Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Uh, guys ? We may have a problem here.

To the left we have Ahmed Muhammed Harrun. Former Junior Interior Minister for the Darfur Region in Sudan. He and numerous others are being held responsible and are being charged with crimes against humanity for the deaths of some 200,000 Darfur residents and the displacement of another 2.5 million. Think about that last figure. I can't think of which charge is worse. In America you displace 2.5 million and they are assisted with relocation as best the government and kind hearted citizens can. But that is not the way it works in Africa, as any student of their history can tell you. Displaced refugees face starvation, disease, and death. Harrun does not appear to have missed any meals or sleep over it.

Did he do it ? Was he involved ? There can be no question unless he's been hiding under a rock for the past four years. Harrun, and the leaders of the janjaweed militia (read mercenary thugs) [Pictured left] worked together on a plan of destruction that, may I bother you to say it again, murdered 200,000 people. Know what Harrun does for a living now ? He's now the Sudanese Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs ! Pardon ? Did I just hear you cough up your drink ?

I guess the worst part is that its not over yet. While informants come forward and lead investigators to the mass grave sights, not all are being found I'm sure. Because those same informants immediately become targets for reprisals. (Hint: The guys that did all the killing are still in power.)
But as with any human tragedy, there are heroes. Ibrahim comes from the village of Mukgar in the Darfur region and while he was brave enough to lead investigators to a mass grave of his people, he would not tell his last name as that would most assuredly become his death sentence.




I can't even imagine what he feels. Ibrahim is standing there holding the skulls of villagers and as tribes go, family members. I guess there comes a time when a self inspection reveals the life as small compared to the event, where it is too late to stop it but the travesty is so immense that it is worth dying for to reveal it to the world. Ibrahim appears willing to die so that his people might have some semblance of justice.

And so Ibrahim walks through the last remnants of people he once loved so that maybe a wrong done against the collective Karma of the world can be set right again.
In that same vein maybe the carnage can be stopped with the disbanding and trial of the janjaweed militia men. They're still there, the crimes running unchecked. Aisha Hamid, below, and a group of her neighbors went out to get fire wood and the five of them were attacked and raped. I see a strength in her that I hope I would have should I ever face such conditions. As a refugee, she faces the conditions I previously mentioned and now, I'm sure, even more attention from said thugs for coming forward.
The revolution must come soon for them, if they wish to live.







No comments: