To Do: Remember Darfur

Marking International "Human Rights Day," President George W. Bush meets with Dr.Halima Bashir, a Darfur Human Rights Activist in the Oval Office of the White House. President Bush said Dr. Bashir, the author of "Tears of the Desert," "This good soul brings firsthand accounts to what life is like in Darfur. She has witnessed violence, deprivation, and she carries a message of a lot of people who want our help." White House photo by Chris Greenberg

President Bush marked international “Human Rights Day” and the 60th anniversary
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by meeting this afternoon with Dr.
Halima Bashir, a Sudanese rape-torture survivor turned human rights
activist.

President Bush held up a copy of Dr. Bashir’s recently
published book Tears of the Desert: A Memoir of Survival in Darfur and said she
"brings first-hand accounts" of the "violence and deprivation” that is taking
place in Darfur."

The President assured his visitor that “despite the
economic difficulties, our aid will continue to flow.” He expressed frustration
with “the pace of activities” by the U.N. and said that Sudanese President
Bashir (no relation) “cannot escape accountability” for the situation.

Dr. Bashir, wearing a white, red and black patterned outfit that covered
all of her body except for her eyes, spoke so softly that her words were barely
audible over the constant click of camera shutters. She thanked the President
for inviting her to the White House, condemned the “almost incomprehensible”
violence and asked him to do what he could to “stop the genocide and crisis in
Darfur.”

(Dr. Bashir chose to cover up almost her entire body to protect
her identity.)

Bashir, a rare college-educated woman in her Zaghawa
tribe, was working as a doctor in a remote Darfur village when the Janjaweed
militia, which is supported by the Sudanese central government, surrounded a
girl's school and systematically raped 42 teachers and students, some as young
as 8 years old. As punishment for treating the injured women, soldiers kidnapped
Bashir and brutalized her. In Tears of the Desert she wrote, “The three of them
took turns raping me. And while doing so they burned me with their cigarettes,
and cut me with their blades. They raped me until I lost consciousness. ...There
was nothing more that anyone could do to me. My life was over."

Fortunately, it was not. She escaped and eventually won asylum in
England, along with her husband and children. She has become a leading advocate
for international action to end Darfur violence, particularly terror aimed at
women and children.

A bit of background: The White House says that the
U.S. has spent more than $5 billion since 2004 for security and humanitarian
intervention in Darfur. According to the White House, U.S. programs currently
help to provide food, shelter, health care and medical care for more than 4.2
million people.

Rick Dunham
Houston Chronicle
Washington Bureau Chief