DARFUR GENOCIDE:

Events that led to the genocide in Darfur began in February 2003 when the Sudanese government sponsored the Janjaweed militia to initiate vicious attacks against the civilians in Darfur. This was the result after rebels in Darfur, the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), accused the government of oppressing non-Arabs in favor of Arabs and demanded a larger role in Sudan’s leadership. After three years of utilizing tactics of war such as rape, displacement, organized starvation and mass murder, the Sudanese government, lead by President Omer al-Bashir, has killed an estimated 300,000 to 400,000 civilians, including men, women and children, and at least 2.5 million have been forced to flee their homes into neighboring territories and live as refugees. Moreover, 8,000 villages have been burned to the ground, crops and irrigations systems destroyed, in order to prevent villagers from returning to their homes.

The purpose of the genocide, for the Sudanese government, is to cleanse Darfur of non-Arabs and seek to eliminate all black-Darfurians, including the African Fur, Masaleet and Zagawa ethnic groups, in order for Sudanese Arabs to take over the region. After years of tension and conflict between the Arab and non-Arab ethnic groups, the genocide was the final spiral that led to complete chaos in the region. Although the Janjaweed is responsible for the majority of the acts of genocide, the Sudanese government funds and equips the Janjaweed with necessary resources to carry out the brutal crimes. The Sudanese government also goes as far as to bomb and militarily attack Durfurian communities. It is estimated that these criminals continue to murder at least 6,000 Darfurians each month.

Currently, the people of Darfur survive on very little food and live with the threat of being killed by those guilty of genocide. The US government has recognized the events in Darfur as genocide. However, the UN has not engaged militarily in order to control and cease all genocide activity in Darfur and bring the criminals to justice. The US government’s most important task in seeing an end to this tragedy is to urge the UN to engage in the conflict take over the African union peacekeeping mission in order to secure a safe home for Darfurians.

US Genocide Resolutions
H.R.3127
S.RES.495