| Darfur: More than a lesson for humanity |
Beginning in February of 2003, Africa's largest country of Sudan was experiencing yet another eruption of political violence, this time in the western area known collectively as Darfur. Sudan was still undergoing peace negotiations between the North and the South to end a civil war that has continued for over 20 years and would cost more than 2.5 million lives in South Sudan. Unknown to the millions of innocent civilians in Darfur, this situation would later prove to be one of the world's most devastating human-caused disasters ranking just under the Rwanda genocide of 1994. Darfur, which means "home of the Fur (tribe)", rests in western Sudan bordering Chad, the Central African Republic, and Libya. Three states, holding an estimated population of 6 million Africans, make up Darfur; consisting of North, South, and West Darfur. If compared to the United States, the land of Darfur would nearly cover the six states of the Ohio River Valley: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia. Many experts agree that Darfur was a 'time-bomb' waiting to happen. Millions of people were being wrongly governed by officials appointed by the Sudan government, which rests in the capital of Khartoum. Civilians never had a right to vote and were often treated as second-class citizens by the Arab government due to their African ancestry, which dates back thousands of years. Freedom of speech was stifled in areas controlled by Khartoum, including Darfur, and people were not afforded the political voice they rightly deserved. To add to the political oppression, Darfur had oil that Khartoum wanted. Drilling in South Darfur state was set to begin in August of 2004, more than a year after the conflict erupted. The rebellion of Darfur started by two groups named the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA). Both groups claimed that Khartoum was discriminating against them for being African and that the time for their political rights was long overdue. On top of the political neglect of Darfur was the fact that the massive region in western Sudan was known as one of the poorest places on the earth, where over one-fifth of Sudan's people lived on less than $1 a day. The rebels knew that just as South Sudan was neglected of proceeds from its massive oil reserves, Darfur would also never see any benefit that might lift them out of poverty. In response to the rebellion, Khartoum resolved to squash the uprising by starting with aerial bombardments of local villages. Hundreds of bombings, beginning in 2003, went on month after month with hardly any notice by the international community. Many of the bombings were well documented by aid groups working in the area. Instead of quelling the rebellion, the bombings strengthened the rebel groups. More people reportedly were joining in the movements. But the steep cost was beginning to add up into thousands of civilian lives. At times during the bombardments, satellite images were taken showing more than 300 villages burning at a time. In September of 2003, the civilian death toll in Darfur began to dramatically increase from nearly 5,000 deaths per month to more than 18,000 in December of the same year. By the middle of 2004, more than 200,000 people had been killed due to government violence and over 2.2 million driven from their homes. Estimates say between 50-75% of the villages in Darfur were destroyed including their agricultural livelihood of crops. And because of the destruction of their crops and the danger to return home, millions of people would not see a harvest for at least another year. Each year the conflict would continue, the harvest would be extended by a minimum of another year. This would further translate into complete dependency on international aid groups for years to come. In addition to the aerial bombardments of Darfur, Khartoum commissioned thousands of local Arab militia on camel and horseback popularly known as the Janjaweed to raid villages of Darfur further displacing the people. Crops were burnt, thousands of women were raped, and according to surveys performed by international aid groups, more than three-quarters of the population had witnessed the murder of a family member. As a result, Darfur was devastated. People of a certain race and ethnicity were being systematically targeted by a government unwilling to give them political voice in a country of over 35 million. Many victims that survived the rape and murder of their children recall their confrontation with the Arab Janjaweed in which the horsemen said, "You are African and belong to us as slaves." Clearly the attacks in Darfur were adding up to ethnic cleansing. Today Darfur has a rising death toll estimated to be between 400,000-500,000 people and the displaced total of nearly 3 million with over a quarter million in neighboring Chad where many relief organizations are operating. A large proportion of the deaths in Darfur are due to starvation because of a lack of harvest. The rebels have been negotiating with Khartoum in Nigeria over a settlement to the hostilities, but little progress has been made in the past year. The international community has been largely silent over condemning Khartoum and has been unwilling to intervene to save the people of Darfur. The UN has been unwilling to call the acts in Darfur genocide, largely because doing so requires them to intervene according to international law. In response to the atrocities happening in Darfur, people across the world have not been silent. Among the various protests and letter-writing campaigns being organized almost daily is the divestment campaign targeting U.S. pension funds. Studies have shown that the top 100 pension funds in America are investing between 15-23% of their portfolio in companies doing business with terrorist-sponsoring states, including Sudan. The estimated value of these investments of over 400 companies totals more than $188 billion. According to the Center for Security Policy, who commissioned the study, "When a group of investors own roughly $200 billion worth of stock in some 400 companies, they should be able to exercise considerable influence over the decision-making and business activities of those companies." Students across the U.S. are prompting their universities to divest from companies supporting the Khartoum regime and are making strides in well-known institutions such as Stanford U., Harvard U., University of Pennsylvania, Yale U., Columbia U., University of California, George Washington U., and Brown U. among many others. Yet with all the activism happening today, Darfur still remains an elusive affair for government to be involved in. They simply are not doing anything about the atrocities. It seems that the "powers that be" have the ability to stop Darfur but not the will to stop it. Other matters of international interest have taken the spotlight off of Darfur for both the United States and the European Union. The Arab League, of which Sudan is a member state, has denied any wrongdoing by its fellow Khartoum officials. Those that have fought for years to bring change, including this author, have been tired and frustrated about the situation of neglect in Sudan, first in the South and now in the West. This author has witnessed firsthand the destruction in South Sudan during his two-month visit in early 2005. What does our unwillingness to prevent Darfur tell us about who we are as a society? When we failed to act in the Holocaust we proclaimed, "Never again!" Yet time after time history proved us wrong in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, and now in Darfur. To the children of Darfur who will live out their childhood in abysmal poverty, what can we say or do to convince them we are the "great people of America." While we are living our busy lives in magnificent luxury, genocide unfolds before us waiting to be written in history books to be read by our children. Many people ask this author why he continues to fight for the cause of Sudan. Why go on? Why bother? After so many failures of intervention, why keep struggling for justice? This author has thought long and hard on why he lives his life to better those of the Sudanese in a world far different from that in America. Yet, the same conclusion is reached day after day, month after month, year after year. As long as one child lives in poverty and conflict in Sudan, there is a reason for the fight. There is a reason for hope. The situation in Darfur is still unresolved with attacks happening almost weekly as this article goes to print. Get informed. Get involved today. References Sudan Activist Prof. Eric Reeves Sudan: Passion of the Present Blog Voice of Sudan (VOS) is a weblog featuring news, articles, and commentary on Sudan, Africa's largest country. VOS strives to empower people to stand for human rights, political & religious freedom, and sustainable development affecting Sudanese regardless of race or religion. VOS is building its consensus on the Web by working through advocacy campaigns and communicating to other concerned individuals concerning human rights in Sudan. VOS is operated solely by Josef Scarantino, who can be reached freely via email. |
