Mia Farrow's Writings, Photos and Information on the Growing Crisis in Darfur (Sudan), Chad and Central African Republic (CAR)

Mia Farrow 'may be barred from Hong Kong' for torch relay
Posted on : 2008-04-29 | Author : DPA

Hong Kong - Actress Mia Farrow may be barred from entering Hong Kong to give a speech about human rights on the day the Olympic torch is carried through the city, a legislator claimed Tuesday. Prominent pro-democracy legislator Emily Lau said she had heard that the actress, who has criticized China for failing to stop genocide in the Sudan, would not be allowed into Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong government declined to confirm or deny the claim but said in a statement it had a responsibility to enforce immigration controls "to ensure Hong Kong's public interest."

Danish sculptor and human rights activist Jens Galschiot and his sons were sent home on Saturday after arriving in Hong Kong to take part in anti-China protests on Friday when the torch relay takes place.
Galschiot has visited Hong Kong before and created the Pillar of Shame, a permanent memorial at the University of Hong Kong to the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre in Beijing.

Speaking on government-run radio RTHK, Lau described the refusal to admit the artist as "really terrible" and said she had heard that Farrow, who is due to arrive later this week, might also be barred.
"Mia Farrow is coming to attend a press conference and some other events, and some people tell me she and others may also be turned away," Lau said.
"If we do that, we are going to turn ourselves into an international laughing stock. These are people with very, very high international profiles. They are not the Taliban or al-Qaeda - so what is going on here?"

Referring to the expulsion of Galschiot and his sons, Lau said: "These guys are not coming here to create trouble but it seems our administration is so tense, so frightened.
"We have become a very frightened city. We are turning people away at our airport every day now."

Farrow, 63, is due to speak at a Foreign Correspondents' Club lunch on Friday where she is expected to repeat her call for China to act on the crisis in Darfur, Sudan.

Asked if Farrow would be allowed to enter Hong Kong for the event, an Immigration Department spokeswoman said in a statement: "The Hong Kong government will not comment on individual cases.
"The Immigration Department has the responsibility to uphold effective immigration control so as to ensure Hong Kong's public interest.
"The department will handle all entry applications in accordance with the law and prevailing policy and having due regard to the individual circumstances."

Security is expected to be extremely tight in Hong Kong on Friday as the Olympic torch returns to Chinese soil for the first time after its troubled round-the-world tour. The former British colony is the only place inside China where demonstrations and anti-China protests are allowed and a number of groups are planning to mount demonstrations to coincide with the relay.
Hong Kong's Beijing-appointed Chief Executive Donald Tsang is expected to be the first of 120 torch-bearers to run in the 33- kilometre relay, which will be marshalled by 3,000 police.

Hong Kong reverted to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" arrangement guaranteeing political freedoms including the right to peaceful protest.

Olympic Sponsor Report card. Most flunk

Our campaign, Dream for Darfur has been in dialogue with the Olympic sponsors for nearly a year now. In February, Steven Spielberg resigned from his role as artistic director of the Beijing Olympics declaring that in the face of genocide it "cannot be business as usual". Mr. Spielberg's act of conscience placed the matter squarely in the moral arena, where it belongs. We hoped that these 19 corporate sponsors would follow his cue and take action on Darfur- as a matter of conscience.

That did not happen.

In my view, this, our second report card, grades the sponsors on their humanity, on their ability to think outside their own box of profitability, to open their minds to the true meaning of social responsibility about which they talk so much. With a few exceptions -- Adidas, Kodak and McDonald's who rose to the challenge of Darfur -- they failed.

Last November we made a very strong case that these companies -huge brand names, names that are known in every corner of the globe-were in a position to possibly make a difference in Darfur. Yet with three outstanding exceptions, they have made no effort whatsoever.

It is disheartening, to say the least, that most of these companies-Coke, General Electric, Panasonic- have simply remained silent. History will note that 16 Olympic sponsors are silently complicit in the Darfur genocide.

How does this happen? How can it be so in a world where 50 years ago we said "Never Again", and we formed the United Nations, and we drafted and signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?

Those merciless companies: fear and greed are at the helm in their decision- making process. They are afraid of economic reprisals in China; they are fearful that their visas will be held up; that they won't get licenses to open a plant; or that their contacts with influential Chinese businessmen and bureaucrats might wither. They fear that their business ventures will go less smoothly.

And so they appease their Olympic host; they appease China.

But I, too, know something about fear. In my 8 trips to the Darfur region I have seen people fleeing for their lives. I have met men, women and children who have lived in terror for five long years. In terror they fled their burning homes, in terror they endured the rapes and unthinkable atrocities. In terror and dread they await the next attacks. In terror they wait for protection that has not come.

The sponsors have said that this is terrible. Smoothly they say that Darfur's genocide and its solutions are beyond the boundaries of their business. I contest that statement. Each of us has a fundamental responsibility to protect the helpless in whatever ways available to us. . Of course it is not the Olympic sponsors who are pulling the triggers, dropping the bombs and raping in Darfur. But their host is underwriting these atrocities. The people of Darfur may be powerless but the sponsors are not. They could make their voices heard at the United Nations. They could demand that the IOC, whose bills they help pay, take a stand. They could speak out in public, in editorials, instead of, as Coke has done, wasting time and paper in editorials to attack our campaign.

What sort of place is this? We live in a world where the strong, such as these immense corporations, can sell out the weak, turn away from the suffering even as they are feting, celebrating and profiting from the one country in the world that has the power to actually bring about relief for Darfur's people - China.

Our campaign does not call for a boycott of the Games. We are calling for a boycott of the opening ceremonies of the games. I will be broadcasting live from the refugee camps during the games. During the opening propaganda and the commercial breaks, I am inviting you to switch over - its time to hear from the people who cannot attend, participate in or view the games. And each of us has consumer choices. If you want a soft drink, I urge you to consider Pepsi. If you have credit cards, try to favor MasterCard. And I truly hope that people of conscience who are feeling outraged will join us in our protests at these companies ' headquarters and certain retail locations.

Loud and clear, I say thank you Adidas, thank you Kodak, thank you McDonald's. As for the others, shame, shame on them.

OLYMPIC CORPORATE SPONSORS STILL SILENT ON DARFUR

Fearing Economic Reprisal, 16 Sponsors Appease China

Report Card Says Olympics Sponsors Silently Complicit in Genocide

Adidas and Kodak alone get "B+"s; McDonald's gets a "C+"

Coke, J&J, GE, others get "Ds" or "Fs"

NEW YORK, NY, April. 24, 2008- In its second Olympic Corporate Sponsor Darfur Report Card, Dream for Darfur again failed or gave Ds to the majority- 16 of 19 - top Olympic sponsors, among them Visa, Coke and Swatch, for the companies' persistent refusal to take any meaningful step to help bring security to war-torn Darfur. Adidas, Kodak and McDonald's alone urged the UN and international community to address the genocide, or took other actions.

The 100-plus page report "The Big Chill: Too Scared to Speak, Olympic Sponsors Still Silent on Darfur" will trigger protests at the headquarters and retail locations of low-scoring sponsors, starting this weekend. Demonstrations will take place on Saturday at the New World of Coke in Atlanta, Georgia; and on Sunday at Coke's New York City headquarters and in the home state of Staples, in Boston, Massachusetts. More information about demonstrations. <http://tinyurl.com/652wel>

Alert

Dear Friends,

The Chinese are at it again! Now trying to prop up the truly demented Mugabe of Zimbabwe. .

I just signed a petition calling to stop the Chinese weapons shipment to Zimbabwe. At this delicate time, the international community must rally to bring democracy and stability--not weapons--to Zimbabwe.

The more people sign the petition, the more powerful the international call will be--so please forward this link to friends:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/no_arms_for_zimbabwe/98.php/?CLICK_TF_TRACK

Thanks!

Mia

A grim report to the UN Security Council. Suffering is worsening in Darfur.

UN says Darfur conflict worsening

UNMIS (United Nations Mission in Darfur) would protect humanitarian convoys and civilians but the government of Sudan continues to place every conceivable obstacle in the path of the full deployment of the peacekeeping mission.

Appallingly, the nations of the world have not stepped forward to press Sudan into admitting the 26,000 peacekeepers which were authorized last July. Only 9,000 are on the ground now. It is inexcusible that the mission still lacks five critical capabilities to become operational: attack helicopters, surveillance aircraft, transport helicopters, military engineers and logistical support.

All indicators point to alarming rates of malnutrition across Darfur. Food rations have in fact already been halved. In many of the camps 30 percent of the population are suffering from acute malnutrition. That rate may be far higher.

Yet Sudanese Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamed claims there are no dead from malnutrition and starvation "because in Darfur there is no epidemics, no starvations."

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By EDITH M. LEDERER

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The conflict in Darfur is deteriorating, with full deployment of a new peacekeeping force delayed until 2009 and no prospect of a political settlement for a war that has killed perhaps 300,000 people in five years, U.N. officials said Tuesday.

In grim reports to the Security Council, the United Nations aid chief and the representative of the peacekeeping mission said suffering in the Sudanese region is worsening. Tens of thousands more have been uprooted from their homes and food rations to the needy are about to be cut in half, they said.

"We continue to see the goal posts receding, to the point where peace in Darfur seems further away today than ever," said John Holmes, undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs.

The conflict began in early 2003 when ethnic African rebels took up arms against Sudan's Arab-dominated central government, accusing it of discrimination. Many of the worst atrocities in the war have been blamed on the janjaweed militia of Arab nomads allied with the government.

A joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force took over duties in Darfur in January from a beleaguered 7,000-man AU mission. But only about 9,000 soldiers and police officers of the authorized 26,000 have deployed.

"We are late and we are trying to speed up the deployment of this mission, and we facing many obstacles," said the U.N.-AU force's envoy, Rodolphe Adada. "But eventually, with the help of some donors, we could be in a position to achieve maybe 80 percent of the force by the end of this year."

The mission faces major problems in putting troops into a very hostile environment, Adada said. It still lacks five critical capabilities to become operational : attack helicopters, surveillance aircraft, transport helicopters, military engineers and logistical support.

Holmes said further progress in deploying the joint peacekeeping force, known as UNAMID, would help protect civilians and possibly humanitarian convoys.

"But only an end to all violence and concrete steps towards a political settlement will make the fundamental difference needed, as the rebel movements themselves above all need to recognize," Holmes said. "Otherwise the reality is that the people of Darfur face a continued steady deterioration of their conditions of life and their chances of lasting recovery."

When former U.N. humanitarian chief Jan Egeland brought the Darfur conflict to the Security Council's attention in April 2004, he said approximately 750,000 people were in danger.

Today, Holmes told the council, "of Darfur's estimated 6 million people, some 4.27 million have now been seriously affected by the conflict."

He said nearly many of them have had to flee their homes - some 2.45 million people are sheltering elsewhere in Sudan and 260,000 more in neighboring countries. Some 100,000 civilians have been forced to flee just this year, Holmes said. Some 60,000 of them were displaced in West Darfur, which has seen an upsurge in violence.

"Those in the camps feel helpless and voiceless," Holmes said. "The fear of never being able to return to their areas of origin, and the pressure by government authorities to return when conditions are clearly not right, lead to increasing tension, polarization, politicization and even militarization."

The U.N. World Food Program announced last week that it will have to halve the amount of food provided to Darfur's needy next month because humanitarian convoys are being attacked. The cut "could not come at a worse time ... as the rainy season approaches," Holmes said.

Egeland, the former U.N. humanitarian chief, estimated in 2006 that 200,000 people had lost their lives because of the conflict, from violence, disease and malnutrition. He said this was based on an independent mortality survey released in March 2005 by the U.N. World Health Organization.

"That figure must be much higher now, perhaps half as much again," Holmes said Tuesday.

Sudanese Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamed countered that "in our own calculations, the total number does not exceed 10,000."

He said his government counts only people killed in fighting, saying there are no dead from malnutrition and starvation "because in Darfur there is no epidemics, no starvations."

"The exaggerated number given is to serve political ends," Mohamed said. "It is only to give the impression that the government is not doing much in the peacekeeping to save its own people."

Queried by reporters, Holmes said the estimate of 300,000 dead "is not a very scientifically based figure" because there have been no new mortality studies in Darfur, but "it's a reasonable extrapolation."

"What I'm saying is if that figure of 200,000 was anything like right in 2006, then that figure must be much higher now," he said.

Egeland told AP last month that he estimated the toll had risen to around 400,000.

Western officials have blamed Sudan's government for the delay in deploying peacekeepers and key military equipment. Sudan denies that, but it has vetoed troop contributions from some non-African or non-Muslim nations.

Two interesting pieces

Amnesty International Calls for Release of Recent LRA Abductees; http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-04-22-voa12.cfm>

Voice of America - USA

The abductions of more than 350 men, women and children occurred in the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Southern ..

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Nasty Neighbors: Resolving the Chad-Sudan Proxy War; http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/04/nasty_neighbors.html>

Center For American Progress - Washington,DC,USA

Meanwhile, conflict and organized banditry is engulfing northern Central African Republic and the Chadian rebels, armed with heavy weapons provided by the ...

Olympics brass ignore China's role in ongoing Darfur genocide

By Mia Farrow and Ellen Freudenheim

Sunday, April 20th 2008, 4:00 AM

There are few institutions in the world that claim to embody and protect humanity's highest dreams and values. The International Olympic Committee, custodian of the Olympic Games, is one of them.

Any organization that lays claim to the lofty moral goal of protecting mankind's universal dreams and aspirations should, from time to time, be subject to a reality check: rhetoric of morality and peace is without substance if words are not matched by deeds.

There is a direct connection - financial, military, political and strategic- between this year's Olympic host, China, and the humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur that has been called the first genocide of the 21st century.

Entering its sixth year, it is unclear how many have died from the violence inflicted by the Arab-dominated government in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, against the non-Arab tribes of the region of Darfur. Hundreds of thousands by any estimate. More than 2.5 million people have been displaced.

As we speak, humanitarian aid is scaling back because the situation on the ground has become so dangerous for aid workers. Without security food delivery cannot continue.

And so, in addition to the recent spike in government and Janjaweed attacks, Darfurians are also dying a slow death of starvation and disease.

What does Darfur have to do with the International Olympic Committee? The IOC chose this year's Olympic host, China. China is underwriting the genocide in Darfur. While the IOC remains silent.

"Respect for universal fundamental ethical principles" is what the IOC's Charter demands. When awarding the Olympics to China, the IOC said the Games would serve to "open up" China to the world on human rights issues. In fact, China's promise to improve its record on human rights issues was reportedly part of Beijing's pitch to the International Olympic Committee to win the privilege of hosting the Games.

Yet as the Games approach, the IOC has proven reluctant to mention, much less address, the human rights complaints about China. It was only recently, following large protests that dogged the Olympic Torch Relay in London and Paris, that the IOC President Jacques Rogge called for the peaceful resolution of the Tibet issue. Responding only to the squeakiest wheel, Rogge ignored the plight of Darfur.

And so has China. Despite intense international scrutiny, Beijing has. done pathetically little to use its considerable leverage with Khartoum to bring desperately needed security to the people of Darfur.

I share Obama's concern

Statement of Senator Barack Obama on negotiations with the Government of Sudan
Chicago, IL | April 18, 2008

"I am deeply concerned by reports that the Bush Administration is negotiating a normalization of relations with the Government of Sudan that would include removing it from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. This would reportedly be in exchange for Khartoum's agreement to allow Thai and Nepalese troops to participate in the joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur.

"This reckless and cynical initiative would reward a regime in Khartoum that has a record of failing to live up to its commitments. First, no country should be removed from the list of state sponsors of terrorism for any reason other than the existence of verifiable proof that the government in question does not support terrorist organizations. Second, the Bush Administration should be holding the Government of Sudan accountable for its past promises to let UN peacekeepers operate within its borders - Khartoum's record of inaction and obstruction when it comes to the deployment of the AU-UN force must not be rewarded. Third, the Bush Administration should be holding Sudan accountable for failing to implement significant aspects of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), imperiling the prospects for scheduled multiparty elections in 2009. Finally, Khartoum has yet to fully account for the murder of John Granville, the American citizen and USAID official gunned down on New Year's Eve.

"A grassroots movement of Americans has joined with Congress to push for implementation of the CPA, and to push the Bush Administration to acknowledge that the Government of Sudan has pursued a policy of genocide in Darfur. Hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children have been killed in Darfur, and the killing continues to this very day. Meanwhile, lasting peace will not come without implementation of the CPA. The Bush Administration and Congress have imposed sanctions in an effort to change Khartoum's behavior; to suddenly offer to normalize relations before that change takes place, particularly without close consultation with Congress, makes no sense.

"Washington must respond to the ongoing genocide and the ongoing failure to implement the CPA with consistency and strong consequences. For years, the Government of Sudan has thwarted the will of the United States and the international community, and offended the standards of our common humanity. Before we improve our relationship with the Government of Sudan, conditions must improve for the Sudanese people. We cannot stand down - we must continue to stand up for peace and human rights."

