Word: darfurs
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...United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG), which was eventually ratified by 140 nations, including the U.S. in 1986. The Convention marks its 60th anniversary on Dec. 9 against the backdrop of a monumental human rights crisis in Darfur and an enduring debate over the effectiveness of the CPPCG and other measures aimed at stopping genocide. (See pictures of the U.N. General Assembly members...
...children from a group, or conditions of life inflicted on a group to bring about its demise could also be considered genocidal acts. The definition also stipulates that genocidal crimes are committed against specific kinds of groups with the deliberate purpose of eradicating them. The intent is key; in Darfur, for example, some have argued that it is impossible to prove that the Sudanese Janjaweed militias are trying to eradicate entire groups; they may, in fact, just want to displace them from disputed land. However criminal that may be, it is not automatically genocidal. The criteria have been a source...
...judgment on the extermination of an estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis at the hands of Rwandan Hutu militias. It was a landmark addition to the term?s legal definition, and a judgment that could be important in future International Criminal Court proceedings related to the current situation in Darfur. Many observers have recounted stories of rape being used systematically as a weapon in Sudan for the purpose of ethnic cleansing, and the International Criminal Court is expected to decide in early 2009 whether to issue an arrest warrant, requested in July, for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on charges...
Meanwhile, as the crisis in Darfur heads into its sixth year, with an estimated 5,000 displaced people dying each month, the 60-year-old Convention remains an unrealized promise. Beyond the legal hurdles, there are grave political repercussions to responding to an ongoing atrocity. Some say accusations could prompt deeper isolation and violent reprisals, making conditions worse for the victims and those trying to help them...
...camps had concentrated populations beyond what the meager land could support. At one camp, staff were increasingly finding themselves mediating conflicts between refugees and local farmers, who complained the influx from Darfur had ruined their land. At another camp, Haroon Ibra Diar described how, when his people fled to Chad, the janjaweed were already employing their own macabre energy-saving measures. "They beheaded people and used their heads for firewood," he said. I asked him what the future held. "We are farmers," he replied. "But how can we farm here? There's not even enough water to drink...