Destroyed Villages, 2003 to 2009
When the conflict started to escalate, African governments and other members of the international community did not respond quickly enough to curb the bombardment of villages. As a result, most civilians in Darfur lost their entire property.
The United Nations Security Council reacted to the plight of Darfuri citizens, and on July 20, 2004, passed resolution 1556 (2004), which imposed an arms embargo on all non-state actors (such as the Janjaweed) operating in Darfur; required that the government of Sudan disarm the Janjaweed Militia; and called for all parties in the conflict to observe a ceasefire.
This resolution was not given much attention, and killing and destruction by the government forces and the Janjaweed Militia continued unabated. Villages continued to be attacked and destroyed and no party in the conflict laid down its weapons.
On September 18, 2004, the United Nations Security Council issued resolution number 1564 (2004) because the government of Sudan and the militia groups had not laid down their weapons according to the terms set forth in the in United Nations Resolution 1556 (2004). It is unfortunate that these resolutions were not backed with United Nations military force to curb the attacks on civilians; as a result, lives continued to be lost and more villages were destroyed.
The Janjaweed militia and government forces were still attacking and destroying villages as late as 2010. This destruction went on despite many United Nations Security resolutions and pleas from the international community which were largely ignored by the government of Sudan, the Janjaweed militia and other military groups.
In 2007, the International Criminal Court started indicting some of the alleged perpetrators of the Darfur Massacres. Those issued warrants of arrest include: Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahaman, one of the leaders of the Janjaweed militia; Ahmad Harun, who was Sudan's Interior government minister when major masscares were taking place in Darfur; and Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, Sudan's president. Others include Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain and Saleh Mohammed Jerbo Jamus who were respective commanders of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and Sudan Liberation Army (SLA). Despite these high ranking officials being issued warrants of arrest, and some actually appearing before the court, the attacks on the villages could not be stopped--although they did occur on a much smaller scale.