ABOUT THE DARFUR GENOCIDE
What is the Darfur Genocide?
The Darfur genocide takes place in the Darfur region of Sudan, which is in the west. The Darfur crisis is considered the first genocide of the twenty first century. The conflict began in 2003 and is still ongoing today. The genocide refers to the mass murder of men, women, and children in the Darfur region of Sudan mostly consisting of the black Christian farmers, whom had rebelled against the Sudanese government. The Janjaweed is the government sponsored Arab militia tasked with eliminating the rebellion and targeting the Darfur people. The Janjaweed rape, destroy homes, polluting resources, and murdering civilians. Hundreds of thousands of people have been murdered and millions have been displaced from their home in Darfur.
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How has the international community responded?
At the beginning of the conflict, the United States led the international community in beginning to act by labeling the Darfur conflict as a genocide, which was a bold move because a genocide has never been labeled as a genocide until after it is over. The United States thought that by labeling the Darfur crisis as a genocide it would lead to more efforts from the international community, since the United States focused most of their resources on the Iraq and Afghanistan war, but that was not the case. UN peacekeepers were sent to Darfur but the International Criminal court called for justice without the need for intervention, which was convenient for the United States in that they would not have to send troops. The International Criminal Court and the United States came up with the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act of 2005 to hold those accountable for their crimes in Darfur. The United States focused on the Naivasha Accords, a North-South peace negotiation in Sudan, in their pursuit to end the genocide because the peace negotiation would allow for a peaceful solution to the Darfur genocide by allowing the SPLA/M leader to serve as Vice President.
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Why have they responded this way?
The labeling of the conflict and capitalism has contributed in the response from the international community and especially with the United States. Since Sudan was labeled a "rogue" and "fragile" state that contributed to how the international community responded. As a "fragile" and "rogue" state, Sudan was sent peacekeepers but it prevented them from looking at the internal weaknesses of the conflict in order to stop the genocide. They did not think that Sudan was worth all the efforts to stop the genocide since it is known as a fragile and rogue state, which means that state is defiant and not sturdy. Also unlike Iraq or Afghanistan, Darfur could not offer the United States any benefits from being involved, since they do not have oil or other profitable resources; which is why the United States put most of their efforts in the Iraq and Afghanistan war even though the Darfur genocide was occurring.