It's Time To Step-Up and Save Darfur
Friday, May 4, 2007
I obviously cannot give first hand accounts or describe the horror I have seen in Darfur. I can only give an objective, reading all I can opinion to the atrocities that are occurring in Darfur. I find myself angry about how little coverage this genocide is getting. Some do not like that word to explain what is occurring, but sadly enough, no other words fits better with the conflict.
I am disgusted at our media for showing presidential slander over and over again, while adding feel-good stories about someone somewhere of little consequence. We claim to be a free nation that cares about the rest of the world. I guess we should re-write our slogan to say, "we care about the rest of the world, as long as you have oil or something else of interest". Please correct me if I'm wrong, but the whole reason we went to Iraq was because of the atrocities of the Saddam regime. How is what is occurring in Sudan any different? We are standing back and letting people slaughter others. We are literally looking on and then turning a blind eye while loudly proclaiming our humanitarian efforts in other places which do not need us by half. Someone please tell me that I'm wrong or that I have misunderstood the message somewhere. I can't seem to fathom how we can allow this to continue. What is the point in being a super power if you do not use it for those that really need your help? As you have probably guessed, I am angry at the United States for continuing to allow this to happen.
So, for those of you that do not understand what I am talking about, here is a short recap.
The Darfur conflict is an ongoing armed conflict that has been going on in western region of Sudan called Darfur. The conflict is between Janjaweed militia (tribes of Bedouin Arabs) and the land-tilling tribes of non-Baggara.
Sadly enough, while the Sudanese government has denied supporting the Janjaweed militia, they have given support and assistance in attacking the people of Darfur. This deadly conflict has been occurring since 2003.
The UN did step intervene in 2006 but were seen as Foreign Invaders and this was met with Sudanese government opposition.
"Darfur has been embroiled in a deadly conflict for over three years. At least 400,000 people have been killed; more than 2 million innocent civilians have been forced to flee their homes and now live in displaced-persons camps in Sudan or in refugee camps in neighboring Chad; and more than 3.5 million men, women, and children are completely reliant on international aid for survival. Not since the Rwandan genocide of 1994 has the world seen such a calculated campaign of displacement, starvation, rape, and mass slaughter.
Since early 2003, Sudanese armed forces and Sudanese government-backed militia known as “Janjaweed” have been fighting two rebel groups in Darfur, the Sudanese Liberation Army/Movement (SLA/SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). The stated political aim of the rebels has been to compel the government of Sudan to address underdevelopment and the political marginalization of the region. In response, the Sudanese government’s regular armed forces and the Janjaweed – largely composed of fighters of nomadic background – have targeted civilian populations and ethnic groups from which the rebels primarily draw their support – the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa (notes about our use of ethnic terminology).
The Bush Administration has recognized these atrocities – carried out against civilians primarily by the government of Sudan and its allied Janjaweed militias – as genocide. António Guterres, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, has described the situation in Sudan and Chad as “the largest and most complex humanitarian problem on the globe.” The Sudanese government and the Janjaweed militias are responsible for the burning and destruction of hundreds of rural villages, the killing of tens of thousands of people and rape and assault of thousands of women and girls.
With much international pressure, the Darfur Peace Agreement was brokered in May 2006 between the government of Sudan and one faction of Darfur rebels. However, deadlines have been ignored and the violence has escalated, with in-fighting among the various rebel groups and factions dramatically increasing and adding a new layer of complexity to the conflict. This violence has made it dangerous, if not impossible, for most of the millions of displaced persons to return to their homes. Humanitarian aid agencies face growing obstacles to bringing widespread relief. In August 2006, the UN's top humanitarian official Jan Egeland stated that the situation in Darfur is "going from real bad to catastrophic." Indeed, the violence in Darfur rages on with government-backed militias still attacking civilian populations with impunity.
On July 30, 2004, the UN Security Council adopted resolution 1556 demanding that the government of Sudan disarm the Janjaweed. This same demand is also an important part of the Darfur Peace Agreement signed in May of 2006. On August 31, 2006, the Security Council took the further step of authorizing a strong UN peacekeeping force for Darfur by passing resolution 1706. Despite these actions, the Janjaweed are still active and free to commit the same genocidal crimes against civilians in Darfur with the aid of the Sudanese government.
International experts agree that the United Nations Security Council must deploy a peacekeeping force with a mandate to protect civilians immediately. Until it arrives, the under-funded and overwhelmed African Union monitoring mission must be bolstered. And governments and international institutions must provide and ensure access to sufficient humanitarian aid for those in need.
This issue has not been resolved. The above mentioned facts are taken from the Save Darfur coalition. For more information please read the talking points to become more informed on this issue.
I would like for you to realize that while you sleep comfortably in your bed with food on your table, there are more than 2.5 million people which are refugees. Sadly enough, these have it better than the inconsistent numbers proclaiming more than 400,000 people dead.
Even try to imagine the horror halfway around the world. If there was ever a time for people to come together for the common good....this is it.
Please see the movie "Hotel Rwanda". Awareness is a step in the right direction... even if it is only a baby step. Please join me in spreading the word to those who are naive on the subject. Our media is not covering this and our people are not outraged. It is time that both stand up.
Labels: Anger, Darfur, Genocide, Killing, Murder, Sudan
posted by Sonya @ 5/04/2007 11:28:00 AM,
1 Comments:
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At May 4, 2007 at 12:17 PM,
Sakshi said...
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Well said.
However i think it falls on deaf ears in most places. Most people only care about what immediately affects them. we are a bunch of me-centric people.
If we weren't there would have been hell raised about tibet, Darfur and a whole lot of places.
