Non-Violence in Response to Global Atrocity
~An analysis of the movement to end genocide in Darfur~

Written For: Non-Violence and Social Movements
June 6th 2005

Introduction:

Death Toll:
1.5 million Armenians. 3 million Ukrainians. 6 million Jews. 250,000 Gypsies. 6 million Slavs. 25 million Russians. 25 million Chinese. 1 million Ibos.
1.5 million Bengalis. 200,000 Guatemalans. 1.7 million Cambodians. 500,000 Indonesians. 200,000 East Timorese. 250,000 Burundians. 500,000 Ugandans. 2 million Sudanese. 800,000 Rwandans. 2 million North Koreans. 10,000 Kosovars.

Darfur = 400,000 dead and counting

Genocides and other mass murders killed more people in the twentieth century than all the wars combined.
The principles of non-violence have been an essential element of most of the world’s dynamic social movements. By its very nature non-violence requires thought and action rather than the reaction of a momentary violent backlash. Non-violence was elemental in the abolishing of legalized segregation in the United States and South Africa and in the Polish Solidarity movement, the women’s movement and the US Labor movement. It is in light of these momentous achievements in which non-violence has been effective that implementation of non-violence was chosen as an effective means to addressing the atrocities in Darfur, Sudan.

The Situation:

The crisis in Darfur that began in early 2003 has since become what the UN has called the worst humanitarian crisis today. The present Darfur conflict erupted in early 2003 when Justice and Equality Movement and Sudan Liberation Army/Movement rebels attacked and captured the capital in central Darfur. They demanded inclusion in new power-sharing arrangements between the North and the South of Sudan. The North and South of Sudan have been in conflict for twenty years and are currently involved in peace negotiations, which involve the United States, the United Kingdom and Norway as mediators. Rebellion in Darfur alarmed the Sudanese authorities, posing a threat to the continued viability of the country as a whole. Authorities feared that similarly neglected regions in the east, taking their cues from Darfur, would demand large degrees of autonomy, if not the right to independence. Khartoum became decidedly committed to achieving a military solution to the crisis. This focus on keeping the Darfur region under control led to the violence, which ultimately led to over 400,000 deaths in the region.

The government’s response has been to launch a counter insurgency which included air raids, burning villages, and ground attacks by an Arab militia, the Janjaweed, recruited from local tribes and armed by the government. These two tactics were used to squash the uprising by killing thousands of people, mainly civilians. These attacks have led to over 2.5 million internally displaced people (IDP’s) most who now flock to refugee camps in or the near the border of Chad.

The Grass Roots Movement:

The response to the situation in Darfur was first heard in the rumble of university students across the country who were shocked at the lack of response to the crisis in Darfur. The main groups that started on university campuses were the Genocide Intervention Fund (GIF) and Students Take Action Now: Darfur (STAND). These two groups have worked to create connections with campuses across the country. These groups have aimed to mobilize students in particular to respond and organize within their communities.

The original STAND was started at Georgetown. Established in September of 2004, STAND has an active base of more than 600 students at Georgetown and works in conjunction with student groups at nearly 200 universities and high schools across the nation and in Canada. STAND originated the idea of STANDFast, a national day or remembrance and fasting that mobilized more than 170 universities nationwide, dozens of high schools, and several universities in Canada. Their goal to address the situation in Darfur was to run a nationwide “adopt-a-camp” initiative and involve local communities in providing for the humanitarian and educational needs of the displaced people in the Darfur region. STAND hopes to give children in Darfur the chance to learn, while motivating the American public to engage in political activism and pressure our government and the international community to end the genocide. STAND also plans to organize a conference for college and high school students in the summer of 2005 to raise up a new generation of activists.

