Darfur hypocrisy

There is no doubt that a genocide is going on in Sudan's Darfur region and that something has to be done about it. But on the other hand, some in the West, following once more the United States, claim that it is the worst atrocity going on in the world right now and that the only thing that can stop it is sanctions and a foreign intervention. Moreover, the U.S. is accusing China of investing in and trading with Sudan and thereby helping its government. There are even calls to boycott the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

Let's examine things a bit closer. Like Roger Howard writes in the Guardian (Where anti-Arab prejudice and oil make the difference), worse things are happening elsewhere. “The U.N. estimates that 3 million to 4 million Congolese have been killed, compared with the estimated 200,000 civilian deaths in Darfur. In the last month alone, thousands of civilians have been killed in heavy fighting between rebel and government forces vying for control of an area north of Goma.” So why is Darfur in the international spotlight and Congo isn't?

Howard continues: “The key difference between the two situations lies in the racial and ethnic composition of the perceived victims and perpetrators. In Congo, black Africans are killing other black Africans in a way that is difficult for outsiders to identify with. The turmoil there can in that sense be regarded as a narrowly African affair. In Darfur the fighting is portrayed as a war between black Africans, rightly or wrongly regarded as the victims, and “Arabs”, widely regarded as the perpetrators of the killings. In practice these neat racial categories are highly indistinct, but it is through such a prism that the conflict is generally viewed.”

In other words, Darfur is in the spotlight because Arabs or Muslims can be made the scapegoats. Let's also not forget that the U.S. is responsible for more deaths in Iraq than the Sudanese are in Darfur. This doesn't make what is happening in Darfur right, but it puts things in perspective. And while the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for one of the perpetrators of the Darfur massacre, Ahmed Haroun, it neglects to issue arrest warrants for Bush and Cheney.

What is happening in Darfur is an internal conflict in Sudan. China is right when it points out that sanctions and boycotts will not solve the problem. Nick Donovan is pleading in The Times (At last, a way to stop the grotesque cruelty in Sudan) to implement an oil embargo immediately and not to withdraw it until the crisis is resolved. Well, more lives could be saved by implementing an oil embargo on the U.S. until it leaves Iraq...

China is right saying that only a political process can solve the Darfur issue. It has named Liu Guijin as a special representative for Darfur to help advance the peace process. The Sudanese authorities might listen to the arguments of China, an important trade partner, but will certainly not listen to the U.S., which is only talking about sanctions and armed intervention.

The fuss about Darfur is one more example of Western hypocrisy.