Reply #23: Both Darfur Genocide Accountability bills still in play - BuzzFlash op/ed

[Nothing Without Hope]

The author of this BuzzFlash op/ed, an Amnesty International coordinator, says that both the Senate and the House versions of Dafur Genocide Accountability Acts are still in play and urges us to push our legislators to support them. (She doesn't seem to realize that two bills differ in their provisions.) I have deleted those sections of the article (as well as the parts about the Rwandan genocide) in getting down to the maximum allowed 4 paragraphs because I wanted to keep the paragraphs that summarize the actions of the regimie that the Bush administration is cozying up to - see upthread if you have an iron stomach.

The parallels of the current Darfur genocide with the 1994 Rwandan massacres, in which over 800,000 people died, are obvious. The failure of the US government to take action then is arguably the greatest failure of the Clinton administration. The author of this Buzzflash editorial strongly recommends the Hotel Rwanda and points out that is now available on DVD as a BuzzFlash premium:
http://www.buzzflash.com/premiums/05/03/pre05038.html
http://www.buzzflash.com.nyud.net:8090/premiums/05/03/images/rwanda_200.jpg

http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/05/05/con05180.html
May 19, 2005

"Hotel Rwanda" and the American Conscience

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
by Mary Shaw

(snip)

The Sudanese government is restricting access for humanitarian aid agencies, and so numerous people are in danger of starvation and illness. The authorities are demolishing homes in settlements for displaced people and calling it "urban renewal."

The Janjawid are using rape as a weapon of war. Countless Sudanese women and girls have been abducted, branded, and forced to service the Janjawid and government officials as sex slaves. As a result, many of these women and girls have contracted HIV from their rapists, along with emotional scars that will never heal.

Weapons continue to flow into Sudan from Russia, China, France, and Saudi Arabia, contributing to the ongoing violence. And thousands of innocent civilians continue to die each month.

(snip)

Today, there is a single peacekeeping force -- the UN-supported African Union (AU) Mission in Darfur -- on the ground. However, the AU mission, in its current form, cannot adequately address the crisis.

(snip)

Mary Shaw

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION

Mary Shaw is a Philadelphia-based writer and activist. She currently serves as Philadelphia Area Coordinator for Amnesty International, and her views on politics, human rights, and social justice issues have appeared in numerous online forums and in newspapers and magazines worldwide. E-mail [email protected].