Darfur: Rebel Negotiations (June 15, 2006)

The conflict in Sudan's large arid western region of Darfur began at the beginning of 2003. Just as one of Africa's longest standing civil wars reached a mediated settlement in the south, rebel movements grew out of the grievances of African tribes in the west. In the summer of 2004 Colin Powell and the US Congress both labeled the government's retaliation as "genocide," but the United Nations has not. By early 2006 estimates for the number of deaths are above 400,000 and there is a large number of refugees.

Much of what has been written lately about Darfur has dealt with the role of the two rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), and their intransigence in negotiations to end the conflict. This has stirred up quite a bit of controversy, and since it will likely be a large part of this week's IIF discussion on Darfur, Charles Hubert shared the following additional information about this aspect of the situation:

To begin with, here is an item about the two rebel groups from BBC News:
Who Are Sudan's Darfur Rebels?

Here are two somewhat controversial articles that appeared in the Guardian of London in early May when negotiations were coming to an end:
Careless talk costs lives
One-sided reporting that is delaying an end to the killing

The controversy accelerated with the publication of this article by Alan Kuperman in The New York Times:
Strategic Victimhood in Sudan

Nicholas Kristof, the columnist for The New York Times who has written frequently about Darfur, was quick to respond on his blog:
Kristof Responds

This response came from the blog A Newer World:
Spinning Darfur

And these two from the Coalition for Darfur blog:
Darfur: Theory vs. Reality
Darfur: Who Started It?

And this article was published in the Sudan Tribune:
Strategic Victimhood in Sudan - A Response

From The New York Review of Books, here is a review, written by Nicholas Kristof, of two recent books on Sudan, Darfur: A Short History of a Long War, and Darfur: The Ambiguous Genocide:
Genocide in Slow Motion

Finally, no discussion of this type would be complete without some reference to this thought-provoking article by Edward N. Luttwak that originally appeared in Foreign Affairs seven years ago:
Give War a Chance


Since this topic has come up frequently, below is an archive of articles and other content throughout the tenure of the crisis.
Key Articles
A Darfur "Crash-Course", this was compiled from a series of blogs by the most prolific writer on this conflict Eric Reeves, The New Republic, 7/18/05
Dying in Darfur, by Samantha Power, The New Yorker, 8/30/04
Articles etc
Darfur's despair, The Economist, 10/13/05
U.S. Blocks U.N. Briefing on Atrocities in Sudan, Reuters, 10/10/05
Activists Call for More Help in Violent Darfur, NPR, 10/7/05
Crisis in Sudan, audio, interviews of Sudan's Ambassador to the US and a State Department official, PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, 10/5/05
Genocide, One Year On, The Washington Post, 9/14/05
U.S. Support for U.N. Genocide Measure Urged, NPR, 8/25/05
An Argument Against NATO Entering Darfur, NPR, 8/23/05
Wesley Clark: NATO Forces Needed in Darfur, NPR, 8/22/05
The death of southern Sudan's leader, John Garang, The Economist, 8/4/05
American Foreign Policy and Amnesia: The Case of Iraq, 1hr audio, Samantha Power's talk at the University of Chicago, 5/13/04
Do Something...But What?, Mother Jones, 5/4/05
Darfur's Real Death Toll, Editorial, Washington Post, 4/24/05
Lengthening the arm of global law, The Economist, 4/7/05
Remember Rwanda, but Take Action in Sudan, by Samantha Power, New York Times, 4/6/05
Mild rebukes for Darfur's killers, The Economist, 3/31/05
Justice in Darfur, The Economist, 2/3/05
Darfur Report, audio/video/text, PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,2/2/05
Report of the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, 1/25/05
Killing Conflict, audio/video/text, PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,1/14/05
Sudan: A Nation on the Brink , transcript, Great Decisions 2005 TV
Darfur Will Not Be Saved By Words Alone, John Prendergast's commentary, Wall Street Journal Europe, 8/30/04
The Darfur Conflict, Economist, 8/30/04
Dying in Darfur, audio/video/text, PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,8/26/04
Darfur Deadline: A New International Action Plan, International Crisis Group, 8/23/04
It's Happening Again, by Senators John McCain and Mike DeWine, Washington Post, 6/23/04
Refugee Crisis, audio/video/text, PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,5/13/04
Crisis in Sudan, audio/video/text, PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,6/24/04
Magboula's Brush With Genocide, by Nicholas Kristof , New York Times, 6/23/04
As Genocide Unfolds, Editorial, Washington Post, 6/20/04
Sudan's Final Solution, by Nicholas Kristof, New York Times, 6/19/04
Dare We Call It Genocide?, Op-ed by Nicholas Kristof, New York Times, 6/16/04
White House reconsiders its policy on crisis in Sudan, New York Times, 6/12/04
Peace and spreading war in Sudan, Economist, 5/27/04
War and Peace in Sudan, Economist, 5/27/04
Sudan: Now or Never in Darfur, International Crisis Group, 5/23/04
Refugee Crisis in Sudan, text/audio/video, NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, 5/13/04
Fleeing the horsemen who kill for Khartoum, Economist, 5/13/04
End the latest war in Sudan, Economist, 5/13/04
The crisis in Sudan's Darfur region, Economist, 5/7/04
Sudan: Darfur Destroyed, Human Rights Watch, 5/04
'Hotel Rwanda' Forces a Look At Mass Murder, Wall Street Journal, 02-25-05
10,000 Peacekeepers Sought by U.S. for Southern Sudan, New York Times, 2/15/05
Playing Politics With Genocide, Wall Street Journal, 02-03-05
Sudan Bait and Switch, Wall Street Journal, 02-03-05
Both Sides of Conflict in Darfur Dispute Findings in U.N. Report, New York Times, 2/2/05
U.N. Finds Crimes, Not Genocide in Darfur, New York Times, 2/1/05
U.N. Panel Urges Prosecution Of Sudan in ICC, Wall Street Journal, 02-01-05
U.S. Floats Plan for Its Own Tribunal to Address Sudan Violence, Wall Street Journal, 01-28-04
Washington's Darfur Dilemma, Wall Street Journal, 01-17-04
Hold the Praise for Sudan, Wall Street Journal, 01-11-04
Sudan's Two Wars, Economist, 2/8/04
Conversations with History: A Problem From Hell , 1hr video interview at UC Berkeley featuring her Pulitzer Prize winning book "A Problem From Hell: America in the Age of Genocide", 4/29/02
Bystanders To Genocide, Famous article by Samantha Power about the Rwandan genocide, The Atlantic Monthly, 9/01
Reference Material
History, Government, Politics and Economy of Sudan, US State Department, 1/06
Sudan, Wikipedia
Darfur conflict, Wikipedia
Country Profile: Sudan, BBC
Web Sites
Human Rights Watch reports, videos, news releases
International Crisis Group, includes a brief overview and recent situation reports
Genocide Watch, kept up to date with good news stories and op/ed pieces about Darfur
UN Sudan Information Gateway
Passion of the Present, a blog
Sudan Research, Analysis, and Advocacy, web site of Eric Reeves

Dedicated Coverage
Yahoo! News - Full Coverage: Sudan
BBC In Depth: Sudan
The Guardian Special Report: Sudan
The Washington Post: Sudan
Sudan Backgrounder, Economist