November 27, 2009

Aid worker being evacuated from eastern Chad

What will happen to them

Women and children of Birao.
The airstrip in Birao is heavily guarded

What will happen to them?

This week two international aid workers were kidnapped by militia  from the remote town of Birao,  just a few miles from Central African Republic’s borders with Sudan and from Chad.  

Darfur,  eastern Chad and the equally anarchic north of the Central African Republic are roamed by militia of all kinds, the abduction , beatings  and murder of humanitarian aid workers is increasingly commonplace. The region is now so dangerous that six aid groups temporarily withdrew from eastern Chad, leaving 37,000 displaced people without assistance.

People cannot leave the camps  because of the rampant violence and because so many of their homelands have been occupied by Arab tribes from elsewhere. If the surge in violent attacks upon aid workers and their compounds continue, more NGO’s will be forced to withdraw.  More than 3 million people  have been displaced in Darfur, Chad and CAR. Most are women and children.  What will happen to them?   

ABYEI: Bashir wants it all

Friday 27 November 2009
Link to full piece here.
www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article33259#comment_article
by Roger Winter- former USAID manager and former US State  Department special envoy for Sudan assigned to follow Darfur dossier  and implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement  

November 26, 2009 — Having visited Abyei on numerous occasions  over the last fifteen years, it has become a place that I regularly  go to see President Bashir and his National Congress Party at their  predictable worst. Visually, the destruction of May 2008, when  Abyei’s market and most of its homes were burned to the ground by  Bashir’s 31st Sudan Armed Forces Brigade, were, of course, the most  striking sights. Abyei’s civilians fled south, displaced once again.  To top things off, the 31st blew up the facilities of the Sudan  Peoples Liberation Movement, the NCP’s ‘partner’ in the mis-named  Government of National Unity. This wanton destruction by Khartoum’s  forces was followed by both Parties presenting their cases to the  Permanent Court of Arbitration(PCA) in the Hague. On July 22 of this  year the PCA rendered its findings which both Parties committed to  implement, including by properly demarcating the borders.
---
But the dark storm clouds of Bashir and his NCP, along with the  criminals of the 31st Brigade, are not far away. Both Bashir and his  NCP have a perfect record insofar as agreements are concerned; they  NEVER , EVER keep an agreement they sign. --.
 
The task of the demarcation team is to lay out Abyei’s boundaries  pursuant to the PCA decision. This involves working in the field, on  the ground and in the air, to plot out and mark the boundaries with  pillars and markers so that there is no question of the border’s  location. The plan was to install between 25 and 30 major pillar  markers along with smaller markers between pillars. So far, four  pillars have been installed, all in southern locations. When  visiting other areas for their preliminary work, the team has been  threatened with death and bodily harm. The process is now at a  standstill. The demarcation task was to have been completed in  November.
 
Bashir has publically made promises to the Misseriya community  about Abyei’s future. His promises are all at odds with the Abyei  Protocol of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, not to mention the  decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. He obviously  couldn’t care less about demarcation. He wants Abyei and he wants it  all.
 

 

Reminder

CBS' 60 Minutes traveled with the IRC to remote camps in North Kivu that shelter thousands of people displaced by recent fighting. The crew was able to take a close look at one of the world's worst humanitarian crises and explore the root causes of Congo's chronic violence, including the illicit trade in conflict minerals. The segment is scheduled to air on CBS this Sunday, November 29. Please check local listings for broadcast times.
We hope you'll spread the word, tune in and get involved in helping the people of Congo:

November 25, 2009

we need protection

I took this photo of displaced children  in 2004. All across Darfur- even before the desperate need for water and food  came the plea for protection.   Can there be a more visceral plea from the human heart? Yet no adequate protection has come for the people of Darfur.
This week, in response to the new UN report, the utterly shameless Sudanese ambassador to the United Nations, Abdalmahmoud Abdalhaleem says the U.N./African Union Peacekeeping Mission (UNAMID) should get out because there is no longer any conflict in Darfur.    The UN report accuses the Sudanese government of harassing peacekeepers and obstructing their movements throughout the region.    Outrageously the Khartoum cabal headed by man indicted by the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity including the murder, rape, pillaging and displacement of millions, is able to dictate which parts of Darfur may and may not be accessed by international peacekeepers.

'conflict minerals' in Congo the source of violence and immeasurable suffering

November 25, 2009
Congo Army Helps Rebels Get Arms, U.N. Finds
JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
A new United Nations report says that the Congolese Army continues to funnel weapons to rebel groups that are smuggling millions of dollars in gold and other minerals out of Congo, helping sustain one of Africa’s bloodiest and most complicated wars.

The lengthy report, which has not been made public but was provided to The New York Times, details a vast, rebel-driven criminal network in eastern Congo with tentacles touching Spanish charities, Ukrainian arms dealers, corrupt African officials and even secretive North Korean weapons shipments.
The United Nations report lays bare exactly how various rebel groups finance their brutality, tracing the flow of illegal minerals from the lush green mountainsides of Congo, formerly Zaire, to Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda, and eventually to markets in Europe or smelters in the Far East.

The report charges that government officials in several African countries are working hand in hand with the rebels to help smuggle out minerals and bring in guns.

According to the report, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, one of the most notorious rebel armies, “has a far-reaching international diaspora network involved in the day-to-day running of the movement; the coordination of military and arms-trafficking activities and the management of financial activities.”

This document is likely to add momentum in the United States and elsewhere to efforts to crack down on Congo’s illicit mineral trade. Congolese officials estimate that 80,000 pounds of gold are smuggled out of the country each year, which at today’s high gold prices is worth more than $1 billion, much of it going straight into rebel hands.

Already the Enough Project  among others, have been urging Congress to pass legislation that would bar American companies from buying Congo’s “conflict minerals,” which include gold, tin and coltan, a metallic ore used in many cellphones and laptop computers. Several bills have been proposed.

 This effort is akin to a successful movement in the early years of this decade to crack down on blood diamonds, the term given to the gems unearthed in the rebel-held areas of West Africa that fueled gruesome civil wars in Liberia, Angola and Sierra Leone.

The United Nations Security Council is expected to discuss the Congo report this week. But the United Nations is in a difficult position. It recently cut ties to Congolese Army units accused of widespread human rights abuses. But at the United Nations headquarters in New York, diplomats are trying to delay the release of the new report because “there is a lot in there that makes us look complicit,” admitted one United Nations official, who asked for anonymity because he said he could be punished for speaking candidly.
Link to full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/world/africa/25congo.html?_r=1

Conflict minerals in Congo

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/25/60minutes/main5774127.shtml
John Prendergast, of the ‘Enough Project," takes 60 Minutes ( CBS this weekend at 7pm) to the Democratic Republic of Congo to expose black market trade in conflict minerals.  Congo is stuck in a cycle of violence in which rape and other atrocities are common - due to the outside world's demand for the precious minerals it holds. "If you do a conflict analysis, you will find that when there are spikes in violence, it has something to do with contestation over the mineral resources, gold and the rest of them," says Prendergast.  Congo also holds vast quantities of copper, tin and coltan - an essential ingredient of electronics.

Militias commonly attack civilian populations near the mineral supply to take control over a source of income (a mine) .
The United Nations has tried to stop the sale of "conflict gold" from Congo, but the metal is smuggled out and sold to vendors in neighboring Uganda.  The gold then makes its way to Dubai where it's melted and sold in bulk.


  

Happy Thanksgiving! If you are able to give please consider one of these great organizations

Save the Children
 www.savethechildren.org <http://www.savethechildren.org>
  
 United Nations High Commission for Refugees
 www.unhcr.org <http://www.unhcr.org>
  
 United Nations Children's Fund
 www.unicef.org <http://www.unicef.org>  <http://www.unicef.org>
  
 Medecines sans frontieres (Doctors Without Borders)
 www.msf.org <http://www.msf.org>
  
 International Rescue Committee
 www.theirc.org <http://www.theirc.org>
  
 The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
 www.icrc.org <http://www.icrc.org>
  
 Solar Cookers-
Solar Cookers are provided to Darfuri women in camps in Chad through Jewish World Watch. To donate go to www.jewishworldwatch.org <http://www.jewishworldwatch.org>  or call 818-501-1836.
 
 Paul Farmer-Partners in Health
 http://www.pih.org/who/vision.html
 
 Or put a sturdy, totally cool lap top in the hands of the poorest children on earth,   go to http://www.amazon.com/xo> for only $199.00. Or you can give a laptop AND buy one for the child in your own world for $399.000 . If you have the ability, you could give 100 or 1000 and even specify where they are to go! For example, somebody can buy 100 for a refugee camp or buy 1000 for a small town. Here's a link to the video about the laptop
 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GB87EI/ref=sc_i <http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GB87EI/ref=sc_iw_c_0_1>

Excellent article by by Andrew Heavens

There was a time when visits to Darfur were uncertain affairs, fraught with danger. These days, as long as you travel with the right people and stick strictly to the right route, they can be as comfortable as a coach trip. Darfur has got used to hosting visitors in the six years since it became one of the world's best known conflict zones. North Darfur's governor Osman Kebir told Tuesday's trip he had welcomed about 800 delegations since July 2006, which would make about one a day. One official was overheard referring to El Fasher's "red carpet camps" where residents turn out to welcome party after party. Critics question the use of these Darfur day-trips, especially around El Fasher, which is a world away from the region's remaining badlands. It might have been interesting to find out what the residents of Abu Shouk themselves thought about the quick consultation. But this journalist and a colleague were quickly brought back into line when we tried to sneak out of the police compound and walk to the edge of the actual camp.
"You can't go there, what are you doing?" asked one of the officials with the AU group. "You might speak to the wrong people.¦ And why are you making things more complicated for us than they already are?"
Link to the complete article
http://blogs.reuters.com/africanews/2009/11/25/a-slick-visit-to-darfurs-red-carpet-camps/

As pressure mounts to send IDPs home, little is being said about the crucial issue of land rights.

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/HHVU-7Y5KLN?OpenDocument
 25 Nov 2009
By Katy Glassborow, Tajeldin Abdhalla Adam and Blake Evans-Pritchard in The Hague (AR No 237, 25-Nov-09)

Abdalla Adam, an IDP (internally displaced person) leader from Alryad camp in El Geneina, West Darfur, says that he desperately wants to return to his village, Mestarei, from which he was forced to leave in 2003, but cannot because others have occupied his land.  Shortly after he was expelled, Arab settlers moved in.

"We were evicted by force from our land, which was given to settlers," he said. "The ultimate goal of this campaign of killing and displacement is to eliminate us and give our land to these settlers. We don't want to live in these camps but for now we have to because there is no where to go."

"This is about our land, which we are very attached to, where we have our houses, farms and orchards, and where our ancestors lived, died and were buried," Adam explained.

Adam is not alone in expressing such anxieties. Many other IDPs would also like to leave the camps and return to their former villages, once the situation improves, but fear that they no longer have land to go back to.

Mohamed Abdalla Aldoma, a lawyer from the Darfur Bar Association, said, "Land occupation in Darfur is a very vital issue. But, unfortunately, everybody, including the [United Nations] who documented it in 2007, are silent now."

Around three million Darfuris (mainly members of the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa so-called black African Darfur tribes) have been displaced by government forces and allied janjaweed militia since 2003.  Perceiving these tribes as disloyal and harbouring insurgents, the Khartoum government deliberately targeted this section of the population, destroying homes, crops, livelihoods, killing men, raping women and forcing people off their land. There are claims that Khartoum annulled traditional customary law - which gave ownership rights to the region's sedentary African tribes and leasing rights to Arab nomads - and then actively encouraged Darfur Arabs and Arabs from other countries such as Chad to settle on land previously occupied by the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa, in a bid to swell support for Bashir's regime.

One estimate from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UNCHR, puts the number of Chadians that migrated to Darfur between 2006 and 2007 at 30,000, but gives no indication that the Sudanese government was responsible for encouraging this influx. Aldoma says that he has documented many cases where settlers, who were clearly foreigners, were given Sudanese IDs. "In some places the settlers have taken full control of the land including farms, orchards and water resources," he said.

Salih Osman, a Sudanese legislator and human rights campaigner, warns time is running out to resolve the problem and that, in the absence of official records, traces of villages and land ownership could disappear. During the fighting, many villages were razed and surrounding fields burnt.
"In time, the remnants of the ruined villages will vanish, and someone will come and say he found the land and there was no sign of previous possession," Osman said.  "The longer we keep people in camps, the longer there is a possibility of something like this happening. We all fear that this will be an ethnic cleansing, in the sense that millions of people will never be able to go back to their regional homes."
 
