Making The World A Better Place

Mini Report on Sudan and western Sudan; Darfur

In 1956 Sudan won their independence from the United Kingdom. Previous to that, Sudan was joint- ruled by Egypt and the UK. In 1955 a group of tribal, non-Muslims in southern Sudan rose up and began fighting the northern Muslim Sudanese. This was a war based on fear because the southerners believed the Muslim north was dominating Sudan. That war lasted 17 years, and was ended by President Muhammad Ahmed al-Nimeiry in 1972. He granted the south limited self- government. Yet, when Nimeiry imposed Islamic law on all of Sudan in 1988, conflict broke out again. Nimeiry was driven out of his position in 1986 by a military coup. A civilian government took over for three years until Lieutenant General Omar Hassan al-Bashir overthrew the regime and became the official president in 1993. Islamic law was then reinstituted by his command and any opposing parties were, and still are, banned and jailed. The present government has never treated the African (non-Arab) population fairly. They have taken all the natural resources out of the south, mainly oil, cotton, and produce, for themselves, and have not let the local population benefit.
The genocide that is going on in Darfur, which is in western Sudan, (the size of France), is a massacre of race, not religion. The black Africans outnumber the Arab population by thousands. Khartoum, the capitol of Sudan and base for the government, has always been fearful that the tribes in Darfur would take control of the government and demand to become independent like the south. Almost all the people in Darfur are Muslim but are still being persecuted for their ethnicity. The African groups such as the Kaitinga, Zaghawa, Birgid, and about 50 others began fighting against “Arab” tribes over limited resources in Darfur. The African tribes are not represented in the Arab Khartoum government. Darfur rebels took action with the government and had early success against them because of the size of their population.
Khartoum has heavily armed the Arab tribes with guns so they can kill the African tribes. The Khartoum government has conducted air strikes on African tribal villages, and begun systematically destroying African tribes, whom they “perceive” as civilians supporting the rebels.
The Janjaweed, a loosely organized Arab military force, have been the primary tool for the violent killing of Darfurian tribes. They come from the north of Darfur and are “Arab”, not tribal black. (Janjaweed means “devils on camels”). The Khartoum government has armed them with guns and bombs. They are not paid but allowed, to pillage along their way. What usually occurs when they raid villages is the government first sends air strikes, (bombs), and then the Janjaweed enter and murder all the remaining tribe people.
Many world leaders, including the United Nations (UN), are trying to stop this genocide. Some countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada are starting to divest, (pulling their investments out), from Sudan. The UN has many resolutions in debate to put UN troops on the ground in Darfur to protect the people but, a few countries that are profiting from the Khartoum government, China and Russia, openly refuse to admit to what is going on in Sudan. They say that the UN inspectors are misinformed. These governments vote against the resolutions. China and Russia are buying all the oil in Sudan and 80% of the oil money is being used to buy ammunition for the Janjaweed.
The UN, Human Rights Watch, and many other human rights organizations are protesting to get China to pull out of Sudan. The press has put a great amount of pressure on Khartoum and China to stop the funding of the genocide. One world movement that is being talked about is to boycott the 2008 Olympics in China.
At the moment, many mission agencies such as; Oxfam International, CARE, International Rescue Committee, Church World Service, Inter Action, Doctors Without Boarders, Save the Children, UNICEF, CRWRC, and lots of others are all involved with humanitarian aid for the displaced Sudanese. Yet only 13,000 aid works are in Darfur to help 4 ½ million.
The hate and racism in Sudan desperately needs to be stopped. If the government could embrace their population, and live in peace there would be no more tyranny or tears. If irrigated properly, southern Sudan is fertile enough to provide food for the whole of Africa. Sudan has plenty of resources, they just need to know how to use them to benefit their people instead of destroying them.

 

Ten Things You Can Do Right Now

From Genocide Intervention Network

1. Join the Genocide Intervention Network because you care deeply about protecting civilians from genocide, and GI-Net can help you translate that caring into effective action. GI-Net is not just a handful of lobbyists pleading with leaders, but rather a movement of concerned citizens whose actions and electoral influence matter: we are building the first-ever permanent anti-genocide constituency!
   
   
2. Support the African Union peacekeepers in Darfur by contributing to the Genocide Intervention Network. More than half of your donation to the fund will go directly to supporting civilian protection in Darfur. The remaining amount helps fund our other programs, including the support we give to our members, advocacy initiatives like the Darfur scorecard and education initiatives. Your single dollar will be turned into many more dollars as it is used to pressure the United States to appropriate funds to the peacekeepers, to sign up more GI-Net members and to give those members the tools for effective fundraising and advocacy.
   
   
3. Sign up for action alerts by entering your e-mail in the box at the top of this page. Action alerts will give you up-to-date information on how you can most effectively advocate for civilian protection and an end to the genocide. Learn about key legislation in Congress, actions taken by the president, and the many ways you can pressure elected officials to take substantive action, from calling your member of Congress to writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper to organizing community members to sign a petition.
   
   
4. Investigate the actions of your members of Congress to stop the genocide in Darfur — thanking those who have stood against genocide, and urging those who have not taken action to do so — with GI-Net's Darfur scorecard. The first such scorecard of its kind, it demonstrates that despite Congress's 2004 declaration of genocide, many legislators have failed to take concrete steps to end the genocide.
   
   
5. If you are a student or otherwise connected to a college/university or high school, start a STAND chapter. STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition is the student arm of the Genocide Intervention Network, with 600 high school and college chapters around the United States, as well as international chapters. Even if you are unable to start a chapter, sign up on the website for student news, advocacy talking points, and more. If you're connected to a faith community, check out Save Darfur's excellent Faith Action Packet on how you can get your congregation involved.
   
   
6. Host a fundraiser and donate the proceeds to your favorite Darfur organization — the Genocide Intervention Network, Save Darfur, STAND, Africa Action, UNICEF, the Darfur Rehabilitation Project or others. We have a guide to hosting events with lots of ideas — hosting a "Dinner for Darfur," for instance, or selling anti-genocide t-shirts or green wristbands to raise awareness. Donations you make to the Genocide Intervention Network will directly support civilian protection on the ground in Darfur.
   
   
7. Join the Sudan divestment campaign in your state. Take back your dollars from companies that fund the genocide in Darfur. Ask your governor and state legislators to support targeted divestment. Divest your own personal funds from Sudan. You can end the genocide tax and make sure your money isn't being used to kill innocent civilians!
   
   
8. Tell the television news networks to Be A Witness and fully cover the genocide — because you can't stop a genocide if you don't know about it. Then stay up-to-date with the regular Darfur News Briefs. One example of on-the-ground reporting is the photo essay by retired U.S. Marine Brian Steidle, "In Darfur, My Camera Was Not Nearly Enough," available from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's Committee of Conscience.
   
   
9. Organize a Sprint for Darfur. The international community now faces a final sprint in what has been a long struggle for human security in Darfur. To symbolize this urgent moment, please consider hosting a Sprint for Darfur in your hometown. Invite participants to get friends, families and co-workers to sponsor them in the sprint. The funds you raise will help to get peacekeepers on the ground in Darfur, and will also go to the Sudanese Organization Against Torture, a human rights organization run by survivors of the genocide in Nyala, Darfur. Sprint for Darfur is co-sponsored by the Genocide Intervention Network and Africa Action.
   
   
10. Convince your local municipality to approve a proclamation condemning the genocide and calling on the United States to get involved — the Save Darfur Coalition, of which GI-Net is a part, will help you find others in your area with whom to connect around local issues.