Sudan: Ongoing turf war in Sudan - China, Russia reject calls for freeze on UN pullout from Sudan

NOTE from Sudan Watch editor: I have just read the the executive summary of the Sentry’s paper entitled Loan Wolves [https://thesentry.org/reports/loan-wolves/].

The last sentence, regarding Sudan, states that: 

“The country’s current military leaders and the new civilian government must therefore expose corrupt actors and hold them accountable while implementing strict measures to limit their influence”

In my view the whole paper is crazy. I shan’t be reprinting it here at Sudan Watch. Makes me wonder what John Prendergast & Co are smoking over there in the Sentry.

Despite some gaps and errors, essential reading: “The Ongoing Turf War in Sudan: Violent clashes between elements of Sudan’s security forces threaten the country’s progress toward democracy,” by Samuel Ramani, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace https://t.co/45xFBQ9q2F pic.twitter.com/R3i3iQc8X2

— Eric Reeves (@sudanreeves) February 21, 2020

NOTE from Sudan Watch editor: Eric Reeves’ tweet 21 Feb 2020 (above) links to a 20 Feb 2020 article at Carnegie Endowment.org by Samuel Ramani entitled The Ongoing Turf War in Sudan [https://carnegieendowment.org/sada/81119]. The article is a really good read. Upon reading the line, “Russia’s opposition to a UN peacekeeping presence in Darfur indirectly strengthens the RSF’s influence in that region” I followed its link to a 15 June 2019 news report by AFP entitled China, Russia reject calls for freeze on UN pullout from Sudan [https://www.thenational.ae/world/africa/china-russia-reject-calls-for-freeze-on-un-pullout-from-sudan-1.874526]. 

The article made me think of PM Hamdok’s filmed interview in Germany with Ms Aya Ibrahim of Deutsche Welle at the Munich Security Conference 17 Feb 2020 entitled Hamdok: 'Anyone who committed atrocities must be tried' [https://www.msn.com/en-za/news/other/sudans-pm-hamdok-anyone-who-committed-atrocities-must-be-tried/ar-BB105Y0Y] in which he talked about wanting the UN in the whole of Sudan under Chapter VI (note, not Chapter VII). 

Then it dawned on me: Chapter VI would free up PM Hamdok and his and Sudan's worldwide supporters to work in Sudan’s best interests and stop Russia and China vetoing votes on Sudan at UN Security Council. 

And, if needed, the Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF) has 5,200 troops ready to be deployed anywhere (Sudan Watch, 27 June 2019 - Eastern Africa Standby Force EASF is watching Sudan closely, playing an advisory role, ready to deploy if situation turns genocidal https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2019/06/eastern-africa-standby-force-easf-is.html)

Samuel Ramani is a doctoral candidate at the Department of Politics and International Relations at St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford, England, UK. Follow him on Twitter @samramani2 [https://twitter.com/SamRamani2]

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FURTHER READING

Russia’s secretive military operations on the rise in Africa

Article by and from AFRICAN NEWS AGENCY

Dated 14 August 2019

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2019/08/russias-secretive-military-operations.html

Satellite Sentinel Project: George Clooney plans to hire private satellites to track troop movements in Sudan

George Clooney Is "The Antigenocide Paparazzi"
Source: Swampland blog at TIME.com - www.swampland.blogs.time.com
Author: Michael Scherer
Date: Tuesday, 28 December 2010 at 3:40 pm. Full copy:



[Photo: UN Messenger for Peace George Clooney (L) and US President Barack Obama (R)]

Mark Benjamin breaks some news with a TIME.com story about George Clooney's plans (yes, that George Clooney) to hire private satellites to track troop movements in Sudan, in the hopes of stopping another genocide. He writes:

Starting Dec. 30, the Satellite Sentinel Project — a joint experiment by the U.N.'s Operational Satellite Applications Programme, Harvard University, the Enough Project and Clooney's posse of Hollywood funders — will hire private satellites to monitor troop movements starting with the oil-rich region of Abyei. The images will be analyzed and made public at www.satsentinel.org (which goes live on Dec. 29) within 24 hours of an event to remind the leaders of northern and southern Sudan that they are being watched. "We are the antigenocide paparazzi," Clooney tells TIME. "We want them to enjoy the level of celebrity attention that I usually get. If you know your actions are going to be covered, you tend to behave much differently than when you operate in a vacuum."

Read the whole story here:

Clooney's "Anti-Genocide Paparazzi": Watching Sudan
Source: TIME.com - www.time.com
Author: Mark Benjamin
Date: Tuesday, 28 December 2010. Full copy:



George Clooney visits Sudan to draw attention to the dangers that could result should southern Sudan vote to separate from the north. (Tim Freccia / Enough Project)

George Clooney and John Prendergast slumped down at a wooden table in a dusty school compound in southern Sudan. It was Oct. 4, and the two men were in the hometown of Valentino Achak Deng, whose experiences wandering the desert as a refugee during Sudan's last civil war were the basis for the best-selling book What Is the What.

Clooney, the actor, and Prendergast, a human-rights activist with 25 years of experience in Africa, had heard enough on their seven-day visit to know that a new round of atrocities could follow the January referendum on independence. If it did, the likelihood was that no one would be held accountable. Why not, Clooney asked, "work out some sort of a deal to spin a satellite" above southern Sudan and let the world watch to see what happens?
(See photos of Clooney in Sudan.)

