Darfur Region of Sudan in Midst of Humanitarian Crisis

Black Congressional Caucus Calls on U.S. to Intervene

Interview with Salih Booker, executive director of Africa Action, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

A humanitarian crisis is ongoing in Darfur, the western region of Sudan, where over the past year, at least 10,000 black Muslim Sudanese have been killed by Arab Muslim Sudanese militias with the tacit support of the Arab central government in Khartoum. In addition, a million residents of Darfur have been displaced -- ethnically cleansed -- with 120,000 of them fleeing to refugee camps in neighboring Chad. Aid groups say a million or more people from the Darfur region are at risk of dying from starvation and disease if nothing is done. The conflict has historical roots, but escalated in 2003 when two rebel groups in Darfur demanded an end to chronic economic marginalization and sought power sharing within the Arab-ruled Sudanese state.

The U.S. Congress recently authorized additional funds to aid in the relief effort. At the end of June, both United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell traveled to Darfur to assess the situation. On June 23, the Congressional Black Caucus endorsed a petition drive initiated by the group Africa Action that calls on the U.S. government to define the events in Darfur as "genocide" and to intervene militarily to stop the killing and displacement.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Salih Booker, executive director of Africa Action, about the role the US could play in providing humanitarian relief in Sudan, the dangers that poses, and why, as the world was remembering the tenth anniversary of the Rwandan genocide last April, the UN has been so slow to intervene in this current crisis.

To get more information, or to sign the group's petition, call them at (202) 546-7961, or visit the group's website at www.africaaction.org

Related links:


"Africa Action Calls Powell Trip to Sudan 'Dangerously Naive,'" Africa Action, June 29, 2004. 20,000 petitioners call for U.S. intervention to stop genocide.

"Genocide in Darfur," by Salih-Booker and Ann-Louise Colgan, The Nation, June 25, 2004

"300,000 Deaths Foretold," Washington Post, June 7, 2004

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