Darfur

Portrait of Darfuri survivors in Touloum refugee camp, Chad. —Jerry Fowler/USHMM

• Introduction »
• Background Information »
• Investigative Reports »
• Film and Video »
• Museum Web Resources »
• Additional Resources »

Introduction ↑

The predominantly Muslim population of the Darfur region of Sudan consists of numerous tribal and ethnic groups who speak many languages and identify as either Arab or non-Arab Sudanese. Competition for natural resources, land disputes, and grazing rights have historically led to tensions between nomadic Arab herders and non-Arab farmers. In the past, traditional means of conflict resolution were successful in restoring peace among Darfur's various groups. Since the 1980s, however, government policies marginalizing non-Arab Darfurians and enhancing polarization among ethnic groups has led to unresolved hostilities and violence.

In February 2003, the Darfur Liberation Front (DLF) attacked Sudanese military installations in protest of the government's unequal treatment of and violence toward the region's non-Arab peoples. This sparked a brutal response in which Sudanese government troops and armed Arab militias launched a systematic campaign of destruction against villages of the Fur, Zaghawa, and Masalit peoples, who are considered non-Arab and who made up the majority of the rebel units. The height of these systematic attacks was between 2003 and 2005, during which time 2.5 million were driven from their homes; at least 200,000 were killed or died as a result of exposure, malnutrition and disease; and countless numbers were victims of physical and sexual violence. Individuals remain under constant threat of attack, starvation, dehydration, and disease, as the livelihoods, peace, and security of Darfur have been destroyed.

In July 2004 the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum declared a Genocide Emergency for the Darfur region of Sudan.

The following bibliography was compiled to guide readers to materials on the Darfur genocide that are in the Library’s collection or are freely available on the World Wide Web. It is not meant to be exhaustive. Annotations are provided to help the user determine the item’s focus, and call numbers for the Museum’s Library are given in parentheses following each citation. Those unable to visit might be able to find these works in a nearby public library or acquire them through interlibrary loan. Follow the “Find in a library near you” link in each citation and enter your zip code at the Open WorldCat search screen. The results of that search indicate all libraries in your area that own that particular title. Talk to your local librarian for assistance.

Background Information ↑

• Alvarez, Alex, Herb Hirsch, Eric Markusen, and Samuel Totten, editors. “Special Issue on Darfur.” Special issue, Genocide Studies and Prevention 1, no. 1 (2006). (HV 6322.7 .G465 v.1) [Find in a library near you]
  Contains articles covering rape and other crimes committed against girls and women, the case for genocide under international law, a critique of the U.S. State Department’s Atrocities Documentation Project, a comparative study of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and the genocide in Darfur, and implications for Darfur based on the international community’s failure to stop the Rwandan genocide.
  
  
• Apsel, Joyce, editor. Darfur: Genocide Before Our Eyes. New York: Institute for the Study of Genocide, 2005. (DT 159.6 .D27 D37 2005) [Find in a library near you]
  Compilation of essays providing background and analysis of the crisis in Darfur. Provides suggestions for teaching about the topic, comparative genocide, and human rights. Contains references, maps, a glossary, list of Web resources, and the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
  
  
• Burr, J. Millard, and Robert O. Collins. Darfur: The Long Road to Disaster. Princeton, NJ: Marcus Wiener, 2006. (DT 546.48 .B87 2006) [Find in a library near you]
  Traces the political turmoil in Darfur back to 1963 and the beginning of a thirty-year struggle for control of Chad. Provides in-depth analysis of Chad, Sudan, and Libya, the three principal states involved, in a history of armed conflict in the region. Several chapters originally appeared in the authors’ Africa’s Thirty Years War (1999). The last two chapters discuss the genocide in Darfur itself. Includes a bibliography and an index.
  
  
• Cheadle, Don, and John Prendergast. Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond. New York: Hyperion, 2007. (DT 159.6 .D27 C54 2007) [Find in a library near you]
  Provides an overview of the crisis in Darfur based on the authors’ 2005 visit to the region. Includes maps, photographs, and an appendix detailing actions one can take to help end the genocide.
  
