Rwandans hope Darfur presence will halt violence
EL FASHER, Sudan -- As the sun set over this desert camp, Private Lambert Sendegeya, an African Union soldier from Rwanda, popped in a tape of music from his country and launched into a series of leg bends. Lieutenant Eugene Ruzianda peered from his canvas tent and, removing his green beret, joined the evening exercises.
As they stretched, they lamented their daunting task: protecting 80 African Union military observers who are charged with monitoring a rarely observed cease-fire in Sudan's strife-torn region of Darfur, an area about the size of France.
They rattled off reports of violence they had heard and instances in which victims handed them handwritten notes about fighting and rapes. But neither the monitors nor the protection forces have enough vehicles or manpower to investigate, the soldiers said.
''Every night you go to sleep thinking, 'I could do more. We could do more with a better mandate,' " said Ruzianda, also a Rwandan, whose family fled to Congo during a civil war in his country in the 1990s. ''I hate it, to see people living like this. There are some things that remind me of our country when people were fleeing. It can be a shock to see it all again. This time, the only comfort is that at least we are here. At least there is something."
The 1994 Rwandan genocide was 100 days of violence in which 800,000 people were slaughtered. The Organization of African Unity, since replaced by the African Union, stood by. The United Nations, which had a small force on the ground during the bloodshed, also did not intervene.
Now 155 Rwandans, part of a 305-member African Union force, are being asked to demonstrate that Africans can stop African wars. The United Nations, backed by the United States and the European Union, called for the group's involvement in Darfur, its first serious test.
About 1.4 million Africans driven from their farms live in squalid tent cities that continue to swell. Thousands of people have died in the crisis, which the United States has termed a genocide.
Violence erupted in February 2003, when African tribes rebelled against the Arab-led government. The government bombed villages and armed and supported an Arab militia known as the Janjaweed to put down the rebellion, according to the United Nations and human rights groups. The government has said the Janjaweed is not under its control.
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution this month that threatens sanctions against Sudan unless it stops the violence and establishes a commission to investigate atrocities. The council has threatened to send 3,000 more African Union troops to Darfur.
The job of the monitors and their protectors is to track violations of the cease-fire and report them to the union's political wing, which is conducting peace talks between the government and rebels in Nigeria.
The African Union's chairman, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, has appealed for $200 million to buy equipment. The US Senate approved a bill last week providing $75 million for the force, which was established in 2002.
''We hope and would appreciate the very important help," said Major Emmanuel Rugazoora, a Rwandan commander. ''No one should be ashamed to ask for more help where there are people suffering."
''We want to go in deep," said Sendegeya, the private, who grew up as a refugee in Burundi during Rwanda's war. Many family friends, who stayed behind, were killed. ''As a Rwandan, you feel this should be looked at very carefully and there should be goals."
There are days when there are not enough cars for all the monitors to go out.
But Sendegeya, 32, said he was glad to be here. ''You know, it's interesting because in spite of everything, I feel like I am doing something to resolve the conflict," he said.
