Daily Darfur: "Save us from imminent death"

The leader of a network of internally displaced and refugee Darfuris sent a direct appeal to President Obama this week, asking the U.S. to intervene to ensure the return of expelled humanitarian aid agencies to Darfur, the disarmament of the government-backed Janjaweed militias, and the removal of settlers from the lands of displaced Darfuris:

"Mr. President; the Khartoum genocidal regime continues to defy the international community on Darfur so as to complete its crimes on people of Darfur whom they believe must be eliminated from the earth. Thus, the genocide master mind President Bashir on his statements continues on his adamant attitudes rejecting the settlement of the crisis. The latest is the current expulsion of the live-giving organizations of the IDPs which is the regime's final goal and the deadly blow to accelerate our death by slow motion through starvation, malnutrition and diseases."

The letter also says that Darfuri civil society members will not engage in the Qatari effort to bring the Government of Sudan to the negotiating table with Darfur rebel groups:

"On the issues of political settlement for the conflict Mr. President we would like to inform you that we could not be able to sit on any negotiations table with regime that continues our killing and doesn't respect the agreements either. Furthermore we will not engage ourselves with Qatari initiative because Qatar is one of the countries that support the perpetrator instead of standing on the side of the victims. In addition to that these countries don't even recognize our humanity. Hence; they are not neutral to take the position of mediators."

The voice of Darfuris --- the victims of Khartoum's brutal campaign --- often seems lost in the debate, especially among those who've rushed to rally around Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in recent months. Perhaps a similar letter should be addressed to the leaders of the Arab League and African Union. How can anyone ignore an appeal that states, "we are in very desperate and miserable conditions," and asks for "uick and immediate multi-lateral or uni-lateral intervention to save us from the imminent death"?

It sounds like an appeal that could have come from the concentration camps of the Holocaust, the killing fields of Cambodia, or the villages of Rwanda. And we all know how those stories ended.

The letter coincides with US Special Envoy to Sudan J. Scott Gration's first official visit to the country:

"The United States and Sudan want to be partners and so we are looking for opportunities for us to build a stronger bilateral relationship," Scott Gration said on the first day of his visit to Sudan.

"I come here with my hands open and it would be up to the Sudanese government to determine how they want to continue with that relationship. Hopefully it will be with hands open and friendship," he told journalists.

Gration is scheduled to visit Darfur this weekend.

Former South African President Thabo Mbeki also arrived in Khartoum this week, as head of an AU panel charged with investigating crimes and devising avenues for conflict resolution. Mbeki's role on the panel is viewed by many with a heavy dose of skepticism, due to past dictator-coddling habits, his known friendship with Bashir, and his vocal opposition to the International Criminal Court and other international efforts on Darfur.

[Photo: Sudanese refugees gather at a closed entrance of the compound of the expelled American aid group CHF International at the Zamzam refugee camp, outside the Darfur town of al-Fasher, Sudan Thursday, March 19, 2009. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser) ]