Genocide? Again?

By Ignacio Gutierrez

November 7, 2006

 

Since 2003, over 200,000 Africans have been systematically murdered and tortured, while another 2.5 million have been displaced in the region of Darfur, Sudan. Before this unfortunate human atrocity becomes fodder for another Hotel Rwanda or Schindler’s List leaving viewers to wonder “how could this happen?”, here’s what to do.

 

Visit www.savedarfur.org, darfur.amnestyusa.org (no www), or www.theirc.org. Rest assured donations will go directly to helping victims and refugees as well as aiding the African Union, currently the only troops helping to stave off the violence. Just as urgent, write to your senators and/or state representatives or contact them directly in Washington at 202-456-1111 or 202-224-3121. Congress needs a sufficient public outcry in order to democratically carry out any effective measures. Mere Bush-bashing isn’t enough.

 

If you haven’t heard the news by now, you’re not alone. And if in the coming days you find yourself riddled with guilt due to the finger-pointing/“it’s our fault” commentaries and youtube.com-posted videos, it’s still not too late. While its imperative to take action, it’s unnecessary in shaming ourselves. It’s shortsighted on the part of well-intentioned people to accuse others of not caring, and overlooking what hinders most people from helping others so far removed from their circle of family and friends. Nature does not seem to reward altruism, which is why we’re physiologically hardwired to avoid jeopardizing our survival in favor of others’. Nowadays this may be no excuse, but education and awareness are much more effective solutions.

 

It’s difficult to understand whose to blame anyway. The conflict began back in 2003 with rebel groups, known as the Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA), attacking government targets. In favor of a more independent Darfur, the SLA accused the Sudanese government run by General Omar Al-Bashir, of neglecting indigenous Africans while favoring Arabs. Since then, Al-Bashir mobilized self-defense militias, known as the Janjaweed, who are responsible for most of the killings. Though Al-Bashir denies this by stating the Janjaweed are “thieves and gangsters”, little has been done to stop their slaughter of Darfur’s civilians. But it’s the Janjaweed that raid villages after attacks by government aircraft. Yet despite a peace treaty signed by one faction of the SLA and the Sudanese government, all other factions within the SLA have refused and some are known to also carry out abuses against people.

 

Following the money trail, Sudan produces one of the most sought after types of oil, light crude. Though the US is being accused among other “external powers” by Al-Bashir in causing the crisis, China’s arms exports to Sudan have helped fuel the conflict. China may have the greatest influence in pressuring Sudan’s government to stop Darfur’s decimation due to its economic relationship with Africa where trade totaled nearly $40 billion last year. But China insists on not interfering with Africa’s domestic affairs, considering PetroChina, China’s largest oil producer, stands to benefit from Sudan’s natural resources.

 

Notwithstanding myriad problems in the US, the Katrina aftermath an unfortunate example, it’s more than possible to help here and abroad. If altruism indeed goes against nature, it’s still in our best interest to stem the tide in which governments can carry out such atrocities before jeopardizing our own survival. Reaching out to others in such dire times of need is simply the most humane thing to do.