The world has understandably stopped to grieve as over 150,000 have been lost in Southeast Asia. But there are other areas of the world that need urgent attention. Darfur is one of the most critical. “The Sudanese Government, using Arab "Janjaweed" militias, its air force, and organized starvation, is deliberately and systematically killing the black Sudanese of Darfur,” according to darfurgenocide.org. Over 300,000 lives may have been lost over the last year – twice as many as were killed by the tidal waves. The terror continues today. The New York Times reports:
LABADO, Sudan, Jan. 22 - The sounds of terror arrived with agonizing certainty - the whisper of camel hoofs on desert sand, the clap of gunfire, the crackle of a thatched roof set aflame.
Aisha Abdullah gathered her five children on Thursday, buried her most valuable possessions - some metal bowls, a cooking pot, a few tin cups - and ran as fast as she could.
"They have destroyed everything," she said as she returned Friday to her village, Kadanaro, in southern Darfur, to survey the destruction. Her family's compound had been reduced to tidy circles of smoldering gray and black ash by marauding Arab militiamen, she said.
Even as Sudan celebrates the recent end of the 20-year conflict between the country's Muslim north and the mostly Christian south, promising peace throughout this troubled country, the ethnic violence that has devastated villages in the western region of Darfur continues unchecked while the world's eyes are elsewhere.
Human Rights Watch has just issued a new report on the killing that calls for international prosecutions to help deter further violence. The international community has largely ignored the crisis.
(New York, January 24, 2005) — International prosecutions are needed to deter ongoing atrocities in Darfur, Human Rights Watch said today in a report documenting crimes the Sudanese government and its allied militias have committed with complete impunity.
On Tuesday, the U.N. international commission of inquiry on Darfur is expected to report its findings to the U.N. Secretary-General. In September, Resolution 1564 mandated the commission to investigate violations of international humanitarian law and human rights in Darfur, to determine whether genocide has occurred, and to identify perpetrators with a view to holding them accountable.
“Regardless of whether there has been genocide, the scale and severity of the ongoing atrocities in Darfur demand an urgent international response,” said Peter Takirambudde, Africa Director at Human Rights Watch. “Given Sudan’s continuing failure to prosecute the perpetrators, the Security Council needs to refer the situation of Darfur to the International Criminal Court.”
The 22-page report, “Targeting the Fur: Mass Killings in Darfur,” documents in detail how the Sudanese government and its allied Janjaweed militias have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur with impunity. These crimes include the round-up, detention and execution in March of more than 200 Fur farmers and community leaders in West Darfur’s Wadi Saleh and Mukjar provinces.
The Save Darfur Coalition has resources on their site offering different ways for
churches and individuals to become involved in the fight to save the people of Darfur. Click here to learn how you can act. One easy way: wear a green wristband to help draw the attention of your friends, neighbors, church members, colleagues, and loved ones to the crisis. Most have no idea any of this is happening.
Related Post: Is Ok Okay They're Dying Just Because They're Black People?
