What is Darfur? Part 2

In my last posting we discussed the Who, What and Where of the Darfur genocide and in this posting we will go over the When, How and Why.

When (did this all start):

Officially, the rebellion started in February 2003 against the Arab-dominated Sudanese government, with two local rebel groups — the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLA) — accusing the government of oppressing non-Arabs in favor of Arabs, citing failure to protect local villagers from attacks by nomadic groups, and economic marginalization of the region.

It is worth mentioning that tensions in the region had been high for some time because of a variety of factors including drought, desertification, and overpopulation.

In 1998 relatively minor clashes left more than 5000 Masalit displaced. The clashes in 1999 were bloodier, with many hundreds killed, including a number of Arab tribal chiefs when nomadic herdsmen moved south earlier than usual in search of water. The government brought in military forces in an attempt to quell the violence and establish some sense of security. Many Masalit intellectuals and notables were arrested, imprisoned, and tortured in the towns as government-supported Arab militias began to attack Masalit villages; a number of Arab chiefs and civilians were also killed in these clashes.

How (is the Government of Sudan getting away with this):

There are many "How" questions one can come up with for the Darfur conflict but I feel this is the one that deserves the most attention. People tend to believe that if something like the holocaust was happening again that the governments of the world would do something and they would know about it. So if it is happening again then how are they getting away with it.

Since the purpose of this posting is to give a quick explanation I want to point out that this is a question that is deserving of further research so I strong suggest that you take advantage of the links provided to learn more. Here is a quick explanation;

Sudan has been labeled a sponsor of terrorism since 1993. Sudan has harbored members of al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Abu Nidal Organization, Jamaat al-Islamiyya, and Egyptian Islamic Jihad, each of which are classified as a terrorist organization.

In 1998, al-Qaeda operatives based in Sudan were allegedly involved in the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Throughout the 1990s, Sudan was also accused of supporting local insurgencies in Uganda, Tunisia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Eritrea.

After the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11th, 2001, the United States government quickly turned to Sudan for information on al-Qaeda and its leader Osama Bin Laden. This information become more and more important as the war on terrorism continued and al-Bashir was able to use this information like currency to hold the United States government at bay while Bashir began their scorched earth campaign in Darfur. The U.S., fearful they would lose valuable information if they imposed on the Government of Sudan in regard to Darfur, remained silent.

Sudan also sells oil to China and is a major weapons buyer for Russia. Both these countries have permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council. Since the U.S. government did not want to jeopardize their information exchange with Sudan they shifted the pressure to act on Darfur on the U.N. The problem was that every time some type of Darfur related resolution would be presented China and/or Russia would either use their veto powers to crush it or threaten to veto it unless changes were made. These changes they would damand were usually so drastic that to allow them would render the resolution useless.

Sudanese President al-Bashir has tactfully used his relationships with the United States, China, and Russia to stall for time as he continued his campaign in Darfur. But more recently he has used the refugees of this conflict as direct bargaining chips. After the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for al-Bashir for crimes against humanity he quickly expelled some of the largest humanitarian aid organizations from Sudan citing they were "spies" for the ICC.

Currently hundred of thousands, if not millions, are at risk of death if they do not get theses organizations back in. Knowing that the potential starvation of all these people will pull on the heart strings of the international community, al-Bashir is merely looking for a way out of his indictment from the ICC. By removing the key aid organizations he has forced the hand of the international community and the powers that be. Either back off and recind the indictment or millions will die. He has proved he is willing sacrifice millions of his own people to achieve his own agenda.

Why (is the Government of Sudan doing this?):

There are many theories as to why the Government of Sudan has decided to use genocidal tactics in this conflict but essentially it comes down to the control of power.

Since Sudan has achieved its independence, they have gone from one unstable government to the next. These governments are usually very small groups or tribes that do not really represent the people of Sudan but instead look out for themselves. The way these small groups try to stay in power is to smash any rebellion with such force and violence that no one would be willing to try another.

The North/South War was coming to a close and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) gave independence for the South in 2011, a 50-50 share of the profits from its lucrative oilfields, national elections in 2009, and 10,000 UN peacekeepers to oversee the agreement’s implementation. It wasn't long after this agreement was signed that things in Darfur began to escalate. The Government of Sudan, fearful of losing complete control of their country, manipulated ethnic tensions that had flared up in Darfur around access to increasingly scarce land and water resources. They unleashed the Janjaweed militias to attack civilian communities they claimed had links to the rebels.

I hope this all helps to make sense of this very confusing situation.

Ultimately we need to realize that though initially the finger could be pointed at the government sponsored militias when it came to the majority of the atrocities and human rights violations presently that is not the case. All parties involved have committed atrocities thus making this situation even more frustrating.

We have to realize that somewhere between the humanity and politics resides peace.

We have to realize that in cases such as this we are ALL human beings and it is the responsibility of ALL of us to stand up and defend those that can not defend themselves. At the end of the day, if we do nothing, sticking our head in sand, makes us just as guilty as those committing the crimes.

What is Darfur? Part 2