After spending more than 40 days in Darfur over the course of six months and engaging in over 2,700 consultations with people across Darfur, the African Union Panel on Darfur has delivered its final report. Chaired by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, the Panel described Darfur as a "Sudanese crisis" and stated:

It [the crisis in Darfur] results from a legacy of the unequal distribution of power and wealth in Sudan, whereby peripheral regions, including Darfur, have been historically neglected. The war in Darfur cannot be resolved outside the context of a response to the wider challenges facing Sudan as a nation, of democratic transformation, of creating a new and equitable political and developmental dispensation, and of giving the best chance for national unity.

The report offered recommendations on a range of critical issues, including: establishing a roadmap to end the violence; offering compensation for individual and communal losses; strengthening the UN force in Darfur; and mobilizing Sudan's neighbors to support the peace processes.

Addressing the difficult subject of justice and reconciliation, the Panel recommended forming a hybrid court with international and national judges and investigators. This recommendation was intended to respond to what it described as a polarized discussion of justice after the ICC arrest warrant for President Bashir. By including an international component, the Panel sought to alleviate concerns many Darfurians have about Sudan's justice system, while also acknowledging that the government of Sudan has not recognized the ICC's jurisdiction. Other mechanisms recommended include a truth, justice and reconciliation commission, reparations, and a plan for economic and social recovery.

Although the Panel sets a new standard for African leadership in resolving crises on the continent, the strength of this report will ultimately lie in its implementation. Meanwhile, signs of progress across the whole nation are being watched for carefully as Sudan begins a month-long voter registration drive in a key step towards the April 2010 presidential elections, the first democratic elections in 24 years.

The final report of the African Union Panel on Darfur is available here.

On October 19, the Obama Administration unveiled a new strategy toward Sudan, which aims to end the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, as well as ensure the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. The new policy promises to offer incentives if Khartoum makes progress and "increased pressure" if it does not.

They cited several critical lessons from past dealings with the government of Sudan:

• The United States cannot succeed in achieving our policy by focusing exclusively on Darfur or CPA implementation -- both must be addressed seriously and simultaneously, while also working to resolve and prevent conflict throughout Sudan.
• United States policy must be agile enough to address discrete emergency crises, while maintaining a sustained focus on long-term stability.
• To advance peace and security in Sudan, we must engage with allies and with those with whom we disagree. United States diplomacy must be both sustained and broad, encompassing not just the National Congress Party, SPLM, and major Darfuri rebel groups but also critical regional and international actors.
• Assessments of progress and decisions regarding incentives and disincentives must not be based on process-related accomplishments (i.e., the signing of a MOU or the issuance of a set of visas), but rather based on verifiable changes in conditions on the ground.
• Accountability for genocide and atrocities is necessary for reconciliation and lasting peace.
• It must be clear to all parties that Sudanese support for counterterrorism objectives is valued, but cannot be used as a bargaining chip to evade responsibilities in Darfur or implementing the CPA.

And outlines what their priorities will be moving forward:

1. A definitive end to conflict, gross human rights abuses, and genocide in Darfur.
2. Implementation of the North-South CPA that results in a peaceful post-2011 Sudan, or an orderly path toward two separate and viable states at peace with each other.
3. Ensure that Sudan does not provide a safe haven for international terrorists.

To learn more, read coverage of the new strategy in The New York Times and The Washington Post.

With inter-ethnic clashes in South Sudan and the nation as a whole bracing itself for upcoming elections, the western region of Darfur has been reminded that the war is not over. In mid-September, attacks by the Sudan Armed Forces around Korma North Darfur were reported to have killed 16 civilians, wounded dozens more, and destroyed several villages. An estimated 2.7 million people still live in displaced persons camps in Darfur and 200,000 refugees remain in Chad, unable to return home for fear of precisely this kind of violence between the rebel groups and the Sudanese government.

Efforts to address the current situation in Sudan continued this month with an international conference on Sudan in Moscow, attended by the UN, AU, and League of Arab States. Peace talks on Darfur are set to resume by the end of October in Doha.

On November 20, 2006, the Museum projected wall-sized images of the escalating genocide in Darfur onto its facade, the first time the national memorial's exterior was used to highlight contemporary genocide. A unique and highly symbolic Museum project, the program was called "Darfur: Who Will Survive Today?" Appearing on the Museum's walls that night were images taken in Darfur and neighboring Chad by eight different photographers, including Istanbul-based photojournalist Lynsey Addario.

