Plattsburgh State student raises awareness of Darfur genocide

By JOSH MINER
Contributing Writer

November 07, 2009 03:28 am

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PLATTSBURGH — After nearly six years with little effort on the part of the United States, the White House has proposed a plan to help those affected by the genocide in Darfur.

To help on the local level, Plattsburgh State student Chris Rwechungura has started a Darfur Awareness Campaign to inform as many people as possible about the tragic state of this particular area of Sudan.

KILLINGS
In 2003, the Sudanese government began to allow nomadic Arabs to displace sedimentary farmers and take their land.

The Sudan Liberation Army and Justice and Equality Movement protested these measures, resulting in the killing of many by the government-backed group known as the Janjaweed.

Rwechungura, an international student from Tanzania, said nearly all the farmers' land was taken and many people died, but even though the Janjaweed's original goal had been accomplished, the killing did not stop.

"People still don't have peace and harmony."

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir makes it difficult for humanitarian groups to help the people within the country, forcing the United Nations to set up refugee camps in Chad, on the western border of Sudan.

It is difficult to measure the number of dead from the conflict, but the Genocide Intervention Network said at least 3 million Darfuris are living in refugee camps.

"The point of their fight doesn't make sense anymore," Rwechungura said, since the government now has the land over which the fighting began.

SUDAN'S ROLE
African countries have been trying to pressure the Sudanese government to stop the killing. The matter of whether the deaths are still state sanctioned is a gray area; some of the killing, however, can point to no other conclusion, Rwechungura said.

For example, the United Nations would drop food packages in planes painted all white, which caused villagers to gather in a concentrated area.

The Janjaweed then began flying planes painted in the same way, only when the villagers gathered, they would drop a bomb rather then food, Rwechungura said.

He thinks the only way for these groups to have such technology is if the government provided it.

LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
Rwechungura said that when his group holds presentations, not only are people surprised to hear that such killing is going on, some people are not even aware of Darfur's — or even Sudan's — existence.

"My goal is to get as many people as possible to know about Darfur."

Knowledge is the first step toward action, he said.

The first part of the campaign focused on getting a national online petition through savedarfur.org signed by as many people as possible.

Recently, the petition was successful in getting the attention of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and the White House has released a plan for dealing with the problems in Darfur.

Rwechungura said there is still more work to be done.

"Putting something on paper doesn't mean you're going to do it," he said.

PRESSING FOR ACTION
His personal campaign is to do his best to make sure the U.S. government acts on its plan, something he thinks may not happen without constant pressure from Americans. Rwechungura believes President Barack Obama is prepared to listen to citizens and will follow through with helping meet their concerns.

"Everybody's been trying to talk about it. There's been so much talk, but no action."

The recent White House proposal is an important step to real action, he said.

Still, Sudanese politics may present a difficult obstacle for the administration to overcome.

"The president (of Sudan) does not allow them to intervene," Rwechungura said of international organizations. "They don't have a legal right."

Until governments, including the United States, put real pressure on Sudan, this is not likely to change, he said.

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