DANGER OF RETURNING

IDPs report that, whenever they try to leave the camps, they are in danger of being attacked by militiamen.
When two IDPs, Omer and Ali, left their camp at Kereinig, east of El Geneina, recently to cultivate peanuts a few km away, they were ambushed by armed men. They were then beaten and Omer's arms were broken.
"We were very lucky to survive," he said. "We thought they were going to shoot us, but instead they beat us and threatened to kill us if we come back again."  Omer said that the two men had wanted to leave the camp to grow something for their families to eat.
"But these armed men in military uniform have prevented us," he said. "They told us that they are the government, and they are the masters of this land."

Ibrahim Adam, from the Kasab IDP camp in Kutum, North Darfur, recalls how he was attacked by four armed soldiers when he took his goats to graze in bushland 20 minutes walk away from the camp.
"They knocked me down and started to kick me with their boots all over my body while I kept rolling like a ball," he said. "Then they tied me to a tree and left with the goats."  Ibrahim was eventually discovered by his family, who managed to free him from the tree.  Ibrahim says that neither UNAMID, the UN peacekeeping operation in the region, nor the police were able to take any action.
"We are just living in big prisons," he said. "We have no freedom to move, let alone go back to our destroyed villages."

November 24, 2009

Khartoum regime continues to block peacekeeping efforts

The UN Secretary General said in the report that "freedom of movement continues to be a serious concern for UNAMID and many of the agencies in Darfur"

Sudan has blocked peacekeeping patrols in Darfur on 42 separate occasions this year, the UN says, amid fears of a new conflict in the region.

Weapons of War still flow into Darfur in violation of UN Embargo

A new report by the UN Security Council panel of experts states that the Darfur arms embargo has been blatantly violated by all parties, including Sudanese government forces, allied Janjaweed militias, rebel groups and insurgents from neighboring Chad. The 2005 embargo restricted arms exports into Darfur but not the rest of Sudan, so while it is permissible for Sudan to import arms, transferring them to Darfur is a violation.

The panel notes the "prominence of Chinese manufactured arms and ammunition found among the material that the Panel documented in Darfur". Although other Chinese companies were mentioned in the report, China North Industries Corporation and China Xinshidai Company are described as makers of the type of ammunition that was described as "omnipresent" in Darfur. Also the attack and transport helicopters, Antonov bombers and jet Fan-Tan bombers. The Panel states that the army and Janjaweed are using hundreds of new Toyota Land Cruisers. The UN panel found that the Sudan Armed Forces in Darfur have been using mostly equipment brought to Darfur after the 2005 sanctions measures. "Almost all the documented ammunition, vehicles and aviation equipment, and much other military materiel is of post-embargo production.."

Sudan also continues to violate the arms embargo by deploying entire armed units to the Darfur region as belligerents.
The report highlights the human costs of warfare in Darfur past and present. It cites the deaths of scores of civilians throughout 2009. It notes that "the women of Darfur, roughly half of the population of the region, continue to suffer from all forms of gender-based violence".

West Darfur is the launching point for Chadian rebel offensives against Chad. Roughly 95% of Chadian rebels are based in Sudan, says General Balla Keita who heads UNAMID, the UN-African peacekeeping force in Darfur. The Chadian rebels are directly tied to the Sudanese Government National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) in terms of supplies, training, and command structure.
In an annex to the UN report is a scanned copy of a signed letter from Chadian rebel commander Timan Erdimi addressed to the Sudanese Director of Security Services. The translated document states, "In my own name, and on behalf of all the combatants of our movement, I would like to express my deep respect and feelings of gratefulness for all the support you have provided us and the efforts you exerted to give us material and moral support in order to help our cause"
The letter included a request for 2,000 vehicles, 12,000 SPG-9 rockets, 10,000 rocket-propelled grenades, 4,800 107 mm rockets, and other armaments. It is dated April 15, 2009, within weeks of a rebel assault into Chad.

Sudanese security personnel provided the equipment to the Chadian rebels, escorted deliveries of vehicles to Chadian bases in West Darfur, and sponsored training sessions.

"Financing provided by the Government of the Sudan to Chadian armed opposition groups enables them to rent houses in El Geneina and in Khartoum, where their leadership has been observed spending months during reunification and alliance-building talks, and to work closely with the Sudanese security services" stated the report. "Convalescent combatants are given housing in Khartoum and are eventually returned to their West Darfur bases in Government of the Sudan aircraft and vehicles."

An except of the Report

Report of the Panel of Experts established pursuant to
resolution 1591 (2005) concerning the Sudan

UN Arms Embargo Fails to Stop Flow of Munitions in Darfur
Monday, November 23, 2009
Most of the major armed actors in the Darfur conflict have continued to
exercise their military options, violate the United Nations arms embargo and
international humanitarian and human rights law, and impede the peace process.
The Darfurian population continues to be victimized by the effects of attacks
and counter-attacks involving most of the armed movements that frequently lead to
the disproportionate use of force by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and their
auxiliary forces, and result in killings, injuries and displacements. Internally
displaced persons continue to suffer from the inability to return to their homes and
from acts of banditry, as well as from the lack of adequate humanitarian services,
partly caused by the expulsion of international non-governmental organizations on
4 March 2009.
All parties to the conflict continue to fail to meet their affirmative obligations
under international humanitarian and human rights law in areas under their control.
The system of administration of justice of the Government of the Sudan has failed to
provide redress to victims of human rights violations perpetrated in the context of the
conflict in Darfur. Lacking adequate systems of justice, rebel movements, both
signatories and non-signatories to the Darfur Peace Agreement, have also failed to
uphold human rights and the rule of law in areas under their control. Perpetrators of
violations of international humanitarian and human rights law are allowed impunity
and victims are not compensated for their suffering.
The women of Darfur, roughly half of the population of the region, continue to
suffer from all forms of gender-based violence. The Panel of Experts has conducted
dozens of in-depth interviews and interacted with hundreds of women of all ages
who have related the various forms of abuse and violence that they are experiencing
and that highlight the failure of the Government of the Sudan and the parties to the
conflict to protect women.
- The Government of the Sudan, while demanding respect for its privileges
as a sovereign State, also falls short in exercising transparency and accountability.
Government officials often object to inquiries made by the Panel under its mandate
and offer lip service while committing sanctions violations. Restrictions placed by
the Government of the Sudan on the freedom of movement of UNAMID flight
operations have had a direct impact on the Panel's ability to conduct some of its
independent monitoring missions.
Representatives of the Government of the Sudan contend that there has been no
need to seek prior approval from the Committee established pursuant to resolution
1591 (2005) in order to move military equipment and supplies into the Darfur region,
as required-

November 23, 2009

LRA's Kony said to be seeking protection from Sudan army

Sunday, 22nd Nov    
  <http://www.newvision.co.ug/E/8/13/702017>
   By Els De Temmerman

LRA leader Joseph Kony has instructed his troops to move into Darfur and report to the first detachment of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) seeking protection and logistical support.

This was revealed by the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) director of operations, ‘Lt. Col.’ Charles Arop, who surrendered earlier this month and was flown to Kampala last week. “The last time we communicated, in August, Kony said all LRA units should move northwards, enter the first Arab defense and ask them to communicate that we are there,” Arop, 32, told The New Vision.

According to Arop, Kony was planning to move along the Central African border to Chad and then enter into Darfur to meet SAF officers. “He told me he was going to meet Fadil, the SAF officer who coordinates LRA activities. He wants the Arabs to give him logistical support and a safe haven.”

Asked what pushed the LRA to flee to their long-time backers, Arop said: “Kony is desperate. Things are really hard. We were constantly on the move. Sometimes we would not rest for a week. The UPDF ( Uganda Peoples Peace Force) was pursuing us everywhere.”

He estimates that there are only about 250 rebels left, half the number they had before Operation Lightning Thunder, the joint offensive of the armies of Uganda, Congo and Southern Sudan. “Before the December 14 attack, we had about 500 fighters and 300 unarmed civilians. Most have died or defected since. We now have between 250 and 300 fighters left and not more than 100 civilians.”

Arop, who was himself abducted from Gulu at the age of 16, believes that the LRA would have been finished by now had the UPDF not delayed deploying in the Central African Republic.  “When the LRA relocated to the Central African Republic, it took time for UPDF to catch up and take up positions. They gave Kony ample time to prepare and abduct more.”

Kony’s communication system has been seriously disrupted since Operation Lightning Thunder, said Arop.
“Since December 14, he no longer communicates on phone. He now sends one of his security men on foot to convey messages. They would move 10 to 20km away from him and then communicate on phone.”

In the past week Arop has assisted the Ugandan army to get the rest of his unit from eastern Congo.


Christmas massacres
The atrocities committed by Arop’s group have been widely documented by human rights groups and are among the worst the Congolese suffered at the hands of the LRA. On Christmas day, his fighters killed at least 143 people in Faradje and abducted 160 children. According to survivors, the LRA crushed their victims’ skulls with axes and bats. They also set fire to 940 houses, three schools and nine churches. They killed another 86 people in the first week of January in the towns of Sambia, Akua and Tomate, to the south of Faradje.  The massacres were in retaliation for the participation of the Congolese army in Operation Lightning Thunder, said Arop.


Arop recalled that a few days after the joint offensive started, Kony selected him and 71 soldiers and gave them orders: to attack Faradje town on December 25. “He told us that if there was one gunshot from the Congolese, anybody found in Faradje had to be killed; those able to be turned into soldiers had to be abducted.”  Faradje, he said, was chosen because it was the nearest place where such massacres would have an impact and where they would get international publicity.

Asked why he did not defect with his fighters at that time, Arop said he was himself closely watched by a group Kony had attached to his unit. “Kony gave 30 of his bodyguards to join my group. There was no way I could not execute the mission. They had a phone and were constantly reporting to him. If I refused, I would have been killed.”  Asked how he felt about the killings, an uneasy Arop said: “It was painful but you have to do it. I want to ask the relatives of those we killed to forgive me. Whatever we did, we did it under orders.”

Arop eventually escaped when he found himself with only one fighter left as they were trying to meet messengers Kony had sent.

Asked where they got their weapons, ammunition and new uniforms from, Arop said they received enough supplies from SAF, many of which were still buried in river banks and hills in Southern Sudan.

“For example in Apatalanga Hill, the mountain range overlooking Agoro Hills, we hid 200 submachine guns, 10 SPG9 missiles, seven 12mm machine guns and four multi-purpose grenade launchers. There are still a lot of arms caches the UPDF has not yet unearthed.” In Congo, Arop said, they seized weapons from the UN soldiers they ambushed and killed; and on January 2 this year, his unit overran a detachment of game rangers in Garamba National Park and opened their arms depot.

“We could not carry all the weapons. We picked 36 submachine guns, one G3-gun, two micro galil guns, two NATO guns, one PK machinegun and one rocket propelled grenade.” In addition, he said, they took solar panels, laptops, walkie-talkies, radios, compasses, raincoats and 170 pairs of uniforms.

As for food, before Operation Lightning Thunder they relied on the supplies given by Caritas during the peace talks.

“Every month we received 200 bags of beans, 200 bags of rice, 200 bags of posho, 100 jerry-cans of cooking oil, 100 boxes of wheat flour, 100 sachets of salt and 100 boxes of soap.”

Asked about his worst experience in captivity, Arop said the death and horrific injuries of his colleagues. He showed the nine bullets that hit him in the stomach, arm, shoulder and leg, three of which are still inside his body. Like other commanders who defected before him, Arop said Kony keeps surviving because he never takes part in battles. “Whenever attacked, he runs away and leaves his fighters to fight back. I have never seen him fight.”

And like his colleagues, he does not believe Kony will voluntarily give up the struggle, even not when the ICC indictment is lifted.
“Kony wants to fight until he overthrows the Government of Uganda. He will never sign a peace agreement. He cannot believe that once he allows himself to be disarmed, he will be forgiven. Signing means you have lost the war and abandoned rebellion. But he does not want to abandon rebellion”

November 22, 2009

The most abandoned children on earth

Many thousands of children in Congo and in the Central African Republic are accused witchcraft.   Such children are kept out of sight and often experience horrific abuse.  Churches perform ‘exorcisms’ which can include burning, starvation and severe beatings. In some cases the child has a deformity which brings shame to the family, or adults blame their misfortunes on the child.

 I took this photo in CAR. Incredibly the eldest of these two little girls is ten years old, her sister is 8.  The two are no bigger than an average 4 year old in the US. The older child has a ‘club foot”.  A simple surgery could fix it here, but in CAR the child and her sister are accused of witchcraft and doomed to a life of isolation, abuse and scorn.

I don’t know why so many children in CAR are born with a club foot but this is the case, and no surgeon in CAR is skilled in this type of surgery.

Calling all orthopedic surgeons. Is someone willing to go to CAR ?  This is a chance to help many young lives.  Unicef in CAR could identify and gather the children.   I would gladly purchase your ticket.