  
• Daly, M. W. Darfur’s Sorrow: A History of Destruction and Genocide. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. (DT 159.6 .D27 D35 2007) [Find in a library near you]
  Discusses the history of Darfur as a neglected and underdeveloped region of various empires as documents the precursors to the conditions for genocide in the region. Contains a chronology, glossary, endnotes, a bibliography, and an index.
  
  
• De Waal, Alex. Famine That Kills: Darfur, Sudan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. (HC 835 .Z9 F335 2005) [Find in a library near you]
  Examines the effects of disease, starvation, survival strategies, and international humanitarian efforts in Darfur. Presents a case-study of the Mawashei camp and considers famine, land disputes, poverty, and social history as roots of the genocide. Contains statistics, abbreviations, a bibliography, and an index.
  
  
• De Waal, Alex, editor. War in Darfur and the Search for Peace. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 2007. (DT 159.6 .D27 W37 2007) [Find in a library near you]
  Combines fifteen essays on various topics related to the situation in Darfur, including peace negotiations and the emergence of American movements to stop the violence. Includes endnotes, a bibliography, and an index.
  
  
• Feinstein, Lee. “Darfur and Beyond: What Is Needed to Prevent Mass Atrocities.” Council Special Reports (CSR), no. 22. New York: Council on Foreign Relations, 2007. (Subject Files) [Find in a library near you]
  Provides an overview on the crisis in Darfur. Discusses state sovereignty, atrocities, and the responsibility to protect individuals and human rights. Discusses the roles of the United Nations, United States, and regional organizations and their response to the crisis, and presents conclusions.
  
  
• Flint, Julie, and Alex de Waal. Darfur: A Short History of a Long War. London: Zed Books, 2005. (DT 157.673 .F58 2005) [Find in a library near you]
  Relates the history and ethnic identity of Darfur and the rise of the Sudanese government and its relations with the Janjaweed militia and other rebel groups. Highlights responses of the international community and roles of the United Nations and African Union. Includes photographs, maps, endnotes, a chronology, glossary, bibliography, and an index.
  
  
• Holt, P. M., and M. W. Daly. A History of the Sudan: From the Coming of Islam to the Present Day. New York: Longman, 2000. (DT 156.4 .H64 2000) [Find in a library near you]
  Provides a general history of Sudan from the Middles Ages to the present. Includes footnotes, maps, a bibliography and an index.
  
  
• Iyob, Ruth, and Gilbert M. Khadiagala. Sudan: The Elusive Quest for Peace. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc., 2006. (DT 157.672 .I94 2006) [Find in a library near you]
  Considers Sudan’s complex geo-politics and other roadblocks to peace in the region. Discusses the history of the Afro-Arab Islamic Sultanate, tribal and ethnic identities, exclusionary politics, relations with the central government, key parties in the conflict, conflict resolution and the Abuja peace agreement.
  
  
• Kahn, Leora, editor. Darfur: Twenty Years of War and Genocide in Sudan. Brooklyn, NY: PowerHouse Books, 2007. (DT 159.6 .D27 D38 2007) [Find in a library near you]
  Thematically arranged collection of photographs taken before and after the genocide began. Includes several short essays by prominent figures and journalists.
  
  
• Lefkow, Leslie. Darfur in Flames: Atrocities in Western Sudan. New York: Human Rights Watch, 2004. (JC 599 .S73 L44 2004) [Find in a library near you]
  Provides a historical background to the situation in Darfur. Discusses the Sudanese government’s policy of forced displacement, abuses by government-allied militias and rebels, the cross-border conflict in Chad, and humanitarian implications. Provides recommendations to Sudan, Chad, rebel groups, the United Nations, the World Food Programme, and others.
  
