Some of the Facts:

*People are fleeing from their homes, to camps where they are living in unsafe, unhealthy conditions. ..... *People in the camps are falling victim to rape, beatings, etc. *Some US states have put sanctions on businesses, preventing them from dealing with Sudan in order to pressure Sudan to put a stop to the fighting. ........ *Sudan has been resisting political pressure from the United Nations, and many countries including the US, to provide protection to the people. ....... *Sudan has been resisting offers from around the world, to send in outside military or peacekeeping troops, and even offers to send in aid workers. -whether this is pride, fear of other countries taking control, or just because the country itself does not want to help the people is not clear in the articles I've read so far. ....... *Sudan is slowly giving way to political pressure in some ways, but still resisting.

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Ceasefires

There have been at least four ceasefires (or agreements to ceasefires) in Sudan since the conflict began. (If you know of others, let me know).

September 4, 2003: Within Sudan, the SLA and the government agreed on a ceasefire. This did not last long, however, as both sides accused the other of breaking it.

April 8, 2004: Ceasefire agreement between Khartoum and the SLA and JEM. The JEM remain armed, and hostilities continue.

May 5, 2006, Ceasefire between the government and the Minni Minnawi faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement. According to BBC, however, the Sudanese government was "systematically attacking groups who had refused to sign for peace."

January 11, 2007 Sudan and rebel groups, prodded by a visiting US politician, agreed on a 60-day ceasefire. See news article

The challenge has been, however, to enforce these ceasefires. A ceasefire does not mean that the problems are over. In many cases, it is only an agreement not to fight while mediation occurs. But some groups ignore the agreement, and continue the fighting. Tension is still high, and violence is still erupting. Law forces have been set up to maintain the ceasefires while mediation occurs.
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Who's Fighting?

According to Wikipedia.org, the "conflict" (that's not said to make light of the situation, but to promote fact-based, rather than emotions-based information) is occurring primarily between two groups. These are the Janjaweed (a militia group that consists of seminomadic camel-herding Arabs), against the primarily land-tilling, non-Arab tribes. The government claims it is not helping the Janjaweed, but there is evidence that they are providing weapons to this group. [personally, this surprises me- that the government would be behind a seminomadic group, which would seemingly be less economically viable than a group that has settled in one place].

How Did the Sudanese Civil War Start?

According to BIGpedia.com (12/09/06), the civil war began when power started shifting from the southern non-Arabs, to the northern Arabs. Britain had control of Sudan at that point, and had prevented the north from having positions of power in the south. The south was more wealthy because they have more oil, and more water sources. They were comfortable with their power. But the north pressured Britain long enough, that Britain gave in, and in the 1950's, the northern Arabs began to have more power than the southern non-Arabs. The south wanted to secceed from the north, but was not allowed to do so. As a result, civil unrest began.

How Long Has This Been Going On?

According to BIGpedia.com (12/09/06), the Genocide is part of the Second Sudanese Civil War, which began in 1983 (23 years so far), and is really, part two of the First Sudanese Civil War, which ran from 1955 to 1972. But the Genocide itself started in 2003.

Where Does the United Nations Stand?

According to Wikipedia, the UN has yet to identify the conflict as a genocide, but has taken action to stop the violence that is occuring.On August 31, 2006, they approved Resolution 1706. This Resolution called for a UN peacekeeping force of 17,300 troops to help maintain the peace in Darfur because Sudan's peacekeeping force was not doing enough (by choice or lack of funds) to stop the fighting. Sudan is against this resolution (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darfur_conflict). The following is a link to a timeline of the United Nation's response to the Darfur conflict: http://www.un.org/News/dh/dev/scripts/darfur_formatted.htm

Ceasefires

There have been at least four ceasefires (or agreements to ceasefires) in Sudan since the conflict began. (If you know of others, let me know). September 4, 2003: Within Sudan, the SLA and the government agreed on a ceasefire. This did not last long, however, as both sides accused the other of breaking it. April 8, 2004: Ceasefire agreement between Khartoum and the SLA and JEM. The JEM remain armed, and hostilities continue. May 5, 2006, Ceasefire between the government and the Minni Minnawi faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement. According to BBC, however, the Sudanese government was "systematically attacking groups who had refused to sign for peace." January 11, 2007 Sudan and rebel groups, prodded by a visiting US politician, agreed on a 60-day ceasefire. See news article The challenge has been, however, to enforce these ceasefires. A ceasefire does not mean that the problems are over. In many cases, it is only an agreement not to fight while mediation occurs. But some groups ignore the agreement, and continue the fighting. Tension is still high, and violence is still erupting. Law forces have been set up to maintain the ceasefires while mediation occurs.