China's support for Mugabe despotism via arms

The US sells arms to a lot of unsavory nations including the Saudis, the Ethiopians. But neither is in a class with Mugabe of Zimbabwe.

There are very few places comparable to Zimbabwe under Mugabe.

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NY Times
April 19, 2008

Zimbabwe Arms Shipped by China Spark an Uproar
By CELIA W. DUGGER

JOHANNESBURG - A Chinese ship loaded with armaments for Zimbabwe steamed into the port of Durban this week and set off a political firefight, putting newfound pressure on South Africa- and now China- to reduce support for Zimbabwe's government as it cracks down on its rivals after a disputed election.

Dock workers at the port, backed by South Africa's powerful unions, refused to unload the ammunition and weapons on Friday, vowing protests and threatening violence if the government tried to do it without them.

Meanwhile, the Anglican archbishop of the province appealed to South Africa's High Court to bar transporting the arms across South Africa, arguing that they were likely to be used to repress Zimbabweans. The court agreed, and by late Friday the ship had pulled up anchor and set sail.

The arms shipment was ordered from China before the elections, but its arrival amid Zimbabwe's political crisis illuminated deep fissures within South Africa over how to respond, and brought new scrutiny on China at a time when its human rights record is already under fire for suppressing protesters in Tibet and supplying arms to the government of Sudan.

Three weeks after Zimbabwe's presidential election, officials there have yet to announce the outcome. Independent monitors believe the governing party trailed behind its main rival, the Movement for Democratic Change, but the government has responded by systematically beating, arresting and harassing its opponents, human rights groups say.

The Chinese ship, packed with ammunition, rockets and mortar bombs, quickly became a symbol of clashing approaches to the Zimbabwean dilemma: Should South Africa confront Zimbabwe's autocratic president, Robert Mugabe, in power for 28 years, or continue to pursue the policy of quiet diplomacy that has drawn international criticism?

For China, long an ally of Mr. Mugabe's, the opening of a new front of controversy is equally thorny. Despite its sensitivity to criticism as it prepares to hold the Olympic Games this summer, it is wooing African nations in hopes of building its diplomatic clout and securing access to minerals and other resources.

For the union, though, the matter seemed clear. Randall Howard, general secretary of the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union, said the dock workers had no intention of allowing the cargo to be unloaded.

"If they bring in replacement labor to do the work, our members will not stand and look at them and smile," he said.

But the government, led by the African National Congress, a party that counts the trade unions among its most important partners, took a far more conciliatory approach, giving Zimbabwe's military a helping hand at the border.

In fact, the South African government on Friday was actively helping Zimbabwe to clear the shipment through customs. South Africa's defense secretary, January Masilela, said in an interview on Friday that the National Conventional Arms Control Committee's scrutiny committee, of which he is the chairman, had issued a permit to move the goods from Durban to Harare.

With a go-ahead from superiors, Armscor, South Africa's arms procurement agency, was busy lining up the needed documentation. "We are sorting out the paperwork necessary to get the consignment cleared by customs, like a normal shipping clearance agent," said Armscor's spokesman, Bertus Celliers.

China took a somewhat similar stance, describing the shipment as standard business with Zimbabwe. "China has always had a prudent and responsible attitude toward arm sales," its Foreign Ministry told Reuters. "One of the most important principles is not to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries."

But as the clashing views over the arms shipment show, the political conflict in Zimbabwe has spilled well over its border with South Africa to become a highly charged moral and political issue.

The South African government's handling of the arms shipment has intensified questions about whether President Thabo Mbeki, the region's official mediator in the Zimbabwean crisis, has the credibility to negotiate a way out of a deepening stalemate.

Morgan Tsvangirai, the presidential candidate of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said Thursday that Mr. Mbeki should be replaced. Mr. Mbeki stirred outrage and ridicule in South Africa when he said last Saturday, just before an emergency meeting of regional leaders on Zimbabwe, that there was no crisis there - a remark he offered while he affectionately held hands with the 84-year-old Mr. Mugabe in Harare.

Mr. Tsvangirai's prospects dimmed further on Friday when the opposition's court case to bar a recount of crucial parliamentary seats failed. That set up the possibility that the only victory the opposition had been able to secure in the elections - winning control of Parliament's lower house - would now be overturned in a recount.

The brouhaha over the arms shipment started with a phone call on Monday from what Martin Welz, editor of Noseweek, a monthly, Cape Town-based investigative magazine, described as "a whistle blower of conscience."

The caller provided Noseweek with what Mr. Welz identified as the commercial invoice, bill of lading and packing list for the shipment. The documents show that Poly Technologies Inc., a Chinese, state-owned arms company, was shipping ammunition, as well as rockets, mortar bombs and mortar tubes, to Zimbabwe's Ministry of Defense.

The shipment weighed 77 tons and was valued at $1.245 million. The invoice was dated Jan. 21, and the goods apparently left the China on March 15.

On that same date, South African officials say they received written notification from the shipping company that the ship, called An Yue Jiang, was coming from China to Durban carrying restricted goods.

In recent days, the clamor about the arms shipment has grown ever louder.

On Friday afternoon, Rubin Phillip, the Anglican archbishop of KwaZulu-Natal, and Gerald Patrick Kearney, who formerly headed a public interest foundation, assisted by the Southern African Litigation Center, urgently appealed to South Africa's High Court to temporarily prohibit transporting the arms across South Africa.

"For the South African government to actively facilitate the transfer of arms in these circumstances is a violation of its constitutional obligations and an abdication of its regionally mandated role to bring about a peaceful resolution of the crisis," said Nicole Fritz, who heads the litigation center.

Mr. Phillip, Mr. Kearney and the lawyers argued that South Africa's 2002 law on conventional arms included guidelines that directed the government to consider, in deciding whether to give permits for the transport of weapons, whether the government receiving the arms was committing human rights violations.

Late Friday afternoon, a judge in Durban granted their request. But on Friday evening, when the authorities drove out to the Chinese ship, An Yeu Jiang, to serve the court order, it pulled up anchor and moved off, according to a South African government official and Ms. Fritz.

According to Ms. Fritz, the last radio transmission the authorities heard from the ship was this: "Next port, Maputo," referring to the capital of Mozambique.

Another cancer has grown on the UN

Dear Friends:

Look at this, below; and then, for context, do read my son Ronan's WSJ article of last January which I am re-running here to accompany these outrageous comments by members of the UN Human Rights Council, allies of the Government of Sudan.:

UN Watch Challenges UN Praise of Sudan's 'Cooperation'
April 18, 2008
Darfur Survivor Speaks for UN Watch at Human Rights Council

Despite continuing reports of Sudanese involvement in the killing, rape, and displacement of many thousands in Darfur, the Khartoum regime was celebrated for its "cooperation" at the recently concluded session of the UN Human Rights Council.

Sudan's allies from the African, Islamic groups and Non-Aligned blocs lined up to praise Khartoum, a position that was formalized in a consensus resolution welcoming the "collaboration of the government of Sudan."
Gibreil Hamid, a survivor from Darfur, took the floor on behalf of UN Watch to confront the impunity granted to Sudan. See text below.

UN Watch Takes on Sudan and its Allies
UN Human Rights Council, 7th Session
Interactive Dialogue with UN Special Rapporteur on Sudan

Statement Delivered by Gibreil Hamid, March 17, 2008

Mr. President, I am from Darfur, and I know the truth about what is happening there.
The truth can be found in today's report.
The report shows how the Government of Sudan is violating human rights and international humanitarian law, with physical assaults, abductions and rape.

In October, Government forces attacked Muhajiriya. People praying in a mosque were rounded up, and forty-eight civilians were killed.
In November, Government planes dropped bombs on Habila. The attackers entered the villages, shooting, stealing animals and setting fire to houses.
On 2 December, in West Darfur, armed men attacked a group of ten women and girls. A sixteen-year-old girl from the group was gang raped, and at least three other women were whipped and beaten with axes. Police and soldiers refused to help.
Violence against women in Darfur is continuing. There is no improvement. There is no justice. The attackers enjoy immunity.

Mr. President, in the name of basic human rights, UN Watch urges Sudan to end these attacks against innocent civilians.
UN Watch asks this Council to please stop praising Sudan for its "cooperation." Mr. President, attacking little girls is not "cooperation."

Thank you, Mr. President.
-----------------------------
UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

In Praise of Sudan's 'Cooperation'

"Our delegation also appreciates the cooperation by Sudan with the former Commission on Human Rights and with the Human Rights Council. Sudan has thus recognized all the resolutions of the Commission and the Council." -- Qatar, March 17, 2008

"The African Group expresses its hope that this session of the Council will mark the continuation of the cooperative spirit, which has reigned so far in the Council on Sudan..." -- Egypt on behalf of the African Group, March 17, 2008

"We believe that this is a reflection of the openness of the government of Sudan and its commitment to cooperate with this Council for the promotion and protection of human rights." -- Egypt on behalf of the African Group, March 17, 2008

"The African group expresses its appreciation to the government of Sudan for the efforts undertaken thus far in the implementation of peace agreements..." -- Egypt on behalf of the African Group, March 17, 2008

"Sudan's efforts are noteworthy and must be encouraged." -- Pakistan, March 17, 2008

"Sudan has completely cooperated with the former Commission on Human Rights as well as the current Council with the fact that both the Council and the Commission have admitted that." -- Palestine on behalf of the Arab Group, March 17, 2008

"We appreciate the consistent efforts of the government of Sudan to remove obstacles to the implementation of all national, regional, and international agreements." -- Pakistan, March 17, 2008

"The government of Sudan will also require international support and encouragement, which must be provided without political qualification." -- Pakistan, March 17, 2008

"The Sudan has always cooperated with the Human Rights Council in order to implement its resolutions. President, we welcome Sudan's cooperation with the Council...."-- Syria, March 17, 2008

"The Sudanese government is cooperating fully with all international, regional initiatives to put an end to the crisis...."-- League of Arab States representative, March 17, 2008

"Malaysia welcomes the progress achieved by the government of the Sudan in improving the legislation, mechanism, and rule of law in the country...."-- Malaysia, March 17, 2008

"We praise the positive steps taken by and taken in the past and which continue to be taken by the government of Sudan to deal with the situation in Darfur...."-- Saudi Arabia, March 17, 2008

"The report of the Special Rapporteur reflects the cooperation of the Sudan government and the progress made in improving the situation in that region by the attempt of the Sudanese government to lift all the obstacles to carrying out all the provisions of regional and international agreements." -- Saudi Arabia, March 17, 2008

"We also recognize the determination of the Sudanese government to try and solve the complex situation effecting Darfur. Cuba welcomes the manifest cooperation of the Sudanese authorities with the work of this Council and its decisions." -- Cuba, March 17, 2008

"Thanks to the considerable efforts of the UN, the African Union, the Sudanese government and other interested parties we have seen positive developments in the search for a solution to the Darfur issue." -- China, March 17, 2008

"We are confident that the government of Sudan will continue its cooperation with the Council and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights...." -- Indonesia, March 17, 2008

"Sudan has fully cooperated with the UN peacekeeping forces. This has shown the good intentions of the Sudanese government's determination to restore peace and security." -- United Arab Emirates, March 17, 2008

"The Sudanese government has demonstrated its determination to positively work toward satisfactory solutions...." -- Jordan, March 17, 2008

"We are satisfied to note the high level of cooperation between the Sudanese government and the Special Rapporteur, and the willingness of the government to pursue a dialogue...." -- Russian Federation, March 17, 2008

"My country's delegation praises the efforts of the Sudanese government to improve the human rights situation..." -- Bahrain, March 17, 2008

"The government of Sudan is cooperating positively...." -- Bahrain, March 17, 2008

"We appreciate the cooperation of the government of Sudan to facilitate the work of the Special Rapporteur and to follow closely matters in the field." -- Yemen, March 17, 2008

"We are particularly heartened by the openness and the cooperative spirit with which the government of Sudan has welcomed the SR and facilitated her mission." -- Djibouti, March 17, 2008

"The delegation also notes the cooperation afforded to the Special Rapporteur by the government of Sudan, which is reflective of an attempt to unravel the complex situation and resolve it." -- Zimbabwe, March 17, 2008

"We particularly welcome the cooperation extended by the government of the Sudan to the Special Rapporteur as well as to the group of experts on Darfur. We also appreciate the government of Sudan's willingness to remain engaged with the international community." -- Pakistan on behalf of the Islamic Group, March 27, 2008

"There has been an acknowledgment of the improvements of the situation of human rights in Darfur and of the steps taken by the government of the Sudan...." -- Sudan, March 27, 2008

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The U.N.'s Human-Rights Sham
By RONAN FARROW
January 29, 2008; Page A16

Last week the U.N. Human Rights Council held an emergency session, organized by Arab and Muslim nations, to condemn Israel for its military actions in the Gaza strip. That the council is capable of swift and decisive action is a welcome surprise; that Israel remains the only nation to provoke such action is not. In the 17 months since its inception, the body has passed 13 condemnations, 12 of them against Israel.

The council replaced what was widely viewed as a cancer on the United Nations -- an ineffectual "Commission on Human Rights" that also had a single-minded focus on Israel. According to former Secretary-General Kofi Annan, "the selectivity and politicizing of its activities [were] in danger of bringing the entire U.N. system into disrepute."

The removal of the diseased commission two years ago was heralded by U.N. officials as "the dawn of a new era." Its replacement was designed to have stricter standards for membership, and rules to prevent politicized voting. But such safeguards were neutered by the time the new Human Rights Council was approved, and the results are agonizingly apparent. The council is no better than its predecessor.

The problems begin with the council's composition. Only 25 of its 47 members are classified as "free democracies," according to Freedom House's ranking of civil liberties. Nine are classified as "not free." Four -- China, Cuba, Russia and Saudi Arabia -- are ranked as the "worst of the worst." These nations are responsible for repeated violations of the U.N.'s own Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yet it is they who dominate the council, leading a powerful bloc of predominantly Arab and African nations that consistently vote as a unit.

These regimes have repeatedly used the council as a powerful tool for shielding themselves from scrutiny and meting out criticism along stark political lines. According to Human Rights Watch, the council has turned a blind eye to at least 26 countries -- the sites of some of the world's worst human-rights crises.

In some cases, the council has actively eroded the level of monitoring. Last year, when Cuba drew fire for persecuting journalists, and Belarus for political imprisonments and rigged elections, the council responded by removing monitors from both countries.

As fresh waves of violence convulsed Darfur in December, the council responded by dismissing the team of experts tasked with monitoring atrocities in that region. Sudan's closest allies, Egypt and China, have led the council in shielding the Sudanese regime.

Even mild resolutions, like a Canadian proposal requesting the prosecution of those responsible for abuses in Darfur, have been rejected. Reports from U.N. fact-finding missions implicating Sudan's government in torture, rape and mass murder -- including one led by Nobel Peace laureate Jody Williams earlier this year -- have been discarded. And while world leaders labeled the Sudanese regime's actions as genocide, the council continued to commend Sudan's conduct and assign blame to "all parties" involved. In the face of the world's worst human-rights crisis, it has refused to issue a single condemnation.

The council's defenders point out nominal improvements over the old commission. More of its seats are held by free democracies. However, these nations have performed anemically, remaining too quiet and acquiescing too frequently. Democratic members such as Canada, France, Germany and Britain must do more to make their presence felt, and work harder to prevent abusive regimes from commandeering the council.

Powerful democracies not on the council -- including the United States -- should press those who are to use their positions within the body to the fullest extent. But given their track record thus far, the chances of democracies finding their voice seem slim.

The best hope for recovery lies in a system of "universal periodical review" slated to begin in April. This would compel the council to review the human rights records of all U.N. states, not just a narrow selection of their choosing. Council members should work to ensure that the system is implemented with impartiality and rigor. But if the council's reviews of Sudan are any indicator of the quality of assessments to come, then even periodical reviews may make little difference.

Another cancer has grown in the old commission's place, and it is just as malignant. U.N. member states should be prepared to call for a fresh start. A new body should be built, with the safeguards initially proposed for this one -- such as the required approval of two-thirds of the U.N. to attain membership -- left intact. A forum that serves as a real tool in service of human rights is worth fighting for.

Mr. Farrow, a student at Yale Law School, is a UNICEF spokesperson and has worked on human-rights issues at the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

ALARMING!!! If you agree contact the White House and your legislators asap (1800 genocide)

President Bush has labeled the on-going atrocities in Darfur 'genocide' yet he is negotiating to normalize relations with Sudan. And for little in return. The US is prepared to lift sanctions in return for what has already been agreed to by Government of Sudan .

NYTIMES
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration could remove Sudan from an American list of state supporters of terrorism and normalize relations if the Sudanese government agreed, among other steps, to allow Thai and Nepalese peacekeepers in its Darfur region, says a document outlining the American negotiating position for talks with Sudan that began Wednesday.

The document was part of a series of negotiating papers exchanged between the governments in preparation for talks in Rome. They were provided to The New York Times by an American government official critical of the administration's position.

Sudan has already promised to let United Nations peacekeepers operate within its borders, and human rights advocates and others say it would be a mistake for the United States to offer any new incentives until Sudan carries out that and other pledges.

