While the horrors in Iraq and London have been (rightly) receiving a tremendous amount of attention and moral indignation from the progressive blogophere, I thought it might be important not to forget that there are other equally, if not more, horrible and tragic events taking place in other parts of the world. I’m sure I don’t have to remind anyone here about the catastrophic situation in Darfur in which the governement of Sudan, a strong Western “ally” in the so-called war againts terrorism, has been implicated in aiding and abetting Janjaweed warriors in a campaign of extermination that, as Colin Powell once declared, amounted to genocide.
While surfing around, I ran into these startling and powerful drawings made by children who have witnesses with their own eyes some of the monstrosities and know quite well about the governenment’s involvet in them, notwithstanng all the denials emanating from offical authorities.
These images come from Human Rights Watch and, in my mind,tell us more about what’s really happening than a thousand investigations will probably ever be able to uncover. When are we, in the Western world, going to learn to stop ignoring the enormous problems which already exist in this world and stop adding to them with new ones of our own making?
Description:
Human Rights Watch: What is going on here?
Girl: My hut burning after being hit by a bomb.
HRW: And here? [Pointing to what looks like an upside-down woman]
Girl: It’s a woman. She is dead.
HRW: Why is her face colored in red?
Girl: Oh, because she has been shot in the face.
HRW: What is this vehicle? Who is this in green?
Girl: That is a tank. The man in green is a soldier.
Description:
Human Rights Watch: What’s happening here?
13-year-old artist: These men in green are taking the women and the girls.
Human Rights Watch: What are they doing?
Boy: They are forcing them to be wife. The houses are on fire.
Human Rights Watch: What’s happening here?
Boy: This is an Antonov. This is a helicopter. These here, at the bottom of the page, these are dead people.
Description:
Human Rights Watch:
This drawing by a 13-year-old boy depicts conflict between rebel groups and the Janjaweed. A rebel soldier has been shot in the arm then executed by gunshots to the groin.
Description:
Human Rights Watch:
The children’s drawings often include astonishingly accurate depictions of elements from the Sudanese armory, including assault rifles, machine guns, tanks, armored personnel carriers, military planes, and helicopters.