How to Buy a Gun in Darfur

The Darfur region of Sudan is home to a series of interconnected conflicts that blend genocide with large-scale rebel armies fighting both the Sudanese and Chad governments. Investigative reporter Daniel Pepper went to Darfur in 2006 to find out how the United Front for Democracy and Change (FUCD), a rebel force seeking to overthrow Chad’s regime, obtains its weapons and equipment. He discovered the politics of oil and profiteering multinational corporations linked to violence that has killed hundreds of thousands, if not more. Many FUCD came from China, which has a keen interest in Sudan and Chad’s oil fields and the power to block any UN Security Council resolutions on the matter. Multinational arms companies deny that they circumvent strong European Union embargoes in the region and sue nonprofits like Amnesty International for any accusations that suggest otherwise. Sales of arms and oil prove profitable to some while costing thousands of others homes and lives. – YaleGlobal