March 24, 2010
Objectives: To develop a better
understanding of the Rwanda Genocide
To develop an understanding of the
genocide in Darfur.
Question: Could the U.N. have prevented
the genocide in Rwanda? How?
Agenda
• Discussion on Rwanda Genocide
• Get with your groups- each person must
be prepared to share out.
• Turn in notes
• Take out paper to take notes on Darfur
• Final 5
Ghosts of Rwanda
Post Viewing Assignment
• From the perspective of the group you followed,
answer the following questions:
1. What involvement and role did your group play in the
Rwandan Genocide?
2. How does your group explain the events of the
genocide? (main causes, events and players)
3. Were there any mistakes on your part? Explain those
mistakes and what could be done to correct those
mistakes. If you believe no mistakes were made,
would other groups claim that you made mistakes?
Why?
4. From your stand point, list and explain the Five most
important events of the Genocide.
Ghosts of Rwanda
Class Discussion
• What part of the film had the most impact
on you?
• Who in the film might be haunted by the
“ghosts of Rwanda”? How/why?
• Why was the Red cross more effective in
Rwanda than the U.N.?
• Should powerful western nations ,including
the U.S., be blamed for the 800,000 dead?
Darfur Genocide
“Never Again” Again?
Darfur is located in
the western region o
Sudan
Darfur, Sudan
• Sudan is the
largest country
by area in Africa
• Darfur is a region
in western
Sudan,
approximately
the size of Texas
• 6 million people
used to live in
Darfur
History of Conflict in Sudan
Sudan’s borders encompass many ethnic and religious
groups
– North: Arab, Muslim
– South: African, Christian
– Darfur: African, Muslim, Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa
tribes
Northern Sudan was constructed without ties to
Southern Sudan, and the Darfur region wasn’t
annexed as a province of Sudan until 1916,
almost 50 years after the North and South were
unified.
History of Conflict in Sudan
• 1956 Sudan gains independence from British
rule
• Civil war between North and South from 19551972 and again from 1983-2002
– South Sudanese not represented in government
– While oil was discovered in Southern Sudan in the
1970s, the government demanded all of the oil
revenues be funneled to the national government
Beginning of Darfur Conflict
• In 2003, two rebel
groups from Darfur
rise up against the
Sudanese
government
– Sudanese Liberation
Movement (pictured)
– Justice and Equality
Movement
The political aim of the rebel groups is to compel to
Sudanese government to address underdevelopment and
political marginalization of the region .
War-torn Sudan
• 21 yr. Civil War between north and
south
–
–
–
–
Why? Land first, then oil as well
2 million deaths related to conflict
1/4 of these victims were children
many suffer from malnutrition as result
• Economically bankrupt
– War cost government $2 million/day
– Oil businesses have left due to violence
Religious Demography
• 70% Sunni Muslim
• 25% Indigenous (tribal)
Religions
• 5% Christian
• North Sudan Muslim
• South Sudan Indigenous
Religions and Christians
• Civil War between north and south formally ended
January 9, 2005
– peace agreements brokered by the United States allocated
government positions and oil revenue to the rebels in the
south.
– NIF (National Islamic Front) in power (Arab)
Sudanese President
Lt. Gen. Hassan
al-Bashir
– Insurgent/rebel groups: Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and
Justice and Equality Movement (JEM)
• Made up of African tribal farmers including Fur
• Recent conflict – the beginning of the genocide
– February 2003:
SLA and JEM demanded that the Sudanese government
begin to share power and end the economic marginalization
of Darfur.
– The government responded by targeting the civilian
populations from which the rebels were drawn.
• Led to refugee crisis – “ethnic cleansing”
Darfurian refugees
Mother and Children in Refugee Camp
Refugee Camp
Who are the “Janjaweed”?
• The Janjaweed are perhaps
20,000 Arab militiamen who
are responsible for the mass
killings.
• Janjaweed is Arabic for “Devil
on a horse”
•The Government of Sudan is
undeniably linked to the
Janjaweed.
•The Janjaweed systematically
rape women and girls, castrate,
brand and beat men and boys,
and torture all = GENOCIDE
Human Rights Watch (2004)
• HRW obtained confidential Sudanese
government documents.
• “It’s absurd to distinguish between the
Sudanese government forces and the
militias – they are one. These documents
show that the militia activity has not just
been condoned, it’s been specifically
supported by Sudan government officials.”
– Exec. Dir. Africa Div. HRW Peter
Takirambudde
March 25, 2010
• Objectives: To develop an understanding
of the situation in Darfur, and Uganda.
• Question: Describe what led to the
situation in Darfur.
• Agenda: Lecture
The World Takes Notice of
Genocide in Darfur
• June 24th, 2004, for the first time in its history, the Committee on
Conscience of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
declared a “genocide emergency” in the Sudan
• On July 22, 2004 the U.S. Congress passed resolutions declaring
Genocide in Darfur, Sudan.
• On January 25, 2005, the United Nations Commission of Inquiry
declared “government forces and militias conducted
indiscriminate attacks, including killing of civilians, torture,
enforced disappearances, destruction of villages, rape and other
forms of sexual violence, pillaging and forced displacement,
throughout Darfur. These acts were conducted on a widespread
and systematic basis ... The vast majority of the victims of all of
these violations have been from the Fur, Zaghawa, Massalit,
Jebel, Aranga and other so-called 'African' tribes”.
History (Cont.)
