Analysis Of The Armed Conflict In Darfur, Sudan - Causes, Atrocities, And International Responses

You will be assessed on this module through two assignments, each worth 50%. Expectations for both assignments will be discussed during the weekly workshops.

Your research proposal will need to:

• Outline the research questionand any sub-questions that you are going to address,
• Demonstrate why these are important by situating your research question in the context of the relevant academic literature and development debates
• Describe the approachyou are going to take to answering your research question and any-sub questions
• Describe your proposed research methodologyfor answering your questions
• Detail the particular methodsyou will use to gather and analyse the data
• Show an awareness of any potential risks and challengesin your proposed research and how your project will take account of these
• Explain how your research will answer your research question and contribute to either academic and/or development debatesin the area

Your literature review will need to:

• Introduce your chosen development tool, technique or approach and explain why it is of significance in development
• Demonstrate an awareness and understanding of the key literaturesaround a particular development tool, technique or approach
• Explain why you have selected the literatureyou have chosen
• Show an understanding of the key disagreements and differencesare in relation to your chosen tool, technique or approach
• Develop an analysis of the key debates and themesin the literature rather than simply summarise the key texts

Causes of the Armed Conflict in Darfur, Sudan

The armed conflict in Darfur, Sudan which broke out in February 2003 has been a debatable subject in various international conferences and has seen an empire fall as collateral damage as a result of the activities that constitute Authoritarian conduct. The allegation of wide spread genocide and other related war crimes against ethnic Non-Arab habitant groups lead to the eventual indictment of their president Omar Al-Bashir. The war broke out when two rebel groups namely the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) initiated a full scale conflict in an attempt to overthrow the government. In retaliation the Government engaged in strategic ethnic cleansing to counter the groups now in open rebellion. The conflict eventually attracted various international authorities who initiated peacekeeping missions and drafted possible compromises and negotiations. These international responses in light of the actual causes of the assault will be analyzed in the following paragraphs as they have been understood and debated by various notable scholars.

As observed by Williams, Darfur housed approximately 6 million people and could be compared to the size of France. Before the conflict the inhabitants of the region comprised of both the natives of the region and settlers. The rebellion began as an attempt to achieve equal social status for the Non-Arab groups residing within the region. In light of the same, it was a conflict that mainly occurred due to the equal social status then granted to the residents of the South Eastern region of Sudan. As stated before the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and the Justice and Equality Movement were the first associations to initiate the conflict but they received aid and support from various other groups. Bassil also opined that the conflict was also one that aimed at gaining decentralization.

The government’s first response to the armed assault by the rebel groups was conducting aerial assaults as well as ground assaults on strongholds of both the rebel factions (Budabin 2014). Thus the conflict worsened as now in addition to the initial agitation the government could now be blamed for war crimes and alleged genocide. These atrocities would be subsequently cited when international organizations intervened in the conflict and hoped to reach an amicable solution through compromise.

According to Hastrup, the conflict had a plethora of causes but the most notable one would be the one between the Muslim population of the northern region of Darfur and Christian Southerners of the region. The civil war between these groups was a major contributor to the conflict’s agitation. Budabin, however states that the conflict in Darfur does not have a religious angle to it as it is mainly a movement similar to the South Eastern movement for liberation taken in by the acts of the parties. As opined by Selby et al., even if a conspicuous religious angle cannot be seen the conflict definitely contained religious undercurrents that fueled the aggressions for the same.

The Government's Atrocities in Response to the Rebel Groups

Another leading cause as stated by De Juan is that the movement was mainly inspired by conflicts between federal and state powers and legislatures. This was mainly due to the various changes in the social status of Non-Arab residents in other parts of Sudan. Devoid of any kind of religious undertones, this was more of a struggle for equality. The reason De Juan’s opinion can be considered a credible analysis is because it successfully explains the why the rebel groups conducted the operations that lead to the beginning of the war and it adequately describes the unreasonably disproportionate retaliation of the government. The atrocities committed by the government in retaliation to the liberation movement conspicuously display the authoritarian approach that the Arab centric administration adopted.

