Photo credit Jerry Fowler ushmm
Iridimi refugee camp, Chad. Hawa Salihdin and her children. Her father, her brother, her cousin and 30 other people were killed when the militias attacked her village. Her mother, Hadiya Ahmed, disappeared and is still missing.
Do you know what the Darfur conflict is? The Sudanese military and the Janjaweed ( a nomadic
militia group recruited by the government) are pitted against various rebel groups, most notably the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement.
With the Sudanese government’s arming and mobilization of the Janjaweed a stream of vicious attacks on the nation’s civilians in the towns and villages from which the rebels draw their support, is taking place. This viciousness has rapidly increased to the point where it is now considered genocidal in nature.
“The World’s Greatest Humanitarian Disaster”
The conflict in the Darfur region in Western Sudan has been portrayed as “the world’s greatest humanitarian disaster.”
The UN estimates that as many as 450,000 have died from the result of violence and disease, and as many as 2.5 million have been displaced. The most appalling detail is that many of these casualties have resulted from outright attacks on non military civilians.
“A Mockery Of Our Claim, To Shield Our People From The Worst Abuse”
In December of 2006, secretary general Kohi Annan left office. When he left he had these words to say: “The tragedy in Darfur made a mockery of our claim, as an international community, to shield people from the worst abuse.”
Another Community
Now another type of community exists and all of it’s members have the power to voice their outrage against these atrocities. Of course this other international community is the community of the Internet. A community you are all part of.
Thank you!
