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Activists Mark Darfur Anniversary
By RAPHAEL G. SATTER – 2 days ago
LONDON (AP) — About 3,000 protesters rallied outside Sudan's Embassy in London on Sunday to demand an end to the five-year conflict and the quick deployment of an international peacekeeping force to the region.
The demonstration came on the Global Day for Darfur, a day observed by activists, celebrities and survivors across the world who are trying to raise awareness of the suffering in the western Sudanese region. The day marks the fifth anniversary of the start of the conflict.
With rock music playing, the protesters in London chanted and raised up their palms, which were painted white in a symbolic call for peace.
"Don't be Deaf to Darfur," one placard read.
Ikhlass Mohamed, a mother of three who fled the conflict in 2004, said it was vital to keep the tragedy in the public eye.
"We came here looking for peace," she said. "Physically we may have peace, but mentally we will never be at peace until we see Darfuri people having a peaceful life."
Fighting has raged in Darfur since 2003, when ethnic African tribesman took up arms, complaining of decades of neglect and discrimination by the Sudanese Arab-dominated government.
Khartoum is accused of unleashing janjaweed militia forces to commit atrocities against ethnic African communities in the fight with rebel groups — charges the government denies.
More than 200,000 people have been killed and about 2.5 million displaced in the conflict. Activists say more than 1 million children have been caught in the fighting.
A global humanitarian movement has risen up around the Darfur conflict, attracting numerous celebrity voices along with human rights activists. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced Saturday that he has offered to host Darfur peace talks in London.
Video released by activists on the Global Day for Darfur showed Hollywood star Matt Damon taking a baseball bat to a dollhouse while British actress Thandie Newton burned a Barbie with a blowtorch. The video, meant to symbolize the shattered childhoods in Darfur, was aired on British television.
Four years after the U.N. Security Council first took up the issue of Darfur, U.N. and African Union peacekeepers are finally heading to the region. But the Sudanese government, which has long resisted such a force, continues to delay the full deployment.
