Darfurians look to activists to help stop the killing

We’ve known for some time that the humanitarian crisis in Darfur continues to worsen. The gravity of the situation was brought home to us at UUSC when two Darfur natives paid a visit to our offices today while on their way to Washington, D.C., where they will be among the featured speakers on Sunday at the Rally to Stop Genocide.

“Members of my family have been killed, tortured and displaced,” said Salih Mahmoud Osman, an internationally recognized human rights lawyer and an opposition member of the Sudan National Parliament. “This is one example of thousands of stories of suffering that have not been told.”

Osman and a fellow Darfurian, Dr. Barodi Mustafa Fashir, said there is no end in sight to the killing, looting, raping and other atrocities. They told about how the survivors living in refugee camps either inside Darfur or in neighboring Chad are coming under attack, especially women and girls who are routinely raped if they venture outside their tents.

Dr. Fashir, a medical doctor who fled the violence in Darfur and is now living in Canada, said the ethnic cleansing will continue until there is a much stronger international response, especially from the United Nations. The African Union force is much too small and has no mandate to stop violence against civilians even if they witness it.

Their message reinforced the need for U.S. residents to turn out in force this Sunday to the major rallies being held around the country. “All of us feel marginalized now that the issue of Darfur is no longer on the front pages of the papers,” said Osman.

Making our voices heard loud and clear on Sunday will help put Darfur back on the front pages.