The shame of Darfur

It was said, after six million Jews were murdered in Nazi concentration camps before and during World War II, Never again! Again, after the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, it was said, Never again! Yet genocide has been going on for three years in Darfur–defenseless black Africans in that area of Sudan have been victimized by the Arab Janjaweed militia, with the backing of the Sudanese government in Khartoum.

And the shame of it all is: NONE OF THE WORLD POWERS ARE TAKING ANY MEANINGFUL ACTION TO STOP THIS RAMPAGING CRUELTY.

A 9/30/05 news release by an organization, the Darfur Action Committee (which seems to have some affiliation with the University of California at Los Angeles), commented:

The Janjaweed are killing civilians, razing and burning villages, raping women and young girls, abducting children, poisoning water supplies, and destroying sources of food. The death toll has reached up to 400,000 people since February 2003. More than 500 people die each day, 15,000 each month. More than 2.5 million people have been driven from their homes...As many as 1 million civilians could die in Darfur from lack of food and from disease within coming months.

A news bulletin released by the United Nations on 4/6/06 stated that "close to" 200,000 people have been killed (half the number cited in the news release above) and 2 million "uprooted," with 90,000 displaced people living in one camp, known as Kalma. To make matters worse, the bulletin reports, the Sudanese government has ordered a non-government organization, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), which has been providing humanitarian services at the camp, to leave. A UN relief coordinator, Jan Egeland, was quoted as follows:

With no one to replace the NRC, I fear that conditions for the 90,000 people in the camp will worsen...(The government’s order that the NRC leave) is just one example of the rising levels of restrictions that the14,000 aid workers in Darfur and in many other parts of Sudan face every day.

The bulletin goes on to say:

Such restrictions range from long delays in exit and re-entry visas for NGO (non-government organizations) staff, unjustified interference in the recruitment of staff, to delays clearing imported humanitarian goods and equipment.

This United Nations news release includes text of a resolution by its Security Council, which is replete with the usual diplomatic verbiage. It speaks of the continued violation by the Sudanese government of a 2004 cease-fire agreement and "evidence of widespread violations of humanitarian law in Darfur...(it is proposed) that the Security Council adopt a "zero tolerance" approach to violations of (the cease-fire agreement)."

The news release also reported a planned "mini-summit" to be held in April in Nigeria to "discuss ways to speed up efforts to reach a peaceful solution to the (Darfur) conflict."

A recent article by the columnist Trudy Rubin of the Philadelphia Inquirer provides another report on the horror of Dafur. She writes of a former Marine captain, Brian Steidle, who was assigned to the African Union as an observer in Darfur. Ms. Rubin writes:

The Bush administration calls this killing by its rightful name–genocide–but has yet to use the kind of political muscle that might stop it...(Steidle says) "We saw villages leveled, burned bodies, babies that had been shot..." The ex-Marine had no doubt who was to blame for the carnage...(t)he Sudanese government, in an effort to crush Darfur rebels, sent in its army along with an Arab militia known as the janjaweed. Their goal: to "cleanse" Darfur of its ethnic population.

(Mr. Seidle) wants a million Americans to write President Bush and urge him to ensure that a strong multinational force is sent to Darfur...(He) wants to show that one person can make a difference. But he can succeed only if , one by one, other Americans join in.

And what is George Bush, that champion of freedom and democracy for all the earth’s people, doing about the horrific Darfur situation? His feckless approach is evident in the following letter which went out from the White House over his signature.

I send greetings to those observing the "Week of Prayer and Action for Darfur."

Our nation is appalled by the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. We grieve for the men, women, and children of Darfur, victims of atrocities arising from a civil war that pits a murderous militia against a collection of rebel groups.

Another paragraph in the letter states: "We are urgently seeking an end to the conflict in Darfur. We will continue to work with the Congress and the African Union to provide aid to those who are suffering."

It is appropriate that this letter was dated on April Fool’s day 2006.

Even if Bush wanted to send military assistance to Sudan, there probably aren’t enough troops to spare because of the large number already tied down in Afghanistan and Iraq. But he certainly could use the political capital that he bragged about after his reelection to organize the leaders of the major European countries (most of whom have far greater ties to Africa than the U.S.) and African leaders to take military action–preferably with a United Nations mandate–to stop the rampaging murderers.

What can you and I do about this shameful situation in Darfur? We can certainly write to President Bush, as suggested above, and also to our representatives in Congress–which would make us feel better and might possibly help: two bills have been passed in Congress which await a conference committee's action to reconcile the House and Senate versions.

An organization, "Save Darfur," has said in a news update that this legislation "would place further penalties on the government of Sudan and on those persons complicit in the genocide, and also calls for stronger U.S. participation in the Darfur peace process." However, in an election year it is probably wishful thinking to expect any real action by our government.

Ongoing updated information is available from "Save Darfur" at www.SaveDarfur.org.