Crisis in Sudan Sixty years ago the

Crisis in Sudan

Sixty years ago, the world looked away as six million Jews were slaughtered during the Holocaust. Ten years ago, the world was silent as eight hundred thousand Tutsis were butchered in Rwanda. The question we must now ask is: Are we to repeat history in Sudan?

Background

Sudan The largest country in Africa, Sudan has been in near constant conflict since its independence from the UK in 1956. The first civil war between the north and the south lasted from 1956 to 1972. Map courtesy USAID The second civil war began in 1983 and recently ended with the signing of a peace treaty on January 9, 2005. This treaty does not address the atrocities in Darfur.

Darfur is located in western Sudan. The region is 25% larger than California, or about the size of France. Darfur is home to some 80 tribes and ethnic groups divided between nomads and sedentary communities. Map courtesy The Save Darfur Coalition

The Fur, Masaalit, Zaghawa, Jebel, Aranga, and other African tribes have been the victims of discrimination and repression by the Government of Sudan. From http: //www. islamonline. net

In February 2003, two groups of African Muslims launched an insurgency against the government in Khartoum. Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLA) From www. bbc. co. uk Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) From http: //www. islamonline. ne

The SLA and JEM are fighting for n n socio-economic development for the region an end to tribal militias separation of state and religion a power-sharing government

In response to the SLA/JEM uprising, the Government of Sudan launched a military campaign to destroy entire communities of African farmers. The government armed and organized tribal militias (Janjaweed) to attack and forcibly displace hundreds of thousands of civilians.

Janjaweed fighters

The Janjaweed have destroyed villages, killed men and boys, raped women, razed crops, and destroyed water wells. The use of violence has been massive and indiscriminate, with civilians largely targeted.

Genocide in Darfur

Definition of “Genocide” Article II of the 1948 Genocide Convention defines a genocide as “acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. ” These acts include • “Killing members of the group; • Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; • Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part. ”

The United States government, the German government, the Parliament of the European Union, the U. S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's Committee on Conscience and Yad Vashem have all accused Khartoum of “genocide. ” While the United Nations has avoided the term “genocide, ” the UN has said that “crimes against humanity and war crimes are occurring in Darfur. ”

Scorched earth tactics are being applied throughout Darfur, including the deliberate destruction of schools, wells, seed and food supplies, making whole towns and villages uninhabitable…I consider this to be ethnic cleansing. I cannot find any other word for it. United Nations Undersecretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland

Four hundred thousand innocent civilians have died since the conflict began in February 2003. Tens of thousands of people have been brutally murdered. The vast majority of these victims are not associated with the SLA or JEM rebels. The only thing they have in common with the rebels is a shared ethnicity.

From www. washingtonpost. com

Through the eyes of a child Taha, age 13 or 14 Courtesy Human Rights Watch www. hrw. org In the afternoon we returned from school and saw the planes…Then they began the bombing. The first bomb [landed] in our garden, then four bombs at once in the garden. The bombs killed six people, including a young boy.

Courtesy Brian Steidle Burning of Um Zeifa village after Janjaweed looting and attack

The attack on my village happened early in the morning. The Janjaweed and the Government soldiers were divided into three groups and each group had a different task. The first group took every man between the age of 18 and 40. They put them on trucks. Another group looted our huts. And the last group took the cattle. The Janjaweed told us [the women] that they would bring our men to Deleig. When we arrived in Deleig two days later, we saw the dead bodies of our men laying on the ground in the streets. Female refugee, age 30 Deleig (West Darfur)

Copyright IRIN Courtesy Brian Steidle This child was burned during a Darfur bombing raid. A one-year old girl, Mihad Hamid, Museum Committee on Conscience punctured by a bullet as whose lungs were she and her mother tried tobeing bombed by Sudanese government aircraft. This man lost his leg after escape an attack from helicopter gunships and Janjaweed marauders on their village in October 2004. Courtesy Jerry Fowler, U. S. Holocaust Memorial

Through the eyes of a child Aid Worker: What is going on here? Leila: My hut burning after being hit by a bomb. Leila, age 9 Aid Worker: And here? Leila: It’s a woman. She is dead. Aid Worker: Why is her face colored in red? Leila: Oh, because she has been shot in the face. Aid Worker: What is this vehicle? Who is this in green? Leila: That is a tank. The man in green is a soldier. Courtesy Human Rights Watch www. hrw. org