"Given the fact that Khartoum has been involved in negotiations repeatedly over the years regarding Darfur and the comprehensive peace agreements and has signed documents and consistently failed to implement what they've signed, why are we discussing normalization with them?" said Roger Winter, a former Sudan negotiator at the State Department. Richard Williamson, the United States envoy to Sudan, is in Rome for the talks with Sudanese officials. The broad thrust of the American position has been known, but the negotiating papers provide new details about the positions staked out by each side as they try to resolve differences over Darfur.

At least 200,000 people have been killed there since the Arab-dominated government of Sudan unleashed tribal militias known as the janjaweed on non-Arab rebel groups and civilians.

The papers show that the United States is demanding that Sudan speed up visas for humanitarian workers and allow private aid organizations to work in Darfur.

Sudan wants an end to economic sanctions imposed by the United States since 1997. Sudan complained in the negotiating papers that sanctions had continued "despite the many positive achievements" by its government in Khartoum.

In addition, Sudan wants United States backing for its membership in the World Trade Organization, American support for the cancellation of Sudan's foreign debts and "the immediate release of the Sudanese detainees at Guantanamo".

Sudan is further seeking a formal apology for the Clinton administration-era strike on the Shifa pharmaceutical plant in Khartoum. It was destroyed by American cruise missiles in 1998 in the days after the terrorist attacks on the American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

American officials have acknowledged over the years that the evidence that prompted President Clinton to order the missile strike was not as solid as first portrayed, and have said that there was no proof that the plant had been linked to Osama bin Laden, a resident of Khartoum in the 1980s. But the United States has not ruled out the possibility that the plant did have some link to chemical weapons production.

Bush administration officials have acknowledged in the past that they have offered to restore full diplomatic ties, lift economic sanctions and remove Sudan from the American list of state sponsors of terrorism in exchange for concessions on Darfur.

The Sudanese government says the death toll in Darfur has been exaggerated, and has denied an accusation from President Bush that the killing there amounts to genocide.

The Sudanese government has signed several peace agreements relating to Darfur or another internal conflict, in the non-Arab southern part of Sudan. But international aid organizations and American officials say that Sudan has failed to carry through on the promises it made in those agreements.

Sudanese Army bombs and new attacks by Arab militias in the ravaged western region of Darfur have driven thousands of refugees into neighboring Chad, according to the United Nations. In the oil-rich region of Abyei, which is claimed by both the government of Sudan and the semiautonomous government of South Sudan, several hundred people have died in recent clashes between a large group of Arab nomads, the Misseriya, and South Sudan's armed forces. Like the janjaweed militias, the Misseriya are armed by Sudan's government.

Sudan, pressed by the Bush administration, signed a comprehensive peace agreement with the South in 2005, but President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has balked at carrying out major parts of the deal.

"We see this process of potential improvement in the United States/Sudan relationship as a holistic one, covering the entirety of Sudan," said the text of the American negotiating document.
Sudanese officials, meanwhile, adopted a besieged air in their negotiating paper, complaining that the Darfur government had "suffered the brunt of many punitive measures which were either totally unjustified and/or politically motivated."

Coca Cola offer to help Darfur

Coke's claim that they will, over the next several years donate $5 million for Darfur, isn't much when we're talking billions...

"Coca-Cola's most recent quarterly results suggest the extent of its reliance on the Chinese market. During the first quarter, Coke's unit case volume sales in China were up 20 percent in the quarter, one of the highest figures from any country. Over all, the company's net income rose 19 percent in the quarter, to $1.5 billion, from $1.26 billion a year ago.

Bill Pecoriello, research analyst at Morgan Stanley, estimates that 5 to 6 percent of Coke's total revenue comes from China. The importance of China for Coke should increase, Mr. Pecoriello said.

Don't forget Darfur

We are seeing the desperation of the Tibetans in their struggle for what is rightly theirs. We have a visceral response when we see monks being shot.

But no cameras are there to document the rapes and mutilations of the women and girls in Darfur. Far from TV cameras, Darfur's children are dying of hunger and disease.

Let us not forget Darfur's people in this, their darkest hour.

++++++++++++++++++++++

Spielberg, U.N. chief seek ways to keep focus on Darfur
From a Times Staff Writer
April 17, 2008

UNITED NATIONS -- Film director Steven Spielberg has met with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to brainstorm ways to keep the spotlight on the troubled Darfur region as world concern shifts to places such as Tibet and Zimbabwe.

The director pitched a few ideas at the Tuesday session, but any new project is still in development, U.N. officials and Spielberg's spokesman said.

"We went there to offer help in any way that we could," said spokesman Andy Spahn. "We will continue to try to focus public attention on the issue and to try to arrange meetings with those who have influence in Sudan."

Ban and Spielberg discussed the possibility of a conference on Sudan around a summit of the Group of 8 industrialized nations this summer. New York Times columnist Nick Kristof proposed this week that such a meeting take place in Rwanda, against the resonant backdrop of a recent genocide.

Spielberg stepped down in February from his post advising on the opening ceremonies for the Beijing Summer Olympics to protest China's continuing support of the Sudanese government and its role in violence in Darfur. When he stepped down, he said that he had spent a year talking with Chinese officials about the issue, but was not satisfied with the results.

Spielberg's friend, Chinese director Zhang Yimou, brought him onto the Olympics committee. One idea that has been floated is to bring Chinese film luminaries onto the Darfur campaign, though those present at Tuesday's meeting would not confirm that idea was in the script.

Silence is complicity

China: Olympic Flame Turns Up Heat on Sponsors
Corporate Social Responsibility Rhetoric Does Not Match Reality

(New York, April 17, 2008) -- With fewer than four months remaining until the start of the Beijing Games, corporate sponsors of the Olympics risk lasting damage to their brands if they do not live up to their professed standards of corporate social responsibility by speaking out about the deteriorating human rights situation in China, Human Rights Watch said today.

"Shareholders and consumers who care about human rights should not let Olympic corporate sponsors off the hook," said Arvind Ganesan, director of Human Rights Watch's Business and Human Rights Program. "Their silence on abuses in the run-up to the Beijing Games makes their claims to support human rights especially disingenuous."

The 12 highest-level corporate benefactors of the Beijing Games, known as the TOP sponsors ("The Olympic Partner"), are: Atos Origin, Coca-Cola, General Electric (GE), Manulife (parent company of John Hancock), Johnson & Johnson, Kodak, Lenovo, McDonald's, Omega (Swatch Group), Panasonic (Matsushita), Samsung, and Visa.

GE is in an especially prominent position as a TOP Sponsor and the parent company of NBC, which is the US broadcaster of the Games. According to the International Olympic Committee's (IOC's) most recent quadrennial review, corporate sponsorships and broadcast fees accounted for 87 percent of IOC revenue from 2001-2004, and the TOP sponsors have paid at least $866 million total for the 2005-2008 period.

In advance of the Beijing Olympics, Human Rights Watch has documented an increase in human rights abuses directly related to preparations for the Games. Those include ongoing violations of media freedom and an intensifying persecution of Chinese human rights defenders who speak out publicly about the Games, as well as the ongoing crackdown in Tibetan areas.

The TOP sponsors have remained largely silent about these developments, despite their widely publicized commitments to the principles of corporate social responsibility and human rights. The Coca-Cola Company and General Electric, for example, are members of the Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights (BLIHR), a group of companies that pledge to apply human rights principles in their businesses and urge other companies to do the same. General Electric's own human rights policy states, "GE seeks to advance human rights by leading by example â€“ through our interactions with customers and suppliers, the products we offer and our relationships with communities and governments."

Since September 2007, Human Rights Watch has repeatedly corresponded with all of the TOP Sponsors and other sponsors (sample letters below), and has met with Coca-Cola, General Electric, and Lenovo, as well as Microsoft, which is an Olympics supplier. A meeting is scheduled with Visa.

"World leaders and even the IOC have belatedly started to speak out against rights abuses in China around the Games, but the companies are notably silent," said Ganesan. "The Olympics are a key test for putting pledges of corporate social responsibility into action. To date, even companies with strong policies have failed that test."

Despite their varying policies on corporate social responsibility, the sponsors are uniform in their eagerness to excuse themselves from saying anything about the deteriorating human rights situation in China. Several Olympic sponsors claim erroneously that human rights concerns are "political," when in fact human rights provide the foundation on which legitimate political activity can take place.

"Human rights should be fundamental to any lawful society and serve as the bedrock principles of Olympism," said Ganesan. "Particularly when abuses are a direct result of the Olympics, companies should never stay silent or try to dismiss the abuses as peripheral. The payment of tens of millions of dollars to sponsor the Olympic should increase the duty to speak out, rather than provide an excuse for cowardly silence."

Human Rights Watch wrote to TOP sponsors in the fall of 2007 and again in March and April 2008 to ask companies to define their corporate policies and any action taken to address the deteriorating human rights climate in China. Human Rights Watch has urged the corporate sponsors to take six specific steps in line with their commitment to corporate social responsibility:

Make a public statement of support for the human rights dimensions of the Olympic Charter, which seeks to promote the "respect for universal fundamental ethical principles" (first Fundamental Principle) and cites the "preservation of human dignity" as a major goal of Olympism (second Fundamental Principle);

Publicly certify that their operations in China do not entail labor abuses or other rights violations;

Urge the Chinese authorities to fulfill their human rights commitments made when the Games were awarded, in particular with regard to media freedom;

Urge the immediate release of courageous advocates who have been harassed, detained, and jailed due to Olympic-related criticisms;

Press the International Olympic Committee to establish a standing committee or mechanism to address human rights abuses in host countries; and,

Urge the Chinese government to allow an independent investigation of the recent crackdown in Tibet. The Olympic Torch should not pass through Tibetan areas in May and June 2008 unless there is such an investigation and foreign and Chinese journalists are permitted free access to these areas, in line with Beijing's media freedom pledges. This recommendation was directed in particular toward the three sponsors of the Torch Relay, Coca-Cola, Lenovo and Samsung.

None of the Olympic sponsors has acted on any of these recommendations, to the knowledge of Human Rights Watch.

"Companies are quite literally paying for these Games, so they can't argue that they don't have any responsibility to address abuses that taint the Olympics," said Ganesan. "If companies aren't going to act on their own human rights policies in the face of gross abuses, why have those policies at all?"

To view excerpts from TOP Sponsors' corporate social responsibility policies, and their recent statements on human rights and the Olympics, please see: "Olympic Corporate Sponsors: Rhetoric and Reality"

To read samples of the letters from Human Rights Watch received by all TOP Sponsors, please see:

General Electric: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/09/19/china18533.htm

NBC: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/01/07/china18534.htm

McDonald's: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/04/14/china18535.htm

For more information, please contact:

In Washington, DC, Arvind Ganesan (English): +1-202-612-4329; or +1-202-255-8305 (mobile)

In Washington, DC, Sophie Richardson (English, Mandarin): +1-202-612-4341; +1-917-721-7473 (mobile)

In New York, Minky Worden (English, Cantonese): +1-212-216-1250; or +1-917-497-0540 (mobile)

For the IOC the Darfur slaughter is "a symbolic matter"

Mia Farrow says Olympics committee fails Darfur
Wed 16 Apr 2008, 18:07 GMT
By Timothy Gardner

NEW YORK, April 16 (Reuters) - U.S. actress Mia Farrow on Wednesday accused the International Olympic Committee of ignoring China's support for Sudan, which the United States and humanitarian groups say has been waging genocide in Darfur.

"The IOC is shrinking its own mandates, they have put aside their humanitarian instincts," Farrow told reporters in a conference call.

Farrow's group, Dream for Darfur, gave the IOC an "F" in a report card, called "Foul Play: How the IOC Failed the Olympic Charter and Darfur."

The group formed last year to use the Beijing Olympics as leverage to influence China's policy on Darfur. China imports most of Sudan's oil.

Farrow said the IOC had no plans to encourage an 'Olympic Truce' in Darfur. The truce, which dates from ancient times, calls for a month of peace around the Games.

In response, the IOC said it cannot pressure governments to fix international conflicts.

"The IOC is a sporting organization with no political mandates to instruct countries how to behave," Giselle Davis, a spokeswoman, said by phone from Switzerland.

She said the Olympic Truce is a "symbolic matter which gives the world the opportunity to stop and think about conflicts throughout the world."

International experts estimate some 200,000 people have died in the violence in Darfur and that about 2.5 million have fled their homes. Khartoum denies genocide and puts the death toll at 9,000.

Farrow said she will visit refugee camps in eastern Chad during the Olympics to broadcast Darfur images. Her group will launch a campaign to press TV viewers to turn off commercials and watch their Internet broadcasts instead.

China has also faced pressure from Western governments for a bloody crackdown in Tibet.

Why flunk the International Olympic Committee?

blog
The dictionary definition of "fail" is "the omission of expected or required action".

I am torn as to whether to discuss the failure of moral leadership by the IOC, or the phenomenon of low expectations.

The Dream for Darfur IOC Report Card documents how the IOC has shirked the messy and difficult business of the genocide in Darfur. Yet the IOC, whose headquarters sit safely in the lovely Swiss town of Lausanne, could have done so much. The IOC has contacts at the United Nations. It has a special Olympic Truce in its own charter which promotes "respect for universal fundamental ethical principles". The IOC enjoys relationships with Olympic corporate sponsors worldwide, including some of the most powerful companies on the globe. Further, the IOC has
a network of 200 national Olympic Committees -- each boasting prominent members. The IOC has young athletes at its beck and call, role models and potential spokespeople for humanitarian causes. And above all, the IOC has the Olympic Games. This is an organization with global reach, and great potential power.

The crisis in Darfur is, after all, a genocide being underwritten by the IOC's chosen Olympic host. What have they done to end the first genocide of the 21st century? NOTHING, despite the fact that when it awarded the Games to China seven years ago, the world knew then that there would be human rights issues to confront now. The IOC has had nearly a decade to plan for human rights contingencies. But when I traveled to Switzerland to discuss with them what they might do to help bring peace to Darfur, they did not offer a single idea. They did not have a clue.

We could chalk up the IOC's lack of response to genocide to cynicism. Or laziness. And maybe both are true. The Report Card describes the IOC with the word "inept".

But I'd also say the IOC's indifference is also the mark of smallness. Of small minds, seeking to protect their turf. The Committee's reaction to what the United Nations has called "atrocities of the worst kind" is the antithesis of what draws people to the Olympic Games. What drives the athletes to do their personal best, beyond simple fame, is that whisper in their hearts that an already incredible record can be beat, and that they are the ones to do it. The IOC has reduced its own glorious mission, this idealism and love of humanity that exudes from the Olympic Charter. The IOC is shrinking its own mandate. They have rejected their humanitarian mission; surely they don't take it seriously if their response to Darfur is to go to a refugee camp to distribute t-shirts. Their response to Darfur is the opposite of a great athlete's courage, optimism and against-all-odds belief in the impossible.

At the outset of the Dream for Darfur campaign, I was hopeful that the International Olympic Committee could be moved to action. Many people told us not to expect much, that the IOC would play both sides of the game, acting politically while claiming to be apolitical. They were right.

The Beijing Olympics is already tarnished by China's multiple human rights violations. We are sad to call this event the Genocide Olympics. But it makes me sadder still that for the children of Darfur, survival itself is a challenge -- of Olympic proportions.

The IOC has let us down. But we are not stopping our advocacy. When August 8th arrives, and the Games begin, hopefully with no major political leaders in attendance at the opening ceremonies , I will be in Chad, broadcasting images of Darfur from one of the refugee camps.
The International Olympic Committee is going about business as usual with China, while the Chinese-supported atrocities in Darfur continue. I'd call that a dismal performance, and a dispiriting belittling of what could be a great institution.

Todays WSJ piece about our efforts at Dream for Darfur

IOC Faces Pressure Over Darfur
By MEI FONG
April 16, 2008 11:14 a.m.

BEIJING -- The activist group Dream for Darfur is trying to step up pressure on the International Olympic Committee ahead of the Beijing Games, criticizing the sports organization for failing to speak out on the violence in Darfur.

At a news conference Wednesday morning in New York, the group, led by actress Mia Farrow, gave the IOC a grade of "F" for its "silence" on Darfur, where Sudanese government forces have been fighting with rebels.

The IOC has faced mounting pressure from activist groups intent on drawing attention to their causes in the run-up to the Games. And its publicity woes have mounted since unrest began in Tibet in March.

Demonstrators, many angry at Chinese government efforts to suppress the at-times violent protests by Tibetans, disrupted the Olympic torch relay in London, Paris and San Francisco. More protests are expected Thursday when the torch passes through New Delhi. India is home to a large Tibetan community.

In the case of Darfur, activists wanted the IOC to write to the United Nations Security Council to ask it to implement Resolution 1769, passed last year, which authorizes deployment of troops and civilian police in the region.

IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said the IOC felt such a move "inappropriate," because "we don't believe it is the IOC's role to dictate policies."' While Darfur is "clearly a tragic situation," it "should be handled under the U.N. framework," she said. Ms. Davies said that the IOC had discussed the issue with top-tier sponsors, and "they agreed with us."

