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Hoosier United Methodist News Archives
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February 2007 |
Letters to the Editor
Senator Richard Lugar's pessimistic assessment of the crisis in Darfur, Sudan (Jan. 2007, Together) was both disappointing and inaccurate. He claims that "there is no basis for optimism" and that all possible measures have been taken by the West.
His myopic vision reflects the lack of vision and commitment among American and European leaders which has prolonged this crisis. "The impasse over deploying a major UN peacekeeping force to Darfur," according to a report by the International Crisis Group, "results directly from the international community's three-year failure to apply effective diplomatic and economic pressure on Sudan's government and its senior officials." We have called it "genocide" but we have failed to try all possible solutions.
Among those possible solutions are economic sanctions. International human rights groups with first-hand knowledge and experience in this area have called for targeted financial pressure to be placed on the government of Sudan. These would include freezing assets and travel bands on their leadership, investigating offshore accounts, and targeted sanctions against petroleum and arms companies doing business in Sudan.
Currently, the Indiana General Assembly is considering House Bill 1484 which would call for the state retirement funds to divest from companies which are supporting the Sudanese government. There are a small number of foreign firms which are buying oil from the government which are used to purchase weapons. In some cases, oil is being traded directly for arms. The divestment strategy would target toward only those companies. Right now, twenty other states are considering taking such action and California has already passed similar legislation.
The Senator does not believe that the Sudanese government will be responsive to economic pressure, that sanctions will hurt civilians, and that humanitarian aid workers will be targeted for retaliation. None of these objections are foregone conclusions. The Sudanese government has demonstrated in the past that they are sensitive to financial pressure because they are highly dependent upon foreign money. Almost all ordinary Sudanese citizens are subsistence farmers who receive no government aid or benefit from foreign trade. And yet over 85 percent of the government's budget is military spending.
Targeting these companies will have the right impact on the government with little effect on the citizens. As for endangering humanitarian aid workers, this regime has already done that and there is no sign that staying with the current course will keep us on the good side of this government. At the very least, targeted sanctions like H.B. 1484 should be tried they stand a good chance of working.
Regardless of their effectiveness, sanctions should also be tried in order to preserve our integrity. There is a place for non-cooperation of Christians and in the case of genocide we should not allow our money to be used by those companies which choose to turn a blind eye to oppression.
The Senator made a contrast between Darfur and sanctions against South Africa's apartheid regime twenty years ago. He is right that they are two different situations, and this is why H.B. 1484 is a different kind of sanction. Senator Lugar is wrong to draw the conclusion that nothing can be done in Darfur because it is not like South Africa. In both cases moral courage was and is required. The tactics must be different but the same persistence is needed in the face of seemingly impossible odds. The Bush Administration has demonstrated neither persistence nor wisdom in handling this situation - all the more reason why a ranking Republican such as Senator Lugar must take up this challenge and move beyond watered down resolutions and bills offering only humanitarian aid.
Darren Cushman Wood
Senior Minister
Speedway, Ind.
Darfur genocide
After working for the past two years to encourage involvement in the Darfur genocide crisis, I am concerned about the effects of Senator Lugar's words during our December 2006 meeting, as reported in the January 2007 story: "Senator gives little hope to Darfur Coalition." After all, who would choose to invest time and energy into a crisis where there is little hope and "no basis for optimism for the moment?" I would ask readers to please consider three factors.
Senator Lugar stressed complexities within the Darfur crisis that make a resolution seem unlikely, and he highlighted the risk of United States involvement by noting that involvement could actually worsen conditions. While we face these sobering thoughts, please note that during each perpetration of genocide, the words of Senator Lugar would have accurately reflected the truth. When a government attempts the systematic killing of all people from a national, ethnic or religious group, the situation always becomes complex and risky. Examples include the annihilation of millions in the killing fields of Cambodia, the murder of 800,000 during 100 days in Rwanda and now the murder of 400,000, the displacement of 2.5 million and rape of countless girls and women in Darfur.
Samantha Power in her book A Problem from Hell, America and the Age of Genocide, effectively makes the case that the inaction of the international community has failed millions and millions of victims of genocide. Is this the pattern we choose to continue? Do we become unresponsive in the face of genocide due to complexity and risk?
Please also consider the positive effects that advocacy for Darfur has had. During a recent conference call with Governor Richardson, who had recently returned from Sudan, Richardson described his experiences in negotiating with President al-Bashir and spoke of the value of grassroots activism in providing pressure on al-Bashir. Richardson stressed the importance of engagement and involvement, as he encouraged advocates to do more. Additional results of the advocacy movement for Darfur include: the establishment of a U.S. Presidential Special Envoy, whose only focus is to try to resolve the crisis in Darfur, improved coverage in the U.S. media and legislation passed in Congress and signed by the President.
Additionally, after considering the inherent complexity of genocide and the positive effects of involvement, we must also consider scripture. The teachings of the Bible offer no excuses for ignoring human suffering. So as we embrace the families being persecuted in Darfur, let us seek to do justice, to love neighbor and to help the least of these. Risk, complexity and "no basis for optimism for the moment" will demand of us careful, thoughtful, persistent and prayerful intervention.
Beth Reilly
Aldersgate UMC
Fort Wayne, Ind.
Last updated on 25 Apr 2008