Pope says world must do more to end Darfur "horror"

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said last week that killing and rape in Darfur had increased in September and October and the region was descending into complete lawlessness.

Darfur is slipping yet deeper into catastrophe before the very eyes of an unmoved international community, writes Eric Reeves Nov 20, 2005.



Pope Benedict XVI said Monday "stronger international resolve" is needed to halt the bloodshed in Darfur.

"The horror of events unfolding in Darfur, to which my beloved predecessor Pope John Paul II referred on many occasions, points to the need for a stronger international resolve to ensure security and basic human rights," Benedict XVI said.



Photo: Pope Benedict XVI

Click here to read the text of the speech of the Pope before the Sudanese delegation.
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Darfur rebel group 'attacks' town to earn spot in peace talks

According to the BBC, the Darfur rebels are 'united' for talks due to start in Nigeria's capital Abuja on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a Darfur rebel faction said it attacked a town in West Darfur state on Tuesday, killing 37 soldier and police, to push for its inclusion in peace talks.
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A Tolerable Genocide

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: November 27, 2005

After two years of heartbreaking slaughter, rape and mayhem, the situation in Darfur is now spiraling downward.

To continue reading this article, click here [with thanks to Eric]
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Darfur: The New Rwanda

By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published on 11/29/2005

The New York Times published this editorial on Monday, Nov. 28:

Who says George W. Bush and Bill Clinton have nothing in common? Just as President Clinton did on Rwanda, President Bush is doing precious little to try to stop a genocide in Darfur. Indeed, this entire generation of world leaders has a dismal record at intervening in this kind of wholesale murder, and now they are failing to stop the elimination of entire African tribes in the Sudan countryside.

Obviously, most of the blame here can be laid squarely at the door of Sudan's government. Sudan has armed and supplied the militia groups who have been going from village to village, hut to hut, and systematically raping and murdering women, men and even children.

The Times columnist Nicholas Kristof reports that last month, members of the janjaweed militia attacked the village of Tama in southern Darfur, killing 37 people, with another 12 still missing.

In one particularly gruesome case, the marauders yanked 2-year old Zahra Abdullah from the back of her mother, Fatima Omar Adam, as Fatima tried to escape with her children. They bludgeoned the little girl on the ground in front of her screaming mother and sister. Fatima eventually escaped with two of her children, but was forced to leave Zahra to die at the hands of the janjaweed.

In another column, Kristof wrote that Arab men in military uniforms gang-raped Noura Moussa, saying, "We cannot let black people live in this land." Noura said the men called her a slave and added, "We can kill any members of African tribes."

The shocking fact is, apparently they can. The Sudanese government is enabling them, and the rest of the world isn't doing much to stop it. It's the same old Rwanda story, with the same indifference from the world's governments. TheDay.com 29 Nov. 2005.
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Help Organize a Peace Envoy (H.O.P.E.) for Darfur

Human Rights First are campaigning to appoint a prominent envoy to reenergize the diplomatic process in Darfur. They say there is an urgent need to bring an end to the human rights emergency in Darfur.

"In the last two months the security situation has deteriorated dramatically. United Nations personnel have withdrawn from parts of the region because of increased violence, the humanitarian relief work of international nongovernmental organizations has been greatly restricted, and the civilian toll is again climbing."

The appointment of a high-level envoy will be a visible symbol of renewed political and diplomatic will to resolve the Darfur crisis. Read more at TPMCafe - Finding the political will. [with thanks to Eric at Passion of the Present]
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Note, in above article, Simon Deng, a Sudanese activist living in the U.S., quite rightly asks:

"Tell me why we have Milosevic and Saddam Hussein on trial for their crimes, but we do nothing in Sudan. When it comes to black people being slaughtered, do we look the other way?"
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And today, in response to comments at the weblog of Lord Soley of Hammersmith, I wrote this:

"Darfur is Rwanda in slow motion. The hand wringing began 19 months ago, when the death toll was at 10,000, and I bored everyone here about it. To date, more than 400,000 Darfuris have perished, half the number of Rwanda. There is still no news of what became of the five point plan Tony Blair personally delivered to Khartoum. Look at tv news and note how all the trouble in the world boils down to boys with their toys and the games they play. Men around the world really do not care about the suffering of millions of defenceless African women and children or about rape being used as a weapon of war. Not a lot of Africans are interested either. It is so sickening to witness, I have had to take a break from blogging Darfur because I am at a loss as to what to do or say about it anymore."

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Note, Tony Blair visited Khartoum 6 October 2004 to deliver a five point plan and called for a peace agreement to cover the WHOLE of Sudan by the end of 2004.

And so it goes on ... while the West pays for 200,000 Darfuris to be imprisoned in camps in Chad, not to mention the millions of others displaced in Darfur and dependent on aid.

Why wait on Darfur being included in a peace agreement covering the whole of Sudan? The UN Security Council could authorise cutting off Sudan's oil exports at Port Sudan. Of course, it won't happen, not while the regime in Khartoum makes itself useful to the West by rounding up extremist suspects - maybe even in connection with OBL, thus avoiding sanctions and prosecution by the ICC - which is why this blog is probably a complete waste of time.

Further reading from Sudan Watch archives:

Oct 11 2005 U.S.: Bolton blocks UN briefing on atrocities in Darfur Sudan

Oct 3 2005 Message to Sudan: What happened to Tony Blair's 5-point plan?

Aug 23 2005 U.S. has to lift sanctions against Sudan - U.S. ready to cooperate with Sudan

June 20 2005 Al-Qaeda said angry at Sudan for passing data to U.S.