I-Search+by+Gaby

by Gaby
 * Genocide in Darfur: How Much Do You Know? **

I know several things about Darfur. I know that George Bush declared what was happening in Darfur as a genocide. The genocide in Darfur has claimed 400,000 lives and displaced over 2,500,000 people. More than one hundred people continue to die each day; five thousand die every month. From the movie "The Devil on Horseback" a man had gone to Darfur to take pictures of what was happening. Many people didn't believe that this genocide was happening in Darfur even today. They refused to believe the obvious, even with pictures to prove what people have been saying all along.I know that the poorer people in Darfur were under attack by secret militants working for the government. The Sudanese government has continually used the Janjaweed people to terrorize the innocent people living in Darfur and gets them to leave their home in search for safety.
 * Part I--What I already know about my topic **

I know that the people in Darfur need help and a place to live. The people who escape from their burned homes by the Janjaweed usually stay in the neighboring country of Chad. They need help, their hope is running low. People don't believe the obvious that even today with the saying "Never Again" there is a genocide where people are being killed for what they represent.

I would really like to know why the poor people in Darfur have gotten into this big revolt where their own government cant do anything to help them, but rather want them rid of. What do the people in Darfur do to defend themselves? Do they just stand back and watch everything they worked for come tumbling down or do they fight back? Are they not fighting back because it would mean even more trouble? How do they survive with the terrible memories from their past? Do they feel that they have a chance?
 * Part II--What I Want to Find Out **

I also want to know some of the basis of the events the people in Darfur are experiencing now. How did this this revolt begin? What caused either one or the other side to in a sense tick? Why hasn't the international governments thought of a plan to help Darfur and other places in the world that need help at the same time? What can people do around the world to help this cause?


 * Part III--The Search **

When I first started to here about Darfur I was immediately amazed and interested in the people's situation. Now as the I-Search in technology I started to learn more and more. Throughout the whole experience I learned so much more and have become so interested in what I can do to help.

The two books I found were "The Devil Came on Horseback" by Brian Steidle and Gretchen Steidle Wallace and "Where Mercy Fails: Struggle to Survive" by Chris Herlinger and Paul Jeffrey. I chose these two books because I wanted to see how a person felt in Darfur based on their personal experiences. It helped me look into their views and struggles while viewing Darfur in a different perspective. It made me think about the game we are going to have to create. I was thinking how I want the people playing it to be excited and feel like they are there like I did when I read the books. These books showed what problems the people in Darfur are facing with the government militants, the Janjaweed.

One website I found was Genocide in Darfur from http://www.genocideindarfur.net/. This really gave me an understanding of the topic in simple ideas. All the websites gave some ideas and information about the questions I have about Darfur.

Another website I found was Genocide in Dafur, Sudan from http://www.darfurscores.org/darfur. This website was all about African farmers and others in Darfur who continue to be displaced and murdered by the Janjaweed, the government supported militia recruited from the local Arab tribes. The genocide in Darfur has claimed 400,000 lives and displaced over 2,500,000 people. More than one hundred people continue to die each day and five thousand die everyday.

Then I found another research website called Make Way Partners from the website http://www.makewaypartners.org/african-genocide.html. This was all about orphans in the South. This is really important because it tells people about what the people in Darfur are going through. The main causes of this genocide are listed for examples.

