Group+9+-+Darfur

=toc Background/Timeline=

Darfuris a region in western Sudan, comprised of three states (Northern Darfur, Southern Darfur, and Western Darfur), which together make up an area roughly the size of France. These states share borders with Chad, Central African Republic, and Libya. The population of Darfur is comprised of so-called “black Africans” and Arabs, both of which are Muslim.

Darfur is one of the most underdeveloped and isolated regions of Sudan, the latter of which constitutes one of the twenty-five poorest countries in the world. About 90 percent of Sudanese citizens live below the poverty line.

While the majority of land in Darfur is desert, there are also lush grasslands, where crops are grown and herds graze. Non-Arab stationary farmers occupied the majority of productive land. The Arab tribes were mainly nomadic and semi-nomadic. Until relatively recent times the Arab and non-Arab tribes shared a symbiotic relationship of sorts. The non-Arab tribes would allow the Arab tribes to water and graze there cattle and the cattle would i n turn fertilize the soil, renewing the land for future growing seasons.

While there was a fair share of conflicts among tribes, there was also much cooperation. Tribes often intermarried and lived as friends, and the conflicts that did arise were never as bloody or long lived as the genocide in Darfur was.

The mass killing of African blacks in Darfur by the Government of Sudan (GoS) and the janjaweed (Arab Militia) began in 2003 when rebel groups, the Sudanese Liberation Movement Army (SLM/A) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) took up arms, attacking military bases and accusing the Sudanese government of oppressing non-Arab citizens. The conflict in Darfur is the first recognized genocide of the twenty-first century. The Government of Sudan and the janjaweed used many methods to carry out the mass killings including, bombings from airplanes, automatic weapon fire, burning people alive, poisoning water wells, stabbings, and chasing victims from their villages into the desert far from food or water. An estimated 300,000 to 400,000 people have died as a result of genocide, or “genocide by attrition” (dehydration, starvation, or unattended injuries).

The genocide in Darfur began and was allowed to continu e for many reasons. The main contributing issues are as follows:
 * Arab supremacism
 * Extreme drought and desertification
 * Disenfranchisement of black Africans at the hands of the Sudanese Government
 * Increasing aggression in the region

Throughout the years many talks and failed peace agreements have taken place between rebel groups and the Sudanese government. The UN Security Council issued a variety of resolutions, including: the need for the perpetrators of the genocide to be brought to justice, the need for the GoS to end the indiscriminate attacks on black Africans, threats to issue various sanctions on the region, and demanding the government disarm militias operating in the area. Most of these resolutions were not acted upon and the ones that were did not last for long. The UN constantly revised these resolutions over the years, threatening action, but nothing came of the threats. In 2008 after much international pressure was placed on the Sudanese governm ent, they allowed a special force into Darfur, the UN/AU Hybrid (UNAMID). UNAMID consisted of 19,555 military personnel, including 360 military observers, and a civilian component consisting of 3,772 police personnel. While this effort helped to halt some of the violence, the killings continued as the UNAMID forces did not have adequate resources.

February 2010 saw the formation of the Liberation and Justice Movement, which consisted of ten rebel tribes. From January of 2011 until Ju ne of the same year many negotiations took place between the Sudanese government and the Liberation and Justice Movement. In June of 2011 a new peace agreement was proposed that included provisions for a Darfur vice president and the Darfur Regional Authority that would oversee Darfur as a whole. On July 14, 2011, both the Sudanese government and the Liberation and Justice Movement signed the agreement.

=Media Influence=

Sudanese Media
In Sudan, while print media isn't controlled by the government, electronic media, including television and radio, is. This governmental control influences the stories presented to the public, as well as the manner in which they are presented. All types of Sudanese media are found to be influenced by the political context of the country and, "viewers are provided a studio-delivered digest of 'protocol' news - mainly government bulletins of the official state activities and speeches of the day." Analysis of the news coverage the Darfur crisis received in Sudanese and other Arab news outlets shows that the situation was not given priority over other news stories and was instead presented in the same way any other issue would have been. In addition, the story was presented by Sudanese media outlets as an international issue instead of a national issue, taking away from the coverage that it would have gotten if it had been seen as an issue closer to home. In addition, the story was presented by Sudanese media outlets as an international issue instead of a national issue, taking away fromthe coverage that it would have gotten if it had been seen as an issue closer to home. In the stories that were presented to the public, government sources were used more commonly than victims as direct sources.

Western Media
In the United States, news coverage was slow to develop and was minimal overall. This was in part due to the Sudanese government making it difficult for journalists to enter the country and then restricting where they were allowed to visit. “No network prime time television news stories dealing with Darfur were broadcast during 2003 […] Prime-time evening coverage began on May 26, 2004, and over the next four years, a total of 72 stories dealt with the conflict.” A 2007 Pew survey showed that 49 percent of Americans believed that the United States had a responsibility to intervene in the genocide in Darfur and the same percentage feels that the crisis hasn’t been given enough attention from the media. A contrast in American coverage ofDarfur compared to the Michael Jackson trial in 2005 shows that 18 minutes of major network television coverage was given to Darfur while 84 minutes were given to trial coverage. Because most Americans rely on newspapers and television to learn about world events, it can be argued that by excluding news on Darfur, the media kept Americans in the dark on the events of the genocide. George Clooney, Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, and many other celebrities have all been involved in efforts to bring attention to the genocide and have participated in rallies and commercials.

