The image, projected onto a giant white screen in Moore Hall,
silenced the crowd of nearly 200.
A black Sudanese baby, back turned to the camera, with a bright
pink gunshot wound to the back.
This image and others ““ swollen-bellied babies, men with
guns, widowed woman ““ took center stage Wednesday night, when
the Darfur Action Committee, with the sponsorship of 20 student
groups, held a presentation featuring a journalist, documentary
filmmaker, U.S. Marine and activist discussing the genocide in the
African nation.
The conflict was sparked after a rebel group of non-Arab
Sudanese from the Darfur region attacked Arab-dominated government
forces. Since that February 2003 rebellion, the Sudanese government
and government-aided Muslim militias have killed thousands of
non-Arabs, burned villages and raped women in the Darfur
region.
Ken Silverstein, a Los Angeles Times journalist who has covered
the genocide in Darfur extensively, told the crowd of the
“strange alliance” between American intelligence
agencies and the Sudanese government, a relationship that has grown
since the attacks of Sept. 11.
The Sudanese government’s willingness to share
intelligence has impacted U.S. foreign policy towards the African
nation, Silverstein said. “It’s
indisputable.”
The United States has done little to push sanctions against the
African nation at the United Nations, even though Osama bin Laden
called Sudan home for nearly a decade and the State Department
placed the African Nation on the list of state sponsors of
terrorism.
Silverstein attributed this lack of action to the Sudanese
government’s role as “the eyes and ears” of the
American intelligence community in the region.
“If you’re a C.I.A. officer from Indiana,
you’re going to stick out like a sore thumb in
Somalia,” he said.
Sudan, at the fault line separating black Africa from Arab
Africa, is surrounded by nations that have been called breeding
grounds for terrorists.
The Sudanese government has cracked down on al-Qaeda groups
within its borders and provided the Central Intelligence Agency
with intelligence beneficial to the Bush administration’s
“War on Terror,” Silverstein said.
The night’s speakers sharply attacked the ongoing genocide
and the global community’s failure to intervene.
Some attributed the lack of global attention to the skin color
of those being killed.
“There’s no question that we don’t pay the
same attention to Africa as we do in other parts of the world,
particularly Europe because it looks like us,” Silverstein
said.
Mohamed Yahya, a Darfur native, brought a personal touch to the
night’s presentation.
Yahya, now chairman of a Sudanese activist group, first heard
word of the genocide while studying in Cairo.
He said his village was burned to the ground by Muslim militias,
killing nearly 20 of his relatives.
Yahya often shouted at the crowd in Moore 100, calling for
immediate intervention in thickly accented English.
“Five-year-old girls get raped. It is better for them to
be killed,” he said.
Like most of the night’s speakers, Yahya was disappointed
with the American response to the killings.
“Colin Powell went there. Condoleeza Rice went there. But
what has happened?” Yahya said.
“Only words, only promises.”
Silverstein said the media’s foreign coverage is dependent
on the White House and until the Bush administration directs more
attention to the genocide in Sudan, already-lacking media coverage
of the killings would not improve.
“When the White House points the finger, we look,”
Silverstein said.
Turnout at Moore Hall was high, as nearly 200 people, mostly
students.
Second-year international development studies and anthropology
student Connie Ng said she’s discouraged that genocide has
found its place in the 21st century.
“I think there will never be a solution because this
happens all the time,” Ng said.