Critically Assess the UN Response to the Crisis in Darfur - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages However, there was an observation that the Sudan government failed to defuse and prosecute the Arab mercenaries. According to De Waal (2005), the UN considered engaging in the crisis by observing that the condition presented violated Article VII of the U.N Charter. Therefore, in the year 2004, the UN resolved to address the Darfur crisis. The UN designed a multifaceted response to the crisis with the sole aim of curbing the situation. Therefore, this paper critically examines the UN response on the Darfur crisis. The State of the Darfur Conflict Sudan has constantly struggled with the civil wars presented by the Arab-Christians conflicts. The Arabs who comprise the overriding group have exploited the southerners. These conflicts became grave in the year 2003 with emergence of “Sudan Liberation Army” (SLA) and “Justice Equality Movement” (JEM). These two groups attacked the government since the Arabs who promoted oppression of the blacks (De Waal 2005) dominated the governance process. The Sudan government retaliated by executing attacks against the civilians in the South. Subsequently, there emerged an Arabic based group called Janjaweed, which furthered the attacks. Investigations provide that the Sudan government financed Janjaweed activities; however, administrators have maintained that the group is illegal (Moore & Pubantz 2008). Initially, UN ventured in the Darfur crisis by chairing a peace agreement between the Sudan government and SLA in the year 2003. However, the partisans to the peace agreement installed by the UN challenged the process and failed to follow it comprehensively. Consequently, conflicts progressed as characterized by deaths and destruction of property. Hopper (2010), observes that Janjaweed’s activities led to death of about 30 000 blacks in Sudan. Importantly, the conflict has led to eviction of over a million Africans from their lands. The UN observed that the crises had presented a pathetic condition in the ground with its policy makers claiming that more than two million Sudanese need care. According to Mamdani (2009), the UN policy makers observed that the Darfur case clustered among the worst global humanitarian crises hence the body observed that there was need of executing the necessary response. The UN initiated instituted investigative bodies that found stern violation of the human rights (Hopper 2010). This was against the policies of the “International Covenant on Civil and Political Right” (ICCPR) and “International Criminal Court” (ICC) to which the Sudan government holds the membership. Therefore, the UN could successfully challenge the government’s activities legally (Steidle & Wallace 2007). Consequently, the UN subscribed actively to the Darfur activities. There is a concern among some UN policy makers that the Darfur situation demands a declaration that quantifies as a genocide case; however, this continues to elicit debates (Totten and Markusen 2006). The UN and Darfur Situation The UN engaged in the Darfur conflicts initially due to the disinclination of Sudan government in countering the crisis. Humanitarian advocates who observed that the concern needed critical attention raised the matter to the UN panel in the year 2003. The UN’s humanitarian docket claimed that situation poses a serious humanity concern since by then the crisis had displaced about 600, 000 people (Hagan & Rymond-Richmond ...Download file to see next pagesRead More