November 21, 2009

Voices of Darfuri civil society call for peace

Nov 20, (DOHA) — Darfur civil society called on the Sudanese government and rebel groups to stop the fighting and to seek seriously a lasting peace agreement to end the six year conflict in the restive province in western Sudan.

The Joint mediation held a four day consultative meeting in the Qatari capital from 17 to 20 November in order to identify the means for supporting the peace process. Over one hundred group from the tribal, traditional, youth, women and displaced took part of the consultation.

The Darfur rebels denounced the dominance of pro-National Congress Party groups and asked the mediation to consider this factor when it comes to assess the outcome of the meeting.

"The final statement issued by the consultative meeting of the Darfurian civil society called on both the Government and the Movements to immediately ceasefire, cease hostilities and to cooperate earnestly with the international community and the mediators to reach a just peace," said a statement released by the Mediation Friday.

The civil society reaffirmed that Doha will remain the sole venue for negotiations on Darfur peace, said the statement.
The mediation hopes the mobilization of the civil society would contribute to create favorable climate for the Doha process as its concerns are expressed in the action conducted to achieve peace.

Djibrill Bassolé* said on Wednesday civil society consultations would continue in Darfur to ensure that the voice of wider segments of the Darfurian communities would be heard.

The civil society consultations shall continue in the form of sequential consultative meetings planned to take place in order to ensure that the voice of wider segments of the Darfurian communities, with regards to the peace process, would be heard.

(ST)
Bassolé served in the government of Burkina Faso as Minister of Security from November 2000 to June 2007 and as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation  from June 2007 to September 2008. Bassolé has been the Joint African Union United Nations Chief Mediator for Darfur   since August 2008.

November 20, 2009

300 armed men on camels attack 2 villages in South Darfur. 11 Dead

Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Unidentified gunmen, many riding on camels, killed 11 people in attacks on two villages in Sudan's Darfur region, the United Nations and African Union peacekeeping mission said today.
More than 300 gunmen took part in the attack in the state of South Darfur, the mission said.

November 19, 2009

Tilting at Windmills

Is there some good reason we should not be pushing to get the UN to introduce a bill declaring that all minerals, including oil, belong to the people of the country in which they are mined? Those who extract them etc can make their profit but the majority of the revenues should go toward the health, education and welfare of the people. Of course this wont happen any time soon for all the reasons we know too well, but why shouldn't we be trying for it?

November 18, 2009

An issue that needs focus

Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) and the global Publish What You Pay campaign are pushing for transparency in oil revenues and I think profits from all mineral extractions. Not sure if this includes diamonds and gold. If governments and companies have to come clean about payments to each other, that will provide an incentive to put some of that money back to their people. That would be a start anyway. I'm not sure to what extent (if any) the UN has endorsed these initiatives.

It is an outrage that all too often the( enormous) revenues from diamonds, gold, uranium, tin and oil end up in the pockets or Swiss bank accounts of a few thugs while the local people starve. I've seen this over and over.

Hutu killings continue in neighboring Congo

Every year at least 40 tons of gold, worth more than a billion US dollars, are extracted from the Democratic Republic of Congo and smuggled through neighboring Uganda to Dubai. These operations are conducted by the FDLR, the Rwandan-Hutu militia involved in the genocide. They fled across the border into eastern Congo in 1994 and have been responsible for many of the indescribably brutal attacks and rapes there. Profits from the gold continue to fund and purchase weapons for the group.
Females, even babies, are raped in this region of Congo (North Kivu) . I spoke to women who told me they had been gang raped, then raped with a bayonet, after which the militia would use their rifle butts to pound the women's legs to pulp.

Fistula surgery is performed at the Goma hospital where the surgeon operates non-stop. But not all of the women can be repaired and their psychological wounds are another matter.

November 17, 2009

China is in a position to exert pressure on Khartoum

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrote in a letter to Human Rights First in March 2009, "We believe that the Chinese government needs to abide by the spirit as much as the letter of UN Security Council Resolution 1591 (2005) and subsequent resolutions. The Chinese government also should prevent Chinese companies from selling weapons to Khartoum. In order to bring an end to hostilities in Darfur, we must effectively deny all combatants access to the tools of war."

 "As Sudan's largest export partner and greatest source of foreign investment, China is in a position to exert pressure on Khartoum to resolve the conflict in Darfur and implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement."

Urge president Obama to raise the problem of Chinese influence and arms sales to Sudan in his meetings with President Hu Jintao and others, today.
Call 1800-GENOCIDE to reach the White House toll free or call the White House directly 202 456 1111
Or 202 456 1414


 

November 16, 2009

Letter to President Obama

Signed by 44 members of Congress. Here is a link
http://www.savedarfur.org/pages/newsroom

November 15, 2009

44 Members of Congress sent a letter to the President concerning China's involvement in Sudan.

The helicopter gunships, bombers and vast majority of weaponry used against people of Darfur have been and continue to be of Chinese origin. No country has greater influence over Khartoum than China. On November 13, as President Obama prepared to visit China, 44 members of the United States Congress signed a letter to President Obama in which they state:

" Failure to exert sufficient public pressure on China regarding its relationship with Khartoum will send a signal to the rest of the world that the United States places other interests ahead of achieving peace in Sudan. If that happens, the talk of an American-led multilateral effort to bring peace and justice to this war-ravaged land will have been mere words.

"Therefore, we ask that in your meeting with President Hu Jintao and other Chinese officials, Sudan feature prominently on the agenda. We ask also that you push for the Government of China to exert influence over Sudan to end its attacks in Darfur, faithfully implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement with South Sudan, prepare for free and fair elections, and make a renewed commitment to the ongoing peace process. Furthermore, China must be reminded of its obligations to cease any actions that actually contribute to the violence, namely the provision of weapons and technology which have aided the genocide in Darfur."

If you agree and want your voice to be heard call 1800-GENOCIDE. Ask for the White House and strongly urge the President to make Sudan a priority in his upcoming discussions with President Hu.

November 14, 2009

Darfuri refugee

children at a camp for displaced Chadians

No Hopes For Us

eastern Chad too dangerous. Six Aid groups have suspended work there

Six humanitarian aid organizations including the International Committee of the Red Cross and French group Doctors Without Borders have suspended work in eastern Chad after Laurent Maurice, an agronomist for the ICRC and his five Chadian colleagues were abducted near the Sudanese border. A Chadian aid worker was recently killed. Two years ago the  director of  Save the Children was killed. All of the aid compounds have been attacked and many workers have been beaten and shot.  Attacks on aid workers in eastern Chad have doubled to about 190 in the past last year. They and their compounds are targeted for their vehicles and other valuables.
The border between Darfur and Chad is completely porous but during the rainy season the rivers (wadis) fill with water, inhibiting  incursions from Sudanese militia and giving people a few months of security.  But by October, the rains have ended, the wadis are dry and the attacks resume.

In October of 2006,  I was in  in eastern Chad when some 60 villages were attacked and destroyed by janjaweed. Many people were killed, mutilated, raped and wounded. Many thousands were were displaced. If you are interested, here is a link to piece  I wrote at that time for the WSJ;  No Hopes For US  http://www.miafarrow.org/ed_072707.html

Since 2006 the aid organizations have worked in very dangerous conditions. There are the Janjaweed attacks, the incursions of Chadian rebels ( their training camps are inside Darfur and they are entirely armed and supported by the Sudanese government) and in a lawless land,   ‘banditry’ thrives.
 Today  250,000 Sudanese refugees and nearly the same number of displaced Chadians are completely dependent on humanitarian relief .  Tragically that aid is further compromised.

     
  

    
 

November 13, 2009

The world looks at Darfur and responds, in effect: We can live with that. There are many in Darfur, however, who will not live.

“This is not, at present, the active phase of Darfur's genocide, involving mass attacks on civilians. Instead, it is the evidence of a genocide that has succeeded. The Sudanese regime achieved its policy aims -- targeting disfavored ethnic groups, destroying their way of life and forcing millions into camps. And now it is threatening to forcibly relocate these victims in 2010 -- a plan of Stalinist scale and brutality.”

“America's Sudan policy is in a holding pattern, waiting for the next crisis to refocus global attention. Meanwhile, women are raped, with impunity. Weapons are illegally imported, with impunity. Civilians are attacked, with impunity. And at some point, impunity becomes permission.”

Link to full Washington post article
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/12/AR2009111209826.html

November 12, 2009

United Nations Assembly Endorses Report on Gaza but US votes against, GB and France abstainhttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/06/world/middleeast/06briefs-001.html?_r=1By NEIL MacFARQUHARNovember 5, 2009 The General Assembly voted 114 to 18, with 44 abstentions, to endorse the report by a Human Rights Council panel led by the South African judge Richard Goldstone that said there was evidence that both Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas committed war crimes during the Gaza war last winter. The assembly’s resolution demands that both Israel and the Palestinians, without specifically naming Hamas, carry out investigations within three months. It also pushes for Security Council attention. France, Britain and Russia were among the countries that abstained, and the United States voted against the resolution. The lack of support among permanent Security Council members suggests that Council action is unlikely. Supporters basically said such serious accusations of war crimes deserved international attention, while opponents found the resolution too broad.=====================================================The General Assembly "requests the secretary-general to report to the General Assembly within a period of three months, on the implementation of the present resolution, with a view to considering further action, if necessary, by the relevant United Nations organs and bodies, including the Security Council," the resolution said.
The new resolution urged Israel and Palestine to launch the investigations that "are independent, credible and in conformity with international standards" within a period of three months.
The president of the 64th General Assembly session, Ali Treki, told reporters after the adoption of the new resolution that "this is an important declaration against impunity." "It is a call for justice and accountability," he said. "Without justice, there can be no progress toward peace. Human beings should be treated as human beings, regardless of his or her religion or nationality."
The resolution was adopted after more than 40 countries, including Israel, took the floor at the two-day plenary General Assembly session on the Goldstone report, which accused both Israel and Hamas militants of war crimes in the Gaza conflict, which left more than 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis killed.

November 11, 2009

Darfuri refugee Sam_Ouandja

November 8, 2009

Sudanese President Omer Al-Bashir is feeling the heat.

Al-Bashir was scheduled to be in Turkey today for a major economic Islamic Conference. But the presidential plane from Khartoum arrived without its premier passenger. He obviously heard the rumor that Israeli and Greek fighter jets were prepared to intercept his plane en route. He most definitely is feeling the heat.

Darfuri refugee child

When their village was attacked, this little girl and her mother fled to Central African Republic, of all places.

November 6, 2009

There are only 10 fully qualified nurses in South Sudan, which has a population of 8 million.

Three quarters of people in South Sudan have no access to medical care, and 10 percent of children there and in Darfur die before their first birthday,

In South Sudan and Darfur the children are hungry

Girl in South Sudan

What is her future?  

Medical care desperately needed in Sudan.

Three quarters of people in South Sudan have no access to medical care, and 10 percent of children there and in Darfur die before their first birthday, a World Health Organization (WHO) official said on Thursday.

Mohammad Abdur Rab, the WHO's representative to Sudan, warned that a lack of skilled health workers and drug shortages were putting millions of lives at risk in conflict-affected areas where huge numbers of people have been uprooted.
In western Darfur, where an estimated 4 million people have been driven from their homes since rebels took up arms in 2003, he said 15 percent of children were malnourished and infectious diseases including malaria, meningitis and diarrhea were rampant.

In the country's south, more than 2,000 pregnant women are currently dying for every 100,000 live births.
There are only 10 fully qualified nurses in South Sudan, which has a population of 8 million.

Abdur Rab said international donors needed to increase their support for fragile health services in Sudan.

Especially in South Sudan, infectious diseases, viral epidemics and chronic ailments are proving an extreme challenge to the existing network of care-givers, he said.  Non-governmental organizations and aid groups provide 80 percent of all the health services on offer in that region, which are only reaching 25 percent of the population, he said.
     
In Darfur, where the government expelled 13 foreign aid organizations and closed three local aid groups earlier this year, extra reinforcements are needed to avoid outbreaks of deadly diseases such as cholera. "The March 2009 expulsion of NGOs has affected primary health services, resulting in a decline in the quality of care," he said, adding the country's shortages of drugs and surgical and anesthesia equipment were causing further strain.

Contagious diseases left unchecked, could also present health risks beyond Sudan's borders, said Abdur Rab, who warned: "Sudan has almost all the diseases in the medical book."

By Laura MacInnis
Reuters

 

Turkey" believes it can get away with what is essentially an immoral approach towards Khartoum."

Turkey is rolling out the red carpet for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir . Despite his indictment by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated in the Darfur region of Sudan,  senior Turkish officials say they will not arrest Al-Bashir when he arrives in Ankara next week.  

Turkey has been trying to secure its entry to the European Union, but more recent economic interests appear to have eclipsed that wish-bringing Turkey closer to the Arab world than toward Europe.   Since 2006, trade between Turkey and the  African continent has tripled from $6 billion to $18 billion.