  
• Mahmoud, Mahgoub El-Tigani. “Inside Darfur: Ethnic Genocide by a Governance Crisis.” Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 24, no. 2 (2004): 3-17. (Subject File) [Find in a library near you]
  Argues that ethnic identity, biased policies, and government abuses towards non-Arab Darfurians are causes of the genocide in Darfur. Draws on the work of Sudanese writers and scholars in order to better understand the situation and to offer solutions to the crisis. Contains endnotes.
  
  
• Physicians for Human Rights. Darfur. Cambridge, MA: Physicians for Human Rights, 2005. (DT 157.673 .D37 2005) [Find in a library near you]
  Presents photographs of Darfuri refugees living in Chad with brief accounts from survivors of the Furawiya, Terbeba, and Bendisi villages.
  
  
• Prunier, Gérard. Darfur: The Ambiguous Genocide. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2005. (DT 159.6 .D27 P78 2005) [Find in a library near you]
  A comprehensive analysis of the conflict in Darfur. Discusses the origins of the crisis, tribes and ethnic identity, religion, local and regional politics, and relations between Darfur and the Khartoum government.
  
  
• Reeves, Eric. A Long Day’s Dying: Critical Moments in the Darfur Genocide. Toronto: The Key Publishing House, Inc., 2007 (DT 159.6 .D27 R448 2007) [Find in a library near you]
  Compendium of more than one hundred written analyses documenting the Darfur crisis since 2003. Includes maps, photographs, appendices, a bibliography, and an index.
  
  
• Udombana, Nsongurua J. “When Neutrality is a Sin: The Darfur Crisis and the Crisis of Humanitarian Intervention in Sudan.” Human Rights Quarterly 27, no. 4 (2005): 1149-1199. (JC 571 .U64 v.27) [Find in a library near you]
  Argues that failed diplomatic efforts to end Sudanese government human rights violations justifies international military intervention. Denounces the international community’s neutral response toward atrocities in the area. Discusses security challenges facing Africa and offers suggestions. Contains footnotes.
  
  
• Van Ardenne-van der Hoeven, Agnes, Mohamed Salih, Nick Grono, and Juan Méndez. Explaining Darfur: Four Lectures on the Ongoing Genocide. Amsterdam: Vossiuspers UvA, 2006. (DT 159.6 .D27 E97 2006) [Find in a library near you]
  Introduces the conflict in Darfur and discusses aspects of governance, policy, conflict resolution, genocide prevention, and provides a critique of the international community’s response. Contains photographs.
  
  
• West, Deborah L. The Sudan: Saving Lives, Sustaining Peace. Cambridge, MA: Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 2006. (DT 159.6 .D27 W47 2006) [Find in a library near you]
  Summary of the discussions that took place at a conference held in March 2006. Contains a map, list of conference participants, and list of publications by the Program on Intrastate Conflict.
  
  
• Xavier, John. Darfur: African Genocide. New York: Rosen, 2008. (DT 159.6 .D27 X38 2008) [Find in a library near you]
  General history of the region that focuses on geographical and historical factors in the genocide. Includes suggestions for further reading, a glossary, and an index. Written for young adults.
  
  

Investigative Reports ↑

• Jok, Jok Madut. Sudan: Race, Religion, and Violence. Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2007. (DT 157.673 .J65 2007) [Find in a library near you]
  Examines the roles and relationship between race and religion in Sudan, especially as they create divisions within the country. Also examines trends of militancy in Sudan. Includes a bibliography, maps, and an index.
  
  
• Flint, Julie. Sudan, Darfur Destroyed: Ethnic Cleansing by Government and Militia Forces in Western Sudan. New York: Human Rights Watch, 2004. (KTQ 2107 .M56 S75 2004) [Find in a library near you]
  Considers Sudanese government and Janjaweed militia collaboration in the ethnic cleansing of Darfur. Chronicles atrocities and critiques international response. Includes maps, photographs of atrocities, statistics, and lists victims by village.
  
