Darfur Now

In February 2003, after years of economic, political, and social hardship, the tribes people of Sudan, the geographically largest nation in Africa, staged a rebellion against their government. These corrupt officials in turn armed the Arab "Janjaweed" militia to destroy civilian populations believed to support the rebels. In 2004, the U.S. government declared genocide in Darfur, a historic move, as such conflict had previously never been declared genocide while the strife was still ongoing.

Four years after the rebellion began and three years after that landmark declaration, where do things stand? Darfur Now attempts to answer that question by introducing us to six individuals fighting the genocide in various capacities around the world. Adam Sterling is a student activist who lobbies to keep California state monies from companies that fund the Sudanese government (an economic strategy called divestment). Luis Moreno-Ocampo, prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (where the U.N. Security Council referred the situation in Darfur in 2005), gathers evidence against those in power believed responsible for the atrocities. Don Cheadle, the American actor who gained interest in the region while filming 2004's Hotel Rwanda, uses his star power to raise public awareness and to gain access to foreign governments with fellow actor/activist George Clooney. Pablo Recalde, leader of the World Food Program Team in Darfur, organizes risky distribution of needed supplies throughout the war-torn region. Ahmed Mohammed Abakar, chief sheikh of the Hamadea displacement camp, tries to keep order and peace among the 47,000 refugees living there. And Hejewa Adam, who became a rebel fighter when her infant son was beaten to death on her back, ...

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