'Don't talk to me about justice'
Harrowing but amazing article by Stephanie Nolen that revolves around the terrible experiences of Athanasie Mukarwego ten years ago. I wanted to write something to commemorate the Rwanda genocide, but of course Stephanie Nolen does a much better job than I could ever have hoped to. I believe it is important to try and understand the origins of the genocide, the actuality of the genocide, and to be realistic about Rwanda's future, that is to realize that there is hope but also uncertainty and the possibility of trouble. In my opinion this article addresses all three of these.
Reflections from Jonathan Edelstein and links to others can be found here. 100 Days of Rwanda recounts daily the events of the same day ten years earlier.
Gregory Stanton of Genocide Watch draws attention to the Darfur region of Sudan where Arab militias have been driving people from their homes in what he calls the worst case of ethnic cleansing since Kosovo. The UN announced a mission to investigate the situation, although the four member team is still waiting for permission to enter Sudan from neighboring Chad. These articles cast the conflict as being between Arabs and non-Arabs. But the conflict differs from the situation in the south of Sudan in that all involved are Muslim. Even between Arabs and non-Arabs it appears the distinctions are not as obvious as one might think:
Darfur was an independent sultanate until 1917, when it was the last region to be incorporated into the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. The Arabic word Dar roughly means homeland, and its population of nearly four million is divided into several Dars; not only of the Fur people, as its name suggests, but also of several other communities, determined by livelihood as much as ethnicity. These ecological and social distinctions are more meaningful than the administrative divisions imposed by government. Ethnicity is not in itself clear-cut, given the long history of racial mixing between indigenous "non-Arab" peoples and the "Arabs", who are now distinguished by cultural-linguistic attachment rather than race.
As usual, the Head Heeb has some good links (including the article quoted above) and commentary: Coup or Purge? and Split Decision. The International Crisis Group also has some indepth articles about Sudan including Darfur Rising: Sudan's New Crisis which outlines some of the historical grievances that have plagued the region.
(update: There's a op-ed / photo essay about Sudanese refugees in Chad at the NYTimes site. Requires Flash.)
Crisis in Liberia: Photos by Carolyn Cole
Carolyn Cole of the LA Times won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography with these pictures taken in Liberia in July 2003. A list of other Pulitzer winners can be found here.