Three months later, Clooney's idea is about to go live. Starting Dec. 30, the Satellite Sentinel Project — a joint experiment by the U.N.'s Operational Satellite Applications Programme, Harvard University, the Enough Project and Clooney's posse of Hollywood funders — will hire private satellites to monitor troop movements starting with the oil-rich region of Abyei. The images will be analyzed and made public at www.satsentinel.org (which goes live on Dec. 29) within 24 hours of an event to remind the leaders of northern and southern Sudan that they are being watched. "We are the antigenocide paparazzi," Clooney tells TIME. "We want them to enjoy the level of celebrity attention that I usually get. If you know your actions are going to be covered, you tend to behave much differently than when you operate in a vacuum."

You don't have to be a spook to have an eye in the sky anymore. Private firms with names like GeoEye, DigitalGlobe and ImageSat International have a half-dozen "birds" circling the globe every 90 minutes in low-Earth orbit, about 297 miles (478 km) up. The best images from these satellites display about 8 sq. in. (50 sq. cm) of the ground in each pixel on a computer screen. That is not enough granularity to read a car's license plate or ID a person, but analysts can tell the difference between cars and trucks and track the movements of troops or horses. "It is Google Earth on lots of steroids," says Lars Bromley, a top U.N. imagery analyst.
(See pictures of Southern Sudan preparing for nationhood.)

But you need money for it. A hurry-up order of what Bromley calls a "single shot" from a satellite covers an area of about 105 sq. mi. (272 sq. km) and costs $10,000. A rush job on a "full strip" image of land roughly 70 miles (115 km) long and 9 miles (14 km) wide could run nearly $70,000. Sentinel is launching with $750,000 in seed money from Not On Our Watch, the human rights organization Clooney founded along with Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, David Pressman and Jerry Weintraub. Clooney predicted he won't have much trouble raising more money once the project goes live.
(See the top 10 world news stories of 2010.)

Prendergast's group, the Enough Project, is the human-rights arm of the liberal Center for American Progress; it recruited Bromley's team at the U.N. and brought in analysts from the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative to pore over the images as they arrive. "Generally, what we have done in the past is an after-the-fact documentation exercise," Bromley explains. "This is proactive, wide-area monitoring," he says.

Clooney, who has made four trips to Sudan since 2006, believes Sentinel might have applications in other global hot spots. "This is as if this were 1943 and we had a camera inside Auschwitz and we said, 'O.K., if you guys don't want to do anything about it, that's one thing,'" Clooney says. "But you can't say you did not know.
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Related Reports

Harvard group joins effort to monitor Sudan
Boston Globe by Michael J Bailey - www.boston.com
Tuesday, 28 December 28, 06:25 PM. Excerpts:

WASHINGTON - A team of human right experts at Harvard University will begin analyzing satellite images of Sudan later this week in the hopes of staving off a civil war after the southern section of the troubled nation votes in a January referendum on whether to secede.

The Satellite Sentinel Project, which is being funded by actor and activist George Clooney's humanitarian group, Not on Our Watch, will rely on the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative to assess the situation on the ground, where hundreds of thousands of civilians in the Darfur region have been slaughtered over the past decade in ethnic violence.

"We want to see if we actually make a difference in keeping people safe," said Nathaniel Raymond, the program director at Harvard.

The project, which will officially get underway on Dec. 30, is intended to influence the behavior of the Sudanese government, which is blamed for perpetrating the genocide. It will be funded over the next six months by $750,000 that will also cover the cost of buying time on privately owned imaging satellites.

The launch was announced earlier today by Clooney in an interview with Time. [...]

At Harvard's Kennedy School, three full-time analysts will pore over satellite images provided by the United Nations' Operational Satellite Applications Programme and gather other research from public and private sources to determine what Raymond called the "human rights context."

They will be supported by a variety of other specialists at Harvard, including experts in international law, the military, and humanitarian operations.

"What do the abuses shown in the images mean?" Raymond explained. "We want to determine the difference between an attack on a hospital, an attack on a village, or an attack on water supplies, and how that relates to international law and human rights standards."

The project, which will publish all of its findings at www.satsentinel.org, is also designed to shame the international community into taking action if the upcoming referendum prompts the Sudanese regime to perpetrate more abuses. [...]

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Clooney, Google, UN team up to watch Sudan border - Coalition will use satellite surveillance to watch border — and prevent civil war
The Associated Press - www.google.com
Tuesday, 28 December 2010. Full copy:

WASHINGTON (AP) - A group founded by actor George Clooney is teaming up with Google, a U.N. agency and anti-genocide organizations to launch satellite surveillance of the border between north and south Sudan to try to prevent a new civil war after the south votes in a secession referendum next month.

Organizers said Wednesday that Clooney's Not On Our Watch is funding the start-up phase Satellite Sentinel Project that will collect real-time satellite imagery and combine it with field analysis from the Enough Project and the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.

It will point out movements of troops, civilians and other signs of impending conflict. The U.N. Operational Satellite Applications Programme and Google will then publish the findings online.

The groups hope that early warnings will reduce the risk of violence.

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Clooney, Google, UN team up to monitor Sudan border
The Associated Press by Matthew Lee - www.msnbc.msn.com
Tuesday, 28 December 2010. Excerpt:

Clooney's Not On Our Watch is funding the start-up phase Satellite Sentinel Project that will collect real-time satellite imagery and combine it with field analysis from the Enough Project and the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, organizers said.

The data will point out movements of troops, civilians and other signs of impending conflict. The U.N. Operational Satellite Applications Program and Google will then publish the findings online.

"We want to let potential perpetrators of genocide and other war crimes know that we're watching, the world is watching," Clooney said in a statement. "War criminals thrive in the dark. It's a lot harder to commit mass atrocities in the glare of the media spotlight."

The groups hope that early warnings will reduce the risk of violence. [...]

Organizers said the Satellite Sentinel Project will be available online Wednesday at www.satsentinel.org.

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Sudan: George Clooney and Friends Fund Eye-in-the-Sky to Avert War
AllAfrica by Cindy Shiner - www.allafrica.com
Tuesday, 28 December 2010. Full copy:

A human rights project using satellite imagery that the general public can access is being launched tomorrow to help deter a resumption of war between north and south Sudan linked to a crucial referendum in January.

The Satellite Sentinel Project, which is backed by American actor George Clooney, combines satellite imagery analysis and field reports with Google's Map Maker technology to monitor the area marking the boundary between and the nation of Sudan and Southern Sudan, which is expected to become Africa's 55th country, following the voting that begins on 9 January.

"There used to be a bumper sticker that said, 'What if they threw a war and nobody came?' said Jonathan Hutson, director of communications for the Enough Project, an anti-genocide group. "That's been rewritten: 'What if they threw a war and everybody came to stop it?' That's the power of crowd-sourcing information, using public technology platforms and leading edge advocacy for waging peace."

Commercial satellites passing over the border areas between north and south Sudan will be able to capture images of possible troop movements and build ups, potential attacks on villages, the movement of displaced people, or other possible threats to civilians, Hutson said. The project aims to provide an early warning system to focus world attention and generate rapid responses on human rights and human security concerns.

"The launch of this project puts all parties on notice that they can be held accountable for their obligations under international human rights law as well as [Sudan's] Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of 2005," Hutson told allAfrica. "The imagery will be out there for all the world to see and respond. This is public information from commercial satellites that will be published on open-source platforms and analyzed in a neutral way to hold all parties accountable."

Southern Sudanese armies fought a decades-long war against northern domination that claimed more than two million lives. The 2005 peace accord provided for a power-sharing arrangement leading to a referendum on self-determination for the oil-rich South. The voting will take place over five days in early January. The north, which has historically benefited from oil located largely in the south, has been hostile to southern independence, and there are fears that one of the world's longest and bloodiest conflicts could re-ignite over the poll.

The Sentinel Project is a collaboration between Not On Our Watch, the Enough Project, UNOSAT (the United Nations UNITAR Operational Satellite Applications Programme), the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Google, and Internet strategy and development firm Trellon, LLC. The Enough Project, co-founded in 2007 by Africa experts Gayle Smith and John Prendergast, contributes field reports, provides policy analysis, and, together with Not On Our Watch, puts pressure on policymakers by urging the public to act. Not On Our Watch is a human rights organization co-founded by Clooney.

Hutson said there were a few proofs of concept using satellite imagery that helped inspire the Satellite Sentinel Project. Those included Amnesty International's Eyes on Darfur project, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's Crisis in Darfur project, and use of satellite images by Physicians for Human Rights and the American Association for the Advancement of Science to gather evidence of mass grave tampering in Afghanistan.

But Hutson said the Sentinel Project is the first to use sustained, public effort to systematically monitor and report on potential conflicts and threats to security along a border, within 24-36 hours of their occurrence.

"Up until now, projects have documented mass atrocities after the fact. This visionary project aims to deter war crimes by observing troop buildups and troop movements in advance," he said. "The project offers an open source, anti-war platform to observe in near real time troop buildups and movements, and potential war crimes, and gather evidence if necessary that can be presented at the International Criminal Court."

A deterrent to using satellite images in the past has been the expense of commercial satellite images, which can cost about U.S.$2,500 per image. Not On Our Watch has funded a U.S.$750,000 six-month start-up phase of the Sentinel Project.

For the project, the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative will provide system-wide research and lead the collection, human rights analysis, and corroboration of on-the-ground reports that contextualizes the satellite imagery. UNOSAT leads the collection and analysis of the images and collaborates with Google and Trellon to design the web platform for the public to easily access the images and reports.

"The imagery tends to be worthless if no one looks at it - if no one can make use of it," Lars Bromley, an analyst at UNOSAT told allAfrica. "Once you get it out there and built into a site like this, that's really where it's getting exciting. Finally all these elements are starting to come together, where we are able to proactively address some of these issues instead of just documenting it after the fact."

The Satellite Sentinel Project will be available on December 29 at www.satsentinel.org. The aim of the project's funder, Not On Our Watch - co-founded by Don Cheadle, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, David Pressman, and Jerry Weintraub - is to focus global attention and resources toward putting an end to mass atrocities around the world.

Hutson said one goal of the project is to teach the world best practices in using commercially available satellite imagery along with crowd-sourced mapping tools to provide better, faster responses. These could be responses to potential human rights abuses, conflicts, humanitarian crises, or natural disasters, he said.

"More simply put, we're leveraging technology 3.0 with stronger, better satellite imagery to create better, faster responses," he said. "Now the crisis at hand is in Sudan. But this project, we hope, will inspire other efforts around the world."

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Clooney, Google, U.N. watch Sudan using satellites
Reuters CANADA - Reporting by Bob Tourtellotte in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Lou Charbonneau in New York; Editing by Chris Wilson
Tuesday, 28 December 2010. Excerpts:

Google and Trellon Llc, an Internet development firm, designed a Web platform for public access to information with the goal of pressuring Sudanese officials and other groups. [...]

On December 24, Vice President Joe Biden phoned Sudanese Second Vice President Ali Osman Mohmed Taha to express Washington's concern about violence leading up to the vote.

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Postscript from Sudan Watch editor
Thought for the Day:
How easy is satellite jamming?
And how many Sudan activists work within Google?
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UPDATE:

Televised Debate over Sudan’s Referendum Set Wednesday
VOA by Peter Clottey - Tuesday, 28 December 2010. Excerpts:

An official of the Sudan’s referendum commission said his organization Wednesday will begin the first in a series of debates between high-ranking representatives of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) ahead of the 9th January referendum.

