DARFUR:
UN MESSENGER OF PEACE GEORGE CLOONEY'S VIDEO DIARY: PART 1, BY CAROLINE PATTON:
25/03/2008
(MaximsNews TV)
UNITED
NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network / 25
March 2008 -- In January, actor George Clooney was among
eight notables chosen as UN Messengers of Peace, in part for his work in drawing
attention to the genocide in Darfur. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said, in
naming Clooney a Messenger of Peace, "you have seen first-hand the victims
of war and made it your personal mission to help end violence and human
suffering."
In 2006,
Clooney and his father traveled to Darfur and made a compelling video diary of
their trip. In it, he recounts the flood of refugees leaving Darfur for Southern
Sudan and described a town that sheltered 1000 displaced families, living
without proper shelter or sufficient food or water. Clooney talked to many
people who had lost their property and seen their relatives killed and raped by
the Janjaweed militia, who struck without warning.
One man said he had
lost nine family members, another reported that seven of his relatives had been
killed. A woman recounted how her village was attacked in the middle of the
night, leading her to run away. She returned to find family and friends dead.
The people Clooney spoke with all report no differentiation between men and
women and children by the Janjaweed and indiscriminate violence.
The video is a sad
but important look into the lives of refugees from Darfur and a poignant and
chilling look at the horrors they have faced.
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