The Darfur Crisis 2003

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The Darfur Crisis2003-?

• A Call For Muslim Action

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Background of the ConflictWhat is happening
in Darfur?
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Root of the conflict 

• Western Sudan
• Began in February 2003
• Began with a Darfurian insurgency in demand of
  more representation in government
  
• Khartoum responded by collectively punishing
  Darfuri tribes

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Who are the victims?

• Primary victims are the non-Arab or African
  tribal groups of Darfur, cheifly the Fur, the
  Massaleit, and the Zaghawa
  
• Arab vs African conflict?

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Who is responsible?

• Janjaweed
• Complicity of Sudanese government

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What is happening?

• Men and boys killed en masse
• Women and girls raped or abducted
• All means of agricultural production destroyed
• Burnt villages
• water poisoned
• irrigation systems torn up
• food and environment destroyed
• Cattle have been looted on a massive scale.

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What is happening?

• Refugees
• 2 million idp
• 200,000 in Chad
• 450,000 (?) dead
• Starvation
• Over 2,000,000 dependent on food aid

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Human Rights Abuses
A 20-year-old woman from a small village in
Darfur told Physicians for Human Rights (PHR)
investigators "They saw me and it was too lat
e to run. They took me inside my house and raped
me several times. They beat me, then they left me
to die."
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One 32- year-old man from Darfur's Bendisi region
told PHR that on the day after a ground assault
on his village "Many people returned to see if
there was anything left. I found the bodies of
13 men from my family. Later I found out from
other villagers that more than 52 women were
raped during the attack. I say 'more than'
because that was the number reported by people
who had been eyewitnesses to the rape or who had
volunteered the information. I am certain that
there were many others who had been raped, but
did not come forward."
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Mihad Hamid, a year old girl, whose mother had
attempted to escape an attack from helicopter
gunships and Janjaweed marauders on their
village, Alliet, in October 2004. Mihad had been
hit by a bullet, puncturing her lungs
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A few days earlier, the two women told me, they
rose before the sun for prayers in the mosque
with their husband, the imam, when out of the
quiet came the sounds of hoofbeats and gunfire
and shouts, and janjaweed, some in uniform, burst
through the mosque doors asking for the imam by
name. The women watched as their husband said,
"Yes, this is me," and the armed men said, "You,
imam, are the one asking God to give victory to
the Tora Bora" a nickname for antigovernment
rebels "so today is the last day for you." The
imam prayed and recited a sura from the Koran,
Zahara said, "and then suddenly they shot him."
Then the men fired their guns randomly around the
mosque. The bullets hit the imam's brother, his
brother's wife, his brother's two sons and his
daughter's son. They all died.
The imam's two wives and Howa, the 5-year-old
girl, were kept inside the mosque and beaten
periodically throughout the day while some 300
janjaweed continued to kill and loot.
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The American Muslim Response
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AUDIO CLIP
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Muslim Organizations

• Search Results of Latest Press Releases
• CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations)
• May 2006
• MPAC (Muslim Public Affairs Council)
• May 2006
• MAS (Muslim American Society) Freedom Foundation
  
  
• No press releases news article in August 2006
• ICNA (Islamic Circle of North America)
• May 2006
• ISNA (Islamic Society of North America)
• Nothing
• Islam Online

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Muslim Organizations Response
"The organizations offer the following
recommendations for peace, urging that the U.S.
take effective measures to help the innocent
civilians in Darfur   1.  Demand that the
Government of Sudan rein in the militias that now
rampage villages. 2.  Pressure the rebels to ac
cept the peace offer presented by the African
Union mediators and which has been accepted by
the government of Sudan. 3.  Warn Eritrea and C
had that they must stop supporting the rebels if
they continue to reject peace offers by African
Union mediators. 4.  Help reduce the potential
for ethnic- or religious- based conflict by
clarifying to the American public that those
leading rebel and government forces are both
Muslim and both African Sudanese.
5.  Urge the international community to obtain
more humanitarian assistance from
non-governmental organizations (NGOs)."
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Islamic Duty

• O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice,
  as witnesses to Allah, even as against
  yourselves, or your parents, or your kin
  