  
• Gingerich, Tara, and Jennifer Leaning. The Use of Rape as a Weapon of War in the Conflict in Darfur, Sudan. Boston: Program on Humanitarian Crises and Human Rights, François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard School of Public Health, 2004. (DT 157.673 .G56 2004) [Find in a library near you]
  Utilizes the results of interviews and a literature review to assess the use of rape as a weapon in Darfur with particular consideration of the nature of the rapes, the circumstances in which they took place, their relationship to the larger issue of ethnic cleansing, the impact on the non-Arab community of Darfur, and possibilities for mitigation and support by the international community.
  
  
• Human Rights Watch. Entrenching Impunity: Government Responsibility for International Crimes in Darfur. New York: Human Rights Watch, 2005. (KTQ 2107 .M56 .H954 2005) [Find in a library near you]
  Examines the responsibilities of the Sudanese government and military officials for implementing policies of ethnic cleansing in Darfur. Provides policy recommendations and calls for an end to impunity so those responsible can be prosecuted. Contains photographs, footnotes, a list of war criminals, and an index.
  
  
• Marlowe, Jen, Aisha Bain, and Adam Shapiro. Darfur Diaries: Stories of Survival. New York: Nation Books, 2006. (DT 159.6 .D27 M37 2006) [Find in a library near you]
  Three human rights activists visited Darfur in 2004 to document and film the ongoing genocide. Expanding on their film, the authors present stories of survivors, including internally displaced persons and refugees living in Chad.
  
  
• Physicians for Human Rights. Darfur, Assault on Survival: A Call for Security, Justice, and Restitution. Cambridge, MA: Physicians for Human Rights, 2006. (DT 157.673 .D372 2006) [Find in a library near you]
  Investigative findings of atrocities in Darfur including eyewitness accounts from the villages of Furawiya, Terbeba, and Bendisi. Discusses international law, reparations, and provides recommendations for resolving the crisis. Includes maps, glossary, acronym list, statistics, and appendices.
  
  
• Physicians for Human Rights. Destroyed Livelihoods: A Case Study of Furawiya Village, Darfur. Cambridge, MA: Physicians for Human Rights, 2005. (Subject File)
  Investigates the systematic destruction of traditional livelihoods and war crimes in the village of Furawiya. Includes an evaluation of social systems and strategies, the political economy, and return prospects for refugees, as well as recommendations for the United Nations Security Council. Provides a timeline of the events in Furawiya generated from eyewitness accounts. Includes photographs.
  
  
• Steidle, Brian, and Gretchen Steidle Wallace. The Devil Came on Horseback: Bearing Witness to the Genocide in Darfur. New York: Public Affairs, 2007. (DT 159.6 .D27 S74 2007) [Find in a library near you]
  Memoir of a military observer and humanitarian documenting atrocities witnessed first-hand in Darfur along with survivors’ accounts. Contains photographs and a map.
  
  
• Sudan Organization Against Torture. Annual Reports on the Human Rights Situation in Sudan. London: Sudan Organization Against Torture, 2006. (Subject File)
  Series of yearly reports examining the growing crisis in Darfur. Documents human rights violations with lists detailing incidents and names of wounded, raped, kidnapped, illegally detained, arrested, tortured and murdered persons from Darfur. Contains victim testimonies and photographic evidence of torture.
  
  
• Totten, Samuel, and Eric Markusen, editors. Genocide in Darfur: Investigating the Atrocities in the Sudan. New York: Routledge, 2006. (DT 159.6 .D27 G464 2006) [Find in a library near you]
  Presents evidence and refugee interviews collected by the Darfur Atrocities Documentation Team. The U.S. State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development, and others helped the U.S. government to determine, in 2004, the severity of the genocide in Darfur. Includes chronology, a map, statistical tables, a bibliography, and an index.
  
  
• United Kingdom, House of Commons. International Development Committee. Darfur, Sudan: The Responsibility to Protect: Fifth Report of Session 2004-05. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 2005. (Oversize DT 159.6 .D27 G73 2005) [Find in a library near you]
  Assesses the international community’s response to the crisis in Darfur and makes recommendations as to how the response needs to be improved. Includes oral and written evidence from twenty organizations. Contains maps, timeline, and footnotes.
  