Jacques Rogge, IOC president, has said he has told human-rights activists, including the Darfur group, that the IOC "cannot do everything in the world" and that it isn't equipped "to work in your place" in efforts to solve political problems.

The IOC, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, has been criticized for its 2001 decision to grant this year's Games to Beijing by advocacy groups that blame China for human-rights abuses and for supporting Sudan and other harsh military regimes.
[Go to graphic]

An internal IOC memo that has been viewed by The Wall Street Journal indicates that IOC staff members worry the situation could get worse in coming months. The memo details responses that IOC officials can give in the case of "extreme" situations, such as deaths resulting from protests in China.

Dream for Darfur said, "Shamefully, the IOC's record to date in regard to Darfur has been silence." The group asserted that, despite the IOC's desire to keep sports and politics separate, "silence, too, is a political gesture."

Last November, the Darfur group released its first report grading 19 Olympic sponsors for their responsiveness to the Darfur issue, for example, donating money to aid for Sudan or lobbying the U.N. or IOC or respective embassies to address the issue. Some sponsors, such as General Electric Co., fared marginally better than others, such as Samsung Group. A second report on sponsors is coming next week, the group said.

Today is the day...

...to make sure your money is not being used to kill inncocent people. Click here to visit "Investors Against Genocide" >>

The International Olympic Committee flunks

Foul Play:
How the International Olympic Committee Failed
the Olympic Charter and Darfur

A Darfur Report Card on
the International Olympic Committee
and the 2008 Beijing Games

April 16, 2008
Full report available at: www.dreamfordarfur.org -- http://www.dreamfordarfur.org

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The issue of Darfur is well known to the members and management of the International Olympic Committee. After all, in February of this year, the world renowned director Steven Spielberg resigned his post as artistic director of the 2008 Summer Olympics, stating, "I find that my conscience will not allow me to continue business as usual. At this point, my time and energy must be spent not on Olympic ceremonies but on doing all I can to help bring an end to the unspeakable crimes against humanity that continue to be committed in Darfur."

Dream for Darfur has repeatedly reached out to attempt to engage the IOC in seeking some course of productive action it might take to help bring peace to Darfur. Of the many organizations associated with the 2008 Olympics whom we have contacted-athletes, sponsors, the National Olympic Committees and others - the IOC is one of the most important of all stakeholders. This report card evaluates the IOC's responsiveness to the Darfur genocide. The following are our five findings:

FINDING 1:
The IOC has failed to take meaningful action - or to take even modest steps - to help stop the genocide in western Sudan. The IOC also apparently discouraged Olympic sponsors from taking action. Finally, the IOC has not even mentioned the word "Darfur" in its public statements.

If the IOC were truly to live up to its mission and rhetoric - that "sport unites and teaches about respect and tolerance, two values that are essential in today's world" - it might have sought a way to use sport to encourage peace in Darfur. For instance, the IOC could have written to its many colleagues and contacts at the UN to inquire about the schedule of deployment for Darfur's civilian protection force. Indeed, Dream for Darfur asked the IOC to write such a letter and even provided a template (see Appendix A5). The IOC refused. It is our impression, moreover, that the IOC dampened the interest of a small group of corporate sponsors that were considering calling on the Security Council to take action on Darfur. (The full explanation of this finding is on page 11.)

FINDING 2:
The IOC has abrogated its own Olympic Charter and so has failed the Olympic stakeholders: athletes, sponsors and spectators, and the world public. The IOC has even failed to use a powerful and unique tool at its disposal, the Olympic Truce.

The Olympic Charter states, "The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity."[iv] By refusing to confront the challenge posed by the Darfur crisis, the IOC has allowed the Games to be tarnished - thereby damaging the reputations of the athletes, sponsors and the Olympics overall. In addition, the IOC could have used the Olympic Truce to call for a cessation of violence in Darfur during and after the Games or as an opportunity to intercede, either privately or publicly, with the UN. To date it has failed to do so.

We note with urgency that there is still time to implement the Olympic Truce on behalf of the endangered and defenseless men, women and children of western Sudan. (The full explanation of this finding is on page 14.)

FINDING 3: The IOC's claims that the Olympics are separate from politics are unconvincing - even hypocritical - given the fact that the IOC justified awarding the Games to China, in part, because the Games would "open up" China to the world.

Seven years ago, the IOC justified awarding the Games to China by saying that the Games would "open up" China to the world; the very awarding of the Games to Beijing was a political act. Furthermore, the Olympic movement has a long track record of becoming involved politically.

The IOC has joined China in cynical and disingenuous claims that it is human rights advocates who are politicizing the Games. In fact, the reverse is true. So long as the IOC fails to pursue its humanitarian mission per the Olympic Charter, it will abet Beijing in hijacking the Games for purely economic and political goals, hosting a two-week celebration of China's rising prominence in the world. This is occurring despite the fact that the host country continues to underwrite genocide in Darfur. (The full explanation of this finding is on page 17.)

FINDING 4:
The IOC has had seven years to prepare for the inevitable human rights challenges posed by Chinaâ€™s hosting of the Olympics. The IOC's inaction on Darfur, and its failure to either take proactive steps, or respond to our appeals, is a case study of mismanagement.

Beyond inadequate, the IOC's response to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur has been inept. Instead of providing leadership to other organizations associated with the Olympics, the most the IOC has done for Darfur is a distribution of clothing at a refugee camp in Chad. In the final analysis, the IOC has taken no proactive steps that could have helped address an ongoing mass slaughter that will now likely be concurrent with the Olympics and underwritten by the Olympic host country. (The full explanation of this finding is on page 19.)

FINDING 5:
Lacking leadership from the IOC, nearly the entire Olympic movement has been rudderless about Darfur and remained silent.

Nearly the entire Olympic movement (the National Organizing Committees, sporting federations and prominent individuals who are members of the IOC) has been silent about Darfur due to a lack of leadership by the IOC. Without leadership from the IOC, the 19 Olympic sponsors and suppliers we have targeted are proceeding cautiously - if at all - in their statements on Darfur â€“ and paying a heavy toll in negative publicity. This issue will be explained further in Dream for Darfur's forthcoming Olympic Corporate Sponsor Report Card #2. (The full explanation of this finding is on page 20.)

CONCLUSION: The IOC has failed this evaluation, and is given an F, the lowest possible mark.
The IOC received only 20 out of 200 possible points on a scale of responsiveness to Darfur.

Recommendations for the IOC
It is not too late for the IOC to still have a positive impact on the situation in Darfur. Toward that end, Dream for Darfur calls on the IOC - and the broader Olympic Movement - to do all possible to stop the horrific violence in Darfur in the months before the Games begin in August:

The IOC should immediately employ the singular tool available to it, the Olympic Truce, with respect to Darfur. Historically, the Truce calls for a cessation of hostilities for a period before, during and after the Games. In 2000, the IOC established the International Olympic Truce Foundation and the International Olympic Truce Centre as "new instruments of peace in our times," to "promote its peaceful principles into concrete actions."[v] To implement the Olympic Truce for the 2008 Games, the IOC should call urgently on the UN Security Council and the entire international community to implement the full deployment of UN Resolution 1769 immediately so that civilians will be protected in Darfur before the Games commence. The IOC should also initiate private conversations at the UN to mobilize a lasting response to the Darfur crisis before the Games begin.
Exercise leadership: Mobilize the entire Olympic movement. The IOC should play a leadership role within the Olympic Movement - from leading the National Organizing Committees to the IOC's own individual members, all of whom are prominent people (listed in our Appendix B8) to undertake a meaningful action on Darfur. Support and lead Olympic corporate sponsors' efforts in this regard as well.
Release to the public Beijing's bid to be an Olympic host and the city contract; other host cities have released their bids.
Establish human rights benchmarks around the selection of future host countries for the Games and create a permanent standing mechanism within the IOC to address human rights abuses committed by host countries as they occur.

In addition,
Athletes, the NOCs and members of the Olympic movement should establish an independent commission to study the IOC's fidelity to the Olympic Charter and its humanitarian vision and seek to redress failings. This would include provisions regarding human rights promises and violations by Olympic host nations.

A Resolution from one of America's finest, Russ Feingold

Feingold's Resolution calls for comprehensive peace process to end violence
April 15, 2008 -- Washington, D.C. The U.S. Senate passed a resolution authored by U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, calling on governments, multinational bodies, and non-state actors in Chad, the Central African Republic (CAR), and Sudan to implement a comprehensive peace process to end the violence.

The bipartisan resolution recognizes that the conflicts in Chad, CAR, and Sudan are intricately related and require increased cooperation and commitment from the national governments, backed by the wider international community. Despite agreements to cease support to rebel groups, these countries continue to suffer cross-border attacks by armed militants, which have already displaced thousands and left millions of people in need of humanitarian assistance. Feingold's resolution is co-sponsored by Senators Richard Lugar (R-IN), Carl Levin (D-MI), and Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and 19 other senators.

"The conflicts in Chad, the Central African Republic, and Sudan cannot be resolved in a vacuum because they have both domestic and regional implications. A sustainable peace requires good-faith negotiations both within and between the countries with strong monitoring by the international community", Feingold said. "I am pleased the Senate has sent such an important and timely message. The international community cannot ignore the complex cross-border problems that have resulted in great suffering."

Feingold's Resolution:

Expresses concern for the citizens who have been gravely affected by the violence in this region
Calls upon all parties to cease hostilities immediately and uphold human rights
Urges the governments of Chad and Sudan to abide by promises not to support insurgent groups and to recommit to inclusive negotiations towards regional peace
Urges the government of Chad to restore its political legitimacy by improving accountability, provision of basic services, and respect for basic human and political rights
Encourages the United States and international community to support multilateral peacekeeping missions in Darfur, Chad, and Central African Republic and to play an active, constructive role in a comprehensive peace process to stabilize the region.

Feingold has served on the Subcommittee on African Affairs since 1993 and has served as both its Chairman and Ranking Member. As the current Chairman, Feingold has continued to make sure the United States addresses the region's conflicts, humanitarian and health crises, and governance challenges.

Source: Senator Russ Feingold

Not enough funding for humanitarian operations in Chad

source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
14 Apr 2008
Chad: Low humanitarian funding in 2008, assistance to half million at risk

(New York / Geneva / N'Djamena: 14 April 2008): Over three months into 2008, this year's Humanitarian Appeal for Chad, launched last December in the context of the Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP), has received only 18% of the requested funding.

"We are still hopeful that donors will respond generously to this appeal," said John Holmes, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC). "But if funding trends do not significantly improve in the coming months, this could have devastating consequences for nearly half a million people who heavily rely on humanitarian assistance for their survival," he added.

The 2008 Appeal currently requests US$ 290 million, for 70 humanitarian projects proposed by 14 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and eight United Nations entities. Total funding of US$ 51 million has so far been received.

Contributors to this year's appeal include Canada, the Republic of Finland, Ireland, Japan, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Norway, the Swiss Confederation, and the United States of America.

Chad hosts over 250,000 refugees from the Sudan, and over 180,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have fled internal conflict in the east. There are also more than 57,000 refugees from the Central African Republic (CAR) in the south.
In the east, the vast majority of refugee and IDP households are heavily reliant on humanitarian aid for their survival.

"Should our life-saving operations ever be interrupted, whether due to lack of funding or to insecurity, the current crisis would seriously deteriorate within a short period of time", said Solofo Ramaroson, head of the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) field office in Chad's eastern town of Abéché.

International Olympic Committee FLUNKS

Mia Farrow: IOC Flunks Human Rights
By EDDIE PELLS - 2 hours ago
CHICAGO (AP) - The activist group, Dream for Darfur, is putting final touches on its report card on the human rights record of the International Olympic Committee. The group's most high-profile spokeswoman, Mia Farrow, already has issued her grade.
"Personally, I flunk them," Farrow said Monday. "The definition of failure is 'the omission of expected or required action.' They flunk. They chose Beijing to be their host. How can China host the Olympic Games at home while underwriting genocide in Sudan?"
The suffering in the Darfur region of Sudan is a sad, confusing issue that doesn't lend itself to sound bites or quick, easy answers. The United Nations estimates more than 200,000 have been killed and about 2.5 million displaced in the conflict.
Because of China's oil connections to the African country, however, Farrow and Dream for Darfur have found an exceptional opportunity - maybe the best they'll have - to shine a light on the issue.
Their latest publicity blitz came Monday night, not by accident, at a private club across the street from where the U.S. Olympic Committee is hosting its biggest pre-games gathering. More than 450 credentialed media and about 120 athletes are scheduled to attend through Wednesday.
The group is scheduled to issue its report card Wednesday. It will criticize the IOC for being "inept in addressing China's human rights abuses and ongoing role in the Darfur genocide," according to a news release.
The report card is much like one the organization issued earlier criticizing Olympic sponsors.
The USOC media summit was supposed to be a time for writers and TV crews to gather feature material for stories they'll be telling in the lead-up to the Beijing Games in August. It has been that, but on the first day of the summit, athletes were buffeted by questions about China's role in the world, the troubles in Tibet and Darfur and environmental degradation.
"Our story has now moved from the policy pages to the business pages and now it's moving into the sports pages," said Dream for Darfur's executive director, Jill Savitt. "I don't know if people understand why we care so much about this particular moment. We've got a genocide being called a genocide as it's going on at this very moment. And we're going to have one going on at the Olympics."
Farrow said she is encouraged by the publicity the Olympics have generated for her cause.
She's seen editorials she's co-written with her son, Ronan, garner attention instead of "falling into the dark hole where all our pieces usually fall."
She's watched multiple protests along the torch relay route - though largely over China's policies in Tibet, not Darfur - with some hope, knowing it is taking people out of their comfort zones. "We see this sputtering torch passing through nations, and the burden it's placed on athletes, sponsors and individuals," she said.
She's witnessed what she calls "the biggest civic reaction to an African atrocity since Apartheid."
But, Farrow says, "it hasn't been enough to produce the political will to actually do something."
She believes real results must come on the ground. Four years after the U.N. Security Council first took up the issue of Darfur, U.N. and African Union peacekeepers are finally heading to the region. But the Sudanese government, which has long resisted such a force, continues to delay the full deployment.
Now, Farrow says, most citizens are not any safer than they were six months or a year ago.
Fighting has raged in Darfur since 2003, when ethnic African tribesman took up arms, complaining of decades of neglect and discrimination by the Sudanese Arab-dominated government.
Khartoum is accused of unleashing janjaweed militia forces to commit atrocities against ethnic African communities in the fight with rebel groups - charges the government denies.
The Dream for Darfur report card will be the next in a series of events to publicize the issue, culminating during the first week of the Olympics with Farrow's live broadcast from refugee camps in Chad, near the Darfur border.
One of the actress' biggest fears, however, is that once the Olympics end, any progress she makes will erode once the world's attention is diverted elsewhere.
"This is a time to push, and after that point, I really don't know," she said. "Do we leave Darfur to their own fate? I won't leave them. I have friends there, and those are people who renew my own fragile modicum of hope."
Hosted by
Copyright ? 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Darfur update

As the world calls for peace in Darfur, the violence rages on.

"UNAMID condemns all actions of violence and calls upon all parties to cease hostilities with immediate effect and resort to dialogue," said a press statement signed by Noureddine Mezni, the spokesperson of the joint mission.

UNAMID also condemned air strikes carried out by the Sudanese army in Tor area, western Jebel Marra on Thursday, April 10.

The SLA, led by Abdelwahid al-Nur, reported that army Antonov planes and helicopters bombed Tor and Triniti, claiming the army attacked civilians in four villages in the area.

Humanitarian access has never been more restricted. It is estimated that in all of Darfur some 2 million people are out of reach of humanitarian access. In many camps 30% of the population is suffering from acute malnutrition. Soon the rainy season will begin when road travel in Darfur and eastern Chad will range from extremely difficult to impossible. Dry river beds (wadis) will fill and roads will become mud. Today, in South Darfur, many trucks carrying crucial food and medical supplies are stuck in the road about 87 kilometers from Nyala. The population and aid workers have been anticipating Government attacks in Jebel Marra. International humanitarian organizations have been unable to reach this area where more than 165,000 displaced people are stranded.

Gold discovered in the poorest country on earth

But will any of the wealth ever benefit the people of the Central African Republic? Will any of the money reach the people I met who have been driven from their homes (countless villages have been burned) and the terrified populations who are living in the bush, barely surviving, eating leaves and sucking swamp water.
"Our children our dying. We are all dying." a woman told me.

Jan Nelson, CEO of Pan African Resources, has not mentioned a word about the people of CAR. I believe they are the most abandoned people on earth.

Another example, CAR's neighbor, Chad is rich in oil. There is an extremely wealthy society living in N'Djamena. Behind walls are heavily guarded palacial homes. But the wealthy Chadians do nothing to assist the desperately poor in the rest of Chad. 20 percent of the children of Eastern Chad are suffering from acute malnutrition.

CAR gold discovered
Mon, 14 Apr 2008

Pan African Resources said on Monday that eight major gold-in-soil anomalies have been delineated following a stream sediment and infill soil sampling programme on the Dekoa licence area in the Central African Republic.

