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1. Fight For South Sudan's Independence 
South Sudanese Needs Your Help!
South Sudan has been attacked time and time again with the South losing nearly 2.5 million people in genocidal acts by the Northern government. In Darfur another 400,000 have also been targeted and killed by militia regimes of the North. South Sudan finally has a chance of electing its independence in January of 2011. Now a worldwide team of college students led by Samuel Chol and Ryan Gilbert will work to ensure South Sudan has a fair election by being in South Sudan for the election and uploading live video footage on the youtube account.
Sudan, Africa’s largest and perhaps most dangerous country, has been at war with itself since gaining independence from Britain in 1956. The first Civil War started in 1955 which lasted until 1972 with the peace agreement that was signed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia by the Sudanese People Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/SPLA). This peace agreement was dishonored again by the Khartoum government which resulted in another round of war that began in 1983 when the government of Sudan imposed Islamic Sharia law to all Sudanese.
These two wars were fought in Southern Sudan and were two of the longest and deadliest wars fought in 20th and 21st century. Roughly 2 million civilians were killed in Southern Sudan, and more than 5 million Southerners have been forced to flee their homes and are now living in a refugee camps around the world.
The civilian death toll is one of the highest of any war since World War II. The war ended when the SPLA/SPLM signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) with the Khartoum government in January 2005 in Nairobi, Kenya. This agreement gives the Southern Sudanese an opportunity to vote for separation to be a separate country or remain united.
The North is predominantly Arab Muslims and the South is indigenous African Christians. The North has carried out massive genocides towards the South for decades and in recent years has also attacked Darfur in the West. The National Congress Party, an Islamist group controlling and manipulating the South and Darfur states, attacked the Southerners for their religion of Christianity and oil, and the Darfur people for their Non-Arab heritage.
Sudan’s corrupt President, Omar al-Bashir, was indicted by the International Criminal Court in 2009 for war crimes against humanity, which led to him to expelling all major humanitarian groups working to help the victims of the Darfur genocide, especially women and children. Colin Powell, former US Secretary of State, called Darfur genocide in 2004 and insisted the United Nations militarily intervene, which they did not.
The people of South have been oppressed by the Khartoum government in the North in many ways: No access to education, no freedom of religion, and most importantly no equal share of its own resources.
This coming referendum on January 9, 2011, gives the Southerners a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get their lives back. However, the Khartoum government is divisive with the voting process because there are high possibilities that Southerners will vote for separation and the North is willing to do anything to postpone the referendum. If this happens, there is a chance that the war might resume.
2. Stop the Fraudulent Elections in Sudan
The current situation in Sudan is extremely volatile. The Sudanese government violently cracked down on peaceful protesters on December 7 and 14, proving that it is unwilling to create the conditions for free and fair elections, currently scheduled for April 2010. If illegitimate elections are held, the entirety of Sudan – including Darfur - is likely to topple into renewed civil war.
Despite this obvious violation of basic freedoms, the U.S. has yet to impose genuine consequences on those obstructing peace in Sudan. If nothing changes before April, U.S. taxpayers will have spent nearly $100 million to support the election of an indicted war-criminal and legitimize the iron-fisted rule of one of the world’s most oppressive regimes.
President Obama promised consequences for Sudan if Khartoum did not meet benchmarks for peace — tell the White House that Sudan must feel real consequences for its actions NOW!
3. Support a Darfur Awareness Organization
This petition is for Assumption College students who were moved by the horrific events taking place in Darfur.
4. PEOPLE’S ARREST WARRANT For Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir
"The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice." - Martin Luther King Jr.
You are invited to read, sign and invite others to sign this People’s Arrest Warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir. International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Loius Moreno Ocampo issued an indictment and has requested authority to issue an Arrest Warrant for Al-Bashir and still the international community drags its collective feet, wanting to continue failed negotiations after 5 years of impunity. Arguing that he is innocent of the charges and committed to peace in Darfur, President Bashir has demanded that the UN Security Council suspend the ICC case.
The Darfuri people have a different view. They want President Bashir to be held accountable for his crimes and they oppose any delay in justice. In July, a Darfuri woman at a refugee camp in Chad told a humanitarian relief worker that: "a delay will not be a chance for peace. It will be a chance for Bashir to kill more." The Kalma massacre is grim evidence of her prediction.
November 7, 2008 Sudanese and Americans stood together at a Vigil at the Sudan Embassy to say “Enough” to the attacks on Darfuri people in their villages, towns and in the camps, to say “Enough” to ineffective international Peace efforts. It’s time to support the ICC arrest of Omar Al-Bashir who is guilty of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Sign this People’s Arrest Warrant and help stop Bashir before he kills more.
It is our hope that this People’s Arrest Warrant will embolden the leaders of nations around the world to use their power to protect the people of Darfur and all Sudan and to stop protecting this well-known genocidaire.
5. End the Genocide in Darfur!
Dear friend,
Last July 31, the U.N. Security Council authorized 19,000 additional peacekeepers to help stop the violence in Darfur.
A year later, barely 2,000 additional peacekeepers have arrived, and those that are there lack the equipment and support that they need to protect Darfuri civilians.
That's why I've signed on to the Save Darfur Coalition's international petition to the leaders of China, France, Russia, the U.K., and the U.S., the five most critical voices on the U.N. Security Council. We're demanding that they fulfill the promise they made a year ago, and stop dragging their feet on fully deploying the peacekeepers.
Will you join us, and 75,000 others around the world, in signing this important petition? Our names will be displayed with 75,000 others in a major media event on July 31, the one-year anniversary of the Security Council's important - but unfulfilled - resolution.
A Security Council resolution is useless without concrete action from the U.N. and the leaders of the nations who lead it. It is outrageous that the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council - China, Russia, France, the U.K., and the U.S. - cannot produce just 24 helicopters needed by the peacekeepers to help end the brutal genocide.
This is a failure of will, plain and simple. The world promised Darfur protection but has failed to deliver it.
Since the peacekeepers were authorized by the Security Council a year ago, 440,000 more Darfuris have been driven from their homes. The people of Darfur can't afford to wait any longer for these world leaders to find the courage to act.
Help me send these world leaders a strong message: let's stop dragging our feet and keep our moral obligation to bring peace and security to Darfur
Thanks for joining us in this important struggle. It means a lot.
Thank you!
6. Make Canada Recognize Darfur as a Genocide
Since the genocide in Darfur began in 2003, between 200,000 and 400,000 African farmers have met their destiny at the hands of the Sudanese government and the Janaweed. Only the United States has named it for what it really is: genocide.
It is now time for the people of Canada to step up to the challenge of getting the people of Darfur the aid they need, by making Canada officially recognize Darfur as a genocide.
7. The Olympic Dream for Darfur
The Olympic Dream for Darfur
China has strong economic, political, and military ties to Sudan. These ties give it considerable influence over the Sudanese government and a corresponding responsibility to help end the tragedy in Darfur.
But, so far, China's actions have not been enough.
As the Olympics draw near, we must ramp up world pressure on China to uphold the Olympic message of world peace and cooperation.
8. Stop the Genocide in Darfur
The crisis in Darfur presents the largest humanitarian disaster since the Rwanda genocide in 1994. Over 800,000 men, women, and children have been killed, and that number is only getting bigger.
Every day the people of Darfur are systematically killed and raped for no apparent reason. The people of Darfur cannot turn to their own government as their government supports the groups committing these atrocities.
Not only does the government support these groups, but they are supplying them with weapons and ammunition. The people of Darfur must turn to other aid, but as the west turns their back on these people, they are left alone to die.
More than 1.8 million people affected by the continuing crisis in Darfur, Sudan. The situation in the strife-torn region remains extremely volatile.
More than 200,000 Sudanese have fled to neighbouring Chad and 1.6 million people, who have been displaced internally, are living in desperate conditions inside Darfur where there has been a complete breakdown in security.
As many as 400,000 people have been killed in Darfur. Another 2.5 million have been driven from their homes and into danger.
The threat of rape, torture, murder and malnutrition pursue the women and children of Darfur wherever they flee.
World leaders must unite now to end the genocide and establish a lasting peace in Darfur.
10. Save Darfur
In 2004 the U.S. Government called the atrocities in Darfur genocide...
...3 years later the killing continues.
-More than 450,000 innocent civilians are Dead
-2.5-3 Million are Displaced
-3.5 million depend on food aid
Women are being raped,
and Villages are being bombarded.
It is part of our responsibility as human beings to help these people and end the genocide in Darfur, Sudan, & eastern Chad.
11. Protect Women and Girls from Sexual Violence in Darfur
As present and future health professionals whose work is devoted to promoting health and well-being, and guided by the ethical tenets of our profession and fundamental principles of human rights, we urgently call on all relevant authorities within the United States government to act on the behalf of women and girls of Darfur--thousands of whom have been sexually violated and raped when they left the relative security of the camps for refugees and the internally displaced to gather firewood and water, vital commodities.
The vast majority of these violent incidents are perpetrated by the Janjaweed militias, with the knowledge and support of the Sudanese Government (GOS).
Yet, in spite of denials and declarations to the contrary by the GOS, there is TOTAL immunity for these attackers: to date, not a single rape of a displaced Darfurian has been successfully prosecuted.
12. Convince Chinese President Hu Jintao to Watch Sudan
China and Sudan have been known in the past to have strong political ties.
We must convince President Hu Jintao to hold the Sudanese government to their commitments to the UN/AU Peacekeeping deployment.
13. Support the victims of Darfur conflict
For four years, women and children have been tortured in the Darfur region of Africa, in which tribal wars are taking place.
14. No-Fly Zone to Protect Families in Darfur
In the past four years, 400,000 people in Darfur, Sudan have been killed by their own government. Millions more need our help. Government sponsored troops massacre civilians, rape girls, and shoot children for sport. But now, a growing number of activists around the world are demanding world leaders take action to end the killing.
Darfur is a region in western Sudan, an eastern African country half the size of the United States.
Ethnic African rebel groups in Darfur launched a war for independence, citing a lack of life saving government funds in the region. President Omar Al-Bashir responded with a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing against civilians. He has used proxy militia groups to torch whole cities, rape and kill thousands of women and children. The violence continues today.
A No-Fly Zone could stop the violence.
The United States ran a No-Fly Zone in Iraq after the first Gulf War. A NATO implemented No-Fly Zone ended the violence Kosovo. We can do the same in Darfur. But we need your help. President Bush is already considering a No-Fly Zone as part of his "Plan B" package.
Please take 20 seconds to sign our petition and urge the White House to take action.
15. Boycott Corporate Sponsors of 2008 Olympics & Save Darfur
China has its largest oil holdings in the Sudan region. China is also the Sudan's largest supplier of arms. The Sudanese government has implemented genocide in the Darfur & Chad regions, affecting millions of people. Already the body count is over 500,000, with women, men & children being brutally tortured and killed.
The U.N. has been unsuccessful in getting peacekeepers into the Darfur region as the Sudanese government has been blocking such access.
The 2008 Olympics will be hosted by China. One way we can help end this crisis in Darfur & Chad is to let China--and the world--know that enough is enough. McDonalds, Johnson & Johnson, GE, & Coca Cola are all major corporate sponsors of the 2008 Olympics. Steven Spielberg will be the public figure opening and closing these Olympics.
They need to step up to the plate, pull out of the Olympics until China stops supplying arms and starts to put pressure on the Sudanese government to end the genocide in Darfur.
The Darfur conflict is an ongoing armed conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan, mainly between the Janjaweed, a militia group recruited from the tribes of the Abbala Rizeigat (Bedouin Arabs), and the non-Baggara people (mostly land-tilling tribes) of the region.
The Sudanese government, while publicly denying that it supports the Janjaweed, has provided money and assistance and has participated in joint attacks with the group, systematically targeting the Fur, Zaghawa, and Massaleit ethnic groups in Darfur. The conflict began in July 2003. Unlike in the Second Sudanese Civil War, which was fought between the primarily Muslim north and Christian and Animist south, in Darfur most of the residents are Muslim, as are the Janjaweed.
After fighting worsened in July and August 2006, on August 31, 2006, the United Nations Security Council approved Resolution 1706 which called for a new 17,300-troop UN peacekeeping force to supplant or supplement a poorly funded, ill-equipped 7,000-troop African Union Mission in Sudan peacekeeping force. Sudan strongly objected to the resolution and said that it would see the UN forces in the region as foreign invaders. The next day, the Sudanese military launched a major offensive in the region. (See New proposed UN peacekeeping force)
Estimated number of deaths in the conflict vary widely. According to Sudan's government, 9,000 people have been killed; most NGOs use 200,000 to over 400,000, a figure from the Coalition for International Justice that has since been cited by the United Nations. As many as 2.5 million are thought to have been displaced as of October 2006.[3] (See Counting deaths section, below) The mass media once described the conflict as both "ethnic cleansing" and "genocide," and now do so without hesitation. The some in the United States government has described it as genocide, although the United Nations has declined to do so.
In March 2007 the U.N. mission accused Sudan's government of orchestrating and taking part in "gross violations" in Darfur and called for urgent international action to protect civilians there. Not much action has taken place.
17. Stop the Genocide in Darfur
Starting in February 2003 an Arab militia called the “Janjaweed,” supported by the Sudanese government, started a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the native Black civilians in Sudan’s Darfur region. Thus far, more than 400,000 people have died, 2.5 million people have been driven from their homes, and 3.5 million people are dependent on food aid as a result. The United States has declared this crisis a “genocide” for years and United Nations officials have announced it as the "worst humanitarian crisis in the world today." The massive use of rape as a weapon of war and the cruelty shown has also been noticed and documented.
This petition calls for the targeted divestment of the University of Texas Investment Management Company’s (UTIMCO) investments in “worst offending” companies in Sudan. Therefore, it does not ask for the withdrawal of investments in all companies in Sudan but only those which are helping to fund the genocide through their strong relationships with the Sudanese government. Although only a few companies are targeted, the investments amount to millions of dollars. Alternative investments are readily available and thus minimal cost would be accrued by divesting from Sudan and reinvesting in other companies and financial returns from investments should not change significantly.
Divestment is a serious step to take, but the declaration of genocide in Darfur and the crimes against humanity that have occurred warrant such action. Just as divestment from companies in South Africa during apartheid was necessary, today more than a decade later, the systematic killing of hundreds of thousands and crimes against millions because of their ethnic identity in Darfur also makes such action necessary. These investments make the university’s members partly responsible for the crimes occurring and we are not willing to hold the burden of supplying the Sudanese government and Janjaweed with weapons to harm the people in this region.
This petition asks for the same action to be taken as stated in HB 667 and SB 247, the bills of divestment that were filed in the Texas legislature in January 2007, addressing state pension funds’ targeted divestment from companies doing business in Sudan.
To see this legislation visit http://www.legis.state.tx.us/billlookup/Text.aspx?
LegSess=80R&Bill=SB247
18. Afrikanet für Schutztruppen in Darfur
Seit 2003 wurden fast 90 Prozent der Dörfer in Darfur von der sudanesischen Regierung und ihrer Stellvertreter-Armee, den arabischen Dschandschawid-Milizen, bombardiert und niedergebrannt.
The statistics are horrifying:
-It is estimated that over 400,000 people have died due to violence, starvation and disease.
-More than 2.5 million people have been displaced from their homes.
-Over 200,000 have fled across the border to Chad.
-At least 1,300,000 children are living in 200 refugee camps.
-Acute malnutrition has reached almost 27% in some areas of Darfur
-Many now live in camps lacking adequate food, shelter, sanitation, and health care.
-Violence and destruction are continuing in Darfur.
-Since February 2003, government-sponsored militias called Janjaweed have led a campaign of starvation and displacement in Darfur.
20. End The Genocide In Darfur
THESE PEOPLE ARE COMPLETELY ALONE! The peace keepers who were there as of September 30th are gone. SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE.
3,000 Canadian troops are currently in Afghanistan slaughtering innocent people - a mere 100 are in Africa helping. That's right, that's for the entire Continent. WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR PEACE KEEPERS?
These people don't have protection, food, clean water, clothing, shelter or water. Right now as you read this thousands of people are STARVING to death, being SHOT or RAPED.
We NEED to come together and DO SOMETHING about these attrocities before it's too late.
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In the beginning of 2003 a rebel group began attacking government targets. Why? They claimed the government was oppressing black Africans in favour of Arabs. Although the government admits mobilising " Self Defense Militias " after the rebel attacks, it denies having any connection to the Janjaweed, who are a militia drawn from Darfurian and Chadian Arab tribes that became known for massacre, rape and forced displacement in 2003-2004.
Many of the civilians from Darfur have been forced to flee for safety as the result of maniacal raids of the state-sponsored Arab militias and government helicopter gun ships. So far, 400,000 lives have been taken.
The Sudanese government has promised to disarm the Janjaweed, yet there is little evidence that this has been done.
As of late 2004, 1.2 million people had been displaced from their homes, 200,000 had fled to Chad, 405 villages had been destroyed ( 100 others significantly damaged ), and 50,000 people had been killed. All this in only one year.
The lives of the women, men and children in Darfur are in danger. Not only are they being killed by the Janjaweed, but they don't have enough food, water or medicine to survive. I'm not asking you to donate money, or even food or clothing. All I'm asking is that you take the time to sign this.
You may be thinking, " Why should I care? These people aren't related to me. They have never helped me in any way. " But the truth is, they ARE people. Like you and I, they don't want to suffer. They love, they breathe, they feel, just like us.
You have a choice right now, you can allow this to continue, or you can stand up for the victims of these attrocities in Darfur.
If enough people sign this petition, something will be done. Don't under estimate the power of one person.
21. Media coverage of the Genocide in Darfur
For years now it has been hailed the next Rwanda. A silent war between the Arabs and Non-Arabs in the Darfur region of the Sudan has just come to the attention of Canada, but not nearly enough is being done.
This subject needs extensive media coverage to educate the population. Without it, the world may remain ignorant to this genocide and the people of Darfur will be put through a massacre that no one should ever be subjected too.
This petition is to bring awareness to the subject. Please help the effort and tell everyone you know to sign.
22. Stop The Genocide In Darfur, Western Sudan NOW!
Raping woman, killing children, pillaging agricultural villages, destroying lives.
The attention of the world is much too slowly turning its head to address the rampant and unmitigated devastation occurring in Sudan that has in the past 18 months left more than 50,000 savagely murdered and 1.5 million more among the families of those unfortunate dead as displaced refugees in ill-equipped camps and neighboring countries. This is a UN recognized human rights atrocity; the situation in Sudan is a grave emergency! Devastatingly, the attention that Sudan has received from commercial media - which is largely focused on the situation in Iraq - has not expressed the gravity of the situation.
Who is killing who in Sudan and why? The current campaign of ethnic cleansing is intent on eliminating several sedentary African tribal groups, motivated by a struggle for power in Khartoum, Sudan's capital. The killing campaign is being conducted by a hired militia at the bidding of an imposed, abusive, and controversial government struggling to retain its power over a nation of people that wants the fanatical government routed. While the urgency for action and assistance has never been keener, the conflict has actually been long standing. Sudan as a whole has been embroiled in 50 years of civil war and rebellion between the usually tyrannical power in Khartoum and the southern populations that do not want to live under the Khartoum government's religious and dictatorial policies.
To understand why the groups are in conflict, you need to first acquaint yourself with the region. Sudan is in East Africa, just South of Egypt, East of Chad, and North of Kenya. The population is a conglomerate of Arabs and Africans, nomadic pastoralists and farmers, Muslims, Christians, and Animists (those believing that everything in nature has a soul). These people of Sudan have been in conflict ever since the British abandoned the region in 1956. Upon their leaving, the British undemocratically passed control to one group of ethnically-foreign Arab northerners in the capital city, Khartoum. This empowered groups' policy of disregarding civil rights and instituting classical Islamic rule over the ethnically diverse Southern population has spawned the 50 years of civil war, famine, and human rights violations that have never been effectively dealt with. Compounded by the discovery of oil in the Sudan South in the 1970s, the Northern dictatorial government breached beyond merely unfair policy and began trying to dominate the natural resources of the South. Still, the worst of problems had yet to come.
By the 1980s, a series of poignant civil rights abuses aroused fear in the southern populations. The increasingly fanatical Islamized northern government had been abusing its power by dismantling the constitutional rights for people in the southern region and by imposing Shariya Law - traditional Muslim Law Code - over the ethnically diverse southern populations. In 1985, the southern borne Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) led a popular uprising that succeeded in expelling the Northern Arab government. The SPLM revolt was successful in replacing the government and at ushering in the installation of a democratically oriented - but still religious - Islamic government. This progress lead to peace talks that gave many hope for a stable Sudan; but the steps forward were not to last. In 1989, as peace agreements were being consolidated between the democratized Islamic government in Khartoum and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in the South and just as the government was finally preparing to freeze the Shariya Islamic Law Code, General Omar al-Bashir lead the National Islamic Front in a coup against the liberating government to bring back the authoritarian Arabic form of Islamic government.
The Southern Sudanese hopes' had been dashed and there worst fears rekindled; upon Omar's imposition, he abolished the constitution that protected the Southern populations, censured his opponents by outlawing opposition parties, and he revamped Khartoum's control of the controversial Shariya Law by imposing, additionally, a traditional Islamic Justice System which began dealing out death liberally. Omar then proceeded to declare Jihad, a holy war in the name of Mohammad, against the non-Muslim and democratic African-Muslim people of Sudan.
The National Islamic Front government continued to polarize the Sudanese people and its actions began even to alienate Khartoum from its neighboring countries. Accused of attempting to incite jihad in eastern neighbor Eritrea, and of assisting in an assassination attempt on Egyptian President Mubarak during his visit to Sudan's eastern neighbor Ethiopia, and because Sudan was recognized for harboring terrorists such as Osama bin Laden who used Sudan as a base for executing the 1998 bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, General Omar's government became regionally isolated but Omar al-Bashir remains in power still today.
Omar's fundamentalist government, supported by their oil reserves, military technology, and fear, continue to push forward. Their campaign however is not fueled by purely by religious zeal as it may appear at first glance. It is much more ethnically motivated, pitting the Arabic Muslim government against the African, dark-skinned Muslim and non-Muslims of greater Sudan. The African Muslims are mostly sedentary tribal peoples, agricultural societies that embrace diversity. The Arabic government fosters the form of ethnic fanaticism that has plagued the Middle East, such as in Iraq where Arabic Sunnis have in the past threatened and massacred Islamic Shiites and Kurds.
By 2003, Omar's mistreatment of even his northern contingents and tribal populations in the area called Darfur, lead the tribal groups to mount a rebellion. In April 2003, in the name of human, social, and economic rights, and impassioned by their suffering, the Muslim tribal peoples of the Fur, the Zaghawa, and the Massaleit, allied under the two names, the Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), took up arms against Omar's militarily defended government. Despite inferior resources, they actually achieved a string of victories.
At this point, fearing further retaliation, Omar made one of the most horrific moves that any dictator could entertain. He called upon nomadic Arabic horsemen in Sudan to enlist in a Janjaweed militia, promising a gun and additional payment of $116 a month in order to rape, route, and kill the African people of Darfur. Janjaweed is translated from Arabic as "man with a gun on a horse" but the Janjaweed are generally known as nomadic bandits. The government motivated the Janjaweed to carry out their mission in the Darfur region with racist incentive; told that their job was to cleanse Darfur of its darker skinned inhabitants. They were too given the additional incentive that their monthly payment would come from the booty plundered in the villages which they attacked.
For the last 18 months, the janjaweed have terrorized unabashed the tribal people of Darfur with a scorched earth policy, destroying the villages they attack. "They dump human corpses in wells to contaminate the water supply, essentially doing whatever is necessary to force the black African Muslims from their land never to return" says the report from the office of Congressman Wolf on what he witnessed while visiting.
You know when they are coming because they don't come alone. First you here the low pitched hum of the helicopters approaching. This is when most of the able villagers dash into the forest for sake of their lives. As the helicopter gun ship arrives, it first strafes the village destroying housing and killing people that have not left. It will often unload supplies for the janjaweed militia that follow close behind, coming out of the forest on horseback to finish the killing, raping, and destruction making the village uninhabitable, and to collect bounty from the village.
The government of Omar al-Bashir denies involvement, aid, or support of the raids. They maintain that the culprits are just uncontrolled bandits. Their overt lie is not much believed by anyone, as it is plainly obvious that the nomadic janjaweed alone are by no means capable to be flying the attack helicopters.
To date, the actions of the government and its militia have displaced over 1 million people from their homes, consolidating them into 129 crowded concentration camps monitored and surrounded by more janjaweed. These are what is called internally displaced people (IDPs). Their camps are ill-resourced. In Mornay, the largest camp with 70,000 people, rains carry human excrement back through the camp. At least 160 thousand Darfurians have escaped across the western border of Sudan to Chad. Few of them will ever be able to return to their home. If the refugees leave their camp, the janjaweed are there waiting for them just beyond the borders says the Wolf Congressional report. Rape of Sudanese woman is a daily reality for these refugees. They are forced to accept it, they must leave the camp to gather firewood for their families and straw to feed their cattle. The janjaweed tell the girls they rape that they are "trying to make their babies lighter." The janjaweed have even instituted a policy of branding the raped girls and woman so as not to mistake them. Murder of the male IDPs is a constant threat as well.
This is a holocaust going in Sudan today, directly in our site. After the holocaust of WWII where six million Jews were murdered by the Nazi forces, and again after failing to intervene to stop the devastating genocide of 800,000 ethnic Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994, the world has now twice said "never again" to genocide. This is your chance to not only to say never again but to act on your intention. Get informed, read a few articles, you will understand the situation and realize why it is so devastatingly clear that this is a genocide that must be confronted immediately.
In the past months, the government in Sudan has been coming under increased - but still feeble - international pressure to address and respond to the crises. Kofi Anan and Colin Powell have both visited the region and agree it is a problem that needs to be dealt with, but what have they done to accomplish this? Currently the UN is discussing so they can make a declaration as to whether or not these atrocities may be considered a genocide. This is after a recent Security Council Resolution that urged the Khartoum government to better control the devastation in the region and to help ensure the security in the IDP camps. Do you believe it is appropriate to hold the same group which is responsible for instigating the atrocity as the group to hold responsible for ensuring the security of the region? Obviously the UN Security Council does. So who is guarding the camps? The janjaweed, the same people that were commissioned and brainwashed for murdering the Darfurians are now being publicly sanctioned by the UN to carry "defensive" weapons that will allow them to defend the safety of the black African people in the refugee camps.
The UN Security Council Resolution had the opportunity to send a clear message to the Khartoum government. Instead what do they do? They approved that more African Union monitoring forces should come to Sudan to oversee the situation. They failed to issue an arms embargo ensuring the Sudan government will have continued access to weapons. The UN also failed to inflict any real pressure on the Sudan government by passing on their opportunity to impose an oil embargo. An embargo would have forced Sudan to address the problem.
"The [UN] Security Council has ensured that the Sudanese government will have the resources necessary to continue its scorched-earth campaign in Darfur," said Human Rights Watch, an international non-profit human rights watchdog group. Instead of providing a resolution that sends a clear message to Khartoum indicating how serious the world is about putting an end to the atrocities, they committed a toothless resolution providing no real incentive for al-Bashir to respond.
This makes good sense. The UN is incapable of responding appropriately to human rights issues. You will agree if you look at who is one of the 14 member states on the UN Human Rights Commission: Sudan. Yes, the same government that fosters the genocide of ethnically African black Muslims in Sudan is a voting member on human rights issues.
Reasonably, you are probably appalled by what you have learned about Sudan. You know you can not rely on the UN to do anything constructive regarding this matter. Little known to most, the United States has actually been supporting the reabsorption of refugees from Sudan. Four years ago, the United States allowed the immigration of 7,000 black Sudanese refugees, actually victims of a different struggle against the same government. Many of these are young boys from southern Sudan who lost their parents violently while trying to escape the onslaught of northern Sudanese forces. They are now known as the Lost Boys. A group of at least 100 of them now call San Diego their home and are actively trying to build themselves a new life in this new world, along with all the trappings of modernity.
Take it upon yourself to learn, to discuss, and to represent what you know is right. Make sure that who ever wins the election for president on November 2 knows that giving attention to Sudan needs to be a priority for the United States. Don't wait to speak out and don't be afraid to raise the issue, it is not a very contested topic outside Sudan.
Resources for your learning interest:
www.lostboysfilm.com
Website about the Sudanese refugees experience starting a new life in the US:
www.icg.org
International Crisis Group, human crisis watch group:
www.house.gov/wolf/issues/hr/trips/sudanrpt_web.pdf
Document of Congressman Wolf's impression.
23. Petition on the Crisis in Sudan
April 24, 2006
Petition on the Crisis in Sudan.
We call on the US Government to lead our nation and the international community in taking strong and decisive action to stop the violence, provide sufficient humanitarian aid for those in camps, hold the perpetrators accountable, and establish conditions for the safe, voluntary, and dignified return of survivors to their homes.
The presidential inaugural address included these words: "America's influence is not unlimited, but fortunately for the oppressed, America's influence is considerable, and we will use it confidently in freedom's cause... All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors."
We are counting on you to give life to these words. We urge you to do what it takes to end the violence, protect the helpless, and end this genocide.