Interview: From Jan Pronk
 * Q:** When you are talking about the Janjaweed in West Darfur, where did this come from - did you have contacts with the Janjaweed in West Darfur? **A:** Yes, we have contacts of course and, at the same time, you never know exactly what is going on because our contacts with the militia in particular are not daily. Moreover they are adversaries of the people whom they are attacking and the UN and the AU are protecting.
 * Q:** For surely it is important because we are talking about war crimes happening in Darfur, it is very important to know how many people are being killed.**A:** Yes, but I am not counting. My task is to prevent new killings and not counting the death of the past. That is what had happened. The report of the Commission of Inquiry, they did the best they could, is now in the Security Council and there was mass killing, mass rape, mass terror, it has been awful in 2003 and 2004 and people have to be brought to justice whether they killed hundreds or tens of thousands - they have to be brought to justice for the deaths. The number is less important - they did it, were responsible and have to be brought to justice. People in the world should not think that it is continuing in the same way as it did in the past. There is a change.
 * Q:** What about disarming the militias? What has the government been doing in terms of disarming the militias?**A:** Not much. This was a positive sign which I just mentioned - the position of the //Wali// in Western Darfur. For the rest - not much. They are organizing talks amongst the tribes to manage the conflict. That is important in itself. It happens to be started in South Darfur it is now also taking place in North Darfur. But it is now tribal-tribal and then tribal-militia. There could be more. I have the impression that the appointment of Vice-president Taha is making a difference because he did go, on my initiative, to Darfur on a surprise visit. He took some decisions with regards to the authorities. Whatever his role has been in the past, at the moment he has a vested interest in improving the situation and getting peace and he means business at the moment. But it will never be possible, in my view, without a force of the AU or otherwise, to stop possible attacks by individuals or militias. That will have to be done both politically by the government in their talks and by military force from the AU coming together.
 * Q:** Do you think it is likely that the government will take military or political action against the //Janjaweed//?**A:** Political action, yes. It is likely because nowadays they are so much under pressure. I do not know the outcome of the Security Council discussions. They are speaking about action instruments, sanctions, I don’t know the outcome. But they feel the air and the pressure, that something is happening. But if they should only talk in New York and don’t conclude anything it is fading away in Khartoum.Military action against the //Janjaweed//, they have to do it and they didn’t. It still remains to be seen to what extent their political action is being seen as credible. At the same time, I think it is also important to separate the militia politically from their own tribes. Because the tribes do have a concern. What is necessary is that there is no support by the tribes for the atrocious action by their militia. This means also talks with the tribes - also with the Arab tribes. Bring in the Arab tribes to talks which never took sides neither with the government nor the SLA, and bring in also the tribes which do have militias that fight also on their behalf - separate them; show to these tribes that these people also have some legitimate concerns which have to be brought into the negotiation table.
 * Q:** Do you think the government is showing any willingness to take such corrective action against the //Janjaweed// or are they only doing it if pressured?**A:** Pressure is necessary. Because some people of course in the government have a willingness to do so but their power positions is not very strong. You have to, through pressure, through diplomacy, through presence, change also the power balance within the government to give more credibility to those who want to get a solution. **Q:** Why do you think the government is not willing or doesn’t seem to be willing to take action against the //Janjaweed//? **A:** Maybe, that is guess work, themselves lack a certain military or political capacity. May be they do not trust their own forces, if they would give instructions to their own forces to go against the militia. It is a complexity of possible reasons. May be the government is not fully homogeneous, that is also possible. I don’t know, all these reasons may come together and any of the reasons may be dominant and that is why you need strong international political and other action in order to bring the government to the realization that there is no other alternative - they have to do it in their own interest. If they are not interested in their people - and we have many people here who are not interested in the population, some are, many are not - if they are not interested in the people then they should be, very rationally, interested in the state. And the state of Sudan can only survive if it is being seen also internationally as a credible state.
 * Part IV--What I Learned **

Somethings I learned while doing this research was just how lucky I am to live with a loving family and a house to come back to at the end of the day. Learning about Darfur showed me just how much hope is needed to survive there. In my own life I heard about Dafur but never really learned about just the impact on them. Then I saw the movie the Devil Comes on Horseback and became more excited to learn about Darfur. While I learned I also saw how lucky I was and how I too could help the people there.

Some of the most important information that I found was about how all about African farmers and others in Darfur who continue to be displaced and murdered by the Janjweed, the government supported militia recruited from the local Arab tribes. The genocide in Darfur has claimed 400,000 lives and displaced over 2,500,000 people. More than one hundred people continue to die each day and five thousand die everyday. This all was about Darfur and information that grabs a readers attention and teaches them about Darfur and what they too can help to them in different ways.


 * Part V--Works Cited**

"Genocide in Darfur" May 1, 2010 http://www.genocideindarfur.net/ "Genocide in Darfur, Sudan" Darfur Scores May 1, 2010 http://www.darfurscores.org/darfur Herlinger, Chris, and Paul Jeffrey. //Where Mercy Falls: Darfur's Struggle to Survive//. 1. United States: Seabury Books, 2009. Print. Interview:J.Pronk //I-Search by Gaby//, 7 May, 2010. Interview. web http://tech2010.wikispaces.com/I-Search+by+Gaby "Make Way Partners" May 1, 2010 http://www.makewaypartners.org/african-genocide.html Steidle, Brian, and Gretchen Wallace. //The Devil Came on Horseback//. 1. United States: PublicAffairs, 2007. Print.