The Genocide Intervention Fund is an organization that was started out of Swarthmore College near Pittsburg. This organization has grown particularly in the level of support from government representatives as well as through a growing network of student coalitions that are working to support the fundraising efforts. The GIF is fundraising to support the AU troops and covers most of its internal finances through its connection to Omidyar Networks and the Center for American Progress.
The stated mission of the GIF is the following:

-The Genocide Intervention Fund (GIF) aims to increase public awareness about genocide and support organizations, initiatives and government policies designed to help prevent and stop genocide. At this stage, the GIF will focus its fundraising on supporting African Union peacekeepers in Darfur, Sudan.

-The GIF will not make legal determinations of genocide; recognition and response to the threat of genocide will take precedence over legal debates.

-The GIF will operate within the framework of the “Responsibility to Protect” report, produced by the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty in 2001. The Commission concluded, “sovereign states have a responsibility to protect their own citizens from avoidable catastrophe … but that when they are unwilling or unable to do so, that responsibility must be borne by the broader community of states.” The GIF brings the Responsibility to Protect to private citizens.

These two different groups were begun by students who wanted to change an international issue and decided to mobilize citizens behind their goal. This grassroots response came in direct contrast with the commonly held notion that individuals can do nothing to change large-scale issues, particularly those issues that are happening in other countries. Gaining the support of students or the general public is a powerful method of changing international crises if enough support is gathered from the general population.

The History of the Darfur Action Committee:

The Darfur Action Committee (or DAC) was originally established in an ad-hoc fashion. Various individuals and student groups had begun to assemble a mix of programs addressing different aspects about the crisis in Sudan. These programs ranged from FMLA’s panel on women as targets of sexual violence during times of war, to a movie screening and panel discussion with various aid organizations. These activities led to a collective decision to plan all of the events in the same week in order to create a larger awareness of the issues. A group of individuals met together to address getting the information about the crisis in Darfur out to the general student body. Each individual had different goals and resources, but it was decided that awareness through information dispersion was the most essential item on the agenda. The week-long program included mock refugee camps set up around campus on different days with photos of people in Darfur attached to the structures. It also included a movie screening and a panel discussion with John Prendergast and Don Cheadle, lead actor in Hotel Rwanda. The events also included a fundraising event at Westwood Brewing Company and a green ribbon campaign.

This group then began moving from the week of awareness to full time efforts to raise understanding, push for legislative change, fundraising and divestment from businesses that were supporting the Sudanese government. Students gathered periodically and began working on different projects to move towards the final goal. As groups began to develop around particular tactics, the creation of a student group emerged from the coalition of the student groups represented on campus. These different areas evolved into following five areas: divestment, letter writing, awareness, fundraising and visual displays.

Direct Action:

Divestment

The concept of divestment comes from the principle of non-violence that encourages targeting economic arenas in order to put pressure on those who are the perpetrators of oppression. This was seen in the consumer boycotts during the US Civil Rights movement and during the struggle against apartheid. To divest means to take away something, especially status or power, from somebody or something (often passive). The DAC has begun a divestment campaign to encourage the UC Regent to divest their money from companies that are supporting the Sudanese government. Divestment is merely the process of selling or “dis-investing” one’s stock in a company. This can be a powerful tool to use against the government of Sudan not only as protest but to actually save lives. The Sudanese government has relied heavily on revenue, particularly from oil, created by transnational corporations operating in the country. It has been using this revenue to support itself and purchase military machinery to continue its campaign of genocide in Darfur.
By divesting in corporations that operate in Sudan, shareholders (like the University of California) can decrease the amount of revenue going to the regime and indirectly save lives. Divestment also serves as a powerful message to companies that their business practices will be subject to public scrutiny. Accomplished on a large enough scale, divestment could force a company to leave Sudan and send a powerful message to the government. University divestment is not unprecedented. In the 1980s, divestment campaigns were ensued worldwide against apartheid South Africa.

