Criminal silence on Darfur

By: Rafia Zakaria

The world’s moral anger is aroused by the clear-cut ethical dimensions of the conflict. There is, indeed, little confusion about who the good and the bad guys are

When the Darfur Peace Agreement was signed in Abuja, Nigeria, on May 5, 2005, there were high hopes that it would put an end to the violence in western Sudan. Two years later, the death toll in Darfur has topped over 300,000 people while another 2.5 million have been displaced into neighbouring Chad because of the violence.

The perpetuation of the conflict in Darfur illustrates several realities about the sorry state of trans-national organisations like the United Nations and their ability to provide respite in conflicts where governments turn against their own people.

A recent report issued by Amnesty International exposes some of these manipulations. When the UN Security Council imposed the arms embargo on Darfur in 2004, it applied the embargo only to non-state actors. Despite the fact that there was ample evidence that it was the Sudanese government which was perpetuating these attacks on its people, the passed resolution continued to allow arms to be shipped to the government.

Since the imposition of the arms embargo the Sudanese government has imported US$24 million worth of arms and ammunition and US$57 million worth of aircraft equipment from the People’s Republic of China. Furthermore in 2005, it imported US$27 million worth of aircraft and helicopter equipment from the Russian Federation. Smaller quantities of small arms and other weapons were exported to Sudan from Belarus and Iran.

The Amnesty report further details how these weapons were put to use by the Sudanese government. According to the AI report backed by photographs, military helicopter gunships were used in attacks on civilians in Darfur by the Sudanese military and the Janjaweed militia. In November 2006, military helicopters bombed villagers from the air while Janjaweed attacked from the ground. Since January 2007, Chinese jets owned by the Sudanese government have been seen in areas around Darfur and western Sudan and also been used in attacks on areas purported to belong to the rebel militias. Read further >>>>>>