Northwest Center for Holocaust, Genocide and Ethnocide Education

Genocide: Darfur, Sudan

Genocide in Darfur (Sudan)
An Annotated Bibliography Compiled by Joseph Wooding and James Lehman

Historical Overview 

Since its independence from British imperialism in 1956, Sudan has been plagued by chronic civil war between the Arab-dominated government and the primarily non-Arab population located in southern Sudan.   Darfur, an ethnically diverse province located in the western region of Sudan, has become a critical site in Sudan’s civil war.  Throughout much of Darfur’s history, considerable tension has existed amongst its various Arab and non-Arab populations.  Recent competition over access to land and water has aggravated the strife between Arabs, who are primarily nomadic herdsmen, and non-Arab farmers. 

In February 2003, two rebel groups – the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM) – struck out against the government, accusing it of oppressing non-Arabs in favor of Arabs.  The government responded by arming an Arab militia, the Janjaweed, to wage an assault against the JEM and SLM rebels.  Although both sides have been accused of committing human rights violations, the better armed and government backed Janjaweed have engaged in a large scale campaign of ethnic cleansing that includes the destruction of hundreds of villages, the murder of thousands of people and the rape of thousands of women and girls.  

Since 2003, over 2 million people have been displaced by the conflict.  Some refugees have fled to camps in neighboring Chad, but the vast majority live in camps in Darfur, which are vulnerable to attacks by the Janjaweed militias.  Despite international attention, the Sudanese government has resisted U.N. appeals for intervention.  Instead, it continues to support the Janjaweed’s systematic assaults against non-Arab Darfurians. 

 

Bibliography

Websites

• BBC News In Depth - Sudan: A Nation Divided

  • Backround information, news, analysis, special features and related links.
     

• CIA Fact book - www.cia.gov/cia/publications/fact book/geos/su.html 

  • General information relating to Sudan.
    

• Darfur: A Genocide We Can Stop - http://www.darfurgenocide.org/learn.php#start

  • Contains photographs, stories, songs, news articles, analysis and information about the situation in Darfur.
     

• "Documenting Atrocities in Darfur" - http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/36028.htm 

  • This September 2004 State Department document is the result of interviews conducted by the U.S. government with over 1,000 Sudanese refugees in Chad.

• Eric Reeves - www.sudanreeves.org  

  • Eric Reeves has spent the past eight years working full-time as a Sudan researcher and analyst, publishing extensively both in the US and internationally. He has testified several times before the Congress, has lectured widely in academic settings, and has served as a consultant to a number of human rights and humanitarian organizations operating in Sudan.

• ENOUGH: The Project to Abolish Genocide and Mass Atrocities - www.enoughproject.org

  • The mission of ENOUGH is, "To, stop and prevent genocide and mass atrocities by promoting Peace, providing Protection, and Punishing the perpetrators. We use field and policy analysis and strong policy advocacy to empower a growing activist movement for change." (www.enoughproject.org)
    

•  Facing History and Ourselves - www.facinghistory.org/darfur  

  • Contains resources and general background information along with providing ways people can become involved in the situation in Sudan.   
    

• Genocide Intervention Network - www.genocideintervention.net

  • This website has three main focuses related to genocide: education, advocacy, and fundraising.  While the site is about genocide in general, there is a current focus on Darfur.  This is a great resource for suggestions on what can be done to help end the genocide in Darfur.

• Genocide Prevention Task Force (the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)

  • Learn about the Task Force and then consider these opportunities to take action yourself!

• Human Rights Watch Q & A: Crisis in Darfur - http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/05/05/darfur8536.htm

  • Contains general background information and related links.
    

• PBS Online NewsHour - Crisis in Sudan -  http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/africa/darfur/index.html
  

  • Contains news, analysis, background information, related links and video clips.
    

• Save Darfur - www.savedarfur.org
  
• Visit this site to send a postcard to the President asking him to take action in stopping genocide in Darfur.  This site also contains other ways in which you can assist and take action in stopping genocide. 
  
• Save Darfur Washington State - www.savedarfurwa.org
  
• A Washington State non-profit organization with the purpose of finding an end to genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. 
  
• STAND - The Student-led Division of Genocide Intervention - www.standnow.org
  
  • An organization that offers information on Sudan and also ways individuals and groups of students can get involved and take action.
    

• United Nations Children Fund - www.unicefusa.org/darfur
  

  • Contains information on the crisis in Darfur by paying particular attention to the children of the area.  The site also contains video clips and related links. 
    

• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - www.ushmm.org/conscience/alert/darfur 

  • Provides information and updates and also a link to all of the news stories around the country that relate to Sudan, which is updated regularly.  The site also provides information on what people can do about the crisis. 
    

• United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide - http://www.preventgenocide.org/law/convention/text.htm

  • Confirmation that genocide is a crime under international law. Includes the United Nation's definition of genocide and policies for UN action in its occurrence.
    

