Jesse Jackson fears Sudan may become another Rwanda
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK, Aug 25, 2004 (AP) — The Rev. Jesse Jackson said Tuesday he feared that the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of western Sudan could potentially grow to the scale of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, when more than 500,000 were killed.
Jackson said an estimated 1,000 people were dying every day in Darfur and the United Nations says Darfur is currently the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. More than 30,000 people have been killed and 1.4 million forced to flee their homes in the 18 months of violence since African rebels revolted against Sudan ‘s Arab government, claiming discrimination in the allocation of scarce resources.
Jackson was visiting to draw attention to the need for urgent action on Sudan .
“After the Rwandan crisis of ’94, we said it will never happen again. But it could happen again unless there is immediate relief,” Jackson told the Associated Press in a telephone interview from Benghazi, Libya where he was to meet later on Tuesday with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to discuss Sudan .
“For too long the world was silent on Rwanda,” Jackson said of the 100-day-long massacre of an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and Hutu moderates by Hutu extremists in 1994. “There is a paralysis of action on the growing crisis in Sudan .”
Jackson said he planned to go to Sudan on Thursday and Friday to visit the ravaged Darfur region and to meet with government officials in Khartoum and with U.N. officials. He did not say specifically what he would be asking of those officials.
“Obviously this is a crisis of huge proportions. They need food and medicine and a safe passage to get those displaced people returned home,” Jackson said.
U.N. officials accuse the Sudanese government of trying to crush the revolt by backing a scorched earth policy carried out by Arab militias. But Khartoum denies that allegation.
Jackson urged the Sudanese government to honor their commitment to end the violence and create a safe passage home for the displaced for crucial humanitarian aid to get through.
He said the U.N. and the U.S. have a major role to play in the conflict. But U.S. intervention is unlikely because Sudan does not want outside interference and the war on Iraq has hurt U.S. standing in the region.
“The war in Iraq has cast our country in a very negative light in the region. We are not likely to intervene. The U.S. is under great suspicion in the region and the world,” Jackson said.
Jackson said in his meeting with Gadhafi on Tuesday, he would urge the Libyan leader to use his influence in the region to help resolve the Sudan crisis.