Finally! : After 5 Years, UN Takes Action on Sudan

Sudan has been something that has horrified anyone that even had a cursory understanding of the situation for over 5 years now.

Now we have found out what everyone suspected all along, that the Khartoum government was sponsoring and planning the genocide from its highest levels. A high level commander in the janjaweed militia now says that their actions : raping, pillaging, killing and burning villages in the Darfur region, was straight from Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

We all knew this was likely the case, but now there is confirmation, and as this person spilling the beans is a high level commander, it just makes the information carry that much more weight.

There were two other major news pieces on Sudan this week as well.

There is now evidence to confirm that China has played a significant role in aiding the genocide militarily, as Chinese military vehicles have been spotted in use on both sides of the conflict. Leaving all moral conflicts aside from helping this sort of movement along, this contravenes a 2005 UN ban on military aid to the Sudanese government. With a recent move to 'not anger China', this will likely go to the wayside, but in the larger sense of the court of public opinion, China's direct support for the Darfur genocide is now on record.

Also, the UN War Crimes Tribunal is likely going to try the leaders of the African nation for war crimes at the Hague for their role in the slaughter.

So, after 5 years of inaction, while it was the cause celebre of the celebrities and non-body hair shaving activists everywhere, we have some solid results on Sudan.

None of this means the genocide will stop, as this news isn't a major change of pace from what we already understood about the conflict. But what it does mean is that countries, such as Canada, can take action now, with hard evidence showing the crimes of Khartoum.

Being bogged down in Afghanistan may prevent us from really stepping up, it just makes it harder for Omar Hassan al-Bashir to continue to deny help from the African Union or the UN to stop the violence.

Sudan is a complex situation, and it will require a lot more than words and empty threats to make the changes that are needed. I think the same is true for Zimbabwe.

The western world largely turns a blind eye to continent as a whole, and only slightly turns a head when millions are dying in horrible and savage conditions. This conflict and the new details about it, seem to have finally broke through and reached a point where people really give a shit, and are prepared to take action.

I hope so, and I hope the war crimes charges stick, I hope China is censured, and I hope we never have to discuss this kind of topic ever again.

But then again, when have 'millions displaced, hundreds of thousands killed' ever really made a meaningful difference in the future?

Remember Rwanda? We said never again. And then we let it happen again.



We need to act. It is just that simple.