Shortly before the seventh anniversary of the beginning of the genocide in Darfur (26.02.2003) a cease-fire between the most important parties to the conflict is raising hopes of an end to the violence in western Sudan . "There is at last some movement in the long protracted efforts at reaching a lasting peace in Darfur”, said Ulrich Delius, Africa consultant of the Society for Threatened Peoples STP (Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker GfbV) on Monday in Göttingen. "Of course we are happy about the cease-fire, but the Society for Threatened Peoples must now take concrete measures to make sure that the Darfur refugees, of whom there are more than three million, can return safely to their destroyed villages. The crimes of expulsion committed during the genocide are completely unacceptable.”

The Sudanese government and the most important military liberation movement in Darfur, the JEM (Justice and Equality Movement), agreed yesterday on an immediate cease-fire and the participation of the JEM in the peace talks in Doha ( Qatar ).

There are about 2.7 million IDPs from Darfur living in refugee-camps in western Sudan . More than 300,000 others have sought refuge in the neighbouring country of Chad . "Many of the people in the camps are without any hope because they have up to now seen no prospect of a peaceful return to their destroyed villages and of rebuilding their settlements”, said Delius. "It is the fate of these expelled civilians and not questions of the division of power in the Sudan of the future which must be at the forefront of the peace talks.”

The first large-scale confrontation in the conflict, which had long been on the boil in Darfur, began seven years ago on 26th February 2003, when 300 fighters of the resistance groups from Darfur attacked the town of Golu and killed Sudanese soldiers. The Sudanese government decided to break the revolt by military means and pressed the arming of Arab groups which had existed since the 80s. These groups, which later as the mounted Janjaweed militia caused fear and terror among the civilian population with their brutal attacks, recruited bandits, former soldiers and young unemployed men from small Arab villages. "These Janjaweed today still terrorise displaced people in the refugee-camps with their attacks”, reported Delius. On 10th February 2010 two refugees were killed and ten others injured when Janjaweed militiamen attacked camps near the town of Kass in South Darfur. Many huts were plundered and burned down in the attack.

Ulrich Delius can be reached at asien@gfbv.de