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Expert speaks on genocide

In a speech about the ongoing genocide in Sudan last night, John Prendergast, special adviser to the President of the International Crisis Group, said that while 300,000 people have already died, there is still time to stop the catastrophe.

 

Prendergast has focused most of his 20 year career on conflict resolution and U.S. foreign policy in Africa. He served in the Clinton Administration, as the Director of African Affairs for the National Security Council from 1996-1999, and as the Special Advisor for the State Department from 1999-2001.

 

During the last year, Prendergast said that over 300,000 people had died in the Sudanese region of Darfur, and approximately 2.5 million had been displaced. This prompted the U.S. government to officially categorize the crisis as "genocide" six months ago. Prendergast said that this was the "first time a government has called a genocide by rightful name while it's happening" and that this was an important step in the aid process.

 

Prendergast returned from the region a few weeks ago with Paul Rusesabagina, the real-life hero who inspired the film "Hotel Rwanda," as well as actor Don Cheadle, who portrayed Rusesabagina.

 

According to Prendergast, these two men were overcome by what they saw in the refugee camps in Chad, where, as Prendergast said, they "waded into a sea of shattered humanity."

 

In outlining the current crisis, Prendergast examined the similarities between the Rwanda genocide of 1994 and Darfur today, both in terms of the crimes committed and the international response. In both crises, state governments mostly used militias to do their killing, targeted specific ethnic groups, and employed a policy of "divide and conquer" to spread hate and set communities against one another.

 

In the case of Darfur, the Sudanese government has supported Arab militias known as the Janjaweed to do its killing. These Janjaweed have been ruthless in their attacks: raping, looting and killing in villages targeted for their Fur, Masilit, and Zaghawa ethnic majorities, Prendergast said.

 

The Sudanese government's "divide and conquer" policy has been very effective in facilitating the violence, "[throwing] fuel on what might be a low-grade fire," Prendergast said. As hardliners on both sides have felt threatened by potential peace processes, they have sought to undermine them by committing further atrocities, he said.

 

As the crisis worsened, a number of factors have helped keep the international community from stopping the violence today as in 1994, Prendergast said. In order to absolve themselves of responsibility, most countries have tended to portray matters as more complex than they actually are, he said. These countries will offer the excuse that the violence is simply a result of tribal feuding that has occurred for thousands of years.

 

Meanwhile, Prendergast said that the efforts of international organizations such as the United Nations (U.N.) Security Council have been relatively futile.

 

These groups fail to send any important message with their "robust threats" when they do not act, he said, and the Sudanese government knows this.

 

According to Prendergast, part of the reason for the lack of action has been the involvement of the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council in deals with Sudan. Four out of five of these member nations sell arms to the Sudanese government and invest in the oil sector there.

 

Most countries hope, Prendergast said, that the solution to the crisis will be a humanitarian one, but he said he believes it is impossible to "apply humanitarian band-aids over [such] gaping wounds" - only troops will help.

 

While there are many similarities between the Rwanda and Darfur crises, two differences give Prendergast hope. For one, there is still time to respond today in Darfur. As gruesome the statistics are, the Rwanda genocide took place swiftly - killing 800,000 over 100 days - the genocide has been slower in Sudan. Nevertheless, the violence and refugee starvation is still rampant, and Prendergast said he believes we must act now.

 

The other notable difference is the outpouring of support around the world for the victims of the Darfur genocide.

 

The grassroots movements have not been in vain, as their work has pressured politicians to finally act, Prendergast said. This resulted in an important victory on March 28, when the U.N. Security Council decided it would refer the Darfur case to the International Criminal Court.

 

More locally, the effect can be seen in Harvard University President Lawrence Summers' decision to divest all of Harvard's holdings in Sudanese related stocks and bonds. Prendergast said he feels "this will be used as precedent at every university ... and every pension fund" around the country and will help place more pressure on the Sudanese government.

 

Prendergast proceeded to outline a three-pronged agenda in the coming year that he said he hoped would help end this crisis.

 

First and most importantly, the 2,000-strong African-union military force must be aided if it is to protect refugees and targeted ethnic groups. Second, Sudanese leaders responsible for the genocide must be tried and held accountable for their actions in order to have peace in the future.

 

Third, the international community must also begin the peace process in Sudan. Prendergast said he was appalled that during the past two years, no substantial effort had been made and no lead mediators have been put forward.

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