Darfur
Stop the genocide in Darfur now!
*To read the full policy paper, read further below
Categories covered below:
1) Horrific atrocities, staggering numbers;
2) UN Resolution 1706;
3) 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement;
4) Humanitarian help now!
1) Horrific atrocities, staggering numbers
It's the first genocide of the 21st Century. And the situation in Darfur is dire.
We are compelled as a nation to help.
And to help now!
Some 400,000 people have been killed in Darfur in the past four years and 2.5 million people are now displaced. What's more, 3.5 million men, women and childrens lives hang by a thread, because of lack of food, medicine and clean water.
Yet, most of us go on living comfortably in the U.S., with hardly a social justice thought about this.
To put a face on the situation, I interviewed a man from Darfur who is currently in the United States with his family. (He is in the Peace & Conflict Resolution study program at Indiana's Manchester College, with the hopes of taking what he learns back to his people.)
This man told me that for a number of years (until he was badly wounded) he fought with a rebel Darfur group against the Sudanese Army. He said the Sudanese government was hoarding resources and wealth, while keeping those in the Darfur region extremely poor, marginalized and politically disenfranchised.
And he said the current atrocities against innocent civilians are horrific.
2) UN Resolution 1706
For four years, the Sudanese Army and government-backed militia called Janjaweed, have been fighting two rebel forces in Darfur. Consistent reports indicate the Janjaweed fighters have attacked civilians tied to the rebel groups. The Janjaweeds enter a village and commit wholesale rape, torture and killing. Afterward, the village is often destroyed.
Some 20 people die every hour in Darfur at this point.
We can't let this go on.
The United States will become head of the United Nations Security Council this month (May).
As president (or even as a presidential candidate), I would lobby hard for the implementation of UN Resolution 1706, which authorizes the deployment of 20,000 UN peacekeepers who will be sent to protect the civilians in Darfur.
There are currently only 3,000 UN soldiers to help some 7,000 tremendously overtaxed African Union peacekeepers.
*We can write to Alejandro Wolff, acting U.S. Representative to the United Nations, 140 East 45th St., New York, New York 10007 and urge him to push for UN Resolution 1706.
3) 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement
Besides the additional UN Peacekeepers, there must be a push for compliance with the 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement, which was ratified by the Sudanese government and one of the rebel factions. Yet it hasnt been seriously pursued yet.
It calls for:
The Sudanese government to disarm the Janjaweed.
Help with reintegration of the former combatants.
Democratization processes for the people of Darfur.
Buffer zones around camps for displaced persons.
Going to the international community for more humanitarian help.
And we can do the latter now. We don't have to wait for the Sudanese government (or anyone else over there, for that matter) to ask.
4) Humanitarian help now!
At a talk to a St. Thomas Sunday School Class in Bowling Green, Ohio, I recommended that the class (and/or the whole church) do an ongoing fundraiser for, say, a church in a village in Darfur or for a refugee camp, etc.
And if we mobilized Sister Church and Sister City, etc., initiatives all over the country on a grassroots level for Darfur and actually both sides in general this would significantly help quell the violence and, hopefully, inspire the rest of the First World countries to help as well.
It would just entail some sacrifices on all our parts.
A small price to pay for 20 men, women and children being killed every hour.
The clock is ticking.
*Note: Two excellent conduits to get Darfur donations to (and learn more about the situation) are: www.savedarfur.org and www.africaaction.org. Whats more, both sites have strategies and tools to get the message about Darfur out further in your area through talks, media interviews, and so on. In addition, the groups also recommend starting grassroots Darfur information groups to combine in getting the message out.
Stop the Genocide in Darfur Now!
Full Policy Paper
Categories covered below: Preface; 1) Horrific Atrocities, Staggering Numbers; 2) UN Resolution 1706; 3) 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement; 4) Humanitarian Help Now!
Preface:
This paper was written a number of years ago, when the genocide in Darfur was near its zenith. While a lot of that has abated (at least at this time), the paper will give people a window into the spirit of how our administration would approach similar genocide, or potential genocide, situations, as they come up and evolve. We, so often, look at these types of situations in an anapestic fashion through the media – without it affecting us much.
