Can We Save

1. Can We Save Darfur?

2. #1 Where is Darfur? Darfur is a region located in western Sudan in Africa .

3. So why are we seeing and hearing so much about Darfur in international news now?What is going on there?Why should we be concerned about a country that is so far away from us?

4. In one word…Genocide

5. Definition:Genocide is the crime of killing many people who are all part of one ethnic group, religious group, or some sort of similar group, and trying to destroy that group. Genocide is done usually by a group, such as a government, or military group, not by one person or a small number of people. Usually, the motivation for genocide is based on political reasons.

6. Is this the first time “genocide” has ever been committed in the world’s history?

7. NO! But you would think we would have learned from it…The Holocaust, is the term generally used to describe the killing of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, as part of a program of deliberate extermination planned and executed by the National Socialist (Nazi) regime in Germany led by Adolf Hitler.[1]The Bosnian Genocide refers to a case of genocide that took place in Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War from 1992 - 1995.The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass extermination of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutu sympathizers in Rwanda and was the largest atrocity during the Rwandan Civil War.At least 500,000 Tutsis and thousands of moderate Hutus died in the genocide.

8. How did this happen in Sudan?Tensions between Arab herders and Black African farmers competing for scarce natural resources in Darfur surfaced during the 1970s. In 2003, the struggle came to a breaking point and became a battle.

9. Watch and Learn… nationalgeographic.

10. The government-backed groups, known as "Janjaweed," terrorize Africans, destroying villages, killing and maiming men, ransacking food supplies and blocking international assistance. The Janjaweed also carry out systematic campaigns of rape against African women in an attempt to humiliate the women and their families and weaken tribal ethnic lines. Human rights groups say the government, by funding the Janjaweed militants, is carrying out an ethnic cleansing campaign.

11. The Janjaweed Janjaweed Janjaweed are basically nomadic or of Arab descent. They live in parts of Darfur. The Darfur people themselves, the black Sudanese, started to demand rights. From this, the Khartoum government promised the Janjaweed if they pushed the Sudanese people off their land, they promised they could take whatever they wanted of the land. That was almost two or three years ago. They are basically hired by the government. The Janjaweed have done the dirty work for the Khartoum government. This has been going on since before 2001.

12. The Statistics…The Death Toll in DarfurSince the conflict began in 2003, an estimated 350,000 Darfurians have died, most due to starvation.Experts warn that number is likely to increase, however, and the UN World Food Program has cut aid to Darfur by half, citing funding shortages (Boston Globe).

13. How could this be happeningRIGHT NOW??

14. Can’t the United States do something????What about the United Nations???These people need help…

15. On August 31, 2006, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1706, authorizing a robust peacekeeping force of 22,500 UN troops for Darfur with a strong mandate to protect civilians. While this was a crucial step, it will remain merely words on paper until there are UN boots on the ground. More than seven months have passed and only a few dozen UN advisors have actually been deployed. If the UN fails to deploy a force to Darfur, it will be the first time in history that a UN force has completely failed to deploy after being authorized by the Security Council.

16. Why then the delay in carrying out the Security Council’s order?Because the UN force cannot deploy over Sudan’s objections, and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir wants to preserve the status quo, and has been thwarting the international community’s efforts to stop the killing at every turn. He’s managed this by time and again promising to cooperate with international efforts to end the conflict in order to relieve mounting diplomatic and economic pressure, and then going back on his word and once again obstructing those efforts when the pressure has abated. This pattern of bait and switch has allowed a genocidal dictator to consistently thwart the international community’s efforts to end the conflict in Darfur and promote an inclusive peace process. In fact, he is doing so again right now.

17. A U.N. report accuses local government leaders of instituting a policy of "forced starvation" that simultaneously has government officials denying problems with food distribution while militias prevent food delivery. Aid workers and journalists have been kept from visiting some affected areas since government-backed militias have blocked access to 31 of the approximately 130 camps in Darfur.

18. You say “This can’t be happening… it can’t be real.”Open your eyes and see….

19. Refugee Camps in Darfur and Chad

20. Where are the refugees going? • Refugees Flee Sudan to Chad • The mass exodus of 1.8 million refugees has posed complex security and humanitarian challenges for Sudan's neighbors, especially Chad. • Refugee Flows Place Chadians at Risk • Chadian villagers living across in the border are barely eeking out an existence as it is, and the influx of starving Sudanese refugees has placed many Chadians at a severe risk of food insecurity.

21. A challenge to the International Community • We now find ourselves approaching what may be the decisive hour for the future of Darfur. President al-Bashir has through words and actions told the world in no uncertain terms that he will not cooperate with international efforts to end the genocide in Darfur. It is therefore time for the international community to compel his cooperation. U.S. Secretary of State Rice put it well when she said on September 27, 2006 that the Government of Sudan faces a choice between cooperation and confrontation. President al-Bashir has chosen confrontation. The world must act.

22. To be clear, the preferred solution is for the international community to flex its diplomatic and economic muscles, not its military ones, in order to compel President Bashir’s consent to the UN force and cooperation in the peace process. The U.S. government has for months now spoken of Plan B, a package of coercive economic, diplomatic, and legal measures designed to make obstruction costlier than cooperation to the Sudanese regime. President Bush should immediately and fully implement and enforce tough unilateral U.S. economic sanctions targeting Sudan’s oil sector.

23. He must be stopped! Omar Hassan al-Bashir became president of the Sudan, in Africa, during a military coup in 1989.

24. What is Indiana doing to help? ://Darfur

25. To sum it up… We need to divest our monies from Sudan. We stop investing in their government, because it IS the government that is funding this genocide.

26. What can I do? How can I take a stand against this genocide?

27. Lobby your elected officials: Write, call, or email your elected officials and ask them to do more for the people of Darfur. Options on how to make your voice heard can be found at http://www.savedarfur.org/pages/lobby_congress. The most important thing is just to let them know you care. If you do want to get a bit more specific, however, please cite the various “asks” listed previously in this document. To contact the President, call (202) 456-1111, or email comments@whitehouse.gov, to contact your Representative and Senators, call the Capitol operator at (202) 224-3121 or go to www.house.gov and www.senate.gov to find email information.

28. Who else is supporting this cause? "It's always hard to see decent people, families, living in such difficult conditions," said Jolie, who reached the 26,000-person Oure-Cassoni camp after crossing a Saharan sandstorm. "What is most upsetting is how long it is taking the international community to answer this crisis," she said in a statement released Wednesday by the Geneva-based U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. – Angelina Jolie "What we cannot do is turn our heads and look away and hope that this will somehow disappear," he said. "If we do, it will disappear and an entire generation will be gone and then only history will be left to judge us.“ – George Clooney

29. But I am only “1” person. I cannot make a difference, right? • WRONG!!! • You are tomorrow’s future, tomorrow’s leaders. It is up to you to take a stand and let your voice be heard. • Remember, we are our brother’s keepers. • No one should have to live in fear. • Make the choice to MAKE a difference. If YOU don’t, who will??? Above: This child was the victim of a bombing in his village. Left: Starving to death.

30. Don’t just stand by and watch this go on. God gave you a voice.Use it to make a difference.Help Save the People of Darfur!