The live debate is expected to be broadcast nationwide.

Uganda says Sudan aware of Kony's presence in Darfur - US's Natsios says Turabi's loyalists seeking to undermine referendum

JOSEPH Kony, leader of Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) terrorist organisation, is hiding in Sudan's Darfur region after fleeing a pursuit by the Uganda army in Central African Republic (CAR), the army said on Friday.

"Joseph Kony is no longer in Central African Republic. He crossed into Sudan a few days ago but some elements of LRA commanded by Dominic Ongwen are still in CAR," Felix Kulayigye, defence ministry spokesman told a news conference.

An International Criminal Court (ICC) indictee, Kony often escapes into Sudan whenever he's pursued in CAR because the Ugandan army lacks the mandate to operate there, the army said.

Andrew Natsios, former U.S. special envoy to Sudan, on Tuesday said that elements within the Sudanese government loyal to the Islamist opposition leader Hassan Al-Turabi are seeking to derail the January 2011 referendum in order to avert what appears to be the likely separation of the South.

Natsios [U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan in 2006-7] who just returned from a trip that took him to South Sudan said that while president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir and his 2nd Vice president Ali Osman Taha are "moderates", he pointed fingers at pro-Turabi figures within the regime who do not want the South to separate.

Full story below.

LRA's Kony now in Darfur-Ugandan army
Source: Reuters by Elias Biryabarema
Date: Friday, 29 October 2010 17:21:54 GMT

(KAMPALA) - Joseph Kony, leader of Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels, is hiding in Sudan's Darfur region after fleeing a pursuit by the Uganda army in Central African Republic (CAR), the army said on Friday.

The rebel group, which has waged a brutal insurgency for nearly 20 years, was ejected from northern Uganda in 2005 and has since roamed remote jungle straddling the borders of Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic.

The LRA is known for chilling violence including hacking body parts off victims, the abduction of young boys to fight and young girls to be used as sex slaves.

"Joseph Kony is no longer in Central African Republic. He crossed into Sudan a few days ago but some elements of LRA commanded by Dominic Ongwen are still in CAR," Felix Kulayigye, defence ministry spokesman told a news conference.

An International Criminal Court (ICC) indictee, Kony often escapes into Sudan whenever he's pursued in CAR because the Ugandan army lacks the mandate to operate there, the army said.

"We cannot pronounce ourselves on whether Kony receives any support from the Sudanese authorities but what we can confirm is that (the Sudanese) are aware of his presence on their territory and they've not done anything to chase him," he said.

The Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) has a forward operating base in Obo, CAR, where it has been fighting the LRA with U.S. backing since September 2009.

According to rights groups, the LRA has abducted hundreds of people in central Africa over the past 18 months and killed many of them, often by crushing their skulls with clubs.

Separately, Kulaigye said the army, the UPDF was committed to remaining neutral in Uganda's forthcoming presidential poll.

President Yoweri Museveni, a former guerrilla, has in the past been accused of using the army to intimidate the populace to vote for him and soldiers to facilitate vote rigging.

The commander of armed forces, Lt. Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, was quoted earlier this year in the local media as saying the army would crush the opposition if they engaged in violence.

"The job of ensuring security in elections is for the Uganda Police and the UPDF recognises that Uganda is a multi-party democracy and respects all the political parties and their leaders. We take no sides at all," said Kulaigye. (Editing by David Clarke and Myra MacDonald)

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The Lord's Resistance Army: The Hunt for Africa's Most Wanted



Photo: Mbonih Ndele Mari was abducted by the LRA outside Niangara and left for dead by them after they cut off her lips and her ears. She is now in a hospital in Niangara. Her children are being looked after by family close by. Source: pulitzercenter.org/Joe Bavier & Marcus Bleasdale



Photo: The Chief and elders of the village of Daqua perform local rituals to exorcise the spirits from former child soldiers. The children complain of aggressive dreams and nightmares involving fantasies and killing. They want to get any help possible to stop these thoughts. The local chief and witch doctors know there is stronger medicine and help available but as no NGO work in the area to help the children they do what they can to help. Image by Marcus Bleasdale. Democratic Republic of Congo, 2010.



Photo: South Sudanese children displaced by attacks by the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in the town of Mundri, Western Equatoria state, where some 8,000 Sudanese have gathered fleeing the guerrilla raids. Credit: Photo by Peter Martell/IRIN
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INTERVIEW: Former U.S. special envoy says Turabi’s loyalists seeking to undermine referendum
Source: Sudan Tribune online
Date: Thursday, 28 October 2010 - excerpt:

October 27, 2010 (WASHINGTON) – The former U.S. special envoy to Sudan on Tuesday said that elements within the government loyal to the Islamist opposition leader Hassan Al-Turabi are seeking to derail the January 2011 referendum in order to avert what appears to be the likely separation of the South.

Andrew Natsios who just returned from a trip that took him to South Sudan said that while president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir and his 2nd Vice president Ali Osman Taha are "moderates", he pointed fingers at pro-Turabi figures within the regime who do not want the South to separate. [...]

He also warned that any move to delay the vote by more than two weeks "could bring violence" to the region. Furthermore, he said that the Obama administration should be prepared to use its air force should the North attempt to invade the South or take over the oilfields.

Click here to read full story.

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ENOUGH'S POO-STIRRING

Without Sudan, it will be impossible to successfully confront the LRA
Source: CSMonitor.com by Ledio Cakaj, Guest blogger
Date: Wednesday, 27 October 2010 - excerpt:

Sudan has not been included in meetings to discuss ways to fight back against the Lord's Resistance Army. This is a missed opportunity, says Ledio Cakaj, a guest blogger from the Enough Project. ...

