Pictures Of Darfur

Darfur is a region in western Sudan that has been the site of several different conflicts since the end of colonial rule in 1956. Sudan is the largest country in Africa, and also the largest in the Arab world and tenth largest globally. Since it's independence was declared, there have only been about nine years of peace, and that is only official peace, with violence still running rampant in the region. This most recent conflict involves the Darfur region in the west of the country neighboring Chad. the conflict is believed to have turned genocidal, with racial lines being used for the massacre of a certain group in the population. The violence in the area has caused international outrage, but spawned little response. Their are currently millions displaced by the conflict, with many having fled their homes by force or by fear, leaving them to either head to the refugee camps set up in their own country or in neighboring African countries. The camps are not known for their safety, and in many cases are more dangerous than their lives they fled. Men constantly fear murder if they leave the camp, while women fear rape and murder should they wander too far.

These pictures show just how bad the Darfur conflict has become over the past years, and why there is a need for action against this senseless war.

	Darfur is the region shown on this map, which has been the epicenter of the most recent string of violence. It has been nearly impossible to calculate how many people have died as a result from this most recent conflict, mainly due to the lack of appropriate personnel in the area. While many human rights groups are present to help refugees, their numbers are few and they have been frequently thrown out of the country by President Umar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir.
al-Bashir was formally charged with war crimes, including genocide, by the International Criminal Courts for the five-year campaign in the Darfur region. He was formally charged in June of 2008, but has yet to formally be brought to justice.
	The conflict has been orchestrated by both the Sudanese government and Janjaweed rebels, a group of nomadic Afro-Arabs who currently roam the northern regions of Sudan. One of their techniques is the use scorched earth, which involved the burning of villages either while their inhabitants are still their or after they have been removed.
Many know several who have been killed by the violence, but violence hasn't been the only killer. Famine and disease have also played their parts in the total death count for the region. Darfur has been in need of more humanitarian aid for years, mainly due to the desertification of the country, which has made it almost impossible to grow crops in certain areas.
	Conflicts like this have been rampant in Africa since the end of colonialism in the 1900s. Colonialism essentially left each country with a vacancy of power, which was quickly seized by whoever could and maintain it. Some other countries that have had similar conflicts include Zanzibar, Burundi, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.
Even children have been recruited to the various armies in order to kill. Some children have taken up arms to protect themselves and their families, while other have been taken by the opposing army and trained as soldiers to kill their own people.
	Many of the dead in Darfur don't even get a proper burial, but are instead left to the elements. The actions in Sudan have been denounced by their leaders, saying the conflict is not as bad as it seems and they are not killing off a certain minority group.
The Janjaweed rebels tend to stick to camel and horseback, and some may even use pick-up truck or other motorized transportation. They are known to be ruthless when attacked, killing women, children and men alike, then burning everything to the ground. It is believed that the Janjaweed are employed by the Sudanese government.
	This is what a majority of Darfur looks like now, or will look like in the near future. The conflict is still on-going, with many from the media and humanitarians groups being either threatened or forced out of the country.

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