Sudan
The Situation
The Sudanese government continues its long-standing policy of attacking civilians. In addition to the ongoing crisis in Darfur, forces under the command of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir have recently carried out attacks against civilians in the disputed Abyei territory, and the states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
Throughout its offensives, the Sudanese government continues to perpetuate war crimes and crimes against humanity against its own civilians. Since the beginning of the year, nearly 450,000 Sudanese civilians have been driven from their homes by government action.
In 2004, the Government of Sudan responded to a rebellion in the Darfur region of Sudan and began a genocidal campaign against civilians killing over 300,000 and displacing over three million Darfuris. As the crisis in Darfur continues in its eighth year, attacks by the Sudanese government and its proxy militias continue, particularly in the inaccessible Jebel Marra area. Civilians remain at risk of attack by Sudan Air Force planes, soldiers of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and their allied Janjaweed militias, and other armed actors operating in Darfur’s three states.
In addition to the fighting in Darfur, the Sudanese government has increased the geographic footprint of its attacks on civilians over the last year. Shortly before South Sudan’s official independence, SAF forces invaded the contested Abyei region, located along the border between the two Sudans. This assault, conducted with the assistance of heavy weaponry and airpower, effectively cleansed the area of its Ngok Dinka population, driving at least 113,000 civilians out of the area.
In the midst of consolidating its hold on Abyei, the Sudanese government also began an offensive against the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) and its armed wing, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army – North (SPLA-North), in the border state of South Kordofan. Starting on July 5, violence quickly spread throughout the state. SAF and allied militia have conducted house-to-house raids and aerial bombardments in Kauda, Talodi, Dilling, and the state capital of Kadugli. According the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), SAF forces targeted civilians on the basis of their political identity, and indiscriminately killed civilians throughout the state. At least 200,000 have been displaced by fighting, the bulk of whom do not have access to humanitarian aid due to Sudanese government restrictions.
Following up on its assaults in Abyei and South Kordofan, the Sudanese government set its sights on the SPLM-N’s other stronghold of Blue Nile. In the beginning of September, SAF forces attack SPLM-N positions throughout Blue Nile, including the house of Governor Malik Agar. Initially an estimated 155,000 residents fled their homes and there is a risk that violence will come to resemble that in South Kordofan.
Since the 1989 overthrow of the Sudanese government by a military coup led by current President Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese government has regularly deployed troops, tanks, and local militias against its own citizenry. During the second phase of the Sudanese Civil War, Sudanese government forces bombed civilians in the Nuba Mountains and forcibly cleared civilian areas to facilitate oil exploration. The government also empowered local militias to attack civilian supporters of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) across the country. The combination of combat tactics and conflict-induced famine led to the death of an estimated 2 million Sudanese during the 22-year long Civil War (1983-2005).
For more information on United to End Genocide’s Sudan-related work, please visit www.savedarfur.org.
Darfur
Since 2003, an estimated 300,000 people have died as a result of the conflict in Darfur and as many as 2.7 million people have been displaced within Darfur, with several hundred thousand more fleeing into neighboring countries such as Chad, the Central African Republic, and Egypt. In September 2004, President George W. Bush declared the crisis in Darfur “genocide” – the first time a sitting American president had made such a declaration regarding an ongoing conflict. Despite the world’s growing outcry, the violence continued in Darfur and the number of dead and displaced increased considerably.
The conflict in Darfur began in the spring of 2003 when two Darfuri rebel movements – the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) – launched attacks against government military installations as part of a campaign to fight against the historic political and economic marginalization of Darfur. The Sudanese government, at the time engaged in tense negotiations with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) to end a two decade long civil war between North and South Sudan, responded swiftly and viciously to extinguish the insurgency. Through coordinated military raids with government-armed militia (collectively known as the janjaweed), the Sudanese military specifically targeted ethnic groups from which the rebels received much of their support, systematically destroying the livelihoods of Darfuris by bombing and burning villages, looting economic resources, and murdering, raping, and torturing non-combatant civilians.
In March 2009, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for two counts of war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity. The following summer, the ICC added genocide to the charges against al-Bashir. The ICC has also issued arrest warrants for Ali Kushayb and Ahmad Haroun for a combined 92 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against civilians in Darfur.
The United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force (UNAMID) in Darfur replaced an underfunded and underequipped African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur in January 2008. UNAMID to this day remains without the necessary resources to protect the 1.9 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) who live in large camps across Darfur. The government has increasingly obstructed UNAMID and humanitarian organizations by restricting access, often leaving the most vulnerable civilians cut off from outside aid. There are also an estimated 263,000 Darfuri refugees living across the Sudanese border in neighboring Chad. Overall, the UN estimates that more than 4.7 million people in Darfur (out of a total population of roughly 7.5 million) are still affected by the conflict.
Women living in IDP camps risk rape or harassment if they leave the camp to access water, collect firewood, or plant crops; however, due to the limited access of aid, they often do not have a choice. Gender based violence (GBV) has been used as a tool to oppress women throughout the crisis and those who target women do so with impunity. Due to cultural and religious taboos, GBV often goes unreported and perpetrators are rarely held accountable for their crimes.
Today, fighting between the rebel movements and the government continues and from January 2010-September 2011, the UN has reported over 175 attacks in Darfur. The Government of Sudan has manipulated ethnic tensions leading to inter-ethnic fighting between Arab tribes has also added to instability in Darfur. Despite the presence of the UNAMID peacekeeping force, Darfuris remain vulnerable to attacks and human rights violations from both sides, including sexual violence which continues both outside and inside IDP camps across Darfur.
Despite this chaotic environment, the Sudanese government remains the most responsible for the violence in Darfur. President al-Bashir and others in his government created the anarchic conditions presiding in Darfur today through their violent counterinsurgency campaign targeting innocent men, women and children. Furthermore, the Sudanese government has obstructed the UNAMID peacekeeping force, refused to prosecute any individuals responsible for crimes against humanity committed in Darfur, and has intimidated and expelled numerous international humanitarian aid groups. These actions continue to leave many civilians in Darfur unprotected and dispossessed of their basic human rights.
Below is a map of UN reported attacks in Darfur since the beginning of 2010.
View Darfur attacks 2010 and 2011 in a larger map
Blue- Attacks in 2010
Green- Attacks in 2011
Acronyms listed:
-- IDP, Internally Displaced Person
-- JEM, Justice and Equality Movement
-- NGO, Non Governmental Organization
-- SAF, Sudanese Armed Forces
-- SLA-MM, Sudanese Liberation Army- Minni Minawi
-- SLA-AW, Sudanese Liberation Army- Abdul Wahid
-- UN, United Nations
-- UNAMID, Hybrid United Nations/African Union Mission in Darfur
South Kordofan
Violence in South Kordofan and Blue Nile has displaced over 355,000 civilians since early June.
