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The Darfur conflict is an ongoing armed conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan, mainly between the Janjaweed, a militia group recruited from the tribes of the Abbala Rizeigat (Bedouin Arabs), and the non-Baggara people (mostly land-tilling tribes) of the region. The Sudanese government, while publicly denying that it supports the Janjaweed, has provided money and assistance and has participated in joint attacks with the group, systematically targeting the Fur, Zaghawa, and Massaleit ethnic groups in Darfur.^[1] The conflict began in July 2003. Unlike in the Second Sudanese Civil War, which was fought between the primarily Muslim north and Christian and Animist south, in Darfur most of the residents are Muslim, as are the Janjaweed.^[2]

After fighting worsened in July and August 2006, on August 31, 2006, the United Nations Security Council approved Resolution 1706 which called for a new 17,300-troop UN peacekeeping force to supplant or supplement a poorly funded, ill-equipped 7,000-troop African Union Mission in Sudan peacekeeping force. Sudan strongly objected to the resolution and said that it would see the UN forces in the region as foreign invaders. The next day, the Sudanese military launched a major offensive in the region. (See New proposed UN peacekeeping force)

There are various estimates as to how many deaths have occurred. However they all concur that the range is within the hundreds of thousands. The UN estimates that the conflict has left as many as 450,000 dead from violence and disease.^[3] Most NGOs (non-governmental organizations) use 200,000 to over 400,000, a figure from the Coalition for International Justice that has since been cited by the United Nations. Sudan's government claims that 9,000 people have been killed, however this figure is seen as counterfactual.^{[4] [5]} As many as 2.5 million are thought to have been displaced as of October 2006. ^[6] (See Counting deaths section, below) The mass media once described the conflict as both "ethnic cleansing" and "genocide," and now do so without hesitation. The United States government has described it as genocide^[7], although the United Nations has declined to do so. (See List of declarations of genocide in Darfur) In March 2007 the U.N. mission accused Sudan's government of orchestrating and taking part in "gross violations" in Darfur and called for urgent international action to protect civilians there. ^[8]

References

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Main article: Darfur conflict

The Darfur conflict is an ongoing armed conflict between the Janjaweed militia group and the mostly land-tilling tribes of the region. The United Nations estimates that over 400,000 people have lost their lives since the beginning of this conflict.^[1] The conflict began in February 2003, when rebel groups began attacking government targets. The government retaliated by launching a military and police campaign. The government has been accused of encouraging a group of Arab nomads called the Janjaweed to rape, murder and loot the African farmers^{[citation needed]}. Because of this, more than two million people have fled their homes. Unlike the Second Sudanese Civil War, which was fought between the primarily Muslim north and Christian and Animist south, in Darfur most of the residents are Muslim, as are the Janjaweed.

Attempts at mediation by the African Union led to a peace accord between the Sudanese government and the largest rebel group in the Darfur region, signed May 5, 2006[1], but the United Nations says that there has actually been a dramatic increase in violence and displacement since the deal was signed[2].

Those who fled the Janjaweed now live in refugee camps across Darfur. About 2.5 million refugees have crossed the border into neighboring Chad.

Many Darfuri children, even in the refugee camps, are malnourished and starving to death. Aid workers in Darfur are denied access to some parts of Darfur^{[citation needed]}. The Sudan government will not allow United Nations forces to enter Sudan^{[citation needed]}.

The United Nations has threatened military intervention^{[citation needed]}, but the Sudanese government argues that it is caught in a continuing civil war and that no outside powers should seek to meddle in its internal affairs^{[citation needed]}.

In January 2007, President Omar al-Bashir agreed to a cease-fire whereby the Sudanese "government and rebel groups will cease hostilities for a period of 60 days while they work towards a lasting peace" [3], however, according to the Save Darfur Coalition, this cease-fire was broken weeks later when military aircraft bombed civilians in Darfur[4].

