Chlorophyll

Horror, Thy Name is Sudan

Sudan is bleeding. Rape, enslavement, mutilation and murder roam the streets day and night, waiting for victims to fall into their clutches. Mainly women and children, these powerless millions are subjected to the worse sorts of human rights abuses. Suffering at the hands of a government supported militia, the people of Darfur have been slain in numbers high enough that even President Bush and Secretaries of State Rice and Powell have called it genocide.

We promised “Never again!”, remember? Did we mean it, or is it simply too inconvenient to deal with an intractable problem like Sudan? Indeed, Sudan in many ways reflects the damage done to an entire continent as a result of colonization. The same sort of arrogance Lawrence of Arabia warned his British patrons to avoid we have embraced across the globe, and it shows clearly in Africa.

As is too often the case, there is evidence that US and Soviet conflicts may have inadvertently worsened the situation. The Janjaweed, a pro-government militia, became active in 1988 when they worked along side the French and US to assist the President of Chad in defeating Lybia, a Soviet client. Today the Janjaweed represent the ranchers of the area, both camel and cattle. The farmers and their families are the people being slaughtered and driven into exile. Many of these exiles are now in Chad, and the resulting tensions are not good for the entire region.

Many have called for NATO or UN troops to be put into the area, but the Sudanese government refuses to allow this. If we tried to force the issue the Sudan government would most likely authorize full resistance. bin Laden has already called on his supporters around the globe to support the militias in Darfur, so sides are being chosen right now.

Greens would be slow to endorse any injection of forces into the area in question. Greens support non-violence not only in civil resistance, as Dr. King did, but in creating national unity, as Mohandas Ghandi did. We believe that the people of the world must see the examples made by the people of India as they tossed off British rule. They need to look to the bloodless revolutions that have radically changed the former Soviet union, Philippines, Poland, Brazil and Peru. Peasants in Bolivia, South Africa and Ukraine struggled non-violently for control of their government, and in the end, won it. Even in Italy, where it looked as though Silvio Berlusconi were going to try to pull a Bush 2000, the people won out in the end. If only the Democratic Party had had the courage to call for people power in 2000! A coup is harder to pull off when the people are resisting.

The people of Sudan have within themselves the answers to the issues that divide them. The peoples of other nations must find a way to separate themselves from the decision making process as much as possible as quickly as possible. We must find meaningful ways to support the people of Sudan as they solve their problems together. Whether the slaughtered or slaughterer, the common people suffer the psychological and spiritual damage together.

Knowing the solution to such an important problem is beyond my pay grade. I do know however that Greens across the nation and world are looking for ways to use the Four Pillars of the Green Party to create the right opportunity to move ahead. If all the parties involved can agree to look for ways to use non-violence, social justice, environmental wisdom and grassroots democracy to fix their problems we believe they are almost guaranteed success. The next Global Greens Forum is scheduled for Africa, and I hope they are able to point the way to real solutions that demonstrate the power of a determined and peaceful people.