Wednesday
Aug182004
Teachers in Sudan Targets of Violence
Wednesday, August 18, 2004 at 04:36AM
Assault on Educated Class an Effort to Erase History, Observers Say
Violence began in Darfur about 18 months ago, when African groups rebelled against the government by attacking a military installation. The government responded by bombing areas of Darfur and by arming a marauding Arab militia called the Janjaweed, human rights and aid groups say. Since then, the African residents of Darfur have been uprooted, beaten, raped and left hungry. But the educated among them -- teachers, students and community leaders -- say they are being particularly targeted. They have been singled out by the government, they say, accused of treason and support for the rebellion, and prevented from speaking out about the crisis. Human rights investigators have called the assault on the educated an attempt to silence the residents of Darfur and a way to erase the community's collective memory and destroy its political strength. [more
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Violence began in Darfur about 18 months ago, when African groups rebelled against the government by attacking a military installation. The government responded by bombing areas of Darfur and by arming a marauding Arab militia called the Janjaweed, human rights and aid groups say. Since then, the African residents of Darfur have been uprooted, beaten, raped and left hungry. But the educated among them -- teachers, students and community leaders -- say they are being particularly targeted. They have been singled out by the government, they say, accused of treason and support for the rebellion, and prevented from speaking out about the crisis. Human rights investigators have called the assault on the educated an attempt to silence the residents of Darfur and a way to erase the community's collective memory and destroy its political strength. [more
]