Sunday, December 31, 2006

Bold response for Darfur

In the 20th century, the world was shocked by the genocidal murder of 6 million Jews by the Nazis. Never again, was the cry that followed.

Bur decades later, rape, forced displacement, and mass murder were again used as tactics in the ethnic cleansing that followed the collapse of Yugoslavia and in the genocide of Tutsis by Hutus in Rwanda.

The atrocities continue. We are barely into the 21st century and about to enter a new year with a man-made disaster in Darfur, Sudan.

A conflict in Darfur has left more than 200,000 people dead in a span of three years. The Arab-centric, Muslim Sudanese government and an associated militia have targeted black African civilians and specific ethnic groups from which longstanding rebel movements draw their support.

The Sudanese government has resisted a U.N. push for 20,000 peacekeepers and instead, is warming up to a U.N.-backed African Union. In the latter case, the U.N. would only be allowed to supply technical support to an ill-equipped African Union that has, so far, failed to stop the killings in Darfur. Read more >>>

No comments: