- June 13th, 2019
I’m usually not the bleakest person in the room, but today I came to a striking realization.
For some people, there are no heroes.
When I heard about the Sudan crisis, I felt sick to my stomach. Firstly, if you haven’t heard, here’s a brief summary:
Dictator Omar Al-Bashir was overthrown two months ago. Pro-democracy activists peacefully protested for a civilian government and transition to democracy. But despite Bashir being ousted, a violent paramilitary group, deceptively called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), remains in control of Sudan. Last week, the RSF began to terrorize the peaceful protests and Sudanese citizens. Children as young as 6 years old were raped in front of their siblings and parents. Medical infirmaries were raided, aides raped in front of their patients, and the patients severely beaten. Citizens were gunned down, mutilated, and their lifeless corpses thrown into the Nile river to cover up the evidence. Over 100 deaths and 70 rapes have been confirmed, with the real number likely being much higher.
I wanted to figure out what I could do to help. I wanted justice to be brought to the Sudanese people. So far, the US administration has provided no action. And media coverage is lacking, partially because of a Sudanese internet blackout, and partially because news stations simply are focusing on other issues.
As the Sudanese experience RSF brutality, life goes on as normal for much of the rest of the world. As fathers are killed, and little girls brutally raped in front of their mothers and brothers, billion dollar companies continue operation as usual - many of whom have received funding from investors with direct ties to corrupt rulers in countries like Saudi Arabia, a country heavily funding the RSF effort.
As men and women are gunned down, chopped up, and thrown away like trash, some of the richest and most powerful people in the world will continue their everyday lives. The rest of us probably will too. I myself will likely watch the NBA Finals, and the millionaire players will continue to play - all while the Sudanese people are brutalized. I feel helpless.
In Sudan, it’s been over a week since the brutality began. It feels like nobody cares.
There are no heroes in their world.
To be clear, I do understand the dynamics at play here. Many do care, and do have the money and power to make an impact. But helping means creating enemies and poses risks. Possible enemies include the RSF itself, Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
And thus, inaction. Regardless of the factors at hand, the nightmare continues in Sudan. A brother will continue his life with the memory of his father being tortured, and his little sister being raped. A mother will continue living knowing her kids had to watch as she was beaten and raped. And they’ll remember that no hero came to save them. Because of global inaction this will continue to be the case. While we, the more privileged of the human race, sit and watch movies about heroes coming together to save the world, we ignore crises happening in our own world.
But what can we do? I wish there was something more I could do than sign petitions to the White House - one to recognize the RSF as a terrorist organization, another to take swift action in Sudan. I wish I could show up and punish the men who assaulted, killed, and raped the Sudanese people. I wish America, or another powerful country would do something.
But as of right now, a genocide is happening in Sudan. And nobody is coming to save them.
