Where is the Sudan? Access to the Nile, both the White and the Blue Rivers, and the Red Sea. Nine bordering countries- Central African Republic, Chad,

Where is the Sudan?

• Access to the Nile, both the White and the Blue

Rivers, and the Red Sea.

• Nine bordering countries-Central African Republic,

Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Uganda.

Sudanese Geography

• South- plains or ironstone soil

• The greatest part of the country areas are covered by clay plains.

• Desert- northern 30% of country

Mountain Ranges•Imatong-South Sudan,

•Jebel Marra- West Sudan, •Red Sea Hilis’lin- East Sudan

Overview of Resources

• Arable land- 200 million feddans• Forests- acacia trees and pastures- 250

million feddans• Mineral resources have not been fully

explored as of yet but include:– petroleum, natural gas, gold, silver, gold,

silver, chrome, asbestos, manganese, gypsum, mica, zinc, iron, lead, uranium,

copper, kaolin, cobalt, granite, nickel and tin.

Life in the SudanSudan

• Population: 41,236,378 (July 2006)

• Birth Rate: 34.53 births/1,000 population

• Death Rate: 8.97 deaths/1,000 population

• Life Expectancy: 58.92 years

• Fertility Rate: 4.72 children born/woman

The United States

• Population: 298,444,215 (July 2006)

• Birth Rate: 14.14 births/1,000 population

• Death Rate: 8.26 deaths/1,000 population

• Life Expectancy: 77.85 years

• Fertility Rate: 2.09 children born/woman

The Sudanese• Literacy Rate:

– definition: age 15 and over can

read and write – male: 71.8% – female: 50.5% (2003)

• Religion:– 70% Sunni Muslim– 25% indigenous beliefs– 5% Christian

• Language:– Arabic (official), – Nubian,– Ta Bedawie,– Sudanic languages,– English

The Crux of the Genocide in Darfur

Sudan: A Fragmented Nation

• Sudan’s national language is Arabic• Sudan has 142 languages only 8 of which are

considered dead. • Of those 142 languages is estimated that there

are up to 400 dialects used in the Sudan. • It is estimated that there are 247 cultural or

ethnic groups in the Sudan. • Do to the fragmented nature of the population a

government truly representative of the Sudanese people is nearly impossible.

Religion in Sudan

• The majority of Sudan’s population is Muslim.

• There is a small Christian minority located in the Southern regions of Sudan, around

Khartoum, and near the Red Sea.

• The residents of Darfur are all Muslim.

Muslim vs. Non-Muslim?

It is a common misconception that the

genocide in Darfur is grounded in religion:

• Darfurians are Muslim.• The Janjaweed are Muslim.

• The Government in Khartoum is Muslim.• Religion is not the basis for the genocide in

Darfur.

Ethnicity in Sudan

50%40%

6% 4%Black-African

Arab

Beja

Other

The population in Darfur is representative of the population of Sudan containing Black-Africans, Arabs as well as the

other smaller minority groups.

Arab Ethnicity as a Social Construction

• Throughout Sudan the idea of Arab ethnicity has been socially constructed.

• Through the “Arabization” of Sudan Arab culture and social practices have been imposed upon the Sudanese people including the Darfurians.

• The phrases often used for Non-Arabs are zunji or zurga both of which translate to mean

“black.”• In Sudan and especially Darfur Non-Arabs

are considered inferior to Arabs.

Arab and Non-Arab Conflict?

The genocide in Darfur revolves not around religious affiliation but rather ethnic

affiliation:

• The Janjaweed soldiers do not attack the Arab villages and families in Darfur.

• Instead the Arab villages will be left unscathed but surrounded by destroyed predominantly Non-Arab villages.

• This is due to the conflict socially constructed between individuals of Arab and Non-Arab identities.

Peace and the Stable Economy

When there is little economic disparity and a fairly high standard of living, a country usually has

little domestic violence. When many citizens are starving and few are doing very well then the

“take back what is yours” sentiment can foster a desire in a group to kill those who are positioning

them in a lower socio-economic class.

Economic FactsSUDAN

• GDP (purchasing power parity): $85.89 billion (2005 est.)

• GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 38.7% industry: 20.3% services: 41% (2003 est.)

• Unemployment rate: 18.7% (2002 est.)

• Population below poverty line: 40% (2004 est.)

• Industries: oil, cotton ginning, textiles, cement, edible oils, sugar, soap distilling, shoes, petroleum refining, pharmaceuticals, armaments

U.S.

• GDP (purchasing power parity): $12.31 trillion (2005 est.)

• GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 1% industry: 20.4% services: 78.7% (2005 est.)

• Unemployment rate: 5.1% (2005 est.)

• Population below poverty line: 12% (2004 est.)

• Industries: leading industrial power in the world, highly diversified and technologically advanced; petroleum, steel, motor vehicles, aerospace, telecommunications

By comparing the Sudan with the U.S, you can more easily compare and see how economic instability exists in the

region .

Overview of Economic Situation

• From 1997 to date, Sudan has been implementing IMF macroeconomic reforms. In

1999, Sudan began exporting crude oil Increased oil production, Agricultural production

remains Sudan's most important sector, employing 80% of the work force, contributing

39% of GDP.

• Most farms remain rain-fed and susceptible to drought. Chronic instability.

Droughts and Instability Lead to Death

When drought occurs in such arid areas, the living conditions of local people

become very poor.

People compete for the meager available resources. There is a history of communities fighting for scarce resources in all parts of Africa,

especially in the Sudan.