One Turkish factory in Khartoum employs 1,100 workers that make the uniforms for the Sudanese army. Another Turkish company is constructing a 29 story skyscraper, the tallest building in Sudan
"Turkey has an active Africa policy, and Sudan is an important African country," says Soli Özel, a Turkish foreign-policy analyst. "I think [the government] believes it can get away with what is essentially an immoral approach towards Khartoum."

 Only a few African countries, including Uganda, South Africa and Botswana, have indicated that they would honor the ICC warrant.

November 4, 2009

Oped in Toronto Star

I will be speaking in Toronto this Sunday. Here is a link to my op-ed piece for the Toronto Star http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/720635

Jimmy Carter's foundation declares Khartoum is obstructing their capacity to monitor elections

Next April a critical presidential and parliamentary election is scheduled to take place in Sudan. The elections are an integral  part of the 2005 peace agreement that ended more than two decades of war between north-and southern Sudan.  The south is where the oil-fields lie-it is also, in the main, populated by Christians. These two ingredients brought focus and international efforts to end the  conflict, but not before two million southerners were killed  and the poverty stricken south was devastated.

The 2005 peace deal set up a transitional unified government based in Khartoum in the north, and Juba in the south.  But the hostilities and a  complete lack of trust between north and south is far from ended. As a core part of the 2005 peace deal,  in 2011 there is to be a referendum in which the south can chose whether to become independent from the north.  Based on my two trips to Southern Sudan, I believe this is what the people of Southern Sudan hope for, although no one believes the north will allow it to happen without a return to war. Remember the oil fields.

 Voter registration officially began this week.
"These elections are supposed to represent a new event in Sudan's history," said Aly Verjee, a Carter Center spokesman. "Observation is important ... to build confidence in the process both nationally and internationally." The Carter Center-based in Atlanta has been invited to monitor the elections.

But permits for the  32 monitors from the Carter Center are being denied or delayed by Khartoum officials.  Funds promised to state-level election committees have not come through, therefore local committees are unable to pay staff.  It is not clear to the people where the registration sites are, and sites are closed arbitrarily. According to the Carter Center, insecurity and intimidations are obstructing international observers from monitoring  registrations for Sudan's first nationwide elections.  

The Carter Center  called on Sudan to disarm militias.  The are asking Khartoum  to revoke the "state of emergency" in the western Darfur region as this will serve to hamper the voting there. Although Sudanese authorities claim voting will take place in Darfur, many are skeptical.

The Carter Center have called upon Sudanese authorities to ensure the observers' freedom of movement. But the team continues to meet obstacles. These many hindrances will diminish the capacity of  the only international group Sudan permitted to monitor the voting — to verify the fairness of the election.

November 2, 2009

"Our [Mbeki panel] goal was to find a way out [to Bashir] from the dilemma of the ICC "

'Our goal was to find a way out for Sudan president' says Mbeki panel member
Monday 2 November 2009
Sudan Tribune.
November 1, 2009- The African Union (AU) high level panel on Darfur wanted to find a way out for Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir from the International Criminal Court (ICC) indictment, one of the commission members said today in an interview.

This week the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) endorsed a report prepared by an eight-member team headed by former South African president Thabo Mbeki that was tasked with crafting a formula to resolve the conflict in Darfur that would take into consideration peace, justice and reconciliation. The panel was formed weeks before the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Bashir prompting skepticism from Darfur rebels and other critics who say that the AU wants to circumvent the indictment, something which Mbeki has denied in meetings with Darfur IDP's.

Mbeki called for a hybrid court to try war crimes suspects and changes to Sudanese laws. It took no position on the ICC warrant except to say that the Hague-based tribunal cannot try all the suspects, effectively supporting its work.
However, one of the members of the AU panel said that the goal of the mission was to give Bashir an exit strategy from the ICC row.

"Incriminating the president is out of question and fundamentally unacceptable" the former Egyptian foreign minister said in an interview with the Egypt based Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper.

"Our [Mbeki panel] goal was to find a way out [to Bashir] from the dilemma of the ICC that sparked a great deal of controversy" Maher said. The AUPD member, who served as Egypt's Foreign Minister from 2001 until 2004, said that the ICC case against Bashir was "political" in nature and "biased" against the Sudanese head of state"with exaggeration in depicting the situation".

"Demanding the prosecution of an African head of state before an international tribunal is totally unacceptable" the former Egyptian top diplomat said.

Maher said that achieving justice in Darfur "will be through Sudanese prosecution with African members selected by Sudan and agreed upon by the AU".

The remarks made by Maher will likely cause a huge embarrassment to the AU and the panel chief, Mbeki who sought to quell accusations on seeking to protect the Sudanese president.

Tunnels-deadly lifelines into Gaza

A Palestinian was suffocated to death on Sunday when one of the 800 or more tunnels along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt collapsed. Two others were injured in the collapse which happened when the workers were bringing in supplies from Egypt.
While I was in Gaza one tunnel worker, a child, was killed and seven were injured during an Israeli bombing raid.
The I.5 million people living in Gaza depend on hundreds of tunnels beneath the border to get fuel and other products since Gaza has been sealed off after Hamas takeover in June 2007. But Israeli bombings are frequent and more than 130 Palestinians, many of them children have been killed while working in the tunnels.

November 1, 2009

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/10/31/west.bank.college.student/

drinking water not safe for people in Gaza

Most of Gaza water is unsuitable for drinking. Palestinian Water Authority reports. "From 90 percent to 95 percent of underground water does not meet the standards recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), so it is inapt for human usage" the report said. The daily quota of water for each person in Gaza is 80 liters, half of the WHO minimum standard. The 1.5 million people of the coastal strip rely on one aquifer as their sole source of water. However, the sea water has blended with the underground water, making it salty. Since the sewage plant was also bombed , raw sewage flows into the sea. Israel has imposed a complete closure on Gaza since 2007 and the rebuilding of sewage and water treatment stations is impossible due to the lack of building materials and spare parts. Last week, Amnesty International accused Israel of depriving Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank of water.

October 31, 2009

Is the LRA heading into South Darfur?

The Lord's Resistance Army is now rumored to be heading into south Darfur.
This elusive, brutal guerrilla group  led by Joseph kony continues to destroy villages, murder and mutilate civilians and steal hundreds of children. They are continually on the move, living deep in dense, remote forests in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Central African Republic (CAR) and south Sudan.  The LRA has no political agenda but is propelled by Kony-designed  ‘religion’.

Earlier this year in south Sudan, members of the LRA killed hundreds of civilians and kidnapped children for use as soldiers, porters  and sex-slaves. They  forcing thousands of terrified villagers into Western Equatoria.  Now, two incidents, possibly involving Kony's militia, have been reported in recent weeks in the south's Bahr al-Ghazal region, which is wedged between CAR and the Darfur region.  

South Sudan's army accused the LRA of being responsible for the attack on Darfur refugees in a camp in western Bahr al-Ghazal that killed five people. Many express doubt that the LRA will venture any deeper into Sudan.

October 27, 2009

Stop the killing

“ we will know when the war is over, when the killing ends’

What war is over? Ask the refugees

3 million people say it’s not safe for them to return to their homelands

3 million people cant go home

This woman is a refugee. She has been waiting in the sun all morning to receive her ration of grain.

Darfur war not over'

Attacks 'show Darfur war not over'
(AFP) – Oct 6, 2009

CAIRO — A leading international rights watchdog,  on Tuesday urged Sudan to rein in its forces in Darfur, saying renewed attacks in the restive region showed that the war was not over. Sudanese army attacks killed 16 civilians and destroyed several villages over two days last month, New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a report.

"Recent clashes between the governing party-led Sudan armed forces and rebels in September and the use of indiscriminate bombings demonstrate that the war is not over," the report said.

It quoted witnesses in North Darfur as saying that army attacks in May destroyed a town's water pumps and had killed or wounded dozens of civilians.

October 24, 2009

Meet Ariane Kirtley who is bringing water to those who have none in Niger

Ariane founded Amman Imman in order to build sustainable and permanent water sources to the 500,000 people who live in the remote Azawak region of Niger, one of the poorest countries on earth.   There is no water in the Azwak region and people and are literally dying of thirst. The water table is now is too deep in the ground for them to reach.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tGgCmTvU7o&feature=related

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nShrU9J34o <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nShrU9J34o>
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Rqota5C6dQ <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Rqota5C6dQ>

October 23, 2009

Have any spare time today?

Activities, Actions, Advocacy

Call 1-800-GENOCIDE to tell the White House and your elected officials that the policy looks good on paper, but the people of Sudan can't afford a strategy that puts incentives ahead of real change on the ground.
 
Email or call your Senators and ask them to cosponsor the Congo Conflict Minerals Act of 2009, S.891. This bipartisan bill is the strongest effort to date that addresses the scourge of conflict minerals in Congo.  
 
Email or call your Senators and Member of Congress and ask them to cosponsor the Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009 (S.1067/HR 2478) to help end the 20-year reign of terror of the LRA.
 
Sign the Citizen's Arrest Warrant for Joseph Kony to help bring an end to the Lord's Resistance Army. Take part in Invisible Children's initiative and learn more about their fall campaign at http://www.invisiblechildren.com/obama.
 

October 22, 2009

Hamas Rockets sent from Gaza into Sderot

Some are packed with mud. Others are empty

When bombs fell on Gaza there was no place to flee to

Gaza-No where to go

Me in Gaza

Congo-rape is more prevalent than bullets

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2009/10/2009102265751424899.html

October 20, 2009

Wall art

walls

The wall

The 15-minute film entitled “Walled Horizons” was made in honor of the fifth anniversary of the International Court of Justice’s  opinion that the barrier’s  route through the occupied West Bank is illegal.

Israel credits the barrier, which it began constructing in 2003, with helping to halt the wave of deadly suicide bombings unleashed on the Jewish state at the height of the latest Palestinian uprising in 2002.

The Palestinians view it as an “Apartheid Wall” that carves off large segments of the West Bank, splitting families, separating farmers from their land and slicing east Jerusalem off from their hoped-for future state.

Although Israel has long accused the United Nations of bias towards the Palestinians,  the film has been praised as “ a very balanced piece of journalism.”

‘Walled Horizons’  includes footage of the aftermath of suicide attacks carried out prior to the wall being built. It features top Israeli security officials involved in the wall’s construction who present the  project as a desperate response to the violence of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, which erupted in 2000.

 It is hoped that the virtual disappearance of such attacks in recent years might encourage Israel to rethink the barrier for continued construction comes at the expense of tens of thousands of Palestinians.”

According to UN figures, Israel has so far completed 256 miles of the planned 435-mile barrier, a network of walls, barbed-wire fences, trenches, and closed military roads. When completed, 85 percent of the wall will have been built inside the West Bank, leaving 9.5 percent of the territory and 35,000 Palestinians between the barrier and the Green Line.

Walled Horizons-(there are 5 clips-here is the first)

http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&source=hp&q=OCHA+Walled+Horizons&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=BCbeSoTJJc_W8AbJ3OBh&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=5&ved=0CCAQqwQwBA# This well made film contains valuable footage and it addresses any questions you may have about the walls. The walls are built on Palestinian land-80% are on the occupied territories in the West Bank. It is the source of great anguish to the tens of thousands living in the vicinity of the walls.

Yad Vashem

If you go to Israel be sure to visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum.  If , after you go through it you are still able to stand, make yourself go on to the separate, adjacent memorial for the 1.5 murdered children.  From bright sunlight you walk into a dark tunnel and are met by a wall of photographs-the faces of beautiful children.   Guided by a single rail you move into the darkness untill suddenly you find yourself in a sky full of stars. 1.5 million bright stars.  And each childs name, age and country of origin is read out.   Go there and weep.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3vQ6DnRk_E



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeyzOvWQzFI&feature=channel
Elie Wiesel Commemorating his Father
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_kuKXRLEnY&feature=channel
Elie Wiesel: Universal Lessons of the Holocaust

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogmBWA9Y7Bk&feature=channel
Survivor Testimony About Treblinka Death Camp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_PrWS51hmE&feature=channel
Child survivor-torn from his mother and sister

Auschwitz- Visual Evidence of Mass Murder at Auschwitz-Birkenau
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG2QaN_LUao&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcfBTrNf2aI&feature=channel
Mordechai Eldar's Story

"thunder clouds" massing in North Darfur

Sudanese military forces are massing in North Darfur near the villages of Sortony and Kabkabiya. UNAMID communications chief Kemal Saiki told Reuters;

"It is like when you look at the sky and see thunder clouds massing ... We have seen a build up in the number of troops, movements of troops."