• An-Nisa (413)
• And when you speak, speak with justice, even if
  it is against a relative
  
• Al-Anam (6152 )
• "Whoever sees an evil should change it with their
  hands. And if they cannot, then with their
  tongues. And if they cannot, then they should
  hate it in their hearts, and that is the weakest
  of faith...
• Imam Al-Nawawi

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Precedents in Recent History

• Rwanda
• Ethnic Cleansing
• Total 850k-1million dead
• 500,00 people died in 100 days
• Inadequacy and inefficiency of UN, international
  response
  
• Bosnia Albania
• Ethnic Cleansing
• Total 20k dead
• UN/NATO response
• Darfur
• Ethnic Cleansing
• Total 450k (and counting) dead
• International response?

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Possible Solutions to the Crisis
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Humanitarian Assistance

• Dependence on aid
• 2 million dependent on food from humanitarian aid
  groups, which are starting to evacuate
  
• Difficult to deliver humanitarian assistance to
  Darfur
  
• Banditry
• NIF (National Islamic Front) obstruction
• Drought
• One of the most remote places in Africa

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Diplomatic Economic

• Diplomatic
• Peace Agreements
• No accountability, no implementation
• International pressure
• Proven futile
• No ultimatums
• Economic
• Chinese Influence to maintain status quo
• Sanctions
• Could pressure Khartoum to accept other options
• Iraq precedent

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Arab League/OIC

• Arab League
• Downplay conflict
• Defend NIF
• Blame the West
• Organization of Islamic Countries
• Indifference
• Inaction

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African Union

• AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS) began in 2004
• Increased to 7,000
• Lack of equipment, troops, resources
• Mandate inefficient to stop violence
• Even aid agencies are refusing to travel with
  African Union personnel.

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UN Intervention

• Resolution 1706
• Passed August 31, 2006
• Authorizes the deployment of 21,000 UN-mandated
  troops to the Darfur region
  
• Invites Khartoums consent as a precondition to
  deployment
  
• Khartoum has refused to accept the UN force

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UN Intervention (cont.)

• Addis Ababa Agreement
• Held November 16, 2006
• hybrid force.pending clarification of the size
  of the force
  
• "Any talk that we accepted joint forces is a
  lie." Omar Al-Bashir
  

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UN Intervention (cont.)

• China
• China abstained from the vote in 1706
• Strong economic ties to Sudan, primarily through
  oil
  
• Any solution to the Darfur problem should be
  made with the consent of the Sudanese government
  -Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister for Africa
  Zhai Jun
• Western Reactions

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NATO Intervention

• Current status of NATO involvement
• Been providing support to the AU since 2005
• No talk by NATO officials of NATO Intervention

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Potential benefits/success of a NATO/UN force

• No-fly Zone
• Pose a threat to the Janjaweed
• Could begin restoring humanitarian access to
  civilians
  
• NATO can pressure Sudan to accept a UN force
• What other options are available?

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Concerns with NATO and/orWestern Intervention

• Anti-Americanism and Destabilization of Sudan
• Iraq 2?
• Ulterior Motives
• Resource-grabbing
• Groups involved
• Western Imperialist Ambitions

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What can WE do?
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OVERALL OBJECTIVES

• To push for a more prominent Muslim voice against
  the violence.
  
• To help push for a solution to the crisis

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Goal 1 Educate

• Educate Muslims
• University MSAs
• Muslim Communities
• Approach and educate Muslim organizations through
  a university coalition
  
• CAIR, MPAC
• ISNA, ICNA
• SHURA COUNCIL
• Muslim news sources (islamonline.net, islamicity,
  etc)

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Goal 2 Lobby and Advocate

• Lobby for a solution through
• grassroots advocacy
• and pressure from national organizations
• What positions do we advocate?
• US diplomatic pressure?
• UN intervention?
• NATO intervention?
• Arab League/OIC?
• Sanctions?

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Join the MAD Committee

• Muslim Action for Darfur
• Reach out to MSAs on other campuses
• Reach out to Muslim communities
• Reach out to Muslim organizations
• Take action NOW