Let's do something about Darfur

By Tyler Smith

Today, we are witnessing yet another genocide unfold. In Sudan, the Islamist government based in Khartoum has slaughtered nearly 400,000 black Africans in the country's western Darfur region. Over 2.5 million people have been driven from their homes. In hastily assembled refugee camps, food rations have been cut in half due to shortages. Even in the camps, militias hired by the government are still marauding, raping, and killing the refugees.

Like so many genocides before this, the world's response has been pitiful. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies that stopped Slobodan Milo_evic's bloody rampage have ducked responsibility to do the same now that the conflict's victims are black. Instead, they have pointed to a poorly armed and weakly mandated African Union force of 7,000 and proclaimed it "an African solution to an African problem."

Let's not kid ourselves. The 7,000 soldiers are tasked with patrolling a region the size of France. They do not have freedom of mobility and are authorized to use force only in defense of themselves, not the people of Darfur. Their presence is so obviously feckless that the victims in the refugee camps have rioted, calling for a real intervention force.

Meanwhile, a peace agreement signed in May is on the verge of collapse and the death rate has not abated, but has instead increased. The United Nations Security Council approved a large peacekeeping force, but that will not be ready until, at the earliest, January. Even then, nations must be willing to contribute troops to the operation, an always-daunting challenge made even more difficult now that 40,000 troops are also needed in southern Lebanon.

A well-armed and robustly mandated peacemaking force is needed to stop the genocide. Advocacy groups around the world are speaking out in favor of just that. In the meantime, if you care, there are two things you must do. The first is to ask Congress to increase humanitarian aid to the refugee camps. The website www.darfurscores.org tracks the voting records of every member of Congress and, for simplicity, provides an e-mail form with which to contact them. Of course, the aid will not stop the genocide, but it will reduce the deaths from starvation and disease that commonly occur in such situations.

The second is to divest state and public university assets from companies doing major business in Sudan, a tactic used successfully in the fight to topple Apartheid in South Africa. Several major universities, including Harvard, Stanford, the mammoth University of California system, and the University of Washington have done this.

Individuals can also help. It has been estimated that Americans hold $93 billion worth of stock in companies that operate in Sudan. Investors who do not wish to be complacent in the genocide should contact the Sudan Divestment Task Force (info@sudandivestment.org) for a list of guilty companies to remove from their portfolios.

Of course, the largest portfolios are those of governments and major universities, and real pressure will not be implemented without their support. Several states, including California and Oregon, have passed bills aimed at divestiture, and about a dozen other states have such legislation pending. Voters should urge their state legislators to take action on this issue during the upcoming session.

Everyone cares about Darfur. The question is, do we care about a solution? Supporting a real intervention force in Darfur, demanding increased aid for the people there, and asking the legislature to divest from the callous corporations doing business with a murderous regime, are three answers in the affirmative.

Tyler Smith is a senior high school student who has written and spoken on Darfur as a Model United Nations delegate, a member of his high school's debate team, and now as an anti-genocide activist. He can be reached via bnteditor@robinsonnews.com