THE FIERCE URGENCY OF IMPLEMENTATION:

Below find excerpts from John Prendergast's excellent analysis of the new U.S.Policy in Sudan. The piece in its entirety can be linked here
http://www.enoughproject.org/publications/fierce-urgency-implementation

The ideals spelled out in the Obama administration's new paper on U.S. policy to Sudan are worthy of considerable support. The policy review represents a great deal of work inside the administration to learn lessons from past policy, to correct missteps of the administration over the past seven months, and to find a balanced approach that integrates peace, protection and accountability.

The policy paper, if translated into reality, suggests a series of subtle shifts in U.S. policy that will be crucial to supporting peace, human rights and justice in Sudan.

As stated, the policy as written is solid, but success requires a fierce urgency regarding implementation at the highest levels of the U.S. government, with the close involvement of Congress and civil society organizations.

U.S. officials must recognize that the status quo in Darfur, the South, and the transitional areas (Abyei <http://www.enoughproject.org/glossary/term/100?Array> , Nuba Mountains and Southern Blue Nile) is unacceptable and progress must be seen soon to avoid the triggering of the use of additional pressures.

Close to three million people remain displaced from their homes and living in camps suffering difficult conditions. No efforts have been made to disarm the janjaweed <http://www.enoughproject.org/glossary/term/47?Array> militias, and no single Sudanese official has been held accountable for orchestrating what the administration itself terms genocide. The UN force on the ground remains largely ineffectual. The current government offensive in Darfur and the increasingly deadly attacks by militias in the South, including some by militias that were previously supported by the ruling National Congress Party, are unacceptable obstacles to peace and the achievement of U.S. policy objectives.

At best, the completed policy review is a chance to start anew, and get the policy and diplomacy back on track. At worst, it is an effort to rhetorically paper over an issue that has been treated as a fairly low foreign policy priority by the administration.

October 18, 2009

Gaza child

“I am afraid all the time”

Subject: The children of Sderot-"We hope that peace will come soon and the world will be as one."

"First let me tell you about my city-Sderot. Sderot is a small nice city. But we live in a hard situation. We can't live normal life as children should live. We are afraid that the red alarm will work while we are outside. The minute we hear the red alarm if we are at school we get down on the floor. Some of us cry and our teachers try to relax us. If we are at school we pray to God that our family is safe and that no one was hurt from the kasam. (rocket)
And if we are at home we try to protect ourselves in a shelter or a safe room (home shelter) if we have one.
This is not a happy life.

We pray to God that the kasams will stop and that they will never come back and the whistle of the kasams will be replaced by the sound of birds and music.

We hope that peace will come soon and the world will be as one.
Thank you for listening. God bless you. "

Tami

Another child told me
"I am eleven years old. The kassams fell many times next to my school and we were very lucky that no one was hurt but you can imagine how worried and terrified we were. Its hard to learn in this situation but we are doing our best. "

Minister Isaac Herzog- better known here as ' Buji'- told me " The scars in the souls of human beings are terrible. Our main concern is the trauma of the children. "

Indeed the counselors spoke of children's trauma manifesting itself in sleeplessness, nightmares and bed wetting.

In the past 8 years 1200 rockets have been fired at Sderot. 7 civiians have been killed.


And so 'Operation Lead' was launched against Gaza on December 27, 2008.
During those awful 22 days, three Israeli civilians were killed. A school was partially damaged.

That operation left 1400 civilians dead in Gaza, including 353 children.

280 schools were destroyed.

" The scars in the souls of human beings are terrible"

October 16, 2009

On the other hand

The children of Siderot also watch the skies with fearful eyes.
For eight years rockets have been fired from Gaza into this Israeli border city, most recent on Sept 20.
Internet access limited. More soon

October 16, 2009

A Poem for the Children in Gaza, by Michael Rosen, the British Children's Laureate.

In Gaza, children,
you learn that the sky kills
and that houses hurt.
You learn that your blanket is smoke
and breakfast is dirt.

You learn that cars do somersaults
clothes turn red,
friends become statues,
bakers don't sell bread.

You learn that the night is a gun,
that toys burn
breath can stop,
it could be your turn.

You learn:
if they send you fire
they couldn't guess:
not just the soldier dies -
it's you and the rest.

Nowhere to run,
nowhere to go,
nowhere to hide
in the home you know.

You learn that death isn't life,
the air isn't bread.

The land is for all - you have the right to be
not dead.
The land is for all - you have the right to be
not dead.
The land is for all - you have the right to be
not dead.
The land is for all -you have the right to be
not dead.

Tunnels

bombed again on the 14th. 6 people injured.

Gaza

I'm looking at the sea as I write. Fishermen going out on small boats one towing 3 to save gas. Israeli gunships fire warning shots. The fishermen are allowed out only a little way.

But the sewage plant was bombed and raw sewage pours into the sea.

October 15, 2009

October 15, 2009

Gaza: The Tunnels

Because so few supplies are permitted to enter through the four authorized 'crossings' and because these crossings are opened only on certain days, certain, yet to be determined hours, and for certain undisclosed purposes, the needs of the people in the confined Gaza strip cannot not be met.

So tunnels have become the main supply routes for Gaza. There are between 300-800 tunnels running between Gaza at the Egyptian border near the town of Rafah. Everything comes through the tunnels: fuel, cattle, motor bikes,bread, gasoline -everything. Tunnel owners benefit hugely. They are about 30 meters -or 90 feet deep and about a mile in length.
Owners of the tunnels make a hefty profit but the children who work long hours in them are paid little And the tunnels are dangerous. I spoke with several child/workers who told me that the air is terrible to breathe and "so we smoke". The work is difficult and hours are long -often exceeding 16 hours,


They told me "the men who operate the tunnels use drugs and they give the children 'happy pills' to make them stay awake and feel better. Sometimes they also give us alchohol" they giggled. But their giggling ended and the boys became serious as they told me how they needed to work to help support their families.
"I am the eldest son so I work in the tunnels because I want my little brothers to go to school" one young boy told me.
The tunnels are bombed continually by Israeli forces and scores of tunnel- children have been killed. One child was killed just yesterday and 7 more were injured. When the bombs fall the boys sometimes flee through the tunnel to the Egyptian side "because they never bomb there". But they risk being apprehended by the Egyptian police who "beat us and use electric shocks to make us give them the names of the men who hire us. "

Shifa' Hospital

Incubators are not working. Since the January war, 8 children from this small hospital (which was partially destroyed) died from cancer and cardiac disease because the hospital lacks the ability to treat them and they did not receive the necessary permit to be treated in Israel.
The doctors told me in the last 3 months the number of congenital abnormalities has doubled. "We don't know why" they said and they hope there will be an inquiry as to the long term effects of the '"white rain" or phosphorus that was dropped upon the people of Gaza. There is no question that the immediate effects were horrific. Terrible, agonizing injuries. It can't be washed off; it sticks and burns through the flesh.

From Gaza

The UN has called for a lifting of the blockage that isolates Gaza. "Protection, food, water, health care and shelter are basic human needs, not bargaining chips" said John Holmes, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator.

From Gaza

I'm still in Gaza with rare internet access. So much to say.
On Dec 27th leaflets were dropped warning the 1.7 civilians here that the attacks would begin. But in Gaza there is nowhere to flee. The borders are sealed. Gunships patrol the shoreline. That evening an intense, 22 day assault Israel calls 'Operation Cast Lead' began- by air, sea and land. Schools,homes and hospitals were bombed and bulldozed. 1,400 civilians were killed; 350 were children.
256 schools, 7 hospitals and 20 medical clinics, 6000 buildings and 50,000 homes were bombed.

Many of the children here are traumatized. I visited a school where little girls told me they saw relatives shot, many of their homes were bombed, and one child said the soldiers dug a deep hole and ordered her family to get into it. She said she believed they would "cover us with earth". She survived and lived in a tent for months. "It's hard to study" she told me. "There is no electricity and it's hard anyway."
A teacher told me when the children hear a loud noise they jump and scream and watch the sky. They say they don't know what will happen next.

More later

October 14, 2009

I am in Gaza

October 10, 2009

"Would you represent Hitler?"

A prominent Democratic fundraiser and ally of Sen. John F. Kerry <http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/k000148/ (D-Mass.) is attempting to secure a lobbying contract with the pariah regime in Sudan, which has embarked on an aggressive effort to enlist U.S. support against allegations of genocide and war crimes.

Robert B. Crowe, a partner at Atlanta-based Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, has met with special U.S. envoy J. Scott Gration and several Democratic lawmakers in recent weeks in an attempt to garner support for the deal, which would give the Khartoum government its first official U.S. representative in nearly four years.

A State Department official said Gration and his aides initially rejected the application but have since urged Crowe to seek support from Congress before they reconsider the proposal. Kerry's office said a staff member was briefed about Crowe's plans but that the senator, who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was not aware of them.

The prospect of a lobbying deal for Sudan has alarmed human rights activists and lawmakers focused on the conflict in its Darfur region, where up to 300,000 people have been killed by government-backed militias as part of what the United States has called an ongoing genocide.

"They are on our sanctions list and have been for some time, and I see no reason to allow them to have a lobbyist," said Rep. Donald M. Payne <http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/p000149/ (D-N.J.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Africa and global health subcommittee and a leader of the House Sudan caucus.

Rep. Frank R. Wolf <http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/w000672/ (R-Va.), another member of the caucus, agreed. "Would you represent Hitler? Would you represent Mao?" Wolf asked. "Anybody who does that ought to be blackballed in this town."

The lobbying discussions come as the Obama administration prepares to announce a new policy on Sudan after months of fierce internal debate between hard-liners such as U.N. Ambassador Susan E. Rice, who favors keeping up pressure on Khartoum, and those such as Gration, who has endorsed a softer strategy.

Some State Department and White House officials are particularly uncomfortable with Gration's conciliatory approach to Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who has been indicted on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Gration has suggested easing sanctions on the regime and has likened such rewards to "giving out cookies" and "gold stars" to children.

Crowe declined to say how much the Sudanese regime would pay Nelson Mullins for its services. The last lobbyist to represent Sudan, Robert J. Cabelly of C/R International, had a $530,000 annual contract with the regime that ended in early 2006 amid an outcry in Congress.

Baby-refugee from CAR

The people in the north west of CAR, particularly the ethnic group, the Peuhl  have been attacked repeatedly by marauders of all kinds.  For centuries they have been herders and were relatively prosperous with large herds of cattle.  In that lawless, violent climate, all kinds of armed groups now target the Peuhl people for their cattle but also to kidnap their children—knowing they will raise whatever ransom is demanded in order to reclaim their children. I spoke to a couple who sold everything and worked for two years, together with their entire community to raise the money.  After two years in captivity the two, traumatized  children , a boy and a girl were returned to their family.  But the the family’s struggle didn’t end there.  The father is now being held.  The Peuhl people are also discriminated against because they are are Muslim  

Refugee from CAR

This little boy awaits care at a clinic on the CAR/Cameroon border

CAR refugee

refugees from CAR are fragile and traumatized when they arrive in Cameroon

Refugees from CAR

Praising God that they have found safety in Cameroon

Refugee child from CAR

She is now safe in Cameroon

Some of President Obama's Words on Accepting his Nobel Prize

"Let me be clear, I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations.
"To be honest I do not feel I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who have been honored by this prize- men and woman who have inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.

"Throughout history the Nobel Prize has not just been used to honor a specific achievement; it has also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes. And that is why I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century.
"These challenges can't be met by any one leader or any one nation. And that is why my administration has worked to establish a new era of engagement in which all nations must take responsibility for the world we seek.

"We can't allow the differences between peoples to define the way that we see one another, and that is why we must pursue a new beginning among people of different faiths and races and religions, one based on mutual interest and mutual respect. "

October 7, 2009

the War is not Over in Darfur

Of course the war is not over in Darfur. Yes, there are ebbs and flows to conflict in Sudan, just as there were in the 20 year war in the South and transitional areas. But the suffering of Darfur's civilian population continues, and any assessment that distorts the reality of Darfur's continuing strife does a disservice to the ongoing efforts to keep this issue burning brightly for the policymakers and diplomats who so far have failed to help end the crisis.

There is an answer to Sudan's agony. It is effective diplomacy in support of a just peace throughout the country. The biggest key to unlocking this outcome is held by the Obama administration. Let us keep demanding that it deploy that key properly and use its influence to help bring peace to all of Sudan.

John Prendergast is Co-Founder of Enough, the anti-genocide project at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C.
 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-prendergast/the-war-in-darfur-is-not_b_312631.html

October 4, 2009

  Sudan currently holds USD$34 billion in debt, owed mostly to the IMF/World Bank, western Chinese and Arab creditors. And according to a recent policy report published by the IMF, of all countries, Sudan has the most overdue arrears to the Fund - owing 75% of the USD$2.09 billion in total back payments.
Now, with the global economic recession bringing down oil prices, Sudan's Minister of Finance, Dr. Awad Ahmed Al-Jaz is in Istanbul asking for a debt-relief package from the IMF and the World Bank. The borrowed funds were used against the interest of the people of Darfur-to fund the violence in the south and the genocide in the Darfur region.

