Colorful drawings of Janjaweed militia on horseback burning huts and chasing African families lit up the screen as “Darfur Diaries” began Wednesday evening.
Shown in a packed 182 Lillis, the film included clips of survivors of the war living as refugees in Chad – many of whom wore cloth of bright blue, deep red and forest green wrapped around their heads and bodies – reliving their trauma and remembering the family members and communities lost.
The University’s chapter of Amnesty International Student Group, ASUO Women’s Center, the Lane County Darfur Coalition and the African Studies program co-sponsored a “A Night for Darfur,” which featured the video “Darfur Diaries” and a lecture from human rights photojournalist Paul Jeffrey.
Fara’wiyah, a displaced refugee featured in the movie who escaped the destruction of his village but witnessed the murders of family members, explained how the people who lived through the attacks from the Janjaweed militia – who have destroyed 2,000 villages and been responsible for around 400,000 deaths, according to the film – suffer from severe mental health problems because of the human rights atrocities they witnessed and experienced firsthand.
Lexi Meek, a member of Amnesty International and event organizer, said the one thing she wants students to understand about the genocide in Darfur is it is extremely serious.
“People can make a difference though, and it is important to not get discouraged,” Meek said.
Organizations that send supplies to schools in the refugee camps are essential for children to gain access to an education, she said.
Fara’wiyah said the Janjaweed separated children from mothers and took animals from the boys who looked after them.
“They raped the women, took our possessions and left nothing but the mountains,” he said.
Jeffrey, who had a difficulty getting a visa to travel to Darfur because of rigid government regulations, said it is illegal for a foreigner to take photographs, especially those depicting poor people.
The genocide in Darfur occurred and is subsequently escalating because the government capitalized on the subtle differences between the groups within the country, Jeffrey said. The Sudanese government used the increased population growth and
environmental changes to create conflict between the settled farmers and roaming herders, two groups who traditionally internally negotiate their conflicts, he said. The government gave the Arabs in Darfur intelligence, weapons and uniforms, he said.
“What is happening to people in Darfur is genocide and we need to call it that,” Jeffrey said. “It is like calling the holocaust on Jews and homosexuals and gypsies a humanitarian crisis and then collecting items to send to the concentration camps to make their lives better.”
He said genocide is not an accident.
Jeffrey said in addition to asking the U.S. government to use its political capital to do something in Darfur, Americans need to ask to stop aiding the government officials and war criminals. Roz Slovic from the College of Education and the Lane County Darfur Coalition said the most crucial thing people can do to help is send money for school supplies, food and blankets for the survivors in the refugee camps. Slovic said the goal of the event was to raise awareness and provide strategies for action.
Meek agreed.
“For the majority of students here, it is not that they’re not concerned, it is that they are not educated enough about it,” Meek said.