Darfur Genocide

Issue Position

Stop the genocide in Darfur 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 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.

Note: Two excellent conduits to get Darfur donations to (and learn more about the situation) are: www.savedarfur.org and www.africaaction.org What's 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.

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