3.05.2009

The latest on Darfur

On Monday the International Criminal Court charged the Sudanese President Omar-alBashir with murder and war crimes. The humanitarian crisis in Darfur has been going on since 2003, and is not getting better. After the charges, alBashir ordered the humanitarian organizations to leave Sudan. For a brief history visit the BBC website, which is constantly updated with new information relevant to the situation.

A link on the website led me to comments by Sudanese people to the recent charges. 

"The issue is not whether Omar al-Bashir is guilty or not, and by all means any individual that is responsible for genocide should be legally charged; but this is an internal affair in a sovereign country with a judicial system. If the international community is concerned about the situation in Darfur, they should be even more concerned about the safely and the stability of Sudan as a whole once such a warrant has been issued. The safety and stability of the whole country is at stake. 
Mohammad Khartoum

The presidency of any nation, whether that nation is the US or Sudan, is an institution which is over and above any one person. This arrest warrant against President Bashir is an assault on the constitution of Sudan, its presidency, all the institutions that serve to uphold its constitution and more importantly its an assault on its people. For a group of lawyers sitting in Europe to believe that they know better and that they are over and above the sovereignty of a nation is an insult to its people. 
Ali, Khartoum"


There are so many aspects to this conflict that I want to understand, and be able to communicate to others, but the more that I learn, the more that I see there is something else going on. As you are reading this, please lift up the people in Darfur in prayer to a God that is far greater than our understanding. That he would hear the cries of his children in Darfur, and his church would be the response - led in humility by the Holy Spirit. 
For more information on how to be involved visit Save Darfur.


This picture was featured in a collection of drawings of children from Darfur. The quotation underneath the picture read, 
"It is very kind to send us food, but this is Africa and we are used to being hungry. What I ask is that you please take the guns away from the people who are killing us."


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