Sudan Militiamen Use Rape As Weapon

Avatar for mrsed4
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-22-2003
Sudan Militiamen Use Rape As Weapon
34
Mon, 07-19-2004 - 12:21pm
If Bush thought Iraq needed our attention, why is he virtually ignoring the atrocities in Africa, such as those reported in today's AP story "Group: Sudan Militiamen Use Rape As Weapon"?

<

Powell said Friday that he expects to hear from U.S. experts next week on whether Sudan officials should be charged with genocide.>>

In other words, they've "taken it under advisement"...The genocide and ethnic cleansing that has been going on in Africa for all these years has gone unanswered by the US, while oil interests in Iraq have been well protected.

I guess we've already exhausted all of our military power in Iraq, so we have to tell those women and children that they just have to "lay back and enjoy" the rapes, right? I guess these victims should have been sitting on oil fields, how stupid of them.

Group: Sudan Militiamen Use Rape As Weapon

Mon Jul 19, 8:38 AM ET

By RODRIQUE NGOWI, Associated Press Writer

NAIROBI, Kenya - Sudanese Arab militiamen rape women and girls as young as eight in the violent campaign intended to hurt, humiliate and drive out black Africans from the troubled region of Darfur, a human rights organization said Monday.

The Sudanese Janjaweed Arab militiamen sometimes torture and break limbs of women to prevent them from escaping rape, abductions and sexual slavery, Amnesty International said in the report titled: "Sudan, Rape as a weapon of war in Darfur."

Thousands have been killed and more than a million black Africans have fled their homes in the face of attacks by the government-backed Arab militiamen known as Janjaweed, or "horsemen" in the local dialect.

The Janjaweed "are happy when they rape. They sing when they rape and they tell that we are just slaves and that they can do with us how they wish," a 37-year-old victim, identified only as A., says in the report.

Sudan on Saturday ordered that committees of women judges, police officers and legal consultants investigate rape accusations and help victims through criminal cases in the Iraq (news - web sites)-sized Darfur region.

The Arab militiamen routinely kill black African men in the western region and target women and girls for sexual violence, Amnesty International said, citing hundreds of interviews human rights workers conducted in camps sheltering people who fled the atrocities in Darfur.

"Women and girls are being attacked, not only to dehumanize the women themselves but also to humiliate, punish, control, inflict fear and displace women and to persecute the community to which they belong," the London-based group said.

"In many cases the Janjaweed have raped women in public, in the open air, in front of their husbands, relatives or the wider community," the group said. "The suffering and abuse endured by these women goes far beyond the actual rape ... survivors now face a lifetime of stigma and marginalisation from their own families and communities."

Women in Darfur who have undergone female genital mutilation are at an even greater risk of injury and face higher risks of infection by HIV (news - web sites)/AIDS (news - web sites) and other sexually transmitted diseases, the rights group said.

Darfur's troubles stem from long-standing tensions between nomadic Arab tribes and their African farming neighbors over dwindling water and agricultural land. Those tensions exploded into violence in February 2003 when two African rebel groups took up arms over what they regard as unjust treatment by the government in their struggle with Arab countrymen.

Aid workers and refugees accuse the government of arming and providing air support to the Janjaweed, who have torched hundreds of villages in a campaign equated with ethnic cleansing. The government denies any involvement in the militia attacks.

There are also reports that the Sudanese government is integrating members of the Jajaweed into army and police units deployed around Darfur, said Erwin Van der Borght, Amnesty International's deputy head of the Africa program.

The United Nations (news - web sites) estimates up to 30,000 people have been killed in Darfur, but some analysts put the figure much higher. The death toll could surge to more than 350,000 if aid doesn't reach more than 2 million people soon, the U.S. Agency for International Development has warned.

Pressure has mounted on Sudan to end the slaughter. The latest peace talks ended prematurely Saturday after rebels walked out saying the Sudanese government must first disarm the Janjaweed.

The rebels were also seeking government commitments to allow an international inquiry into the killings, prosecute those responsible, lift restrictions on aid workers and release prisoners of war.

The peace talks began after a concerted diplomatic push by the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites), who visited the region earlier this month.

Powell said Friday that he expects to hear from U.S. experts next week on whether Sudan officials should be charged with genocide.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=535&ncid=535&e=10&u=/ap/20040719/ap_on_re_af/darfur_rape_as_weapon_3

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-24-2004
Tue, 07-20-2004 - 8:36pm


Sorry can not take you on your word, so can you please produce at least 2 surveys from a reputable survey company that proves your words? Thanks, been looking but can't find not a one.....

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2004
Tue, 07-20-2004 - 8:46pm
LOL! Get real Sondra. EVERY survey indicates that the majority of Americans want a more moderate immigration policy, and when Muslim immigration is mentioned the figures are even higher. The 2% of the American population that is Muslim is not exactly the most popular group in the country, Sondra, you aren't a stupid person, you must realize that.

..... Muslims just aren't very popular or trusted right now because of 9/11 and Muslim terrorism worldwide.
Avatar for mrsed4
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-22-2003
Tue, 07-20-2004 - 8:52pm
She wasn't saying that you were wrong, she was asking for links to prove your point. That's a common request (and usually offered instead of requested).
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2004
Tue, 07-20-2004 - 9:48pm

Didn't have time to check thouroughly, but I did find this survey from about a year after 9/11. I'd think that opinion would have 'mellowed out' a bit since then.


NPR/Kaiser/Kennedy School Civil Liberties Update
Americans More Concerned with Liberties, Back War on Terrorism


http://www.npr.org/news/specials/civillibertiespoll2/


• In November, 64 percent of Americans said that the basic rights of people who have been detained by the FBI and police in connection with terrorism had been protected. That percentage fell to 56 percent in the latest survey.

• In November, 66 percent of Americans approved of stopping and searching people who are Arab or of Middle Eastern descent to see if they might be involved in potential terrorist activities. In the latest survey 59 percent approve of this profiling.

Concern about civil liberties grows as questions become more detailed, especially where American citizens are concerned. For example, asked about the case of someone like Jose Padilla, the American citizen who is being held incommunicado as an enemy combatant after being arrested in Chicago, 58 percent of Americans say even people like him should be given access to a lawyer and the courts. Only 35 percent agree with the government's contention that holding such a person in isolation is necessary to pursue the war on terrorism.

Very few Americans have experienced any personal deprivation of civil liberties, although they believe many others have. Only 21 percent say they've had to give up some rights and liberties; a third of those people (36 percent) say that the rights and liberties they had to give up are very important to them, but that amounts to only 7 percent of all Americans. Although few people say they've personally had to give up some rights, most Americans believe that many others have had to: 56 percent say it has been necessary for the average person to give up some rights and liberties in order to curb terrorism.

There are also indications that Americans trust the government less when it comes to the war on terrorism than they did in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Although 65 percent say they are satisfied with the way the government's anti-terrorism program is going, only 20 percent say they are very satisfied. Forty-four percent say they have a great deal (19 percent) or quite a lot (25 percent) of confidence in the government's protecting them from future terrorist attacks, but this is down from 58 percent last November. In addition, 73 percent say the government is not telling them everything they need to know about the war on terrorism; this is up from 65 percent in November. (Sixty-two percent of those who say the government is not telling them everything they need to know say that this is something concerns them; that is 45 percent of all Americans.)

The importance of citizenship


KEY FINDINGS

Problems with the Health Care System

-->The first NPR/Kaiser/Kennedy School Civil Liberties Poll was conducted in November 2001, shortly after the events of Sept. 11, and contained a number of questions about Americans' perceptions of Arabs and Muslims. The NPR/Kaiser/Kennedy School Civil Liberties Update also asks about Arabs and Muslims, but aims to examine the larger issue of citizenship. A key finding of this survey concerns the huge importance that Americans attach to citizenship. Generally, as a matter of law, citizens and non-citizens have the same legal rights if they are arrested for a crime. The NPR/Kaiser/Kennedy School Poll found that many Americans do not believe that's the way it should be, especially when it comes to terrorism. Interestingly, these beliefs are about citizenship, not immigration. Overwhelming majorities of Americans believe that naturalized citizens should have the same legal rights as the native-born, whether the issue is terrorism or mere theft.








QUESTION: "If an Arab or Muslim who is not a U.S. citizen is arrested as a suspected terrorist in this country/If an Arab or Muslim immigrant to the U.S. who has become a U.S. citizen is arrested as a suspected terrorist in this country,/ should that person be given the same legal rights as someone born in the U.S., or should he have fewer legal rights than someone born in the U.S.?