This tactic of non-violent social change was essential in bringing the white community in South Africa into the dialogue with the black African community, and can be an effective mechanism to put pressure on the Sudanese government. The University of California played a critical role in divestment in South Africa due to the clout it has as the largest public university system in the world. Today, the nation is mobilized to divest public and private funds from companies doing business in Sudan, through state public retirement systems and University endowments. This effort is a key aspect of the pressure on the Sudanese government that is perpetrating these human rights violations. The funding or economics behind various crises’ cannot be ignored and using finances as a way of bringing attention to an injustice is essential.

Letter writing

Letter writing is an effective tool for putting pressure on governments, particularly in a democratic structure with a representative system. Having representatives from particular regions allows citizens to voice their opinions on a matter directly to those who are supposed to represent their opinion to the government. It is within this system the DAC chose letter writing as a way to gain support for the crisis in Darfur by encouraging representatives to sign both the Darfur Accountability Act (Senate; S. 495) and the Darfur Genocide Accountability Act (House; 1424). Not only have we used the letter writing team to push for support of these bills, but we have also used letters as a way of speaking out against the lack of media coverage, to support the divestment team, and to contact community leaders to request support for the work of bringing awareness to the general community.

The letter writing campaign requires a commitment by individuals to write three hand written letters a week to local representatives or other influential people in particular areas targeted in our five-fold plan. Each week letter writers receive a sample letter, which they can add to or modify and put in their own handwriting. Four drop box locations are available across campus for letter writers to easily return letters. If individuals cannot drop off their letters, a DAC member will pick them up. The Darfur Action Committee collects and mails the letters for the individuals, organizing, counting and stuffing the letters in green colored envelopes. This allows the DAC to track the number of letters that are sent to each individual recipient. This also allows for a curtain level of accountability where those working with the letter writing campaign can call to remind each writer to get their letters in on time, and to check in with those who are not fulfilling their commitment.

Awareness campaigns

The concept behind the awareness campaigns is to bring the issue at hand to the public who may not be aware of the crisis that is happening. Often inaction is due to ignorance that firstly, there is a problem, and secondly that there is nothing that can be done. It is through educating the public that we believe passing bills, and increasing media attention is possible. When the general public is interested in a topic, the news media is more likely to cover the story. And although the public may be ignorant of the issue because there is little to no media coverage of the situation, increased interest by the public can encourage more coverage by mainstream media. As the government moves to pass bills to support Darfur, it is increasingly important that more of the public is aware and supports this action.

The DAC had organized different ways to educate the campus and the surrounding community. These mechanisms have included panel discussions, debates on campus, fundraising event, which included an educational component, speaking to local religious groups and high schools. and interviews on UCLA Radio. The community outreaches has been done through networking and have allowed us to speak to an estimated 500 students within classrooms, as well as an additional 1,000 youth who attended the Reebok Human Rights Awards here at UCLA.

These events have drawn thousands of people over the past three months, and continue to lead to additional opportunities to educate the community. Some of our larger events have included panels or discussions with:

-UN Under Secretary General Chowdhury,

-Samatha Power. Author and Prof at Harvard

-John Prendergast (President of the International Crisis Group)

-Don Cheadle and Ryan Gosling;
“actorvists”

-Peter Takirambudde (Human Rights Watch, African Division)

-Mark Hanis, President of the Genocide Intervention Fund

We have helped facilitate the education of the public as DAC events have drawn people from the community and have led to the development of further networking. As different people and groups have come to our events it has increased the level of assistance we have had from the community. Different DAC members have spearheaded these events with logistical assistance from others within the group. The publicity for these events has been done through UCLA list serves and through our growing network within the community of people dedicated to the cause. Logistical support has come primarily from the African Studies Department (and Sheila Breeding).

Fundraising

Funding assists in furthering every social movement. This is true also for the effort of the Genocide Intervention Fund, whose goal is primarily fundraising for the African Union Troops. This tactic of financial assistance is one way to help stop genocide. Although not the only option supporting the African Union troops will serve as a way to protect those who are the victims of crimes against humanity. In response to the question of whether or not the GIF supported violence they responded with the following answer:
No, the African Union rules of engagement strictly prohibit the use of force unless it is required in self-defense. Their duty is to remain above the conflict. When UN peacekeepers won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988, Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar’s Nobel Lecture reminded the audience that the “essence of peacekeeping is the use of soldiers as a catalyst for peace rather than as instruments of war.”

