Darfur, untamed

It has now been almost six years since the Sudanese government has wreaked havoc and mayhem in Darfur. To date, an estimated 400,000 or more civilians have been killed by the Arab militia known as the “Janjaweed” They have also been accused of raping thousands of women, torture, and murder in what has been called by the U.S. government as “genocide” It is of no surprise that when genocide or an crime against humanity occurs anywhere, the world really can’t bring itself to do something. A good example of this is the genocide in Rwanda, when as the world and the UN stood back for 100 days and watched over 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis murdered by the Hutu extremist. Not only did the UN Security Council (along with the U.S.) knew full well what was happening, but refused to do anything to put an end to the genocide (which the U.S. government refused to use the “G” word). Today, Rwanda is a painful legacy of shame and inaction that makes some wonder, how could this have happened on our watch? Don’t we recognize that every single person in this world is human and deserves dignity and respect no matter where they live or who they are? If world leaders have learned their lesson from Rwanda, why is it that six years later, Darfur still is untamed and people keep dying everyday? But the true heroes of Darfur are the ordinary citizens, especially the youth whom are carrying the initiative to make sure Darfur goes unnoticed. All over the world, people are making there voices heard for those who can’t speak and holding their governments accountable for the continuing disregard of blood being spilled. In any case, Darfur could once again become inducted in the “Hall of Shame” for the whole world and we only have the gods of history to judge us.