The poll set out to measure both the importance of citizenship and the importance of the seriousness of the crime in people's attitudes about legal rights. Thus, the Civil Liberties Update was actually two surveys, conducted several days apart. In one survey, half of the respondents were asked whether an Arab or Muslim who is not a U.S. citizen should be given the same rights as a citizen if he is arrested as a suspected terrorist; the other half of the respondents were asked the same question about an Arab or Muslim who has become a U.S. citizen. In the other survey, the same set of questions was asked about an Arab or Muslim who is arrested for stealing a car.

On the matter of the seriousness of the crime, the country divides fairly evenly over whether citizens and non-citizens should have the same legal rights if they are arrested for stealing a car; 45 percent say they should, and 46 percent say they should not. If the charge is terrorism, a majority (54 percent) believes that non-citizens should have fewer legal rights than citizens arrested for the same thing. Americans feel even more strongly about people in the country illegally. Three out of four people (73 percent) say that an Arab or Muslim who is in the country illegally and is arrested as a suspected terrorist should have fewer rights than an American citizen.

However, an overwhelming number of Americans say that all citizens, whether they were born in the United States or not, should be given the same legal rights -- regardless of the seriousness of the crime. Nearly nine out of 10 (89 percent) believe that if an Arab or Muslim who is a naturalized citizen is arrested for stealing a car, he should have the same rights as a native-born citizen. The percentage drops when the charge is terrorism, but still three-quarters of Americans (75 percent) believe that equal rights are in order even if the naturalized immigrant is a suspected terrorist.

Renee ~~~

Renee ~~~

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2004
Wed, 07-21-2004 - 12:58am
Interesting Whren, or maybe I should call you Renee.

I don't mean to pick a fight here, I will let it go for now. I was really just meaning to say that Jay doesn't seem to me to be particularily paranoid or prejudice, he just seems like many other Americans I have met, especially here in New York City where I am, in some other places in the country I have been too.

By the way, I am a racial minority, I'm Asian-American (Japanese-American father, Cheinese-American mother). I do try and be sensitive to all ethnic groups. My problem is not with people who are ethnically Arab, but rather with Islamic extremists and religious fundamentalists in general, especially Muslim ones since it was Muslim ones such as Al-Qaeda who declared a "Jihad" or "Holy War" against America and it's allies and did the horrible 9/11 attacks on my city and on our Nation's capital city. Thousands were killed on 9/11, tens of thousands crippled or injured, billions of dollars in damage, a huge disruption to our economy,.....all in the name of a "Jihad" a "Holy War" against our country.

As Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britian said, "Is there any doubt that the Islamic extremists would have killed ten times as many people if they could?"

It could be even worse than that.

Sometimes in order to protect your country, you have to discriminate about who you let into the country. We have no right to put the Muslims in internment camps (Which happened to some of my older Japanese-American relatives during W.W.II, including my grandparents), but we do have a right to restrict certain ethnic or religious groups from immigrating to America (we prohibited German, Italian, and Japanese immigration during World War II).
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-12-2004
Wed, 07-21-2004 - 2:08am
Ok. I am a jerk about stuff like this but it is my pet peeve.

you said,

" EVERY survey indicates that the majority of Americans want a more moderate immigration policy, and when Muslim immigration is mentioned the figures are even higher."

The fact of the matter is surveys are subject to SO much scrutiny, you need to ask where the survey was done, at what time of the day, what were the circumstances surrounding, and what type of people were surveyed, was it a phone survey, or was it on the street, etc...

The fact is that surveys are the most erroneous type of study you can use. They are so easily disproven.... you can't take them as factual.

Also when you mention that every survey comes up with similar results, you are wrong. You are obviously not including the one I did today with my co-workers. (just making a point, I am sure you have not read EVERY survey)

anyway, I say survey shmurvey. they are worthless.

Avatar for papparic
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 07-21-2004 - 3:03am
>nuke most of the Muslim war zones in the world< What a brilliant strategy! Of course, you're only 70 years too late. You should have been there helping Adolf and his gang drawing up their strategies for world domination. They wanted to get rid of all the Jews, you could have put in your two cents worth and added your favorite group.

Your post displays a remarkable ignorance and inhumanity. Shame on you. Now go wash your mouth out with soap! (I'd say scrub your brain if it were physically possible!)

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-20-2003
Wed, 07-21-2004 - 9:33am
www.ajazeera.com

it`s also something written about Sudan
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2004
Wed, 07-21-2004 - 11:25am

Hey nanderle!


It's good to see you're back!

Renee ~~~

Renee ~~~

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2004
Wed, 07-21-2004 - 1:13pm

Had trouble finding this reported in the

Renee ~~~