In September 2004, the Bush administration declared the existence of genocide in the Darfur region of Western Sudan, where local rebel groups have been waging a rebellion against the Sudanese government. Since that declaration two years ago, U.S. officials have paid only intermittent attention while an appalling record of human suffering has been amassed: over 200,000 dead and two million more driven from their homes by three years of attacks led by Sudanese troops and their proxy Arab militias.
Though this crisis has been largely neglected by the world media throughout most of its tragic history, you may have noticed a recent influx of Darfur-related coverage in the news media. You may have seen images of the over 30,000 people who assembled in Central Park this past Sunday to demand a U.N. peacekeeping force to protect the civilians of Darfur, an event that was part of demonstrations in 47 cities worldwide. You may have noted the coverage of President Bush’s speech at the United Nations on Tuesday, where he appointed Andrew Natsios the U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan. You may have read about the African Union’s Wednesday decision to extend the mandate of its woefully understaffed Darfur peacekeeping force until the end of the year. And you may have noted increased exposure as the toll of human suffering in Darfur has intensified in recent months, with the renewal of aerial bombing by the Sudanese government and the departure of many humanitarian aid groups due to security concerns, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without food and water.
This recent flurry of news coverage reflects the critical juncture at which the international community finds itself in September 2006, a crucial tipping point at which there is an urgent need for action from both international policy makers and the ordinary citizens to whom they are accountable. This week and next are crucial for continued engagement on this issue, both in terms of the politics unfolding in the UN General Assembly meetings and in light of the recent explosion of violence on the ground in Darfur.
Sudan’s president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, is blocking the U.N. Security Council from sending some 20,000 peacekeepers to Darfur, saying that this would insult Sudan’s sovereignty. President Bush must call upon on all countries, including Sudan’s oil-dependent apologists China and Russia, to demand that Sudan drop its opposition. He should also press for broad international sanctions if Mr. Bashir does not quickly reverse his position. As a New York Times Editorial on Wednesday explained, “Mr. Bush said the U.S. would take the lead in soliciting troops for the U.N. and recommended making NATO planners available to help draw up contingency plans for a possible forced entry.” It is essential that President Bush and U.N. Ambassador John Bolton be held accountable to this promised course of action. With this in mind, Wesleyan Students Taking Action Now: Darfur (WeSTAND) urges the Wesleyan community to consider some very simple but vital actions that can make a difference in making this urgent issue a top international priority for our policy makers:
-Call UN Ambassador Bolton and ask him to take a leadership position in putting a peacekeeping force on the ground in Darfur and holding Sudan accountable for its complicity in genocide. (212) 415-4000
-Call Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Rice is U.N. Ambassador John Bolton’s boss. Ask her to instruct Ambassador Bolton to make a U.N. peacekeeping deployment in Darfur his number one priority. (202) 647-4000.
-Participate in DarfurFast on Oct. 5. Join notable fasters Don Cheadle, Nicholas Kristof, Mia Farrow and more and pledge to give up a luxury item for a day and donate the proceeds. Visit www.timetoprotect.org for more details and related materials.
-Attend a WeSTAND meeting. Meetings are at 10 PM on Mondays at the Bayit. We are engaged in a broad range of advocacy and fundraising efforts to seek a U.N. deployment in Darfur and offer support for the humanitarian aid agencies that are addressing the ongoing refugee crisis in the region.
For the past three years, the problem of genocide has been identified and the means have been available to achieve its resolution. At the critical juncture at which we now find ourselves, we can no longer condemn the men, women and children of Darfur with our inaction. We must hold our leaders and ourselves accountable to the vow that genocide will not continue on our watch.
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