Daily Darfur: Rebels Endanger Refugees

Published July 08, 2009 @ 03:47AM PT

I have some sympathy for the cause of Darfur's rebels, at least in its abstract, but it ends abruptly when turning to how they actually conduct their insurgency.

The BBC reports that the presence of rebels in camps for Darfuris in Chad is endangering the lives of the refugees: In the Oure Cassoni camp, a mere 5 km from the border with Sudan (an exception to UNHCR's standard of 50km from borders on account of access to water), rebels openly drive through the camp, violating international laws against carrying weapons into refugee camps, and are known to recruit children into their ranks.

Last month, in a move which provoking astonishingly little international reaction, the Sudanese air force crossed the border and dropped bombs a mere 3 km from Oure Cassoni.

Not the rebels' fault, you may say? Wrong. When you know you your foe has no regard for the conduct of just war, and a history of chasing you in and out of civilian areas with no concern for "collateral damage" or, even worse, the intent to directly target civilians in their effort to crush you, stay the @#$! away from refugee camps.

You can't defend your moral high-ground from behind a human shield.

Quickies

ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo traveled to Addis to meet with the African Union panel on Darfur. (See also: Human Rights Watch's submission to the panel.)

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon aims for UNAMID to be fully-deployed by the end of this year. (How many times have we heard that before?)

An adviser to Sudansese President Omar al-Bashir sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton requesting Sudan's removal from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Truckers risk rebels and bandits to deliver food aid to Darfur.

[Photo from BBC: Darfur rebels in refugee camp.]

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Comments (1)

I'm a little confused about why Bashir's adviser wrote to Hillary. Is he trying to get the US on their side so we will not take any steps in trying to make peace in Darfur? or are they willing to make a change in the government there?

Posted by Giovanna Bonasso on 07/08/2009 @ 09:35AM PT
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Michelle became involved in the anti-genocide cause at a young age, and has been involved in various activist endeavors, including the Teach Against Genocide pilot campaigns, ever since.