Introduction
Darfur in Sudan has been a point of severe government-sponsored violence for more than a decade. The government-supported troops committed massive killings in this region with the stated purpose of suppressing rebellion forces. However, innocent civilians are also being brutally attacked by these troops. This paper will critically evaluate the issue of Darfur genocide and its devastating impacts on the region.
Brief Discussion of the Scenario
The Darfur genocide, the most horrible genocide in the 21st century and other devastating issues began in the Sudanese territory in 2003. Even after a decade, it is still an ongoing crisis in the country. This ‘Darfur conflict’ is characterized with mass killing and rape. A government-armed and funded group called ‘Janjaweed’ leads the massacre and other deadly attacks in Sudan. Although Janjaweed’s stated goal is to suppress rebellion forces, they burn villages, loot the region’s economic resources, destroy environmental resources, and tortures people in a deadly manner. The most intimidating fact is that the Darfur genocide and other deadly attacks in the region are supported by the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir who ordered removal of a UN peacekeeper from the country (United to end genocide, n.d.). Reports indicate that over a million of civilians have been either displaced or dreadfully affected by the ongoing Darfur conflict (United Human Rights Council, n.d.). A combination of economic, political, and environmental reasons can be attributed to these devastating situations in Darfur. To be more specific, social inequalities and competition over natural resources played a pivotal role in developing the ongoing Darfur crisis in Sudan.
Interesting Aspects
The most surprising aspect of the websites which address Darfur issues is that they all highlight the horrific impacts of genocide and other devastating conditions in Darfur, Sudan. Most of these websites portray the brutality of the Sudanese government led by President Omar al-Bashir. However, none of these websites provide any specific recommendation to bring a long-term solution to the ongoing Darfur crisis. For instance, the site ‘psychologists for social responsibility’ http://www.psysr.org/alerts/darfur/ gives only an account of information links that can give more details about intervention programs. Another site http://sudanreeves.org/ has published an extensive study on the issue conducted by Eric Reeves. In his article, “Humanitarian Conditions in Darfur: A Climate of Violence and Extreme Insecurity”, Reeves (2013) goes deep into the devastating aspects of the issue and details the strategic measures taken by various organizations, but fails to suggest any relevant solutions.
Helpful changes in recent years
There were some notable developments in the last few years that might help mitigate the impacts of the ongoing deadly armed violence in Darfur. The most significant development in this regard is that there has been the formation of a global alliance over the last few years to fight the government-sponsored war against Sudanese people. Although UN representatives were expelled from Sudan by al-Bashir, the UN still actively works towards the abolition of violence in the Darfur region. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant against the Sudanese President al-Bashir citing his involvement in the Darfur genocide and deadly use of force in the region (Rodman, 2014). Although ICC has no authority to arrest the head of a state, it was a major blow to the autocracy of the al-Bashir government. In addition, the mass media including social media have paid increased attention to Darfur genocide reporting and discussing the state of civilians in the country. Undoubtedly, such attempts played a great role in turning global attention to Darfur and promoting humanitarian intervention in the country.
Interventions
Evidently, United Nations play a significant role in fighting the ongoing Darfur crisis and promoting humanitarian activities in this territory. The UN sent a team of peacekeepers to Sudan to address the ongoing civil war against citizens and to establish peace in the society (UN News Center). As noted already, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has played an active role in prosecuting the Sudanese President al-Bashir and persuading global powers like US to take diplomatic efforts to arrest him. There is no doubt that those efforts from the part of globally-recognized bodies like UN and ICC have contributed towards the creation of an international coalition to fight the government-sponsored brutality in Sudan. In addition, international human rights organizations like Amnesty International play an active role in re-establishing a peaceful living in the Darfur region. The Amnesty International has been raising voice against the human right violations in Darfur for years (Amnesty International, n.d.). I think I can considerably back the global efforts to establish peace in Darfur by making good donations to UN armed troops and other interest groups.
Conclusion
References
Amnesty International. (n.d.). Sudan Human Rights. Retrieved 30 March 2016 from http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/countries/africa/sudan
Rodman, K. A. (2014). Justice as a Dialogue Between Law and Politics: Embedding the International Criminal Court within Conflict Management and Peacebuilding. Journal of International Criminal Justice 12 (3), 437-469. Retrieved 30 March 2016 from http://jicj.oxfordjournals.org/content/12/3/437.abstract
Reeves, E. (2013). Humanitarian Conditions in Darfur: A Climate of Violence and Extreme Insecurity. Briefs & advocacy. Retrieved 30 March 2016 from http://sudanreeves.org/2013/08/05/humanitarian-conditions-in-darfur-a-climate-of-violence-and-extreme-insecurity-2/
UN News Center. (n.d.). Darfur: UN peacekeeping chief warns Security Council of region’s ongoing insecurity, violence. Retrieved 30 March 2016 from http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=49510
United Human Rights Council. (n.d.). Genocide in Darfur. Retrieved 30 March 2016 from http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/genocide/genocide-in-sudan.htm
United to end genocide. (n. d.). Who’s at risk?. Retrieved 30 March 2016 from http://endgenocide.org/conflict-areas/sudan-backgrounder/