ON LRA, AFRICAN UNION OVERESTIMATES MILITARY MIGHT, LEAVES OUT KEY ACTOR
Source: Enough Project.org by Ledio Cakaj
Date: Wednesday, 27 October 2010 - excerpt:

CORRECTION: Enough learned that in fact the Sudanese embassy in Bangui sent representation to the meeting but that no high-ranking officials from Khartoum attended.

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Copy of insightful comment by Ibrahim Adam posted at above:

Ledio: you're simply poo-stirring against the Sudanese government, vis-a-vis the LRA regional insecurity issue, aren't you not?
If not, care to explain this patently absurd and contradictory statement in your post below?
"simply to press for potential Sudanese support to the LRA to end."
Thought not.

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Note from Sudan Watch Editor:
Heh. Poo-stirring. Well said, Mr Adams. I enjoy reading your comments.
- - -



Photo: Villagers who have formed a local self defense force move during a training session in the village of Bangadi in northeastern Congo February 18, 2009. In the face of attacks and massacres by Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels, who have slaughtered some 900 Congolese civilians since December, villagers in Bangadi have formed a self-defense force with locally made weapons and have twice repelled LRA attacks in recent months. (Credit: Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters/CSMonitor.com/Enough Project, 27 Oct 2010)

Sudan Uganda Congo activists: The Enough Moment - New book by John Prendergast with Don Cheadle, to be released on September 07, 2010

From Amazon.com - About the book "The Enough Moment: Fighting to End Africa's Worst Human Rights Crimes"

Description: Two "New York Times"-bestselling authors issue a hopeful and empowering call to action for those interested in how people's movements and inspired policies can stop genocide, child soldier recruitment, and rape as a weapon in Sudan, Uganda, and Congo.
Authors: John Prendergast, Don Cheadle
This title will be released on September 7, 2010.

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From John Prendergast's Enough Project.org

The Enough Moment



Human rights activist John Prendergast and Oscar-nominated actor Don Cheadle bring us an empowering and hopeful new book, as they reveal the steps being taken by engaged citizens—"Upstanders"—famous and unknown, here and abroad, to combat genocide, rape, and child soldierdom in Africa, and show how you can be a part of the movement.

Release Date: September 7, 2010
Pre-order the Book
Amazon.com
BARNES & NOBLE
BORDERS
INDIEBOUND

Had Enough?

Join activists, organizations, and celebrities to fight human rights crimes in Africa.
Learn how a high school student in Chicago rallied fellow students all over his city to raise awareness of genocide... a former child soldier in Uganda formed a group of others like him to aid in reconciliation... and a mother and teacher gang-raped by soldiers in Congo found strength to help other survivors. John and Don present ways for you to form alliances, contact Congress, alert the media, enlist corporations, and use social media to become part of the solution.

Featuring testimonies and interviews with:
Ben Affleck • Madeleine Albright • Emmanuelle Chriqui • Sheryl Crow • Ann Curry • Annie Duke • Dave Eggers • Mia Farrow • Ryan Gosling • Mariska Hargitay • Emile Hirsch • Iman • Angelina Jolie • Nicholas Kristof • Joel Madden • Nicole Richie • Martin Sheen • Robin Wright
As well as a number of members of Congress and many others making a difference.

- - -

From Amazon's John Prendergast page

I'm the co-founder of the Enough Project at Center for American Progress. We're building a movement to end genocide and crimes against humanity. The Enough Project focuses on crises in Sudan, eastern Congo, and areas of Africa affected by the Lord's Resistance Army.

Too often, the United States and the larger international community have taken a wait-and-see approach to crimes against humanity. This is unconscionable.

Genocide and war crimes are not inevitable, and we at Enough are making noise and taking action to stop ongoing mass atrocities and to prevent future ones.

Our mission is to help people from every walk of life understand the practical actions they can take to make a difference. Our strategy is to energize diverse communities - including students, religious groups, activists, business leaders, celebrities, and diaspora networks - to ensure that their voices are heard on some of the most pressing foreign policy and moral challenges facing the world today.

It all begins with an "Enough Moment" -- an experience in your life when you realize you have to stand up, speak out, and organize with others on vital human rights issues in Africa.

We at the Enough Project are interested in hearing your video, photo, or text versions of personal Enough Moments. We are launching a website, www.enoughmoment.org, where your video, photo, or text can appear alongside other Enough Moments from celebrities, policy makers, activists, and survivors. I look forward to hearing your Enough Moment.

S. Sudan: SPLA denies killing NCP members in Raja County - 'Sloppy reporting has fueled misperceptions of election-related killings'

Noteworthy Quote - re media standards

"I urge all the news media, election observers and agents, and political parties to be responsible in their reporting of incidents. They should confirm the facts of such incidents before making allegations that cannot be substantiated or supported with credible evidence, and those failing to do so should be held accountable."
- Cde. Dr. Anne Itto, SPLM Southern Sector deputy secretary general, Thursday 15 April 2010

Source: See report here below.
- - -

Sudan Watch Editor's Note: On Thursday 15 April 2010, while scrolling through a website called i On SUDAN, I noticed a report (marked as 'unverified') relating to some news reports (listed here below) which I held back from chronicling here at Sudan Watch until the picture became more clear. Here is a copy of the report (red highlighting is mine) followed by my collection of related reports, for future reference and studying at a later date.

