Smith prof. urges awareness of genocide in Darfur region
Dec 6, 2005 (MADISON) — Seven thousand miles away nearly 400,000 African civilians have died violently in the past two years, and Smith College professor Eric Reeves wants UW-Madison students to take action.
Reeves spoke Monday night to a crowded room of UW-Madison students and community members about the genocide occurring in Darfur, the western region of Sudan.
“All of us need to take a heightened scrutiny of our commitments, our actions and our investments,” he said.
Military regimes have had control in Sudan since the country became independent from the United Kingdom in 1956.
In 1989, the National Islamic Front instigated a military coup in Darfur, and now rules the region with what is known to be ruthless physical violence.
Reeves stressed the situation will become even more critical, as aid groups are forced to pull out of the area.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan shared this sentiment when he addressed the U.N. Security Council last week, and said “the looming threat of lawlessness and complete anarchy draws near.”
“They use genocide as a security policy,” Reeves said.
The strong physical violence in the region is not the only problem facing the African tribes in Darfur.
Reeves said that the agricultural economy has collapsed and that food production may not resume for several years.
Reeves criticized government officials who said there should be African solutions for African problems.
He also called President George W. Bush’s efforts futile. At the beginning of his first term in reference to the genocide in Sudan, Bush was quoted saying, “Not on my watch.”
Reeves encouraged UW-Madison students to call their representatives in Congress, and urge them to divest all investments their district has with various corporations who hold stake in Sudan.
He cited various businesses operating out of France, Germany and China that he said “supplement the Islamic front in Sudan.”
The UW-Madison group Action in Sudan invited Reeves to speak, and the group hopes his visit will prompt UW-Madison students to actively voice their opinions about the genocide in Sudan to their government officials.
(The Daily Cardinal)