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
-
Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center - www.wsherc.org/highlight/Darfur_Education.asp
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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.
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United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - www.ushmm.org/conscience/alert/darfur
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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.
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United Nations Children Fund - www.unicefusa.org/darfur
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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.
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CIA Fact book - www.cia.gov/cia/publications/fact book/geos/su.html
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General information relating to Sudan.
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BBC News In Depth - Sudan: A Nation Divided
-
Backround information, news, analysis, special features and related links.
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PBS Online NewsHour - Crisis in Sudan - http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/africa/darfur/index.html
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Contains news, analysis, background information, related links and video clips.
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Human Rights Watch Q & A: Crisis in Darfur - http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/05/05/darfur8536.htm
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Contains general background information and related links.
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Darfur: A Genocide We Can Stop - http://www.darfurgenocide.org/learn.php#start
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Contains photographs, stories, songs, news articles, analysis and information about the situation in Darfur.
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Facing History and Ourselves - www.facinghistory.org/darfur
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Contains resources and general background information along with providing ways people can become involved in the situation in Sudan.
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"Documenting Atrocities in Darfur" - http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/36028.htm
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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.
-
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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.
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ENOUGH: The Project to Abolish Genocide and Mass Atrocities - www.enoughproject.org
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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)
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Genocide Intervention Network - www.genocideintervention.net
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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.
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USHMM + Google Earth, "Crisis in Darfur" - www.ushmm.org/googleearth
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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.
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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.
-
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.
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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.
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For a review of this book, please click here.
Meyer, G. & Nicholls, J. (2005). War and Faith in Sudan. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co.
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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.
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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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