The combined strike length of these anomalies is in excess of 25km, double the size of the anomaly identified at the Bogoin project 150km to the South-West of the Dekoa gold project, where a mining convention was signed earlier this year.

As a result of these encouraging results Pan African has together with CARGold, its joint venture partner in the CAR, concluded a 25-year mining convention with the Ministry of Mines, Energy and Water Affairs in the CAR.
The State has agreed to facilitate the exploration and development by the JV of the Dekoa gold project in the CAR. The JV will pay the State $700 000 in respect of the rights it has acquired.
The first instalment of $200 000 was payable on signature and the balance due in instalments at various stages of the development of the Dekoa gold project.
The convention came into effect on 9 April and is extendible by agreement between the JV and the State. Once the mining phase is reached the State will hold a 10 percent free carry in the Dekoa gold project.
The State has provided a number of concessions and exemptions in respect of taxes, duties and administrative provisions to the benefit of the company housing the Dekoa gold project.

Nelson, CEO of Pan African, commented: "The signing of a mining convention removes uncertainty regarding the funding required should the Dekoa gold project advance to the mining phase. Our combined gold projects in the CAR represent close to 37km of potentially mineralised strike length and are we comfortable with the pace at which these projects are progressing."

New York Times quotation of the day

"In Darfur, arms are like sticks. They are everywhere. You just need to bend down and pick one up."
IBRAHIM HASSAN, a Chadian rebel based in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Interesting observation re Olympic sponsors

Canadian Marketer Cautions that Beijing Olympic Sponsorships May Prove Costlier than Expected
Tony Chapman Believes that Olympic Sponsors' Opportunity For Gold Is Tarnishing

TORONTO, April 10 /CNW/ - Tony Chapman, Founder and CEO of Capital C, one of Canada's leading marketing firms, today cautioned Canadian marketers to carefully consider the dangers in fulfilling their Beijing Olympic marketing programs, noting, "Olympic sponsors are getting caught in an ever tightening
vice from which there may be no escape."
Chapman believes that despite the enormous market potential the Beijing Olympics opened up to sponsors, the impact and dominance of consumer driven, viral campaigns and their ability to affect global consumer behaviours far outweigh the market burst which sponsors expected from their Olympic sponsorship.
"Indeed," says Chapman, "the Tibet controversy currently interrupting the torch journey is inspiring a reaction of global proportions. It is becoming deafening as it is digitally enabled and swirls around the world, collecting images, commentary, evidence and an ever growing community of supporters.
"Conversations which started with Tibet and Darfur will cross over to China's environmental record, its treatment of workers, its foreign policy and every other cause imaginable, ultimately becoming an unstoppable force impenetrable
by spin doctors, brand managers, or even the most elaborate marketing
campaigns."
He goes on to say that the reaction to China and the viral phenomenon
surrounding it should be demonstrating to global brands that the rules have shifted from mass media (where they were in charge), to social media (where the consumer is in charge). This is an environment where consumer behaviour will not be based on immediate needs, but upon moral and ethical criteria.
"Consumers are now demanding more than great taste; they are demanding corporate integrity. Today, how a corporation behaves towards its employees, community and planet, and with whom they associate are the new benchmarks for decision making."

AJWS Calls on President Bush to Boycott Beijing Opening Ceremonies

China must use leverage to end genocide in Darfur; Call for opening ceremony boycott part of sweeping AJWS advocacy campaign.

Without China's support, this genocide would not have been possible.

New York, NY (PRWEB) April 11, 2008 -- American Jewish World Service (AJWS) is launching a sweeping national grassroots advocacy campaign aimed at ending the genocide in Darfur. The campaign includes grassroots mobilization calling on President George W. Bush not to attend the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing unless China takes concrete steps immediately to end its support for the government of Sudan. As part of the broader campaign, AJWS is partnering with Investors Against Genocide (IAG) to push for divestment from mutual funds supporting international corporations invested in Sudan and is calling on the U.S. Government to fulfill its own obligations in Darfur by fully funding humanitarian and peacekeeping accounts.

Since 2003, the Government of Sudan has been arming and organizing militias, with backing by the Sudanese army, to engage in a genocidal campaign against the people of Darfur. To date, the conflict in Sudan has led to the deaths of more than 400,000 civilians and creation of more than 2.5 million refugees and internally displaced persons. Since the beginning of 2008 alone, some 75,000 more people have been displaced. Increasing violence is impeding the ability of humanitarian workers to provide aid to the more than 4 million now dependent on humanitarian assistance to survive.

China is Sudan's largest foreign investor and the world's largest player in Sudan's multi-billion dollar oil industry. It has provided Sudan with more than $10 billion in commercial and capital investments over the last 10 years and has served as Sudan's most vocal advocate in the United Nations.

"Without China's support, this genocide would not have been possible," said Ruth W. Messinger, president of AJWS. "It is appalling that the President of the United States would consider attending the opening ceremonies for the Olympic Games in Beijing when China's record on human rights is such a poor reflection of the Olympic spirit.

"China was awarded the privilege of hosting the Olympics based on promises it would take meaningful steps to correct an otherwise dismal record on human rights. So far, China has failed to live up to its promises. The Chinese government could, however, take a step in the right direction by using its considerable leverage to pressure Sudan to end its genocide against the people of Darfur."

According to AJWS, President Bush should not attend the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics unless China takes the following steps immediately:

* Strongly and publicly condemns the genocide.
* Ends the sale of small arms to Sudan. Since 2004, China has been responsible for the sale of 90 percent of all small arms to Sudan, arms that are used as instruments of terror in efforts to rape, murder and displace the people of Darfur. AJWS is supporting the campaign by Human Rights First to end small arms sales by China to Sudan.
* Pressures Sudan to rapidly facilitate the deployment of U.N. peacekeeping forces. China has provided "cover" for Sudan in the U.N. Security Council and through other means in its persistent obstruction of deployment of peacekeeping troops.

The AJWS campaign also focuses on congressional funding of humanitarian and peacekeeping accounts and on an effort to encourage divestment from mutual funds supporting companies invested in Sudan. Congress will soon vote on funding levels for critical humanitarian and peacekeeping accounts. AJWS is urging Congress to appropriate more than $1.7 billion dollars to alleviate refugee and humanitarian crises. This includes $680 million for basic assistance to refugees and internally displaced persons and $384 million to support a full and effective deployment of the United Nations - African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).

It is also critical that Americans take individual accountability regarding their financial investments. Joining with IAG, AJWS is calling on its supporters to demand that their mutual fund companies divest their holdings from international corporations conducting business in Sudan, specifically in the energy and mining sectors. In March, shareholders in two Fidelity mutual funds voted on proxy resolutions requiring Fidelity to pull investments from companies that are providing capital to Sudan and its military. Close to 30% of the shareholders voted in favor of these resolutions, an unprecedented result for the first round of proxy voting on a social issue. Nineteen more Fidelity funds are scheduled to vote on "genocide-free" investing resolutions over the next two months.

"Any shareholder can submit a genocide-free investing proposal to their mutual fund, which would then be required by law to hold a vote," Messinger said. "We are calling on all of our supporters to check the ajws.org website for the various lists of companies that are supporting this genocide. If their mutual funds are investing in these companies, they need to submit proposals - templates of which can also be found easily on the web.

"We as citizens can take action that will ultimately have a powerful affect on the ground in Darfur, and the purpose of our expansive grassroots advocacy effort is to encourage our tens of thousands of supporters to take action now."

About AJWS
American Jewish World Service (AJWS) is an international development organization motivated by Judaism's imperative to pursue justice. AJWS is dedicated to alleviating poverty, hunger and disease among the people of the developing world regardless of race, religion or nationality. Through grants to grassroots organizations, volunteer service, advocacy and education, AJWS fosters civil society, sustainable development and human rights for all people, while promoting the values and responsibilities of global citizenship within the Jewish community.

Letter from some of the the world's most revered childrens Authors

In Darfur there is a story that is being told, re-told, and told again. It is a story of loss, fear, and trauma. Of children's fates being dictated by armed men. It is a not a story that we want to tell you. But it is a story you must hear.

Today is the Day for Darfur, which marks the fifth anniversary of one of the world's bloodiest conflicts. Over 200,000 people have been killed and over two million have been forced to flee from their homes and villages. Children barely old enough to walk, yet alone run, have seen their homes burnt and razed to the ground, their mothers raped and their fathers killed. Most are now holed up in sprawling camps, traumatised and living in fear. Children in Darfur draw pictures of bombs and guns. It is all they have ever known. Childhood is under attack in Darfur.

It is time to change the narrative. It is time to tell a different story. This April many children in Darfur will be reaching their fifth birthdays without ever having known peace. The world needs to wake up. For too long it has let these children suffer. Our politicians need to act on Darfur. It is time they demanded an immediate ceasefire, fully supported by the peacekeepers, and punish anyone who tries to block their deployment. They must also do more to support a peace process based on justice and human rights, so there can be hope of an end to the suffering.

The children of Darfur didn't ask for this war, but are living their days caught in the crossfire of reverberating bullets. They must be allowed to be children again. Despite the daily terror they face, they still have hopes and dreams. The world needs to act now to give the children of Darfur a future.

Signatories:
Mike Berenstain
Judy Blume
Gillian Cross
Anne Fine
Cornelia Funke
Julia Golding
Michael Morpugo
J.K. Rowling
Louis Sachar
Rawya Sadek
Amanda Sthers
R.L. Stine
Tracey West
Daniel Pennac

Help stop mass atrocities on-going in Darfur. . Call

the hotline to end genocide at 1-800-GENOCIDE (1-800-436-6243). You will be asked for your zipcode and then will be given the option of contacting your Senators or Congressional representative. Option #3 will put you through to the White House comment line, where you can leave a message for the President.
If you want to make a direct call to the same White House comment line, the number is 202-456-1111.

Wonderful Wangari Maathai -- an act of conscience

Nobel laureate Maathai withdraws from Olympic torch relay

NAIROBI (AFP) -- Kenya's Nobel Peace laureate Wangari Maathai told AFP Thursday she had pulled out from the Olympic torch relay in which she was due to take part over the weekend in Tanzania, citing concerns for worldwide human rights.

"Yes, I have pulled out," Maathai told AFP by telephone from the Tanzanian commercial capital Dar es Salaam.
"I have decided to show solidarity with other people on the issues of human rights in Sudan's Darfur region, Tibet and Burma."

The torch is scheduled to arrive in Tanzania -- its only stop in Africa -- on Sunday ahead of the August 8-24 Olympic Games in China, which Beijing hopes will be a showpiece for the vast Asian nation.
The torch's relay has been dogged by protests in London and Paris, and in San Francisco where on Wednesday a massive police presence and sudden route change made the torch all but invisible to the public.
The torch on Thursday headed to Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina, where pro-Tibet supporters have vowed "surprise actions" but no major disruption.

Maathai, who won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize for her tree-planting and pro-democracy campaigns, said China was well placed to pressure for the respect of human right respect in the three troubled countries.
"China has tried to address these issues of human rights. But these issues, especially the situation in Tibet, seem to be escalating even though the Dalai Lama has offered to talk," she said. China has flatly refused to dialogue with Tibet's spiritual leader.

Tibetan leaders in exile say the recent crackdown in the Himalayan region has left more than 150 people dead but China has denied those claims. Beijing, which is facing international outrage, has blamed Tibetan "rioters" and said they killed 20 people.

Copyright 2008 AFP.

A squeak from the IOC. They chose China to be the host of the games. I'd like to know how much money the IOC received for that (disastrous) decision.

CHINA has warned the Olympics governing body to keep "irrelevant political factors" away from the Games, after its chief urged Beijing to honour pledges to improve human rights.

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge yesterday said protests dogging the torch relay had left the Games in crisis and publicly reminded China of its promise to advance human rights.

Dr Rogge said Chinese officials had promised, when they made their bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics, that being awarded the Games would "advance the social agenda of China, including human rights".

"We definitely ask China to respect this moral engagement," he said.

The IOC has so far steered clear of joining international pressure on China over its crackdown on Tibet and human rights concerns.

But Dr Rogge, after witnessing violent scenes at torch relay legs in London, Paris and San Francisco, appeared compelled to raise the issue as the IOC executive board met in Beijing.

The Traumatized Children of Darfur

In February 2008, Sudanese forces and government-backed militias attacked villages in West Darfur.
800 children between the ages of 12 and 18 were left unaccounted for by the attacks...

...children living in the camps are traumatized by what they have seen. Children outside the camps live in fear of attacks

Date: 09 Apr 2008
Amnesty International
Sudan: Darfur's children of conflict

The United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force to Darfur (UNAMID) was deployed on 31 December 2007, but little has changed for the children of the region. Since December there have been a number of attacks by government forces and armed militia. Each attack has left men, women and children dead and displaced. Obstructions to the effective deployment of UNAMID by the Government of Sudan and armed groups have continued.

The Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which provides the legal framework within which UNAMID operates, was signed on 9 February 2008 by the Government of Sudan and UNAMID. The force, however, still suffers from inadequate military hardware and human resources and it is not yet effectively protecting civilians.

A generation of Darfuris is growing up in extreme fear and insecurity. Of the four million people affected by the conflict in Darfur, 1.8 million are children under 18.

Of the 2.3 million people who have been displaced, one million are children. Since April 2006, the conflict has created 120,000 newly displaced children.

In February 2008, Sudanese forces and government-backed militias attacked villages in West Darfur. 800 children between the ages of 12 and 18 were left unaccounted for by the attacks.

This April, children in Darfur reaching their fifth birthdays will have never known peace. This marks five years in which the international community has failed to respond adequately to the scale of the crisis.

Many of the children living in the camps are traumatized by what they have seen. Children outside the camps live in fear of attacks on their villages. Schools have been burnt down.

The children in the camps and outside the camps are facing an uncertain future and some are recruited, forcibly or willingly, to serve as child soldiers. The climate of fear, rising domestic and sexual violence and uncertainty is compromising their security today. The lack of access to education is jeopardizing their future.

Rogge Says Olympics in 'Crisis'

April 10, 2008
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 6:19 a.m. ET

BEIJING (AP) -- IOC president Jacques Rogge said Thursday the turmoil surrounding the Beijing torch relay and the politically charged buildup to the Summer Games posed a ''crisis'' for the Olympic movement.

Rogge urged China to respect its ''moral engagement'' to improve human rights and to fulfill promises of greater media freedom. He reaffirmed the right of free speech for athletes at the Beijing Games.

At the same time, the International Olympic Committee expressed relief that the San Francisco leg of the torch relay passed off without major incident and declared that the rest of the international route would not be cut short or canceled.

''This scenario is definitely not on the agenda,'' Rogge said at a news conference. ''We are studying together with (Beijing organizers) to improve the torch relay, but there is no scenario of either interrupting or bringing (the torch) back directly to Beijing.''

Rogge said the San Francisco relay had ''fortunately'' avoided much of the turmoil and disruptions that had marred the legs in London and Paris.

''It was, however, not the joyous party that we had wished it to be,'' he said at the opening of a two-day IOC executive board meeting in Beijing. ''Athletes in many countries are in disarray and we need to reassure them. Our major responsibility is to offer them the games they deserve. ... We have 120 days to achieve this.''

The San Francisco parade route was changed and shortened to prevent disruptions by massive crowds of anti-China protesters. The planned closing ceremony at the waterfront was canceled and moved to San Francisco International Airport, where the flame was put directly on a plane and not displayed.

Still, IOC officials were grateful that there had been no violence.

''I'm very, very happy because there was no injuries,'' IOC executive board member Gerhard Heiberg of Norway said. ''We were afraid of that. That didn't happen, so this was a very good result.''

The turmoil over the torch relay and the growing international criticism of China's policies on Tibet and Darfur and overall human rights record have turned the Beijing Games into one of the most contentious in recent history and presented the IOC with one of its toughest tests.

''It is a crisis, there is no doubt about that,'' Rogge said. ''But the IOC has weathered many bigger storms.''

He cited the attack on Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics and the boycotts of the 1976, 1980 and 1984 Games.

''The history of the Olympic Games is fraught by a lot of challenges,'' Rogge said. ''This is a challenge but you cannot compare to what we had in the past.''

Rogge was asked whether he had second thoughts about awarding the games to Beijing seven years ago.

''I've said that it is very easy with hindsight to criticize the decision,'' he said. ''It's easy to say now that this was not a wise and a sound decision.''

But Rogge insisted that Beijing had ''clearly the best bid'' and offered the strong pull of taking the Olympics to a country with one-fifth of the world's population.

''That was the reasoning for awarding the bid to Beijing.''

When Beijing was bidding for the games, Rogge noted, Chinese officials said the Olympics would help advance social change, including human rights. He called it a ''moral engagement'' and stressed there was no ''contractual promise whatsoever'' on human rights in the official host city contract.

''I would definitely ask China to respect this moral engagement,'' Rogge said.