The international community should link Sudan’s economic issues  with its human rights abuses. Unless the ruling party in  Khartoum demonstrates a commitment to peace and justice.   
The international community should insist that Sudan's debt can only be forgiven if there is significant progress toward:
 Peace in Darfur, the full implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), and significant structural reforms that change the repressive systems in Sudan.

October 2, 2009

Sudanese troops and militiamen killed 28 civilians

After a period of relative calm in the region, where more than six years of fighting has driven as many 3 million from their homes, the Sudanese troops carried out  a series of attacks northwest of Meilit in North Darfur.

The Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) led by Ahmed Abdel Shafi said the government troops and militias in some 56 vehicles attacked  on Tuesday . Four helicopter gunships and two Antonov bombers took part in the attack. Some 28 people among them nine children were killed. Most of the 2000 villagers have fled the area.  Some 400,000 have been displaced since 2008. The rebel leader said the school and clinic had been destroyed.. "Also the militias looted goods and livestock of the villagers."  

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Help rape victims in Congo

http://www.healafrica.org/cms/
I have visited the hospital in Goma where Heal Africa is funding fistulae surgery and providing support for rape victims as young as one year old. Victims also receive treatment for HIV/AIDS
HEAL Africa is connected to some of the major medical and educational centers as volunteer doctors and nurses, media specialists, come to Goma. Pediatricians from the University of California, San Francisco, and Harvard, have sent teams to teach for the past six years, to improve the quality of care for children of Goma and North Kivu. Doctors, pastors, lawyers and teachers from the US, UK, Australia and Europe have come to teach.
Community Focused. All of HEAL Africa's programs go out of the hospital grounds to community leaders, whether it's training widows to farm more efficiently or identifying children with disability who need surgical care, or foster families of HIV orphans who need help in order to provide care for their own families and those they've brought in.

In North Kivu province, HEAL Africa has received grants from UNICEF and other organizations to provide free health and psychosocial services to survivors of gender based violence. HEAL Africa has partnered with UNICEF since 2003, identifying and assisting 14,983 sexual violence survivors; providing medical care to more than 12,419 of them; repairing 1,625 fistulae and administering 3354 treatments for the prevention of the infection of HIV ('PEP kit' treatment).
HEAL Africa's hospital and community development work address the root causes of illness and poverty for the people of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The hospital and the 28 women's houses in Maniema and North Kivu have provided a safe place for many victims of the war.

October 1, 2009

No place is safe for Darfur's refugees

The new Amnesty International report detailed something we all knew is happening, and which echoes the excellent report by Physicians for Human Rights. Women and girls who fled violence in Sudan's Darfur region are being regularly raped in the refugee camps in neighboring Chad, despite the presence of U.N.trained forces. The agency has called for increased protection of civilians in the country, an end to a prevailing culture of impunity, and sufficient funds for a fully operational United Nations mission.
250,000 refugees fled Darfur seeking safety in camps across eastern Chad. But conditions inside the camps are deplorable and for the refugees, who are mainly women and children, there is no safety.

Comments of Damanga- a respected Darfuri human rights group in the US

Major General Scott Gration, the US Special Envoy for Sudan, stated that he plans to implement a "normative" relations policy to solve the Darfur crisis with the only war-crime indicted President in the world, Omar Al-Bashir. Gration believes that positive cooperation with the Sudanese government is the best way to end the genocide: "We've got to think about giving out cookies. Kids, countries, they react to gold stars, smiley faces, handshakes, agreements, talk," Gration stated.

The Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy is extremely saddened by Gration's proposal and naive remarks about Darfur and the Sudanese government. It is clear that Gration and the Obama administration fail to realize or choose to ignore the severity of the genocide and rampant corruption within the Sudanese government. As fellow Darfur activist John Prendergast bluntly criticized Gration in the report, "They [The Sudanese Government] do not respond to nice guys [like Gration] coming over and saying, 'We have to be a good guest'. They eat these people for dinner."

It appears that Gration and the Obama administration have no plans to hold the Sudanese government and President Omar Al-Bashir accountable for their crimes against humanity-killing more than 450,000 innocent people thus far. As Gration begins his normative relations process with ICC-indicted Bashir, countless Darfuris will continue to be killed, detained, and raped while their villages, from Jabel Mara to Kornoy to El-geneina on the western border, are pillaged and destroyed. It is obvious now that Gration, who denied a full-fledged Darfuri genocide and merely called it "a remnant genocide," is paving the way for the Sudanese government to escape accountability and punishment for their crimes against humanity; it is shame that the U.S. seems to be working for the criminal government rather than protecting the victims of Darfur.

September 30, 2009

The Dalai Lama

"The greatest challenge facing our time is not weapons of mass destruction or terrorism or ethnic cleansing. It is that we are raising a generation of passive bystanders. "

Obama Administration Engages Sudanese Regime It Blasted

Stephanie McCrummen
Washington Post , September 28, 2009 EL FASHER, Sudan --
The volatility of this East African nation -- from the Darfur conflict to the threat of renewed civil war in the south -- is becoming a test of how President Obama will reconcile a policy of engagement with earlier statements blasting a government he said had "offended the standards of our common humanity."

Top administration officials are scheduled to meet Tuesday to discuss a major review of the United States' Sudan policy. But even as that document is being finalized, U.S. diplomacy has remained mostly in the hands of one man, Obama's special envoy to Sudan, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Scott Gration, who is pushing for normalizing relations with the only country in the world led by a president indicted for war crimes.

Although Gration describes the approach as pragmatic and driven by a sense of urgency, his critics here and in the United States say it is dangerously, perhaps willfully, naive. Obama himself last year criticized a similar Bush administration proposal as a "reckless and cynical initiative" that would reward a regime with a history of broken promises

.During a recent five-day trip to Sudan, Gration heard from southern officials, displaced Darfuris, rebels and others who complained uniformly that he is being manipulated by government officials who talk peace even as they undermine it.Still, at the end of the visit, Gration maintained a strikingly different perspective. He had seen signs of goodwill from the government of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, he said, and viewed many of the complaints as understandable yet unfair, knee-jerk reactions to a government he trusts is ready to change."We've got to think about giving out cookies," said Gration, who was appointed in March. "Kids, countries, they react to gold stars, smiley faces, handshakes, agreements, talk, engagement."

Gration's detractors say that his approach is based on a misunderstanding of how Bashir's ruling party works. John Prendergast, co-chairman of the Enough Project, a human rights group advocating tougher, multi-lateral sanctions against Sudan, said that Bashir's crowd responds only to pressure. "They do not respond to nice guys coming over and saying we have to be a good guest," he said. "They eat these people for dinner."

Adam Mudawi, a Sudanese human rights activist who has seen envoys come and go, put it more bluntly: "In six months, he'll find out," he said. "They are liars."

During a stop in this Darfur capital, Gration was greeted like a rock star by hundreds of cheering Bashir supporters in a conference hall plastered with posters of Bashir with Obama, poorly joined together using a computer.

Elsewhere during the trip, the reception was less festive.In the southern capital of Juba, the region's President Salva Kiir Mayardit told Gration he is concerned that his approach is emboldening the ruling party to dictate unfavorable terms for the south's secession vote, such as demanding 75 percent turnout. Southerners have repeatedly accused the government of arming militias to create chaos ahead of the vote, and tribal violence has killed 2,000 people in the south this year.But in his meeting with Kiir, Gration backed the ruling party's argument, saying it had legitimate concerns about the referendum.

. Gration urged southerners to trust the government that waged a brutal war against them for 20 years."It is the other side that can build trust,"

Kiir countered during a press conference. "How will you trust that person that was killing you yesterday?"

In the western region of Darfur, leaders from several camps of displaced people told Gration that security has not improved. Ahmed Ali Osman said that 22 camp leaders had been arrested recently for resisting a government plan to tax a market inside a camp.

Hawa Abdallah Mohamed said there was still "rape and intimidation and different types of harassment by pro-government armed elements."And as Musa Tohlil addressed Gration, he wore a yellow patch over his left eye, saying he could not look at the envoy with both of them."We have a concern about you, sir, that you will go to Bashir and ask him what to do," he said.

Gration delivered his message to a group of women in the Abu Shouk camp on the edge of town, a place that has transformed into a sprawl of straw-roofed huts and brick walls since the start of the conflict, which some experts estimate killed as many as 400,000 people, and left another 2.7 million displaced."We've been receiving visits from senior officials from the U.S.," a frustrated Majda al Faki Adam told Gration, who handed the women a glossy photo of the White House. "But we don't feel the impact of those visits."

Later, Gration met with aid workers who told him the government was still delaying their permits and access to the camps."I thought that problem was fixed," Gration said to the group, citing a deal he had struck with the government in Khartoum."It wasn't," an aid worker said.

On the last day of his trip, Gration flew in a helicopter to a rebel base and sat with the men in the shade of mango and guava trees. The rebels explained how the government was now backing a certain rebel faction in order to defeat another more powerful one.Gration leaned in and asked exactly who was providing the support.

The rebels told him but added that such distinctions were unimportant.

"In all cases, it's the government," a rebel leader said.

Later, stranded in a hot desert airport waiting for a dust storm to clear, Gration said he did not necessarily see some nefarious government plot behind all the complaints he had heard. Maybe the permit issues the aid workers raised represented a "disconnect" between Khartoum and low-level bureaucrats, he said. Maybe the rape and harassment the displaced people were speaking of were local issues, rather than part of some systematic government plan. Maybe the militias receiving arms in the south were getting them from some rogue government official.

"Up to now, the efforts I've seen, the changes I've been observing, make me say 'Yes, I'm willing to take a risk that I'll be betrayed' " Gration said. "And if that trust is violated, then I believe pressure should come. And it should come hard." 

September 27, 2009

LRA murders two aid workers

BANGUI Two employees of an Italian NGO, Coopi, were killed in the Central African Republic when Lord's Resistance Army rebels attacked their vehicle, a military source said Friday.
"A vehicle belonging to the Coopi was transporting construction material to Obo with nine people on board when it was attacked by LRA.
"The vehicle's driver and another Coopi employee were killed in the attack. Two other people were wounded by bullets, and five others are missing."
More than a year ago villages in the Obo region, which is located in southeastern Central African Republic, were attacked, and some 300 children were stolen.

The Ugandan-led LRA began its campaign of brutal guerrilla raids two decades ago, but has launched a fresh wave of attacks, terrorizing a vast swathe of land across several nations, including the Central African Republic.

September 24, 2009

Urge President Obama and Congress to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child protects children. It defines their basic human rights; the right to live free from violence, the right to life free from exploitation,  the right to learn and the right to live a healthy life. Only two nations in the world have yet to join the global community in ratifying this agreement: Somalia and the United States. Don’t let another year go by.
Urge President Obama and Congress to ratify the convention without delay. Sign the petition.
http://www.theirc.org/rescueachild

September 21, 2009

Cameroon

Cameron is an oasis of peace surrounded by some violent neighbors that include Congo, Chad and Central African Republic. For this reason I have long been curious about Cameroon. How is it that they have managed to maintain peace while surrounded by war? People here offered some answers. Peace for Cameroon is the top priority. There are 250 ethnic groups here. Cameroonians pride themselves on their acceptance of all ethnicities.

I journeyed to the east to visit with some of the 66,000 refugees from CAR along that border. These traumatized and fragile people have been received into host villages. In one such village, formerly of 3000 people, 1000 refugees have been integrated. I saw all the children together in the village school. The refugees told me they were happy and very relieved to be out of danger. They said they never want to return to their homeland. A nearby health clinic is overflowing with many children suffering from malnutrition, respiratory and skin ailments.

I also went to northern Cameroon, a beautiful part of the country, to meet with Chadian refugees. Here in the north the situation is different. When Chadian rebels (supported by Sudan) attacked N'Djamena in an effort to topple the government, large numbers of Chadians fled into Cameroon. You can see Cameroon across the river in Ndjamena. I have often watched the hippos there. It's easy to cross the bridge and many terrified Chadians, and ex-patriots too, did just that as rebels hacked their way through town, leaving the streets strewn with bodies.

But the rebels were driven back into Sudan. Life resumed and most of the Chadians returned home. Only about 3000 remained in Cameroon. They live in a camp. Local authorities say the men make trouble. There are several theories as to the men's identities and their reasons for not wanting to return to Chad. Whatever the case, their basic needs are being met by UNHCR, Unicef, Red Cross Red Crescent and others. The school is full and functioning. I met with a group of women who asked for new clothes and for income generating activities, especially for their husbands. I was not permitted to meet with the men's group because they have previously taken violent action against ngos and authorities.

The countryside in Cameroon, particularly the north, is spectacular, but everywhere the land is lush and anything can grow.


