Final Paper Part 2

2. Part II: Major contemporary concerns and sociological analyses
This part focuses on the recent issues of concern, how the different parties involved view the issues differently, and how the different parties are affected differently. You should also weave sociological analyses into this section. Length should be about 700 words – this is the bulk of your paper.

The Bush Administration has recognized these atrocities and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has named the genocide as the largest and most complex humanitarian crisis on the globe. The committee on Conscience of the United States Holocaust Museum has, for the first time, declared that there is a “genocide emergency” in Sudan. Within this declaration, the committee cited the government for using mass starvation as a weapon of destruction, is tolerating the enslavement of women and children by government-allied militias, and has failed to cease the incessant bombing of hospitals, clinics, schools, and other civilian humanitarian targets. Although this declaration was a step in the right direction, words need to be put into action in order for anything in Darfur to change.
On April 18th, 2007, President Bush stated that “he was tired of Sudan’s obfuscation and evasion as it pursued its genocide; he demanded prompt action by President al-Bashir to end the genocide and cooperate with international demands that he admit U.N peacekeepers to Darfur and cease obstructing humanitarian aid”. President Bush warned that the U.S would impose unilateral, targeted economic sanctions on the Sudanese regime. On May 29th, 2007, Bush announced the implementation of said sanctions against Sudan.
On May 5th, 2006, under strong outside pressure, the Sudanese government and one rebel group signed the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA). The other rebel groups found the DPA inadequate and refused to sign. Since the DPA, violence has not decreased at all. The U.N and A.U are currently working quickly to attempt to revitalize the process of bringing all parties back together to work on a revised and improved DPA. On August 31, 2006, the Security Council took the further step of authorizing a strong UN peacekeeping force for Darfur in passing resolution 1706. This resolution authorized a force of 22,500 troops for Darfur with a mandate to protect its civilians. However, due to Sudanese stonewalling and failure of U.N member follow through, less than 200 U.N advisors actually deployed. On July 31, 2007, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1769 unanimously. This authorized a deployment of a United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). This is the largest United Nations peacekeeping force ever before deployed with a total of more than 31,000 troops, police, and personnel. The goal is to support implementation of the DPA, protect its personnel, facilities, equipment, etc, and most importantly, to protect civilians. UNAMID is estimated to cost roughly 2.5 billion a year and the United States will fund 27.1 percent of total costs. If the UN fails to deploy, it will be the second time in history that the U.N troops have not deployed after being authorized to do so by the Security Council.
The United States has done more than enough in various countries for “humanitarian reasons”, but none without ulterior motives in order to protect its national interests. Darfur is a situation in which there are no ulterior motives. There is no oil there, and the country is of no interest or help towards the economy. This is a situation in which the obvious human rights violations, the under-funded aids group which, while unsupported, are unable to continue work, and the escalating situation is all the reasons in the world to motivate a world superpower, a country known as the “worlds police”, to get involved and take action.
Furthermore, the world has seen what happens when genocide goes ignored and unnoticed. After the Holocaust, the United Nations was founded with the specific intention of making sure that history will never repeat itself in this case. Since then, not only was there the Rwandan Genocide, in which the world sat back and watched, allowing hundreds of thousands of innocent people to be brutally murdered, but now Darfur looks to be headed in the same direction. Why have we not learned from our past? What human rights atrocities must be committed for the world to step up, with no ulterior motives, but simply out of the need of these people, the same we would hope that any other country would do for us if we were in Sudan’s shoes.

Source:

Report of the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur
to the United Nations Secretary-General
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/02_02_05drafur_report.pdf

Explaining Darfur: four lectures on the ongoing genocide / by Salih, Mohamed Abdel Rahim M,

Darfur: the ambiguous Genocide by Gérard Prunier,thaca, N.Y. : Cornell University Press, c2007