  
• United Kingdom. House of Commons. International Development Committee. Darfur: The Killing Continues. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 2006. (Oversize DT 159.6 .D27 G74 2006) [Find in a library near you]
  Assesses the crisis in Darfur and the corresponding humanitarian response. Discusses the responsibility to protect civilians, the effectiveness of peacekeepers, and the Abuja peace negotiations. Contains witness testimony and written evidence.
  
  
• United Kingdom. Parliament. DFID Response to the Report of the International Development Committee of 30 March 2005: Darfur, Sudan: The Responsibility to Protect. Cm. 6576. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 2005. (Oversize HN 787 .Z9 S624 2005) [Find in a library near you]
  Draws conclusions from the British House of Commons report on the responsibility to protect individuals in Darfur and provides recommendations for peace and meeting humanitarian needs.
  
  
• United Nations Children’s Fund. Child Alert: Darfur. New York: UNICEF, 2005. (Subject File)
  Examines forces shaping the lives of Darfur’s children displaced by the crisis in that region. Examines life in the camps, security, and the effects of violence and trauma. Draws upon eyewitness accounts, including extensive interviews with children, family members, and aid workers in the field. Contains photographs.
  
  
• Young, Helen, Abdul Monim Osman, Yacob Aklilu, Rebecca Dale, Babiker Badri, and Abdul Jabbar Abdullah Fuddle. Darfur: Livelihoods Under Siege. Medford, MA: Feinstein International Famine Center, Tufts University, 2005. (HC 835 .Z7 D375 2005) [Find in a library near you]
  Studies the effects of the crisis in Darfur and effects on the livelihoods of communities in the region in order to refine the nature of humanitarian efforts. Contains statistics, more than forty tables and figures, annexes, maps, a glossary, acronym list, and footnotes.
  
  

Film and Video ↑

• Charboneau, Michael, Katrina Roberts, Rick James, and Pamela Serrano. The Promise [online video]. Altered Image Productions, 2004.
  Students from a high school in Danbury, Connecticut created a documentary and project on Darfur that explores the theme “Never Again” and calls for advocacy in ending genocide in Darfur. Includes photographs of Holocaust victims and images of Darfuri survivors interspersed with student commentaries, inspirational quotes, and drawings by Darfuri children depicting the genocide.
  
  
• Efram, Shawn, and Scott Pelley. 60 Minutes. “Searching for Jacob” [online video]. New York: CBS Broadcasting, 2006.
  Journalist Scott Pelley attempts to track down a boy whose village was destroyed by the militia in Darfur.
  
  
• Flint, Julie. Darfur Destroyed: Ethnic Cleansing by Government and Militia Forces in Western Sudan [online video]. New York: Human Rights Watch, 2004.
  Records the interviews journalist Julie Flint made with victims of the crisis in Darfur as part of a fact finding mission sponsored by Human Rights Watch. Includes film footage of destroyed villages and interviews with survivors.
  
  
• Fowler, Jerry. Staring Genocide in the Face [videorecording]. Washington: Committee on Conscience, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2004. (DVD collection) [Find in a library near you]
  Jerry Fowler, Director of the Committee on Conscience at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, visited with refugees from Darfur now living in Chad in May 2004, and relates their stories to raise awareness worldwide.
  
  
• Hanson, Stephanie. Crisis Guide: Darfur [online video]. Council on Foreign Relations and MediaStorm, 2007.
  World leaders, the leader of the Justice and Equality Movement, a legal scholar, and a refugee camp trauma counselor discuss the genocide in Darfur. Interactive feature provides crisis facts and explores the roles of the African Union, United Nations, Arab League, European Union, United States, China, International Criminal Court, and other organizations. Includes photographs of the atrocities.
  