I met with the Prime Minister, the First Lady and the Ministers of Health, Education and Social Services as well as with local Governors and authorities. Everywhere I was received most warmly and graciously. My message was the same to each. I came to Cameroon for 52,000 very good reasons. In this (relatively) middle-income country it is not acceptable that every year 52,000 children under the age of five are dying of malnutrition.

This is a case where the international community does not need to give money to Cameroon but rather we ask that the government step up and develop an effective infrastructure to address hunger in their country. The fact that they have so generously received huge numbers of refugees is commendable. For those who wish to assist the humanitarian agencies, working to sustain the refugees that is where to focus.

Tourists would love Cameroon. Gorgeous place with lovely people. I hear there are elephants and gorillas in wild life parks.

September 20, 2009

A truly remarkable book!

I have just read a beautiful and remarkable book. It is DESERT SONGS, a woman explorer in Egypt and Sudan (2008). The author and photographer is Arita Baaijens, a western woman (Dutch-American father) who travels in the desert with her own small camel caravan. Her journeys also took her to North Darfur, where she followed old caravan routes, discovered ancient cities, met nomads and encountered private armies in the desert. It is not only  an exciting and unusual story, it provides valuable insights of a woman without any support system, trying (among other things) to understand and test her limits in one of the most inhospitable environments on earth.  She traveled in Darfur in 2000-2002,  before the war officialy broke out. In 2008 she returned to find out what had happened to the people she had met back then. Some had joined the janjaweed, others had put down their weapons, a teacher had became a rebel leader, etc etc. Go to: http://www.aritabaaijens.nl 

Alarming update on movement of Kony and the LRA

My sources inform me that Joseph Kony and  Lord's Resistance Army is heading for Chad.  He is expected to reach and attack Western  Bahr  El  Ghazal .  

September 13, 2009

Cameroon

I'm heading for Cameroon where there are 250,000 refugees from CAR, DRC, Chad, Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, Guinea and other countries. The influx of refugees has placed a burden on impoverished host populations. This is why Unicef invited me to come. As a UNICEF ambassador I usually travel to conflict areas. I have long been curious about peacefull Cameroon bcause it is in such a very turbulent and violent neighborhood.

I don't know if I will have internet access. Will post when possible.

September 5, 2009

Thank you Teddy

“For you and for me the work begins anew
The hope rises again
And the dream lives on.”

‘Thank you thank you” Ted Kennedy

September 4, 2009

Porous Borders and Fluid Loyalties: Patterns of Conflict in Darfur, Chad and the CAR

Excellent analysis of the extremely complex ‘regional web of hostilities’.
http://forums.csis.org/africa/?p=119
 

CONGO-the human cost of mineral mining

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8235058.stm

August 29, 2009

More than half a million flee LRA attacks in Congo

In the past year, brutal attacks by the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) have driven at least 540,000 from their homes in eastern Congo, including125,000 people in the past three weeks alone.

The LRA is responsible for mass murders, mutilations, rape and kidnappings of children. Terror and widespread destruction to homes, health centers and schools has caused acute food shortages, while insecurity and impassable roads challenge relief efforts. Some 8,000 Congolese have fled to neighboring South Sudan and to the Central African Republic, where there is no safety.

What is the current situation in Darfur?

This piece by Andrew Heavens addresses some relevant questions and offers some possible answers in this complex scenario
Aug 2009
By Andrew Heavens

KHARTOUM, Aug 28 (Reuters) - The departing commander of the U.N./African union peacekeeping force in Sudan's Darfur region this week said the area was no longer in a state of war.  The comments sparked criticism from Darfur rebels, who warned they were planning new attacks, and from activists, who said Martin Luther Agwai had misrepresented the situation.

WHY IS DARFUR IMPORTANT?
U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes estimates up to 300,000 have died in the Darfur conflict and nearly 3 million people have been displaced. The conflict threatens peace between Sudan and neighboring Chad and has destabilised Sudan at a time when the fragile 2005 peace deal that ended its two-decade north-south civil war is under pressure again due to disputes over land and oil.


HAS THE DARFUR CONFLICT ENDED?
The levels of violence and attacks in Darfur have fallen since the mass killings of 2003 and 2004. But that does not mean the conflict is over.

Since January, the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) clashed with Sudan's army in and around the southern town of Muhajiriya in February; in settlements close to North Darfur's border with Chad in May; and most recently around Darfur's eastern boundary in early August. Sudan's government maintains its military presence; JEM has heavily armed forces, while other rebel groups, predominantly factions of the insurgent Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), continue to hold territory in Darfur.

The Darfur crisis still had a serious impact on people on the ground. The United Nations says 137,819 people were driven from their homes by fighting in Darfur in the first six months of this year, on top of the 2.7 million already in camps.

A level of inertia has set in on all sides of the conflict which has now dragged on without resolution for longer than World War Two.

WHAT COULD REIGNITE THE FIGHTING?
The worst threat could come from neighboring Chad. The Darfur conflict, originally launched by rebels pressing Khartoum for better representation and development, has become entangled in N'Djamena's convoluted political scene.

Most analysts accept that Sudan and Chad have been fighting a sporadic proxy war in recent years, with Chad's political elite supporting and funding their ethnic kinsmen among the leadership of JEM. Any overt war between Sudan and Chad would pour fresh cash and conflict over the border into Darfur.

There may well be a resurgence of violence after the rainy season, as both JEM and Khartoum try and maximise territorial gains ahead of currently stalled negotiations in Qatar.

WHAT COULD HAPPEN NEXT?
Khartoum will wring out every ounce of propaganda it can out of Agwai's statements. State media have already been misquoting him saying peace has returned to Darfur and Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has given the Nigerian general a medal. Rebels may try and prove him wrong by launching a token attack.

The real test of Agwai's line will come in the months ahead. If JEM and Sudan's government end up signing some sort of ceasefire and peace agreement in Doha, then the general will be remembered for his prescience. If not, his comments will go down as another of Darfur's false dawns.

August 27, 2009

Sudan Crisis Still Urgent Priority for Obama

WASHINGTON, D.C. The Enough Project at the Center for American Progress released the following statements today concerning the remarks of departing UNAMID commander Martin Luther Agwai, who declared, "As of today, I would not say there is a war going on in Darfur." Enough Project Executive Director John Norris noted, "The outgoing commander is correct that there has been a lull in fighting in Darfur, but he entirely misses the big picture in doing so. What he and others conveniently fail to mention: the three million Darfuris stuck in refugee and displaced camps unable to return to their homes because of insecurity and violence. Instead of offering self-congratulatory remarks, the entire international community should be appalled that after more than six years they have failed to create the conditions on the ground that would allow displaced people to return home by disarming the janjaweed, holding perpetrators of earlier war crimes accountable, securing a viable peace deal, and putting a credible peacekeeping force in place."

Enough Project Co-founder John Prendergast added, "The Obama administration is not leading a new peace process for Darfur; it is more energetically supporting a failed one. The United States must urgently lead a group of concerned nations,including Egypt and China, to offer sustained, high-level support for peace talks that focus on developing a draft peace proposal that addresses the core issues of the conflict and empowers the head mediator to reach a political settlement."

This week a coalition of anti-genocide advocacy organizations announced the launch of a bold new campaign called Sudan Now: Keep the Promise [www.SudanActionNow.com.] The campaign challenges President Barack Obama and top U.S. administration officials to live up to their campaign and political promises by taking strong and immediate action to help end the international crisis in Sudan and bring a lasting peace to the people of that country

The world breaks everyone.

"The world breaks everyone.
But afterwards many are strong
 at the broken places. "

Hemmingway

August 26, 2009

Al Bashir is directly supporting Kony and the LRA

Further to my note of July 28, below, on the connection between the Lord's Resistance Army and Khartoum:
The Lord's Resistance Army has wreaked havoc on the people in the Northeast and North Central areas of the DRC. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced by the LRA raids upon villages. Countless children have been abducted.
My sources on the ground told me that covert flights carrying weapons are landing in a 'secret' airstrip near the DRC border with Sudan. These flights come in from Khartoum and they are loaded with weapons. After unloading the arms, the LRA then fills the plane with children, abducted from villages they raided in Congo. On average about 200 children per flight are sent to northern Sudan where they are sold in the slave market for upwards of $800 each. Some of the planes are painted white-to resemble UN humanitarian flights.

Due to LRA activity; displacement and fear of death, captivity and mutilations, villagers are no longer able to farm and harvest their fields and gardens. This is now causing a serious financial hardship to the populations, as well as severe food shortages.

.This region is dominated by LRA and it is difficult to get solid facts so this information is valuable. I cannot reveal my sources but they are impeccable. It's crazy but even I know where Kony is. Even I now know the site of the 'secret' airstrip. It is in south Sudan. Even I know that the LRA have moved into the Ezo and Tamburi area of Sudan. Even I know that the LRA is supported by Omer al-Bashir and his cabal in Khartoum. Why is this allowed to continue?

The visit to Congo by Secretary of State Clinton was a milestone. Congolese women are victims of the worst atrocities imaginable. Clinton raised global awareness of their plight and lifted their hopes that a caring world will come to help them. I am still cheering the fact that she went there and said what she said!

But I wish she had mentioned the atrocities being committed in the Congo by the LRA

August 25, 2009

Keep the promise

Here's a link to the Sudan Now website and a copy of their letter to President Obama
http://www.sudanactionnow.com/

Dear Mr. President,

As a Senator, presidential candidate, and now as President of the United States, you have spoken eloquently and firmly about America's responsibility and your personal devotion to help bring peace and stability to the people of Sudan. You've said that "silence, acquiescence and paralysis in the face of genocide is wrong;" advocated for "strong consequences" and "real pressures [to] be placed on the Sudanese government;" proclaimed that "Sudan is a priority for this administration;" and declared that "If we act, the world will follow." All that conviction, Mr. President, demands strong action.
 

The U.S. must: Lead a more effective and urgent peace process for Darfur; build an international coalition for strict implementation of the North-South peace deal; and implement a policy that creates real consequences for those who continue to attack civilians, block life-saving aid, undermine peace and obstruct justice.

As you have said, "The worsening humanitarian crisis there [in Sudan] makes our task all the more urgent." Nearly 3 million Darfuris living in camps face the threat of rape and aid cut-offs, the country's president remains wanted for war crimes, and a return to full-scale North-South civil war looms. All that we are asking is that you live up to your words — all of them.  

August 24, 2009

New hope for women in the Congo

On August 10, Sec.of State Hillary Clinton announced that a new US program of $17 million would be funded to train doctors, supply rape survivors with cell phones and cameras to document violence, and train a female police force to protect women in the eastern Congo. The United States will be playing a larger role in Congo not only by providing aid but also by regulating U.S. mining companies. These mining resources fuel marauding rebel groups.

In Goma, Clinton met with rape victims and visited the hospital where fistula surgeries are performed every day. She spoke out against violence against women and brought new hope to the women of the DRC.

August 21, 2009

Sudanese authorities arrest 27 IDPs in North Darfur
Sudan Tribune
21 August 2009.
(KHARTOUM) Sudanese authorities arrested some 27 residents of a North Darfur camp in a move to intimidate residents who voice their rejection to the peace process. A local leader of Abu Shouk camp, near the capital of North Darfur state El-Fasher, told Sudan Tribune that an Umda (local chief) Hussein Ishaq Sajo is among the arrested people.

The source, who requested anonymity, said the government attempts to frighten the IDPs and quell any opposition to government plans to involve the residents of Darfur camps in the Doha peace process.
Local leaders in Darfur camps support the SLM founder Abdel Wahid Al-Nur who is opposed to peace talks until the government disarms its militias and organizes the return of the displaced population to their homeland.

Reacting from Paris to the "arbitrary arrest", Al-Nur hailed the struggle of Darfur IDPs for their rights, adding this arrest once again confirms that Darfur people are not protected and their security remains an issue of concern. He also regretted the "political cover provided by the US President's envoy, Scott Gration, to the Sudanese government to carry out its genocidal schemes in Darfur."
He added that these civilians did not commit any crime to be arrested. He also slammed Gration for his support to government campaigns to involve the IDPs in the peace process.

Last month, during a series of meetings with Darfur displaced people, Gration encouraged them to prepare themselves to take part in a peace process hosted by the Qatari government.

August 17, 2009

Link to Senator Bill Frist's video blog

As I indicated below on August 14th, former Senator Bill Frist announced that he would join the Darfur Fast for life to raise awareness about the ongoing suffering of the people of Darfur at the hands of the Sudanese government. In a video statement, Senator Frist assures Darfuri refugees that they are not forgotten, saying, 'We will not give up until there is peace for our Sudanese brothers and sisters and children."
Here is Senator Frist's blog post and video on Enough Project's site
http://www.enoughproject.org/blogs/senator-frist-fasts-darfur

August 16, 2009

Ken Bacon-"one of the strongest voices for the dispossessed around the globe"-has died

Refugees International has just announced that Kenneth Bacon has died of melanoma, at age 64. This is an immense loss.

