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(Published as an op-ed on July 1, 2007 in New London, CT daily, The Day, as “Make Darfur the last place we ever say ‘never again’”) After the Holocaust they said, “Never again!” Then following the genocide of 800,000 Tutsis in Rwanda, the world once more said, “Never again!” The sentiment was repeated when the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and Herzegovina finally ended with the installation of U.N. peacekeeping troops. Yet we watch as, once again, one ethnic group attempts to exterminate another. Will we finally say never again only after the Arab Moslems of Sudan succeed in cleansing their lands of black African Moslems? Or will we send in adequate U.N. troops to replace or augment the 7,000 African Union forces that have proven too small in number, to protect Sudanese civilians? On April 27, 2007, the ICC (International Criminal Court) issued arrest warrants against Sudanese government minister Ahmad Muhammad Harun (a.k.a. Ahmad Harun) and Janjawid militia leader Ali Muhammad Al Abd-Al-Rahman (a.k.a. Ali Kushayb). The charges are murder, the destruction of property, pillaging, rape, torture and other inhumane acts. Sudanese authorities, however, have failed to arrest the men and surrender them to the ICC. For some time, the government of Sudan has refused to allow U.N. forces to replace or augment the A.U. forces. With the signing of a new peace accord on May 5, 2006, and then again more recently on April 9, 2007, they proclaimed that U.N. Peacekeepers would be allowed into the country. Yet it has not come to pass and the violence persists. It was less than a year and a half prior to that agreement, in January 2005 after twenty years of civil war, that the government of Sudan had made a Comprehensive Peace Agreement with both armed rebel groups, the SLM (Sudan Liberation Movement) and JEM (Justice and Equality Movement). Before the end of the year, however, the violence, once again, escalated to previous levels. Despite the government’s promises to maintain a ceasefire, the Sudanese Air Force has reportedly continued to conduct aerial bombings of civilian villages. An account by the BBC stated that, on January 16, 2005, the Air Force bombed the town of Hamada in the Darfur region and killed about one hundred people, mostly women and children. Deputy spokesperson George Somerwill, who was with the U.N. Advance Mission in Sudan, told IRIN (Integrated Regional Information Networks) that the village was almost totally destroyed as a result of these raids. The human rights organization, Amnesty International also discovered evidence that the Sudanese Air Force conducted aerial bombings on civilian targets and that they continued to provide cover for militia groups with MiG jet fighters. Additionally, the government has been providing arms and ammunition to the Janjawid (which translates as “guns on horses”). On April 24, 2006, with an Antonov bomber and helicopter gunships, they destroyed Joghana, another village in South Darfur. The human rights organization, Human Rights Watch, reported that the attack on Joghana, along with the destruction ten days earlier of two other villages, “… appears to be part of a broader government offensive in South Darfur with the apparent aim of consolidating territory prior to an African Union deadline of April 30, 2006, for concluding peace negotiations.” That date came and went with no consequence to speak of. Yet, in spite of strong evidence of the Sudanese government’s culpability, a number of countries continue to provide them with arms and logistical supplies. In 2004 the Sudanese government imported 12 MiG-29 jet fighters from Russia, and over the past three years, even after the U.N. mandated arms embargo in March 2005, Russia, along with China, France and Saudi Arabia, have sold jets, attack helicopters and large quantities of small arms to the Sudanese government. It is deeply disturbing to hear that girls in the Darfur region of Sudan, girls as young as eight years old, are being raped by members of the Janjawid. Furthermore, it appears that many of the human rights violations in Darfur have been targeted specifically against women and girls – violations that included abductions, sexual slavery, torture and forced displacement. It would seem that no woman in Darfur is safe: even pregnant women and prepubescent girls have not been spared. Women and girls have been raped in public, in an effort to terrorize and humiliate them, their families and their neighbors. They have been tortured in order to obtain information regarding the whereabouts of their fathers, husbands and sons: who may or may not be involved with the armed opposition groups JLM or JEM. If they resist rape they are beaten, stabbed and sometimes murdered. The suffering and abuse that is endured by these women extends far beyond the rape itself. Those fortunate to survive the violence, often suffer from severe mental and physical problems for the rest of their lives – as well as with unwanted pregnancies, social stigmatization and economic difficulty. What is most outrageous is that the Janjawid act with full impunity and even with the support of the Sudanese government. Too many innocent lives have already been lost. Too many women and children have been raped, brutalized and murdered. We cannot let this go on. The United States through the United Nations must find a way to bring the situation in Darfur to an end. Why should you care about atrocities that take place more than 7000 miles away? Why should you care about girls in the Darfur region of Sudan – girls as young as eight years old who are being raped by members of the Janjawid militia? You care because you believe in the commonality of human beings, you are a citizen of the world and you believe that brutalities committed against one group of people have an adverse affect on all of humanity: you want to change the world. As Eldridge Cleaver said, regarding America’s civil rights movement, “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.” Here’s your opportunity to make a difference. Go to amnestyusa.org, or to hrw.org, for information about the mayhem in Sudan, and discover how you can help bring it to an end. Through Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, you can sign petitions or send online faxes urging the government of Sudan to take action against the Janjawid, and pressure your own leaders to take the requisite steps to bring this tragedy to an end. Also through Amnesty International you can support their efforts to end the crises in Darfur with the purchase of a masterful musical collection of the songs of John Lennon, recorded by a number of contemporary artists such as: U2, Green Day, Black Eyed Peas, Avril Lavigne, R.E.M., Lenny Kravitz and Christina Aguilera. Nearly twenty-seven years after his death, ex-Beatle, John Lennon continues to inspire people to fight injustice and to work for peace. The compilation is available at the website, instantkarma.org When can we finally quit saying, never again? Copyright © June 2007 Michael D. Kerrigan
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