Press Release/Commentary by ESPAC posted on March 18, 2006 at 11:21:34: EST (-5 GMT)
NEW DARFUR STUDY PRESENTS AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW OF THE DARFUR CRISIS
The European-Sudanese Public Affairs Council
Date of Publication: 14 March 2006
“Darfur in Perspective”, an updated 278-page study of the Darfur
crisis, re-published in January 2006, is a current examination of the
conflict in western Sudan, a conflict that has rightly been described as
a humanitarian catastrophe. It is a study which presents an alternative
perspective on the tragedy, challenging many of the sensationalist
claims that have been made about the conflict.
In 2003 and 2004, Darfur became the epicentre of an international
crisis. The conflict flared just as Sudan’s 50-year old civil war in
southern Sudan had come to an end. Darfur has a complex tribal, ethnic
and linguistic composition and has clearly been caught up in internecine
political conflict at a national level. But this complexity is no excuse
for the disinformation and confusion that has come to surround the
conflict in western Sudan, and which continues to hinder its resolution.
The book’s author, Dr David Hoile, has stated that:
“There must be a negotiated resolution of the Darfur conflict. It is
essential to cut away the dead hand of propaganda that not only
continues to cloud the Darfur issue but also serves to artificially
prolong the conflict. The Darfur crisis is far too important to leave to
flawed analysis, extremists, propagandists and those who wish to see
continued conflict in Sudan.”
“Darfur in Perspective” is the first book to question and in some
cases cut through the many media myths about the conflict. It analyses
the causes and course of the war, and challenges, for example, the
accusation of genocide made against the government of Sudan. The study
attributes the Bush Administration’s claim of genocide in Darfur to
political pandering to Christian fundamentalist, anti-Islamic and
anti-Sudanese constituencies in the lead-up to the 2004 US presidential
elections.
The study includes chapters examining the causes of the conflict, the
Darfur peace process, humanitarian aid access to Darfur, allegations of
genocide and ethnic cleansing, the “Janjaweed” phenomenon, human
rights violations during the conflict and the role of the media in
reporting the war and its consequences. Most important of all, however,
the study suggests a road map for peace in western Sudan. The study also
carries a range of key documents such as the 2005 Declaration of
Principles for the Resolution of the Sudanese Conflict in Darfur, the
April 2004 Ndjamena Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement as well as the
various humanitarian and security protocols aimed at alleviating the
effects of the conflict.
The updated edition of “Darfur in Perspective” is also available
on-line at
http://www.darfurinperspective.com/pdf/Darfur-Book-New-Edition.pdf.
A plain text version of the first edition (published in 2005) is also
available at http://www.darfurinperspective.com.
About the Author
Dr David Hoile is a public affairs consultant specialising in African
affairs. He has studied Sudanese affairs for ten years and is the author
of “Images of Sudan: Case Studies in Propaganda and Misrepresentation”
(2003) and “Farce Majeure: The Clinton Administration’s Sudan Policy
1993-2000” (2000) and editor of “The Search for Peace in the Sudan:
A Chronology of the Sudanese Peace Process 1989-2001” (2002). Dr Hoile
is also a Research Professor at the University of Nyala in Darfur, and a
Visiting Professor at the Institute of African-Asian Studies and the
Department of Political Science at the University of Khartoum.
The author, Dr David Hoile, can be contacted by telephone on 020 7872
5434 (international + 44 20 7872 5434) or by email at
director@espac.org.