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NEWS & LETTERS, June-July 2006Genocide in DarfurAngry Darfur refugees voted May 8 with their feet to reject a peace agreement recently orchestrated by U.S., United Nations, and other diplomats. In the large Kalma refugee camp, thousands greeted UN diplomat Jan Egeland, holding up signs like "No, no rapes and genocide," and others calling for UN intervention. Instead, they heard platitudes about the peace agreement, which had been signed by only one of the Darfur rebel leaders, and according to which the Sudanese government again promised to halt the genocidal violence that has resulted in 200,000 deaths, thousands of rapes, and the displacement of millions. After hearing Egeland, the crowd clashed with the diplomats. Along with the international press, they had to beat a swift retreat out of Kalma. The peace agreement has changed nothing on the ground. To take one example, on May 11, three days after it was signed, the pro-government janjaweed militia attacked 50 unarmed members of the Fur ethnic group, a non-Arab group that has been a prime target of the genocide. The janjaweed killed one man, raped 15 women, and stole all their food and livestock. "You are slaves, we will finish you," the janjaweed reportedly shouted. The Bush adminstration purports to support strong action on Darfur, but at the same time retains close links to the Sudanese government, which has supposedly shared key information on Al Qaeda, which once maintained its headquarters there. The European Union has done even less. The African Union has sent a small contingent of troops, which has made some efforts to protect the refugees, this in the absence of credible international pressure on Sudan. For their part, radical Islamists--from the Iranian regime to Al Qaeda--have sought to portray the genocidal Sudanese government as a victim of Western imperialism, calling Sudan the next Iraq. In recent weeks, however, international pressure has begun to build for a United Nations intervention to roll back the genocide. On April 30, the Save Darfur Coalition held rallies in 20 U.S. cities, including one that drew thousands in Washington, DC. Speakers included African, African-American, and Jewish activists. --Kevin A. Barry |
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