Darfur is located in the western region of Sudan and it is just about the size of Texas.
Starting in 2003, only ten or eleven years after the genocide in Rwanda, 350,000 to 400,000 people were killed through murder, disease, torture, and other forms of malnutrition all within twenty nine months. This violence began unnoticed in February of 2003, and is said to have “precipitated the first great episode of genocidal destruction in the 21st century.”
The genocide in Darfur began because starting in 1991 many people of Sudan thought they were victims of an Arab apartheid campaign. The Sudanese Arabs who control the government are said to practice apartheid against the non-Arab citizens in Sudan. Many have also accused the government of carrying out policies of apartheid and “ethnic cleansing” against non-Arabs in Darfur.
In Early 2003, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) began attacking the government. The reason for their attacks was that they believed in mainly the same principles stated in the last paragraph. In response to these attacks, the Sudanese government supported, contributed to, and aided the Janjaweed. The Janjaweed are a militia force, armed by the Sudanese government. The members of the Janjaweed militia are black Arab tribesmen who despise black African farmers. According to CNN "These guys have a racist ideology that sees the Arab population as the supreme population that would like to see the subjugation of non-Arab peoples. They’re criminal racketeers that have been supported very directly by the government to wage the war against the people of Darfur." The Janjaweed seriously believe that if they don’t get rid of non-Arab people, their government will be overrun by them.
This is one example of the Janjaweed attacking or bombing a village.
Since 2003 Darfur has been corrupt with every type of torture imaginable such as: rape, detentions, forced displacement, the burning of homes and villages, and the theft and deliberate destruction of crops and cattle. And it still remains one of the worst human rights devastations, despite the attempts from foreign powers to end the brutality and to keep genocide from coming about. There is no way of actually knowing, but the estimate of dead men, women, and children comes to over 300,000 bodies. There have been at least 2.6 million people displaced from their homes who have turned to refugee camps; Internally Displaced Person (IDPs). But for those who can’t make it to a camp, because their wounded or the camp is too far for them to walk, they are attempting to survive by hiding out under trees, in courtyards, and/or anywhere else they can’t be seen.
Assuming they survive, the hardest decision for most people to make after their homes have been destroyed by the Janjaweed is whether or not to seek out a refugee camp. Believe it or not sometimes it is even more dangerous to run across the desert for miles and miles to get to the camp than to hide under a tree in the same area that the Janjaweed just got done destroying. The reason for this is because the Janjaweed are well- equipped with heavy machinery (bombs, guns, etc.) and in some instances they travel by helicopters that are supplied by the Sudanese government and they shoot and throw bombs from above. So if they see anyone who is non-Arab they would just shoot them down. This is why the non-Arabs try to hide under trees or anything that wouldn’t get them noticed by the Janjaweed.
These are a few members of the Janjaweed militia.
Rape is one of the most serious parts of Janjaweed brutalization. The number of women and girls that have been abducted, raped, and abused is unknown. The Janjaweed rape women on a regular basis, and lots of times they kidnap women to use as sex slaves. They abuse these women constantly and usually break their limbs so they are not able escape. “[The militiamen] are happy when they rape. They sing when they rape and they tell [us] that we are just slaves and that they can do with us how they wish,” according to a 37 year old victim who was interviewed at a refugee camp. There is also a female group in support of the Janjaweed who go around and sing for joy while the Janjaweed men are raping their enemies. The songs that the Hakama (Janjaweed women) sing encourage the acts of the Janjaweed and the singers motivate and stir up the racial hatred against black civilians during assaults on their villages. The Hakama also celebrate the humiliation of the “blacks” that they see as their enemies. Rape is just on variation of the many human rights violations going on in Sudan, and Darfur in particular.
The Darfur Human Rights Organization (DHRO) was created with the belief that everyone should have the same basic human rights, and it is the rest of the world’s obligation to enforce these rights by necessary means if certain governments are not protecting them. The Darfur Human Rights Organization was founded by a man named Dr. Adam. He was born in Darfur and despite his rough life, he was lucky enough to receive an education in Sudan, his home country. Dr. Adams got a Bachelors Degree in Medicine from the Khartoum Teaching Hospital, and he worked there for about twelve years. Then he moved to the United States in 1990. Since then he has been an advocate for the citizens of Darfur and he has spoken in several conferences throughout the US stating the severity of the situation in Darfur and stressing the need for international assistance.
This is Dr. Adm (founder), Mark Feinman (lawyer), and two other members of DHRO.
The Darfur Human Rights organization is a non-profit organization in Philadelphia. This organization provides resettlement and rehabilitation services in Darfur for the people who have been displaced because of human rights violations caused by the Sudanese government and Janjaweed, along with other militia groups. DHRO also documents the different cases of human rights violations an reports them to the international community. In the past few years DHRO has teamed up with numerous groups and collected money to purchase a water pump, and shoes, and the DHRO has also received tons of used clothes that have all been taken to Darfur by a group of people including Dr. Adam himself, and Mark Feinman who is a lawyer involved in DHRO. The reason it is such a big deal for these people to go and deliver the goods is because the journey to Darfur is extremely dangerous and life-threatening, which is why the trips have often been delayed in caution to violence.
It's really scary to see a genocide appear so close to the Rwandan genocide. You would think that human kind would have learned and hopefully eveolved, but obviously it did not. The killings where horrible, but it not only brought out the worst in people, but some of the best, like the organization in Philadelphia that was founded in hope to help victims of the genocide in Darfur. The rapes where the most horrible thin to read about, especially being a girl myself, I can only imagine the horror and pain this women had to feel.
ReplyDeleteThis genocide is horrific and mind-blowing. It is hard to comprehend how the government could do such things to its people. I personally remember my friend whom for his birthday donated to Darfur, although I was too young to know what it was. This genocide is another example of why people need international assistance. The people could not fight off any Janjaweed without being killed. The torture seems to be the worst part of it all. The raping sounded purely terrifying. My genocide seemed similar in the fact that it was the people against the Government.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Carson. This genocide is entirely disturbing but what is even more scary is that not many people are informed about it. The map on your blog is very helpful. I feel as is the Darfur genocide is very different from the Rwandan genocide. This seems as is the people and government are against each other, but I think that in Rwanda the government helped agitate people and brainwash them into the killings. I have noticed a pattern between the government's propaganda techniques and the reaction of the citizens of that county. When you feel as is your trusted leaders are advising you to follow their orders, you are inclined to; simply because they are your elders not because it is a moral decision or not.
ReplyDeleteArielle:
ReplyDeleteI agree whole heartedly with Sabrina. It is really shocking and honestly I find it terrifying that Darfur is not known about widespread across the world. The fact that few people know the details of this type of extreme genocide is particularly horrific because a question that we have discussed a few times in history class... How can the future improve if everyone, particularly students like ourselves, are not completely aware of the past? As I read that, “[The militiamen] are happy when they rape. They sing when they rape and they tell [us] that we are just slaves and that they can do with us how they wish,” (as told by a 37 year old victim) I was so repulsed that I felt immediately moved to spread knowledge about Darfur. Thank you for sharing these horrific details, although frightening the world must know about them.
It's sad how many people's lives have been ruined by this genocide. When you said that 2.6 million people have been displaced, i found that very depressing. People who once had decent lives are now forced to hide under trees in fear of being shot, bombed, or raped. This is a pretty terrible way to live especially with the fact that looking for help will almost surely get you killed.
ReplyDelete