Crisis in Sudan: Ending the Violence
(Page 1 of 2)
 In
the Darfur region of western Sudan, the government in Khartoum and its Janjaweed
militias continue to slaughter entire communities of tribal African farmers and
their families as the world watches. The crisis in Darfur has raged for more
than two years and the human toll continues to mount, with 300,000 to 400,000
people dead and more than 2.5 million displaced within Sudan or huddled in
refugee camps in neighboring Chad. Violence and destruction have increased in
Darfur in 2005. The United Nations has concluded that crimes against humanity
are being committed by the government, its Janjaweed and other armed militias,
and by the various rebel groups. The U.S. government has decried the atrocities
as genocide. Yet there are still few prospects for resolving the crisis in the
near future.
The immediate conflict began when two rebel
groups--the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Army
(SLA)--formed to resist their longstanding marginalization by the government in
Khartoum, and specifically their exclusion from the peace and power-sharing
negotiations settling a separate civil war in the south. The government
responded to the initial rebel attack by launching a war against the rebels and
their kin that has included the use of both the Sudanese army and "Janjaweed"
Arab militias. Since that time, the Janjaweed have carried out a campaign of
ethnic cleansing - massacring thousands of civilians, decimating villages,
raping women and girls, and forcing people to flee from their homelands and into
the desert, where they have little hope for survival.
Responsible reports indicate that the Janjaweed
militias are working with and for the government in Khartoum. Despite assurances
by the government to rein in its armed militias and defense forces, the violence
in Darfur continues unabated. The government continues to deploy Antonov bombers
and helicopter gunships in its efforts to break rebel resistance. On the rebels'
side, there are now four distinct rebel forces engaged in the conflict, but
there are concerns that the Darfur crisis is spilling over into neighboring
regions and is promoting the emergence of other armed rebel movements. All
parties to the conflict have been accused of committing atrocities against
civilians and impeding the delivery of humanitarian aid desperately needed in
camps for the internally displaced.
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