Progress Report # 3

Progress Report # 3

The following are the summaries of each of our group members’ (Darfur Action Campaign group) findings. Save Darfur!

Austin Ellis:

For our Darfur Action Campaign group, I have had various responsibilities and conducted different types of research.  The first question I researched was, “How has the genocide affected woman and children, the economy, and the continent of Africa? “ I learned that women and children are being gang raped both inside and outside of Sudan. Women and children have been separated from their families and are assaulted and raped.

As a result of this, the women have been fleeing to Eastern Chad to hide out in refugee camps. Unfortunately, they continued to be mistreated. They are beaten severely on their arms and legs. While being interviewed, one women reported that she attempted to hide, but was found, and was raped by four to six men. In fact, she said she lost count. She was eight months pregnant. The baby died at birth.

I also looked into ways that Indiana University students can help and take action. One of the organizations is called UNICEF. They raise money in order to buy things like medicine, food, and water for those who have been affected the genocide. In addition, there is a student-led division called “Students Taking Action Now: Darfur (STAND).

Sinikka Roinila:

 In my findings I discovered that Helen Fein’s article was very insightful to understand genocide and what has happened in Darfur. I didn’t know anything about genocide, the definition, or Darfur before I read this article, so it incredibly helped spur on my enthusiasm for our action group.

        

Fein stated that genocide is the “killing of people in groups targeted because of organized political oppositions” and that “actions found in genocide are murders or otherwise harming members of a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group with the intention of destroying the group, in whole or in part. I also learned that the actions specific to the Darfur genocide were disease-producing conditions, starvation in camps and ghettos, slave labor, torture, and poisoning of air and water. She also gave me the basic facts of the genocide, including the year it started (2003), that the victims were the African tribes and the perpetrators was the Sudanese government. The number of deaths was less than 400,000 but with more research on Google, I found this to be much higher than the deaths in 9/11.

       

I learned that the reason for the genocide could either have been to eliminate a real threat, spread terror, acquire economic wealth, or implement beliefs.

      

 In articles about the UN we read for class, I also learned that there were many reasons why the US or UN did not immediately come into play. They did not want to risk their own lives. In this light, Fein brought up preventative questions one could use to tell if a government was leaning toward genocide, and since the UN missed these questions and answers- they were hesitant to now fix the problem that they couldn’t prevent, which is their job.

       

Lastly, one interesting point I noticed in Fein’s article was that the USA got involved in the Darfur crisis, but limited its participation, because we were only there to help our own agenda. It was like we cared more about our own national goals than others lives.

        

The second part of research that I did was to answer Question #8 of our first progress report. To do so, I looked at the current status and situation of what is going on in Darfur in order to further recognition where it was that our action group needed to land ship.

       

I learned that this past March, Obama was pressured by George Clooney to talk with China about collaborating in pressuring the Sudanese government to end the violence that is still occurring in Darfur. It was just this past April that Russian helicopters decided to pull out of the genocide, which has led to more difficulties for aid and left people to their own violence. There are still fights occurring between villages.

        

Also, currently the Russian and Chinese are selling weapons to the Sudanese government in the knowledge that they will be used for violence, aid is being withheld and people are still displaced, even though the peace treaty was already signed and despite the UN arms embargo act.

       

Finally, I found that Omar Al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, was arrested in 2010 for crimes against humanity, and that there is actually a video game online about the Darfur crisis where you can pretend to be a villager in order to bring awareness to the issue.

       

In conclusion, I did decide the stance that our group would take as our “thesis” as an answer to Question #8 (the hardest question). We want the resulting actions of the presentation to be raised awareness and pressure put onto the students to sign a petition that would be brought before congress and pressure them to talk to the Sudanese government again. It’s Fein’s Boomerang Effect all over the place!

Larry Bryant:

The genocide in Darfur has caused the destruction of over 400 villages, causing initially 400,000 deaths with about 100 people continuing to die each day.  2,700,000 survivors of the genocide have been displaced from their homes and are currently living in refugee camps.  The people who caused this chaos was the Arab ran government (unofficially), led by President Omar al Bashir, who enlisted an extremist group called the Janjaweed to actually commit the acts of genocide.  Ultimately, the United Nations and other powers stepped in to intervene in the situation and to aid those whose most basic human rights have been taken, the African tribes or the non-Arabs of Sudan.  Many people have contributed to the efforts to restore order to the victims of the genocide including, 85 non-governmental organization and 16 United Nations agencies adding up to about 17,700 humanitarian workers.  The Sudanese government has had a history of making humanitarian efforts very hard to achieve, including even shutting down some camps and programs within the nation in retaliation to arrest warrants issued by the international crime court (one including President Bashir). 

Alex Buettner:

For the Darfur action campaign group I have researched which rights Sudan has violated in comparison to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. From what I have researched on the events that took place and ones that are still occurring, I have inferred that there are 18 out of the 30 human rights that have been violated. These only include the rights that have substantial evidence against them. I have also found videos that contribute to our groups Prezi presentation, including one on the UNs confrontation with Sudan, George Clooney's involvement, as well as interviews from those that have been firsthand victims of the atrocities that have occurred in Darfur. I have also researched ways that other student groups have gotten involved with the Darfur genocide in order to give our action campaign group ideas on how to go about making a difference and presenting our view to the class. 

Brenton Klein:

I began my research by reading two articles about the Darfur genocide. The first article, written by Eric Reeves, appeared in Dissent Magazine. Reeves is a professor at Smith College and has written extensively on Sudan. He basically condemns the United Nations for not taking sooner action in regards to intervention.

The second article, written by Molly Miller, appeared in the Mediterranean Quarterly. Miller works for the US House of Representatives and was special assistant to the Sudan mission director of the US Agency for International Development mission in Khartoum, Sudan, and Washington, DC. The article gives a brief history of Sudan and details how that history led to the genocide. Miller also suggests a couple of ways to end the genocide. Together, these two articles were quite informative of the situation in Darfur.

I also looked into any worthwhile media sources regarding the Darfur genocide. I came across a couple of films that may provide a short clip or two when it comes to our presentation. Additionally, one of these films could certainly count towards our activism involvement. One film is a documentary that was made during the height of the genocide. It details the situation and urges people to action. The second film is a drama directed by infamous director Uwe Boll. It may not be as accurate as the documentary, but it accurately portrays the horrors that have taken place in Darfur.

Furthermore, I have also researched the Sudanese political system, and how that system has contributed to the genocide. Basically, Sudan is now basically regarded as an authoritarian state run by President Omar al-Bashir. His pro-Islamist views eventually reached radical levels when he responded violently to rebel uprisings. Although efforts have been made by international players, al-Bashir continues to rule the country and was even re-elected in the 2010 Sudanese presidential election.

Lastly, I focused specifically on the events immediately preceding the beginning of the genocide. Tensions had been rising between semi-nomadic livestock herders and those who practice sedentary agriculture. These tensions were due to a massive drought, and eventually racial tensions were exacerbated as well. The government of Sudan saw an opportunity to erase non-Arabs from the region and installed policies to strengthen the brewing hatred. Soon, some of these non-Arabs got fed up and rebelled against the government. This was exactly what Khartoum officials had expected, and they responded by beginning a mass extermination of not only the rebels, but innocent civilians as well.

Mitchell Meyer:

As our campaign action group continues to research and discover new things about the horrible events of the Darfur Genocide, I have been able to develop a better understanding of the genocide as a whole. The region of Sudan located in eastern Africa is a home to around six million people and over 100 tribes. Some being Nomads and some are farmers. In 1989 a man of the name Omar Bashir took control of the Sudan by military coup, which allowed the National Islamic Front Government to spark regional tensions. With the struggle of political control now, many people became angry and conflicts occurred between many African farmers and some nomadic Arab tribes. In 2003 is when the genocide took off. Two Rebel movements became angry with the Sudan government complaining about the failure to protect people from the attacks by nomads. In response to this the government released the Janjaweed (Arab Militia). The Janjaweed went out and destroyed over 400 villages and millions of civilians were forced to leave their homes. As the Genocide continues to go on, African farmers are being displaced and murdered by the Janjaweed. So far the Genocide has took over 400,000 lives and displaced over 2,500,000 people. Over this horrible event the Sudanese government denies to having any connection to the Janjaweed and appears reluctant to address the human rights crisis in the region. They took no necessary steps to stop the activities of the Janjaweed, which became a huge problem. In 2005 the international criminal court (ICC) took action by launching investigations of human rights violations in Darfur, and once again the Sudanese government refused to be involved with the investigation. Today Darfur continues to suffer and the many problems happening in Sudan cannot be resolved until peace is protected in Darfur. This tragic event needs as much support as they can get for there are 2.7 million people still displaced in camps.

I am currently also trying to contact the African Studies Department as well. We want to send out some emails and contact people that have been affected by the genocide that would be able to speak with our group or maybe hold a videoconference. This will give our presentation a more close up emotional feeling and will draw the audience’s attention to the subject.

For people to get involved, they must be aware of what type of things they can do to help stop genocides all around the world. There are many organizations on the web that raise money for the Darfur genocide, but the two biggest ones that caught my eye and are more well-known are STAND and savedarfur.org. These organizations are doing great things and let people get involved and not just donate money. When people actually get to be involved in a movement and make a difference that makes them feel great rather than just sending money. Another interesting thing I found was an organization called the Genocide Intervention Network. This was created in 2005 and it allows people to call their anti-genocide hotline 1-800-GENOCIDE, to talk to elected officials on the Darfur Genocide and Sudan-related problems.

Terry Pritch:

Terri contributed to the group by posting weekly in the group’s blog and researching ways to spread awareness about the conflict in Darfur in a way that will reach the IU student and Bloomington resident despite the distance and cultural difference. Terri is also the Communications chair for the IU Chapter of Amnesty International and will be working with them to write a letter to a prominent figure in the Sudan government asking for reform and change in defense of the human rights of their citizens.