Kristof Continues Counting the Silence

It has been 141 days now, Nichols Kristof writes in today's New York Times, since President Bush mentioned the ongoing genocide in Darfur. In his column, Kristof profiles Magboula, a Darfurian woman whose husband was murdered by janjaweed raiders. Magboula herself was repeatedly raped, beaten, and mutilated ... and then had to travel across the desert with her five children to a refugee camp.

But the camp is full, as Kristof reports: "the Sudanese government is blocking new arrivals like her from getting registered, which means they can't get food and tents. So Magboula is getting no rations and is living with her children under a straw mat on a few sticks." She and her four children (the baby recently died) are living on handouts from other refugees.

Kristof notes, correctly, that every time "Sudan has been subjected to strong moral pressure, it has backed off somewhat - but lately the attention has subsided, and Mr. Bush even killed the Senate-passed Darfur Accountability Act, which would have condemned the genocide." The continued complacency of the world is literally killing people. How can we live with ourselves if we keep doing nothing?

For more Darfur news, as always as the Coalition for Darfur website, and also visit Sudan: Passion of the Present, another good blog for Darfur-related news and commentary.