Combating genocide requires activism

Wednesday, November 16, 2005
By Tamar Hallerman

Blacksburg High School
In the past two years, the death toll from genocide in Sudan has risen to a staggering 400,000.


"Sudan... is that in Africa?" a confused Blacksburg High School junior said when I asked her thoughts on the situation in Darfur. Sadly, this wasn't the response of an ignorant, pink-wearing, bubble-gum-chewing valley girl. This was an honors student with an A average.

For more than two years, human rights organizations from around the globe have been reporting on the genocide in western Sudan. Their numbers have quickly been rising; 3,000 dead ... 10,000 ... 20,000 ... and today, a staggering 400,000 have been killed due to murder, disease, hunger and lack of proper sanitation, according to www.savedarfur.org. Countless others have fallen victim to the government-sponsored Janjaweed rebels' crusade of murder, rape, arson and violence.

Yet when asked, very few high school students have ever even heard of Darfur, and they can seldom point out its location on a map.

Considered the worst human rights crisis facing the world today by the United Nations and Congress, international response and aid has been less than steady, and with 2.5 million displaced people and 3.5 million hungry, the situation is not getting any better.

"[Darfur is] a situation the world has not fully faced," former Secretary of State Colin Powell said at the annual Africare dinner in October.

This lack of aid has led to a loss of hope among Darfur's displaced tribes. More than 300,000 have fled the western border into Chad, while others in refugee camps predict they will never return to their home villages.

Even with the passing of numerous U.N. resolutions, little has happened to stop the genocide. In the past, the Janjaweed have stolen aid money and supplies, and no one knows how to effectively stop the Janjaweed by force.

All of this chaos and massive displacement has followed the end of Sudan's 20-year civil war between the government in the north and the rebels in the south. In 2003, the Janjaweed were commissioned to clear any areas that weren't loyal to the government: the nerve center of this opposition being Darfur, an area that had often been neglected of government attention.

A cease-fire was finally signed in 2004, and a formal treaty, backed by the U.S., was signed by both sides in early 2005. But mass killings have commenced at an even steadier rate, and the African Union and the U.N. fear another civil war is on the brink.

As for us here in Southwest Virginia, we need to spend a little less energy focusing on our homecoming dresses; a little less time obsessing over those Bowl Championship Series polls; and instead become more aware of the world around us and even take an active roll in it. From signing a petition to Congress, to buying a green wristband, donating money, or organizing a bake sale or car wash to help raise aid, even the smallest gestures can make a world of difference.

Go to www.savedarfur.org or www.hrw.org for additional information about Darfur and more ways you can help.

(C)2005 The Roanoke Times