{"id":4088,"date":"2024-02-11T17:28:57","date_gmt":"2024-02-11T17:28:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewitnessexet.wpengine.com\/?p=4088"},"modified":"2024-02-11T17:29:58","modified_gmt":"2024-02-11T17:29:58","slug":"what-is-happening-in-sudan-genocide-famine-and-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/?p=4088","title":{"rendered":"What is Happening in Sudan? Genocide, Famine and War"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='booster-block booster-read-block'>\n                <div class=\"twp-read-time\">\n                \t<i class=\"booster-icon twp-clock\"><\/i> <span>Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 42 Second                <\/div>\n\n            <\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following the<a href=\"https:\/\/freedomhouse.org\/report\/special-report\/2022\/civic-mobilizations-authoritarian-contexts\/Sudan-summary\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/freedomhouse.org\/report\/special-report\/2022\/civic-mobilizations-authoritarian-contexts\/Sudan-summary\"> coup d&#8217;\u00e9tat<\/a> of Sudan\u2019s President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019, the influential<br>social movement that aided in doing so gave hope for a peaceful and united Sudan. However,<br>Sudan\u2019s history of civil war since the declaration of its independence has since repeated itself,<br>as war broke out in Khartoum in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2023\/dec\/24\/sudan-war-aid-khartoum-darfur\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2023\/dec\/24\/sudan-war-aid-khartoum-darfur\">April 2023<\/a> and has since spread across the country. The same<br>security forces that were vital in overthrowing Omar al-Bashir in 2019 staged <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2023\/dec\/24\/sudan-war-aid-khartoum-darfur\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2023\/dec\/24\/sudan-war-aid-khartoum-darfur\">another coup<\/a> in<br>2021, one aimed at disrupting and ending Sudan\u2019s transition to a democratic government,<br>further exacerbating issues that have caused the present-day war. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br>The factions causing this outbreak of violence and war are the The Rapid Support Forces, a<br>paramilitary which emerged in the al-Bashir era of the Sudanese government, and the<br>Sudanese Armed Forces, a former Sudanese paramilitary faction. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cfr.org\/global-conflict-tracker\/conflict\/power-struggle-sudan\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.cfr.org\/global-conflict-tracker\/conflict\/power-struggle-sudan\">RSF <\/a>was created from<br>an Arab-majority armed group funded by Bashir to fight against southern Sudanese rebels in the<br>Darfur War. The group is known for their brutal and violent attacks in the Darfur region, and<br>have caused mass displacement, committed sexual violence, kidnapping, and other heinous<br>war crimes. On the other hand, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2023\/5\/18\/the-sudan-crisis-a-power-struggle-by-design\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2023\/5\/18\/the-sudan-crisis-a-power-struggle-by-design\">SAF\u2019s <\/a>duties are consistent with a typical countries\u2019 army,<br>with the goal of upholding domestic order and contributing to the country\u2019s development.<br>However, these duties have not been upheld as extreme violence has been committed on both<br>sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br>This conflict has seen the two factions in a struggle for power that has resulted in the killing of<br>thousands of people, causing the world\u2019s largest human displacement crisis. Both sides have<br>committed numerous war crimes, visible in the 500% increase in killings, sexual violence, and<br>recruitment into armed groups and factions in comparison to last year. Additionally, this conflict<br>has resulted in destroyed infrastructure that has exacerbated already high levels of poverty,<br><a href=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/story\/2024\/02\/1146392\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/story\/2024\/02\/1146392\">extortionate rates of malnutrition<\/a>, lack of safe drinking water, waterborne diseases, and the<br>absence of education for children that could result in Sudan facing a <a href=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/story\/2024\/01\/1145882\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/story\/2024\/01\/1145882\">$26 billion lifetime earning<br>loss<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br>Naturally, the pressing question is raised as to why no one is coming to Sudan\u2019s aid to stop the<br>bloodshed and various human rights abuses. The lack of attention this conflict is receiving from<br>other states is surprising due to Sudan\u2019s geographically strategic significance. The country<br>shares borders with numerous states that are important to Western powers like the United<br>States, Europe and their allies in the Gulf, and is located on the strategically important<br>Red Sea. However, it can be argued that other major conflicts occurring in the world are bringing<br>to light the way the world treats \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/disasterphilanthropy.org\/blog\/no-ones-paying-attention-the-crisis-in-sudan\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/disasterphilanthropy.org\/blog\/no-ones-paying-attention-the-crisis-in-sudan\/\">worthy and unworthy victims<\/a>\u201d. This is emphasized by Priti<br>Gulati Cox and Stan Cox, who stated that \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/disasterphilanthropy.org\/blog\/no-ones-paying-attention-the-crisis-in-sudan\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/disasterphilanthropy.org\/blog\/no-ones-paying-attention-the-crisis-in-sudan\/\">Europeans now being killed, wounded, or rendered<br>homeless by Russian troops are victims worthy of media attention, while Sudanese facing<br>similar fates aren\u2019t<\/a>\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is difficult to not bring racial considerations into this issue, as we have<br>rarely seen a complete lack of response from Western powers to cases of human rights in other<br>Western countries. All cases of human suffering and conflicts are equally as important, and<br>global political powers should be careful to not abandon their responsibility to use their power to<br>mediate and provide aid, irrespective of strategic interests or alliances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/four-men-holding-assault-rifles-uuFZHr_nRWY\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/four-men-holding-assault-rifles-uuFZHr_nRWY\">Image<\/a>: Four men holding assault rifles, Randy Fath, 2018\/\/<a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/license\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/license\">Unsplash License<\/a><\/p>\n        <div class=\"booster-block booster-reactions-block\">\n            <div class=\"twp-reactions-icons\">\n                \n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-1\" post-id=\"4088\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/happy.svg\" alt=\"Happy\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">\n                        Happy                    <\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"twp-react-count\">0<\/span>\n                        \n                                                <span class=\"twp-react-percent\"><span>0<\/span> %<\/span>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n\n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-2\" post-id=\"4088\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/sad.svg\" alt=\"Sad\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">\n                        Sad                    <\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"twp-react-count\">0<\/span>\n                                                                        <span class=\"twp-react-percent\"><span>0<\/span> %<\/span>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n\n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-3\" post-id=\"4088\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/excited.svg\" alt=\"Excited\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">\n                        Excited                    <\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"twp-react-count\">0<\/span>\n                                                                        <span class=\"twp-react-percent\"><span>0<\/span> %<\/span>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n\n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-6\" post-id=\"4088\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/sleepy.svg\" alt=\"Sleepy\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">\n                        Sleepy                    <\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"twp-react-count\">0<\/span>\n                        \n                                                <span class=\"twp-react-percent\"><span>0<\/span> %<\/span>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n\n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-4\" post-id=\"4088\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/angry.svg\" alt=\"Angry\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">Angry<\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"twp-react-count\">0<\/span>\n                                                                        <span class=\"twp-react-percent\"><span>0<\/span> %<\/span>\n                        \n                    <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n\n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-5\" post-id=\"4088\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/surprise.svg\" alt=\"Surprise\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">Surprise<\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"twp-react-count\">0<\/span>\n                                                                        <span class=\"twp-react-percent\"><span>0<\/span> %<\/span>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n\n    ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Following the coup d&#8217;\u00e9tat of Sudan\u2019s President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019, the influentialsocial movement that aided in doing so gave hope for <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":4089,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[200,97,228,12,29],"tags":[202,163],"class_list":["post-4088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","category-health","category-justice","category-latest","category-world","tag-africa","tag-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}