Peace, Food Still Elusive in Sudan, Say Groups

For many Sudanese, peace means leaving crowded refugee camps and returning to their homes in safety. It would be a peace to be grateful for even though most of the homes and villages they would return to have been burnt to the ground. It would be a peace that many parts of the arid African nation have not known in more than a generation.

For over 20 years, Sudan has been wracked with civil war and manmade famine. The Islamic government seated in the nation's capitol Khartoum, and led by radical Arab dictator Omar al-Bashir, has sought to impose radical Muslim law (Sharia) across Sudan. This has led to unspeakable atrocities committed against the mostly Christian population of southern Sudan.

In recent months, however, the world's attention has focused on the western Darfur region of Sudan, where moderate Muslims have been faced with the same treatment. In early 2003 the Sufi Muslim tribes of the area, like the Christians in the South, also began resisting the imposition of harsh Islamic law. The Bashir regime set in motion a campaign of terror in Darfur, attacking the civilians of defenseless villages who were allegedly supporting the rebel groups.

Violence in the Darfur region is carried out by militia groups called Janjaweed (loosely translated the name means 'devils on horses'). The Janjaweed have reportedly burned hundreds of villages, robbing, raping, torturing and murdering their non-Arab inhabitants.

Reports indicate Bashir's forces have been providing support in the Janjaweed. Eyewitnesses say the Janjaweed attacks are sometimes supported by the government's helicopter gunships, that militia groups often use government military bases.

Yet Khartoum claims no control over these paramilitary groups. Although many are skeptical of this claim, the terrain of Darfur does not lend itself to good communication. "Darfur is such a vast amount of territory (about the size of Texas) with no systematic communication between the opposing sides in this fight," says Ben Homan, President of Food for the Hungry.

Homan, who has recently returned from a trip to Darfur, has seen first hand the devastating effects this war has had on the people. Those driven out of their villages and into refugee camps are largely resident farmers. "If they are taken away from their land," says Homan, "they are consigned to death."

While as many as 70,000 people have been killed in Darfur since the fighting started in early 2003, 2.3 million have been displaced. Many thousands of them may starve if they do not return to their homes to plant crops within the next four or five months.

Yet returning home is still very much a problem. "They are not going to leave those camps until they have some security," according to Tony Hall, the United States representative to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. The refugees live in fear of both the government and the rebels.

To help with this need for food and medical attention, many international organizations are mobilizing to send aid to the refugees of war torn Darfur. "Food for the Hungry is trying to show the people of Darfur they are valued and respected, even though their rights have been trampled," says Homan.

Toward this end, Food for the Hungry has joined with World Relief and four other North American-based aid organizations to form the Darfur Relief Coalition (DRC). The Coalition has begun work in three remote villages in West Darfur that are straining to host thousands of internally displaced families.

The DRC has as its immediate goal to prevent outbreaks of disease by providing medical care, rehabilitating water systems, digging new wells and building pit latrines. To meet a long-term food shortage, the group is currently assessing the nutritional needs of the people, developing programs for restocking seeds and improving the health of the local livestock.

Samaritan's Purse, an international Christian relief organization headed by Franklin Graham, is also working to provide assistance to Darfur's refugees. In addition to sending a doctor and medical supplies, Samaritan's Purse is distributing heavy-duty plastic to build better shelters for the displaced. Many of the refugees are living in tiny makeshift tents covered with flimsy plastic bags, offering little if any protection from the relentless heat, wind, dust and rainstorms common in the area.

In the meantime, recognition of the horrible situation in Darfur continues to grow. The United Nations has described Darfur's conflict as "the world's worst humanitarian crisis." Both the United States Congress and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell have referred to the situation as genocide. "This has had a huge impact in gaining the attention of the media," says Todd Nettleton, spokesman for Voice of the Martyrs.

For years, Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) has followed the Bashir government's war against the Christians and animists in the southern regions of Sudan. For years they have sent aid into Sudan in the form of blankets, medicines, and literature. VOM also considers it a top priority to alert Christians in Western nations about the atrocities in Sudan. According to Nettleton, "We have seen that 'spreading the word' creates prayers, phone calls, legislation, and when possible, intervention."

The most important thing the United States has done is shine the world spotlight on Sudan, says Ben Homan. "[T]he humanitarian organizations and international observers have provided the leverage to bring the different parties to the negotiating table."

Indeed, on November 19, 2004, Sudan's government and largest rebel group, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), pledged to cease hostilities by December 31, 2004.

Many are skeptical that the current agreement is merely ruse by the government in Khartoum to convince the UN to lift existing sanctions and garner economic aid. "The real question is whether the Khartoum government will honor its word," says VOM's Nettleton. "We have seen numerous cease-fires... agreements that they [Bashir's government] have made, and then promptly broken."

And while the fighting in Darfur is between the government and a different rebel group, Former U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Danforth believes the peace agreement between Khartoum and the SPLA will offer hope for peace in Darfur as well. At the news briefing following the UN supervised peace conference, Danforth said that the settlement sought to address one of the root causes of conflict in Sudan, the historic clash between nomadic Arabs and black Africans.

"It is the same people backing the atrocities in both the west and the south," says Brad Philips, founder of Persecution Project, a nonprofit organization that both disseminates information about persecuted Christians in Africa and sends aid. "We are seeing the same tactics the same methods and the same people [in Khartoum] are responsible."

"Christians should care about atrocities committed against Muslims too," continued Phillips. "We should take the initiative to reach out to the persecuted Muslims." Many Christian groups are doing just that. In addition, they pray that this Christmas the pledge of peace in Sudan will be a lasting one.

Stephen McGarvey is the Editor of Interactive Media for BreakPoint with Chuck Colson and the Wilberforce Forum. He is also a Fellow of the World Journalism Institute and a freelance writer.