One Global Conscience: We Can Do More

This week I have once again explored the blogosphere in search of others who are interested in bringing a better tomorrow to many of the third world countries in Africa. I chose a great day for this type of hunting because today was specifically set aside for global recognition of the crisis in Darfur. While it is unfortunate that we should even have to have such a day, it is hopefully a sign that there are great changes to be made in the future. The world is finally going to recognize that they have yet again been a witness to another genocide. As an international community and as human beings, we have let this go on too long; we have let too many people be victims. In light of today, I have done an exorbitant amount of reading and have learned even more about the devastation from first hand accounts. I have also left comments on two blogs that both discussed the global crisis that is ensuing in Sudan. The first blog where I responded, entitled The Unapologetic Mexican, looked into different tactics we can take as individuals to make a difference in this war; his post was entitled "In Solidarity: Global Day for Darfur." This blogger responded very insightfully to me almost instantaneously which was extremely rewarding to see both as a student and as a human rights activist. On the second blog, Dallas South, I found another globally conscious-minded individual who has taken a stance very similar to my own; in today's post entitled "Darfur Day of Action," there is in-depth discussion of the sexual plight faced by the women and children while the politicians have "washed their hands" of the matter as this blogger says. The comments I have written in can be found on their respective pages and are also provided below.

Comment 1:
First of all, I would like to thank you for being a conscious, informed person because by just writing about the genocide in Darfur, you are helping to educate so many people around the world who have let this crisis go unseen. As an international relations student, I have read so many articles and studied so many books about what is going on in Sudan, yet I have also increasingly come in contact with dozens of people who are wholly unaware of the magnitude of the situation. Outside of Darfur, few people are willing to recognize that such brutalities are still going on; many believed after Hitler massacred six million Jews that the world would never have to endure and be a witness to another genocide. However, as you believe too, we have let this go on far too long. I have written a few papers about how to stop this atrocity, but it never occurred to me to boycott the Coca-Cola Company in light of the Olympics in Beijing this summer. While this may be effective for hurting their revenues short-term, after the games are over in August the company's name will no longer be as synonymous with China, let alone the Chinese policy towards Sudan. Thus I have to wonder if you have other ideas that are just as direct in addressing Chinese policy but that also incorporate a longer time dimension. You briefly mentioned letter writing in petition to the Internal Olympics Committee, do you legitimately think this is something that will make a difference in changing Chinese policy? I have always been of the mindset that there are actions more powerful than stacks of papers and emails. With all this being said, it is heart rendering that any country, especially a permanent member of the UN Security Council, would help a government that is executing a genocide. However, perhaps the silver lining to this cloud is that in light of the Olympics this summer, massive global attention is now being directed towards Darfur, forcing China among others to reconcile with their current policies.

Comment 2:
I acknowledge just as you do, that this is not an easy topic to "broach," but I am so glad to see that there are other Americans just like me who are as concerned for the Sudanese people who have been victims of an alleged "tribal clash." You are right in saying that this is more than just a clash because the death toll does not even begin to describe the atrocities these individuals have been through. You would have thought that after Rwanda when President Clinton disregarded the genocide that the American public and our government would not have flagrantly ignored what has been happening in Sudan. However here we are again confronted with another horrific war that we have watched idly for too long. While I am thankful that Tibet may come out of this summer in a better situation than when this year began, I also hope like you that international attention is turned towards Darfur and beginning to see a difference there. You could not have been more right in saying that countries pointing their fingers at China is "akin to washing their hands of the matter." I believe that in the United States we have so many resources, including a massive population and much esteemed international clout, that we do not utilize to our full potential. While you suggested writing letters to presidential candidates, have you ever looked in to organizing a group to physically travel to Darfur as medical aid or to help build semi-permanent shelters for those living in the camps for internally displaced people? You sound extremely well versed in terms of what is actually going on, between the political fiasco and the brutal rapings of women, so have you considered actually trying to get in direct contact with your congressmen? Personally I think the more powerful people who have this shoved in their face, the more likely we are to see a drastic change in the United States' actions in Darfur. Perhaps mobilizing voters to include human rights issues in their eyes of what makes a good leader would help to bring more international activists into power. While these are just my own suggestions on effectively making sure we see a difference in Darfur, I am extremely grateful to you for helping raise awareness to a topic that has gone ignored for too long.

Sudan: Bereft with Over Fifty Years of Conflict

Very few of us know much about Sudan- other than that it has a place in it called “Darfur” where there is a violent civil war. We have all seen the t-shirts that say “Save Darfur” and many of us have seen the Invisible Children movie, but what are we trying to save them from? What really is going on there? I pride myself as being someone who knows what happens outside of the United States daily, but I have recently realized how little I actually know about what stemmed this conflict. It seems totally ludicrous that any one can try to fix a problem without knowing the causes of the conflict (let alone where the country is located), so today when I came across the BBC headline “Darfur: Little Hope Five Years On”, I planned on writing my own policy prescription for how to restore peace to the region but quickly realized that I too knew very little about what the actual problem was. In noting my own ignorance, I recognized that many of my readers and peers are probably just as in the dark. So in hopes of enlightening both myself and others on what is really happening, my "policy prescription" has expanded to include a brief history of Sudan, specifically leading to the conflict in Darfur. While the most recent clash broke out in 2003, the country has actually been ravaged by civil war since independence. With this in mind, bringing peace to Sudan seems a bit more complicated and dreary, although still entirely possible because of massive international attention and intervention.

