Darfur: Blueprint for Genocide - Archipielago Libertad

Humanitarian aid was denied. Government reactions to
outbreaks of disease were to herd the displaced Dinka
closer together, and medical attention was denied.
Children were kidnapped and herded into camps where
they were forcibly Islamized. This a clear example of the
forcible transfer of children from one group to another – an
action prohibited in Article 2e of the Genocide
Convention. 11
Jihad was also declared specifically against the Nuba in
Kordofan in 1992, three months after the jihad on the
South. Approx imately 50% of Nuba w ere Muslim, a large
proportion of the population relative to other populations in
the South. The jihad was aimed as much against the
Muslim population as it w as against the Christian and
animist Nuba. It is evident that racism motivates these
atrocities as much, if not more, than religion even though
religious language was used to ‘justify ’ these atrocities.
Nuba villages were terrorised and destroyed by the PDF
and Arab militias leading to resettlement of 170,000 and
the deaths of an estimated 100,000. 12 Like the Dinka, the
Nuba were rounded up into ‘Peace Camps’ where they
were confined for Islamization. The ‘Peace Camps’ were
set up in hostile environments where the means for
survival were minimal. The land from which the Nuba were
removed was sold to supporters of the regime. 13
There are many similarities between the methods used
against the Nuba in 1992 and the methods being used in
Darfur now. The specific targeting of the male population,
the raping of women and the stated intention of the
Sudanese Government to create safe areas into w hich to
put the internally displaced are all taking place in Darfur
and reflect thecrimes towhich theNubaweresubjected.
2.3 A comment on ethnicity: Arabs
and Africans?
Some scholars understandably object to simple
descriptions of ethnic relationships in Western Sudan
being portray ed as Arabs against African Sudanese or
non-Arabs. The authors are aware that ethnic history and
relationships are often more complex. In times of peace,
in particular, there is fluidity of ethnic identity including
intermarriage between groups and tribes.
11 Fein, H (2002). Genocide by Attrition in Sudan, Crimes of War
Project, http://www.crimesofwar.org/sudan-mag/sudan-fein.html,
[Accessed 12 November 2004].
12 Collins, R.(2004) The Sudan
http://www.gale.com/enewsletters/history/2004_08/sudan.htm
[Accessed 12 November 2004].
13 Johnson, D. (2003). The Root Causes of Sudan’s Civil Wars,
International African Institute, London, p. 133.
Section 2: Darfur and the Ideology of Sudan
Many Sudanese argue that most ‘Arab’ Sudanese are
black and African in origin anyway. Over the centuries
tribes assumed an Arab identity – the w hole family
speaking Arabic as a first language, not just the educated
men. Being ‘Arab’ differentiated them from people
regarded as slaves. While it may not always have been
the prime reason for assuming an Arab identity, it would
hav e afforded protection from being taken into slavery
themselves or from being massacred. Today hav ing an
Arab identity disassociates a family from the stigma of
being descended from slaves. This is ex emplified in parts
of Old Khartoum where it is currently unacceptable for
intermarriage betw een so-called Arabs and so-called
Africans. This is much more to do w ith culture and
language thanskin colour.
When a group is threatened, how they perceive their
identity , or indeed how sociologists or anthropologists view
it, becomes immaterial. What matters is how a dominant
or threatening group perceives them.
‘Arab’ or ‘Black African’? As a new arrival at Breidjing
refugee camp, eastern Chad, this man’s identity has already
been determined for him by the Janjaweed and Sudanese
security forces.
An ex ample from the past: German Jews had assimilated
and intermarried for several generations by the 1930s.
Many perceived themselves as ‘more German than the
Germans’. The Nazis did not describe them that way. It
was the perpetrators’ definition that became significant.
So it was for millions of others in Europe. They defined
themselves in one way, possibly in a complex way, or in
no w ay at all because it just w as not v ery important to
them. But w hen the chips w ere down, it w as the
perpetrators’ perspective that counted. Even Catholic
nuns were deported to Auschw itz and gassed when they
were found to have a Jewish parent or grandparent.
To the perpetrators of genocide, identity is very important.
They simplify it, augment it and create an ‘enemy ’. The
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