Copy of report published at website i On SUDAN:
Sloppy reporting has fueled misperceptions of election-related killings
Location: Juba, Sudan
Date: 15 April 2010 01:45
Report description:

SPLM Headquarters: Southern Sector Deputy Secretary General responds to inaccurate media reports of SPLM-linked election violence

JUBA (15 Apr) – On Thursday, Cde. Dr. Anne Itto, SPLM Southern Sector deputy secretary general, released the following statement after several media reports have incorrectly reported claims from opposition party leaders that their members were killed at the hands of security and/or military personnel at the direction of or in allegiance to SPLM.

"On April 15th, several news sources, including a reputable international wire service - Reuters - reported that nine (9) people were killed in W. Bahr el Ghazal state. After consulting with security officials and other prominent members of the state government, I was able to confirm that five (5) people were in fact killed in Timsah payam of Raja county. An SPLA soldier returned to his home to find his wife with another man. The soldier killed the man and relatives of the slain man, upon hearing of the incident, rushed to the scene and killed four other people including the husband of the women. This was purely a crime of passion that resulted in revenge killing. It was not politically motivated. I wish to offer my condolences to the families who lost loved ones as a result of the terrible act of violence.

“Without checking their facts, Reuters inaccurately reported a claim by NCP that among the nine dead in Raja, included the local president of NCP. I spoke to him from Wau about two hours ago and I can assure you that he is alive and well.

“A criminal investigation has been opened regarding these killings, which are not election-related. Such information has been independently verified by numerous sources to include election observers, and local police and government officials. Attempts by NCP to link SPLM to this crime of passion is irresponsible. It is also irresponsible for journalists to include such accusations in their reporting without exercising discretion over their validity.

"In another example, on April 13th Lam Akol went to the media to claim that two of his supporters in Unity State had been killed by SPLM soldiers, and implied that this was done in coordination with SPLM. This claim has since been independently investigated and it turns out that it was scuffle between some groups and we have unconfirmed reports of injuries but no deaths.

"Why did the Sudan Tribune run so fast with such an allegation without confirming whether or not what Lam Akol is saying is true or false? In fact, the unnamed journalist conveniently writes that "The report could not immediately be confirmed by independent sources." Why was this published if it could not be independently verified? This is more like tabloid journalism than news, but unfortunately it is being taken as fact by their readers.

"The media needs to do more than simply publish claims by our opponents about deaths and violence, and that such acts are linked to SPLM. They need to independently confirm these reports. Anything less is equivalent to supporting the spread of rumors and innuendos.

"This type storytelling journalism will only lead to misperception about the real situation on the ground and foment tensions and threaten stability of the South. I urge all the news media, election observers and agents, and political parties to be responsible in their reporting of incidents. They should confirm the facts of such incidents before making allegations that cannot be substantiated or supported with credible evidence, and those failing to do so should be held accountable."

"The SPLA, police service, intelligence units and other security organs of the state are controlled and directed by the state – not SPLM, the political party. Our party is a non-violent democratic movement who has fought for decades for the individual freedoms that so many Southern Sudanese are enjoying today. Furthermore, the actions of rogue security agents and/or military personnel should not reflect official government policy, let alone SPLM policy.

"To imply that the political leadership of SPLM is actively colluding with security and military officials on the ground is a claim that has not been substantiated with any proof. We do not have SPLM political agents stationed with security orchestrating a mass suppression of the opposition as has been implied by our opponents and the news media.

"We support the free and fair conduct of elections in all of Sudan and continue to fight for the marginalized people and all Sudanese through our implementation of the CPA and the leadership of a legislature and government that is comprised of not one political party, but many.

- - -

Related reports

Ref: On Thursday 15 April 2010 several news sources reported that nine (9) people were killed in W. Bahr el Ghazal state. According to Dr Itto's report above, five (5) people were in fact killed in Timsah payam of Raja county in Western Bahr-El-Ghazal state, southern Sudan

SPLA denies killing NCP members in Raja County
From Sudan Tribune by Manyang Mayom

Friday 16 April 2010:

April 15, 2010 (RUMBEK) — The Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) official spokesman Maj-Gen. Kuol Diem Kuol has strongly denied SPLA involvement in the death of five members belonging to the National Congress Party (NCP) who were killed in Western Bahr-El-Ghazal state at Al-Timsha Payam of Raja county yesterday by an SPLA armed man who appeared in military uniform.

UN-sponsored Radio Miraya FM-101 broadcast this news item on Thursday, quoting NCP official Agnes Lukudu, chief of the party in South Sudan, who claimed that five members of her party were killed by SPLA soldiers at the polling canter in Al-Timsha payam of Raja county of Wau.

Maj –Gen. Kuol Deim Kuol denied her version of the the story saying that "this story was reported by NCP – what happened was an adultery case, it has nothing to do with election and it has nothing to do with politics. Somebody called Abdul found someone having committed adultery with is wife in his house during the midday – this is criminal issue and people should not mix crimes with politics."

"I don’t know what is happening to the people? Why everybody who has made sure to have failed in this election holds SPLA as a scapegoat? Those of who you take SPLA harassment as a solution are making a great mistake –it is a shame to take SPLA harassment for defeat in election and I want to tell them that they must be courageous toward their election – SPLA is not harassing any candidates," he noted.

The SPLA spokesman was speaking to our correspondent by phone from Juba. Along with his message the SPLM Deputy Secretary General Dr. Anne Itto on Thursday issued a strongly worded rebuke of media that had publicized this incident. She said that five rather than nine people were killed and added, “Without checking their facts, Reuters inaccurately reported a claim by NCP that among the nine dead in Raja, included the local president of NCP. I spoke to him from Wau about two hours ago and I can assure you that he is alive and well.”

“A criminal investigation has been opened regarding these killings, which are not election-related. Such information has been independently verified by numerous sources to include election observers, and local police and government officials. Attempts by NCP to link SPLM to this crime of passion is irresponsible. It is also irresponsible for journalists to include such accusations in their reporting without exercising discretion over their validity,” stated Itto.