This past week, the MacArthur Foundation awarded Addario a $500,000 "genius grant" for her work in "exposing the tragic consequences of human conflict."

View Addario's photographs and others from that November night.

As international diplomatic attention focuses on Sudan's approaching political deadlines, more incidents of violence have occurred in the South. On August 29, in the latest in a series of devastating clashes, a violent attack in Twic East County, Jonglei State resulted in the deaths of 42 people, many of them women and children, and displaced up to 24,000 people.

Although populations in the region have long suffered from cycles of violence, it is now clear that the nature of violence has changed.

Jonathan Whittall, head of the Medecins Sans Frontieres mission in South Sudan, explained that the August 29th attack represents a new development:

The violent clashes are different to the traditional 'cattle rustling' that normally occurs each year. Women and children, usually spared in this fighting, are now deliberately targeted and the number of deaths are higher than the number of wounded. In the last six violent incidents that MSF responded to in Jonglei and Upper Nile States over the last six months, official figures show that 1,057 people were killed in contrast to 259 wounded, with more than 60,000 displaced. This is new -- the intention is to attack a village and to kill. The result is a population living in total fear, with significant humanitarian and medical needs.

Update: Burning buildings and attacking churchgoers, militiamen killed over a hundred people in a raid on the village of Duk Padiet in Jonglei State on September 20. Southerners have accused Khartoum of arming rival tribes in the region, although the government denies the claim.

As Sudan moves closer to making significant political choices in the near future (national elections in April 2010 and a referendum on southern independence in 2011), international efforts to establish firm peace agreements in Darfur and southern Sudan have accelerated.

Dedicated to addressing matters of peace, justice, and reconciliation in Darfur, the African Union Panel on Darfur, chaired by President Thabo Mbeki, plans to release its recommendations to Sudan and the African Union at the end of September. Meanwhile, Scott Gration, President Obama's Special Envoy to Sudan, is returning to the region this week to continue facilitating bilateral negotiations between the SPLM and the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) that focus on achieving a full implementation of the CPA. These discussions will concentrate on resolving two contentious issues in the CPA: the use of the census results and an agreement on technical provisions regarding the 2011 referendum. In August, Gration witnessed the initial signing of the bilateral agreement.

Gration will also travel to Darfur to visit IDP camps in an effort to assess the humanitarian situation since the NGO expulsions and to meet with Darfur women leaders to discuss programs aimed at addressing gender-based violence.

On July 30, the Museum updated its Google Earth initiative Crisis in Darfur with the latest U.S. Department of State data that sheds new light on the extent of the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. It confirms that most villages were destroyed between 2003 and 2005, during the height of the brutal Sudanese government-backed campaign targeting civilians in Darfur.

Below is a breakdown of the number of villages attacked in Darfur by year or -- when it was not possible to determine the precise year -- by date range:

Villages Attacked by Year or Date Range

Unknown year: 382

2003:	580
2003-2004:	254
2004:	844
2004-2005	104
2005:	252
2005-2006:	174
2006:	540
2006-2007:	18
2007:	117
2007-2008:	8
2008:	76
2008-2009:	1
2009:	6

Total Villages: 3356
Total Villages with Corresponding Year: 2974

Total Damaged Villages: 516
Total Destroyed Villages: 2840

To view evidence of these destroyed villages in Darfur, visit Mapping Initiatives: Crisis in Darfur.

In July 2004, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum declared a “genocide emergency” in Darfur, Sudan. This week, after extensive research and an assessment of conditions on the ground, the Museum is changing its categorization of conditions in Sudan to a “genocide warning” for the entire country.

As part of its mandate, the Committee on Conscience at the Holocaust Museum is charged with alerting the national conscience and stimulating action to prevent or halt acts of genocide and related crimes against humanity. For some time now, we have evaluated situations based on three graduated categories of urgency:

Emergency: Acts of genocide or related crimes against humanity are occurring or immediately threatened.

Warning: Organized violence is underway that threatens to become genocide or related crimes against humanity.

Watch: The circumstances indicate a serious potential for the eruption of mass violence that would be within the Committee’s mandate.

Drawing distinctions between these alert levels is important, albeit difficult, because doing so helps shape the proper policy for saving lives. Under the 1948 Genocide Convention, genocide is defined as the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, religious or racial group through killing or other acts. It is a difficult crime to prove because of the high standard involved with documenting intent. It is also a very specific crime -- and should not be used as a catch-all term for all mass killing or atrocities.

