Have we forgotten ‘never again’?

Empty rhetoric of condemnation abounds but has not translated into real action. The toothless Security Council has invoked, for the first time in its history, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and threatened “strong and effective measures”, but has not stopped the onslaught and the unfolding humanitarian disaster.

The Europeans for their part do not perceive this calamity as genocide, preferring the “tribal violence” label, and remain indifferent. Canadian Gen. Romeo Dallaire, who headed the UN peacekeeping force in Rwanda between 1993-1994, has observed that early, decisive action against the Hutu extremists who led the ethnic extermination would have foiled their plans.

Australians must feel outraged enough to raise their voices about this. What happened to “never again” that oft-quoted promise made after the Holocaust? Why are we not seeing demonstrations in the streets of Melbourne, Sydney and other capital cities and an avalanche of talk back calls urging the Australian Government to take a leading role and advocate sanctions against Khartoum’s brutal tyrants and the immediate deployment of an effective international force?

Unless there is a reversal of the world’s silence and inaction, many more innocents will be caught in the never-ending death spiral.

Put simply, genocide is the one international issue that should garner consensus. Each Australian must be moved by compassion and see themselves as an inseverable part of a crusade for justice. Holocaust survivor and author Elie Wiesel maintains that: “What hurts the victim is not the cruelty of the oppressor, but the silence of the bystander.” If the endless needs of babies and children are not a catalyst for action, I don’t know what is.

The time has come for Australia and other nations to tell the vicious Sudanese regime that they will no longer just stand by and that the world will do all that is necessary to protect life wherever it is threatened.

Australians don’t have the right to disregard the suffering of another human being, whether in Darfur or closer to home. Martin Luther King called the human bonds of society “an inescapable network of mutuality”.

The international community should be ashamed that it has allowed the savagery to continue. Words require action. There are innocent orphans and widows devastated by the tragedy that are in desperate need of help from the outside world. In the Book of Micah we read, “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Perhaps we need to begin to feel the pain of others and to begin thinking with our hearts.