End the Agony, Stop the War Criminals: Justice in Darfur Now!

Send a WakeUp Call to the Sudanese government:
End the Agony, Stop the War Criminals: Justice for Darfur

By Ahmed Nassef

This is not the time to argue about semantics. The horrors that are taking place in the Darfur region in Western Sudan speak for themselves, and they must be stopped.

According to human rights organizations, up to 30,000 people have been killed, thousands more have been raped and hundreds of thousands displaced from their homes at the hands of marauding government-supported gangs. The ugly campaign has been fueled by bigotry against the predominantly Muslim African population of the area by self-identifying “Arab” militias, knows as the Janjaweed.

Surely, the problems that led to the current crisis are complex. As a UN report pointed out last year, “in Darfur, where the vast majority of people are Muslims and Arabic-speaking, the distinction between ‘Arab’ and ‘African’ is more cultural than racial.” Yet sadly, as the world witnessed in Rwanda, hatred, greed and the thirst for power are stubborn enemies of truth and compassion. Still, the Sudanese government’s claims of innocence ring exceedingly hollow.

There is little doubt that the rabid violence has been directly orchestrated by the Sudanese government. The Sudanese government began recruiting the militias last year, has supplied them with weapons, and has provided military air support, which has included the bombing of dozens of villages. Some of the reported commanders of the campaign are still roaming freely in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum.

What’s more, Human Rights Watch announced today that it has obtained official Sudanese government documents that “illustrate the involvement, at the highest levels, of the state bureaucracy in the recruitment and arming of militia and the authorization of their activities that have resulted in crimes against humanity and war crimes.”

Based on numerous eyewitness accounts, Amnesty International reports that “men have been killed inside mosques, women raped in front of their husbands and old women killed when their homes have been set alight – all acts designed to humiliate and destroy the fabric of community life, over and beyond the individual atrocity.”

As Muslims and members of the larger human family, we call on the Sudanese government to:

• Disarm, disband and withdraw all government-supported militia operating in Darfur
  
• Identify and prosecute all government officials and militia members responsible for war crimes in Darfur
  
• Ensure full access for humanitarian efforts to assist and repatriate the displaced people of Darfur; and
  
• Ensure full access for international human rights monitors

Please join us in calling on the Sudanese government to end its genocidal campaign in Darfur. Send a WakeUp Call Email Now: End the Agony, Stop the War Criminals: Justice for Darfur

Please continue reading for additional resources on the Darfur crisis.

Additional Resources:

CARE
151 Ellis Street NE
Atlanta, GA 30303-2440
United States
Phone: 1-800-521-CARE ext. 999
Online at: http://www.careusa.org

Doctors Without Borders-Holland (Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF-H)
Doctors Without Borders-France (MSF-F):
Please contact MSF’s New York office at 1-888-392-0392 or online at http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org

International Committee of the Red Cross
19 avenue de la Paix
1202 Geneva, Switzerland
Online at: http://www.icrc.org

International Rescue Committee
122 East 42nd Street
New York, NY 10168
United States
Phone: 212-551-3000
Online at: http://www.theirc.org

Save the Children-US
Attn: Donor Services
54 Wilton Road
Westport, CT 06880
Phone: 1-800-728-3843
Online at: http://www.savethechildren.org

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
c/o USA for UNHCR
1775 K Street, NW Suite 290
Washington, DC 20006
United States
Phone: 1-800-770-1100
Online at: http://www.usaforunhcr.org

UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund)
c/o U.S. Fund for UNICEF
333 East 38th Street
New York, NY 10016
United States
Online at: http://www.unicefusa.org