A campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide has been reported from Sudan. In acts all too reminiscent of the horrors committed in Rwanda a decade ago, the government of Sudan has condoned, if not abetted, crimes against humanity committed against its own citizens. And once again the world is standing by. Despite warnings by human rights groups and a damning report by one of its own teams, the United Nations Security Council has refused to act.
The violence in Sudan began a year ago, when two rebel groups in Darfur -- the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) -- attacked government military installations. The rebels were protesting raids by local militias, or the Janiaweed ("men on horseback"), who were suspected of acting on behalf of the government. The Sudanese government responded with a "scorched earth" campaign, and stepped up support for the Janiaweed.
It is estimated that more than 1 million Sudanese have been forced from their homes in the Darfur region. More than 120,000 are said to have crossed the border into neighboring Chad; the rest are internal refugees. They come from the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups, members of the region's ethnic majority. They are Black Muslim peasants. The Janiaweed are Arab nomads. That difference is reported to be the reason for the Khartoum government's support of the militias.