The war, which risks inflicting irreparable damage on a delicate
ethnic balance of seven million people who are uniformly Muslim, is
actually multiple intertwined conflicts. One is between governmentaligned forces and rebels; a second entails indiscriminate attacks
of the government-sponsored Janjaweed militia on civilians; and a
third involves a struggle among Darfur communities themselves. Its
implications go far beyond Darfur's borders. The war indirectly
threatens the regimes in both Sudan and Chad and has the
potential to inspire insurgencies in other parts of the country.
“I was sleeping when the attack
on Disa started. I was taken away
by the attackers. They were all in
uniforms. They took dozens of
other girls and made us walk for
three hours. During the day we
were beaten and they were telling
us:
"You, the black women, we will
exterminate you, you have no
god."
At night we were raped several
times. The Arabs guarded us with
arms and we were not given food
for three days.”
Female refugee from Disa
Facts
• An estimated 400,000 innocent civilians deaths
• More than 200,000 people have been displaced and fled to
refugee camps in neighboring Chad
• Almost 2 million people have been internally displaced
• More than 10,000 people die each month
• As many as 1 million civilians could die in Darfur from lack of food
and from disease within coming months
The majority of the victims are from the Fur, Zaghawa,
Massalit, Jebel, Aranga and other African tribes.
This is Zahra.
After her husband and sons
were murdered, the Janjaweed
carried her and her sisters off
and gang-raped them.
The sisters were murdered, and
Zahra was finally released,
naked, after the Janjaweed
slashed her leg to mark her
forever.
The Janjaweed raid villages, burn the homes, destroy the crops and
poison the wells. Survivors from the attacks are unable to return
home because their villages are uninhabitable.
What is the U.S. Doing?
• Although they can and must do more, the United States has done
more than any other nation in the world. The Bush Administration
provided the most funding to the Darfur relief effort.
• In early-March, 2005 Senators Sam Brownback (KS) and Jon
Corzine (NJ) introduced into the Senate the Darfur Accountability
Act (S 495).
• In mid-March, 2005 Representative Donald Payne of New Jersey
introduced the Darfur Genocide Accountability Act (HR 1424).
• Neither of these bills have been passed into law.
• The FY05 Emergency Supplemental bill approved $90.5 million in
relief to Darfur ($50 million for the African Union mission in Darfur
and $40.5 million for disaster aid)
What is the World Doing?
• The U.N. Security Council has passed several
ineffective resolutions. The resolutions are
repeatedly violated by the Sudanese
government.
• The African Union (AU) currently has 7000
troops in Sudan. The AU remains grossly
under-funded and ineffective. Many more
peacekeeping troops are needed in the
region.
This family fled their village after their father and brother were killed,
and then the mother fell ill and could no longer walk. So now the
family is headed by Haiga Ibrahim, a 16-year-old girl, who is on the
left.
Bahria Mohammed Ahmed, right, with her mother at Abu Shouk
camp. Two of her children disappeared as the family trekked
toward refuge, and she arrived this week without them.
"I talked to scores of
refugees who several
weeks ago watched as
their wives were raped
and as their brothers and
fathers and sons were
killed before their eyes.
Scattered. Entire villages
wiped out. It's savagery.
It's slaughter, and it is
going on, in essence, as
we speak."
U.S. Senator Bill Frist
Children like Magboula are
particularly at risk because
they no longer are nursing
and need food, but are
particularly likely to die of
diarrhea, malaria and other
ailments. 70% of the deaths
in Darfur are children under
five.
The main cause of death in the refugee camps is
diarrhea which account for ¼ of the recorded deaths.
80% of the
children
under five
years old are
suffering
from severe
malnutrition
These two orphans from Darfur fled to the northern part of the
Chad/Sudan border after their parents, uncle and older brother
were either killed or went missing in an attack by the Janjaweed
militia on their village, Ab-Layha. Nijah Ahmed, 4, is carrying her
little brother, Nibraz, who is 13 months old and malnourished.
“At 7am in August
2003, our village was
surrounded by the
Janjaweed; we heard
machine guns and most
of the people ran away,
some were killed while
trying to escape. My
sister, M, aged 43, was
captured by the military
and the Janjaweed.
They tried to sleep with
her. She resisted, I was
present and could hear
her: "I will not do
something like this even
if you kill me" and they
immediately killed her.”
I, from Miski.
“They’re trying to kill all of the children in order to
wipe out the next generation.”
Due to drought and poisoned wells, water is becoming scarcer which
will contribute to increased deaths.
“When we tried to escape
they shot more children.
They raped women; I saw
many cases of Janjaweed
raping women and girls.
They are happy when they
rape. They sing when they
rape and they tell that we
are just slaves and that
they can do with us how
they wish.”
A, a 37-year-old from
Mukjar
GET OUT A PIECE OF PAPER
FOR A SHORT QUIZ!
Darfur Genocide Quiz
1. In what year did the fighting re-erupt in the Sudan?
2. Who are the two sides in the Sudanese Civil War and what
are they fighting about?
3. Why is Darfur the center of the genocide?
4. Who are the Janjaweed?
5. What are some of the Janjaweed tactics?
6. How many people have been displaced? (internally and
externally)
7. What is the estimate for the number killed so far?
8. Which age group makes up 70% of the deaths in Darfur?
9. What are some things the US is doing about this genocide?
The UN?
10.What do you think should be done?
Final 5
• What more can the U.S. and the U.N. do
for the area of Darfur? How would you
convince our Government or the U.N. that
something more needed to be done?