MaxedOutMama
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Sudan And Darfur
Update: Tom Carter has posted on why he thinks Annan must go, and it is due to Annan's record of not taking such atrocities seriously. Please go and read his post, in which he quotes a Boston Globe editorial:
End Update.
This morning I was looking for news of when the 10,000 member UN peace-keeping force was due to arrive in Darfur, and I found to my great disappointment that this force is destined for the south, where a peace accord has already been signed. Still no real actiion on Darfur. A resolution has now been enacted for sanctions and an arms blockade (BBC article):
The United Nations, founded to prevent a recurrence of the Nazi horrors, should not be impartial between the victims and the perpetrators of genocide. As depicted in the heart-wrenching film ''Hotel Rwanda," the mandate of Annan's peacekeeping department to rescue only ''foreign nationals" was a betrayal of the imperiled Rwandans, of the UN's larger purpose, and of basic human solidarity.That's the way I feel - like the world is betraying humanity by not acting now to protect those in Darfur. This is horrible.
End Update.
This morning I was looking for news of when the 10,000 member UN peace-keeping force was due to arrive in Darfur, and I found to my great disappointment that this force is destined for the south, where a peace accord has already been signed. Still no real actiion on Darfur. A resolution has now been enacted for sanctions and an arms blockade (BBC article):
The UN Security Council has voted to apply sanctions on those who commit atrocities in Sudan's Darfur region.and:
The US-drafted resolution, which passed 12-0 with abstentions from Russia, China and Algeria, is also aimed at strengthening an arms embargo on Sudan.
The US resolution passed on Tuesday entails that Sudanese authorities must inform the Security Council if they intend to send military equipment to Darfur.Here is another BBC article on the peace-keeping force to be sent to the south:
In a separate development, British MPs have criticised previous death toll estimates for the war-torn region.
They decried the international response to the genocide as "scandalously ineffective", and warned that the death toll might reach 400,000 - five times more than previously estimated by the World Health Organization.
The UN Security Council has unanimously approved a peacekeeping force of more than 10,000 troops for southern Sudan.and:
The soldiers will monitor January's peace deal ending a 21-year civil war between Khartoum and southern rebels in which some two million people died.
The BBC's Jonah Fisher in Sudan says the irony is that the 10,000 peacekeepers for the south will be sent to an area where a peace deal has largely held in the past few years and both warring parties seem committed to peace.From the comments:
The situation in the Darfur region will have a negative effect on the south-north peace accord. The only thing that the UN and international community can do is to put more pressure on the northern government to stop the killings in Darfur. As a Sudanese I want the northern government to tell us what part of Sudan is this community called the jajiweed located and where do they get Sudanese army uniform and weapons? Stop misleading the world, we need the conflict to come to an end.and:
We have a son there as a doctor and the situation is very bad. They need water, food, and have hundreds of children dying. The police station across from the camp send police into the camp everyday and they scare the people. Planes fly low over the camp adding to the terror. The government needs to be overridden by the UN troops to stop this tragedy. Money and response came very fast for the tsunami. The time to argue over Darfur is over and it is time to act fast. Where criminals will be tried is secondary - help the people NOW!This inaction is genuinely tragic.
