In Fragile Darfur, Hope is Tentative
By Amber Henderson and Daniel Solomon | Jan 29 2010 |
According to a recent report published by The New York Times, the turmoil of the Darfur region in Sudan has largely quieted. Gen. Patrick Nyamvumba, who commands UNAMID — the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur — has described the security situation in Darfur as “calm … but it remains unpredictable.”
The conflict in Darfur — which, according to Amnesty International has left in its wake 300,000 deaths, 250,000 refugees and 2.6 million internally displaced persons — has been a flashpoint for violence since it began in February 2003. The conflict originated when two rebel groups — the Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement — challenged the authority of the Sudanese government in Darfur. The Sudanese government replied with an aggressive counterinsurgency campaign. It used janjaweed — or horse-riding militias — to carry out scorched-earth operations against civilian population centers in Darfur.
It quickly became clear that the Sudanese government’s efforts were escalating from a heavy counterinsurgency to what many international activists and the United States have labeled genocide, as defined by the 1948 Genocide Convention.
Nyamvumba’s comment indicates that the game has recently changed in Darfur. While the classification of the Darfur situation as post-genocidal is arguably apt, that of post-conflict is not. As Sean Brooks of the Save Darfur Coalition recently wrote, “Darfur . . . remains a human rights and humanitarian crisis of the first order.” Though major hostilities between Sudanese government and janjaweed forces and the rebel groups may have de-escalated, the security situation for the people of Darfur remains unstable. Sexual violence is widespread, the Sudanese government restricts crucial access to humanitarian aid organizations in Darfur, the peace process has stalled and the refugee crisis remains acute. Last March, the International Criminal Court indicted current Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity, but a culture of impunity still underlines the Darfur conflict.
