Daily Darfur: Excuse Me, Sir, Your Pants Appear to be on Fire

by Michelle . · 2008-12-02 11:15:00 UTC
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A coalition of 15 human rights organizations came out with harsh words for the Government of Sudan today, issuing a report accusing the GoS of lying about its peace efforts in Darfur:

"The international community has an unfortunate record of judging Sudan by its words rather than its actions," said Richard Dicker, director of the International Justice Programme at Human Rights Watch, in a statement announcing the report.

"The Security Council must not allow itself to be hoodwinked by Khartoum into handing al-Bashir impunity in return for empty promises," he said.

The report addresses the substantial gap between the government's rhetoric and the reality of the situation in Darfur in four key dimensions of the crisis: continuing insecurity for civilians, the humanitarian situation, justice and accountability, and the deployment of UNAMID:

"Only in relation to UNAMID has there been any notable progress, and even there the government of Sudan's commitments have yet to be tested in light of its long history of broken promises. The humanitarian situation and insecurity have deteriorated significantly since Sudan began its bid for a suspension of the ICC's investigation."

The report is blunt and to the point---and incredibly important for being so. As I've said in the past, it would be nice if our politicians followed this lead by taking a stronger stance against Bashir and his wretched excuse for a government.

Along similar lines, the leader of Darfur's rebel Sudan Liberation Army repeated his demand for the restoration of security in Darfur (by which he means, an end to government-sponsored attacks) before he will entertain the idea of participating in peace talks with the government:

"The first step must be conflict suspension. They must stop killing our people. They must stop the rapes. They must disarm the janjaweed (a name used for mostly-Arab government-backed militias). They must move the people who have occupied our land."

The rebels aren't without sin themselves in this situation, but he has a point.

[Photo: A Janjaweed militiaman.]

Michelle . has been involved in various activist endeavors, including the Teach Against Genocide pilot campaigns.
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