EXPERTS SAY PRESSURE ON POLITICIANS WILL HELP END GENOCIDE IN DARFUR
By: Mark Noack | Freelance Reporter |

Oregon Daily Emerald, OR
May 29 2007

PrintEmail Article Tools Page 1 of 2 next > A panel of experts and
academics on the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan argued Thursday
at 7:30 p.m. in the EMU’s Fir Room that asserting public pressure on
politicians and media outlets will help end the crisis.

The event, titled "Not On Our Watch: Perspectives In Genocide In
Darfur" and organized by Amnesty International and the Lane County
Darfur Coalition, aimed to raise public awareness of the Darfur
genocide, which has received limited media attention.

The genocide in the Darfur is estimated to have killed between 200,000
and 400,000 people and has displaced 2.5 million into massive refugee
camps in surrounding nations. Beginning in the wake of a 2003 revolt in
southern Sudan, the Sudanese government has supported armed guerrilla
groups in an ongoing campaign of murder and rape against villagers
in the southwest Darfur region. The oil-rich East African nation
has been embroiled in war during the past three decades yet the
blooming crisis has become removed from any single cause, instead
encompassing a variety of complex religious, ethnic, geographic and
economic conflicts domestically and internationally.

While the U.S. government has called the crisis in Darfur genocide,
it has been slow to act, said University professor of psychology Paul
Slovic, one of the three panelists.

Beginning with the Armenian genocide, Slovic noted the international
community has largely ignored the 20th century’s series of genocides.

The same is true today, as U.S. media outlets have also generally
shied away from the Darfur crisis since it began in 2003, said Slovic.

Working as a photojournalist in Darfur, panelist Paul Jeffrey said
media outlets faced huge obstacles to gaining access to Darfur,
including high expenses, a violent, repressive government and a lack
of public interest in the issue.

"While the majority of international politicians continue to decry
the genocide in Darfur, little has changed on the ground in the
country," Jeffrey said. "To get even a visa into the country is a
diplomatic dance."

Jeffrey said the Chinese government has been the predominant defender
of Sudan’s genocide campaign, consistently blocking any UN peacekeeping
actions in the region. China is a huge importer of Sudanese oil,
and a recent Amnesty International report has accused the Russian and
Chinese governments of supplying weapons to the Sudanese government.

University Ph.D. candidate Jennifer Erickson said rape by Sudanese
soldiers and government-sponsored militiamen has been a particularly
powerful weapon, used systematically in the destruction of Darfur.

Compounding the tragedy, she said, is the rise of rape in the refugee
camps.

"There is no punishment for perpetrators," said Erickson. "Women will
often see their attackers again; this often happens in the camps."

In order to help change the situation in Darfur, Slovic said public
pressure is the only way to force politicians to do more than express
outrage. In regard to China, which will be in the international
spotlight for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, a focused public
effort could result in dramatic change.

But without that pressure, Slovic warned, change is unlikely.