WAR IN DARFUR

CONTENT
 Geography
 Historical background
 Causes of the conflict
 Key players
 Start of the conflict
 Humanitarian impact
 ICC involvment
 Omar Al-Bashir
GEOGRAPHY
 ±10,000,000 people
 Size of spain
 Known for arid climate
 Populated by various peoples
 Nomads (arabs)
 Farmers (non-arabs)
 Muslims

 Drought, desertification and competition for resources cause

tensions
 Throughout history sporadic conflicts about water, land and
grazing rights where common
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
 Pre-colonial period
 Nomadic and sedentary groups coexisted, sharing resources

 Colonial era
 Darfur became part of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan in early 20th century
 British and Egyptian colonial powers favored certain groups, creating disparities

 Post-independence
 Indpendance in 1956
 Central government control from Khartoum marginalizing outlying regions (like Darfur)
CAUSES OF THE CONFLICT
 Socio-economic factors
 Historical neglect by the central government
 Economically disadvantaged
 Unequal resource distributions
 2% oil promise

 Competition for resources (land, water and oil)

 Government policies
 Favoring arab groups

 Political instability
 Weak governance, coups since it’s independence
 No representation for outlying regions
KEY PLAYERS
 Government of Sudan
 Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF)
 Janjaweed/Rapid Support Forces (RSF)
 President Omar al-Bashir (1993-2019)

 Rebel groups
 Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM)
 Justice and Equality Movement (JEM)

 International Community
 African Union
 Peacekeeping mission
 United Nations
 Diplomatic efforts and peacekeeping mission
START OF THE CONFLICT
 5:30 am 25 April 2003
 SLM and JEM entered Al-Fashir and attacked sleeping
soldiers
 Then counterattack started by Janjaweed and SAF resulting
in atrocities
HUMANITARIAN IMPACT
 Estimated 300,000 dead
 Millions fled their homes
 Major Human Rights violations by SAF and RSF
 Mass killings
 Ethnical cleansing
 Sexual violence
 Genocide
 …
ICC INVOLVMENT
 Sudan was not a state party to rome statue
 But UNSC referred to ICC on 31 march 2005
 First time referral to ICC by UNSC
 First time investigation on territory of non-state party.
 First time ICC investigation dealing with allegations of genocide
 First time sitting president is wanted by ICC

 Jurisdiction over crimes in Darfur from 1 July 2002

 31 cases
OMAR AL-BASHIR
 Former president of Sudan since 1993
 Coup
 Coup-proofing
 SAF
 Janjaweed/RSF (Hemeti)

 Protest in 2019
 Hemeti and Burhan removed Al-Bashir
IMMUNITY
 Al-Bashir enjoyed immunity during his rule
 International custom
 No exceptions, because non-state party
IMMUNITY
 What to do with non-party states?
 Pre-trial chambers: customary international law now includes an exception to immunity of heads of
state when they face prosecution for international crimes in front of international courts.
 Jordan Appeal
 International courts have a fundamentally different nature as opposed to domestic courts.
OMAR AL-BASHIR
 Prosecuter of ICC accused him on 14 july 2008 of:
 3 counts of genocide
 Killing
 Causing serious bodily or mental harm
 Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring abouts its physical destruction in whole
or in part
 5 counts of crimes against humanity
 Murder
 Extermination
 Forcible transfer of a population
 Torture
 rape
 2 counts war crimes
 Attack against a civilian population
 pillaging
OMAR AL-BASHIR
 Arrest warrant issued on 4 march 2009 by pre-trial chamber
 5 counts of crimes against humanity
 2 counts of war crimes
 Insufficient evidence for genocide (but dissenting opinion)
 Still not convicted
OMAR AL-BASHIR
 Arab League and African Union condemned the warrant
 Al-Bashir visited: China, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE,
Kenya, South Africa, …
 South Africa and Kenya had discussions on it
 Kenya
 Judge said next time he is in Kenya
 South Africa
 Judge decided he could leave

 Received support from locals

 Sudan said not to carry it out
OMAR AL-BASHIR
 New arrest warrant on 12 July 2010 including genocide charges
 ICC under fire
 Called racist by different African Union countries
 Fails to file charges against wester leaders or allies (Iraq,
Afghanistan and Palestine)
 Still not prosecuted
 Where is he now?
 Kobar Prison
 Corruption charges (130 million found in his home)
 Promises by government that they will hand him over
THANK YOU
FOR YOUR
ATTENTION