WThe War in Darfur, also nicknamed the Land Cruiser War, is a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan that began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups began fighting the government of Sudan, which they accused of oppressing Darfur's non-Arab population. The government responded to attacks by carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Darfur's non-Arabs. This resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of civilians and the indictment of Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court.
WOn 23 April 2010 a military clash occurred in South Darfur involving a Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) company and another party. The clash happened in Balballa near to the border with the Bahr al-Ghazal province. The identity of the other combatant is disputed with the SPLA claiming it to be the North Sudanese Sudan People's Armed Forces (SPAF) whilst the SPAF and tribal sources say that it was Rezeigat nomadic Arab tribesmen that were involved. A Rezeigat tribal leader has said that 58 tribesmen were killed in the clash and 85 were wounded. The governor of Bahr al-Ghazal has stated that both sides suffered casualties but no figures for SPLA losses are known.
WThe African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) was an African Union (AU) peacekeeping force operating primarily in the country's western region of Darfur with the aim of performing peacekeeping operations related to the Darfur conflict. It was founded in 2004, with a force of 150 troops. By mid-2005, its numbers were increased to about 7,000. Under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1564, AMIS was to "closely and continuously liaise and coordinate ... at all levels" its work with the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS). AMIS was the only external military force in Sudan's Darfur region until UNAMID was established. It was not able to effectively contain the violence in Darfur. A more sizable, better equipped UN peacekeeping force was originally proposed for September 2006, but due to Sudanese government opposition, it was not implemented at that time. AMIS' mandate was extended repeatedly throughout 2006, while the situation in Darfur continued to escalate, until AMIS was replaced by UNAMID on December 31, 2007.
WAir West Flight 612 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by Air West between Khartoum, Sudan and Al-Fashir. On January 24, 2007, with 103 people on board, the flight, operated by a Boeing 737, was hijacked shortly after takeoff by a male individual. The plane landed safely at N'Djamena, Chad, where the hijacker surrendered.
WThis is the bibliography and reference section for the Darfur conflict series. External links to reports, news articles and other sources of information may also be found below.
WDarfur is a film directed by Uwe Boll concerning the current conflict in Darfur, starring David O'Hara, Kristanna Loken, Billy Zane and Edward Furlong. The film was also released as Attack On Darfur.
WThe 2020 Darfur attacks were three mass shootings that occurred in July 2020 in Darfur, Sudan. Sudan's leadership and the joint United Nations and African Union mission in Darfur (UNAMID) have connected the massacres to land conflicts relating to farming rights, typically between non-Arab tribal farmers, such as the Masalit people, and Arab Bedouin tribes, whom the government believes to be the attackers.
WDarfur is Dying is a flash-based browser game about the crisis in Darfur, western Sudan. The game won the Darfur Digital Activist Contest sponsored by mtvU. Released in April 2006, more than 800,000 people had played by September that year. It is classified as a serious game, specifically a newsgame.
WThe twelfth season of the American fictional drama television series ER first aired on September 22, 2005 and concluded on May 18, 2006. It consists of 22 episodes.
WThe raids on Haskanita was an attack on African Union peacekeepers by rebel groups during the Darfur conflict. The attacks took place on 30 September and early October 2007 near the town of Haskanita in South Darfur. Three rebel commanders were arrested for the attacks on warrants issued by the International Criminal Court.
WThe International Criminal Court investigation in Darfur or the situation in Darfur is an ongoing investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into criminal acts committed during the War in Darfur. Although Sudan is not a state party to the Rome Statute, the treaty which created the ICC, the situation in Darfur was referred to the ICC's Prosecutor by the United Nations Security Council in 2005. Charges against Bahar Abu Garda were dropped on the basis of insufficient evidence in 2010 and those against Saleh Jerbo were dropped following his death in 2013. In mid-April 2019, Haroun, al-Bashir and Hussein were imprisoned in Sudan as a result of the 2019 Sudanese coup d'état. As of June 2019, five suspects remained under indictment by the court: Ahmed Haroun, Ali Kushayb, Omar al-Bashir, Abdallah Banda and Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein. In early November 2019, the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) and Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok stated that al-Bashir would be transferred to the ICC. One of the demands of the displaced people of Darfur visited by Hamdok prior to Hamdok's statement was that "Omar Al Bashir and the other wanted persons" had to be surrendered to the ICC.
WSo far, the International Criminal Court opened investigations in 12 situations: Burundi; two in the Central African Republic; Côte d'Ivoire; Darfur, Sudan; the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Georgia; Kenya; Libya; Mali; Uganda; and Bangladesh/Myanmar. Additionally, the Office of the Prosecutor is conducting preliminary examinations in ten situations in Afghanistan; Bangladesh/Myanmar; Colombia; Guinea; Iraq / the United Kingdom; Nigeria; Palestine; the Philippines; Ukraine; and Venezuela on events since April 2017. Preliminary investigations were closed in Gabon; Honduras; registered vessels of Comoros, Greece, and Cambodia; South Korea; and Venezuela on events since 1 July 2002.
