U.N. report says Darfur violence is not genocide

The commission's study details human rights violations and war crimes, and says some may have acted with a 'genocidal intention,' writes Maggie Farley, Times Staff Writer, in today's Los Angeles Times.

Today, I have posted a copy of the article at Passion of the Present.

Update:

Jan 30 Aljazeera: UN report: No genocide committed in Darfur

Jan 31 Reuters: A keenly awaited UN investigation into human rights abuse in Sudan's Darfur region does not describe violence against villagers there as "genocide", said Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail. "We have a copy of that report and they didn't say there is a genocide," Ismail told reporters on Monday on the sidelines of an AU summit in the Nigerian capital. There has been no confirmation of the contents of the report from U.N. officials.

Jan 31 Allafrica: Quotes Kofi Annan as saying yesterday in Abuja: "As I said I have just received the report of Dafur and we are in the process of analyzing it. I am not able to go into details but regardless of how a commission describes what is going on in Dafur, there is no doubt that serious crimes have been committed, serious violations of humanitarian laws and gross violations of human rights have taken place and this cannot be allowed to continue and action will have to be taken."
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Sudan destroyed hopes of peace



News from Russia Jan 28 sums up the latest situation, with some interesting links, in an article titled "Sudan destroyed hopes of peace".

UPDATE: Jan 29 Reuters Sudanese police killed and injured protesters when they opened fire on hundreds of demonstrators in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan. UN spokeswoman said as yet unconfirmed reports put the death toll to at least 17 people and maybe as high as 30. Note the report mentions members of eastern Sudan tribes.
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Sudan troops in Darfur offensive

The UN Sudan envoy Jan Pronk says government forces are running intensive military operations in west Darfur. Mr Pronk says more African Union troops are needed in Darfur. Please read BBC report Jan. 28 titled Sudan troops in Darfur offensive.
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Kofi Annan statement

The UN issues a statement Jan 28 saying the Secretary-General was 'deeply disturbed' by attack on Darfur village and calls on parties to comply fully with ceasefire agreement.

UN News report says meanwhile, Jan Pronk, Mr. Annan's Special Representative for Sudan, has wrapped up a brief visit to Darfur, where he met AU officials, local community representatives, aid workers and internally displaced persons."
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Javier Solana statement

Brussels, Jan 28 -- Javier Solana, EU High Representative for the CFSP, issues a statement expressing grave concern about the recent violence in Darfur.
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Mountains of Darfur: "Everyone we met had lost someone"



Voices from the field January 2005: Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) nurse Rakel Ludviksen and her colleague Jean Pierre Amigo spent November in the Jebel Si mountains, an extremely remote region of North Darfur, Sudan. Together they organized an immunization campaign and vaccinated more than 8,000 children against measles. They also screened almost 4,000 children for malnutrition and provided 400 medical consultations, mainly for diarrhea, skin infections, respiratory infections and conjunctivitis. After a couple of days in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, they have again returned to the Jebel Si to set up a permanent health clinic there. Full Story.


Photo Jean-Pierre Amigo/MSF

Note, the MSF article says:

These people really want to stay in their mountains. I am from the Pyrenees Mountain region of France, so I understand this desire. But insecurity is still a devastating everyday problem for a big part of the civil population in Darfur. We met communities so much in trouble that they desperately requested MSF to bring trucks and transport them out to somewhere else. People told us repeatedly that they want MSF to come to the region regularly because it will make them more secure."

Here's an idea: If Khartoum won't accept peacekeepers for Darfur, what about imposing a no-fly zone over Darfur and providing 20,000 aid workers, assisted by 20,000 helpers who are trained to be minders to provide unimpeded access for aid. The world cannot stand by and just watch. People need to get out in the field and help. Surely there are millions of people around the world that would jump at the chance of making a difference. The U.N. needs a mobile army of aid workers with its own security to protect the people and aid.


Nurse Rakel Ludviksen tests a child for maulnutrition. Photo Jean-Pierre Amigo/MSF
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Aiding Darfur: A nurse's story IX

Trauma nurse Roberta Gately, who works for the International Rescue Committee (IRC) aid agency, tells the BBC News website about trying to help some of the 1.6 million people who have fled their homes in Darfur. Please read Aiding Darfur: A nurse's story IX.


Roberta (pictured) has found laughter among the tears in Darfur