  
• Heffernan, John. Darfur: Lives Destroyed [online video]. Physicians for Human Rights, 2005.
  Physicians for Human Rights investigator John Heffernan visited Darfur and interviewed refugees in Chad to detail the destruction of the village of Furawiya in Darfur. Shows before and after images as evidence of the destruction of the village.
  
  
• Marlowe, Jen, Aisha Bain, and Adam Shapiro. Darfur Diaries Message from Home [videorecording]. Los Angeles: Cinema Libre Studio, 2006. (DVD Collection) [Find in a library near you]
  In 2004, three human rights activists visited refugee camps in Chad and villages in Darfur to document the genocide in the region. Includes interviews with students, teachers, displaced survivors, resistance fighters, and child soldiers.
  
  
• Sawyer, John. Our Choice Too, On the Edge in Darfur [online video]. Washington: Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, Azimuth Media, and World Security Institute, 2006.
  Describes Sawyer’s January 2006 trip with African Union peacekeeping troops in Darfur. Shows troops on patrol to protect citizens and the dangers both peacekeepers and ordinary citizens face when under attack by the Janjaweed. Interviews with troop leaders and internally displaced camp workers describe the situation on the ground.
  
  
• Steidle, Brian. Darfur Eyewitness [videorecording]. Washington: Committee on Conscience, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2005. (DVD collecion) [Find in a library near you]
  Former United States Marine Brian Steidle describes what he saw while in Darfur with the African Union Monitoring Force. Includes photographs documenting atrocities committed by the Janjaweed and Sudanese government.
  
  
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Our Walls Bear Witness [online video]. Washington: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2006.
  Recorded at the November 20, 2006 opening of a special United States Holocaust Memorial Museum project entitled “Darfur, Who Will Survive Today?” For one week, the large-scale images of the genocide in Darfur were projected on the exterior walls of the Museum for the public to see. Featured speakers include Special Envoy for Sudan Andrew Natsios, Darfurian expatriate Omer Ismail, Rwandan genocide survivor Clemantine Wamariya, and Holocaust survivor Nesse Godin.
  
  

Museum Web Resources ↑

• Crisis in Darfur: Satellite Mapping Initiative
  The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum partnered with Google to develop a unique online satellite mapping initiative, Crisis in Darfur that allows users to zoom-in and monitor potential and emerging genocides. Features links to statistical data, photographs, videos, and eyewitness accounts, compiled by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Users can view the status of destroyed and damaged villages, clusters of internally displaced persons, and locations of refugee camps in Chad.
  
  
• Genocide in Darfur: Darfur Eyewitness Teacher Guide
  Lesson plan designed to teach students about the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the International Criminal Court definition of crimes against humanity. Helps students understand the situation in Darfur and describes what can be done to stop the genocide.
  
  
• Growing Up in Darfur
  Interview with native Darfurian Omer Ismail, co-founder of the Darfur Peace and Development Organization. who discusses the various tribes in his native region, and recalls an earlier time in Darfur’s history characterized by tolerance. Considers the Sudanese government’s role in exacerbating ethnic tensions, the effect of climate change, and the effect of displacement due to conflict on traditional life in Darfur.
  
  
• Organizing at Your School to End the Genocide in Sudan
  Committee on Conscience publication presenting ideas for taking action on campuses and in communities. Includes tips for writing campaigns.
  
  
• The Sudan Open Archive
  Searchable database offerings free digital access to knowledge about Sudan. The Archive is an expanding, full-text database of historical and contemporary documents, with a linked analytical guide to internet resources.
  
  

Additional Resources ↑

• Subject Files
  Ask at the reference desk to see the subject file labeled “Darfur” to find newspaper and periodical articles.
  
  
• Subject Headings
  To search library catalogs or other electronic search tools for materials on Darfur, use the following Library of Congress subject headings to retrieve the most relevant citations:
  
  • Darfur (Sudan) Ethnic relations
  • Darfur (Sudan) History 20th century
  • Darfur (Sudan) Politics and government 20th century
  • Genocide Sudan Darfur
  • Sudan History Darfur Conflict, 2003-
  
  

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