Choosing how to categorize a particular situation, moreover, is not an exact science. At any given time, regrettably, there are often several wars or conflicts in the world where extreme violence against civilians is being perpetrated. Experts will often disagree where on the continuum to genocide a certain situation ought to be placed. Here at the Holocaust Museum, we pay extremely close attention to the facts on the ground in order to arrive at our own judgments.

Mindful of the power of the word genocide, we have always tried to be judicious. As the scale of the violence in Darfur became increasingly apparent in 2003 and 2004, circumstances demanded that we place the situation at our highest level of alert. The Sudanese government and allied militias conducted a series of offensives that drove civilians in the Fur, Zaghawa and Masalit ethnic groups off their lands. More than two million people were displaced from their homes, and the government obstructed the delivery of humanitarian assistance from international groups. Mortality rates skyrocketed: the World Health Organization estimated that up to 200,000 people died during this period.

While reasonable people disagreed with our assessment -- the United Nations, for instance, never labeled the events in Darfur a “genocide” -- we strongly believe that our “emergency” designation was accurate.

But now conditions in Sudan have changed. Although violence persists in Darfur, it is of a different character, with rebel groups and criminal elements responsible for violence along with the Sudanese government. The Sudanese government has halted major offensives against civilian groups. Humanitarian assistance is being provided. Mortality rates have been significantly reduced: The United Nations estimates that about 1,500 people died as a result of violence in each 2007 and 2008. New satellite assessments by the U.S. government, highlighted in “Crisis in Darfur”, the Museum’s initiative with Google Earth, clearly show the level of destruction of Darfurian villages has decreased from the height of the Sudanese government’s systematic military campaign between 2003 and 2005.

The situation across Sudan remains perilous. In Darfur, millions remain at risk in displaced persons camps because it is too dangerous to return home, and those chiefly responsible for the crimes in Darfur remain in power in Khartoum. Furthermore, we are deeply concerned about the situation in South Sudan, where hundreds of civilians have been killed in fighting over the past several months. Over the course of the next year, the country faces significant political challenges -- with national elections and a referendum on southern independence. Our concerns focus on the challenges for Sudan as a whole and the imminent risks to large segments of the civilian population. By our own criteria, we believe it is most accurate to place Darfur and the rest of Sudan in our “genocide warning” category.

We also believe that the Sudanese government must be held accountable for its past and current behavior. The International Criminal Court has sought an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir and other Sudanese officials for their roles in orchestrating violence in Darfur. When this warrant was issued in March, the government responded by evicting 13 humanitarian organizations working in displaced persons camps -- another possible violation of international law. This is unacceptable: the Sudanese government must fulfill its responsibility to protect its own citizens.

We recognize that there is a significant public debate about how to describe what is happening in Darfur. We will continue to closely monitor conditions in Sudan, and we are ready to raise our alert level if necessary. Our hope is that an accurate description of the evolving situation will help elicit the appropriate policy and public response -- and lives will be saved.

--- Mike Abramowitz, Director of the Committee on Conscience

On July 30, the Museum updated its Google Earth initiative Crisis in Darfur with the latest U.S. Department of State data that sheds new light on the extent of the genocide in Darfur.

The new data shows that more than 3,300 villages have been damaged or destroyed, primarily between 2003-2005, in the Darfur region of Sudan. This is more than twice the number that was identified in previous U.S. government assessments and strengthens the evidence of a vast, targeted campaign of destruction against civilians.

This is the most detailed picture to date of the scope and nature of the destruction that occurred during the genocide in Darfur and after. That thousands of villages were destroyed has been known for some time; this data documents the true enormity of the destruction. The data also includes hundreds of "before and after" satellite images of villages throughout Darfur, as well as additional details about when the villages were destroyed. This data also confirms that most villages were destroyed between 2003 and 2005, during the height of the brutal Sudanese government-backed campaign targeting civilians in Darfur.

Stay tuned for additional features in Crisis in Darfur, including a narrated flyover tour and a map of destroyed villages by year.

To access the Crisis in Darfur layers in Google Earth, visit Mapping Initiatives: Crisis in Darfur.

Learn more about the current situation in Sudan; view the press release announcing the update; and read about it in The Washington Post.