WWhile there is a consensus in the international community that ethnic groups have been targeted in Darfur and that crimes against humanity have therefore occurred, there has been debate in some quarters about whether genocide has taken place there. In May 2006, the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur organized by United Nations "concluded that the Government of the Sudan has not pursued a policy of genocide ... [though] international offences such as the crimes against humanity and war crimes that have been committed in Darfur may be more serious and heinous than genocide." Eric Reeves, a researcher and frequent commentator on Darfur, has questioned the methodology of the commission's report.
WThe Justice and Equality Movement is an opposition group in Sudan founded by Khalil Ibrahim. Gibril Ibrahim has led the group since January 2012 after the death of Khalil, his brother, in December 2011. JEM's political agenda includes issues such as: radical and comprehensive constitutional reform to grant Sudan's regions a greater share of power in ruling the country, the replacement of social injustice and political tyranny with justice and equality, and basic services for every Sudanese.
WThe Liberation and Justice Movement is a rebel group in the Darfur conflict in Sudan, led by Dr Tijani Sese. The Liberation and Justice Movement is an alliance of ten smaller Darfuri rebel organisations which formed a new grouping on 23 February 2010. On 20 March 2010, the Liberation and Justice Movement signed a cease-fire agreement with the Sudanese Government and agreed to talks that could lead to a final peace agreement. The Liberation and Justice Movement participated in the Doha peace negotiations held in December 2010 and in January 2011, its leader stated that the movement had accepted the core proposals of the Darfur peace document proposed by the joint-mediators. On 29 January 2011, the leaders of the Liberation and Justice Movement and of the rival Justice and Equality Movement issued a joint statement stating their commitment to the Doha negotiations and agreed to attend the Doha forum in February 2011. The Liberation and Justice Movement signed a new Darfur Peace Agreement with the Sudanese Government in July 2011; however, various factions of the group have merged with the Justice and Equality Movement.
WNot On Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond is a book co-authored by actor Don Cheadle and human rights activist and co-founder of the Enough Project, John Prendergast.
WIn May 2008, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), a Darfur ethnic minority rebel group, undertook a raid against the Sudanese government in the cities of Omdurman and Khartoum.
WThe Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) was conceived by George Clooney and Enough Project co-founder John Prendergast during their October 2010 visit to South Sudan. Through the use of satellite imagery, SSP provides an early warning system to deter mass atrocities in a given situation by focusing world attention and generating rapid responses to human rights and human security concerns taking place in that situation.
WThe Save Darfur Coalition was an advocacy group that called "to raise public awareness and mobilize a massive response to the atrocities in Sudan's western region of Darfur." Headquartered in Washington, D.C., it was a coalition of more than 190 religious, political and human rights organizations designed to campaign for a response to the atrocities of the War in Darfur. The result has become a global humanitarian crisis. Today, reports indicate that the conflict has claimed approximately 300,000 lives as a result of ethnic cleansing, disease and starvation and has displaced over 2.5 million people.
WUnited Nations Security Council resolution 1556, adopted on 30 July 2004, after recalling resolutions 1502 (2003) and 1547 (2004) on the situation in Sudan, the Council demanded that the Sudanese government disarm the Janjaweed militia and bring to justice those who had committed violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Darfur.
WUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 1593, adopted on 31 March 2005, after receiving a report by the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, the Council referred the situation in the Darfur region of Sudan to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and required Sudan to co-operate fully. It marked the first time the Council had referred a situation to the Court, and also compelled a country to co-operate with it.
WUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 1706, adopted on August 31, 2006, after recalling previous resolutions on the situation in Sudan, including resolutions 1556 (2004), 1564 (2005), 1574 (2004), 1590 (2004), 1591 (2005), 1593 (2004), 1663 (2006), 1665 (2006) and 1679 (2006), the Council expanded the mandate of the United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS) to include deployments in Darfur to enforce the Darfur Peace Agreement.
WUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 1769, adopted unanimously on July 31, 2007, after reaffirming all resolutions on the situation in Sudan, the Council established the joint African Union – United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) in an attempt to end the violence in Darfur, for an initial period of twelve months.
WThe African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur is a joint African Union (AU) and United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission formally approved by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1769 on 31 July 2007, to bring stability to the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan while peace talks on a final settlement continue.
WUnited States aid to Sudan has three key objectives: a definitive end to conflict, gross human rights abuses, and genocide in Darfur; implementation of the north-south Comprehensive Peace Agreement that results in a peaceful post-2011 Sudan, or an orderly path toward two separate and viable states at peace with each other; and ensuring that Sudan does not provide a safe haven for international terrorist. Sudan has experienced two civil wars since 1955, the second of which lasted 22 years. During this time, the U.S. was the largest provider of foreign aid to Sudan, largely focused on humanitarian aid through the U.S. Agency for International Development. Sudan is listed as the U.S. government's highest priority in Africa due to "its importance for counter-terrorism and regional stability, as well as the magnitude of human rights and humanitarian abuses" U.S. foreign aid to Sudan has begun to see some positive indicators of performance although critical reaction has said that aid to Sudan is neither strategic nor focused.