Ethnic cleansing is systematic eradication of minority groups belonging to another ethnic background. This has been seen repeatedly in Historical events where the authoritarian administration sought to act in retaliation for rebellious acts committed by small factions of these minority groups. Ideally in power struggles a steep reduction in the members of the opposite faction aid in ceasing the conflict for the more powerful side. The same is also instrumental in instilling fear among people of these ethnic groups. It is an intimidation technique used by authoritarian regimes to subdue the rising opposition in an attempt to maintain power.

This however was not the case in the Furfure war. As opined by Cunningham the ethnic cleansing attempts were not only because the government wanted to remain in power but more so because granting equal status to these groups would cause a rise in animosity between these groups. This is because the Arab inhabitants of the region would be dissatisfied by a shift in the societal framework as they have been considered a more superior race for decades. However not granting the same would increase agitation among these minority groups. Thus the government decided it would be more strategically advantageous to eradicate the existence of these minority groups. This has been chastised but the global community and this was the reason behind the indictment of their president as observed by Ali. Statistically the government would have been able to successfully overthrow all opposition if the international community had not taken notice of the events of the region and responded with aid.

The international organizations also successfully escalated the matter to the International Court of Justice which responded by demanding adequate representation from both sides before a full bench which would adjudicate the dispute. The International Court of Justice was of the opinion that genocide had in fact occurred along with other incidental war crimes as documented by Hastrup.

International Responses to the Conflict

Hundreds of people are dying every day in Darfur from starvation, malady and brutality. With battling proceeding between revolt powers and government troops, an ever increasing number of individuals are being driven from their homes, joining the positions of the 2.4 million as of now inside uprooted and the 200,000 evacuees in Chad. Government military assaults proceed on dark African cultivating networks and on IDP camps, bolstered by the Janjaweed volunteer army (Stanton 2017). Ladies and young ladies keep on being assaulted looking for kindling outside the camps while those inside remain absolutely reliant on universal guide (Meierhenrich 2014).

Being on the world plan has not yet prompted important strides to end the battling or even sufficiently to address the requirements of those evacuated. So would it be that has obstructed the universal reaction, and what positive components can be recognized that can be based upon in reacting to this and future crises?

One reason the worldwide network finds the Darfur issue hard to address is that state dependence on over the top power against ethnic or racial gatherings looking for more noteworthy self-governance isn't one of a kind to Sudan. Different governments keen on keeping up the strength of a specific ethnic gathering have additionally pursued ruthless wars against their own populaces. The Russian Federation, for instance, has directed a burned earth crusade against the Chechens (Stanton 2017). A veto-employing perpetual individual from the Security Council, Russia has contradicted political weight or authorizes against the Sudanese government because of a paranoid fear of setting a point of reference (Savelsberg 2017).

White blood, it appears to be, dependably exchanges higher than African blood on the open human rights showcase. General Dallaire, who leaded the UN's little peacekeeping mission in Rwanda at the season of the slaughter, attacked the universal network's hesitance to act in Africa, however in the interim a huge number of dollars were filling Yugoslavia. Were some individuals "more human than others"? he inquired.

Bun Ki Moon brags about the UN's Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and the "Joined Against Impunity" trademark. This appealing talk is aimless. In an ongoing assault in March, the spilled records demonstrate that administration powers crushed a whole camp for dislodged individuals adjoining the UN compound (Meierhenrich 2014). The aggressors consumed to death a sheik, harmed numerous others, seized neighborhood pioneers, plundered property and domesticated animals while additionally annihilating water wells, homes, and a doctor's facility. UN peacekeepers obviously did nothing to mediate regardless of their order to secure regular folks. The head of UNAMID later communicated run of the mill worries about the "heightening of brutality" (Savelsberg 2017).

