At the end, of the Rwandan genocide, the world was in unison is saying NEVER AGAIN. But, hardly a decade later, another genocide is taking place in the name of the Darfur war. This war is another reminder that Nation states never live to the true meaning of their words. Since the advent of the Darfur war in 2003, it is widely known that Genocide is taking place in Darfur, but the world super power have opted to play lip-service to this catastrophe. Darfur is a vast region about the size of France it inhabited by approximately 6 million people from over 100 tribes. Majority of the inhabitants are Muslims. The bone of contention is the perceived favoring of the Arabic population by the central government headed by Omar- El bashir.

The Elbashir government is a big player in the Darfur war. It is well documented that the Janjaweed militias aka “devils on horsebacks” enjoy the support of the Sudanese government.  Crimes committed by the Janjaweed have been classified as crimes against humanity, as well as falling within the definition of the term Genocide. Some of the crimes include rape, displacement, threatening, stealing, and mass murder. These inhuman acts have made the Darfur war a living hell especially to women and children who never take arms to fight or defend themselves.

According to the U.N estimates approximately 200,000 to 300,000 people have died since the war started. In addition, the conflict has displaced over 4.7 million people out of the total population of 6 million. With these statistics, it is true to say that the people of Darfur future is bleak if no urgent action is taken to ease on the appalling situation.

United Nations and the African Union

Although, peace keeping have sent to prevent further shedding of blood in the Darfur conflict by the United Nations and the African Union, this is NOT enough. The perpetrators of the Darfur war need to face the full force of the international law. The commanders who engineered the Darfur war are still sitting pretty, while the victims shed tears, and bloods with each passing day. Justice is the best deterrent for future wars. The Nuremburg trial after the Second World War is a perfect case in point of justice acting as a deterrent for future wars. The Darfur war perpetrators should be no exception of a legal system.

African movements believe that the Sudanese government favor the Arab groups by giving them a better share of their scarce natural resources, heavier control of these resources, more administrative positions and other governmental positions.

The Darfur Conflict is an ongoing guerrilla conflict or civil war centered on the Darfur region of Sudan. It began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) groups in Darfur took up arms, accusing the Sudanese government of oppressing black Africans in favor of Arabs. One side of the conflict is composed mainly of the official Sudanese military and police, and the Janjaweed, a Sudanese militia group recruited mostly from the Afro-Arab Abbala tribes of the northern Rizeigat region in Sudan; these tribes are mainly camel-herding nomads. The other combatants are made up of rebel groups, notably the SLM/A and the JEM, recruited primarily from the non-Arab Muslim Fur, Zaghawa, and Masalit  ethnic groups. Although the Sudanese government publicly denies that it supports the Janjaweed, it has been accused of providing financial assistance to the militia and of participating in joint attacks targeting civilians

This has lead to various attacks on the government, either by force or by commentaries by these movements. The rebel groups attacked government targets because the region was being neglected by Khartoum. These movements has prompted the Sudanese government to be on the offensive by employing the help of the Arab militia group Janjaweed.

Apart from the two major rebel groups, there are more than a dozen other rebel groups which makes for peace talks extremely difficult for the United Nations and other intervening parties.

To date, there are ten war crimes charged against the president of Sudan, Omar Al-Bashir, by the International Criminal Court. There had been allegations of genocide and other heinous crimes defined by international laws against the Sudanese government and against Al-Bashir.