The International Criminal Court has indicted State Minister for Humanitarian Affairs Ahmed Haroun and alleged Janjaweed militia leader Ali Mohammed Ali aka Ali Kosheib,in relation to the atrocites in the region. Ahmed Haroun belongs to the Fur tribe one of the non Arab tribes of Darfur and is alleged to have incited attacks on specific ethnic groups. Ali Kosheib is an ex soldier and a leader of the popular defense forces and is cocked to be one of the key leaders responsible for attacks on villages in West Darfur.

(See also International response to the Darfur conflict.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darfur

References
^ Staff. Annan welcomes extension of African Union mission in Darfur, United Nations News Centre 21 September 2006

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The International Criminal Court (ICC) was established in 2002 as a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression, although it cannot currently exercise its jurisdiction over the crime of aggression. The court can only prosecute crimes committed on or after July 1, 2002, the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, entered into force.

As of April 2007, 104 states are members of the Court, and a further 41 countries have signed but not ratified the Rome Statute. However, a number of states, including the United States, China and India, continue to oppose it.

The Court can generally only exercise jurisdiction in cases where the accused is a national of a state party, the alleged crime took place on the territory of a state party, or a situation is referred to the Court by the United Nations Security Council. The Court is designed to complement existing national judicial systems: it can only exercise its jurisdiction when national courts are unwilling or unable to investigate or prosecute such crimes. Primary responsibility to exercise jurisdiction over suspected criminals is therefore left to individual states.

The official seat of the ICC is in The Hague, Netherlands, but its proceedings may take place anywhere. The Court is separate from, and should not be confused with, the International Court of Justice (often referred to as the “World Court”), which is the United Nations organ that settles disputes between nations.

"International Criminal Court" is sometimes abbreviated as ICCt to distinguish it from several other organizations abbreviated as ICC. However, the more common abbreviation "ICC" is used in this article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Criminal_Court

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The United States Holocaust Museum

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is a national institution situated in a prominent location adjacent to The National Mall in Washington, DC (in between 14th and 15th streets SW); however, it is not a constituent institution of the Smithsonian Institution. The museum is dedicated to documenting, studying, and interpreting the history of the Holocaust. It also serves as the United States' official memorial to the millions of European Jews and others killed during the Holocaust under directives of Nazi Germany. While the United States government provided some funding for both the building and continued operations of the museum, a majority of the funding comes from private sources, Jewish movie director Steven Spielberg being amongst the most notable donors. The street that the museum is located on is named Raoul Wallenberg Place, after the Swedish diplomat who is believed to have saved 100,000 Jews in Hungary during the Second World War. The museum building sits on land that previously belonged to the United States Department of Agriculture. Two of the three annex buildings that sat on this property were demolished to build a museum whose design would be wholly about the Holocaust.

The US Congress authorized the creation of the museum in 1980. The building was designed by James Ingo Freed, of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Though the building on the outside is rather monumental with clean lines, in keeping with the large governmental buildings in the immediate context, the interior was meant to provoke more intimate and visceral responses.

The facilities house a number of exhibitions, artworks, publications, and artifacts relating to the Holocaust. The museum collects and preserves material evidence, distributes educational materials, and produces public programming. The Holocaust Museum also holds annual Holocaust commemorations and remembrances.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Holocaust_Memorial_Museum

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Genocide Watch is an international organization based in the United States which attempts to predict, prevent, limit, eliminate, and punish genocides throughout the world through reporting, public awareness campaigns, and judicial or quasi-judicial follow-up. This can include trials in national justice systems, special national and international tribunals, the International Criminal Court, and truth and reconciliation commissions.

