Transcript Genocide in Darfur - University of Chicago

Genocide in Darfur
Presented by
UChicago
STAND
A Student AntiGenocide
Coalition
Darfur, Sudan
• Sudan is the
largest country
by area in Africa
• Darfur is a region
in western
Sudan,
approximately
the size of Texas
• 6 million people
used to live in
Darfur
Genocide In Darfur
– 450,000 dead (from
violence, famine, and
disease)
– 2.5 million refugees
and internally
displaced persons
– 150,000 - 300,000
refugees in
neighboring Chad
What is Genocide?
United Nations Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948)
“Genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy,
in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
• (a) Killing members of the group;
• (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
• (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to
bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
• (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
• (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. “
History of Conflict in Sudan
Sudan’s borders encompass many ethnic and religious
groups
– North: Arab, Muslim
– South: African, Christian
– Darfur: African, Muslim, Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa
tribes
Northern Sudan was constructed without ties to
Southern Sudan, and the Darfur region wasn’t
annexed as a province of Sudan until 1916,
almost 50 years after the North and South were
unified.
History of Conflict in Sudan
• 1956 Sudan gains independence from British
rule
• Civil war between North and South from 19551972 and again from 1983-2002
– South Sudanese not represented in Khartoum
government
– While oil was discovered in Southern Sudan in the
1970s, the Khartoum government demanded all of the
oil revenues be funneled to the national government
• Peace agreement in 2003
Beginning of Darfur Conflict
• In 2003, two rebel
groups from Darfur
rise up against the
Sudanese
government
– Sudanese Liberation
Movement (pictured)
– Justice and Equality
Movement
The political aim of the rebel groups is to compel to
Sudanese government to address underdevelopment and
political marginalization of the region .
Government Response
Janjaweed in military fatigues in Geneina.
• Sudanese government
arms Janjaweed
militia, comprised
mostly of members of
Arab nomadic tribes
who have been in
conflict with settled
farmers in Darfur.
Janjaweed kill and
expel Darfurians
• Janjaweed has been
translated as “devil on
a horse” in Arabic
Government Response
The government provides helicopters to bomb villages.
A helicopter strafing the village of Labado.
Janjaweed Tactics
In addition
to killing and
expelling
members of a
village, the
Janjaweed
burn their
food stores so
that the
survivors
cannot
return.
A government soldier burning the food storage of the
villagers in Marla.
Janjaweed Tactics
After attacking and looting, Janjaweed begin to burn the village of Um Zeifa
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)
& Refugees
2.5 million refugees and IDPs in Sudan and neighboring Chad.
Three generations of farmers, formerly self-sufficient, now forced to live in a camp.
IDPs and Refugees
Thousands die each month from the effects of inadequate food,
water, health care, and shelter in a harsh desert environment.
Pictured are graves outside and IDP camp.
Women in Refugee Camps
Women collecting wood in Kassab camp.
Rape as a Weapon
Rape and gang-rape continually used as a
weapon, with motivation of diluting the gene
pool.
“They grabbed my donkey and my straw and said, ‘Black girl, you
are too dark. You are like a dog. We want to make a light baby,’”
said Sawela Suliman, 22, showing slashes from where a whip had
struck her thighs. ‘They said, 'You get out of this area and leave the
child when it's made.’”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16001-2004Jun29.html
Rape is used to humiliate both men and women,
as there exists a stigma against rape in Darfurian
Muslim culture
Racial Motivation of the Genocide
Reports state the African Arab Janjaweed shout
racial slurs as they destroy the villages, claiming
that they will kill all non-Arab “Africans” or
“Blacks”. While both the Janjaweed and
Darfurians have black skin, the Janjaweed
persecute the Darfurians because they are nonArabs.
One refugee told New York Times columnist
Nicholas Kristof that “the Arabs want to get
rid of anyone with black skin. . . . There are
no blacks left [in the area I fled].”
International Response and
Challenges
• In July 2004, Congress declared the crisis in Darfur to be
a genocide. In September 2004, on behalf of the U.S.
government, Secretary of State Colin Powell followed
suit.
– First time a genocide declared as such while in progress
• In February 2005, the U.S. led the U.N. to pass the first
resolution to send a peacekeeping mission to Darfur.
• September 2006: U.N. resolution authorizing the
deployment of 17,000 peacekeepers with a Chapter VII
mandate to protect.
– But only with the consent of the Sudanese government.
– Sudanese government adamantly refuses to consent, as they are
sponsoring the genocide.
International Response and
Challenges
• Currently 7,000 African Union troops on
the ground. This is the size of the police
force of Dallas in a region the size of Texas
– Insufficient mandate to actively protect
civilians
– Under-funded
– Lacking training and technology
– Lacking manpower – overstretched
International Response and
Challenges
• China, Russia, Malaysia and India’s
investments in Sudanese oil fund the
Khartoum government’s perpetuation of
genocide.
• China and Russia are also on the United
Nation’s security council
International Response and
Challenges
The US Congress has passed significant
pieces of legislation on Darfur. These
include funding for peacekeepers in
Darfur and reauthorization of economic
sanctions against Sudan.
• Connection with Sudan in war on terror
What can be done to stop the
genocide?
• Divestment strategies (personal and institutional)
– See sudandivestment.org
• Lobby government representatives
• Call or write your member of Congress
• Donate to relief organizations and the AU
• Demand further media attention
• Plan or attend a rally or vigil
• Tell your friends and spread the word in your community
• Visit www.standnow.org for more information.
• Email [email protected] to get involved.
Don’t stand by.
STAND UP.
standnow.org