China's Bloody olympics

China's Blood-Splattered Olympics
The butcher of Tibet, and America's sporting president
by Nat Hentoff
April 8th, 2008 12:00 AM

As the People's Republic of China was characteristically murdering the people of occupied Tibet, Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor, protested by suspending high-level talks in Beijing planned for May. Said Heidermaie Wieczorek, Germany's development minister, to The Financial Times: [Government] talks "were hardly imaginable while the violence in Tibet continues." And Merkel will not attend the opening ceremonies of the Olympics.

Our own sports-loving president is looking forward to being spotlighted at the Olympic ceremonies in China this August.

But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- the first major foreign official to seek out and support Tibet's exiled Dalai Lama at his headquarters in Dharamsala, India -- denounced the Chinese crackdown in no uncertain terms: "If freedom-loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China's oppression in China and Tibet," she said, "we have lost all moral authority to speak on behalf of human rights anywhere in the world."

This is very much what Nancy Pelosi said to me in 1989, not long after China's Politburo ordered the massacre of hundreds of nonviolent pro-democracy Chinese students in Tiananmen Square in Beijing and then, still not sated, ordered the main campus of Peking University to be raided in search of the ringleaders, unleashing the security forces to beat and kill those they suspected of orchestrating the protests.

Not surprisingly, the present leaders of China have told all telecommunications companies covering the 2008 Olympics that they will be forbidden to show live shots of Tiananmen Square during the country's coming-out party at the games. It's a ban, MarketWatch pointed out, that should dampen the high expectations of "General Electric Co.'s NBC network and others that have paid out hundreds of millions of dollars to air live coverage of the games."

When I interviewed Nancy Pelosi 19 years ago, what added to her fury about Tiananmen Square was the arrival in Washington of the high-level Chinese military official who had commanded the massacre, already know as the "butcher of Beijing." He had come on a diplomatic mission to discuss issues of trade and other mutual concerns. Pelosi was fiercely critical of George H.W. Bush's administration, as she told me, for inviting the mass murderer. Since then, Pelosi has been a ceaseless critic of China's abuse of the human rights of its own citizens and those of others under its control.

Pelosi has since become Speaker of the House, and has now taken on George H.W. Bush's son for his stubborn intention to attend the Genocide Olympics, saying that he should refuse to attend the opening ceremonies. But George W. Bush says he'll speak privately with China's leaders about certain controversial matters once he gets there, noting that he has an "extraordinary relationship" with President Hu Jintao-they talk on the phone every six weeks or so. (Presumably, he even may have looked into that ruler's eyes, as he once did into the arctic eyes of Vladimir Putin, although he failed to see the letters "KGB" stenciled there.)

Another possible explanation for the president's presence at the games is offered in a March 21 Washington Post report: that his administration is counting on Chinese help in curbing the nuclear adventures of North Korea and Iran, and that "the economic interests of the two countries are also increasingly linked, with China a huge investor in U.S. Treasury securities."

The State Department certainly seems determined to treat the Genocide Olympics as nothing out of the ordinary. A spokesman for the State Department flatly declared on March 24: "We view this as a significant international sporting event. We're going to treat it as such." But Michele Bernier-Toth, an official with the Bureau of Consular Affairs, warned that Americans attending the Olympics in China can expect their conversations and telephones to be monitored, and their rooms searched without their knowledge.

I am confident that the Secret Service agents accompanying Mr. Bush will do everything they can to ensure that his privacy -- unlike that of ordinary American visitors -- will be protected. But I doubt they'll succeed.

Moreover, I find myself agreeing with those who speculate that the State Department's startling removal of China from its annual list of the world's worst human-rights violators is an attempt to remove the onus from Bush's decision to grace the August Olympics. With appropriate disrespect, the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said on March 11: "This decision [by Bush] was announced even as it was learned that some one hundred Tibetan monks have been arrested and Chinese authorities are refusing to release [human-rights] activist Hu Jia and dozens of other freedom-of-expression advocates."

Throughout the mounting international wave of revulsion at China's savagery in crushing the pro-democracy Tibetans -- as well as its complicity in the genocide in Darfur being committed by Sudan, China's major oil supplier -- there has been a craven silence from the International Olympic Committee and its president, Jacques Rogge, despite the many broken promises that China made to the IOC to secure the August games in the first place.

China had pledged an increased attention to human rights and a guarantee of free access and uncensored reporting by international media before and during the Olympics. Already, reports the March 25 New York Times, the Chinese government "appears to be ...censoring foreign television broadcasts about Tibet. YouTube.com was blocked after the riots began, and CNN and NBC broadcasts regularly go black after mentions of riots in Tibet."

If there are blackouts of demonstrations during the games, can we count on our own freedom-loving president to publicly chastise his friend, Hu Jintao? It doesn't seem likely: The White House announced on March 26 that China's crackdown in Tibet "was not cause for [President Bush] to cancel" his visit.

The day before, in Greece, at the start of the 85,000-mile torch-relay route to the Beijing Olympics ("Light the Passion, Share the Dream"is its slogan), three members of Reporters Without Borders broke through the massive security forces and ran onto the field carrying black flags. They were eventually "detained," but not before they'd made their point.

Watching the spectacle was IOC chairman Jacques Rogge. He did not applaud. He already knew that Hans-Gert Pottering, president of the European Parliament, has told the E.U.'s member nations to consider boycotting the Olympics -- an idea whose time has come!

Labels: Olympics

Global Day for Darfur: coming Sunday

Thousands of people in over thirty countries across the globe will mark five years of war in Darfur with protests on Sunday, April 13, 2008.

Sunday's Global Day for Darfur, organized by an international coalition of human rights groups including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Save Darfur Coalition, is highlighting how over one million Sudanese children have been caught up in the bloodshed, displacement and killing in the region.

"Five years on the killings in Darfur continue because world leaders have let Sudan , and some rebels, get away with murder," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Millions of Darfuris are struggling to survive on aid handouts under the daily threat of being raped, beaten or killed. Sudanese leaders need to know they will pay a heavy price for continuing to defy the UN Security Council."

The global day, the fifth since the conflict began in 2003, is backed by children's authors including J.K. Rowling and Judy Blume who released a letter demanding the world bring back childhood to Darfur, and celebrities including actor Matt Damon and Thandie Newton who were pictured destroying emblems of childhood to highlight that childhood is under attack.

George Clooney who is also backing the day said,

"Days like this matter because they keep what is happening in the eyes of the international community. If we all raise our voices the international community will have to listen and respond. We need sustained international engagement if we're to see real progress on the ground."

Drawings of the war by children who witnessed the conflict first-hand are being exhibited online to mark five years of fighting www.globefordarfur.org

Supporters of the Global Day for Darfur are calling for:
- All parties to immediately stop attacking civilians
- Full deployment of an adequately resourced UN peace-keeping force.
- UNAMID to actively protect all civilians and especially children.

Dismas Nkunda from the Darfur Consortium -- a coalition of African and Middle-Eastern groups working on Darfur -- said: "The people of Darfur are hungry for change. They have been the victims of a belligerent government and an inept international response. Above all it has been children who have suffered and it is they who we must now rally to protect before we lose an entire generation to violence."

Tawanda Hondora, Deputy Program Director for the Africa Program, from Amnesty International added:
"We are determined to ensure that Darfur is not added to the list of conflicts that the world forgot. Five years in we mustn't forget what war means for ordinary people, particularly the most vulnerable. It means fear, suffering and deprivation. Five years is enough."

Editor's Notes:
Countries marking the global day include: Belgium, France, Canada, South Africa, Gambia, Rwanda, Senegal, Egypt, Kenya, Ghana, Australia, Sierra Leone, Germany, UK, USA, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Israel,Switzerland, Hungary, Mali, Ireland, Tunisia, Togo, Uruguay, Chile, Argentina, Japan.
More than 200,000 people are thought to have died due to the conflict since 2003 and over 2.3 million are internally displaced.

On 1 January 2008, the UN-AU hybrid force (UNAMID -- UN African Mission in Darfur) was expected to be deployed to the region. But deployment has been hampered by obstruction by the Sudanese government and delay on the part of the international community to provide appropriate resources.

- Drawings by Darfuri Children and their stories. View these at: http://www.savedarfur.org/page/content/Global_Days/ and download them at: http://www.savedarfur.org/page/-/global_days/KidsDrawings.zip
Interviewees include:

- Salih Mahmoud Osman , Winner of the 2007 Sakharov Prize, human rights lawyer; member of Sudanese parliament; (Arabic and English)
- Georgette Gagnon, Human Rights Watch, Africa Director
- Tawanda Hondora , Amnesty International, Africa Deputy Programme Director;
- Sheikh Adam Turdjok, Darfuri Imam (Arabic and English)

For more information on events, interviewees or media resources please contact:
London- Crisis Action: Brendan Cox - + 44 20 7269 9450 or + 44 7957 120 853
Washington - Save Darfur : Allyn Brooks , La Sure - + 1202 478 6174
Cairo - Human Rights Watch: Gasser Abdel Razek +20 22 794 5036, or +20 10502 9999
Kampala - Darfur Consortium: Dismas Nkunda - + 256 78 231 0404

China struggles with its own image

China faces uphill task polishing image ahead of Olympics

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- With four months to go before the Olympic Games, host China faces a Himalayan task of polishing its image following a global outcry over its crackdown in Tibet and human rights record, experts say.

Beijing's image was seriously battered by widely publicized raucous protests especially in London, Paris and San Francisco, disrupting the Beijing Olympic torch relay. The traditional flame had to be doused several times in the French capital.

Chinese embassies and consulates in several cities were also damaged as they became another focal point of demonstrations by pro-Tibet groups and others capitalizing on the summer Games to highlight China's rights record and support for dictatorships in such nations as Sudan and Myanmar.
Following the bad publicity ahead of the Olympics, which was supposed to be China's coming-out party, Beijing is reportedly hiring a top foreign public relations agency to advise the government on how to redeem its battered image.

Several British and US agencies were invited to interviews with Chinese officials to discuss a contract, which includes pre-games PR strategies, media training and market research on western perceptions of China, the Financial Times reported.

The new agency would take on a greater role for the Beijing Olympics public relations campaign than the existing contract between American public relations firm Hill and Knowlton and the Beijing Organising Committee, the newspaper said.

But communications experts warned it will be a great challenge for PR firms to carry out this nearly impossible mission -- especially with little time left and the prospect of dealing with a client who may not accept rapid but painful remedies.

"That's the challenge to public relations firms: do you want to take a client on who has a reputation as this country does and has human rights abuses," asked Gemma Puglisi, a crisis communications expert at American University.

"Will it damage your reputation as a firm? It is a very, very interesting situation," she said. "The issue and the challenge is, many of these countries have to understand that if they hire someone, they have to listen to them."

A "very savvy" China, Puglisi said, "knows what is at stake" with the Olympics, especially the enormous publicity and potential earnings for the rapidly-growing Asian giant.

The New York Times offered advice Wednesday on how China could burnish its own image ahead of the Olympics.

"In the spirit of the Olympic ideals, we are prepared to help China -- free of charge," the respected US daily stated in an editorial.

"Here's what you do: Stop arresting dissidents. Stop spreading lies about the Dalai Lama, and start talking to him about greater religious and cultural freedoms for Tibet. Stop being an enabler to Sudan in its genocide in Darfur.

"In other words, start delivering on the pledge you made to the International Olympic Committee to respect human rights -- which, by the way, include the freedom of expression and the freedom of assembly."

Beijing has called the Dalai Lama "a wolf in monk's clothing" and vehemently deny religious and cultural repression in Tibet, and insist its 57-year control of the remote region has benefited its devoutly Buddhist people. Tibetan exile leaders say the recent crackdown in the Himalayan territory has left more than 150 people dead but China has denied those claims. Beijing says Tibetan "rioters" have killed 20 people.

The move to hire a PR agency to repair his country's image is seen as a signal that President Hu Jintao, who once was in charge of the remote region, is not prepared to make any immediate policy changes on Tibet or other human rights questions, some analysts said.

"The fact that they are considering hiring a firm makes them realize that so much is at stake and that they are at a critical point," said communications expert Puglisi. "It is a challenge but I believe anything is possible."

Torch relay In San Francisco was a fiasco.

Anyone who watched the torch relay in San Francisco yesterday would have to say it was a farcical fiasco. A disaster by any standards. Thousands showed up: many to protest China's underwriting of genocide in Darfur.
"This is a key moment for those of us who have been organizing against this genocide for years," said my friend Ruth Messinger, the president of the American Jewish World Service. "The theme of the Olympics is 'One Dream for the World.' That can't occur when people in Darfur are being displaced at the rate of tens of thousands a week."

Ruth and AJWS will launch a campaign next week to encourage Jews celebrating Passover to include a prayer for Darfur in their Seder ritual.

Those awesome Vermonters, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield of Ben and Jerry's (the world's coolest ice cream makers of the world's tastiest ice cream) drove to San Francisco in their van which they had outfitted for the rally. "It's a 'China Torch of Disgrace' modeled on the actual Olympic torch," said Ben. "The red clouds on the Olympic torch are replaced with black clouds of terror. We think it's the right message to send to China. The Chinese are trying to use the Olympics to tell the world they've arrived. What we are saying back to them is that along with being a big nation comes responsibility."

Friends, lets all call on President Bush to boycott the Olympic opening ceremonies. 202-456-1111 is the White House "comment line" but I just tried it and a recording says, "because of today's special event, the comment line is temporarily closed." Hmmm.

Leaders from England, the Czech Republic, and Germany have said they would not attend. Although Prime Minister Brown of England (who needs to go spine shopping), said yesterday that he planned to be at the closing gala and that no snub of China was intended.

Protesters came, as they had in Paris and in London, in large numbers to express solidarity with Tibetans. We are seeing the desperation of the Tibetans in their long struggle for what is rightly theirs. We have a visceral response when we see monks being shot.

But the people of Darfur could not be there to express their anguish. No cameras are in Darfur to document the women and children who are being raped today. No one is there to televise those who are dying of the violence, or hunger and disease.

We must not forget the people of Darfur in their darkest hour. They continue to be abandoned. And the dying continues.

Nicholas Kristof's memo to Bush

Memo to Bush on Darfur
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: April 10, 2008
The New York Times

President Bush seems genuinely troubled by the slaughter in Darfur and has periodically suggested to Condoleezza Rice: Why canâ€™t we just send troops in and take care of it? Each time, Ms. Rice patiently explains: You can't invade a third Muslim country, especially one with oil. And so Mr. Bush backs off and does nothing.

But this week marks the 14th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, the last time we said "never again." And while Ms. Rice is right that we can't send in American ground troops, there are concrete steps that President Bush can take if he wants to end his shameful passivity:

1. Work with France to end the proxy war between Sudan and Chad and to keep Sudan from invading Chad and toppling its government. Stopping the Darfur virus from infecting the surrounding countries must be a top priority. And even if the West lacks the gumption to do much within Sudan, it should at least try to block the spread of genocide to the entire region.

France's president, Nicolas Sarkozy, is leading the way in providing a European force to stabilize Chad and Central African Republic, and we should back him strongly. If Sudan dispatches additional proxy troops, France and the U.S. should use aircraft to strafe the invaders. But we should also push Chad's repressive president to accommodate his domestic opponents rather than imprison them.

2. Broaden the focus from "save Darfur" to "save Sudan." There is a growing risk that the war between North and South Sudan will resume in the coming months and that Sudan will shatter into pieces. The U.S. should try to shore up the fraying north-south peace agreement and urgently help South Sudan with an anti-aircraft capability, to deter Khartoum from striking the South.

3. Right before or after this summer's G-8 summit, President Bush should convene an international conference on Sudan, inviting among others Mr. Sarkozy, Gordon Brown of Britain, Hu Jintao of China, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Sudanese leaders themselves. The conference should be convened in Kigali, Rwanda, so that participants can reflect on the historical resonance of genocide.

One aim would be to pressure China to suspend arms transfers to Sudan until it seriously pursues peace in Darfur (we'll get further by treating China as important rather than as evil). Such an arms suspension would be the single best way to induce Sudan to make concessions needed to achieve peace. The conference would also focus on supporting the U.N. peacekeeping force in Darfur with helicopters, training and equipment.

4. The conference should aim to restart a Darfur peace process, because the only way the slaughter will truly end is with a peace agreement. A prominent figure like Kofi Annan should lead the talks, working full time and with a first-rate staff to crack heads of Sudanese officials and rebel leaders alike.

5. The U.N. and U.S. should take South Sudan up on its offers in 2004 and 2005 to provide up to 10,000 peacekeepers for Darfur. South Sudanese peacekeepers wouldn't need visas or interpreters. They can simply walk to Darfur from their present positions, and they would make a huge difference in security.

6. The U.S. should impose a no-fly zone over Darfur from the air base in Abeche, Chad (or even from our existing base in Djibouti). We wouldn't keep planes in the air or shoot down Sudanese aircraft. Rather, the next time Sudan breaches the U.N. ban on offensive military flights, we would wait a day or two and then destroy a Sudanese Antonov bomber on the ground.

Aid groups mostly oppose this approach for fear that Sudan would respond by cutting off humanitarian access, and that's a legitimate concern. We should warn Sudan that any such behavior would lead it to lose other aircraft. Sudan's leaders are practical and covet their planes.

