Blood Money - People in Darfur Continue to Suffer

Darfur

Multinationals Continuing to Make Large Profits at the Expense of Human Life

The current situation in Darfur represents the worst humanitarian crisis facingthe world today in that:

• 600,000 thousand people are dead
• 2.5 million people are displaced and in refugee camps
• 4 million people are on the verge of death
• Thousands of women are raped
• Thousands of children are raped, some as young as four years of age
• Thousands of children are kidnapped and are now child soldiers
• The world sits silent

There are numerous multinationals making a “killing” from their involvement in Sudan. Some are headquartered in the US and the EU; others are headquartered in China, Malaysia, India, Russia and other nations. , although some are not directly involved in Sudan, are complicit in the above listed situation due to their support of the Sudanese government.

Imagine that during the Holocaust, the Nazi leadership decided to invest billions of dollars in renewing a section of Berlin that was bombed by the allies. The redevelopment included building villas for the leadership and their friends, shopping malls, a championship golf course and a few hotels. The idea behind the redevelopment was to show the world that things were normal in Berlin in particular and throughout Germany in general and it was the aim of the Nazis to ensure that senior Nazis, their families, their friends and some wealthy business men a place to relax and enjoy life away from their hectic schedules. Meanwhile, millions of people were being butchered to death by these very samepeople in places called Bergen-Belson, Treblinka and most horrifying, Auschwitz.

In order for the redevelopment of Berlin to continue in a timely fashion, companies from around the world were working with the Nazis to meet their deadlines and were being paid very handsomely by the Nazi killers.

In Sudan’s capital Khartoum, this exact situation is occurring today. $4 billion is being invested in the development of a new project that seeks to develop several thousand acres in downtown Khartoum. This development is called the Al-Mogran Development Project and it is taking place where the Whiteand Blue Nile Rivers meet to form the Nile. Due to the discovery of oil, the Sudanese government has a surplus of over $1 billion that has allowed it to help fund the initial stages of the Al-Mogran Development Project. Started in2004, Al-Mogran is expected to be completed in 2014.

There are numerous multinational companies hired as major contractors to ensure that the Al-Mogran Development Project is completed on time. Most of the companies are utilizing their Asian offices to take attention away from their involvement in Al-Mogran. We must contact these companies and tell them to withdraw their involvement and cooperation with the murderous Sudanese regime immediately. There are a number of other business categories that are making great profits from the blood of the innocent civilians in Darfur. These categories include the oil, gas, and investment industries. It might be assumed that the companies have blood on their hands, but unless their actions are highlighted in the international media and pressure is plied against them, they will continue to profit from a country where people are living on a day to day basis.

We all have a moral obligation to stand up and say is enough is enough, stop the death and destruction in Darfur and if we don’t, then we are just as complicit as these corporations in supporting the Sudanese government in their drive for a native black African-free Sudan. On Saturday, September 29th, the African Union (AU) force in Darfur suffered a major blow when Darfurian rebels launched a major attack against a company ofNigerian and Senegalese troops. Ten soldiers were killed, seventeen were badly injured and forty troops are missing, reportedly kidnapped. It was secretly reported that the troops were unarmed and very badly equipped which again highlights the deficiencies of the current AU force that have been so overwhelmed by the tasks set them in Darfur.

The governments of both Nigeria and Senegal have informed the AU that it is very likely that they will pull their troops from the AU force in Darfur. This has dealt a major blow to the current formation of the joint UN-AU Hybrid Force, whose deployment has been delayed again, probably until early spring, 2008. Next week the AU and the UN will meet in Ethiopia to discuss the progress in the formation of the hybrid force and then will present the final deployment plan at the scheduled peace negotiations to be held in Libya at the end of October. It has already been announced that at a great number of the rebel groups have refused to attend these negotiations, creating further problems for the success of the peace talks. There are currently “24” rebel groups in Darfur, creating a situation that continues to cause headaches at the UN.

If we look at what all this means in reference to the government of Sudan and to the innocent civilians in Darfur, well the picture is bleak. The Sudanese government is happy because the deployment of the UN-AU hybrid force continues to be delayed based on the problems that some monitors in Darfur have blamed on the government. Not only is the delayed deployment of the hybrid force bad news for the civilians in Darfur, but the withdrawal of current AU forces will speed up the rate of death for many hundreds of thousands of those in the refugee camps in Darfur. It will also leave them and the NGO’s exposed and vulnerable to attack from the Janjaweed, Sudanese troops and rebel groups. We need to get up do something about this. The International Alliance For Human Rights needs your help! We are staging The Voices of Hope Concert for Darfur that will bring the crisis to global attention. For more information, please call David Nolan at 212.695.7022, ext. 315 or respond to this email pledging your support for this global concert event. Call today!!!!