from the desk of Annette Walker

from the desk of Annette Walker

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Genocide and Slavery in the Sudan/South Sudan - 
Colorado Speaks Out
 by Annette Walker



     "Our humanity is at stake unless we stand up and put an end to the deaths and incalculable suffering in the Sudan," said Rev. Heidi McGinness, Outreach Director for Christian Solidarity International-USA (CSI-USA).
     She spoke at a recent press conference and rally convened by CSI on the West Steps of the State Capitol.  The purpose was twofold.  First, she wanted to remind the public about the humanitarian crises -- specifically, genocide and slavery --  that for decades have devastated the Sudan.  The United Nations has declared that genocide and slavery anywhere are crimes against humanity.  She also wanted to launch a petition drive encouraging President Barack Obama to speak out about the atrocities in that African nation.
     Until 2011 the Sudan was Africa's largest nation in area.  The people were divided along ethnic and religious lines.  Many people who lived in the northern two-thirds of the country identified as Arab and Muslim.  The inhabitants of the southern region belonged to indigenous Black African ethnic groups, such as the Dinka and the Nuer.  Some practiced traditional African religions and others Christianity.  Although many languages are spoken throughout the nation, Arabic is the official language.
     Khartoum, the capital city, is located in the northern region which is the political, economic and military center.  There have been several attempts to govern it exclusively by Islamic law, and this is the goal of the current president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who assumed power by a military coup in 1989.
     "You can call it an apartheid system, between Arab and African Sudanese" said Rev. Oja Gafour, pastor of Denver's Sudanese Community Church.  "Even though the African Sudanese are the majority, we are treated as a minority and looked upon and treated as inferior.  Africans are being deprived of their land, resources, education and participation in political life," he continued.
     In the 1980s people in the southern region began organizing militarily in order to seek justice.  The Khartoum government struck back brutally, initiating a civil war.  The world has witnessed the horrifying results:  two million killed and four million forced to flee their homes.
     During this period slavery re-emerged.  Men, women and children are abducted and forced into slavery, and some end up in neighboring countries.  Estimates vary, but there are thousands enslaved.
     A separate conflict emerged in 2003 in the western region of Darfur.  Ironically, 90% of the people in Darfur are Muslims, but ethnically are Black African.  However, in the Arab vs. non-Arab system that exists, they are treated as outsiders.  When local rebel groups began to challenge the Khartoum government, the response was as brutal as in the southern region.  According the the United Human Rights Council, 400,000 have been killed and one million displaced.
                             
                                            International Response
     The genocide in the Sudan is not unique in global politics over the past 100 years.  The 20th century was the bloodiest in recorded history:  174 million people were killed in genocides and mass murders at the hands of dictators, warlords, and human rights violators.
     Throughout the 20th century there have been many international efforts to find a way to bring to justice the perpetrators, many of them high-level government officials and heads-of-state. 
     2002 marked a watershed moment when the International Criminal Court (ICC) was established in The Hague, Netherlands.  Its mission and mandate are noble: to hold accountable and bring to justice individuals responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity.                   
     The mass murders in Darfur became one of the ICC's early cases.  In 2009 the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Sudan's president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, on charges of masterminding genocide and other war crimes against the people in Darfur.  The Court always allows heads of government and other political officials to turn themselves in at The Hague.  Mr. Bashir has chosen not to do this.  However, last year he declined to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York, an annual gathering of world leaders.
     In July 2011 a Peace Accord was signed and Africa's largest nation was divided into two countries: the Sudan and South Sudan.    Unfortunately, conflicts have continued and internal differences have destabilized the South Sudan.  Once again mass murders and population displacement haunt that new nation.  In May the UN Security Council issued a mandate to protect the one million civilians there, and 12,000 UN peacekeeping troops have been dispatched to the southern region.

                       Response from the United States including Colorado
      In 2004 the U.S. Congress voted unanimously to declare the situation in Darfur a genocide.  The Congressional Black Caucus called for divestment of the $91.2 billion U.S. dollars invested by federal and state pension funds in companies doing business in the Sudan.
     Thirty-five states including Colorado voted to divest their pension funds.  One of the co-sponsors of the Colorado legislation, which mandated a $42 million divestment, was former House Speaker Andrew Romanoff.  He was a featured speaker at the June Press Conference in Denver.
     Over the past decade there has been considerable human rights activity in Colorado regarding the situation in the Sudan and South Sudan.
     Christian Solidarity International's Outreach division is based in Denver.  CSI is the only human rights organization working to liberate enslaved persons in the Sudan and they have succeeded in obtaining freedom for thousands.
     The Colorado Coalition for Genocide Awareness and Action (CCGAA), is based in Denver.  Founder and Director Roz Duman spoke at the June press conference and rally.  "Never Again, we said after the Holocaust," she said.  "And Never Again, we said after Rwanda.  But here we are again in the 21st century and genocide continues to rear its ugly head.  We are our brothers' and sisters' keepers"
     For the past 4 years CCGAA has organized Youth Against Genocide Conferences.
     The Fourth Annual Sudan Freedom Walk took place the day following the June press conference.  It was held at Bear Creek Lake Park in Lakewood and was attended by over 100 people.  The Freedom Walk is a fundraiser and proceeds are used to pay to free slaves in the Sudan
     It was founded by Rebecca Bretz when she was a high school freshman.  She just graduated and will pursue Peace and Justice Studies in college..
     Denver's St. John's Episcopal Church is actively engaged with many partnership projects in South Sudan as well as the local Sudanese refugee community.  St. John's and the Diocese of Colorado are part of the Anglican Communion, the global network of Episcopal and Anglican church bodies.
     Denver currently is home to over 1,000 Sudanese refugees.  "None of us planned to leave the Sudan," said Rev. Gafour.  "We were forced out."  Another religious refugee in Denver is Bishop Andudu from the Nuba Mountain area.  Currently one of the youngest Anglican Bishops worldwide, he was forced to seek asylum when bombing began near his church.
     Project Education South Sudan (PESS).  In response to the high illiteracy rate, some of which resulted from the 20 year civil war, PESS's mission is to help fund and support the building of primary schools in rural South Sudan.  PESS also provides clean water wells, sewing machines and other kinds of equipment for rural living.  The organization serves 3000 children in 4 schools.
     Colorado Friends of the Lost Boys of Sudan.  CFLBS's goals are to assist in the general welfare, job training and other education of Sudanese refugees living in Colorado who are known as the Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan.  They have been orphaned by the prolonged civil wars.
Editor's Note:
Learn more about the letter to President Barack Obama at www.revheidimcginness.org.  Videos of the Sudan and South Sudan produced by journalist Tamara Banks can be accessed at www.youtube.com
     (This article appeared in the July 2014 issue of the Denver Urban Spectrum)