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Context

After more than twenty months of conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan, the situation is more complex and volatile than it has ever been.¹ Despite an April 2004 ceasefire signed by the two main rebel groups—the Sudan Liberation Army Movement (SLA/M) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM)—and the government,  and the presence of 136 African Union (A.U.) ceasefire observers,  protected by 625 A.U. troops, attacks on civilians and ceasefire violations continue on a daily basis.

Currently, the scale of forced displacement and associated human rights abuses is not as high as it was in the early months of 2004, primarily because the majority of the rural population that was targeted is now displaced in camps and settlements.  However, attacks in new areas of Darfur continue to displace thousands of civilians from their homes, and violence against civilians remains a constant factor throughout Darfur.  In addition, the recent emergence of two new rebel groups,² and the spread of the conflict to western Kordofan, could threaten the lives and livelihoods of many more communities.³

Each Darfur state—North, South, and West Darfur, constituting the Greater Darfur region—has its own dynamics and insecurity in each state varies from area to area. While the government’s overall counterinsurgency strategy of ethnic militia recruitment in joint ethnic cleansing operations with army and airforce backing  is evident throughout the past twenty months in Darfur, the conflict in each state has been differently shaped by the distinct ethnic composition of each. The terrain—vast, with minimal infrastructure, from desert to savannah to mountains--—has also influenced the course of the conflict, as has the seasonal calendar of rains, livestock migration, and agriculture.