Elyas came over with a shot of Harak for me, and I thought to myself, “Uh oh.” I was already feeling the alcohol flowing through my blood stream. I wanted to talk to him, though, because he had a story to tell me that was unimaginable for an average American like me. I noticed he dumped his shot right into his Goldstar beer and I wondered why. He said the alcohol here is weak compared to the drinks they have back in Sudan. I slammed back my shot and chased it with the cool lager of Goldstar. Elyas grabbed a cigarette out of his pocket and brought it to his mouth. The pub had a dim light to it, and his cigarette brought an orange glow to his dark face. And then, Elyas began to tell his story.
When the rebels attacked his village, they shot all the males, including the children. Then they made all the women strip in the middle of the village. They scorched the whole town and made it seem like it had never existed, which was common in Darfur; it happened every day.
Elyas escaped and crossed into Egypt. There, he witnessed the killing of 100 Sudanese, but never learned why they were killed. After three years, he still doesn’t even know if his family is alive.
I sat and listened. For the first time in my life, I was speechless. What can a spoiled American like me say to someone that has experienced hell on Earth? I looked into his eyes, eyes that were only two years older than mine, and thought to myself, “He has experienced a vastly different life than I have. A life I can’t even imagine.”
Elyas is one story of millions. He is from the Darfur region of Sudan, which is experiencing a modern day genocide. In Darfur, the United Nations estimate that over 200,000 people have died and that more than 2 million have been driven from their homes. As of Oct. 15, there was a massacre of 100 killings in the village of Haskanita and another massacre of 30 killings in the village of Muhajiriya.
Where is the outrage of the international community? After the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, as a world we vowed there would never be genocide again. But, in 2007, we find ourselves repeating history. China uses its veto power in the Security Council to prevent any measures to contain the tortures in Darfur and Sudan. In an article from TPMcafe.com titled “China and Sudan,” Lee Feinstein wrote, “Today, China gets 7 percent of its oil imports from Sudan. Roughly two-thirds of Sudan’s oil exports go to China. Oil revenue is a principle source of funding for Sudan’s military operations. As much as 70 percent of Khartoum’s oil revenues goes to military spending, according to a former Sudanese finance minister.” In the case of China, economic goals have far outweighed the care for human rights.
In the early ’90s, the Clinton administration pulled out all economic ties in Sudan due to a combination of security and human rights concerns. I applauded our nation for that. President Bush has constantly called our nation and other nations for an international U.N. force. This past June, a U.N. peacekeeping force was approved. I applauded then, too.
Currently in the Senate, there is a bill called “The Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act,” which would give extra protection to allow states to divest their pension funds from companies helping to fund the genocide in Darfur. It would also prevent those companies from getting any federal contracts and allow states to ban such contracts. I hope to be applauding soon.
Yet, here we are in October, after more massacres, and the international community is still ignoring the devastation of this country. In our own country, it is barely publicized. Why?
If you don’t know about this modern-day genocide, there are multiple Web sites you can go to find out more. One in particular is www.darfurgenocide.org. Here on campus, there is a group called STAND, which is a student anti-genocide organization and welcomes anyone that is interested. There are a myriad of charities like UNICEF you can donate money to help the victims.
We must do something. My fellow students, let us become aware of this modern-day genocide and make the change our international community refuses to do. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” We cannot become silent about this. We can’t be a bystander.
I will forever hold Elyas’ story in my heart and wait for the day when I can go to this region to personally see the damage and bring hope for peace.
