Thesis (M.A.)--University of Oregon, 2008. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. "List of journalists interviewed": p. 88. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-109). Also available online.

In 2003, a conflict broke out in Darfur, Sudan’s western province, between the mainly “African” rebels and the government forces and their proxy “Arab” militias. It is estimated that about 200,000 people have so far died in the conflict from fighting, disease, and starvation. The UN and aid agencies estimate that over two million Darfurians, out of the population of about six million, are living in refugee camps. Even though the majority of all deaths in Darfur have occurred in 2003 and 2004, the conflict is nowhere near the end. Even after more than five years since the Darfur conflict began, there is hardly any comprehensive information about the rebels’ aims, objectives, and plans for the future. We cannot fully understand the conflict and plan peace negotiations between the warring parties if we do not know enough about the rebels. This study has critically explored the aims and perspectives of the Justice and Equality Movement, currently the most powerful Darfur rebel movement. The author has used the first-hand information gathered through interviews with the representatives of the rebel movement and additional data about the conflict and the rebels collected through an extensive literature analysis to portray the movement and its aims, perspectives, and plans for the future. Using the grounded theory approach as the data analysis tool, the author has presented key findings about the Darfur conflict from the perspective of the Justice and Equality Movement that have emerged from the data collected in this study.

Sudan is located in the Northern part of the African continent and has a total land mass of 2.5 million square kilometres, with an estimated population of about 39.15 million people.1 Before the secession that established the South as an independent state from the North, Sudan was the largest country on the continent and hitherto was administered as a colony under the British mandate. From 1898 the United Kingdom (UK) and Egypt administered Sudan as an Anglo-Egyptian territory but North and South Sudan were administered as separate provinces of the condominium.2 In the early 1920s, the British passed the Closed District Ordinances which stipulated that passports were required for travelling between the two zones. Permits were also required to conduct business from one zone to the other, and totally separate administrations prevailed.3 However, in 1946 the British administration reversed its policy and decided to integrate North and South Sudan under one government. The South Sudanese authorities were informed at the Juba Conference of 1947 that they will be governed in the future under a common administrative authority with the north.5 From 1948, 13 delegates nominated by the British authorities represented the South in the Sudan Legislative Assembly. Many Southerners felt betrayed by the British as they were largely excluded from the new government. To them, it was a strategy by the British aimed at protecting their interest as far as colonial legacy is concerned.6 They complained that the language of the new government was Arabic and they were under represented. Of the eight hundred positions vacated by the British in 1953, only four were given to the Southerners. The political structure in the South was not as organized as that in the North and for this reason, political groupings and parties from the South were not represented at the various conferences that established the modern state of Sudan. As a result, many southerners did not consider Sudan to be a legitimate state. Although the Sudanese state was considered illegitimate by the Southerners, the Sudanese parliament unilaterally declared Sudan’s independence on 1st January 1956.8 Subsequently, the Arab-led Khartoum government reneged on promises it had made to Southerners to create a federal system. This led to a mutiny led by Southern army officers and sparked off a civil war after independence in 1956.9 Besides the issues highlighted above, the Abyei region of Sudan is rich in natural mineral resources and has been a bone of contention between the North and South. It has also affected Darfur negatively as most of the rebel groups involved in the Darfur conflict, like the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equity Movement (JEM), also seek for a share in the wealth of the region.10 However, before the June 2011 referendum, the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon called for the Sudan to withdraw all police officers from the Abyei region of South Sudan.11 Although the referendum resulted in the Republic of South Sudan, separating it from the North which remains the Republic of Sudan, political views expressed by the provinces in the North region have further captured more attention from the international community.12 The quest for Arab domination is common in this area and, one among the leading regions that have fallen prey to this practice is Darfur