In 2003, two groups in Sudan, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), accused the government of oppressing Black Africans in favor of Arab Africans over grazing rights and land usage.
These two small groups began to attack the government.
The government of Sudan, after the attacks on government targets, mobilized against the SLA and JEM. This is how the conflict started, and this is where the conflict turned from dismantling a rebellion to genocide.
Genocide is the act committed to destroy a nation, ethnic, racial or religious group. It is reported by the United Nations that up to 300,000 people have died from the combined efforts of the war, famine and disease from this conflict.
There are estimated to be 1 to 2 million refugees from Sudan who have settled across the border in Chad in makeshift towns. These towns don’t have enough food or aid to help those in need because of attacks by the Janjaweed, an Arab militia in the region.
The Sudanese government states the death toll is only at 10,000, and it denies any link to the Janjaweed.
The BBC reports air raids by government planes over towns in Darfur (a state within Sudan) and they would be directly followed by ground attacks from the Janjaweed.
The Janjaweed are reported to ride through towns and slaughter fathers and sons, rape women and steal whatever they want. Senseless massacre.
During the U.S. presidential campaign, then-candidate Barack Obama spoke about the Darfur region. He talked of creating stricter international sanctions and military action against Sudan.
When the policy was announced, it was not even by Obama, but Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice and the U.S. envoy to Sudan General Scott Gration.
The same Gration who advocated, “We’ve got to think about giving out cookies. Kids, countries — they react to gold stars, smiley faces, handshakes, agreements, talk, engagement.”
That type of action toward a nation that killed 300,000 of its own people should not be excused.
The Obama Administration is taking a soft approach to dealing with Sudan.
It is not placing stricter sanctions against the country, but instead waiting on concessions before lifting any. It is still on the State Sponsors of Terror list at the State Department and the administration will refer to the conflict as “ongoing genocide.”
Ongoing genocide will still be underway when peace talks fall apart, when the U.N. is convening to discuss its next measure and sanction, when Obama makes a pretty speech a month later about the atrocities in Sudan and when attacks are weakening the future government of South Sudan before it votes on independence.
But there is a bright side to the slow moving efforts of diplomacy. In March 2009, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Bashir of Sudan for five counts of crimes against humanity and two counts of war crimes.
This should make those hundreds of thousands of refugee families feel better.
Cratic is a senior studying political science.