Campaigns
There have been many campaigns to bring awareness to the genocide in Darfur, all with a slightly different focus. While some seek to directly provide aid to the refugees, other groups work towards advocacy and awareness.

** Save Darfur ** The Save Darfur Coalition defines its’ goals with the statement, “We stand together and unite our voices to raise public awareness and mobilize a massive response to the atrocities in Sudan's western region of Darfur.” The coalition is composed of over one hundred different organizations, from various backgrounds. They seek to end violence, provide aid, promote sustainable development, and hold the guilty parties responsible for their actions. The Coalition promotes awareness and action by bringing attention to pending legislation and fundraising efforts. It has received some criticism for using its’ funding to promote lobbying efforts an d advertisement in the United States instead of directly funding aid. While som e believe that keeping the issue in the minds of citizens is important, others believe that it is more important to directly provide aid to those in need.

** mtvU: Darfur is Dying ** Working with the Reebok Human Rights Foundation, mtvU held a contest for students that resulted in the creation of a viral video game called “Darfur is Dying.” This game seeks to bring attention to the genocide in an interactive way. Combining the game with basic information on Darfur has brought much attention to the genocide. Because mtvU generally targets college students, using a campaign that focused on distribution through social media sites was especially effective.

** Eyes on Darfur ** Sponsored by Amnesty International, the “Eyes on Darfur” campaign uses satellite images of the area to actually watch what is going on. These images are used to compare villages before and after attacks. Having a visual representation of the crisis is something that other organizations have been unable to attain due to strict governmental control in Sudan. These images are then utilized by the multiple other organizations working to bring attention and solutions to the genocide.

=What's Next?=

Unlike the Holocaust, in which the international community learned of the horrible atrocities after the fact, the international community was able to, with limited success, control the violence occurring in Darfur as e vents unfolded. With much pressure from the International Community, o n May 5th the Sudanese Liberation Movement Army (SLM/A) and the Sudanese government met in Abuja, Nigeria which resulted in the two groups signing the "Darfur Peace Agreement". This agreement consisted of provisions that aimed to ensured the equal sharing of governmental power, sharing of wealth, as well as security against attacks for non-Arab Darfurians.

Due to a lack of support on both sides of the treaty, as the agreement was under time pressure from the international community, the problems in Darfur were not resolved by Darfur Peace Agreement and violence continued. From the signing of the Darfur Peace Agreement in 2003 until late 2010 the Sudanese government and rebel groups engaged in several negotiations; however, no ultimate peace agreement was reached. Then, in late 2010, the Sudanese government and Darfur rebel groups began a new round of talks. On July 14th 2011, a revised "Darfur Peace Agreement" was signed. This seemed promising among the international community, as it arranged similar pro visions as the 2006 agreement but received more support from the parties signing the agreement. (citation of photograph & caption)

There remains mixed opinion as to whether or not this peace agreement will actually restore longterm peace in Darfur. The head of UN-African Union commented, "As of today, I would not say there is a war going on in Darfur" almost a year prior to the signing of the 2011 peace agreement; however, the international community cannot be sure as to whether both conflicting parties will hold up their end of the peace agreement. Current events, such as the formation of new rebel groups in November 2011 may unravel previous peace negotiations, and some people feel that the treaty in Darfur could even possibly make matters worse. JEM's spokesperson, Gibreel Adam Bilal, feels that, “This peace agreement today doesn’t deal with the real grievances of Darfur’s population, doesn’t offer solutions for the region’s problems and it gives a green light to al-Bashir’s government to commit more war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur."

Along with peace agreements, arrest warrants have been issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to several of the perpetrators of the genocide in Darfur. Among these is the alleged leader of the Janjaweed and three senior politicians in Darfur, including Sudan's president, Omar Hassan Al-Bashir. Initially many thought that arrest warrants could put an end to the conflict occurring in Darfur, but this turned out to be false. Government officials in Sudan have not cooperated with the International Court and have even lashed out against the ICC for the arrest warrants with threatens to "cut the throat of any international official . . . who tries to jail a Sudanese official in order to present him to the international justice."

Although the international community is praying for peace in Sudan, the conflict may be far from over. With several recent reports of human rights activists, lawyers, and reporters being arrested, it would seem that the Sudanese government may have something to hide. Although this is speculation, the Darfur peace agreement has failed once, which calls for a close eye to be kept on Darfur by the international community to ensure that peace is sustained.

