History
For nearly two decades, Sudan has endured a bloody civil war as Northern and Southern armed forces have fought for control of the country’s valuable oil reserves.* (BBC: “Country Profile: Sudan ”).* Though a proposed peace agreement between the Sudanese government and the main rebel group, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), has raised hopes that stability finally will come to the region, fighting in the Darfur province in Western Sudan continues.* (IRIN News: “Sudan Peace Talks Resume in Kenya ,” Feb.18, 2004; “Special Report II: Chad and the Darfur Conflict,” Feb. 16, 2004 ; “More Pressure on Parties Urged in Prelude to Talks Resumption,” Feb. 5, 2004 .)

Historically, both nomad groups, including the Albala, Zeilat, and Mahamid, and settled farmers, such as the Fur, the Masalit, and the Zaghawa, have inhabited Darfur .* These groups, aside from occasional conflicts over the region’s increasingly scarce land, generally have peacefully coexisted.* Additionally, the majority of the peoples living in the Darfur region are Sunni Muslims, and ethnic divisions have been less clear than those which have divided Northern and Southern Sudan throughout its civil war.*

Escalating violence in Darfur , however, has magnified those ethnic differences, and the perpetrators of the violence have sought to manipulate the differences to their own ends.* As Amnesty International reported in its Feburary 3, 2004 report on the conflict in Darfur, “[t]he attackers portray themselves as ‘Arabs,’ the civilians being attacked are called ‘Blacks’ or even ‘slaves,’ and some groups allege that the violence in Darfur represents an attempt “to drive all ‘Africans’ away from Darfur.”* (Amnesty International: “Sudan Darfur : ‘Too Many People Killed for no Reason,’” Feb. 3, 2004 .)* The increasing ethnic tone of the conflict has raised concerns among international humanitarian organizations that an ethnically motivated genocide has begun in Darfur .

Darfur ’s current period of violence began in February 2003 when two regional opposition groups, the Sudan Liberation Movement Army (SLM/A) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), formally took up arms against the Sudanese government.* The rebel groups allege that the government has marginalized and impoverished the Darfur region by consistently favoring the Arab populations to the detriment of Black Africans.* The rebles demand greater autonomy for Darfur and a larger share of the country’s natural resources.* (Amnesty International: “Sudan Darfur : ‘Too Many People Killed for no Reason,’” Feb. 3, 2004 .)* The Sudanese government has met this rebellion with aerial bombing raids on villages and by assisting Arab militias, including the Janjaweed and the Murahaleen, in their attacks on villagers.* As of mid-February 2004, the violence has driven more than 800,000 people from their homes in Darfur .* Estimates of those killed reach into the thousands.* (U.N. Wire: “Sudan Government Targeting Civilians, Rights Group Says,” Feb. 4, 2004 ; The Independent: “Sudan Accused of ‘vicious invisible war’ Against its Citizens,” Feb.3, 2004).*

Key Players

The Sudanese Governmentis officially located in the northern city of Khartoum and is led by Omar Al-Bashir.* Al-Bashir leads an authoritarian regime comprised of a elite group of supporters, which have sought to enforce strict Islamic law throughout the country.* Under Al-Bashir’s rule, Sudan has endured a protracted and bloody civil war that has claimed the lives of approximately two million Sudanese.* (2003 CIA World Factbook).

The Sudan Liberation Movement Army (SLM/A) is an opposition group led by John Garang and was created in 2001 by the people of Darfur .* The SLM/A, together with another opposition group, the Justice and Equality Movement, began an armed resistance against the Sudanese government in February 2003.* The rebels are protesting what they perceive as the Sudanese government’s neglect of the region and have demanded some form of self-determination for Darfur .* The SLM/A is the only major opposition group included in the recent peace negotiations with the Sudanese government.

The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) also is an opposition group fighting against the Sudanese government’s control of Darfur .* Like the SLM/A, the JEM challenges the Sudanese government’s rule in Darfur and alleges that the government has impoverished the region.* JEM, however, has not been included in peace talks between the government and the SLM/A.

The Janjaweedis one of many armed Arab militias operating in Darfur .* The Janjaweedtravel on horseback and on camels.* Reportedly, they have the support of the Sudanese government to attack villages in Darfur , destroying homes and killing civilians.

The Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs) and Refugees are located across or near Sudan ’s border with Chad .* According to recent international news reports, more than 700,000 people are internally displaced as a result of the violence in Darfur and more than 100,000 refugees have fled the violence by crossing the Sudanese border into Chad .* These IDPs and refugees are primarily civilians, and a large percentage of them are women and children.* (U.N. Wire: “Sudan Government Targeting Civilians, Rights Group Says,” Feb. 4, 2004 ; The Independent: “Sudan Accused of ‘vicious invisible war’ Against its Citizens,” Feb.3, 2004).*

Nature of the Abuse

Because of the remote location of Darfur and because international relief organizations have had only very limited access to the region, reports of the ongoing human rights abuses have been slow to emerge.* Interviews with refugees in Chad , however, have revealed that the principal methods of terrorization of Darfur ’s civilian population are regular aerial bombings and Arab militia raids.* (Amnesty International: “Sudan Darfur : ‘Too Many People Killed for no Reason,’” Feb. 3, 2004 ; IRIN News: “Dialogue on Humanitarian Access in Darfur ,” Feb. 4, 2004 .)*

Large numbers of refugees consistently have told interviewers from Amnesty International, UNICEF, and UNHCR of repeated attacks on civilians by Arab militias, including the Janjaweed.* These militias, often accompanied by armed Sudanese soldiers, loot and burn villages, abduct and rape women and children, and kill unarmed civilian villagers.* The fear and destruction brought by the militia attacks have caused hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes..* (Amnesty International: “Sudan Darfur : ‘Too Many People Killed for no Reason,’” Feb. 3, 2004 .)*

The refugees also have described aerial bombings of villages, and international relief workers operating on the Chadian side of the Chad-Sudan border have confirmed hearing loud explosions and treating increasing numbers of patients suffering from shrapnel injuries.* Supporting the refugees’ and international aid workers’ accounts of the bombings are international news media reports that Sudanese military aircraft dropped bombs on the border village of Tine , Chad at the end of January 2004.* At a minimum, these bombings confirm Sudanese government complicity in the humanitarian crisis in Darfur .* (IRIN News: “Hundreds Killed on Daily Air Raids on Darfur Villages,” Jan. 29, 2004; “18,000 Sudanese Flee into Chad Within 10 Days,” Jan. 28, 2004; “Sudanese Bombs Dropped on Chad Town; Three Killed,” Jan. 30, 2004.)