 KENNETH H. BACON, 64: Pentagon Spokesman Became an Advocate for Refugees
   Ken Bacon, WASHINGTON POST
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/15/AR2009081501336.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Mr. Bacon had spent 25 years at the Journal's Washington bureau before becoming the chief spokesman at the Pentagon in 1994, working under then-Defense Secretary William J. Perry. He held the position of assistant secretary of defense for public affairs and stayed in his post when William S. Cohen was named defense secretary in December 1996.

On a visit to the Balkans in 1999, Mr. Bacon saw firsthand the human toll of warfare, as hundreds of thousands of people were driven from their homes with no place to turn.
"I had never seen refugees before, never fully appreciated the sheer magnitude of one million people leaving their homes and needing food, shelter and medical care," he told the New York Times in 2001.

After leaving the Pentagon in 2001, Mr. Bacon became president of the D.C.-based advocacy group Refugees International and emerged as one of the strongest voices for the dispossessed around the globe. His organization, which accepts no funding from governments or the United Nations, estimates that there are 12 million international refugees.

Mr. Bacon was among the first to draw attention to the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan, and he helped bring to light the problems facing millions of refugees from the war in Iraq. He was instrumental in finding sanctuary for displaced Iraqis in Middle East countries and lobbied for greater numbers of Iraqi refugees to be admitted to the United States. Between 2006 and 2008, the State Department increased funding for Iraqi refugees from $43 million to $398 million.
"The U.S. cannot afford to win the military battle and lose the humanitarian campaign," Bacon said.

After struggling with metastatic melanoma, Mr. Bacon wrote about his illness and his problems with insurance coverage in an essay published by The Post on July 21.

"My oncologist has spent hours filling out forms and arguing with the insurance company to arrange coverage for my chemotherapy," he wrote. "Now my wife and I are waging our own fight with the provider to arrange payment for my daily brain radiation, which has been rejected as 'not medically necessary' even though the cancer in my brain is growing rapidly."

"For me and other Americans

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Bacon, who was Pentagon spokesman during the Clinton administration, a "great humanitarian leader.-  For millions of the world's most vulnerable people -- refugees and other victims of conflict -- Ken was an invaluable source of hope, inspiration and support.”

August 15, 2009

Fatima is waiting for justice and a safe return home

Fatima's husband and her parents were killed during the attack of their village in 2004. Fatima was raped "by many men". She survived and found three of her four children, They walked for 9 days to reach a refugee camp. They drank from muddy river beds and ate the grasses along the way. The youngest child did not survive the journey.

A stain on our souls

"Today we know what is right and we know what is wrong. The slaughter of innocents is wrong. Two million people driven from their homes is wrong. Woman gang raped while gathering firewood is wrong. And silence, acquiescence and paralysis in the face of genocide is wrong."

Barack Obama 2006

Today 2.7 million survivors of the attacks upon their villages are living in camps,places more wretched than can be described or imagined.

An affront to our humanity

August 14, 2009

fast continues unbroken for 110 days

"Situation is an affront to our humanity: We will not give up until peace comes to Darfur"

Statement of DR. BILL FRIST;

Nashville, TN - Today, former U.S. Senator Bill Frist, M.D. announced that he will fast by drinking only water on August 14, August 19 and August 21.

Senator Frist "I fast to send a message to fellow leaders, fasters and activists that we must definitively address the cause of the ongoing violence and persecution in Darfur. It is an affront to our compassion, our decency and our very humanity that the government of Sudan has put racism, political and financial interests ahead of its people. I want the refugees in Darfur to know they are not forgotten and that we will not give up until we see peace come to our Sudanese brothers, sisters and children."

On April 27, 2009, I began to fast of water only, in solidarity with the people of Darfur and as a personal expression of outrago continue for three weeks but after 12 days my blood sugar levels dropped to life threatening levels and as I had promised my children, I ended the fast.

But CEO of Virgin Airlines, Sir Richard Branson stepped up and fasted for three days. Since then a chain of concerned people in 33 countries around the world have kept the fast going for 110 days.
Senator Frist follows a line of other high profile fasters including Peter Gabriel, Carly Simon,and Jon Foreman, Congresspersons Donald Payne, Maxine Waters, John Lewis, Donna Edwards, Gwen Moore and others.

Bill Frist's blog posts will be available at www.fastdarfur.org. Senator Frist is a longtime advocate for globhealth care and economic development in low-income countries, medical mission work in Sudan. He introduced and broke a deadlocked congress to negotiate and finalize the Sudan Peace Act to be signed into law October 21, 2002. As Senate Majority Leader, he brought the bill to the floor that called the atrocities of Darfur "genocide," against the wishes of the administration.In addition, Senator Frist leads annual medical mission trips to Africa and is chair of Save the Children's "Survive to Five Campaign" as well as the Nashville-based Hope Through Healing Hands (www.hopethroughhealinghands.org), which places global health leaders in underserved areas around the world. He also sits on the board of the Kaiser Family Foundation, Millennium Challenge Corporation, Africare, and the U.S. Holocaust Museum's Committee on Conscience.

August 13, 2009

Links to interviews

PBS News Hour in conjunction with Time Magazine interviewed Omar al-Bashir. You can link to that interview and the comments of  Jerry Fowler of the Save Darfur Coalition
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/africa/july-dec09/savedarfurprez_08-13.html

August 12, 2009

We salute Eunice Kennedy Shriver

“Inspired by her love of God, her devotion to her family, and her relentless belief in the dignity and worth of every human life, she worked without ceasing -searching, pushing, demanding, hoping for change. She was a living prayer, a living advocate, a living center of power. She set out to change the world and to change us, and she did that and more. She founded the movement that became Special Olympics, the largest movement for acceptance and inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities in the history of the world. Her work transformed the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the globe, and they in turn are her living legacy.”

Eunice Shriver family statement

Is the intelligence info the US claims it is getting from Khartoum worth a hill of beans? Is it worth the suffering of millions ?

Conflicting Priorities Complicate US Policy Toward Sudan
By Alan Boswell

U.S. policy in Sudan is conflicted between ending the humanitarian crisis in Darfur and rewarding Khartoum for quietly being a partner in the global battle against terrorism, says a senior analyst at a global intelligence company. The director of sub-Saharan Africa analysis at Stratfor, Mark Schroeder, says two policies in the Obama administration are at odds regarding U.S. policy towards Sudan. "The United States has had to balance two bigger areas of concern: one, the humanitarian conflict in Darfur, and two, Sudanese cooperation in the war on terror," Schroeder said.

The special U.S. envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration, testified before a Congressional hearing two weeks ago the United States would have to soon "unwind" sanctions against Sudan to ensure south Sudan would be viable for possible independence in 2011.
The statement was condemned by a number of Darfur advocacy groups in the United States, including an umbrella group for the Darfur diaspora living in America. The Darfur Leaders Network called for the Obama administration to reject any softening of its stance towards the Sudan government, led by President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. Gration has since clarified his testimony before Congress, saying in an interview late last week that his remarks had been misunderstood and that the United States is not considering lifting sanctions against Sudan.

According to Schroeder, a mobilized wing in Mr. Obama's Democratic Party considers the crisis in Darfur a key rallying point for justice against humanitarian abuses worldwide. But Schroeder says Khartoum has been a useful behind-the-scenes ally in the global struggle against terrorist groups.

"Now there are other elements within the United States government that have had to cooperate with the Sudanese government since 9/11 in terms of the war on terror," Schroeder said. "And the Sudanese government has been a more background partner to help the United States gather intelligence on international jihadists fighting in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq, and some of those jihadists that have come from Sudan and from the Horn of Africa region."

Sudan, which at one time served as the base for Osama bin Laden, remains on the U.S. list of states that sponsor terrorism.

Darfur rebel groups reject Khartoum control over the region. Many fear any easing of sanctions against Sudan would only empower the central government and strengthen Khartoum's position at the Darfur negotiation table.

August 11, 2009

Congo

"Clinton's visit to Goma tomorrow provides the opportunity for the United States to deepen its overdue engagement in search of a solution for the world's deadliest war," Enough Project co-founder John Prendergast said yesterday.
"Tantalum helps cool cell phones and laptops. Tungsten enables the vibration function in a cell phone. Tin is a solder for most circuit boards in nearly every electronic product. And gold is used to encase wiring. Until the trade in minerals becomes legal and transparent, there will be no peace in Congo," Prendergast said.
Late last year I visited North Kivu. The level of violence against women is as horrific as I have ever seen. People are continually on the run from armed groups. Little girls, even babies are raped. I met women who had been gang raped, then raped with sharp objects, destroying their insides and if that were not enough, rifle butts were used to pound their legs into pulp. In the Goma hospital the surgeon performs as many fistula surgeries per day as possible. Awful, indescribable levels of violence being perpetrated by militia who are on a rampage, battling each other for control of the Congo's minerals.
Inform yourself:
http://www.enoughproject.org/publications/eastern-congo-action-plan-end-worlds-deadliest-war

August 10, 2009

What we can do

Did you know that your cell phone is helping to fuel the deadliest war in the world? Learn more and join the movement for change: www.raisehopeforcongo.org <http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org>

Join the movement to end genocide and crimes against humanity:
www.enoughproject.org <http://www.enoughproject.org>

Join the Darfur Dream Team: Sister Schools Program, an initiative to connect American middle schools, high schools and universities with schools in the Darfuri refugee camps located in Chad:
www.darfurdreamteam.org <http://www.darfurdreamteam.org>

Protect this child

Children of North Kivu-Congo

Children in North Kivu-CONGO

The fast continues

National fast draws attention to Darfur tragedy
Judy Hellman, The Kansas City Star

On Thursday, I will join concerned people from across the country in a fast of solidarity with the people of Darfur. The Jewish Community Relations Bureau/American Jewish Committee invites the community to participate. Many thousands of people from 35 countries have participated in a rolling fast since Mia Farrow started the fast on April 27. The purpose of our fast is to call the world’s attention to the tragedy in Darfur and to demand the restoration of humanitarian aid to the people of Darfur and to the whole of Sudan. It has been more than three months since humanitarian groups were expelled from Sudan, and the situation remains unresolved. Across Sudan communities that relied on aid groups now suffer without adequate food, sanitation or medical supplies.

August 7, 2009

Returning IDPs face harassment

http://www.radiodabanga.org/

EL GENEINA – Scores of families in West Darfur faced harassment when they returned to their home village  to cultivate their fields, says the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Aid in Sudan. The UN-refugee agency, UNHCR will raise the issue to the Humanitarian Aid Commission of the Sudanese Government.  Refugees have repeatedly told me that at the invitation of the Government of Sudan,  Arab tribes from Sudan, Chad, Niger and Mali have come to Darfur and settled on their homelands. When the refugees try to return, the new occupants of the seized land threaten them and chase them away.  Some camp chiefs have been detained over the last weeks after refusing to  cooperate with Khartoum authorities.  The displaced people feel increased pressure after US-envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration, called upon the IDPs to prepare for return to their home areas. It was following his assertion in June that genocide in Darfur has ended. Several IDP-leaders organized protest demonstrations in the camps and have accused Gration of taking the side of the Sudanese government, which has long sought to dismantle the camps. In the Washington Post this week Gration denied that he is seeking to send Darfur’s displaced into harm’s way, saying he was simply ‘urging Darfurians and the United Nations to begin preparations for returns. “I am not pushing for anybody to go back right now, because I don’t think the situation is secure enough,” he said.

August 4, 2009

Who is providing weapons and supplies to the LRA?

For more than two decades the fearsome Lord's Resistance Army and their leader Joseph Kony have moved through dense forests killing and mutilating civilians, and stealing children from remote villages in the Central African Republic, northern Congo and southern Sudan. They have kidnapped at least 20,000 children to use as sex slaves, to replenish their fighting force or to use as porters. As part of their initiation, the children are often required to kill their own parents. When they are too weak to walk, they are killed or left in the bush to die. Captives have had their noses, lips, and/or ears cut off.

According to several reliable sources, the LRA receives supplies including sat phones, weapons and ammunition from northern Sudanese planes on 'secret' air strips ( one is in South Sudan, between Yambio and Maridi) or via air drops. One witness saw a plane which had been repainted white and it bore the letters 'UN'. Over the last 10 months or so the LRA have resurfaced in the NE part of DRC. No one knows the magnitude of the displacement but refugees are flowing into Sudan.

There is testimony from LRA abductees who managed to escape They saw air-drops taking place in a mountainous area called Karago, west of the town of Aba. The LRA are currently active in Ezo and Tamburi areas of Sudan.

Even I know this. So how can it be that Kony has not been apprehended.

Southern Sudanese officials have openly said that they believe that Khartoum continues to support the LRA.