Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Genocide & Slavery in Sudan? Who cares.
A few facts about the mess in Sudan and why African-American "Leaders" ignore it:
- The government of Sudan, the largest country in Africa, requires that all people practice the religion of Islam. The majority of people in the southern portion of Sudan are black Christians and animists. The Sudanese government has attempted to force these people into "peace camps" which offer the option of converting to Islam or forced starvation.
- The government of Sudan is working to control oil resources located in the south. People in the south have resisted and fought back. The government of Sudan has killed over 1 million civilians via murder and forced starvation. More people have been killed in Sudan than in Kosovo, Bosnia, Rwanda, Chechnya, and Somalia combined.
- Government supported militias conduct raids on villages in the south where they kill the men and take women and children as slaves. Almost all of the girls that are taken as slaves are raped.
- The Sudanese government has denied that they condone or participate in slavery. They attribute reports of slavery to the results of wars between tribes in which hostages are taken. However, they refuse to allow international monitors in.
- A State Department human rights report on Sudan states: "All the reports and information received indicates the direct and general involvement" of the Sudanese army and government supported militias in "the abduction and deportation of civilians from the conflict zones to the north."
- Charles Jacobs, president of the American Anti-Slavery Group, sent photos and documents about slavery in Sudan to Jesse Jackson. Jackson’s office told him they did not want to get involved because the issue sounded “anti-Arab.”
- Louis Farrakhan, who has visited Sudan as an honored guest of the government, and the “Nation of Islam” deny that slavery exists in Sudan and challenged the press to find proof of it.
- Christian Solidarity International took CBS News on a covert flight into Sudan where they purchased 1,000 slaves, mostly women and children, for about $50 a person. The former slaves were returned to their villages.
