Africa, the Holocausts of Rwanda and the Sudan

Rwandan refugee, photograph by Lucien Niemeyer
Dinka tukuls in Southern Sudan, photograph
Lucien Niemeyer





I was reminded by Rogel (Dafur button) and Zeb (Inside Zebster) that I was sitting on a story, already told by Lucien Niemeyer. A photographer who could not only let his pictures tell their tale, but who had to explain in words, why what we see in the pictures is unacceptable.
In his own, harsh and passionate words; PREFACE

The world Churches, Temples and Mosques too, have ignored their responsibility to call attention to the atrocities and then to provide the kind of help needed to solve the problems. They too have lost their moral compass. The conscience of the world has been governed by political correctness rather then humanitarian needs. The countries of Europe have ignored the Gulag and the Holocaust, relegating them to a corner of history that they have conveniently forgotten. The Far East countries have decided that these affairs are too far away and pay little attention. The front line of knowledge and human aid to ease the starvation, slavery and killing has been relegated to unselfish NGOs (non-governmental organizations) which raise money, medicine, redeem slaves, bring in food and generally report the situation to the world which does not want to hear about the turmoil and problems.

It is June 2005. The peace between the Sudan government and the SPLA has been signed. It includes the Nuba Mountains. The Darfur region of Sudan is in flames. It is the story of ethnic cleansing in which the Janjaweed is fronting for the government which is the modis operendi for the Khartoum government. Though a great deal of press and world concern has been showered on the struggle, it continues. The facts remain the same. The brown fundamentalist Muslim are killing black Muslim. It is done through direct killing, rape to create a whole new color or death through displacement. The story is similar to what happened in the Nuba Mountains. Each day that the Sudanese government states that it is complying with UN or world sanctions there is another aggression which causes the NGOs or the UN to pull back. The duplicity continues each day until the goals of the government are met. One hundred thousand civilians have died in the last few months. Again it is the US and Britain leading the world efforts to stop the ethnic cleansing. The Sudan government is following the Taliban tradition of a fundamentalist Muslim regime with its Sharia, which is the rigid strict law that looks down on all outsiders (black in this case) as less then human.

Check out Lucien Niemeyer's book with not only his beautiful photographs, but personal accounts of visiting the region putting himself in danger doing so. This is why; "Is the moral and political evaluation of the progress of our human struggle to be measured by the acceptance of genocide and slavery in Sudan by the world community?" In his own words, and his own actions to show the world their plight.

Today, the Guardian noted;

Darfur is fast slipping towards anarchy with fresh fighting displacing tens of thousands of people and violent attacks on relief workers forcing aid agencies to consider pulling out.
Clashes involving government forces, allied militia and rebel fighters, and dissident guerrilla groups have forced more than 50,000 people from their homes since a peace deal was signed three months ago. Most have ended up in overcrowded refugee camps, which are becoming increasingly difficult for aid agencies to reach.

bold added by yours truly.

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Postscript:
I had clear forgotten that Lucien's book was sent to all US Senators (who all accepted it except Barbara Boxer). I encourage you to contact your Senator and ask them if they have read and seen the photos in Lucien's book. The images on his website are few, and the images who tell their story in his book, are many. Ask your Senator what she or he is planning to do about it.