=Comparison to the Holocaust=

 **Genocide**   The deliberate and systematic   extermination of a national, racial,political or cultural group. Darfur vs. the Holocaust || **Genocide ** Displaced from Homes: 2,500,000 || Non-Arab Sudanese population || Janjaweed || Aggression, Arab supremacy over population || 2003- Present || SovietPOW- 3,000,000 Poles- 3,000,000 Romani- 222,000 to 250,000 Disabled <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">70,000 <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Homosexuals <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">12,000 <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jehovah Witness <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">2500 <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Germans <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">80,000
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Leader ** || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Location ** || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Estimated Death Toll ** || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Victims ** || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Perpetrators ** || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Cause ** || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Time Frame ** ||
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Darfur || <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Omar al-Bashir || <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sudan || <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">300,000
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Holocaust || <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Adolf Hitler || <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Germany || <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jews- 5,600,00 to 6,250,000

<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">250,000 displaced Jews || <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jews, Soviet POWs, Ethnic Poles, Romani, Disabled, Freemasons, Homosexuals, Jehovah Witnesses, Germans (Resistant, religious, political) || <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Nazi <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Schutzstaffel || <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Racial Purity <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Non-Aryan || <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">1933-1945 ||

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Nazi vs Janjaweed **
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Nazi Party **
 * [[image:http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQHuC-OERII5_XdrlvX51x7CWpk5zo4Hb2sfQUURByWY3b_IGsySuQ1S2WnlA width="184" height="128" align="left"]]<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Concentration Camps
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Gassing and burning of victims
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Extermination of millions of people
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Attempted to achieve racial purity
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Nuremberg Laws
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Took away victims valuables, businesses, homes and everything else they owned
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Separated families and forced many victims to hard labor.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Human experiments involving women and men, and women sex organs
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Janjaweed **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[[image:http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40153000/jpg/_40153725_janjgroup300afp.jpg width="180" height="132" align="left"]]Raping women
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Raiding
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Making victims kill each other
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Looting, burning and bombing villages

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Camps
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Holocaust- During the Holocaust there were concentration camps, where the prisoners were forced to stay after being taken out of their home and everything they owned was taken away from them. In these camps, prisoners were shot, beaten, starved, overworked, gassed, and burned.

Darfur- Displaced Person camps are camps in which refugees of Darfur were placed because they no longer had homes. Most of the camps are in surrounding developing countries such as Pakistan and Iran. About 2.7 million people live internally in the camps. Food and water are scarce and hygiene is very poor. These camps are supposed to keep the displaced people safe. However these camps are a way for the Janjaweed to systematically place the civilians until they are killed. There have been reports of Janjaweed coming into the camps reporting that they were executing a search warrant and opened fire on a group of more than 80,000 displaced persons.

**Hitler vs. Bashir** Hitler- Hitler was a dictator that ruled Germany for 7 years. Open and blatant about his hatred for Jews. Started his genocide off slowly. In the first few hears Jews were stripped of their rights, but few were killed. Mass exterminations and killings did not occur until later. Hitler directly controlled the Nazis. They followed his orders and he was the leader.

Bashir- He was not as open about his hatred for the non-Sudanese population. He even signed a Peace Treaty, which did not help much because the killing, destruction of villages, and raping still continued to happen. Bashir also did not directly control the Janjaweed, he has kept a peaceful stance on most topics involving Darfur. The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has filed charges of genocide agaisnt Bashir.Although he claims to be peaceful, he is backing the Janjeweed and allowing them to continue to kill. **Opinions** W.F. Deedes-(German solider during the time of the Holocaust who also visiting Sudan at the time of Darfur) Reverend Jacques DeGraff, a Baptist minister from New York **Visual Comparisons** > media type="youtube" key="4i4w6kRih0I" height="346" width="462"media type="youtube" key="9yLROnxwTVo" height="315" width="420" **Memory Culture** =Bibliography=
 * "The most striking tone taken within the Sudanese government was by the Al-Bashir's ruling National Congress Party that warned of "more violence and blood" if an arrest warrant is issued against the president. In all there was a total of 10 charges being brought up against al-Bashir. Three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two murder charges."
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #282828; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“In terms of man's inhumanity to man, what has been going on there for four years is ow comparable to the death camps for which Germany's Nazis were found guilty”
 * "Genocide is the most immediate w<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #282828; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">n ord; holocaust of present-day proportions and nightmare are the three words that come to mind. They come to mind because the world is aware of what is happening. The international community frankly has blood on its hands."
 * =Link features a video of the two situations side by side.=
 * Since Darfur is recent and possibly still occurring there have not been any museums built to remember this event. However some museums have posted information about the current genocide on their website.
 * The United States Holocaust Museum for example has partnered with Google Earth in order to supply visual images of the bombing of the villages and the destruction that Darfur has cause to Sudan.
 * There have been films and novels written
 * Famous Documentaries: //Darfur Now; The Devil Came on a Horseback; Darfur Dairies: A Message From Home//
 * Popular Text: //The Translator; The Devil Came on a Horseback; Darfur Dairies; What You wish For: A book about Darfur//

=References=
 * Flint, Julie, and Waal Alexander. De. //Darfur: a New History of a Long War//. London: Zed, 2008. Print.
 * Mody, Bella. //The Geopolitics of Representation in Foreign News: Explaining Darfur//. Lanham, MD: Lexington, 2010. Print.
 * Sidahmed, Abdel Salam., Walter C. Soderlund, and E. Donald. Briggs. //The Responsibility to Protect in Darfur: the Role of Mass Media//. Lanham, MD: Lexington, 2010. Print.