Since 2003, genocide has been taking place in Darfur, Sudan.
It all started when two rebel groups, who represent agrarian farmers and whose members are mostly non-Arab black African Muslims, challenged the Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir. President Omar al-Bashir responded by allowing the Sudanese government to took up arms and fund local militia groups, known as Janjaweed, which translates to "Devil on Horseback". These Janjaweeds are mostly Arab black African Muslims and have been destroying and pillaging villages, murdering, raping, and torturing people along the way.
The Janjaweeds have taken as many as 400,000 lives and displaced nearly 2.3 million Darfuris. Those who are displaced live in refugee camps, nearly 200,000 reside in the neighboring country of Chad. These camps are set-up by the UN and other humanitarian organizations. Of the one million Darfuris still living in Darfur, their safety lies only in the hands of the under funded and undermanned African Union and its 7,400 peacekeeping troops.
International legislature has been written such as the Darfur Peace Agreement, and the UN Security Council Resolution 1706. The music community has also raised awareness with the release of the collaborative album Instant Karma: The Amnesty International campaign to Save Darfur, which has many of John Lennon's songs sung by artists including U2, Green Day Postal Service, Jack Johnson, and Black Eyed Peas. All proceeds go to aid Amnesty International's efforts to end this genocide.
What I'm getting at is this: Life is absurd if we just sit in front of the TV, watching a report on the Darfur genocide, and then CLICK. Off goes the TV and the genocide is no longer that important. As human beings, we should make an effort.
Sign a petition (www.savedarfur.org or www.instantkarma.org ).
Participate in a rally or demonstration.
Inform others.
Voice your frustration.
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2 comments:
I think it's pretty obvious that as human beings we should try to save innocent lives. That's not the question - anyone would want to save the lives - it's just that it's hard to do so effectively. I mean, we can't just send in more troops everywhere there is an injustice - however, we should, and are, pushing harder diplomatically. I think that the UN has to step up to solve these problems, it can't always be America - and this change has to happen soon.
There are a lot of people making efforts to end the genocide in Darfur. But you can't expect normal citizens in the U.S. or in other countries to attempt to stop the genocide by direct means. I'm sure lots of people are rallying, protesting, and petitioning to end the genocide in Darfur. And frankly, that's all that normal citizens can do. And I don't think that the international community is getting lazy. As Jacqueline stated, the UN and humanitarian organizations are setting up refugee camps in Chad, which has helped thousands of people. The reason why other countries aren't trying to directly stop the genocide is because they have no valued interests in Darfur or the entire Sudan. It sounds cold, but I think it's true. I mean, look at the U.S. Usually, it's the world police. So, why isn't sending troops into Darfur to end the genocide? Because it has no special interests in Darfur. If this genocide was in the Middle East, the U.S. would be there in a heartbeat to protect the oil.
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