Athletes fight to end violence in Darfur

Team Darfur athlete, Rosanna Tomiuk, sings World on Fire

Athletes fight to end violence in Darfur
by JACK TODD,The Gazette

China's slogan for the Beijing Olympic games set to begin in a little more than two months is "One World, One Dream."

"One World, One Nightmare" might be more accurate.

After I wrote a column a couple of months ago to urge a boycott of the 2008 Olympics unless China alters its repressive murderous policies in Tibet, Canadian water-polo player Rosanna Tomiuk wrote to call attention to Chinese involvement in another troubled region. Tomiuk, a member of the women's national team that fell short of an Olympic berth, is also a member of Team Darfur - an international association of elite athletes attempting to call attention to the plight of Darfur.

Tomiuk and Alouettes defensive-tackle Devone Claybrooks have joined Team Darfur in order to do what they can as athletes to shed light on one of the world's largest and least-understood humanitarian crises, the ongoing genocide in Darfur. (The United Nations has refused to call the killings in that region genocide, but both the U.S. government and a long list of humanitarian organizations call it precisely that.)

The Team Darfur athletes (many of them Olympians) are not urging a boycott. Team Darfur explicitly calls for "a celebration of the Olympic spirit, not a boycott." What they are attempting to do, Tomiuk says, is to "focus on what the world can do to help in Darfur without putting a target on the Chinese."

The situation in Darfur is as complex as it is tragic. The clash is between nomads moving south in search of water and the farming communities of Darfur. (This may be one of the first of the water-fuelled conflicts of the future, triggered by global warming.)

Militias backed by the Sudanese government (and, indirectly, by China) have been accused of mass killings in Darfur, with estimates of the dead ranging from as low as 100,000 to as high as 400,000 (the UN's estimate, even if it refuses to use the word "genocide") and another one to 2.5 million people, again depending on the estimates, displaced and relocated, many of them to refugee camps in neighbouring Chad.

The athletes of Team Darfur are hardly alone in decrying the killings carried about by Sudanese militias funded by the Chinese. All three of the remaining U.S. presidential candidates (Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain) signed their names to an ad that appeared in the New York Times Wednesday, accusing the Sudanese government of genocide in Darfur and urging an end to the violence.

But it is the nature of life in our One World, One Nightmare global village that a tragic earthquake in China will make it more difficult to stop the Chinese-funded genocide halfway around the world in Darfur.

The enormous disaster of the earthquake in Chongqing has had far-reaching implications outside China's borders. In Darfur and Tibet, there was hope that pressure for a boycott or some other gesture connected to the Beijing Olympics might persuade the Chinese regime to alter its policy. But sympathy for the earthquake victims has muted the protests to a degree, even though the regime's failings in areas such as school construction are part of the tragedy.

It is perfectly natural to sympathize with the victims of the natural disaster in Sichuan province and to do everything possible to help. But it is equally natural to sympathize with the victims of the man-made tragedies in Tibet and Darfur and do everything possible to persuade the Chinese regime to alter its course.

While the Chinese have not been accused of direct involvement in the killings in Darfur, China pours billions of dollars into Sudan and buys an overwhelming portion of Sudan's oil. The state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. (an official partner in the Beijing Olympics) owns the major share in Sudan's largest oil companies. The Sudanese government has been accused of pouring as much as 70 per cent of its oil revenue into weaponry to be used against the poverty-stricken people of Darfur.

Through its investments in Sudanese oil, China is indirectly funding the government's war effort in Darfur. Even at the United Nations, China has repeatedly used the threat of a veto to keep UN peacekeepers out of Sudan.

In response, the athletes of Team Darfur are attempting to raise awareness of the crisis in Darfur and to put pressure on those countries who have failed to act to bring pressure on China to stop the violence. Team Darfur was co-founded by Olympic gold medallist speed-skater Joey Cheek and UCLA water-polo player Brad Greiner. Cheek raised more than $1 million in 2006 after announcing that he would donate his medal bonuses to relief in Darfur.

Cheek and Greiner and their fellow athletes have created a world-wide symbol, a wristband athletes can wear to raise awareness and funds to ease a humanitarian crisis.

The emphasis throughout Team Darfur is on education, not confrontation. If you take two minutes to go on Team Darfur's website and sign up, you can help to put the spotlight on Darfur - and receive a wristband.

Tomiuk says that she became involved because "I absolutely believe that I have the power to help change the world. As someone who represents my country all over the world, I have the responsibility to represent people who can't stand up for themselves. I believe in Team Darfur because it links athletes with human rights.

"I have so much freedom, but what does it mean if I can't find a way to pass some of it on to those who don't have it? There are people who are dying in Darfur and it's my responsibility to do what I can to help."

The pressure the Chinese can bring to bear to silence athletes is enormous. American softball player Jessica Mendoza, for instance, is a member of Team Darfur, but has refused to publicly criticize the Chinese because she says it's impolite to criticize her Olympic hosts, but also because one of her sponsors, Nike, has a major presence in China.

Athletes who have actually visited the refugee camps are, understandably, the most vocal. Emanuel Neto, who expects to make the Angolan basketball team, told the New York Times: "I've seen what those kids are going through and it's really, really bad. It doesn't matter at this point what will happen to me. What matters to me the most is that something has to be done."