| Connecticut Coalition to Save Darfur |
Talking Points
The Connecticut Coalition to Save Darfur will provide talking points on a regular basis and maintain an archive or past talking points. A list of talking points which have been archived appears at the end of the current set of talking points.
Talking Points
Genocide in Sudan
Sudan is Africa's largest country, located just south of Egypt on the eastern edge of the Sahara desert. The Darfur region is a drought-prone area of western Sudan. Darfur is roughly the size of Texas and had a collective population of approximately 6 million people before the crisis in Darfur began in 2003. Darfurians exist largely on subsistence farming or nomadic herding. Most villages are multi-ethnic and, despite ethnic differences, there is a history of peaceful coexistence. Local languages include Arabic, Fur and Massalit.
The conflict in Darfur began in the spring of 2003 when two Darfuri rebel movements - the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) - launched attacks against government military installations as part of a campaign to fight against the historic political and economic marginalization of Darfur. The Sudanese government, at the time engaged in tense negotiations with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) to end a three decades long civil war between North and South Sudan, responded swiftly and viciously to extinguish the insurgency. Through coordinated military raids with government-armed militia (collectively known as the janjaweed), the Sudanese military specifically targeted ethnic groups from which the rebels received much of their support. The civilian casualties were immense. It has been estimated that 90% of the villages in Darfur were destroyed and millions of civilians were displaced.
An immense humanitarian crisis resulted from the mass displacement of these civilians. From direct attacks and the deterioration of living conditions, many experts estimate that as many as 300,000 people lost their lives between 2003 and 2005. In September 2004, President George W. Bush declared the crisis in Darfur"genocide" - the first time a sitting American president had made such a declaration regarding an ongoing conflict. Despite the world's growing outcry, the violence continued in Darfur.
The United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur (UNAMID) remains without the necessary resources to protect the 2.7 million internally displaced persons who live in large camps across Darfur. There are also around 300,000 Darfuri refugees living across the Sudanese border in neighboring Chad. Overall, the UN estimates that roughly 4.7 million people in Darfur (out of a total population of roughly 6 million) are still affected by the conflict. The population of Connecticut is about 3.5 million. Although violence has decreased considerably, the displaced people continue to live in very vulnerable situations at the mercy of the Sudanese army and janjaweed, relying on international food aid to survive.
Today, the biggest danger in Sudan is the resumption of the North-South Civil War that ended in 2005 with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). The government in Khartoum has not implemented the CPA in good faith and has continued to repress opposition parties, often brutally. South Sudan presently has a semi-autonomous government, and the people of South Sudan will vote in January 2011 on separating from the North and forming a completely independent country. Most experts believe that South Sudan will vote to secede and few believe the transition will be peaceful. A return to all-out war between the North and South in Sudan would lead to many civilian deaths, and the displaced people in Darfur would be cut off from humanitarian aid. Millions of lives are at risk.
The US can help ensure a peaceful and just future for Sudan, but it has to act assertively. The US must continue engage with the governments of South and North Sudan and push assertively for a peaceful and credible referendum in January 2011. In Darfur, more than 2.5 million people remain in camps for internally displaced persons because of the Genocide and depend upon humanitarian aid for their survival, as they are unable to work and live outside the camps because of the lack of safety and mass destruction of their villages. The US has appointed a high-level diplomat to focus on referendum and North-South issues, but Darfur to the West still lacks, but desperately needs, a high-level US diplomat to keep the world's focus on peace and justice there.
