On October 31st, 2014, government soldiers in Northern Darfur terrorized a village just a couple miles away from the United Nation-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) headquarters. The soldiers rounded up the villagers, beat them with their guns, and separated the men and women by force. Then the soldiers stayed until 4:00 AM the following morning, raping approximately 200 women and girls. The UN did not send representatives to inquire about the victims’ well-being until days later. Please sign my petition to demand the UN Security Council to take action and protect the people of Darfur!
Sadly, this is not an isolated incident; it is a systematic pattern of long-standing genocidal attacks against the people of Darfur that has lasted for over a decade. Nine years ago, I was forced to leave Darfur in the middle of the night with nowhere to go, leaving behind my beloved family and friends, simply because I spoke out against the government and my desire to stand up for myself and for my people. One of the first genocidal attacks against the indigenous African people started in the outskirts of Kabkabiya, my hometown in North Darfur. Fifty Darfuri villages were burned to the ground in one week. Forty-nine of my father’s immediate family members were killed in just one day; children were thrown into fires and burned alive.
I did not want to leave Sudan, but many women, including my mother, supported and encouraged me to leave. My mother said to me, “Niemat, you are outspoken. If you stay, we may all be killed, and if you leave, you may be safe and can tell the world about what is happening in Darfur and they may do something to help end it.” With the hope of being the voice for my people, and after several attempts on my life, I left my homeland.
To this day, I have been deprived of seeing my mother, or any of my loved ones since I was forced to leave my home. Even though I am now a US citizen, I am not able to go to Darfur because of the threats against my life. I created the Darfur Women Action Group to recognize the courage and the resilience of the Darfuri women in the face of genocide and to help empower them.
Today, in telling my story, it is no longer about me! As a survivor of the Darfur genocide, I am not only horrified by the mass rape incident and the brutality of the Sudanese government’s army, but I am deeply hurt and dismayed by the silence of the global community and media in the face of this shocking incident. UNAMID is the largest UN peacekeeping force in the world, but it is failing to protect civilians in Darfur and they are not being held accountable.
We must speak up and demand action. If the world leaders are failing in their responsibility to end genocide, it is imperative that we, the global citizenry, speak up and remind them that this is morally unacceptable. Please sign my petition to demand an immediate investigation into the mass rape of 200 women and girls in Darfur. Demand that the UN provide immediate medical and psychological treatment for the victims and hold the government soldiers (the rapists) accountable for their brutal crimes, including compensation for the victims.
Sadly, this is not an isolated incident; it is a systematic pattern of long-standing genocidal attacks against the people of Darfur that has lasted for over a decade. Nine years ago, I was forced to leave Darfur in the middle of the night with nowhere to go, leaving behind my beloved family and friends, simply because I spoke out against the government and my desire to stand up for myself and for my people. One of the first genocidal attacks against the indigenous African people started in the outskirts of Kabkabiya, my hometown in North Darfur. Fifty Darfuri villages were burned to the ground in one week. Forty-nine of my father’s immediate family members were killed in just one day; children were thrown into fires and burned alive.
I did not want to leave Sudan, but many women, including my mother, supported and encouraged me to leave. My mother said to me, “Niemat, you are outspoken. If you stay, we may all be killed, and if you leave, you may be safe and can tell the world about what is happening in Darfur and they may do something to help end it.” With the hope of being the voice for my people, and after several attempts on my life, I left my homeland.
To this day, I have been deprived of seeing my mother, or any of my loved ones since I was forced to leave my home. Even though I am now a US citizen, I am not able to go to Darfur because of the threats against my life. I created the Darfur Women Action Group to recognize the courage and the resilience of the Darfuri women in the face of genocide and to help empower them.
Today, in telling my story, it is no longer about me! As a survivor of the Darfur genocide, I am not only horrified by the mass rape incident and the brutality of the Sudanese government’s army, but I am deeply hurt and dismayed by the silence of the global community and media in the face of this shocking incident. UNAMID is the largest UN peacekeeping force in the world, but it is failing to protect civilians in Darfur and they are not being held accountable.
We must speak up and demand action. If the world leaders are failing in their responsibility to end genocide, it is imperative that we, the global citizenry, speak up and remind them that this is morally unacceptable. Please sign my petition to demand an immediate investigation into the mass rape of 200 women and girls in Darfur. Demand that the UN provide immediate medical and psychological treatment for the victims and hold the government soldiers (the rapists) accountable for their brutal crimes, including compensation for the victims.
To:
- UN Security Council
- Mr. Liu Jieyi, China's Representative to the UN
- Mr. Francois Delattre, France's Representative to the UN
- Sr. Mark Lyall Grant, UK's Representative to the UN
- Lady Lyall Grant (Sheila Jean), UK's Representative to the Security Council
- Ms. Samatha Power, US' Representative to the UN
- Mr. Gary Francis Quinlan, Australia's Representative to the UN
- Mrs. Maria Christina Perceval, Argentina's Representative to the UN
- Mr. Cherif Mahamat Zene, Chad's Representative to the UN
- Mr. Octavio Errazuriz, Chili’s Representative to the UN
- Mrs. Christiana Tortorelli de Errazuriz, Chile's Representative to the Security Council
- Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein, Jordan’s Representative to the UN
- Princess Sarah Zeid, Jordan's Representative to the Security Council
- Ms. Raimonda Murmokaite, Lithuania's Representative to the UN
- Ms. Sylvie Lucas, Luxemburg’s Representative to the UN
- Mrs. U. Joy Ogwy, Nigeria's Representative to the UN
- Mr. C. Aloysius Ogwy, Nigeria's Representative to the Security Council
- Mr Kim Sook, Korea's Representative to the UN
- Mr. Eugene-Richard Gasana, Rwanda's Representative to the UN
- Mrs. Agnes Gasana, Rwanda's Representative to the Security Council
- Mrs. Choi Choonok (Korea's Representative to the Security Council), Korea's Representative to the Security Council
- Mrs. Irina Churkina (Russia’s Representative to the UN Security Council), Russia’s Representative to the UN Security Council
- Mr. Vitaly Churkin (Ambassador) (Russia’s Representative to the UN), Russia’s Representative to the UN
We demand that the UN Security Council take the following measures to protect the people of Darfur, bring the perpetrators to justice, and bring lasting peace to Sudan at large:
-UNAMID must be given authority and its mandate should be extended to focus on protecting civilians, to create a safe environment for independent humanitarian operations, and to produce transparent reports on human rights violations, particularly rape cases.
-The UNSC must implement a public investigation report regarding UNAMID’s cover up and hold the accomplices accountable. Those accomplices, including some among UNAMID’s leadership, are implicated in falsifyng reports about the number of casualties of the attacks committed by the Sudanese government in Darfur.
-The UNSC must make it clear to the Sudanese government that it must stop the use of rape as a weapon of war.
-The UNSC must pressure the Sudanese government to allow unimpeded humanitarian access in Darfur, Blue Nile, and South Kordofan.
-The UNSC must support the International Criminal Court in pursuing justice and bringing those who committed these heinous crimes to trial.