Basic Information

This is neither a news story nor an event. But many of you have been asking for more info about Sudan. My first advice is google! Read whatever you can find, bearing in mind that you should always cross-reference info! Also, browse this website as well as http://www.genocideintervention.net/, http://www.enoughproject.org/, hrw.org, and whatever else you come across. Sudantribune.com has frequent news about the region.

Here is what is directly pertinent to the letter campaign we are having:

The basic information for the context of the letter is that in addition to the Darfur genocide, the government of Sudan - Khartoum, which is in the north - fought a 21-year-long civil war with the South, which ended in 2005 with something called the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. This agreement set up elections for last year (they've been postponed to April of this year) and a referendum in 2011 for the South the determine whether they want to secede and form their own country. Khartoum doesn't want this because the South is 'where the oil's at.' Remember that this fighting and genocides are NOT primarily about ideological differences, at least not amongst the people who are actually doing the killing and dying: it's about resource availability as defined by a capitalist system. What I mean by that is that there are actually plenty of resources for everyone; but capitalism dictates that you do not share, you make profit. So when one party has to make profit, others suffer because to get profit means using resources only for yourself and your group. Make sense? Okay.

So now the country is gearing up for elections. Except the government of Sudan is not thoroughly registering people in the South, nor in the displacement camps in Darfur. Because, obviously, they want to sew up the election for President Omar al-Bashir, who, by the way, is largely responsible for orchestrating this genocide. Khartoum is brutally suppressing dissent of all kinds, and all parties (in Darfur, the South, Khartoum, and I think the East as well, which is also a marginalized region) are gearing up for war in light of these upcoming events. This is influenced by weapons trade with China, and - increasingly - European countries. That would be bad enough, but when the current government fights in a war, they do it through GENOCIDE. So... bad news. Very, very bad news.

Will a letter writing campagin solve this? Of course not. But can it be effective in some way? YES. Letter writing and call-ins have in the past been strategies that have been used by STAND to great effect, whether it's in convincing policy makers to make certain public statements, appoint people to positions dealing with Sudan, etc. And anyway, who are we if we don't try??

This brief summary is just that: VERY brief and VERY BASIC, and in that way, somewhat unsophisticated. Much more detailed history is needed to more fully understand the region, but this will suffice for now. To become better informed, though, I'd suggest starting with the book Darfur Diaries. It is not hugely academic, nor is it hugely graphic. However, it is lively and full of hope but also portrays the gravity of the situation. It was written in 2004, I believe, when the Chadian side of the Darfur border was still relatively safe (it no longer is). However, it gives great first-hand accounts that dispel the media's stupid representation that this is a conflict between "Arabs" and "Africans." It is NOT. That is the main value of this book, I think, and I believe anyone interested should definitely pick that up as a starting point.

More academically based is Gerard Prunier's book Darfur: the Ambiguous Genocide. Also, check out sudanreeves.org for detailed updates and great analyses. I also have a powerpoint on Sudan (and the DRC) I can give if you want.

Congratulations: education is key to all this. SPREAD THE WORD!

PEACE