Droughts and Death

• After long periods of poverty, trust in the elders and old systems to provide resources begins to fail. The fight to take the resources from those

who have it becomes an intrinsic value. In regions like the Sudan those lucky enough to have resources develop a complex that they

have a “right to the resources.”

• These competing attitudes often erupt in violence.

Health in Darfur

• According to WHO (World Health Organization) 10,000 Sudanese refugees die by disease per month

• The main causes of death are complications arising from malnutrition, dehydration, malaria and acute

respiratory infections.

• Due to poor sanitation, overcrowding and inadequate shelter people in these refugee camps

are more susceptible to disease: Hepatitis E., measles, cholera and malaria.

Complications in delivering humanitarian relief

include the lack of local health authorities,

insufficient funding and the inaccessibility of

large parts of the region.

•Outside the camps, where

people were hiding in riverbeds and

bush, the spread of polio is a major

concern.

War and displacement

have disturbed the already

minimal access to clean water

and food.

•Sudan is an Authoritarian Republic, all political power is in the hands of President Umar Hassan al-Bashir. Has controlled govt.

since military led coup in 1989.

•The country is currently in a transitional period following the signing of a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that officially ended the civil war between the Sudanese Government (based in

Khartoum) and the southern-based Sudan People’s Liberation Front (SPLM) rebel group.

•Government of National Unity (GNU), the National Congress Party (NCP) which is the new name for the National Islamic Front and SPLM formed a power-sharing government under the 2005 CPA. NCP, which came to power by military coup in 1989, is the

majority partner.

•NCP is essentially unchanged since it seized power from a democratically elected government in a 1989 military coup,

deliberately aborting Sudan’s most promising peace process since independence in 1956.

The Sudanese government, while publicly denying that it supports the Janjaweed (loosely organized Arab militia force, primarily on horse and camel),

has provided arms and assistance and has participated in joint attacks with the group, targeting

the Fur, Zaghawa, and Massaleit ethnic groups in

Darfur.

Human Rights Watch obtained in July 2004 confidential Sudanese government documents that directly implicate high-ranking government officials

in a policy of support for the Janjaweed.

• "It’s absurd to distinguish between the Sudanese government forces and the militias-they are one.

These documents show that militia activity has not just been condoned, it’s been specifically

supported by Sudan government officials."

-Peter Takirambudde, executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Africa Division.

•Genocide in Darfur is not the genocidal campaign of a government at the height of its ideological hubris. It is genocide by

force of habit. As part of a ghastly jihad, the NIF conducted relentless military assaults on civilians and enforced a

humanitarian aid embargo that lasted more than a decade.

•The result of these policies was that between 1989 and 2002 many hundreds of thousands of Sudanese were either killed or

displaced. In the Nuba Mountains and the oil regions of southern Sudan, as in Darfur, the NIF regime settled upon a deliberate

policy of human destruction, targeting ethnically African populations that had rebelled against, or were victims of, decades

of political and economic marginalization.

•Darfur is an extension of the NIF’s actions that have been taking place for the past decade. The new Sudanese government is not different than the previous one because the same people are in

place.

As of now, there is not a set plan because of Sudan’s reservations of

allowing foreign aid into the country. Optimistically looking to have the 3

phase plan set by the end of a year that includes moving wealth and power

away from the Janjaweed supporting government. This agreement means very little on paper. Although it is the UN’s attempt to seem like they are

actively doing something, the influx of money and power into the wrong area

will be more damaging than good. It has to be controlled.

Recent Developments

Nov. 16, 2006, Ethiopia: An agreement was reached that will bring UN aid to the African Union. The UN is giving soldiers, and assistance to the African Union force in terms of

money and training. Kofi Annan has ‘promised’ 17000

soldiers and 3000 cops in addition to the force of 7000 there now.

Janjaweed – the pro Sudanese government rebel forces have enacted more attacks on Darfurian villages. Sudanese government troops forced children into a hut, set it on fire and killed parents that tried to save them. This is proof of a GENOCIDE. The attackers are trying to stop the growth of a population = proof of a genocide as it is defined.

Doctors without Borders have increased capabilities to bring more assistance to victims of violence. Sudan goes to great lengths to

keep out media and humanitarian efforts.

The international community has increased their efforts because of similar ethnic violence in neighboring Chad There is a fear of domino effect.

When there has been civil war and conflicts in the many bordering countries, it has an even greater detrimental effect on the conflict in Darfur.

Picture of refugees of the Kalma camp in South Darfur in 2005.

Works CitedBureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, and the Bureau of Intelligence and Research.(2004). Documenting atrocities in Darfur. In Samuel Totten & Eric Markhausen

(Eds.), Genocide in Darfur: Investigating the Atrocities in the Sudan (pp. 199-222). New York: Routledge.

Powell, Colin L.(2004). The Crisis in Darfur. In Samuel. Totten & Eric Markhausen (Eds.), Genocide in Darfur: Investigating

the Atrocities in the Sudan (pp. 259-267). New York: Routledge.

Prunier, Gerard. (2005). Darfur: The Ambiguous Genocide. London: Cornell University Press.

January, Brendan. (2006). Genocide: Modern Crimes Against Humanity. Minneapolis: Twenty-First Century Books.

Websites Consulted

www.cia.gov

http://www.darfurgenocide.org/darfur.php

Library of Congress Country Profile of Sudan

www.thejoshuaproject.com

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6161692.stm

www.ethnolgue.com

Fact Sheet on Darfur from UnderstandingSudan.org

http://www.nytimes.com/cfr/world/slot3_20061026.html?pagewanted=print

http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/genocide/gendef.htm