Genocide Watch was founded by Gregory Stanton. The Watch organization is the founder and chair of the International Campaign to End Genocide, initiated in The Hague in May 1999. On their webpage in 2006, Genocide Watch explains the ICEG this way:

1.5 million Armenians. 3 million Ukrainians. 6 million Jews. 250,000 Gypsies. 6 million Slavs. 25 million Russians. 25 million Chinese. 1 million Ibos. 1.5 million Bengalis. 200,000 Guatemalans. 1.7 million Cambodians. 500,000 Indonesians. 200,000 East Timorese. 250,000 Burundians. 500,000 Ugandans. 2 million Sudanese. 800,000 Rwandans. 2 million North Koreans. 10,000 Kosovars. Genocides and other mass murders killed more people in the twentieth century than all the wars combined.

“Never again” has turned into “Again and again.”^[1]

In addition to being a resource for the United Nations and national governments, Genocide Watch produces reports accessible to activists and journalists. In 2006, Genocide Watch was quoted in the worldwide press regarding Darfur in Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia, and Iraq. Genocide Watch maintains an office in Washington, D.C.

References

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The Peace Palace ("Vredespaleis" in Dutch), situated in The Hague, Netherlands, is often called the seat of international law because it houses the International Court of Justice (which is the principal judicial body of the United Nations), the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the Hague Academy of International Law, and the extensive Peace Palace Library.

In addition to hosting these judicial functions, the Palace is also a regular venue for special events in international policy and law. The idea of the Palace started from a discussion in 1900 between the Russian diplomat Friedrich Martens and the American diplomat Andrew White, over providing a home for the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), which was established through the first Hague Peace Conference in 1899. White contacted his friend and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie about this idea. Carnegie had his reservations, and at first was only interested in donating money for the establishment of a Library of International Law. White however was able to convince Carnegie, and in 1903 Carnegie agreed to donating 1.5 million dollars needed for a Peace Temple that would house the PCA as well as to endow it with a library of international law.

In first instance Carnegie simply wanted to donate the money directly to the Dutch Queen, Wilhelmina of the Netherlands for the build of the palace, but legal problems prohibited this, and in November 1903 the Carnegie Stichting (Carnegie Foundation) was founded in order to manage the construction, ownership, and maintenance of the Palace. This foundation is still responsible for these issues at present date.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Palace

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During World War II ghettos were established by the Nazis to confine Jews, Gypsies and Serbs into tightly packed areas of the cities of Eastern Europe. Starting in 1939, the Nazis began to systematically move Polish Jews into designated areas of large Polish cities. The first large ghetto at Tuliszkow was established in December 1939 or January 1940, followed by the Łódź Ghetto in April 1940 and the Warsaw Ghetto in October 1940, with many other ghettos established throughout 1940 and 1941. The Ghettos were walled off, and any Jew found leaving them was shot. The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of these Ghettos, with 380,000 people and the Łódź Ghetto, the second largest, holding about 160,000.

The situation in the ghettos was brutal. In Warsaw, 30% of the population were forced to live in 2.4% of the city's area, a density of 9.2 people per room. In the ghetto of Odrzywol, 700 people lived in an area previously occupied by 5 families, between 12 and 30 to each small room. The Jews were not allowed out of the ghetto, so they had to rely on food supplied by the Nazis: in Warsaw this was 253 calories (1,060 kJ) per Jew, compared to 669 calories (2,800 kJ) per Pole and 2,613 calories (10,940 kJ) per German. With crowded living conditions, starvation diets, and little sanitation (in the Łódź Ghetto 95% of apartments had no sanitation, piped water or sewers) hundreds of thousands of Jews died of disease and starvation.

In 1942, the Nazis began Operation Reinhard, the systematic deportation to extermination camps during the Holocaust. The authorities deported Jews from everywhere in Europe to the ghettos of the East, or directly to the extermination camps -- almost 300,000 people were deported from the Warsaw Ghetto alone to Treblinka over the course of 52 days. In some of the Ghettos the local resistance organisations started Ghetto uprisings. None were successful, and the Jewish populations of the ghettos were almost entirely killed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghettos_in_occupied_Europe_1939-1944

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