The Rwandan genocide of 1994 was a horrific event that ...
Jennefer Cardenas
Research Paper
Due Nov. 26, 2007
PS 203
Darfur
The Rwandan genocide of 1994 was a horrific event that astonished the world; yet again we are encountering a similar situation with Darfur. What is the reasoning behind the genocide of the Darfurians? In order to fully understand the situation one must change perspectives to try to view the different angles to this crisis, in order for this to take place one must try to understand its background and history first.
More than three centuries ago Darfur use to be a strong independent monarchy. Darfur is home to many ethnic and Arabs immigrants. The Darfurians live a lifestyle of nomadic pastrolist and agriculture. Up until the territory of Darfur got intergraded with the Republic of Sudan, the power shifted to a different group of people. The same people still hold power up to this day. With the shift of power the way people lived shifted also. The government of Sudan failed to support its economic growth, its lifestyle of agriculture and educational resources. With the tension of scarce resources tensions began between Arab tribes and non-Arab tribes, arising small wars between states or civil wars. Some Darfurian groups were used by the government as proxy militias against southern enemies. These groups hired by the government have been known as the Janjaweed. ( save Darfur)
The national government has had its share of involvement in the war. The government has directly supported various attacks done by the Janjaweed. The government has also increased arms and support to the Janjaweed. The Janjaweed has destroyed villages and harmed many people with the support coming directly from the government. They have attacked in many ways, through rape, torture, violence and through trickery. Planes have attacked disguised as planes from the United Nations tricking civilians into the trap. The national government is ran by the president Omar Hassan Al-Bashir since 1989. ( Save Darfur)
There has been some work done by the government to try to stop this madness but the peace attempts have failed. To this day nothing has been done to stop the genocide in Darfur. The peace attempt that failed was the Comprehensive Peace agreement in 2003 and the Darfur Peace agreement in 2006. The DPA took 20 hours of negotiation to come into play. The DPA is a weighty document is contains 87 pages of text and 19 pages of implemented annexes. (Waal, pg 2)
We have reviewed the history, the government and yet we have no answer to why this genocide is taking place. The answer lies between the levels of analysis. There are 4 levels of analysis: individual, domestic, international and global; in order to find our answer we must delineate each level. In the individual level the Sudanese want power, this is why the genocide occurred. The larger more powerful state wants to govern the smaller less powerful state. This level simply identifies the perceptions, choices, and actions of individual human beings or in this situation the Sudanese. They chose to take action and attack the Darfurians causing a drastic situation.
The Domestic level is more complicated but basically it is Sudan vs. Darfur. This event has occurred because two states are fighting each other for something they both believe they want. In this case Sudan wants more power while Darfur wants its freedom back. This level is the most complicated to me because the government is in Sudan, making the power disproportionate in Darfur. This can explain why so many people have been killed and harmed in Darfur, if the government is also involved. Darfur has no support from anyone, no one in power is on their side.
The international level is dealing with other states, in this case Sudan versus the developed states. I believe this event has occurred because Sudan is trying to be like the developed states. Developed states can do a lot of things because they are powerful. Sudan is trying to do this also but within its own boarders because in the world it is considered a very weak in economic ranking but within its own boarders it is very powerful.
The global level explains this situation as a global trend. There have been other situations that have ended up in genocide in the past that can explain why this is happening today in Africa. The crisis in Rwanda for example is a crisis that happened not so long ago. 800,000 people died in this disastrous event in history. This event only took 4 months for this to happen. The people that were mostly killed were a minority group from Tutsi. Chechnya is also a place that is in alert for genocide; there is much violence that is intended for Chechnya people. The genocide occurred because this is a trend that everyone is doing globally. So why is it not okay for Sudan to do an ethnic cleansing in Darfur if so many events have already taken place that are similar to this one? (International Crisis Group)
The level that best explains the situation in Darfur is the Domestic level. The problem being caused is being done between two different places in the same state (Sudan and Darfur). Sudan has the power and support from the government to overthrow Darfur and is going to do so if something is not done. The power difference in Sudan is superior to that in Darfur and there is evidence of this. The killings are just one evidence of this superiority. Another example that fits in this situation is that Sudan is more war prone than Darfur because it is more powerful. It all basically comes down to power, this event is taking place because one state is more powerful and it taking advantage. (Waal, pg 3)
The other levels do not satisfy this explanation because the individual level does not address the other side of the situation which is Darfur. It also does not involve the Sudanese government which is a main contributor to this situation. The individual level just addresses the fact that the Sudanese want power and that is only part of the situation.
The international level compared to the domestic level is not as accurate as it could be. What I’m trying to say is that that the international level alone would not be a good enough reason for this crisis to be taken place. I believe that the international level could be part of the reason why this is taking place but alone as a cause I do not believe it could happen. The more developed state like the United States could serve as leaders for this explanation to work but the United States has not been involved in a crisis where they are the main killers in a situation like this.
The global level of analysis does not support this explanation because this has been happening in other places but this should not be an excuse to kill people. Other states have had disagreements and had arguments and it has not been an option to go and try to kill everyone. Even though some places have had genocides this does not mean that this is the number one way to deal with situations and this should not even be an option.
The ethnic cleansing in Darfur has been happening since 2003 and more than 400,000 people have been victims to this horrific unpleasant incident. No body has been left alone, not women, not men, not children. This event has happened before in other places yet people think that this is the way to get what they want. The event that has taken place in Darfur has happened because two states cannot come to agreement and because of power differences. ( Holocaust Memorial Museum)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, “Chechnya overview and Darfur overview,” August, 2006 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Web site, Nov 2007
2. "International Crisis Group." Crisis in Darfur and Crisis in Rwanda. May 2007. Crisis Group. 20 Nov 2007 .
3. Waal, Alex . "Darfur: the inside Story ." 461April 2007 1-3. November 23 .
4. Save Darfur Coalition, “Learn” Save Darfur. Save Darfur Coalition. 26 November 2007 ................
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