President’s Corner: Mia and Ronan Farrow Speak Out to Save Lives
Monday, May 05, 2008
Later this week Refugees International will honor Mia and Ronan Farrow for their successful efforts to increase pressure on Sudan to end the killing in Darfur.
The mother-son team has written scores of op-eds calling attention to China’s economic and political support for Sudan and leading an international movement to dub this summer’s Olympics in Beijing the “genocide Olypmics.” While they have not asked athletes to skip the Olympics, Mia and Ronan have recommended that athletes and world leaders boycott the opening ceremonies to express opposition to the support Sudan gets from China. China, the leading purchaser of Sudanese oil, also sells arms to Sudan. I have personally seen rocket casings with Chinese markings on them in a north Darfur village that was bombed by Sudanese aircraft
The Farrows have attacked such American icons as investor Warren Buffett and film-maker Steven Spielberg. Buffett’s company, Berkshire Hathaway, once owned 11% of PetroChina’s publicly traded shares but sold them all last year. Buffett, who opposed divestment as way to pressure China on Sudan, said he sold the shares to realize a large profit. Spielberg decided not to advise China on staging the Olympics after Mia and Ronan called him a “key collaborator” in the “genocide Olympics.” After failing to engage Chinese officials on their complicity in the violence in Darfur, Spielberg said that “my conscience will not allow me to continue with business as usual.”
Since 2003, when Sudan mobilized and armed local militias to suppress a rebellion over the economic and political marginalization of Darfur, thousands of villages have been destroyed, about 2.5 million Darfuris have been displaced and an estimated 400,000 have died of war related causes.
The violence in Darfur has not ended since Mia and Ronan started speaking out. In fact, it has gotten worse. But China has paid attention. It has appointed a special envoy to deal with Darfur issues and it has supported the deployment of a combined UN-African Union peacekeeping force to Darfur. It has also hired public relations firms to help it counter the Farrows and other critics, so far without success.
Refugees International and other human rights organizations have been reporting on the death and displacement in Darfur for years. Many people have spoken out against the violence in Darfur—New York Times Columnist Nicholas Kristof, Smith College Professor Eric Reeves, U.S. activist John Prendergast, British author Alex de Waal, President George Bush, who despite accusing the Sudanese government of genocide in Darfur, plans to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing. They and many others have helped create a nationwide movement against genocide.
As long as Mia and Ronan Farrow are speaking out, stopping the genocide in Darfur will remain a challenge facing the world at large.
Ken Bacon
The mother-son team has written scores of op-eds calling attention to China’s economic and political support for Sudan and leading an international movement to dub this summer’s Olympics in Beijing the “genocide Olypmics.” While they have not asked athletes to skip the Olympics, Mia and Ronan have recommended that athletes and world leaders boycott the opening ceremonies to express opposition to the support Sudan gets from China. China, the leading purchaser of Sudanese oil, also sells arms to Sudan. I have personally seen rocket casings with Chinese markings on them in a north Darfur village that was bombed by Sudanese aircraft
The Farrows have attacked such American icons as investor Warren Buffett and film-maker Steven Spielberg. Buffett’s company, Berkshire Hathaway, once owned 11% of PetroChina’s publicly traded shares but sold them all last year. Buffett, who opposed divestment as way to pressure China on Sudan, said he sold the shares to realize a large profit. Spielberg decided not to advise China on staging the Olympics after Mia and Ronan called him a “key collaborator” in the “genocide Olympics.” After failing to engage Chinese officials on their complicity in the violence in Darfur, Spielberg said that “my conscience will not allow me to continue with business as usual.”
Since 2003, when Sudan mobilized and armed local militias to suppress a rebellion over the economic and political marginalization of Darfur, thousands of villages have been destroyed, about 2.5 million Darfuris have been displaced and an estimated 400,000 have died of war related causes.
The violence in Darfur has not ended since Mia and Ronan started speaking out. In fact, it has gotten worse. But China has paid attention. It has appointed a special envoy to deal with Darfur issues and it has supported the deployment of a combined UN-African Union peacekeeping force to Darfur. It has also hired public relations firms to help it counter the Farrows and other critics, so far without success.
Refugees International and other human rights organizations have been reporting on the death and displacement in Darfur for years. Many people have spoken out against the violence in Darfur—New York Times Columnist Nicholas Kristof, Smith College Professor Eric Reeves, U.S. activist John Prendergast, British author Alex de Waal, President George Bush, who despite accusing the Sudanese government of genocide in Darfur, plans to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing. They and many others have helped create a nationwide movement against genocide.
As long as Mia and Ronan Farrow are speaking out, stopping the genocide in Darfur will remain a challenge facing the world at large.
Ken Bacon
Labels: Darfur, President's Corner
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