Boiling Over

A terrible consequence of the Darfur Peace Agreement, signed in May 2006 and resulting chiefly in dividing the anti-Khartoum rebel movement, is that it has allowed too many influential people to speak euphemistically about the crisis that's taking place in western Sudan and eastern Chad. Human destruction and displacement are no longer "genocidal," but rather a function of rebel fractiousness, opportunistic banditry, and a generalized "insecurity." Similarly, the role of the Khartoum regime is no longer that of orchestrating indefensible acts of violence, but of obstructing humanitarian operations and defying various international demands. All of it is terrible, of course, but not genocide.


Well, recent events in West Darfur, along the border with Chad, should compel us to start calling things by their correct names again. What we're seeing in Darfur now is a level of ethnically targeted violence that hasn't been approached since the terrifying days of 2004. Beginning on February 8, Janjaweed militias, coordinating with Khartoum's regular troops and military aircraft, began to attack areas north of el-Geneina, the capital of West Darfur. They targeted the towns of Sirba, Abu Surug, and Silea---all of which had come under control of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) this past December and January. Determined to drive the rebel group from its close proximity to el-Geneina, and bent on destroying its perceived base of civilian support, Khartoum struck quickly and savagely. (But not quickly enough to take out the rebels, who fled in advance of the attacks.) Soon, the destruction of ethnically African Masseleit and Erenga civilians and towns began in earnest. Militarily imprecise barrel bombs leveled much of these three towns, as well as surrounding villages and displaced persons camps. More than 60,000 civilians fled, perhaps 12,000 into eastern Chad, where the intensity of Khartoum's bombing attacks forced the U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to withdraw its personnel. In Silea, a town of 25,000, only 200 remained when aid officials arrived on February 14. Read more >>>>>>>>>>>