Empty villages mark trail of Sudan's hidden war

[gottaB]

Straight, black lines of ash run through the village of Jimeza, where straw fences used to protect Sudanese peasants from Darfur's hot winds. Clay pots, many of them charred from fire, lie scattered where bare feet once trod.

Most alarmingly, the shoulder-high earthenware urns in which villagers had stored enough millet and sorghum to sustain them between harvests are empty and scorched black. The livestock - cattle, goats and sheep - have all gone.

No Sudanese stayed behind to tell Jimeza's tale - every means of survival in the dusty savannah of western Sudan had vanished. A plume of black smoke in the distance served as a reminder that Jimeza's destiny is being played out over and over again.

Mariam Mohammed Adam wanders the area collecting grasses she can sell in the markets over the border in Chad, where she now lives. But she takes no chances with her life, which used to be a peaceful if impoverished existence in the nearby village of Tirti. 'If I see anyone,' she said, 'I run.'

Empty villages mark trail of Sudan's hidden war....


***








Burned shops in an Abandoned Village between Geneina and Sisi, Photo USAID

[gottaB]

1. Stories of Refugees From Sudan's Darfur Echo Horrors of Holocaust

World needs to hear survivors' tales -- and act, Holocaust Museum audience told

The news reports the bombings and the flight of refugees from Darfur, Sudan, but only the testimony of the survivors can really describe the horrors and atrocities that have been visited upon these victims, who now share the same scars as those who survived the Holocaust during World War II.

That is why it is so important that we hear and retell the stories of the victims so the world will take notice and act to change the situation and stop the violence, explained Jerry Fowler, staff director of the Committee on Conscience at the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, at a May 26 museum-sponsored program on the current crisis.

Fowler, who had just returned from the area, said he came away from that experience with his mind seared by the stories that survivors told of the horrors they experienced.

"Stories of peoples' villages being destroyed, of their villages being burned, of their relatives being killed -- especially men and boys -- of them being blocked from water sources. It was clear to me...that these people fled their homes in terror."

Stories of Refugees From Sudan's Darfur Echo Horrors of Holocaust....

***

Jerry Fowler's covered the war in the south before. I found his contribution to the discussion at Crimes of War: Is there Genocide in Sudan?. That was in 2002, and although it concerned targetted efforts against different groups than those who are being slaughtered and driven from their homes in Darfur, I reckon history has revealed that those who argued in the affirmative were right. Crimes of War has also looked at the Darfur conflict, Crimes against humanity in Darfur.

Two more recent stories: (1) Arab militia use 'rape camps' for ethnic cleansing of Sudan, and (2) Suffering Lingers in Darfur Region.

[jdj]

2. Never fails, every time a fkd up thing happens: Bush

snip-

while Khartoum was negotiating in Kenya with the Christian Sudan People's Liberation Army. The Bush administration invested heavily in the southern peace process, largely because of pressure from its conservative Christian political base, and because it felt that fostering peace in Sudan would burnish the American image in the Muslim world.

The result was leverage for Khartoum, which needed only to hint at slowing its engagement in the talks to quiet US criticism of its role in Darfur. 'Khartoum understood the politics of diplomacy, and it understood that the north-south talks gave them a free hand in Darfur,' said John Prendergast, an analyst with the Brussels-based International Crisis Group.

[gottaB]

4. but see Kristof's editorial

Bush Points the Way.

Ouch.

Personally, I credit Powell with any success here, such as it is, and congratulate Bush to the extent that he allowed the State Department to inform foreign policy. I also note that back in April John Kerry did in fact make a strong Statement from Kerry on the Situation in the Darfur Region of Sudan and the Lessons of Rwanda. If it hasn't been a burning campaign issue, I'm not sure that it makes sense to fault Kerry for that.

[UpInArms]

3. a side effect of the *Co's war is that the world

cannot seem to focus on the atrocities of the Sudan :(

[gottaB]

5. here here

There's a price to be paid for warmongering and like offenses--not that our suffering and national humiliation in anyway compare to the victims of genocide--but we have lost credibility and set upon a dangerous course, and the violence and turmoil that ensue will not be contained within the present geopolitical borders of Iraq.

[gottaB]

6. Sudan refugees 'in urgent need'

Warning. Rather disturbing photo accompanies story.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3763117.stm


***


More relief agency news and resources

http://www.msf.org

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_we_do/where_we_work/sudan/emergency/appeal.htm

http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/vLCE/Sudan?OpenDocument&Start=1&Count=1000&ExpandView&StartKey=Sudan

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41257&SelectRegion=East_Africa

http://www.usaforunhcr.org/usaforunhcr/dynamic.cfm?ID=205

http://www.usaid.gov/locations/sub-saharan_africa/sudan