First they killed the adults.
“Then they shot the children one after the other,” a witness told Human Rights Watch. “They threw the body into the river.”
It is part of an ongoing humanitarian crisis in Sudan that could worsen in the shadow of Gaza and Ukraine. It is a conflict that is being described by some as genocidal, particularly in the Darfur region.
You may remember Darfur. This is where a genocide took place 20 years ago. These atrocities prompted a massive reaction, primarily from protesters across the United States. Then-Senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden were among those calling for action, joined by tens of thousands of high school and college students, as well as activists from churches, synagogues and mosques.
Hundreds of thousands of people were massacred in Darfur at the time, but this operation probably saved hundreds of thousands of other lives as well. Other countries imposed sanctions and arms embargoes, peacekeeping forces were established by the African Union and the United Nations, and Sudanese leaders who orchestrated the massacre were eventually ousted.
But today, while the genocide in Darfur is restarting, the international response has not. Most Western and African countries alike are pretty indifferent.
“Compared to the situation 20 years ago, when world leaders felt morally and legally obligated to act on Darfur, this situation is far more inaction,” Human Rights Watch said in a new 228-page report. It’s inferior,” he said.
Some of the same Arab forces responsible for the genocides of the 2000s are picking up where they left off. Survivors say they are massacring, torturing, raping and mutilating the same victims, members of non-Arab ethnic groups, while torching and bulldozing villages.
There are racist elements. Arab militias deride their victims as “slaves” and use racial epithets. Non-Arabs often have darker skin. Militia groups appear to be systematically eliminating non-Arab tribes from the area.
The Rapid Support Forces, an Arab militia responsible for the worst atrocities, is on the outskirts of El Fasher city, with some troops 800,000 The residents, and they may be about to plunder them. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Warning El Fasher is said to be “on the brink of mass genocide.”
Furthermore, food is in short supply in Sudan, and armed groups are blocking the delivery of food to aid groups. The United Nations World Food Program reports that 28 million Sudanese are facing severe hunger, with people relying on eating grass and peanut shells.
World Food Program leader Cindy McCain has warned that Sudan could soon become the world’s worst hunger crisis, putting millions of lives at risk. “Today, the Sudanese people are forgotten,” she added.
One measure of global apathy: countries are providing just 8% of the money the United Nations needs to help refugees fleeing Sudan. This includes around 600,000 people who arrived in Chad last year, 88% of whom are women or children.
Sudan’s latest crisis is the result of a civil war that began a year ago between the Arab-dominated army and rapid support forces. Attacks on civilians, including non-Arab tribes, are particularly egregious in Darfur.
The non-Arab governor of West Darfur state was arrested and executed by Rapid Support Forces when he protested what he called an “ongoing genocide.” A video circulated showing his body being stripped and mutilated.
According to human rights monitors and survivors, emergency response forces are killing boys and men and raping women and girls. In interviews with Reuters, more than 40 mothers told how their children, mostly sons, were killed by rapid support forces. One of them, a 2-year-old boy, was bludgeoned to death in front of his mother, who shot him below the shoulder when she tried to intervene.
The Raoul Wallenberg Human Rights Center released a report concluding that the atrocity met the legal criteria for genocide, adding that it was “a repeated genocide and a repeated failure.”
“The international community has completely abandoned Darfur’s non-Arab communities in the face of ongoing genocide,” said Jonah Diamond, senior legal counsel at the Wallenberg Center.
And what was the global reaction? The UN Security Council recently passed a pair of pathetic resolutions calling for a ceasefire for the month of Ramadan only. This week, the United States sanctioned two rapid support force commanders for their actions in Darfur, a welcome step but far from sufficient. It is frightening that major powers are not only unable to take significant action, but also unable to manage important statements.
What we can do is encourage greater efforts to end Sudan’s civil war, as was done 20 years ago. That means an arms embargo and firm pressure on countries like the United Arab Emirates (despite their denials). incite war Along with transporting weapons to rapid support forces. The UN report cites evidence of cargo flights transporting weapons from the UAE to rapid support forces via Chad several times each week.
Sports figures, business leaders and celebrities visiting the UAE should wonder why they choose to provide weapons used in mass atrocities.
Major powers could also impose sanctions on Sudanese officials and pressure African states in the African Union and Security Council to show leadership. A Security Council visit to the border with Chad, as well as other high-level visits and statements, will highlight the crisis.
“Darfur has been abandoned by everyone,” said Tirana Hassan, executive director of Human Rights Watch.
So in impoverished areas of Darfur, every genocide risks turning “never again” vows into “again.”
