The newly formed Arab Coalition for Darfur condemned the Muslim world for its silence on the atrocities in Darfur during the 35th Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), a meeting of the foreign ministers of 57 Muslim nations, which took place in Kampala, Uganda, from June 18-20.
“The Islamic world’s response to the daily killings and suffering of millions of Muslims in Darfur has been largely silent, from both civil society as well as the institutions and majority of Islamic governments,” the coalition said in a statement. “The Islamic world must decide to end its wall of silence, before it is too late.”
Formed in May 2008, the Arab Coalition for Darfur is made up of human rights groups from Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Algeria, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Mauritania, Kuwait, Palestine and Saudi Arabia.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni also chided the OIC for its inaction on Darfur. “It is hypocritical to concentrate on the Palestine crisis and pay little attention on the African conflicts involving OIC member states,” he said.
Despite the criticisms from the new coalition and President Museveni, the final report issued at the OIC bears no mention of Darfur, and calls for “solidarity with the Republic of Sudan.” The United Nations has accused the government of Sudan of war crimes, and the U.S. holds it responsible for genocide in Darfur.
The lengthier Kampala Declaration, also issued at the OIC, includes expressions of solidarity with “our Muslim brothers and sisters in Northern Cyprus” and “the Kosovar people,” and calls for “respect of the human rights of the Kashmiri people,” but does not express solidarity with the people of Darfur, who are also Muslim.
The declaration does call upon OIC member states to contribute to efforts to stabilize Darfur within the framework agreed upon by the government of Sudan, the United Nations, and the African Union.
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As much as I have compassion on these people I feel that the world cares only about Africa. The tamils in srilanka have suffered more under the Srilankan government. And with the govt preventing foreign journalists access to the tamil areas all we get is a biased opinion about the tamil tigers and no one cares for the truth. So really i do not care about Darfur and its trivialities
We should help these people. I want to do everything in my power to help these people. Kids, Mother’s, some Fathers, and the Elders have seen to much. Kids might forget what it is like to be happy, to be free to play. Its not fair. We are blind to what these people see, what they want, and what they need. We turn our heads towards the war in Iraq. No more. We close our ears to the cries in Darfur. The cries ringing, rising up to the skies. The cries should be heard. Cries that were called out to be heard. Desperate for help. Please help them.