[Peace-discuss] Fwd: Catastrophe in Darfur (Sudan) -- ACAS Alert

[Al Kagan]

>Date: Thu,  1 Apr 2004 20:20:56 -0500
>From: turshen at rci.rutgers.edu
>To: turshen at rci.rutgers.edu
>Subject: Catastrophe in Darfur (Sudan) -- ACAS Alert
>X-Originating-IP: 172.26.2.109
>
>
>To ACAS members and friends,
>The catastropic situation in Darfur is of concern to all of us. Here is the
>comment by our friend and frequent Bulletin contributor, Eric Reeves. At the
>end is a series of suggestions of actions you can take.
>Meredeth Turshen and Michael West (Co-Chairs)
>
>
>
>"Catastrophe in Darfur (Sudan): The World's Greatest Humanitarian
>Crisis, Occurring Amidst Genocidal Destruction”
>
>Eric Reeves
>Smith College
>Northampton, Massachusetts  01063
>
>An insurgency war against Khartoum's abusive 
>governance in Darfur Province (far
>western Sudan) began in February 2003.  The war 
>had been long simmering because
>of the many and serious grievances held by the 
>people of Darfur, especially the
>Africa tribal groups (most notably the Fur, Zaghawa, and Massaleit).  The
>change in governance system for Darfur, effected by the National Islamic Front
>when it came to power by military coup in 1989, had exacerbated the sense of
>marginalization  long felt by the people Darfur. 
>Lack of political power and a
>fair share of the national resources, a common theme throughout Sudan, have
>defined Darfur's fate for decades.
>
>In the intervening 14 months, the war has accelerated into one of the most
>violent conflicts in the world; it has generated what is now  widely regarded
>as the world's greatest humanitarian crisis; and it is animated by what UN
>officials and human rights organizations are describing as "ethnic cleansing"
>and what others are calling genocide. Mukesh Kapila, UN humanitarian
>coordinator for Sudan, has been especially blunt in his assessment as he nears
>the end of his tenure: "The only difference between Rwanda and Darfur now is
>the numbers involved' [said Kapila]." (UN Integrated Regional Information
>Networks, March 22, 2004)
>
>Kapila describes the killing as "more than just a conflict, it is an
>organised attempt to do away with a group of people," Kapila describes a
>"pattern of organised attacks on civilians and villages, abductions,
>killings and organised rapes by militias [that are] getting worse by the day,
>and could deteriorate even further. 'One can see how the situation might
>develop without prompt [action]...all the warning signs are there.'" (UN
>Integrated Regional Information Networks, March 22, 2004)
>
>Kapila concluded: "I was present in Rwanda at the time of the genocide, and
>I've
>seen many other situations around the world and 
>I am totally shocked at what is
>going on in Darfur.  This is ethnic cleansing, this is the world's greatest
>humanitarian crisis, and I don't know why the 
>world isn't doing more about it."
>(BBC, March 19, 2004)
>
>Perhaps one million people have been internally displaced or have fled
>into Chad as refugees.  One authoritative assessment (by Sudan Focal
>Point [South Africa], January 2004) offers evidence suggesting that more than
>1000 people are dying every week.  This is borne out by an
>increasing number of reports from various sources along the Chad/Sudan
>border and from within Darfur itself.  Nonetheless, the Khartoum regime
>refuses to grant unfettered humanitarian access, refuses human rights
>monitoring, indeed refuses to countenance anything that might
>"internationalize" a conflict it continues to describe as "banditry."
>
>Negotiations recently begun with the two major insurgency groups in
>Chad seem to offer little chance of prompt resolution: Khartoum's
>delegation boycotted the opening session in protest of international
>presence.  A cease-fire agreement reached in September fell apart almost
>immediately as Khartoum did nothing to rein in its most potent
>instrument of war, the Arab militia groups known as "janjaweed"
>(warriors on horseback).  Indeed, Amnesty International recently noted
>(March 15, 2004):
>"The government of Sudan has made no progress to ensure the protection of
>civilians caught up in the conflict in Darfur. Scores of civilians have
>reportedly been killed and dozens of villages burnt by the government-backed
>Janjiwid militias over the last few weeks. This is not a situation where the
>central government has lost control. Men, women and children are being killed
>and villages are burnt and looted because the central government is allowing
>militias aligned to it to pursue what amounts to a strategy of forced
>displacement through the destruction of homes and livelihood of the farming
>populations of the region."
>
>Under present circumstance, the international community either urgently
>prepares for an emergency humanitarian intervention, or we will be
>reduced to impotent hand-wringing as the full scale of human destruction
>becomes
>evidence.  The clear ethnic/racial animus behind 
>this systematic and widespread
>destruction, so clear on the eve of the grim 10th anniversary of the Rwandan
>genocide, tells us how little progress we have made in responding to genocide
>in Africa.
>
>Actions to be taken in response to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur:
>
>[i] have Congresspersons/Senators enter a statement into the Congressional
>Record (as Senator Russ Feingold, chair of the Africa Subcommittee of the
>Senate Foreign Relations Committee, did on March 30, 2004);
>
>[ii] demand that President Bush speak out publicly on the realities of
>Darfur;
>
>[iii] write to the UN Secretary-general Kofi 
>Annan, demanding preparation for a
>humanitarian intervention in Darfur;
>
>[iv] support a (pending) Congressional resolution demanding an
>international criminal tribunal for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and
>genocide in Darfur.
>[April 1, 2004]
>
>
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-- 


Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu