18th January, 2006
DAVID ADAMS

New efforts are being made to ensure that the genocide which occurred in Rwanda - when more than 800,000 were slaughtered in “100 days of madness” in the early half of 2004 - is not repeated in Darfur.

The US-based Save Darfur Coalition - which is made up of more than 150 faith-based, advocacy, and humanitarian aid organisations - has launched a campaign to raise awareness about the Sudanese region of Darfur where the coalition says that as many as 400,000 people have been killed since 2003 with a further 3.5 million people driven into hunger and another 2.5 million displaced.

Called Million Voices for Darfur, the campaign urges people to voice their concerns about the situation in Darfur and hopes to deliver a million hand-written and electronic postcards to President George W. Bush and the US congress demanding a “stronger and more effective” response to what’s been happening in the region (while digital copies of the messages will be delivered as the coalition receives them, the first large scale delivery is scheduled for 30th April).

David Rubenstein, the coalition’s coordinator, says that it’s “relatively clear” what is needed in the Darfur region - 15,000 well-equipped and supported troops along with a mandate for civilian protection. But adds that who should make-up that force is less clear.

“At the moment, the African Mission in Sudan (AMIS) is the only force on the ground. While they are doing what they can, they are not getting the help they need to become as effective as they need to be.”

While Rubenstein says the current troop strength of about 7,500 is a “good start”, the force is suffering from a chronic shortage of funds, military hardware and good communications systems.

He believes suggestions the United Nations take over the work of the African Mission is the most likely scenario but says other possibilities such as the deployment of a NATO or European Union-led force are also being considered. Time is the crucial factor.

Asked whether, with more than 400,000 already estimated to have been killed in Darfur, it’s a case of the horse having already bolted on the issue, Rubenstein says the coalition is urging people to petition Mr Bush now “because we don’t want the 400,000 deaths you mentioned to be referred to as the first 400,000 when we look back on Darfur a decade from now”.

He says that while the staggering death rates which took place in the first months of the genocide fell dramatically largely as a result of the arrival of international food and medical aid, the worsening security situation now means that aid is in danger of being reduced or cut off entirely in some regions (even the UN has pulled non-essential personnel out of parts of west Darfur due to security concerns).

Millions of civilians remain living in camps with thousands more joining them every week and, according to Rubenstein, is it becoming “routine” for humanitarian aid worker convoys to be attacked when travelling between the camps by the rebel groups, "Janjaweed" militias and roving bandits who roam the surrounding lands.

“They are almost always robbed and harassed, are often beaten, and are occasionally raped or killed,” he says. 

“Those atrocities are even more prevalent among black Darfurian natives, who continue to be targets of the government-backed Janjaweed militias.  Mass rape is still a very common tactic, and women and girls are in constant danger whenever they leave the camps to bring back water or collect firewood.”

Rubenstein describes those living in the camps and dependent on aid as being on “life support”.

“If the security situation continues to deteriorate, and if US funding of humanitarian aid programs is in fact reduced by 60 per cent (as it appears likely to be), we will effectively be pulling the plug on the life support system that has kept these millions of people alive for the last few years,” he says.

“It’s important to remember that Darfur was suffering from a severe drought even before the genocide began, and that farmers and nomadic herders cannot grow crops and graze cattle if they are in very real danger of being attacked at any time.” 

Rubenstein says the world community is continuing to learn the lessons of Rwanda.

“The sad reality is that society has had to re-learn these lessons many times before,” he says. 

“I hope that we will not have to re-learn them again in another ten years.  I also think that we are seeing a much greater level of public outcry and demands for action than occurred during the Rwandan genocide. 

“Following Rwanda, former US Senator Paul Simon said ‘If every member of the House and Senate had received 100 letters from people back home saying we have to do something about Rwanda, then I think the response would have been different'. We are already actively lobbying members of the House and Senate about Darfur, and it is my hope that Million Voices for Darfur will generate not just 100 letters, but thousands of letters from constituents demanding action. So we have learned some lessons from Rwanda, and are learning still.” 

One of the Christian leaders supporting the campaign is Dr Antonios Kireopoulos, associate general secretary for international affairs and peace with the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA.

In a statement he says that the Christian community view the genocide in Sudan “as one of the greatest moral challenges of our day”.

“Individual Christians, and together as churches, know we must act to save the people of Darfur. In the US, our government has named the problem.  We've used the word 'genocide.' This brings obligations. The National Council of Churches USA, along with interfaith partners in the Save Darfur Coalition, is urging the US to fulfil these obligations, to do all it can to stop the killing."
 
While the Save Darfur Coalition is largely US-based, there are similar groups raising their voices elsewhere in the world.

"This is an international problem,” says Rubenstein. “And it will require an international solution, and very likely will require significant UN commitment.  We are working on our piece of the puzzle, and I hope that like-minded groups around the world are doing likewise.” 

~ www.savedarfur.org

Agree? Disagree? Want to give your opinion? Have your say here...