The world dithers as killing goes on.
- Villagers chained up and burned alive in Sudan atrocity.
By Oliver Stallwood.
The Metro, UK - 30 July, 2004.
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Picture: Oxfam |
FRESH evidence of further atrocities in Sudan emerged last night as the world's leaders dithered over taking action to stop the bloodshed.
Militiamen were said to have chained villagers together and set them on fire in the troubled western Darfur region.
The atrocity was alleged to have been carried out by an Arab group, supposedly armed by the government, in violation of a fragile ceasefire. But, even as details of the outrage came to light, the United Nations appeared to retreat from a threat of sanctions against the Sudanese government unless it stopped the violence. At least 30,000 people are believed to have been killed in the 17-month conflict in the region, while at least another 1 million have been driven from their homes.
Much of the violence is blamed on the Janjaweed, a militia of nomadic Arabs who are trying to drive out black farmers. The latest unprovoked attack was uncovered by an African Union team monitoring the ceasefire.
It said: ‘The entire Ehada village had been burnt and deserted except for a few men. The attackers looted the market and killed civilians, in some cases, by chaining them and burning them alive.’
Humanitarian groups said the world has to act to stop the situation deteriorating.
One group said: ‘The international community are stepping up their rhetoric but their action and promise of action remains pathetic. It is on the verge of total failure in Darfur .’
Oxfam’s Helen Palmer, who has just returned from the region, added: ‘I think it is a scandal that these people have been through so much and they still have to suffer and they don't have to. The efforts to help are chronically underfunded. It is never too late to save many lives.’
The UN deleted the word ‘sanctions’ from the third revision of a resolution to be debated today. It retains a vague threat of action in 30 days if Khartoum fails to act. Yesterday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell conceded: ‘It is not an easy task for them to turn off this Janjaweed crowd and other militias that may be out there.’
KEY POINTS & SOLUTIONS:
- If required, the IRG would act 'immediately' to address any outbreaks of violence in the world. They would not 'dither' due to a lack of personal self-interest or financial cost issues. As a world governing authority, they would encourage peace in the world where current governments only encourage war.
- The IRG would NOT be endorsing weapon sales around the world like many governments (US, China, Russia, UK, France,...) do today. It is somewhat EXTREMELY contradictory that these 5 countries which are 'permanent members of the UN Security Council', responsible for helping to keep the peace in the world, are also some of the biggest weapon sellers in the world!
One can hardly blame people for being cynical when they see these governments preach peace and goodwill to others, while at the same time selling weapons around the world.
Today the Arms Trade is a multi-billion dollar industry. Many governments and weapons manufacturers 'encourage wars' and are indirectly responsible for the deaths of many people in the world, regardless of whether they are willing to accept this truth or not. If you don't think this is true, just ask yourself how much these countries 'invest in peace strategies' as compared to the billions of dollars they invest in military hardware and weapons. Excuses like weapons sales create jobs and are good for the economy show a serious lack of wisdom and compassion. For more information on governments that irresponsibly make money from weapon sales, see the following link - www.globalissues.org. Go to the section on 'Arms Trade'.
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