The Cause

Omar al-Bashir, President of Sudan, has been indicted on
numerous counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes (B)

Many factors contributed to the escalation of the genocide in Darfur; some of the most prominent are racial discrimination and a poor political system. The Arab controlled government of The Sudan has been repeatedly accused of practicing segregation and discrimination for decades. The president, Omar al-Bashir, when questioned on the subject vehemently denied any practices resembling apartheid, stating “Talk of Arabs killing Blacks is a lie. The government of Sudan is a government of Blacks, with all different ethnic backgrounds. We’re all Africans. We’re all Black.” (Muhammad). Even following urgings from ex U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, the government has gone so far as to reject any international aid, including offered UN peacekeeping forces reportedly stating they “…would regard UN peacekeepers as ‘foreign invaders’.” (“U.S. sheds crocodile”). The president did nothing to help the situation and has been accused of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court as well as having an international warrant out for his arrest. Before the current administration, the government was fairly stable and making headway to finding peace between the north and the south, the regime was hailed as “Sudan’s most promising chance for peace since independence.” (Reeves). The current government of Sudan is officially a democracy with a parliament, executive branch, and judicial committee; however, in reality, that is not the case. After taking control of the government through military coup, Omar al-Bashir became an authoritarian leader. He almost immediately appointed himself to the positions of chief of state, prime minister, chief of the armed forces and minister of defense; effectively giving him supreme power over the country. All these factors made Sudan a ticking time bomb, ready to explode into war.




Mohammed Hamdan, commander
of the Janjaweed (Carter)