The GIF will support field operations in Darfur specifically for the AU mission in Darfur and funding will explicitly exclude the purchase of lethal equipment. The fundraising in itself is a form of non-violent social change, but in the spending of the money raised the same principles of protections rather then retaliations will be upheld.

The UCLA DAC, as part of the university and community network that is helping in the fundraising efforts for the GIF, believes in the nonviolent approach that they have taken. As a coalition desires change, fundraising is an active way individual and community groups can get involved. The DAC has worked with STAND on an event called STANDFAST that encouraged individuals to go without a luxury item for the day and instead donate the money to help raise awareness. Another group called www.StopGenocideNow.com has organized a 100-day fast along the same principle, where people around the world are fasting to raise awareness and money to be donated to the GIF. Some of our fundraising efforts have included taking donations while we are running educational programs, holding benefits at local bars (“Dance for Darfur”) and selling green bracelets and t-shirts. To date, the DAC has raised approximately $4,000.

The Arts & Visual Displays

Using forms of visual representations is an effective way to engage the audience in the material being presented. During the first week-long program that was aimed at the crisis in Darfur, there were mock refugee camps used to represent the conditions in which many internally displaced people find themselves. Attached to these tents were photographs of people living in the refugee camps. These strong images helped give a face to those suffering in Africa, and drew people in to ask more questions. Photographs have been a continued theme, as we used them to draw attention to the crisis at a recent event. On May 23rd, the DAC hosted a reggae concert in Bruin Plaza and displayed photographs of the bombed villages, refugee campus and those suffering. These large-scale images were an effective way to bring people into dialogue. As another form of artistic response to the crisis the DAC in connection with the GIF has begun a project collecting blue handprints on large white sheets to show solidarity for the movement to stop genocide. These banners will then be taken to Washington DC to be placed on the lawn in front of the Washington monument, to show the support of the nation for this cause.

Organization and methods of Communication:

By the very nature of the construction of this movement across campuses the communication networks have needed to be established on an individual basis with people who have been working towards the same goal. This has led the DAC to connect with different people at UCI, Stanford, Berkeley and UCD at regents meetings and through the Internet. On a more local level, communication has slowly progressed from an informal network of people connected through cell phones to a more structured system of e-mail databases and on-line discussion boards. As the group here at UCLA has grown from 10 to a group of 30, this transition in communication has been essential, and has helped us communicate effectively as a group. Beyond electronic information dispersal and organizing, it has been important for us to have weekly meeting to address the different areas of direct action. As a form of informing and mobilizing new and old members around the issues, we have established two-hour meetings every Wednesday night on campus. In addition to these meetings, we have committee meetings during the week to work specifically on divestment, lobbying and letter writing. For general guidance, we have faculty advisement from Edmond Keller, Director of the UCLA Globalization Research Center-Africa . We have also established a steering committee for our group here at UCLA. This group has been relatively fluid but has retained certain members as central figures since the beginning of the project. The steering committee sets the agenda for the general meeting, addresses budget issues and works on strategy to increase effectiveness of meetings and programs. This group would be similar to the group of individuals who gathered together to direct various actions during the civil rights movement. (Although the UCLA DAC is not a national movement, the need for clear goals, good communication and direction is necessary to make any action organized and effective).

