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| Janjaweed جنجويد | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Multiple leaders, includingMusa Hilal,Ali Kushayb andHemedti Abd–Al-Rahman[1] |
| Dates of operation | 1987–present[2][3] |
| Active regions | |
| Ideology | Tribalism Sudanese Arab supremacy Anti-Black racism[4] |
| Status | Active |
| Size | Unknown (less than 25,000 est.) |
| Part of |  Sudanese Armed Forces[5] (de jure,until 2023) Rapid Support Forces (majority, since 2013[6]) |
| Opponents | Sudanese Armed Forces (since April 2023) Supreme Political Council Government of National Accord Sudan Liberation Movement/Army |
| Battles and wars | |
TheJanjaweed (Arabic:جنجويد,romanized: Janjawīd) are aSudanese Arabnomadmilitia group operating in theSahel region,[8] specifically inSudan, particularly inDarfur and easternChad.[9] They have also been speculated to be active inYemen.[10][11][12] According to theUnited Nations definition, Janjaweed membership consists of Arab nomad tribes from theSahel, the core of whom areAbbala Arabs, traditionally employed incamel herding, with significant recruitment from theBaggara.
Janjaweednomads were initially at odds with Darfur's sedentary population due to competition over grazing grounds and farmland, a conflict exacerbated bydrought. The Janjaweed were a major player in theDarfur conflict between 2003 and 2020, in opposition to theSudan Liberation Movement/Army and theJustice and Equality Movement rebels.[13][14] In 2013, theRapid Support Forces grew out of the Janjaweed.[6]
The origin of the wordJanjaweed is unclear. It may derive from the Arabic wordsjinn (Arabic:جِنّ,lit. 'hidden, i.e.genie,demon orinsane') andʾajāwīd (Arabic:أَجاويد,lit. 'horses, horsemen'), and thus has been translated into English by some sources as "devils on horseback".[15] Other sources suggest it may derive from the Persian wordjangjavi (Persian:جنگجوی,lit. 'warriors'),[16] or aportmanteau of three words:جَن (jan) from English "gun";jinn; andʾajāwīd.[17] The word "Janjaweed" was used byFrançois Tombalbaye, the Christian President ofChad, to marginalize his Muslim political opponents.[18]
| War in Darfur |
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| Combatants |
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InDarfur, a western state in Sudan, Libyan leaderMuammar Gaddafi supported the creation of theTajammu al-Arabi (Arab Gathering) militia, which was described byGérard Prunier as "a militantly racist and pan-Arabist organization which stressed the 'Arab' character of the province".[19]: 45 The Arab Gathering shared members and a source of support with theIslamic Legion, and the distinction between the two is often ambiguous.[citation needed]
The nearly continuous cross-border raids contributed to a separate ethnic conflict within Darfur that killed about 9,000 people between 1985 and 1988.[19]: 61–65 The Janjaweed leadership has some background in Gaddafi's mercenary forces.[20][21]
The Janjaweed first appeared in 1988 afterChadian presidentHissène Habré, backed byFrance and theUnited States, defeated theLibyan army. Gaddafi's Chadian protégé,Acheikh Ibn-Oumar, retreated with his partisan forces to Darfur, where they were hosted bySheikh Musa Hilal, the newly elevated chief of theRizeigat Arab tribes of north Darfur.[citation needed] Hilal's tribesmen had earlier smuggled Libyan weapons to Ibn-Oumar's forces.[citation needed] A French-Chadian incursion destroyed Ibn-Oumar's camp, but his weapons remained with hisMahamid hosts.[citation needed]
Throughout the 1990s, the Janjaweed were Arab partisans who pursued a local agenda of controlling land, and were tolerated by the Sudan Government. The majority of Darfur's Arabs, theBaggara, became involved in the war over grazing territory.[22][page needed] In 1999–2000, faced with threats of insurgency in Western and Northern Darfur,Khartoum's security armed the Janjaweed forces.[citation needed]
As the insurgency escalated in February 2003, spearheaded by theSudan Liberation Movement/Army and theJustice and Equality Movement, the Sudanese government responded by using the Janjaweed as its main counter-insurgency force. Janjaweed forces were ordered to attack and recover the rebel-held areas of Darfur, conducting a campaign against rebels in Darfur. In 2004, theU.S. State Department and others named leading Janjaweed commanders, includingMusa Hilal-Sneed, as genocide suspects. By early 2006, many Janjaweed had been absorbed into theSudan Armed Forces including thePopular Defense Forces andBorder Guards. Meanwhile, the Janjaweed expanded to include some Arab tribes in eastern Darfur who were not historically associated with the original Janjaweed. A political base was also reestablished in Chad as part of theUnited Front for Democratic Change (FUC) coalition.[5][23]
By October 2007, only the United States government had declared the Janjaweed killings in Darfur to begenocide, since they had killed an estimated 200,000–400,000 civilians over the previous three years.[24][25] TheUN Security Council called for the Janjaweed to be disarmed.[citation needed] On 14 July 2008, the prosecutor of theInternational Criminal Court filed genocide charges against Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, accusing him of masterminding attempts to wipe out African tribes in Darfur with a campaign of murder, rape and deportation.[26]
In 2013, theRapid Support Forces (RSF) were formed from the Janjaweed to fight against rebel groups in Darfur,South Kordofan, andBlue Nile.[6]
In 2023, international diplomats insisted that the RSF merge into theSudanese Army as part of theSudanese transition to democracy.[27] By April 2023, power struggles developed between Sudan'sde facto national leader, army commanderAbdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the leader of the RSF,Hemedti. On 15 April 2023, clashes between RSF and army forces erupted across the country.[27][28]
By the second day of the conflict, 78 people had been reported killed. Among the dead were threeWorld Food Programme (WFP) workers, triggering the organization to suspend its work in Sudan, where it had been a principal force in alleviating hunger. United Nations Secretary-GeneralAntónio Guterres demanded immediate justice for the killings and called for an end to the conflict.[27][28][needs update]
Diplomats from theAfrican Union andSaudi Arabia mediated a three-hour humanitarianceasefire to permit the evacuation of the injured. Despite this, the battles continued, as both sides claimed to have seized control of key sites in and around the capital city.[27][28][needs update]
In 2006, the Janjaweed militia was absorbed into the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Border Guards. Khartoum appointed Musa Hilal, the commander of the militia, as the head of the Border Guards.
The Janjaweed established their presence on the Sudanese political scene very quickly. They are associated with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), fighting alongside them in the Sudanese states of the Blue Nile and South Kordofan, as well as in the Darfur region.
Media related toJanjaweed at Wikimedia Commons