On Monday an UN representative conceded that "There is strain between the need to safeguard the assent and positive attitude of the host government (whose president is arraigned by the Hague for atrocities and demonstrations of decimation against his own particular individuals) required to permit peacekeepers (The UN looks for consent from an autocrat to ensure the regular folks his administration is assaulting) to carry out their occupations and the occasionally conflicting basic to report precisely and truly on any episodes of savagery" (Meierhenrich 2014). The impression given is that the precise detailing of "all occurrences of viciousness" is eagerly bargained (Stanton 2017). The proceeding with savagery in Darfur makes it liberally certain that there is far to go before a global framework to secure individuals got up to speed in viciousness in their own nations can be set up. Regardless, there are components to expand on. More prominent consideration ought to be paid to reinforcing the AU and supporting a part for it in advancing the security of IDPs on the landmass – a stage vital for Darfur as well as for the in excess of 12 million IDPs in Africa (Savelsberg 2017). Governments and common society around the globe whose voices have been powerful on Darfur should now press for the development of the north-south peace consent to Darfur and restrict the going ahead of any financial guide and speculation or obligation help for Sudan's legislature until the point when the contention and relocation right now overpowering western Sudan are conveyed to an end (Stanton 2017).

Conclusion:

Thus to conclude, it can be said that, regardless of whether it would bring about essentially expanded assurance for the populace, a nonconsensual military mediation would prompt a fall of compassionate exercises in Darfur – similarly as it did in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. The utilization of worldwide military powers won't help organizations contact individuals in require – and is probably not going to convert into less viciousness against regular citizens. Meanwhile, what might help offices is significant weight on the gatherings required, to push them to regard the life of regular citizens and the respectability of alleviation offices. Important weight isn't what has been called "bull horn" discretion – those unfilled dangers just intended to conciliate nauseous electorates and that lone serve to make a threatening situation in Sudan, where every philanthropic on-screen character are reviled as pawns to a more extensive interventionist and against Islamic motivation. Finally, it ought to be reemphasize that there must be an unmistakable partition of parts between various partners –human rights associations, UNMIS, help offices, governments, and activists. Philanthropic organizations must avoid calls for peace-keeping and military activity, and focus on how best to reach and help individuals caught by emergency. There is a considerable measure to do and it is justified, despite all the trouble.

References:

Ali, H.E., 2014. Darfur's political economy: a quest for development. routledge.

Bassil, N., 2013. The post-colonial state and civil war in Sudan: The origins of conflict in Darfur (Vol. 34). IB Tauris.

Budabin, A.C., 2014. Diasporas as development partners for peace? The alliance between the Darfuri diaspora and the Save Darfur Coalition. Third World Quarterly, 35(1), pp.163-180.

Cunningham, D.E. and Lemke, D., 2014. Beyond civil war: A quantitative examination of causes of violence within countries. Civil Wars, 16(3), pp.328-345.

De Juan, A., 2015. Long-term environmental change and geographical patterns of violence in Darfur, 2003–2005. Political Geography, 45, pp.22-33.

Hansen, L., 2017. Reading comics for the field of International Relations: Theory, method and the Bosnian War. European Journal of International Relations, 23(3), pp.581-608.

Hastrup, A., 2013. The war in Darfur: reclaiming Sudanese history. Routledge.

Meierhenrich, J., 2014. Introduction: the study and history of genocide (pp. 3-55). Oxford University Press USA.

Savelsberg, J.J., 2017. International Criminal Law as One Response to World Suffering: General Observations and the Case of Darfur. In Alleviating World Suffering (pp. 361-373). Springer, Cham.

Selby, J., Dahi, O.S., Fröhlich, C. and Hulme, M., 2017. Climate change and the Syrian civil war revisited. Political Geography, 60, pp.232-244.

Stanton, J.A., 2017. Response to Patricia Owens’s review of Violence and Restraint in Civil War: Targeting in the Shadow of International Law. Perspectives on Politics, 15(4), pp.1103-1104.

Weiss, T.G., 2016. Humanitarian intervention. John Wiley & Sons

Williams, P.D., 2016. War and conflict in Africa. John Wiley & Sons.