On 13 April thousands of demonstrators are expected to descend on the Sudanese embassy in London to mark the fifth annual Global Day for Darfur. Half a decade on from the outbreak of large-scale violence and mass displacement in the region, it is an indictment of the Sudanese regime, rebel groups and the international community that the event should coincide with yet another sharp downturn for civilians caught up in the conflict.
Around one-in-three Darfuris – well over two million – have by now been driven from their homes. And their numbers have swelled sharply in recent weeks as Sudanese government forces and allied militias have launched a major offensive in western Darfur that has left in its wake countless more houses looted and burned and reportedly over 100 locals dead. Within days of this latest round of violence beginning the United Nations said that some 12,000 had already fled over the border into Chad, a country which has itself seen intensified fighting between government forces and domestic rebels this year.
Such attacks are just the beginning of the story for those they evict. In December the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Louis Moreno-Ocampo announced that his office was gathering evidence of systematic efforts by the Sudanese authorities to specifically target displaced populations and further destroy the region’s complex social fabric. This was said to include forcibly relocating them in large numbers, obstructing the distribution of aid, killing and arresting civilian leaders and even facilitating the settlement of groups loyal to Khartoum on land belonging to displaced communities.
In the meantime, those responsible for crimes in Darfur continue to enjoy almost complete impunity. In January, President Omar al-Bashir went so far as to appoint Musa Hilal, widely considered to be a top leader of pro-government militias and responsible for appalling atrocities, as a special adviser.
Though the ICC has issued arrest warrants for two men accused of coordinating attacks on civilians in the region – former interior minister Ahmed Harun and alleged militia leader Ali Kushayb – Khartoum has blithely dismissed any talk of handing them over to face trial. In a contemptuous affront to his alleged victims, Harun has kept his job as minister of state for humanitarian affairs and has even been appointed to a committee responsible for investigating human rights abuses. But still, members of the UN Security Council were unable to agree in December on proposals to issue a statement calling for Sudan to fulfil its legal obligation to cooperate with the ICC.
To date, other international efforts to end the suffering in Darfur have also made only limited progress. Last October, peace talks scheduled to take place in Libya immediately collapsed after key rebel groups refused to attend. And more recently, the deployment of a much-vaunted 26,000-strong joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force has faced serious obstacles including systematic obstruction on the part of Khartoum and the shameful failure of the international community to stump up just two-dozen vital helicopters.
The Global Day for Darfur is an opportunity to voice solidarity with the millions of civilians who will continue to suffer as long as the Sudanese regime believes it is in its interest for them to do so, or until international leaders are persuaded to take a tougher stance. On this, the fifth anniversary of the conflict, such mobilisation is more important than ever.