Pope Francis recently said that: “War is a scandal to be mourned every day… Millions kill their own brothers [now], and we’re used to it. They kill each other over a piece of land, a racial hatred, an ambition…”
The point for our administration would be to: “not be used to it,” and what’s more, to proactively do everything possible to head off similar situations. For instance, to stay with the Sudan and contemporary affairs…
After South Sudan became the newest country in the world in 2011, scores of refugees started coming back. Yet some violent conflict continues in the South, exacerbating problems around severe food shortages for some 2 million people – which could soon trigger massive starvation.
This is compounded by a South Sudan cereal crop deficit, estimated at almost half the country’s total requirement.
Our administration would work diligently to help quell the violence in the South, while providing major food and agricultural support to help South Sudan become much more sustainable. This would mean ramping up foreign aid, which would include things like increasing taxes in the U.S. to cover this. In addition, our administration would work to be a catalyst to inspire more NGOs and churches to help more as well.
This all will entail some sacrifice, which our administration would try to inspire people to undertake. We can’t be largely indifferent to these world tragedies anymore.
1) Horrific Atrocities, Staggering Numbers
“It’s the first genocide of the 21st Century. And the situation in Darfur is dire.”
We are compelled as a nation to help.
And to help now!
Some 400,000 people have been killed in Darfur in the past four years and 2.5 million people are now displaced. What’s more, 3.5 million men, women and children’s lives hang by a thread, because of lack of food, medicine and clean water.
Yet most of us go on living comfortably in the U.S., with hardly a social justice thought about this.
To put a face on the situation, I interviewed a man from Darfur who is currently in the United States with his family. (He is in the Peace & Conflict Resolution study program at Indiana’s Manchester College, with the hopes of taking what he learns back to his people.)
This man told me that for a number of years (until he was badly wounded) he fought with a rebel Darfur group against the Sudanese Army. He said the Sudanese government was hoarding resources and wealth, while keeping those in the Darfur region extremely poor, marginalized and politically disenfranchised.
And he said the current atrocities against innocent civilians are horrific.
2) UN Resolution 1706
For four years, the Sudanese Army and government-backed militia called Janjaweed, have been fighting two rebel forces in Darfur. Consistent reports indicate the Janjaweed fighters have attacked civilians tied to the rebel groups. The Janjaweeds enter a village and commit wholesale rape, torture and killing. Afterward the village is often destroyed.
Some 20 people die every hour in Darfur at this point.
We can’t let this go on.
The United States will become head of the United Nations Security Council this month (May).
As president (or even as a presidential candidate), I would lobby hard for the implementation of “UN Resolution 1706,” which authorizes the deployment of 20,000 UN peacekeepers who will be sent to protect the civilians in Darfur.
There are currently only 3,000 UN soldiers to help some 7,000 tremendously over taxed African Union peacekeepers.
*We can write to Alejandro Wolff, acting U.S. Representative to the United Nations, 140 East 45th St., New York, New York 10007 and urge him to push for UN Resolution 1706.
3) 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement
Besides the additional UN Peacekeepers, there must be a push for compliance with the “2006 Darfur Peace Agreement,” which was ratified by the Sudanese government and one of the rebel factions. Yet it hasn’t been seriously pursued yet.
It calls for:
· The Sudanese government to disarm the Janjaweed.
· Help with reintegration of the former combatants.
· Democratization processes for the people of Darfur.
· Buffer zones around camps for displaced persons.
· Going to the international community for more humanitarian help.
And we can do the latter now. We don’t have to wait for the Sudanese government (or anyone else over there, for that matter) to ask.
4) Humanitarian Help Now!
At a talk to a St. Thomas Sunday School Class in Bowling Green, Ohio, I recommended that the class (and/or the whole church) do an ongoing fundraiser for, say, a church in a village in Darfur – or for a refugee camp, etc.
And if we mobilized Sister Church and Sister City, etc., initiatives all over the country on a grassroots level for Darfur – and actually both sides in general – this would significantly help quell the violence and, hopefully, inspire the rest of the First World countries to help as well.
It would just entail some sacrifices on all our parts.
A small price to pay for 20 men, women and children being killed every hour.
The clock is ticking.