The current conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan is an ongoing crisis which began in 2003 after years of civil war between the North and South. The Darfuri people were marginalized through much of the last half of the twentieth century and eventually formed a revolution that was met with a genocidal policy from President al Bashir. All of the resources listed below are available in the Carole Weinstein Holocaust Research Library.
Flint, Julie and Alex de Waal. Darfur: A Short History of a Long War. London: Zed Books, 2005.
Flint and de Waal are two of the better known experts on this region of Africa and this slim volume manages to explain the Darfur Genocide in succinct, easy-to-understand language. They provide a framework that includes history, ethnicity, religion, government, and geography to create a complete view of the resulting humanitarian crisis.
Hari, Daoud. The Translator: A Tribesman’s Memoir of Darfur. New York: Random House, 2008.
Hari, a Zaghawa herdsman, served as a guide and translator for journalists who wanted to cross the Sudanese border with Chad and document the atrocities taking place in Darfur. His memoir is a personal memoir that highlights the events during the height of the genocide in western Sudan.
Marlowe, Jen. Darfur Diaries: Stories of Survival. New York: Nation Books, 2006.
During the height of the Darfur Genocide, three documentary film makers traveled to Chad and snuck across the border in to the western region of Sudan. The trip produced this personal portrait of the genocide and the people who were struggling to survive.
Steidle, Brian and Gretchen Steidle Wallace. The Devil Came on Horseback: Bearing Witness to the Genocide in Darfur. New York: Public Affairs Books, 2007.
In 2004, Brian Steidle was hired by the African Union to document the violence in the Darfur region of Sudan. He witnessed the destruction of villages, the death of civilian populations, and the humanitarian disaster that followed, which is chronicled in this memoir of his experiences.
Films and Videos
Jerry Fowler, the former Director of the Committee on Conscience, created this video slideshow about the Darfur Genocide. Fowler visited a refugee camp in Chad and uses his own photographs and interviews to describe the violence experienced by the Darfuri people.
Docherty, Neil. On Our Watch. Boston: WGBH, 2007.
PBS’s Frontline aired this one-hour documentary on the genocide in Darfur during their 2007 season. The video presents a collection of narratives from survivors, activist, and experts with an examination of the United Nations’ lack of action in preventing genocidal outbreaks. PBS offers additional information on their website including a chronology, interviews from the film, and a teacher’s resource page.
Brian Steidle, the author of The Devil Came on Horseback (above), did an interview with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum about what he witnessed in Darfur. The video contains examples of the photographs he took along with commentary from Steidle.
Using a mix of animation and live action, iActivism created this video to tell the story of a young girl who was caught in the Darfur Genocide. The film is only 6 minutes long and is tied to the SudanAct website which offers additional information on the current crisis in the region.
The allAfrica site acts as an aggregator of news articles from 130 African news organizations. The feeds can be broken into geographic regions, countries, and topics, with a variety of other options to help narrow your search.
BBC News offers a summary of the Darfur genocide through a Q&A format. The article was originally posted in 2010 and does not include the latest information but is still useful as an introduction to the history of the genocide.
The Guardian offers a portal for the Darfur Genocide that pulls their articles, blog posts, and video content into a single page format.
The New York Times is one of the few papers in the United States that provides fairly consistent coverage on Darfur Genocide. The Sudan section of their website includes a short history of the country; a selection from their archives; recent articles on the region; and a list of pages from other websites.
The Enough Project was founded to promote policy in the fight against genocide and crimes against humanity. The Darfur Genocide is one of the conflicts they are currently monitoring and you can find regular updates on the situation under their Sudan and South Sudan section.
Founded by Gregory Stanton -- the creator of the Eight Stages of Genocide – Genocide Watch is a non-profit which attempts to predict and prevent genocide from taking place. The site acts as an aggregator for news and analysis in any country currently at risk of mass atrocities.
Human Rights Watch (HRW)
Human Rights Watch is an international organization that was founded to investigate and repot on human rights violations throughout the world. They create regular, detailed reports on countries where human rights abuses are taking place. Their Sudan page covers a large array of issues including cluster bomb use, death by stoning, and the genocide in Darfur.
The International Crisis Group is a think tank that focuses on any type of conflict including genocide and crimes against humanity. They provide regular updates on countries from around the world and their Sudan page contains a variety of briefings and reports.
Smallest Witnesses is a traveling exhibit created by Human Rights Watch which tells the story of the Darfur Genocide through the drawings of children. The artwork was collected by two HRW workers who were investigating conditions in a refugee camp in Chad in early 2005. The 22-page pdf includes a brief history of the violence, background on the HRW research, and children’s artwork with quotes from interviews.
Eric Reeves, a professor at Smith College, started sudanreeves.org in 2002 and has been a full-time Sudan researcher and advocate since it began. You can find links to his detailed analysis of the situation in Sudan, South Sudan, and Darfur as well as articles from other media outlets.
The website for the United Nations Mission in South Sudan offers an official look at the activities of current UN operations in the newly formed country. The majority of information on the site centers on their own work in the country which frequently highlights the continuing violence in the region.
The Committee On Conscience at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum maintains a list of countries at risk of genocide including the Darfur region. The Sudan page presents an overview of the crisis along with statistics and international response.
United to End Genocide is an activist group committed to ending genocide. Their website contains a synopsis of the crisis in Sudan and you can find a blog with regularly updated information on the current situation.