Tonight, at 9:00 pm ET, PBS's award-winning show FRONTLINE will air On Our Watch, a moving and disturbing look at the failure of the international community to live up to its promise at the end of World War II -- Never Again:
The world invoked the vow "never again!" after the genocide in Rwanda and atrocities in Srebrenica. Then came Darfur. Over the past four years, at least 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million driven from their homes, and mass rapes have once more been used as a weapon of war in a brutal campaign by Janjaweed militias and the Sudanese government against civilians in Darfur. FRONTLINE producer Neil Docherty asks why the international community and the United Nations have once again failed to stop the slaughter.
Thanksgiving: During this week in the United States, many of us turn our attention away from the world outside to our personal lives--our family, our friends, for some, our community. This is a time when we traditionally give thanks or appreciate the accident of birth or actions of our parents that make us citizens or residents of this country. We gather together, often eating far more than is reasonable, watch football, start shopping for the next big holiday, and generally try to feel good about our lives and ourselves.
Darfur: On the other side of the world, in the dusty oil-rich lands of Darfur in western Sudan and along the borders with Chad and the Central Africa Republic (C.A.R.), the crisis known simply as Darfur continues unabated. In Darfur, there is rarely a time of thanksgiving as the grim statistics tell the story of war, disease and deprivation.
Tonight's program gives a summary of the atrocities in western Sudan while showing the missteps and neglect of the international community in dealing with the crisis from its earliest days to now.
In addition, the show follows actress and UNICEF goodwill ambassador Mia Farrow to the refugee camps in eastern Chad, her seventh trip to the region to document and raise awareness of the unfolding atrocities. "My first trip into Darfur was in 2004," she says. "This is it for me. ... [I]t has eclipsed everything else in my life."
Grassroots movement: In the United States, groups such as the Save Darfur Coalition, Genocide Intervention Network, and the new project Enough! led by Gayle Smith from the Center for American Progress (CAP) and John Prendergast from the International Crisis Group and Africa Action, this country's oldest organization focused exclusively on Africa, have all attempted to bring national attention to Darfur and the need for effective responses to terrors like Rwanda, Srebrenica, Cambodia, and Darfur. Even these groups are not free from criticisms, however, as some critics have questioned whether their efforts help or hinder the delivery of much-needed humanitarian supplies to the millions of refugees in the region.
Here is a very brief preview of the show. [I'll warn you that some of the pictures here--even as quickly as they flit across your screen--are not pleasant; the situation in Darfur is even worse than these pictures can convey]:
As recounted in the press release for On Our Watch,
Khartoum's newfound oil wealth and its new partnership with China set the stage for conflict with the long-neglected region of Darfur in western Sudan, where rebel groups emerged to claim a share of the country's burgeoning wealth. In response, the government armed a proxy militia called the Janjaweed, or "Devils on Horseback;" provided them air support; and unleashed them on the rebels and the civilian farmers in a stampede of brutality.
United Nations: The first news of the atrocities happening in western Sudan came to the attention of the newly appointed U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Sudan, Dr. Mukesh Kapila, in 2003. He was visited by a young woman who had trekked all the way to Khartoum from her home in the region (state) of Darfur to tell of multiple rapes and other atrocities at the hands of soldiers and others equipped and dressed like soldiers. The Sudanese government denied any part in the growing humananitarian crisis.
"The argument was always that if you could conclude the comprehensive peace agreement [between the North and South in Sudan to settle a 21-year rebellion], then that would provide a model which would enable you to settle the political side of the Darfur problem," says Sir Kieran Prendergast (undersecretary general for political affairs, second in command to Kofi Annan), "which of course was only part of the problem."
The peace negotiations would go on for another year. By then the worst of the killing would be over in Darfur. The timing was no accident, according to Kapila: "When I spoke to my contacts, friendly contacts in the Sudan government in Khartoum, they told me that yes, they were also delaying the north-south peace agreement because they wanted to -- and I quote -- 'have a lasting solution in Darfur' before they signed the north-south peace agreement and the international community forced them to stop."
