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HFXMUN
2007
Background
guide for the
Draft
Resolution on the Crisis in
Darfur
Historical
Information
Sudan,
bordered by Chad and the Central African Republic on the west, Egypt and Libya
on the north, Ethiopia and Eritrea on the east, and Kenya, Uganda, and
Democratic Republic of the Congo on the south, is the largest country in Africa.
A former colony of both the
United Kingdom
and
Egypt
,
Sudan
has been run by military regimes favoring Islamic-orientated governments since
was granted self-government in 1953. On January 19, 1899 Britain and Egypt
signed a condominium agreement under which the Sudan was to be administered
jointly, however mounting Egyptian nationalism in the period after World War I
culminated in 1924 in the assassination in the streets of Cairo of the Governor
General of the Sudan. British reaction to this event resulted in the
expulsion of all Egyptian officials from the Sudan, which continued until 1936,
when an English-Egyptian agreement was agreed upon, allowing some Egyptians to
return to the country and administer Sudan in minor posting. The signing of the
1936 agreement stimulated Sudanese nationalists, who objected both to the return
of the Egyptians and to the fact that other nations were deciding their destiny.
On February 12, 1953,
Britain
and
Egypt
signed an accord ending the condominium arrangement and agreeing to grant
Sudan
self-government within three years. The agreement also provided for a senate
for the
Sudan
, a Council of Ministers, and a House of Representatives, and elections, which
were to be supervised by an international commission. The elections, held during
November and December 1953, resulted in victory for the National Unionist Party,
and its leader, Ismail al-Aihari, became the
Sudan
's first Prime Minister in January 1954. The replacement of British and Egyptian
officers in the Sudanese civil service by Sudanese nationals followed rapidly.
On 19 December 1955 the Sudanese Parliament declared Sudan an independent state,
and the Republic of Sudan was formally establish 1 January 1956, which was to
become a member of the United Nations on 12 November of that same year.
The
Political history of Sudan is quite tumultuous; from the beginning it was marked
with a military coup, and the suspension of civil liberties, when Lieutenant
General Ibrahim Abboud,
the commander in chief of the armed forces, overthrew
the government and declared that he would rule through a thirteen member army
junta and that democracy was being suspended in the Sudan in the name of
"honesty and integrity". The resignation of President Abboud
brought about the establishment of a supreme council of state in 1964, which
lasted until 1969 when a group of radical army officers, led by Colonel Gaafar
Muhammad al-Nimeiry, seized power and formed a government under a revolutionary
council. Despite numerous attempts by varied parties to stage a successful
coup, Nimeiry remained in power until 1985, when he was ousted in a bloodless
military coup. The election of a Prime Minister, a guerrilla war against
the government, and yet another military coup, this one by the Revolutionary
Command Council, resulted in the declaration of a state of emergency, and the
beginning of the Bashir regime, led by Omar Hassan al-Bashir. A southern
Sudanese rebel group, the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), fought
government forces until the two sides signed a peace accord in 2004, ending 20
years of brutal civil war that resulted in the deaths of 2 million people.
Darfur
Under
the leadership of Omar Hassan al-Bashir, and with the resolving of the
differences between the north and south, a period of relative peace emerged. The
outbreak of a separate conflict that emerged in the western region of
Darfur
in 2003 ended the peace, and the nation was once again consumed by war.
It began in February 2003, when rebels took up arms against what they saw as
years of neglect and discrimination by
Sudan
's leaders against Sudanese of African origin. The Darfur conflict is
mainly between the Janjaweed, a militia group recruited by the Sudanese leaders
from the Arab tribes of the Abbala, and the combined forces of the Justice and
Equality Movement (JEM), composed of the non-Baggara people of western
Sudan
, and the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA).
The
actual facts that surround this issue are debated. The government of
Sudan
have officially denied the support, both militarily and financially, of the
Janjaweed from the initial onset of the conflict. The United Nations places the
blame for the genocide on the Sudanese government, as they have provided arms,
assistance, and participated in joint attacks.
Thus
far, the conflict has resulted in at least 400,000 deaths (a figure, from the
Coalition for International Justice, that is recognized by the United Nations)
and the displacement of over 2.5 million citizens. Since 2003, Janjaweed armed
militia and Sudanese military have driven about 200,000 Darfur region refugees
into eastern
Chad
; large numbers of Sudanese refugees have also fled to
Uganda
,
Ethiopia
,
Kenya
, the
Central African Republic
, and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
.
In
2006, the slaughter in Darfur escalated, and the
Khartoum
government remained defiantly indifferent to the international communities'
calls to stop the violence. The 7,000 African Union (AU) peacekeepers deployed
to
Darfur
proved too small and ill equipped a force to prevent much of it and the
situation has yet to be stabilized.
Links
UN
Mission in
Sudan
- http://www.unmis.org/english/en-main.htm
Coalition for
Darfur
- http://coalitionfordarfur.blogspot.com/
The United Nations -
http://www.un.org
http://www.darfurgenocide.org/index.php
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=3060&l=1#C8
http://www.darfurinfo.org/
http://www.msf.ca/
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