The Janjaweed ( ar, جنجويد, Janjawīd, lit=mounted gunman; also transliterated ''Janjawid'') are a Sudanese Arab

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

group that operate in

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

, particularly

Darfur Darfur ( ; ar, دار فور, Dār Fūr, lit=Realm of the Fur) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju ( ar, دار داجو, Dār Dājū, links=no) while ruled by the Daju ...

, and eastern

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

. Using the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

definition, the Janjaweed comprise Sudanese Arab tribes, the core of whom are from the Abbala ( camel herder) background with significant recruitment from the

Baggara The Baggāra ( ar, البَقَّارَة "heifer herder") or Chadian Arabs are a nomadic confederation of people of mixed Arab and Arabized indigenous African ancestry, inhabiting a portion of the Sahel mainly between Lake Chad and the Nile ri ...

(cattle herder) people. This UN definition may not necessarily be accurate, as instances of members from other tribes have been noted. In the past, they were at odds with Darfur's sedentary population over natural grazing grounds and farmland, as rainfall dwindled and water became scarce. They are currently in conflict with Darfur rebel groups—the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and the

Justice and Equality Movement The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM; ar, حركة العدل والمساواة, ') is an opposition group in Sudan founded by Khalil Ibrahim. Gibril Ibrahim has led the group since January 2012 after the death of Khalil, his brother, in Dec ...

. Since 2003 they have been one of the main players in the

Darfur conflict The War in Darfur, also nicknamed the Land Cruiser War, is a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan that began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups be ...

, which has pitted the largely

nomadic A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...

tribes against the sedentary population of the region in a battle over resource and land allocation. As of August 2013, they are affiliated with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Etymology

The origin of the word Janjaweed is unclear. It has been translated into English as "devils on horseback" from the Arabic words ''jinn'' "

jinn Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic ...

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in Media (communication), media such as comics, video ...

" and ''ʾajāwīd'' "

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

s". Other sources suggest its origin comes from the Persian word ''jangavi'', meaning "warrior", or a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words

History

, a western province of Sudan, Gaddafi supported the creation of the

Arab Gathering The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, No ...

(Tajammu al-Arabi) of the

Islamic Legion The Islamic Legion ( ar, الفيلق الإسلامي ''al-Faylaq ul-'Islāmiyyu''G. Prunier, ''Darfur: The Ambiguous Genocide'', p. 45) ( Islamic Pan-African Legion) was a Libyan-sponsored pan-Arabist and pan-Islamist paramilitary force, create ...

, which according to

Gérard Prunier Gérard Prunier (born 1942, in Paris ) is a French academic, historian, and consultant. He specializes in African history and affairs —particularly the Horn of Africa and the African Great Lakes regions. Biography Prunier received a PhD in Afri ...

was "a militantly racist and pan-Arabist organization which stressed the 'Arab' character of the province."G. Prunier, ''Darfur: The Ambiguous Genocide'', p. 45 The two organizations shared members and a source of support, and the distinction between the two is often ambiguous. The nearly continuous cross-border raids that resulted greatly contributed to a separate ethnic conflict within Darfur that killed about 9,000 people between 1985 and 1988. The Janjaweed leadership has some background in Gaddafi's mercenary forces. The Janjaweed first appeared in 1988 after

Chadian President This is a list of heads of state of Chad since the country gained independence from France in 1960 to the present day. A total of six people have served as head of state of Chad (not counting two Interim Heads of State). Additionally, one p ...

Hissène Habré Hissène Habré (Arabic: ''Ḥusaīn Ḥabrī'', Chadian Arabic: ; ; 13 August 1942 – 24 August 2021), also spelled Hissen Habré, was a Chadian politician and convicted war criminal who served as the 5th president of Chad from 1982 u ...

, backed by

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, defeated the

Libyan army The Libyan Army ( ar, الجيش الليبي) is the brand for a number of separate military forces in Libya, which are under the command of the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA). Since December 2015 the groups of t ...

, thereby ending Col.

Muammar al-Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...

’s territorial designs on Chad. Gaddafi’s Chadian protégé, Acheikh Ibn-Oumar, retreated with his partisan forces to Darfur, where they were hosted by Sheikh Musa Hilal, the newly elevated chief of the Rizeigat Arab tribes of north Darfur. Hilal’s tribesmen had earlier smuggled Libyan weapons to Ibn-Omer’s forces. A French-Chadian incursion destroyed Ibn-Omer’s camp, but his weapons remained with his Mahamid hosts. Throughout the 1990s, the Janjaweed were Arab partisans, tolerated by the Sudan Government, who pursued local agendas of controlling land. The majority of Darfur’s Arabs, the Baggara confederation, began their presence in the war over grazing territory, and remain involved. In 1999-2000, faced with threats of insurgencies in Western and Northern Darfur,

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...

’s security armed the Janjaweed forces. When the insurgency escalated in February 2003, spearheaded by the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, and the

, the Sudanese Government responded by using the Janjaweed as its main counter-insurgency force. Protracting the forces to attack and recover the rebel held areas of Darfur, the Janjaweed conducted a campaign targeting rebels in the region of

. The

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

and others in 2004 named leading Janjaweed commanders, including Musa Hilal as suspected genocide criminals. By early 2006, many Janjaweed had been absorbed into the Sudan Armed Forces including the Popular Defense Forces and

Border Guards A border guard of a country is a national security agency that performs border security. Some of the national border guard agencies also perform coast guard (as in Germany, Italy or Ukraine) and rescue service duties. Name and uniform In ...

