers to support the AU troops as a “hybrid force” and possibly take over

the AU’s mission in Darfur after a few months. The Sudanese government has not been receptive

to these proposals from the UN.

In March, 2005, after more than two years of violence, the United Nations Security Council took

two important steps: they authorized sanctions to be imposed on individuals responsible for

violating international law in Darfur and they referred the situation in Darfur to the new

International Criminal Court (ICC).

Sanctions would restrict those involved in the campaign from traveling and accessing any of their

funds. Although the UN Security Council passed a resolution imposing sanctions against four

Sudanese individuals in April 2006, the sanctions did not target any current Sudanese government

officials. Instead, they targeted two rebel leaders, a former Sudanese air force chief, and a

Janjaweed leader. Although the specific sanctions were supposed to be imposed within 30 days

of the resolution, the United Nations has yet to actually implement them.

The referral of the situation in Darfur by the United Nations Security Council to the International

Criminal Court (ICC) is unprecedented. This was the first time that a country had been referred

to the ICC by the United Nations. The international community is hoping that the involvement of

the ICC, the first permanent criminal court established by the international community, will bring

the people responsible for the violence in Darfur to justice. An investigation of the situation in

Darfur was opened by the ICC in May 2005. The ICC Chief Prosecutor is close to completing his

investigation and has stated that he has sufficient evidence to file charges soon. The crimes

committed include persecution, torture, rape and murder.

Although the Sudanese government established a special tribunal in Sudan to bring perpetrators

of serious crimes to justice in June 2005, this was widely seen as a symbolic last-ditch effort to

try to avoid prosecution at the ICC.

African Union sponsored peace talks between rebel groups and the government are ongoing in

Abuja, Nigeria. The latest peace deal was signed in May 2006 by the Sudanese government and

only one of three negotiating rebel factions, the SLM. The two other parties, SLA and JEM,

refused to sign the agreement, thus casting doubts on the effectiveness of the deal. To further

complicate the matter, other rebel groups and factions, such as the National Redemption Front,

are also interested in joining the peace talks.

Violence from the Darfur conflict has also spilled into neighboring Chad and the Central African

Republic. Refugees from Darfur who have sought safety in Chad are threatened daily by the

violence along the Chad-Sudan border, particularly as both Sudanese and Chadian government

officials accuse one another of supporting each other’s rebels.