Amanda Taub at Wronging Rights has published a three-part series of investigative blogging examining the use of quotes attributed to a Darfuri spokesperson in the Internally Displaced Camps, known as Abu Sharati.   She explores whether Abu Sharati speaks for all displaced Darfuris, as stated in a number of articles, or espouses the views of only one particular Darfuri rebel faction.  After talking with journalists from The New York Times, The Associated Press, and Reuters who quoted Abu Sharati in their stories on Darfur, she writes:

After weeks of research, I have been unable to find any information that makes me think Abu Sharati, supposedly the “representative” of Darfuri refugees and IDPs, exists -except to the extent that someone, who possesses neither that name nor that position, has been making statements to the press. And that whoever that person is, he is apparently awfully fond of the rebel leader Abdel Wahid Al-Nur.

I cannot think of any way to interpret the information I have been given that would allow me to conclude that no journalist has either (a) lied to me, (b) failed to follow the professional ethics that a journalist should, or (c) been duped by a fake “refugee representative” when any minor amount of digging or critical thought would have alerted them that there was more to the story. Frankly, the Occam’s Razor explanation here really seems like it’s (d): all of the above.

The trail that leads her to this conclusion is definitely worth a read, as are her conclusions for why this misreporting matters.  She believes first that “Abu Sharati’s” claiming to represent all Darfuris deprives other IDPs of their ability to tell their own stories and, furthermore, that “presenting a political argument in the guise of a humanitarian sentiment is disingenuous at best, and dangerous at worst.”  With 2.7 million Dafuris scattered over numerous camps in Darfur, it seems highly unlikely that they are organized and represented by one voice with one message.

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