What happened?
In early 2003 the Government of Sudan gave free reign to the Janjaweed militias to operate freely in Darfur. Janjaweed - a state sponsored group primarily comprised of ethnic Arabs - waged a campaign to subdue the Sudanese Liberation Movement [SLM] and the Justice Equality Movement [JEM] -primarily comprised of the Fur, Zaghawa, and Masalit ethnic groups. These two groups complained of marginalisation at the hands of Omar al-Bashir and groups sponsored by his government.
SLM and JEM campaigned for developmental aid from the Government of Sudan because the Darfur region had been in neglect since British rule. Omar al-Bashir responded to the legitimate demands of the SLM and JEM with violence and war crimes. The Janjaweed would first carpet bomb (intense aerial bombardment) villages, and then send in troops to clear the areas of any survivors.
The Janjaweed engaged in indiscriminate killing of unarmed civilians. They polluted fresh water sources (resulting in further death), salted farmland (even more death), and uprooted entire families (resulting in enormous numbers of Darfurian refugees in surrounding countries). According to the ICC, they committed genocide.
The Government of Sudan did engage in peace talks, however the resolutions produced from these talks were not enforced with the will to end the conflict. While the violence has subsided, the region still lies in turmoil to this day.
SLM and JEM campaigned for developmental aid from the Government of Sudan because the Darfur region had been in neglect since British rule. Omar al-Bashir responded to the legitimate demands of the SLM and JEM with violence and war crimes. The Janjaweed would first carpet bomb (intense aerial bombardment) villages, and then send in troops to clear the areas of any survivors.
The Janjaweed engaged in indiscriminate killing of unarmed civilians. They polluted fresh water sources (resulting in further death), salted farmland (even more death), and uprooted entire families (resulting in enormous numbers of Darfurian refugees in surrounding countries). According to the ICC, they committed genocide.
The Government of Sudan did engage in peace talks, however the resolutions produced from these talks were not enforced with the will to end the conflict. While the violence has subsided, the region still lies in turmoil to this day.