Genocide.

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Darfur is located in Western Sudan, covering one-fifth of the country and is home to six million peole. Darfur is an Islamic sultanate located in Western Sudan.

While the conflict in Darfur is most frequently described as one between distinct “Arab” and “non-Arab” tribes, the more accurate distinction between population groups in Darfur is not ethnic, but economic. The incredibly arid northern part of Darfur, populated mainly by tribes claiming “Arab” descent, developed an economy based on nomadic cattle- and camel-herding. The more arable south, where the majority of the population traces “non-Arab” descent, developed a subsistence farming economy. Centuries of intermarriage and slave trading have blurred the lines between distinguishing physical ethnic characteristics, but for the most part this economic division has remained.

The conflict in Sudan’s western Darfur region flared in 2003 when two rebel groups rose up against the government, accusing it of neglect. The government’s counterinsurgency campaign aimed to “get at the fish by draining the sea.” Civilians of the same ethnic group as the rebels were targeted for destruction, considered potential threats by the government for their potential kinship to and support of rebel armies. The Janjaweed are blamed for killings, widespread rape and abductions. Refugees describe them as ferocious gun-wielding men riding camels or horses who burn villages and steal whatever they can carry.

On September 9, 2004, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, “genocide has been committed in Darfur and that the Government of Sudan and the Janjaweed bear responsibility–and that genocide may still be occurring.” President George W. Bush echoed this in July 2005 when he stated that the situation in Darfur was “clearly genocide.”

Analysts estimate that up to 400,000 civilians have been killed through war-related violence, disease and starvation. Women and girls are under particular threat as rape is used as a weapon of war and a tool of genocide. 2.7 million civilians are internally displaced and an additional 250,000 live as refugees in neighboring countries such as Chad and the Central African Republic. In all, 4.7 million conflict-affected people live in desperate need of humanitarian aid for their daily survival.

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