. Meanwhile, the Janjaweed expanded to include some Arab tribes in eastern Darfur, not historically associated with the original Janjaweed. Chadian Arabs were also increasingly active in seeking to reestablish a political base in Chad, as part of the Unified Forces for a Democratic Change (FUC) coalition. By October 2007, only the United States' government had declared the Janjaweed killings in Darfur to be

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the ...

, since they had killed an estimated 200,000-400,000 civilians over the previous three years. The

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

called for the Janjaweed to be disarmed. On July 14, 2008, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court filed

charges against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, accusing him of masterminding attempts to wipe out African tribes in Darfur with a campaign of murder, rape and deportation using the Janjaweed tribes. In August 2013, the NISS restructured the group to become the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to fight against rebel groups in Darfur, South Kordofan, and the

Blue Nile The Blue Nile (; ) is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the water to ...

states.

Commanders

Musa Hilal, who heads a small but powerful Darfurian Arab tribe, is suspected by the US State Department of being a leader of the Janjaweed.

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

quotes him: "I am a tribal leader. ... The government call to arms is carried out through the tribal leaders." He admits recruiting, but denies being in the military chain of command, according to

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ...

. The following is a

United States State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nat ...

list of Janjaweed Commanders and Coordinators: *Sheikh

Musa Hilal Musa Hilal ( ar, موسى هلال, Mūsa Hilāl) is a Sudanese Arab tribal chief and militia leader and adviser to the Sudanese Minister of Internal Affairs. His Um Jalul clan exercised tribal leadership of the Arab Mahamid tribe in Darfur. The ...

: Janjaweed coordinator and Buffalo Brigade (Liwa el Jamous) commander. *

Hamid Dawai Hamid Dawai is an Emir of the Arab Awlad Rashed Tribe, and is a member of the Janjaweed militia in the far Western region of Darfur along the border with Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ...

: Janjaweed Brigader, Terbeba-Arara-Beida area leader. Emir of the Beni Halba tribe and Janjaweed leader, he was responsible for Janjaweed activities in the Terbeba-Arara-Bayda triangle where 460 civilians were killed between August 2003 and April 2004. He has residences in Geneina and Bayda, Sudan. *Abdullah hanif Abu Shineibat: Habila and Foro Burunga area. Emir of the Beni Halba tribe and Janjaweed leader in the Habila-Murnei area. *Omada Saef: pasiver and Misterei area. Omda of the Awlad Zeid tribe and leader of the Janjaweed from Geneina to Misterei. He has a residence in Geneina. *Omar Babbush: Habila and Fur Burunga area. Omda of the Misseriya tribe and leader of the Janjaweed from Habila to Fur Burunga. He has a residence in Fur Burunga. *Ahmed Dekheir: Murnei area. He is the omda of the Ma’alia tribe and leader of the Janjaweed in Murnei. *Ahmed Abu Kamasha: Kailek area The following is a

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

list of Janjaweed's Coordination and Command Council: *Sukeirtalah: Lieutenant Colonel, Leader of Janjaweed——Geneina *Ahmed Mohammed Haroun: Coordinator——State Minister of Interior *Osman Yusif Kibir: State Governor Darfur *El Tahir Hassan Abboud: NCP *Mohammed Salih Al Sunusi Baraka: Member of the National Assembly *Mohammed Yusif El Tileit: Western Darfur State Minister *Hussein Abdalla Jibril: Major General, Member of the National Assembly The following is a

list of Janjaweed Field Command: *Sheikh Musa Hilal: Janjaweed coordinator and Buffalo Brigade (Liwa el Jamous) commander *Hamid Dawai: Janjaweed Brigadier, Terbeba-Arara-Beida area leader. Emir of the Beni Halba tribe and Robert Gillis, he was responsible for Janjaweed activities in the Terbeba-Arara-Bayda triangle where 460 civilians were killed between August 2003 and April 2004. He has residences in Geneina and Bayda, Sudan. *Abdel Wahid: Janjaweed Brigadier, Kebkabiya area *Mohammed Ibrahim Ginesto: Janjaweed Brigadier *Hussein Tangos: Janjaweed Major *Omer Baabas: Janjaweed Major International Criminal Court Other members: *

Ali Kushayb Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman ( ar, علي محمد علي عبد الرحمن), commonly known as Ali Kushayb ( ar, علي كوشيب) (also: ''Koship'', ''Kosheib'', ''Kouchib'', ''Kosheb'', ''Koshib''), is a senior Janjaweed commander who su ...

: Former senior member of the Janjaweed. Kushayb voluntarily surrendered himself for arrest in the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

in June 2020 and was in ICC custody on 9 June 2020.

References

External links

"Darfur Documents Confirm Government Policy of Militia Support"

July 20, 2004
"Painful legacy of Darfur's horrors: Children born of rape"
by Lydia Polgreen, ''

International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France for international English-speaking readers. It had the aim of becoming "the world's first global newspaper" and could fairly be said ...

'', February 12, 2005
"Who Are the Janjaweed? A guide to the Sudanese militiamen"
by Brendan I. Koerner, ''Slate'', July 19, 2005 * by

Alex de Waal Alexander William Lowndes de Waal (born 22 February 1963), a British researcher on African elite politics, is the executive director of the World Peace Foundation at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Previously, he w ...

, SSRC and GEI, Harvard, undated {{DEFAULTSORT:Janjaweed War in Darfur Chadian Civil War (2005–2010) Central African Republic Bush War Paramilitary organisations based in Sudan Politics of Sudan Rebel groups in Sudan Rebel groups in Chad Arab nationalism in Sudan