According to the U.S. Department of State's nation profile, Sudan is the largest country in Africa, covering as much land mass as the continental United States east of the Mississippi River. Although its citizens are called “Sudanese”, the country is actually made up of several different tribes, with vastly varying beliefs, that came under British imperialist rule in the early nineteenth century. Because the borders of African nations were arbitrarily drawn by the Europeans, it is little surprise that civil war broke out almost immediately following Sudan’s independence in 1953. The internal conflict raged between the North, consisting of Arabic Islamics, and the South, a compilation of tribes that consider themselves Black African, until 2002 when peace talks began to unite rifts. In the course of those fifty years, it is estimated that the war cost over $1.5 million a day, a figure that can only be minimized by the death of 1.2 million people.

As though this story is not devastating enough in and of itself, in February 2003 there were increasing numbers of attacks on civilians, specifically the Non- Arab tribes. Because the government was doing little to stop the violence, two rebel groups took it upon themselves to protect their land and people. These two militias, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) have been fighting against an Arab nomad group knows as the Janjaweed (who is supported and financed by the Sudanese government) for over six years now with no end in sight. While those involved claim their grievances to be based on ethnic and tribal inequality within Sudan, the conflict has been exacerbated by drought, overpopulation and starvation.

By September of the following year, the international community had recognized that a genocide was occurring in Darfur and both sides were responsible. The United Nations has passed several resolutions to “protect the civilian population and humanitarian participants, seek avenues toward a political settlement to the humanitarian and political crisis, and recognize the need for the rapid deployment of an expanded African Union mission in Darfur” (Profile). In addition, the UN Security Council, the United States, and the African Union have sent a peace-keeping task force to the region, which is supposed to eventually number over 26,000 strong. On top of all of these measures, the government and militia groups have signed numerous cease fires. Still the fighting has continued interminably.

The situation in Darfur is a far uglier one than imaginable. The conflict can be prolonged indefinitely because both the rebel groups and military army have access to and make use of a largely unlimited resource: soldiers, specifically children who are captured and trained to fight. As for the people living in the region who have managed to escape capture and death, their circumstances are not much better. Today it is believed that over 2 million Sudanese people have fled to neighboring Chad and are now living in camps for internally displaced people (IDP). A BBC journalist who recently visited one of these sites spoke to several refugees who reported “toddlers being burnt alive in villages as men on horseback razed their houses to the ground; women being raped as they fled their homes looking for safety” (Henshaw). Only four days ago, people in Chad heard bombs beings dropped from helicopters that have been identified as belonging to the Sudanese government army (‘Still Bombing’). As a direct result, refugees who are trying to reenter Sudan to look for their family are being denied passage. In addition, Chad fears the conflict may cross their borders, so IDP camps are being relocated farther from the fighting.

With all this in mind, what can be done to stop the war that has not already been tried? First, the entire UN peace keeping force needs to be deployed. Currently only 9,000 of the 26,000 task force are actually in Darfur. Perhaps there should be consideration of bringing even more military power into the region. Because most of the raids occur at night, patrols consisting of people familiar with the terrain should be placed around villages to minimize these surprise attacks on unarmed civilians. In addition, more effort should be made to capture the top officials of the army and rebel groups as a way to break down the power structures. It is not effective to simply kill those who are ransacking towns because as mentioned earlier, soldiers are not hard to come by. On the political side, harsher punishments need to be placed on high officials in the militaries who are responsible for ordering large scale human rights violations that have led to this massive genocide wherein over 400,000 people have been killed. Those responsible need to reach a cease-fire that can be enforced, beginning by placing leaders in prison upon reaching an agreement. Following this, all of the soldiers need to be demobilized and placed through a rigorous reintegration program as a way to ensure that smaller factions do not restart conflicts in the future. While this is taking place, international volunteer groups should rebuild towns with homes and schools for the internally displaced people to return to. As another preventative measure, the Sudanese government should work to help alleviate the marginalized lifestyle the natives of Darfur endured prior to the conflict. Although all of these measures will help to end the immediate civil war, the international community needs to address border issues in not only Sudan, but throughout most of Africa as a way to lessen the chance of a similar outbreak of conflict. This is not to suggest that borders should be redrawn because this would undoubtedly lead to widespread unrest; however, government policies should address both majority rule and minority rights within each nation.

There are no words in the English language that can even begin to describe the atrocities that have taken place in Sudan since it became an independent nation. The fact that we still have been unable to resolve the circumstances in Darfur is evidence that the international community is not doing enough to protect and guarantee basic civil rights and liberties to people around the globe. Much more can still be done by the UN, the African Union, single nations, human rights organizations, and each of us as individuals. As the banner says, we need to do all we can to make sure that what is happening in Darfur happens "Never Again."