Each time the Sudanese crisis in Darfur has reached the U.N.'s Security Council, Russia but even more so China has blocked or diluted resolutions and/or actions to confront the Khartoum government. Says James Taub, author of The Best Intentions: Kofi Annan and the U.N. in the Era of American World Power:
"What has enabled Sudan to be as truculent as it has been is knowing that they have either the support, or at least the willingness not to act against them, of neighboring African countries, of Islamic countries generally, and of Russia and China-and above all, of China. So that support is critical for them."
As the program tonight will show,
China's economic interests remained a major obstacle to intervention in Darfur. But activists would finally find a way to get China's attention -- by targeting the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The activist Eric Reeves launched a campaign to shame the Chinese government: He called it "The Genocide Olympics." "The message to China is clear," Reeves tells FRONTLINE. "We will ensure that your hosting of the Olympics will go down in history along with the 1936 Olympics in Berlin as an occasion of international infamy."
Within months, the Security Council, with China's support and Sudanese acquiescence, authorized a U.N. petition for 26,000 troops to be deployed to Darfur by the end of 2007.
U.S. Congress: There are some members of Congress who have tried valiantly to move U.S. policy and action in line with our moral obligations. I am fortunate to be represented in Congress by Congressman Jim Moran, one of three members of Congress who were arrested last year at a demonstration in front of the Sudanese Embassy in Washington as they protested the ongoing atrocities being perpetrated by agents of the Khartoum government. Others leading the Congress on this issue include Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA-9), Tom Lantos (D-CA-12), and the 152 members of the bi-partisan Sudan Caucus. Unfortunately, forming a caucus doesn't always result in passage of meaningful legislation, particularly with vested interests and the White House intervene.
Over the last few years, a number of states and universities have chosen to divest their financial holdings (made up largely of your state tax dollars) from companies doing harmful business with the Sudanese regime. Unfortunately, there is an effort underway to overturn some of these state divestment laws. Congress must therefore act to safeguard state’s rights to divest by passing divestment legislation.
The House version of the divestment bill, known as H.R. 180 or the Darfur Accountability and Divestment Authorization Act, passed the House on July 21, by a 418-1 vote. The Senate version of the bill, the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act of 2007 (SADA), passed the Senate Banking Committee by a unanimous vote and is awaiting a floor vote in the Senate.
The Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act of 2007 would protect the right of states to divest from foreign companies that help fund the Sudanese government's actions in Darfur, would prohibit U.S. government contracts with such companies, and would allow states to ban contracts with them. - Save Darfur Coalition
What to do: The issue of Darfur and the related but larger issue of genocide in the 21st Century have enormous policy and practical issues attached. It is easy to feel that there is nothing you as an individual can do to stop a young girl from being raped thousands of miles away, or to get clean water or health care to a desperate mother watching her child die in her arms. The odds always seemed stacked against those of us who follow these issues and care deeply about the struggles of the people of Africa and the rest of the world to escape the cycle of poverty, violence, and health crises.
There are, however, simple steps you can take to help. First: get informed. The show tonight won't be easy to watch but it will provide you with a better understanding of the problems of Darfur.
As in the case of Rwanda before it, Darfur has many lessons emeshed in the tragedy of its story. First, learn the story. I will follow up with new diaries over the next couple of weeks to provide you with ideas on actions you can take personally to effect change.
And look especially for actions you can take during the December 8-10 Drumbeat for Darfur Days of Action coming up. In Washington, we will receive the latest policy updates, participate in lobbying targeted Senators on the key divestment legislation, march with Mia Farrow and the Olympic torch to the White House, and attend a special event at the Chinese Embassy. There will be other opportunities across the country as we prepare for the insertion of UN peacekeeping troops into Darfur on January 1, and continue efforts to raise awareness and activism.
Help bring the Olympic Dream for Peace to Darfur!
[Note: All pictures, except that of Congressman Jim Moran, are reproduced here with the express permission of PBS. These are copyrighted pictures and may be used only with permission and in conjunction with promoting the Frontline program, On Our Watch.]