Sudanese genocide rampages Africa

By Brandon Dow

As we charge into the spring quarter, torn between piles of papers and sunny afternoons of beer pong, we must take a few moments to acknowledge a much different environment existing outside "the bubble." Unfortunately, doing so entails that we recognize a systematic genocide being visibly administered by a body of brutally-governing officials, where all evidence only serves to strengthen a reality of torture, hatred, and death. Indeed, there is only one setting that adequately fits this gruesome description: the Darfur region of Sudan, Africa.

Let's get one thing straight: This will not be a politically charged article where insults fly at the current administration. Left, right, down the middle -- political lines have no place in a humanitarian crisis.

Instead, I only want to show that the ongoing campaign of genocide should be relevant to us as Americans, and more importantly, that there is something we can actually do about it.

The disaster in Darfur is not a developing issue; sadly, the Sudanese government is over two years into their crusade of ethnic cleansing. Sudan itself has been a country in conflict since its independence in the 1950s, slashed apart by separatist regions (most notably in the South) and by its government-backed violence. In early 2003, a loose network of rebel alliances in Darfur took offensive charge against the Sudanese government, protesting years of "political, economic and social marginalization," according to the International Crisis Group.

The government reaction, inaugurated shortly thereafter, has been nothing less than maliciously criminal.

Arming Arab militiamen, or "janjaweed," to clear the region of any suspected rebel supporters, the Sudanese government has empowered a radical group of mercenaries to rid Darfur of insurgency. As some expected, however, this government-supported directive has shown no sign of civilian discrimination, and now, the militia has received all authority to do whatever is necessary to purge Darfur of black Muslims and nomadic tribes.

Women, children and men alike have been executed, but not before being subject to practices such as castration, gang-rape, mutilation, and burning. However, not all women are killed after they are captured; instead some are kept alive and concentrated in rape camps.

A confiscated document (regarded as authentic) leaked last month and intended for a janjaweed officer, ordered "killing, burning villages and farms, terrorizing people, confiscating property from members of African tribes and forcing them from Darfur."

The results are painful: over 300,000 dead, more than 2 million displaced, and impending threats of famine and disease. Even more discouraging is that the number dead is rising at a monthly rate of 10,000.

The African Union, insufficient in size to impose any serious restraint on the janjaweed, has collected thousands of videos, photos and documents. Although classified, a number of pictures were leaked to The New York Times in February. One in particular that I speak of was of a little boy, about five years old, who had his face bashed in with a rifle butt during a January attack.

This demonstrates the human injustice raging in Sudan, and therein, reveals how miserable our response has been in addressing an avoidable annihilation.

So what can we do?

As I mentioned before, we need not approach this politically. Our first goal should be to remove the deep-seated apathy sweeping the United States, which is particularly difficult when it concerns Africa. As columnist Nicholas Kristof observes, "One of Africa's biggest problems is the perception that the entire continent is a hopeless cesspool of corruption and decline."

It is unfortunate that we abide by this misguided perception, but still more disastrous that we do not realize that it can only be removed through our active participation.

Last year, a devastating natural disaster left over 290,000 dead or missing in Southeast Asia, and brought an overwhelmingly-heartfelt response from this campus. Although of these two incidents are from different origins, the currency with which the cost of the disasters are paid is undoubtedly the same: human life.

Therefore, I urge all of us to take simple measures: call your local Congressperson, send him or her an e-mail, sign any one of many petitions circulating online, donate money to a relief fund, organize an event or simply reflect on the events in Sudan. Sites such as www.savedarfur.org and www.darfurgenocide.org provide a quick and reliable means of fulfilling any one of these suggestions.

I believe it is our time as Americans to stop relying on politicians from both the left and right to articulate our most sacred beliefs and cherished feelings. Once we do this, we will realize one truth regarding Darfur: This time, we have no excuse.

* Brandon Dow is a senior political science major.