7. We should warn Sudan that if it provokes a war with the South, attacks camps for displaced people or invades a neighboring country, we will destroy its air force. As Roger Winter, a longtime Sudan expert, puts it: "They act when they are credibly threatened. They don't react when we throw snow at them."

8. The central reason for our failure in Sudan is that we haven't proffered meaningful sticks or carrots. A no-fly zone is a stick, but we also should reiterate that if President Omar al-Bashir seeks peace in Darfur and South Sudan, then the U.S. will normalize relations, lift sanctions and take Sudan off the list of nations that sponsor terrorism.

If President Bush takes all these steps, will they succeed in ending the genocide? We don't know, but pretending that there is nothing more that we can do is as dishonest as it is disgraceful.

I invite you to comment on this column on my blog, www.nytimes.com/ontheground, and join me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/kristof.

My pal Ira

Ira Newble and I became friends when we traveled together to eastern Chad in 2007. We visited refugee camps and slept outside. He got covered in bugbites and never complained. In this video (below), Ira speaks out, and I'm happy to see that he's made use of many of my photographs.

Interview With Ira Newble on Darfur, Stories of Courage and Survival
AOL SPORTS - New York,NY,USA
In this video Ira Newble of the LA Lakers shares his experiences from visiting refugee camps in Darfur, along with some of the troubling testimonials he...click here to see the interview >>

Five years on, Darfur rape widespread

By Opheera McDoom
Mon 7 Apr 2008, 17:59 GMT
KHARTOUM, April 7 (Reuters) - Widespread rape, mostly committed by pro-government forces, is going unpunished in Sudan's Darfur region and peacekeepers are unable to protect victims as young as 11, a rights group said on Monday.

New York-based Human Rights Watch urged Sudan's government to pass and enforce laws immediately to prosecute rapists and protect victims in Darfur, racked by five years of conflict.

"The victims of these horrific attacks have little or no hope of redress in Darfur's current climate of impunity," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director of the group.

"By failing to prosecute the perpetrators, the government is giving them a licence to rape."

The rights group said the numerous rapes it documented in its 44-page report were only a fraction of those in Darfur because most go unreported. Victims are often prosecuted for adultery or treated indifferently by Sudanese police.

"The Sudanese government has declared `zero-tolerance' for sexual violence, yet has done almost nothing to protect these victims," Gagnon added.

Soldiers from all groups were responsible for rape, the group said. Pro-government militia, Sudanese army, rebels and former rebels who signed an unpopular peace deal with Khartoum are all guilty.

"The government of Sudan has failed to rein in the abuse, much of which is carried out by their own soldiers and allied militia," the report said.

Sudan's government was not immediately available to comment on the report but regularly denies any widespread rape in Darfur. International experts estimate some 200,000 have died since mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003.

The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for a Sudanese minister and allied militia leaders for alleged war crimes. Sudan says the West has exaggerated Darfur and refuses to hand the suspects over to the world court.

Human Rights Watch urged the joint U.N-African Union peacekeeping mission which took over in Darfur at the beginning of this year to appoint more trained female officers to deal with rape and increase patrols to accompany women searching for vital firewood in the Darfur countryside, when many rapes happen.

"Neither government security forces nor international peacekeepers have provided sufficient protection for women and girls, who remain extremely vulnerable to rape and other abuses ... even in periods of relative calm," the report said.

The peacekeeping mission has not received thousands of much-needed extra troops, as many of those pledged do not yet meet strict U.N. standards. Commanders from the force have pleaded with the world body to send troops, even without their full equipment, as quickly as possible to relieve the overworked 7,000 soldiers struggling on the ground.

The force should eventually be around 20,000 soldiers with some 6,000 police. (Editing by Charles Dick)

Â© Reuters 2008. All Rights Reserved.

Feel like taking action to help Darfur's people today?

Email the Chinese Special Envoy to Darfur and the Chinese Mission to the UN

Last July, the UN Security Council unanimously passed UNSC Resolution 1769 authorizing 26,000 peacekeepers and civilian police to Darfur. At that time, China emphasized the leadership role it played in passing the resolution.

Now, only one third of those troops have arrived, and the deadlines for full deployment have passed. In fact, the humanitarian and security situation has deteriorated dramatically in recent months, and Sudan has placed every conceivable obstruction in the path of an effective deployment of UNAMID (UN Mission in Darfur) to such a degree that it is now entirely unclear whether it can ever be successful.

Write to Liu Guijin, the Chinese Special Envoy to Darfur, and the Chinese Mission to the UN and urge China to insist that Khartoum stop bombing and killing its own citizens and demand the full deployment of a protection force for civilians and the humanitarians trying to assist them.

Add your voice to the growing chorus of people calling on China, and all those with influence, to bring an end to the genocide in Darfur that has now entered its sixth year.

Send a letter to Chinese Special Envoy Liu demanding concrete results before the games begin. Click here >>
Call on the other four permanent members of the Security Council to help China ensure the full and immediate deployment of the UN Peacekeepers authorized by Resolution 1769. Click here >>
Take Action: Call on China and the UN to Take Immediate Action. Click here >>

Your World Leaders

Call on world leaders not to attend the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Read more
Today, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton joined the chorus (see post below!)

Senator Clinton supports a boycott of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics

April 7, 2008
Statement by Hillary Clinton on Olympics

The violent clashes in Tibet and the failure of the Chinese government to use its full leverage
with Sudan to stop the genocide in Darfur are opportunities for Presidential leadership. These
events underscore why I believe the Bush administration has been wrong to downplay human
rights in its policy towards China. At this time, and in light of recent events, I believe
President Bush should not plan on attending the opening ceremonies in Beijing, absent major
changes by the Chinese government.

I encourage the Chinese to take advantage of this moment as an opportunity to live up to
universal human aspirations of respect for human rights and unity, ideals that the Olympic
games have come to represent.

Americans will stand strong in support of freedom of religious and political expression and
human rights. Americans will also stand strong and root for the success of American athletes
who have worked hard and earned the right to compete in the Olympic Games of 2008.

This (the "internal memo") is a plea for censorship...outrageous!!

Olympians Warned Not to Protest
WALL STREET JOURNAL
By STACY MEICHTRY
April 7, 2008; Page A6

As protests over the Beijing Olympics rise, the International Olympic Committee has sent a memo to its members, advising them on how to respond to media scrutiny of China's human-rights record -- and reminding athletes that any "proactive political or religious expression" during the event will be punished.

In an internal memo, viewed by The Wall Street Journal, the IOC reiterates its opposition to taking any public stance on Chinese policies, describing them as "sovereign matters outside of our mandate."

IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said the March 17 memo was "normal business to keep people in the loop."

The IOC's effort to coordinate the public message of its members underscores the delicate balancing act the committee faces in promoting the Games while publicly distancing the sporting event from Chinese policies.

Since protesters disrupted the lighting of the Olympic torch in Greece last month, the IOC has been fending off questions related to Beijing's human-rights record, ranging from the tight control the government maintains over national media and the Internet, to Beijing's handling of the crisis in Tibet.

"I'm sure that you are monitoring the situation in Tibet, and China's response to it. There is an understandable amount of emotion around this issue," IOC President Jacques Rogge wrote in a cover letter to the memo.

Mr. Rogge describes the crisis in Tibet as "troubling" and refers IOC members to a memo of "message points and frequently asked questions" prepared by his public-relations staff. He also encourages members to "coordinate any response" with the committee.

Attached to Mr. Rogge's letter is an eight-page "briefing kit," whose existence was made public by the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders. The document notes that national Olympic committees are expected to send athletes who are "in compliance with the Olympic Charter" to the Games.

"Athletes will have total freedom of expression" to answer questions from the media, the memo states.

"However, rules for athletes clearly state that the venues of the Games are not a place for proactive political or religious expression," the memo says, adding: "In Beijing, sanctions and penalties will be applied in any cases considered to be a breach of IOC policy."

It is unclear how the memo may affect any independent initiatives planned by athletes before and during the Games.

On Monday when the Olympic torch relay arrives in Paris, for example, a group of French athletes who are expected to compete in Beijing want to wear a badge marked "For a better world," in response to events in Tibet and the question of human rights in China.

In an interview, Denis Masseglia, an executive board member of France's Olympic committee, said these athletes planned to lobby the IOC for the right to wear the badge. French Olympic Committee President Henri Serandour, he added, is currently in Beijing pressing the matter in talks with IOC officials. Mr. Masseglia noted that the badge was carefully worded so as not to openly criticize Beijing and run afoul of the Olympic Charter.

Mr. Masseglia declined to say what the IOC response to the badge initiative was.

Write to Stacy Meichtry at stacy.meichtry@wsj.com

NEVER AGAIN: How obscenely disingenuous those fine words sound today

For five years governments have watched the slaughter in Darfur and failed to take action. And so an unprecedented phenomenon has emerged: individuals have taken up the responsibility to protect this tormented population. Scores of US Congressmen and European parliamentarians, as well as Nobel prizewinners, athletes, artists and ordinary citizens have taken a public stand urging China to use its influence to stop the killing and to reassess its no-strings-attached backing of abusive regimes across the globe.

But the voices of individuals alone will not be enough to move China. Those most likely to have China's ear in the lead up to the Games are those underwriting the ceremony. But corporate sponsors Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Johnson and Johnson, General Electric, Visa, Addidas and Microsoft have refused to do anything at all to express their concern. For them, even in the face of genocide, it is "business as usual". If you are as disgusted as I am at this shameful conduct by these sponsors, contact them and let them know how you feel.

If Beijing elected to act rather than talk, there is plenty it could do.

Cornell Student steps forward

Genocide: Just a Word?

Cornell University
The Cornell Daily Sun - Ithaca,NY,USA

A campaign led by Dream for Darfur, an anti-genocide organization, has galvanized activists to use the Olympics as a way of igniting dialogue and action. Click here to read more >>

Get Fidelityto stop investing in geocide...

Dear Friends,

We need your help to "get out the vote" for the upcoming April 16 and May 14 shareholder meetings at Fidelity. At the first vote ever on this unprecedented proposal, a surprising 28% and 27% of shareholders voted for genocide-free investing! We need your help to increase those numbers in April and May

Click here to take action!

We ask so little...

I'd like to say a bit more about the sponsors -- just how rotten to the core they all are. We didn't ask much. We didn't ask them to quit. We asked so little of them. When we initially approached them, asking if they could use their positions of leverage with their host, they had ALL replied (in similar language) "this is not our job, it's the UN's job". So then we asked them to write a joint letter to the members of the UN Security Council urging them to make good on UN Resolution 1769 which they all signed in July -- when China headed the S. C. It authorized the deployment of 26,000 peacekeepers into Darfur. Although it stated that the force should be "predominantly"of African origin, the Government of Sudan, perpetrators of the crimes in the region, continue to insist that the troops be EXCLUSIVELY African.

July was a very long time ago for Darfurians. How many people in Darfur have died -- of violence, of hunger, of disease -- since July ? How many have been driven from their homes? How many women and girls have been raped?

But of course the sponsors only care about making more money.

Coke is going to sponsor these games without a qualm just as they sponsored the Nazi games in 1936.

It is time to call for a boycott of the opening ceremonies. I hope people will call in, urging our leaders not to attend the opening ceremonies. I hope in your own homes you will refuse to watch this garish display of Chinese propaganda. Rather think of the impoverished Chinese citizens who were bulldozed aside so that Beijing could be reconfigured for the games. Think of those who spoke out and were tortured and imprisoned. Think of Tibet and their just struggle for freedom. Think of the Chinese soldiers shooting monks to silence them. Think of the people of Darfur who are suffering immeasurably. Think of them and out of respect, let us all (at the very least) show we care and express our solidarity with the people and disgust with China and their corporations by boycotting those opening ceremonies.

Contact the sponsors if you are moved to. Tell them what you think of their complicity. No matter how many billions they spend telling you how great they are, never forget the truth: that money means more to them than human lives.

I am approaching recording artists and asking them to give "a Song for Darfur". I will tell you more as people sign on. We will run this through the Olympic opening ceremonies on another channel as well as on the Internet. Friends, we are also asking you to "switch over"during the commercials; I will be broadcasting live from the refugee camps. Unfortunately the Chinese slogan "one world one dream" does not apply to all of the people of the world, certainly not the people of Darfur. They cannot participate in, attend or watch the games -- so let's visit them!

Labels: coca-cola, coke, darfur, genocide

"Genocide by Attrition in Sudan"

By Eric Reeves
Sunday, April 6, 2008; B07

Sudan's National Islamic Front regime has begun its sixth year of genocidal counterinsurgency warfare in the vast western region of Darfur, targeting African civilian populations perceived as the primary support for fractious rebel groups. Given the length of the conflict, news reports have inevitably taken on a grimly familiar and repetitive character that obscures the impending cataclysm of human destruction.

Without significant improvement in security on the ground -- for civilians and the humanitarians upon whom they increasingly depend -- deaths in the coming months will reach a staggering total. What Khartoum was unable to accomplish with the massive violence of 2003-04, entailing wholesale destruction of African villages, will be achieved through a "genocide by attrition." Civilians displaced into camps or surviving precariously in rural areas will face unprecedented shortfalls in humanitarian assistance, primarily food and potable water.

A recent U.N. map indicating aid access throughout Darfur shows that a large majority of people in the region are in areas with highly limited humanitarian access or none at all. The consensus among nongovernmental aid organizations is that they have access to only 40 percent of the population in need; 2.5 million of the 4.3 million Darfuris affected by conflict -- primarily women and children -- can't be securely reached by those attempting to provide food, clean water, shelter and primary medical care.

And things are poised to get much worse.

Paralyzing seasonal rains begin in earnest in June throughout the region. In eastern Chad, an obscenely underreported humanitarian crisis has put half a million Darfuri refugees and Chadian displaced persons at acute risk because of insecurity spilling over from Darfur. A European Union force deploying to eastern Chad may provide some of the protection necessary to halt the most threatening violence, but much depends on whether the force is perceived as an extension of a long-term French military presence that has supported Chadian President Idriss DÃƒÂ©by.

In Darfur itself, however, the protection force authorized by the U.N. Security Council last July has stalled badly. Little more than a slightly augmented version of the African Union mission, it risks failing soon if it cannot do much better than its weak and undermanned predecessor. Khartoum refuses to accept key contingents from non-African countries and obstructs force deployment and operations in a range of ways. Indeed, nothing contributes more to what Human Rights Watch recently described as "chaos by design." While a variety of rebel groups, bandits and opportunistic armed elements contribute to the violence that threatens humanitarians, Khartoum has invested virtually nothing in providing security for Darfuris or humanitarians. On the contrary, reports from the field make clear that a climate of hostility, obstruction and abuse defines the working environment for all aid organizations. Khartoum still refuses to disarm its brutal Arab militia forces, the Janjaweed. Recently, in a campaign reminiscent of the worst military violence of the genocide's early years, Khartoum's regular ground and air forces coordinated with the Janjaweed in massive scorched-earth assaults against civilian villages in West Darfur.

But it is the onset of this year's heavy rains that may well mark the tipping point. A great many people weakened by five years of conflict and deprivation won't make it through the traditional "hunger gap" -- the period between spring planting and fall harvest. Last fall's harvests were disastrous, especially in North and South Darfur. Food reserves have never been lower, and because of insecurity the U.N. World Food Program has not been able to position adequate food stocks in the areas least accessible during the rainy season. Once the rains come -- severing road corridors, turning dry river beds into impassable torrents and creating a terrain of mud -- it will be almost impossible to move in many areas. The insecurity preventing humanitarian access will give way to sheer physical impossibility.

The international community has waited far too long to come to terms with the brutal motives behind Khartoum's simultaneous blocking of a U.N.-authorized protection force and its unconstrained harassment of humanitarian operations. Nothing short of the most urgent deployment of security forces will allow food to be moved into areas of greatest need. And nothing less than an equally urgent commitment to protect aid operations will permit an expanded humanitarian reach in the critical three months before the start of the rainy season. If Khartoum is not confronted over its deadly policies of fostering insecurity while obstructing humanitarian operations, then we may measure the consequences in hundreds of thousands of lives lost. The choice is before us now.

Eric Reeves, a professor at Smith College, is the author of "A Long Day's Dying: Critical Moments in the Darfur Genocide." He is a consultant to several human rights and humanitarian organizations in Sudan.

"Violence targeting civilians, including women and girls, continues at alarming levels with no accountability, or end, in sight..."

UN Chief Urges Action on Darfur
By EDITH M. LEDERER

UNITED NATIONS (AP) â€” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon deplored "alarming levels" of violence in Darfur Friday, saying that the suffering of millions in the Sudanese region may have gotten worse in recent years.

Ban said the joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force now being deployed in Darfur "can only be effective when there is a peace to keep." He urged the Sudanese government, rebel groups and other interested party to immediately focus on what can be done to end the hostilities, protect civilians and start negotiations.

Recalling the Security Council's first meeting on Darfur in April 2004, the secretary-general said "the situation remains grim today, as then, if not worse."

"Violence targeting civilians, including women and girls, continues at alarming levels with no accountability, or end, in sight," Ban said in a statement.

