Sheikas in Kalma said they report over a dozen rapes each week. Human rights activists in South Darfur who monitor violence in the refugee camps estimate more than 100 women are raped each month in and around Kalma alone.
The workers warn of an alarming new trend of rapes within the refugee population amid the boredom and slow social decay of the camps. But for the most part, they added, it all depends on whether janjaweed are present in the area.
And still the international community does little to end these attrocities.
3 comments:
"Never again" is a tagline for remembering the Holocaust. While public awareness after WWII has made it unlikely that another genocide like that will happen in Central Europe, the lesson doesn't seem to have gone very far. Darfur, of, course, is an example of that.
You're right. The international community is doing very little. Why? I don't know, but I have ideas.
One thing, is that the UN can only send peace keepers. Peace keepers can only "keep" the peace, not create a peace that isn't there.
Another, is that genocides are really hard to report. We always hear that bad news sells newspapers. I'm not convinced that's entirely true. Bombings, crashes, shootings, etc. do make good headlines, but not when they last for years.
The Virginia Tech shooting caught everyone's attention for weeks. However, the war in Iraq (where everyday is a Virginia Tech) had lost our attention a while ago. I think people have short attention spans.
Also, Americans and Europeans don't know how to make a difference in areas run by war lords and militias. I think we still long for the days when governments fought governments, not children hiding in the jungle. We've never won a guerrilla war. Maybe modernizing our officer training would be a start.
The genocide in the Congo a few years ago killed almost ten times as many people as in Darfur, and we've already forgotten about it. While the fighting there has subsided, they don't have peace and it can break out at any moment.
People want to help, but don't know how. Myself included. I can donate money. But our government was throwing one billion dollars a day into Iraq, and the situation keeps worsening, not improving. Even if, God willing, we could raise a trillion dollars for Darfur, what hope do we really have of bringing peace to a region we don't understand?
Maybe we could change the government, but we have a poor track record there, too. I want to help, but like many, I don't know how.
Sadly people do have short attention spans but there is much individual citizens can do.
The two most prominent citizen actions occuring now are the divestment movement and the "genocide olympics" movement.
The divestment movement is similar to that undertaken against apartheid South Africa during the 1980s. States, cities, and individuals are divesting their pensions from businesses with close ties to the Sudanese government. The idea is that this will put indirect pressure on the Sudanese government to accept UN peacekeepers into Darfur and be more proactive and realistic about brokering a peace with the Darfuri and Southern rebels.
The location of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and China's strong ties with the Sudanese government (they buy most of Sudan's oil and sell Sudan military weapons and equipment) have sparked the "genocide olympics" movement. Some are advocating an all out boycott of the olympics as a means to put pressure on China to act. Others, like NY Times columnist Nick Kristof, are against a boycott but are for efforts to stigmatize the event and the Chinese government (ex: having athletes wear bands in solidarity with Darfur and speak out against the Chinese government's role; writing letters to olympic sponsors)
Now people are generally pesimistic about getting the infamous Chinese government to do anything. But surprisingly to many, these efforts have actually begun to take some affect. The Chinese still are against UN peacekeepers in Darfur and continue their dealings with Sudan. However, Chinese ambassadors have begun to raise the issue with the Sudanese government and actually have started to put some pressure on Sudan to work harder for a peace deal. Just last week the Chinese goverment sent a representative to a forum on Darfur in Philadelphia (along with the Sudanese government). This would be unthinkable a year ago.
The U.S. has done more than any other country to put a stop to the genocide. And this, in a way, is sad because the U.S. can still do so much more. Yet the government is reluctant to do so because it views Sudan as an ally in "The War on Terror" since it provides information about its former guest in the '90s--Osama Bin Laden.
Under the Patriot Act, the U.S. government can enact targetted sanctions against individuals in the Sudanese government (restricting their travel, freezing bank accounts, blocking business transactions). Bush has finally enacted some of these sanctions; however, they were very weak compared to what could have been done.
The U.S. and other nations can also implement a no-fly zone, preventing the Sudanese government from bombing villages in Darfur. Some humanitarian organizations are opposed to a no-fly zone for fear one of their planes will be shot down. They are also afraid that the Sudanese government will kick them out of the country if such actions were taken.
The U.S. can also step up its funding and training of the African Union troops already present in Sudan (and I believe there is currently a bill in the Senate calling for additional funding for the AU, although I can't remember the number off the top of my head.)
Citizens can phone and write their representatives and senators (and the President) to call on them to support various legislation--one will protect states that divest from being sued by international lobby groups, one is the AU funding bill. In states that haven't divested one can start a divestment movement (sudandivestment.org).
After the Rwandan genocide, politicians argued that there was little action because they heard nothing on the subject from their constituents. So, the current advocacy movements are taking them at their word and asking for action (sadly many people seem to be more focused on Paris Hilton but a good sign is that this movement is substantially higher than that during Rwanda).
And you're right about the Congo as well (although I'd hesitate to call it a genocide). And attrocities still continue in the state to this day. Uganda is also undering mass attrocities from the LRA who are kidnapping children and forcing them to become child soldiers.
That's why the organization "Enough" was founded--as a means to create an anti-genocide/attrocities constituency that will be able to act before these events happen fullblown.
Also, donating money is still needed for those organizations that remain in Darfur. One fundraising effort undertaken by the Darfur Alert Coalition in Philly is to provide solar cookers for women in refugees camps so they don't have to risk getting fire wood outside of the camp and getting raped or killed by janjaweed militias.
Sorry for the random structure of this post. I'm at work and leaving for a story in 10 minutes so I don't have time to really sit down and organize it.
So I'll end with this: The UN-AU hybrid peacekeeping force is one means for ending the genocide. The political solution you allude to is also being worked at by organizations like Enough, Save Darfur, and the Genocide Intervention Network. They're lobbying the U.S. government to do all they can broker a peace deal between the Sudanese government and rebel groups. They're also asking for stronger diplomatic efforts in uniting the rebel groups so the government has one unit to talk with (although the conflict between groups was started by the Sudanese government as a means to divide and conquer).
Although I'd love to overthrow the Sudanese goverment amongst other tyrannies, no serious save Darfur movements are calling for overthrow. Anarchy in the largest country in Africa would not be a good thing, especially with the nation's ethnic and religious diversity.
Thanks for actually reading my blog..haha
Looks like you know your stuff.
Why don't you start a blog strictly for Darfur? Just fill it with short narrow-focus posts each concentrating on a different aspect of Darfur (stats, charity events, political happenings, etc), plus images and graphs to keep the attention of lazy people like me. Use it as a one-stop shop to educate others who want to help, but aren't as knowledgeable or committed to this issue as you.
By the way, what did you think about the G8 pretty much glossing over Darfur at their last meeting?
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