"Genocide in Darfur: Studied, But Not Stopped"

This article concerns what is widely regarded as one of the major genocides of the twenty first century. Since early 2003, as many as 450,000 people have been killed in the Darfur provinces of Sudan, with millions more forcibly displaced and facing death as a result of the ruthless attacks on their farms and villages by military forces of the Government of Sudan (GOS) and by Arab militias, known as Janjaweed. While the responses to this carnage by the “international community” show some improvements compared with earlier cases of genocidal violence such as Bosnia from 1992 through 1995 and Rwanda in 1994, they are still scandalously inadequate. Although there have been unprecedented investigations during the ongoing conflict to determine whether genocide and crimes against humanity are being committed, the killing and dying continue. Genocide in Darfur has been studied, but it has not been stopped. After briefly reviewing the background and context of the Darfur conflict, and summarizing responses to date, the article reviews three empirical investigations: the US Government’s Atrocities Documentation Team, the United Nations International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, and a study done by Physicians for Human Rights.