“The Forgotten Genocidal War in Darfur Revealed in New Satellite Photos”
The Daily Beast (March 24, 2014), by Akshaya Kumar and Jacinth Planer (Satellite Sentinel Project)
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/24/the-forgotten-genocidal-war-in-darfur-revealed-in-new-satellite-photos.html
Commentary, Eric Reeeves
Violence, including deliberate aerial attacks on civilians, has been increasing for more than two years in Darfur. The past few months, however, have seen a dramatic escalation in that violence, threatening millions of displaced Darfuris and those without access to humanitarian assistance. Both numbers are increasing at a shocking rate, and humanitarian organizations continue to retreat before intolerable insecurity. Many are on the verge of withdrawal. Only three percent of those working for relief organizations are expatriates; 97 percent are Sudanese nationals, often overwhelmed by the tasks confronting them and the massive influx of displaced persons.
The international community has preferred to look away, leaving security to an utterly incompetent UN/African Union “hybrid” force (UNAMID). But alarm bells are finally going off—too late for far too many who have died from more than ten years of violence and the consequences of violent displacement. Satellite imagery from the article noted above gives a glimpse of the brutal nature of current violence.
The world’s continued reliance on a radically incompetent security force in Darfur ensures that morbidity and mortality will escalate dramatically, especially during the coming rainy season.
“Genocide by attrition” in Darfur never ended, and now events are being likened to those of the most violent early years of the genocide. But the belatedness and inadequacy of international responses—these have been the shameful hallmark of the Darfur catastrophe, and no amount of more unctuous hand-wringing will change this.
See also:
“Genocide by Attrition in Darfur”
The Washington Post, April 6, 2008 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/04/AR2008040403087.html
• Khartoum: A Criminal Regime in Its Death Throes Lashes Out With More Violence
Eric Reeves, Sudan Tribune, 14 March 2014 http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article50293
• Janjaweed in Darfur Reconstituted as the “Rapid Response Force”
Eric Reeves, Sudan Tribune, 28 February 2014 http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article50134
• In the shadow of South Sudan’s catastrophe, Khartoum’s actions are escaping scrutiny
Eric Reeves, Sudan Tribune, February 24, 2014 http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article50134
• An Open Letter to President Obama on the Bombing of North Sharafa, East Jebel Marra
Eric Reeves, Sudan Tribune, 30 November 2013 http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article49015
• Radio Dabanga: The Voice of Truth Amidst a Sea of UN Mendacity
Eric Reeves, Sudan Tribune, 14 December 2013 http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article49178
• Malnutrition Data for Darfur Still Being Withheld
Eric Reeves, Sudan Tribune, February 10, 2014 http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article49907
• Khartoum’s Suspension of Activities by the International Committee of the Red Cross
Eric Reeves, Sudan Tribune, 1 February 2014 http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article49817
• Khartoum’s Assault on Humanitarian Organizations in Darfur Continues
Eric Reeves, 19 March 2014 http://wp.me/p45rOG-1b
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Eric Reeves
Smith College
Northampton, MA 01063
413-585-3326
ereeves@smith.edu
Eric Reeves’ new book-length study of greater Sudan (Compromising With Evil: An archival history of greater Sudan, 2007 – 2012; www.CompromisingWithEvil.org)
Review commentary at: http://wp.me/p45rOG-15S)
Website: www.sudanreeves.org