A Call for Sudan

/ ethnic cleansing / thorough /
The Sudan/Darfour atrocities definitely not getting enough attention - the scale of the atrocities committed is enormous:

To date an estimated 30,000 people (primarily from the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa tribes) have been killed and further 1.5 million have been sent packing from their homes (mainly across the border into mine-strewn Chad where blood-thirsty militia men have been known to pursue them. As a result 31,000 Sudanese refugees have been moved deeper into eastern Chad) [6]. The Christian Science Monitor estimates that 350,000 will die before the end of this year and according to the International Crisis Group, Darfur represents the “potential horror story of 2004”

David Nally, the author of the linked article, minces no words about this:

The analogy with the Holocaust is neither casual nor superficial — especially by those who know something about these things. While members of the international community agonise over whether terms such as “genocide” and “ethnic-cleansing” (or the more self-congratulatory phrase “democide”) are suitable for the mass murders in Darfur, the Holocaust centres in London and Washington briefly closed in late June to indicate their solidarity with the victims [13]. "They say they don't want to see black skin on this land again," said Issa Bushara, whose brother and cousin were murdered in front of their families during an attack by the Janjaweed militia.

The reports of mass rapes are hair-raising, as this victims testimony suggests:

"They followed us when we tried to escape. The group of people I was with was forced back to Kaileck. They had surrounded the whole town."

"They separated men and women. Then the Janjaweed selected the prettiest women."

"Four men raped me for 10 days."

"Every day, women were picked up, taken to the bush where they were raped and brought back to Kaileck. The next day it would start again."

Apparently some (a very few) members of the militia are facing some sort of justice, but I fear it's mostly for show.

You can help through your local Red Cross or the UNHCR, or whichever aid agency you prefer.