• USHMM + Google Earth, "Crisis in Darfur" - www.ushmm.org/googleearth

  • The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has joined with Google in an unprecedented online mapping initiative. Crisis in Darfur enables more than 200 million Google Earth users worldwide to visualize and better understand the genocide currently unfolding in Darfur, Sudan.

• Voices on Genocide Prevention (the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)

  • "A bi-weekly audio series and podcast service, hosted by Committee on Conscience Project Director Bridget Conley-Zilkic, that brings you the voices of human rights defenders, experts, advocates, and government officials. Vital voices addressing one of humanity's most vital issues. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not necessarily represent those of the Museum."

• Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center -  www.wsherc.org/highlight/Darfur_Education.asp

  • Contains links for updates and information on the crisis in Darfur.  Provides access to a well-written Sudan curriculum and also several pdf files that provide updates on the conflict and also book reviews on the current literature regarding Sudan. 
    

• World is Witness (the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)

  • "World is Witness, a new 'geoblog' from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's Genocide Prevention Mapping Initiatives, in partnership with Google Earth, documents and maps genocide and related crimes against humanity. The initial entries are from a Museum visit to Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to learn about the legacies of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, and the most recent entries are from a Museum visit to South Sudan and a return visit to the Congo. Visit us again soon for more posts from the field."

Lesson Plans

Anti-Defamation League
Genocide in Darfur: Is the World Doing Enough?

• This lesson is part of The Promise of Never Again series of lessons that examine efforts to prevent genocide in the Post-Holocaust era.

National Geographic
What’s Happening in Darfur?

• This lesson is designed for middle school students and offers students both background and recent information (as of August 2004) about the current conflict between the people of Darfur and the Janjaweed militia, its historical and religious roots, its impact on neighboring countries, and the international response. 

Darfur and the Janjaweed

• This lesson is designed for high school students and offers students both background and recent information (as of August 2004) about the current conflict between the people of Darfur and the Janjaweed militia, its historical and religious roots, its impact on neighboring countries, and the international response.

PBS
Crisis in Sudan: Responding to Medical Emergencies

• This lesson addresses the health concerns that pertain to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.

Sudan -- Efforts to Avert Genocide in the Making

• This lesson explores the legal implications of using the term "genocide" and the role of human rights organizations in calling attention to human rights abuses.

United Nations
Sudan Lesson Plans

• The UN offers 4 lesson plans that introduce students to the crisis in Darfur, the role of the UN, NGOs providing aid and how students can get involved to support aid to Darfur.

American University Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
The Genocide Teaching Project
Crisis in Darfur: Is Genocide Happening

• This 45 minute lesson plan for grades 10-12 has students explain what genocide is, identify examples of genocide from the 20th century, explain key events in Sudan's history, and think critically about the U.S. role in preventing genocide.
  

Books

de Waal, A. (2005). Famine that kills : Darfur, Sudan. New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press

Flint, J. & Waal, A.  (2006).  Darfur: A short history of a long war.  New York: Zed Books.

• This book describes the history of Darfur, its conflicts and the designs on the regions by the government.  It investigates the Janjaweed militia and the nature of the insurrections.  Furthermore, the book describes the current crises and the international response and concludes by asking what the future holds for Sudan and more specifically, Darfur.     

Marlowe, J. with Bain, A. and Shapiro, A. (2006). Darfur diaries: stories of survival. New York: Nation Books.

• For a review of this book, please click here.

Meyer, G. & Nicholls, J.  (2005).  War and Faith in Sudan.  Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co. 

• Provides a stirring account of the Civil War in Sudan from the account of the mountainous Nuba people of Central Sudan.  Ms. Meyer provides a first hand account on the human consequences of the Civil War.  The book also contains 44 photographs that put a human face on the tragedy in Sudan.  

Prunier, G. (2005). Darfur: the ambiguous genocide. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press

Steidle, B. and Steidle-Wallace, G. (2007). The devil came on horseback: bearing witness to the genocide in Darfur. New York: PublicAffairs.

• In this book, Steidle, a former US Marine, relays the horrors he witnessed while serving as an unarmed American military observer for the African Union's cease-fire coalition in Darfur, Sudan.  The strength of this book lies not in the historical or political analysis of the conflict, but rather in the honest, detailed recollections of what Steidle saw in Darfur.

Films

Bain, A., Marlowe, J. & Shapiro, A. (2006). Darfur diaries.
http://www.darfurfilm.org/index.html

Journals

Hagan, J., Rymond-Richmond, W. & Parker, P. (2005). The criminology of genocide: the death and rape of darfur. Criminology, 43(3), pg. 525, 37pgs.

Stompor, J. (2006). The Darfur dilemma: U.S. policy toward the ICC. Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, 47(1), pg. 111, 9pgs.

 

 

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