Meanwhile, Commissioner of Raja County Luwis Ramadan has confirmed that the killings were driven by personal motivation and not political. The Raja county official confirmed that the killings happened five days ago and he questioned the NCP leader’s motive for withholding the announcement until now well after the incident is over in people’s minds.

SPLM state secretary spokesman Cde James Deng Dimo affirmed that it has been confirmed that at least five men were killed in Raga County of Western Bahr-El-Ghazal State in Timsha Payam in Raja County. Deng explained that the fighting that resulted in the killings had no connection with the elections process nor even occurred near to any polling station there in Al-Timsha.

The official explained that fighting started when a solider who had spent six months away from his family returned back from where he was deployed and caught his wife with another man. And then the man who was away began stabbing with a knife the man who had taken his wife. When the news reached the relatives of the man who was killed, they began by cocking their guns and running to the place where their relative was killed.

He added that they began by firing guns at those who were there until they killed five people. "I have to repeat that the fight has no connection with the elections or something to do with political; it is between the military men over a woman."

Dimo concluded that this incident has not affected the voting in Al-Timsha.

In a separate report, SPLA spokesman Kuol Deim Kuol denied a report that he suggested was spread by a woman who is on the election staff in Northern Bhar-El-Ghazal state (NBGS). Her statement broadcast on Miraya FM had suggested that SPLA has arrested the representative of a political party in NBGS. "First of all I want to underline, SPLA did not and will not arrest any official staff and we did not arrest any party official in NBGS."

Kuol explained that "whom we have arrested are SPLA officers and NCOs plus other enlisted personnel who are being misused by the independent candidate in NBGS."

"There are officers and NCOs and men being used by an independent candidate Deng Aturjong, and Athuar Akueng plus other independent candidates in NBGS — those guy are using SPLA soldiers to campaign for them."

Maj-Gen. Kuol asserted that participation in politics is not allowed in the SPLA and so under the present circumstances the SPLA division commander in Wunyiek asked approval to arrest those soldiers involved. The SPLA general headquarters in Juba granted him approval to arrest those soldiers. (ST)

Sudan election violence kills at least 5 in south
From The Associated Press (Khartoum, Sudan)
Thursday, 15 April 2010 - excerpt:

A statement from the ruling National Congress party said southern soldiers killed five of its supporters Wednesday in the southern province of Western Bahr el-Ghazal. A party spokesman said nine were killed. The discrepancy could not immediately be reconciled.

Nine killed in south Sudan
From Agence Presse France (Khartoum, Sudan)
Thursday, 15 April 2010 - via Capital FM Kenya:

KHARTOUM, Apr 15 - Sudan's southern army said nine people were killed, including a member of President Omar al-Beshir's National Congress Party, in violence on Thursday that was unrelated to nationwide elections.

Lam Akol, a candidate for the leadership of south Sudan, had said on Tuesday that two voters had been killed after the southern army opened fire at a polling station at Riak in the southern Unity State.

But the southern army said the killings actually happened in the remote village of Temsah, according to Kuol Deim Kuol, spokesman for the former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM).

The dead, who also included seven civilians and a soldier, were slain as a result of a dispute about "adultery" that had "nothing to do with politics or elections," he added.

"A member of the NCP has committed adultery with the wife of a soldier of SPLM in the home of the soldier" who killed both of them, Kuol said.

Coming on the last day of landmark presidential, legislative and local elections, the incident led to clashes in which six NCP members were killed, before the soldier who had been cheated on committed suicide, he added.

Killings, harassment mar last day of Sudan vote
From Reuters by Skye Wheeler and Opheera McDoom
Thursday, 15 April 2010 8:59am EDT:

JUBA/KHARTOUM, Sudan (Reuters) - Sudan's ruling party said on Thursday that the southern army had killed nine people, including at least five of its officials, stoking tensions during voting in the first open elections in 24 years.

Oil-producing Sudan entered the last of a five days of presidential and legislative polls that mark a key test of stability for Africa's largest country, emerging from decades of civil war and preparing for a 2011 southern referendum on independence.

Voting has been largely peaceful, despite logistical problems and reported harassment of independent and opposition candidates.

Agnes Lokudu, head of the northern-dominated National Congress Party (NCP) in semi-autonomous south Sudan said the region's separate army had targeted and murdered at least five of its party officials and four other people earlier this week.
South Sudan's army said it was an individual crime of passion by one of their soldiers who had found the local NCP chief in bed with his wife.

"At night some (southern army) soldiers came to the home of the president of the National Congress Party in Raja, and killed him and eight other people, Lokudu said.

Raja county is in Western Bahr al-Ghazal state in a remote part of south Sudan. The attack was earlier this week.

On Thursday southern Sudanese observers said security forces had removed 19 monitors from polling stations, assaulting one.

Analysts said the violence was a worrying sign of rising tensions as the polls enter the crucial stage of counting, which begins on Friday. Results are due by April 20.

"The coming days are really when things are going to potentially get heated," said Maggie Fick, an analyst from the U.S.-based Enough project.

"Maybe these are isolated incidents but the last thing we need is out of control security personnel and that could easily happen in the coming stages."

The ex-southern rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) head Salva Kiir, is likely to retain his title of south Sudan president, vital ahead of a January 2011 southern vote on independence which many expect to result in secession.

A wave of boycotts by political parties in much of the north left little doubt the NCP's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir would win the national presidential elections. Facing an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for war crimes in Darfur, he hopes a victory would legitimize his rule.

