DARFUR Union in the UK:- The Importance of Narrative, Language and Terminology When it Comes to De

01:59 AM July, 06 2023

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DARFUR Union in the UK:- The Importance of Narrative, Language and Terminology When it Comes to Describing the Latest Janjaweed/RSF War Crimes in Darfur

*The affiliates and sympathisers are helping Janjaweed to create alternative facts with respect to Darfur*

The narrative, language, and terminology used to describe the latest Janjaweed/RSF war crimes in Darfur is important for several reasons.
First, it can help to shape public opinion and understanding of the conflict. The way that these crimes are described can either help to raise awareness of the issue and generate support for action, or it can obscure the truth and make it more difficult to hold perpetrators accountable.
Second, the language used to describe these crimes can have a real impact on the victims. The use of dehumanising or inflammatory language can contribute to the stigma and marginalisation of survivors, making it more difficult for them to heal and rebuild their lives.
Third, the terminology used to describe these crimes can have legal implications. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has jurisdiction over crimes committed in Darfur, and the language used to describe these crimes can help to determine whether they meet the legal definition of genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity.
In recent years, there has been a growing awareness of the importance of using accurate and sensitive language to describe the conflict in Darfur. The ICC has issued guidelines on the use of language in its investigations, and human rights organisations have also developed resources to help journalists and others report on the conflict in a way that is accurate, respectful, and mindful of the impact on survivors.

In parallel, it is important to highlight actions that are taken by the counter groups, Janjaweed/RSF, their partners from some of the political parties and sympathisers to change the narrative and language to purposely downplaying the enormity of the situation:-
Labelling the ongoing atrocities and war crimes in Darfur as a civil war, a combat between two group fighting against each other rather than a war that has been waged on the basis of ethnicity against the local civilian population of Darfur, with Elgeneina (ref. 1), Kutum (ref. 2), Zalingei (ref. 3) being a real life examples of RSF/ Janjaweed crimes against the people of Sudan in Darfur.
Attempting to classify the victims, as the perpetrator, and trying to creating misinformation by flooding social media platforms and webpages with auto and non auto generated fake news with no reference to reputable sources. Furthermore, some of the videos distributed by Janjaweed and their affiliates/ sympathisers featured detainees whom were clearly forced to give accounts whilst under threat, often with visible wounds or marks from torture. It is important to emphasise that detainees and/ or prisoners of war (POW) should be treated according to Geneva Convention (III) (ref. 4).
Creating “alternative facts” by misrepresenting what is happening and creating stories that are completely false; example of that is the killing of West Darfur Governor Khamis Abaker by Janjaweed/ RSF (ref. 5) hours after giving a very candid interview about what is actually going on in Elgeneina, and how war crimes are being committed by RSF/ Janjaweed against the civilians (ref. 6). He was later seen in a video captured/ detained by RSF, escorted by RSF commander in West Darfur, Abdelrahman Juma from a pickup truck to a building, only to be found later on killed and his tortured body layed on the ground next to his brother’s tortured body. A few days later, RSF commander in the region, Juma, appeared on a badly choreographed video (audio with a photoshopped picture of him plus English and Arabic subtitles of the audio) aiming to response to the outcry and condemnations from across the world RSF and Juma received after they have assassination of Khamis Abaker. The underlined message from the video was RSF aiming to get the alternative facts/ lies out there at all cost and get their affiliates/ partners to repeat it over and over with aim to change the public opinion.



DARFUR Union in the UK emphasises the importance of using accurate and sensitive language to describe the latest Janjaweed/RSF war crimes in Darfur:
Avoid using dehumanizing or inflammatory language.
Be mindful of the impact of your language on survivors.
Use the language that survivors prefer.
Be respectful of the cultural context of Darfur.
Also the genocide from the days of Omar al-Bashir Regime (ref. 7) was never under any circumstances deemed as a past event with a specific end date. It was and it is still regarded as an ongoing genocide as the hands that was used to conduct mass killing, torture, rape, burning villages, force displacement etc… are still out there and they (RSF/ Janjaweed) are currently carrying out the atrocities in Darfur.

By using accurate and sensitive language, we can help to ensure that the latest Janjaweed/RSF war crimes in Darfur are properly understood and that the perpetrators are held accountable.

Darfur Union in the UK

Arabic Forum