How it is all connected:

the national movement

If UCLA students were the only people addressing the issues that allow for mass slaughter in Darfur, little would be accomplished. Happily, this is not the case. The UCLA Darfur Action Committee is part of a movement of students across the country to mobilize their communities. Working with the students who gathered in Washington DC at the Holocaust Museum for a national student leadership conference addressing Darfur, we created a policy statement for the movement. These 400 students from 92 universities across North America then stayed connected through weekly conference calls discussing the actions that needed to be taken in their regions. The UCLA DAC was connected to campuses across the country as they worked to support the GIF. As we all worked towards the same goals of education, legislative action, and fundraising we were bringing different parts of the nation together under the banner of one cause. Here at UCLA we are working as the GIF’s representative to the entire State of California. This has meant making connections with different campuses, religious organizations and community centers across the state. We are currently working with UCDavis, UCIrvine, UCBerkeley and UCSF on setting up similar action plans for their campuses. We have also been working with Stanford’s branch of STAND on a lobbying campaign to involve our representatives in Sacramento in the divestment campaign. As stated previously, we have also been making banners of handprints at different events to send to Washington DC to show the support of Californians in the action for change.

In an effort to increase national involvement we have also been targeting large media sources. The DAC, in collaboration with other campuses, has been working on a media package (including a story-line and pitch) for Oprah. This is an angle which we chose because we believe that having someone with a high public profile present the issue would not only reach a larger audience, but would give the movement access to a different demographic than it currently has. We have written hundreds of cards to Oprah expressing our desire for her to address the issue, and have included Darfur bracelets, posters, photographs, informational packets and a DVD with media footage. We have also been in contact with MTVu, MTV’s University programming. They came and shot footage during our week of action, and have asked to do a piece about the seniors who have chosen not to graduate in order to stay and continue to work on the mobilization of students here at UCLA. This is an additional way that we are able to reach out to students across the country.

Non-Violent theory in connection with the DAC:

The Darfur Action Committee was not established on the principles of non-violence, but by its very nature, has taken on non-violent forms of direct action as a response to mass violence. The adoption of a non-violent approach was not premeditated, but was embodied by the members who make up the group, so some very important principles have been generally accepted. These principles have included non-violence, education, non-hierarchical structure, inclusion, cooperation with different groups, and dedication to individuals’ rights. In Darfur, those who are dieing have been denied a voice, and the basic right to existence and safety. Because of this, the DAC has been careful to allow individuals involved in the group to make personal choices about the level and extent of their involvement. The principle of inclusion has allowed different people from the community, UCLA’s campus and other organizations to feel free to contribute and share in whatever way they desired. There has also been strength in collaboration. By working with people in the community, the movement has been able to reach a greater audience and continue in the principles that are contrary to the essence of genocide. As we have discussed, combating violence with violence only perpetuates the situation rather than solve it. In the same way, we must act in direct opposition to violence and the oppressive nature of the genocide by including people from all walks of life and valuing their opinions and individuality.

This philosophy also challenges the heart of many conflicts that may start from a lack of understanding of people who are different than oneself. The movement to stop genocide has brought together many groups who themselves have previously experienced genocide or discrimination. We have had lots of support from the Jewish community, the Armenian community, the Christian community, the Muslim and Arab student groups, and the larger humanitarian community. We have also had backing by politically focused groups and individuals who believe in government’s role to protect (and not harm) its civilians. These various groups, working together help to decrease ideas of “otherness” and increase our understanding of each other, will hopefully lessen the chances that we will be violent towards one another.

Conclusion:

The crisis that continues in the Darfur region of Sudan is costing thousands of people their lives each month. This is not something to be taken lightly, and it is therefore essential that the actions are not done in a violent spirit or in ignorance. The movement here in the United States has taken on a direct and non-violent form which I believe is essential to its ability to foster change. Through the nature of the movement, not only are we pushing for change in Sudan, but we are also learning to work together to address problems in a non-violent manner. The lessons we are learning about how to use our voice in our representative government, as well as how to work in collaboration with each other, not only helps those in Darfur but it empowers each person involved across the country to address grievances that they may have. The crisis is not over, but hopefully by combating the genocide in an opposite spirit the rights of the individual will prevail.