Seven Oaks Magazine.

Last week, Seven Oaks spoke with Clement Apaak, about his work organizing locally around the issue of genocide in Darfur, Sudan, where over 50 000 people have been killed by militia groups in the last 18 months. Apaak is a student senator at SFU, a Ph.D candidate in the university’s department of archeology, and is the host of “African Connection” on CJSF 90.1FM.

SO: What is your opinion of recent international responses to the atrocities apparently committed by the Janjaweed militia in Darfur, Sudan?

Apaak: Well generally, the response is what I expected. Over 50 000 people have now died after the UN passed a resolution that was not obeyed by the government of the Sudan. Of course, this resolution has not been upheld by the international community and so while powerful UN member states contradict each other, the Sudanese government has exploited the fact that the international response hasn’t been strong enough.

Apaak: The root cause is not as recent as a lot of people think. It has a lot to do with the exploitation and distribution of resources in the region. The Sudanese government chose to silence the people and freedom fighters of Darfur who were demanding their resource rights. The government decided to take the easy way out by supporting the Arab militia. So there is basically an overall economic undertone to the whole conflict.

SO: Recent articles in the media have tried to present certain American journalists and congressman as heroes for blowing the whistle on the situation in the Sudan, what do you think is the real position of the U.S. government on this crisis?

Apaak: As we all know, the US generally only feels compelled to get involved in the rest of the world when their interests are at stake. I would want to believe that the US is actively engaged because they want to help the people of Darfur. So as much as people like Coin Powell might want to get the credit for blowing the whistle on the Sudan, we’ll have to wait and see what their real interests are in the region. It could be that they simply want to exploit the rich oil resources of the Sudan, but it’s too early to tell at this point.

SO: Last week you helped organize a demonstration at SFU’s main campus to raise awareness about the situation in Sudan, and more importantly, to compel the international community, especially Canada, to take action on this issue.

Apaak: I’m at a loss as to why countries like Canada and Norway have sat back and waited for the U.S. to take initiatives on Africa. I find it very strange, given the fact that countries like Canada have reputations for upholding and defending human rights around the world. We organized the rally because Canada, in particular, has not been in the forefront of shedding light on what is going on in the Sudan, to put pressure on the government of the Sudan to stop sponsoring the Arab militias. We want the Canadian government to take a more active role through the UN and the international community. We don’t support military intervention, but we don’t support silence either.

SO: Do you think that international responses to the Sudanese genocide are similar to the responses that many had to the Rwandan genocide and other recent massacres in Liberia and Sierra Leone?

Apaak: As an African I’ve always felt that the international community has shown extreme bias when it comes to issues on the African continent. By the time the international community paid attention to Rwanda, there were 800 000 people killed. So I’m not surprised that people are so reluctant to call the situation in the Sudan genocide. I don’t know what it takes to get that definition. Maybe the UN has to come up with a standard definition of what genocide is, and we can focus on preventing innocent lives from being lost. It is simply wrong for people to die needlessly for what is happening in the Sudan and other parts of the world.

SO: What will be the message of any future local activities on the situation in the Sudan?

Apaak: Well we are working with the Darfur community here in Vancouver. We discovered that there are quite a few people actually living here. The first step is to send out the postcards to Paul Martin to pressure the Canadian government into action. We also plan to organize other activities on campuses in B.C. and nationwide and maybe hold some activities in downtown Vancouver. The more we can do to keep the public’s attention on the immediate and long-term issues in the Sudan, the better. Not by any means is this the last thing that we’re going to do. But we did have some success locally, with over 600 postcards signed so far. And having a demonstration of 70 people at SFU seemed like a good turnout. So in that regard, we achieved a very important goal for what we tried to do.

SO: Is there anything else you would like to add about the local initiatives in support of the people of Darfur?

Apaak: We have been very disappointed with the local media on this situation. They have done a very poor job of making this an issue. They devote a lot of time to other things going on around the world, but completely ignored our demonstration - despite the fact that we sent out numerous press releases and statements. The independent media has tried, but could do more. There were people at the rally who are actually from Darfur and who know a lot about the situation. Some of them, as we speak, are losing their families. That would have been a good story for someone to do, but it hasn’t happened.