"Some 4.27 million civilians, including 2.45 million internally displaced, continue to suffer," he said. "As a result of ongoing attacks by armed forces and groups, more than 100,000 civilians have been forced to flee from violence this year alone, at a rate of 1,000 per day."

In a monthly report, Ban cited a dramatic deterioration in the security situation in some areas and increased hostilities, especially in Western Darfur which led to the displacement of thousands and civilian deaths. The situation is complicated by the presence of rebels from neighboring Chad in Western Darfur "who continue to regroup," it said.

In the report, Ban called for "all means possible" to be used to deploy the AU-U.N. force quickly to protect the people of Darfur. Only 9,200 troops and police of the 26,000 authorized are on the ground and earlier this week the United States said it wants 3,600 new African troops in Darfur by June.

He said the U.N. is accelerating deployment but the Sudanese government has not yet given a green light for Thai and Nepalese troops, insisting it wants all African forces on the ground first.

He called on all parties trying to end the fighting to "immediately focus on what can be achieved by ending the hostilities, protecting civilians and coming to the negotiating table."

The U.N. believes that far more than 200,000 people have been killed in the conflict. Fighting has raged in Darfur since 2003, when ethnic African tribesman took up arms, complaining of decades of neglect and discrimination by the Sudanese Arab-dominated government. Khartoum has been accused of unleashing janjaweed militia forces to commit atrocities against ethnic African communities in the fight with rebel groups.

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An outrage

Prominent Chinese Rights Activist Is Jailed
By JIM YARDLEY
April 4, 2008

BEIJING -- A Chinese court on Thursday sentenced an outspoken human rights advocate to three and a half years in prison after ruling that his critical essays and comments about Communist Party rule amounted to inciting subversion, his lawyer said.

The conviction of the advocate, Hu Jia, 34, one of the most prominent human rights activists in China, quickly brought outside criticism of China at a time when the government is already facing international concern over its handling of the Tibetan crisis.

Mr. Hu's case has been followed closely, especially in Europe, and

critics say his conviction is part of a government crackdown to silence dissidents before Beijing plays host to the Olympic Games in August.

Diane Sovereign, a spokeswoman for the United States embassy in Beijing, described the United States government's reaction to the verdict as "dismayed."

"Mr. Hu has consistently worked within China's legal system to protect the rights of his fellow citizens," Ms. Sovereign said. "These types of activities support China's efforts to institute the rule of law and should be applauded, not suppressed or punished."

Mr. Hu's wife, Zeng Jinyan, herself a well-known blogger and rights advocate, was distraught in a telephone interview on Thursday.

"I feel hopeless and helpless," said Ms. Zeng, who is under house arrest with the couple's infant daughter in their suburban Beijing apartment, though she was allowed to visit her husband on Thursday.

Asked why Mr. Hu was arrested and convicted, she said: "The fundamental reason is to silence him. He had been speaking up and all he said was plain truth. It makes them unhappy. But they can do this to him because they're unhappy?"

Earlier this year, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice raised Mr. Hu's case during a meeting with China's foreign minister, Yang Jiechi. The European Union presidency has criticized the subversion charge and called for Mr. Hu's release.

Li Fangping, the defense lawyer, said the court showed leniency by

sentencing him for less than the maximum five-year term. Mr. Li said the sentence also forbids Mr. Hu from making any public political statements for one year following his release from prison.

"Three and a half years is still unacceptable to us," Mr. Li told a throng of reporters outside the courthouse. "There is a major disagreement between prosecutors and the defense over punishing someone for making peaceful speech. We still believe the charge does not stand."

Prosecutors in China rarely discuss cases after a verdict. But Xinhua, the country's official news agency, reported that Mr. Hu had confessed to the charges. "Hu spread malicious rumors and committed libel in an attempt to subvert the state's political power and socialist system," the court verdict stated, according to Xinhua.

In his human rights work, Mr. Hu has volunteered to help AIDS patients and plant trees to fight desertification, the conversion of the land into a desert.

In recent years, he has maintained regular contacts with dissidents and other advocates on issues ranging from environmental protection and legal reform. He has also served as a one-man clearinghouse of information about peasant protests and dissidents, subjects that are often censored in the Chinese media.

He was detained on Dec. 27 last year and then later charged with

"incitement to subvert state power," a charge based on six essays and interviews in which he criticized the Communist Party. Mr. Hu wrote a long, blistering essay detailing how police had tortured two people who had protested about having their homes illegally seized in Beijing. In that essay, he also criticized the Communist Party's human rights record.

The timing was sensitive. Mr. Hu posted the essay on his personal blog in advance of last fall's 17th Party Congress, a key political meeting in wIn another blog posting, Mr. Hu wrote about China's political formulation known as "one country, two systems" under which Hong Kong is part of China yet is allowed a more democratic political system. Mr. Hu argued that all of China should be democratic.

Last year, Mr. Hu also co-wrote an article that criticized the Communist Party for failing to fulfill its Olympic promises to improve human rights before the Beijing Games, though that article apparently was not included as evidence.

Mr. Li said that Mr. Hu continues to maintain his innocence, though he

has acknowledged outside the courtroom that some of his comments were "excessive" in the context of existing law. All of the articles used as evidence have been censored on China's Internet.

China's subversion laws, like those over state secrets, are deliberately vague and grant prosecutors considerable leeway in determining "subversive" speech â€” even though freedom of speech is included in the Chinese constitution.

"The line between 'freedom of speech' and 'endangering state security' is very ambiguous," Mr. Li said. "In the criminal law, the article concerning subversion of state power contains only 30 words. And neither lawmakers of the judicial branch have given any further explanation."

The lawyer added that the defense team had tried during the trial to clarify what constituted free speech, and what did not. "Only in that way can we protect the freedom of speech from being restrained or disregarded in the name of state security," Mr. Li said.

Human rights groups have called for Mr. Hu's release and condemned his arrest and conviction.

Mr. Hu now has 10 days to decide whether to appeal the verdict. His health is also an issue; he has Hepatitis B and also takes medication for a deteriorating liver condition. Mr. Li said Mr. Hu has the option of applying for medical parole if he chooses not to appeal.

Meanwhile, Ms. Zeng, Mr. Hu's wife, was anguished. "I'm very disappointed and very pained," she said. "Yesterday, I thought he could be back home today."

Howard W. French contributed reporting from Shanghai. Zhang Jing contributed research from Beijing.

I will be broadcasting live from the camps. We are launching a 'switch over' campaign.

Farrow to broadcast from Darfur to show China's role in region

Thursday, April 3, 2008
Associated Press

As the world turns its eyes to China for the Olympic Games, actress Mia Farrow will be broadcasting less glamorous fare from a Sudanese refugee camp to highlight China's involvement in the region.

Farrow will spend the first week of the Games showing the poor living conditions of ethnic African refugees displaced by conflict with the Sudanese Arab-dominated government, the group Dream for Darfur announced Thursday.

The group criticizes China's role as Sudan's main trading partner, buying oil from Sudan and selling the country many of the weapons used to wage war on the agrarian tribal people of Darfur, said executive director Jill Savitt.

Dream for Darfur, along with partners Save Darfur Coalition and the San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition, also wants world leaders to boycott the opening ceremonies unless UNAMID â€” the United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur, a peacekeeping mission ,is fully deployed in the region.

"We're calling on world leaders to not sit by as Beijing celebrates itself," Savitt said.

Farrow's broadcasts will be available over the Internet.

Farrow's representatives said the actress could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday.

Boycott the Olympic opening ceremonies!!

Olympics-Darfur activists urge leaders to skip ceremony
Thu 3 Apr 2008, 20:03 GMT
April 3 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush and other leaders should shun the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony unless China does more to stop bloodshed in Sudan's Darfur region, activists said on Thursday.

The umbrella group of Darfur organizations said it was not advocating that countries, athletes or corporate sponsors boycott the Aug. 8-24 Games. But it said host China's close ties to Sudan undercut the spirit of the opening ceremony.

"Beijing should not be allowed to bask in the warm glow of peace and brotherhood associated with the opening games if China is still underwriting atrocities in Darfur and still has not done what it should to bring peace and security to Sudan," said the group in a statement from Washington.

"We call on world leaders not to attend the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics," it said.

The group -- from Save Darfur Coalition, ENOUGH Project, STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition, Genocide Intervention Network and Dream for Darfur -- vowed to continue their call for a ceremony boycott until Sudan accepts deployment of a hybrid U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur.

Only 9,000 of the planned 26,000 international troops and police have been deployed in Darfur. Western governments have blamed Khartoum for dragging its feet in approving the composition of the force and creating other obstacles.

China's diplomatic and economic support for Sudan enabled Khartoum to stonewall on the peacekeepers, the activists said.

"As Sudan's largest economic partner, major military supplier, and chief diplomatic supporter, Beijing is in an unrivaled position to persuade Sudan to change its behavior," said the statement.

China, under fire from rights groups for its policies in Tibet and for jailing critics ahead of the Olympics, has rejected efforts to link its Darfur policy to the games and bristled at talk of a boycott.

Bush has resisted calls to rethink his plans to attend the Beijing Games, saying he will raise rights and other concerns in private with his host, Chinese President Hu Jintao.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has floated the idea of boycotting the opening ceremony in response to China's suppression of Tibetan protests last month.

About 2.5 million people have fled their homes during the five-year war in Sudan's west. International experts estimate some 200,000 have died in violence Washington calls genocide.

Khartoum denies genocide and puts the death toll at 9,000.

A poll of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted over the past two weeks by Kelton Research found that 90 percent of Americans believed politics should be kept separate from the Olympics.

But 25 percent of respondents said they had considered not watching the Beijing Games on television due to concerns over China's human rights and environmental record, while 21 percent said the United States should boycott the Olympics, the U.S. polling agency said. (Editing by Eric Beech)

Check Out Dream For Darfur On YouTube

Dear Friends ,
Some of you may have heard that I have been working with Dream for Darfur. Here are 4 minutes describing what we're about (this is being translated to Chinese and sent to Chinese officials): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Wwu4Kv5RLU

1936 all over again?

Published On Wednesday, April 02, 2008 10:22 PM

By ANTHONY P. DEDOUSIS

On August 8, the 2008 Olympic Games will open in Beijing. The eyes of the world will be upon China, as tourists and television iewers from every country tune in. Hundreds of world leaders, including President Bush, will be in attendance. Medals will be won, records will be broken, and nations will rally around their Olympic heroes. But for democracies worldwide, it will be a moment of shame. By attending the Olympics, they will be tacitly endorsing Chinaâ€™s autocratic government, abuse of its own people, and its unsavory alliances. The United States should take a stand against Chinaâ€™s egregious behavior by boycotting the Olympic Games.

When China successfully bid for the Olympic Games in 2001, its government pledged to use them as a stepping-stone towards democracy. As Liu Jingmin, a top Beijing Olympics official, told the International Olympic Committee at the time, â€œBy allowing Beijing to hold the Games, you will help the development of human rights.â€� But Chinaâ€™s words have not translated into action. Its people lack basic freedoms; thousands of reporters, political prisoners, and religious minorities languish in its jails and labor camps. Amnesty International estimates that China executes more people each year than the rest of the world combined. The governmentâ€™s preparations for the Olympics have placed great hardship on the Chinese people, as over 400,000 people have been evicted from their homes to make way for stadiums and new highways. Few receive compensation, because in China, most land is â€œcollectivizedâ€� and technically belongs to the central government. These injustices have continued to occur despite Chinaâ€™s earlier promises to move towards democracy.

Domestic dissatisfaction reached a crescendo last month with Tibetan protests against Chinese rule. To quell the protests, the Chinese army entered Lhasa, and began firing upon protesters, killing over 80 people. The Dalai Lama has called Chinaâ€™s actions a â€œcultural genocide.â€�

Worst of all, China, as an ally of oil-rich Sudan, holds responsibility for the Darfur genocide by association. Its investment dollars and arms sales support the Sudanese regime, allowing it to continue its brutal war against Darfur. There must be meaningful consequences to Chinaâ€™s disregard for human rights.

America faced a similar dilemma before the infamous 1936 Berlin Olympics. Adolf Hitler used the Olympics to positively portray his regime to the world much like the Chinese government is doing today. Hitler intended for the Berlin Olympics to vindicate Germany as a nation of peace and tolerance. The Nazi government softened its racist campaign, removing anti-Semitic posters from tourist attractions. The American Olympic committee, reluctant to mix politics and sport, decided to send a team to the games. Europeâ€™s democracies followed Americaâ€™s lead. The games went on, and Hitler was lauded for their success. The world in 1936 thus condoned the Nazi regime, just as we condone Chinaâ€™s abusive government today.

Unfortunately, it looks as though events are about to repeat themselves. As Pierre de Coubertin, creator of the modern Olympics, noted, â€œHolding an Olympic Games means evoking history.â€� Will President Hu Jintao refuse to congratulate a gold medalist who happens to be Taiwanese? Will Chinaâ€™s own â€œundesirablesâ€� be conveniently moved out of the television camerasâ€™ sight?

Although most argue that politics should be kept out of the Games, it is not as though American boycotts of the Olympics are unprecedented. In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. In response, the United States and most other NATO nations boycotted the Moscow Olympics the next year. By reducing the Olympics to a contest between Communist nations, the West was able to express its anger at the Kremlinâ€™s misdeeds. If a host nationâ€™s aggression against a neighbor warrants a boycott, surely a host nationâ€™s aggression against its own people warrants one as well.

Already, public figures have supported an Olympic boycott. Representative Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican, has put forth a resolution in the House recommending a boycott. Recently, Steven Spielberg, angry over Chinaâ€™s lack of action on Darfur, resigned as artistic consultant to the Beijing Games. Mia Farrow has praised Spielbergâ€™s action, and termed the games the â€œGenocide Olympics.â€� Reporters Without Borders supports a boycott because of Chinaâ€™s jailing of dissident journalists. These people have all recognized that participation in the Olympics is a tacit endorsement of Chinaâ€™s current conduct; more politicians and organizations should do so as well.

This summer, thousands of visitors and millions of television viewers will get their first glimpses of modern China. They will see futuristic sporting venues, clean skies, brand-new roads, and smiling hosts. But after the Olympic flame is extinguished, and the victorious athletes return home, China will return to its abusive ways. Almost 75 years after our initial failure to stand against totalitarianism in the Olympics, we are about to be fall for the same trick. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on us.

Harvard Crimson
Anthony P. Dedousis â€™11, an editorial comper, lives in Straus Hall.

Dear Friends

Think of all those heartwarming Coca Cola slogans. But underneath those slick, deceptive slogans is the least of the rot. In the face of genocide, of atrocities of the worst kind, of immeasurable suffering, Coke reveals an utter lack of compassion, stunning selfishness and brutal greed. Coca Cola management is doing what it has always done- business as usual, without any moral compass. Let the people suffer/gimme another billion.

I wondered about this company and its history - so I looked them up on line. This is what I found.

"Was ist Coca-Cola?"

"Coke sponsored the 1936 Nazi Olympics where Hitler showcased his Aryan vision to the world"

Coca Cola (GmbH) were the German bottlers for Coke under the leadership of the CEO Max Keith (pronounced Kite). Coke sponsored the 1936 Nazi Olympics where Hitler showcased his Aryan vision to the world, while hiding the "Don't shop at Jewish shops" posters.

Coca Cola GmbH sought to be associated with the Nazis, it became a bit of a joke that if Hitler or a high ranking Nazi was on the front cover of a magazine Coke would advertise on the back. Coke advertised on billboards that were by the Berlin stadiums, so people attending Goebbel's rallies had to walk past them.

Coke financially supported the Nazis by advertising within Nazi newspapers. In one instance Coke published responses to accusations from rival bottlers that they were a Jewish company. These denunciations were placed in Nazi rags.

Coke advertised in the Nazi Army paper shortly after the invasion of Sudetenland. The ad was a picture of a hand holding a bottle of coke over a map of the world, the slogan was "Yes we have got an international reputation."

Coke opened up a bottling plant in Sudetenland shortly after the invasion.

Mark Prendergrast's book For God, Country and Coca Cola: "Later in the war, Keith used Chinese labor and "people who would come from anywhere in Europe-the war brought them from everywhere." For Keith to say blandly that "the war brought them" implies that they were willing refugees, which is somewhat misleading. In fact, the wartime railroads not only carried Jews, Gypsies and others to concentration camps, but some 9 million Fremdarbeiter, or forced foreign labor, who accounted for a fifth of the German labor force by 1944." Coke nearly certainly used forced labor.

*Coca Cola in the US have paid into a fund for the compensation of people who were forced to work for the Nazis.

As Max Keith's supplies of Coke dwindled in 1941 he gave his last batches to Nazi soldiers.

After the US entered the war in 1941 Max Keith couldn't get Coca Cola syrup from America to make Coke so he invented a new drink out of the ingredients he had available to him and made it specifically for the Nazi market and the Third Reich.

*The drink was called Fanta.

This is what I'm wondering ,too.

Heading for Hong Kong tomorrow (and who knows what else)