Open Letter to the Public of New Zealand on the Plight of Darfur

Thursday 28th July 2008

Dear fellow New Zealanders,

I call upon you all to do your bit in applying pressure on the appropriate parties when it comes to the plight of the Darfur region and its people.

Immediate action is needed as the situation in Darfur is grave and continues to deteriorate by the day. It is not good enough that we stay silent while there are people massacred, butchered, tortured, raped, pillaged, dying of hunger, fearing for their lives.

African aid agencies are stating that the UN/African Union Mission to Darfur is failing the civilians of Darfur:

“African aid agencies say the African-UN peacekeeping mission in Sudan's Darfur region is failing to provide adequate protection to civilians.”
“A report published by a group of mainly African relief and advocacy groups, the Darfur Consortium, said the force was too small and inadequately funded.
It said six months after the mission began, only about a third of the 26,000 personnel promised had been deployed. The five-year-old Darfur conflict has left some 300,000 people dead.”

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/7528050.stm

Published: 2008/07/28 00:58:38 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

This is really a sense of De Ja Vu. We have witnessed these failings before. In 1994, it was estimated that over 1 million Rwandans were massacred during their genocide. The UN mission lacked support from their headquarters in New York and the International Community turned its back. The mission was too small and was inadequately funded and as a result failed to prevent the worst genocide since World War Two.

We cannot allow this to happen again and yet it is happening again because the international community has turned its back and buried its head in the sand. It is prepared to be indecisive while thousands are been massacred, tortured and raped.

We must call for the American, British, Chinese, Russian and South African governments to actively and directly assist the United Nations and the African Union bring about democracy and peace to Darfur and its people by financially and logistically aiding the mission.

President Omar-al Bashir's regime and the Janjaweed Militia must be brought to justice and be held accountable for their gross crimes against humanity which in my belief is outright genocide.

For more information about what is happening in the Darfur Region or if you would like to take some action, go and visit the following sites:

• http://www.alertnet.org/
• www.amnesty.org.nz
• www.hrw.org
• www.bbc.co.uk
• www.cnn.com
• http://www.un.org/english
• www.icrc.org

ENDS

© Scoop Media