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Humanitarian Intervention
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Humanitarian Intervention, specifically Humanitarian Military Intervention (HMI), is one of the leading debates surrounding the effort to stop the ongoing genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan (which is spilling over into Chad and other neighboring countries as well). Essentially at the center of this debate is whether it is ever morally or more importantly LEGALLY justifiable to use armed force to prevent or stop human rights abuses.
For a number of years, the main players in international human rights, most notably Amnesty International, have avoided participating in this debate by not taking any position on the use of force. Recently more and more of these organizations have begun to change their mind, once again drawing attention to Amnesty International. In 2005 Amnesty International adopted a policy where it will advocate for the use of force in very specific cases, specifically only intervention by a UN peacekeeping force to prevent wide-spread and grave human rights abuses in a particular region, only to be used in order to protect civilians. Amnesty first publicly used this position in their activism work to advocate for an intervention in Darfur. If Amnesty International was able to brake a 40-year silence on the use of force for the issue of Darfur, how come the Canadian government has not. UNAMID, the United Nations-African Union hybrid force that is supposed to has already been deployed in Darfur, but still needs 18 more police units and 10,000 more troops? While Canada has volunteered police personnel, they have refrained from offering military personnel or equipment. What kind of message does that send to the world when a nation, who at least externally, is supposed to be seen as a world leader in human right, has not made a substantial committment to UNAMID?
This comes despite the fact that the idea for UNAMID, the legitimacy of UNAMID, has come from the ideas and the interpretations contained in a report called Responsibility to Protect, which Canadians gave life to.
If you, like me are frustrated by this lack of commitment from the Canadian government, one of the simplest was in which you can make your voice known is through the genocide hotline set up by STAND Canada. It is 1-800-GENOCIDE. This number directly connects you to the offices of one of 6 influential members of parliament. If you are nervous or unsure of what to say, before launching you towards an MP there is the option to hear some talking points.
Please take advantage of this opportunity to effect change.
And don't forget to write your MP, never forget the power of a handwritten letter. After the genocide in Rwanda, a prominent American member of the house said that if every elected representative received 100 letters then the United States would have done something about Rwanda.

February 8, 2008 | 3:09 PM Comments  0 comments

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