Sudanese government officials claim they are trying to stop the Janjaweed. However, attacks by the Janjaweed are often preceded by air assaults by the Government of Sudan. A Sudanese government gunship (MI-24 Hind) Courtesy Brian Steidle The government of Sudan bulldozed the Al Geer camp for displaced persons after chasing the people out in the middle of the night. Courtesy Brian Steidle

I was in my house with my wife and children, when we suddenly heard some shooting. So we went outside. There were Janjaweed all around. They shot at me, in the chest, but I survived. But they killed my 3 -year-old son, right in front of my eyes. Male refugee, age 45 Deleig (West Darfur)

The Refugee Crisis

Almost 2 million people have been forced to flee from their homes.

From http: //www. didaweb. net

1, 660, 000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are living in refugee camps in Darfur. 203, 000 Darfurians have fled to refugee camps in neighboring Chad.

WFP/Peter Smerdon Morni camp, where nearly 70, 000 internally displaced people have settled

Upon arriving at the camp sites, refugees build minimal shelters with basic materials such as wood, plastic sheeting and pieces of cloth or blankets. In some cases, the new arrivals do not even have enough materials to build such shelters and must settle under trees with the few belongings they have.

Copyright IRIN Courtesy Josh Estey / CARE Courtesy WFP/Laura Melo Courtesy Peter Biro

Most of these camps lack adequate food, shelter, sanitation, clean water and health care. According to the World Health Organization, 15, 000 people a month are dying from disease and malnutrition in refugee camps.

Water Access to water is very limited. The large influx of refugees has overwhelmed available water resources. Courtesy International Rescue Committee

Even when water is available, the quality is often unacceptable. Courtesy International Rescue Committee It is common for people to drink from puddles on the ground and from open, unprotected wells.

Sanitation Access to latrines and washing areas is very limited, resulting in unsanitary living conditions. One quarter of reported deaths in the camps are caused by diarrhea. For children under the age of five, more than one third of deaths are caused by diarrheal diseases. From www. basicministries. info/ Pit latrine

Food After diarrhea, the second leading cause of death in the refugee camps is malnutrition. Copyright CARE/Evelyn Hockstein 2004

AFP Long lines for food

Copyright Peter Biro IRC Copyright IRIN Copyright Gerald Martone IRC

In the displacement camps, refugees also face continued violence. They are the target of murders, assaults, and rapes even in the refugee camps. This situation perverts the very notion of “refuge. ”

Because men are at greater risk of being beaten or killed, women are often the ones who leave the refugee camps in search of firewood and water, thus putting themselves at risk of rape, beatings or death by the Janjaweed.

Courtesy Josh Estey/CARE Courtesy Peter Biro Copyright Evelyn Hockstein/Polaris

Through the eyes of a child Mahmoud, age 13 Aid Worker: What’s happening here? Mahmoud: These men in green are taking the women and the girls. Aid Worker: What are they doing? Mahmoud: They are forcing them to be wife. Courtesy Human Rights Watch www. hrw. org

Associated Press Photo / Karel Prinsloo

S! S! YE YE ES! Y YES! Can we help? YES! S! YE YES!

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead

What the U. S. is Doing The U. S. has done more than any other nation in the world. However, we can and must do more. In the Senate, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Sen. Jon Corzine (D-NJ) have introduced the Darfur Accountability Act (S. 495). In the House, a bipartisan group of representatives has introduced the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act (H. R. 3127).

S. 495 and H. R. 3127 These bills emphasize the key role that the US must play in the international community to ensure that those who commit crimes against humanity are held accountable. Among other items, the legislation calls for passage of a new UN Security Council resolution that includes: Imposing targeted sanctions; Extending the current arms embargo to apply to the Government of Sudan; Supporting a larger and stronger African Union force and urging member states to provide assistance to the AU; Insuring prompt prosecution of those responsible for the genocide in an international court.

What You Can Do Write a letter to your Representative and Senators and ask them to support H. R. 3127 and S. 495. Write President Bush and Secretary Rice and ask them to raise the issue of Darfur at all international meetings. Wear a Dolls for Darfur pin. Give pins to family and friends to wear. Organize groups to create and send communal postcards. Send an email to family and friends telling them about the atrocities in Darfur. Donate money to relief efforts.

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. Martin Luther King Jr. For more information, go to www. dollsfordarfur. org