Darfur's U.N.-African Union peacekeepers (UNAMID) confirmed that four of its South African police component were abducted in the western region wracked by a seven-year uprising.

On Thursday a group purporting to be the kidnappers of the two men and two women told Reuters they wanted a ransom of around $450,000 but gave no further details.

HARASSMENT OF COMPETITION

But in both north and south Sudan, the two dominant parties have been rattled by competition from independent or opposition candidates in some of the simultaneous elections for state and national parliaments and 24 state governors.

Many opposition and independent candidates have complained of harassment by authorities in both the south and north.

"There has been intimidation against supporters who are being told if they support me they will be arrested, that after the general elections are over they will kill supporters of the independent candidates," said Adil Senderi, an independent candidate for the largely separate southern Sudan parliament.

Senderi was just one of many independent candidates, opposition groups and Sudanese election monitors decrying what they said was an attempt to alter the outcome of the vote by ruling powers in both the north and south.

The African Center for Justice and Peace Studies said "systemic mechanisms to confuse the electorate and hinder engagement, such as the switching of symbols and manipulation of the registration list, are beginning to emerge."

In Khartoum, two members of youth activism group Girifna said they were beaten by NCP officials on Wednesday.

"They were beating us and we were begging the police around the voting station for help -- but they did not intervene," Nagla Sid Ahmed told Reuters.

International observers from the Carter Center and the European Union cannot comment until after the elections, But former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has made largely positive comments about the voting process.

Sudan ruling party says nine members killed in south
From Reuters CANADA - Thursday, 15 April 2010 3:36am EDT
(Reporting by Skye Wheeler; Writing by Opheera McDoom; Editing by Michael Roddy)
JUBA, Sudan - Sudan's ruling party said Thursday that the southern army had killed nine of its officials during the first open elections in 24 years...

Sudan ruling party says nine killed in south
From Reuters AlertNet - Thursday, 15 April 2010 10:54:01 GMT - full report:
(Reporting by Skye Wheeler; Writing by Opheera McDoom; Editing by Robert Woodward) - Source: Reuters (Adds detail, southern army comments, clarifies casualties)

JUBA, Sudan, April 15 (Reuters) - Sudan's ruling party said on Thursday the southern army had killed at least five of its officials and four other people during the first open elections in 24 years.

Agnes Lokudu, head of the northern-dominated National Congress Party in semi-autonomous south Sudan, had earlier said all nine killed were party officials, and that the murders were politically motivated.

The south Sudanese army (SPLA) said the deaths were the result of a crime of passion by one of its soldiers.

"At night some (southern army) soldiers came to the home of the president of the National Congress Party in Raja, and killed him and eight other people," Lokudu said.

Raja county is in Western Bahr al-Ghazal state in a remote part of south Sudan.

Sudan's elections entered the last day of a five-day voting period on Thursday and have been largely free from major violence. Opposition boycotts in much of the north left little competition for incumbent President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

But tension has been high in the south between parties and independents opposing the SPLM who have complained of arrests and harassment.

Lokudu said the killings happened some days ago but that people in the area had been too scared to report them.

Because most people voted for the NCP "the (army) got very angry and they shot him (the local president)," Lokudu said.

The southern army said one SPLA soldier had caught the NCP's top official in the village of Tensah in Raja county committing adultery with his wife, so he shot them both and six other "Arabs" who tried to stop him.

"This is clearly an adultery case and nothing to do with elections and politics. The NCP is just trying to politicise it," said SPLA spokesman Kuol Diem Kuol.

The ex-rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) dominates the southern government and its leader Salva Kiir, who is also south Sudan's president, is likely to win the presidential vote in the semi-autonomous region.

Sudanese are voting in presidential, legislative and gubernatorial elections supposed to transform the oil producer into a democracy, a key part of a 2005 north-south peace deal which ended more than two decades of civil war.

Under the accord, southern Sudanese will also vote in a January 2011 referendum on independence. (Reporting by Skye Wheeler; Writing by Opheera McDoom; Editing by Robert Woodward)

Sudan ruling party says nine members killed in south
From Reuters UK - Thursday, 15 April 2010 8:34am BST
(Reporting by Skye Wheeler; Writing by Opheera McDoom; Editing by Michael Roddy):
JUBA, Sudan - Sudan's ruling party said on Thursday that the southern army had killed nine of its officials during the first open elections in 24 years...

Sudan 'poll shooting' kills nine
From Al Jazeera (Al Jazeera and Agencies)
Thursday, 15 April 2010 - excerpt:

Speaking as the five-day presidential, parliamentary and local polls came to an end on Thursday, Agnes Lokudu, the head of the National Congress Party in south Sudan, blamed the killing on the region's local military.

"Three days ago at night some southern army soldiers came to the home of the president of the National Congress Party (NCP) in Raja, and killed him and eight other members of the NCP," Lokuda said.

Lokudu said the killings in Western Bahr al-Ghazal state were motivated by anger that many people in the area had voted for the NCP.

"This was a passionate crime to do with a wife - a feud that led to a shooting between the husband and lover," Suzanne Jambo, the head of the SPLM's external relations office, said. "This is not political."



The NCP claims that nine of its members were killed by southern army soldiers in election violence [Reuters]

Report: Sudanese elections turn deadly
From United Press International (Khartoum, Sudan)
Thursday, 15 April 2010 - excerpt:

Sudanese newspapers indicate nine members of the National Congress Party were killed in south Sudan, a report disputed by the Sudan People's Liberation Army.

Newspapers in Khartoum Thursday quoted NCP officials as saying, "(The) killing was committed by a member of the SPLA in the wake of altercations on the polling process," China's government-run news agency, Xinhua, reported.

"Nine NCP leading members were killed on Tuesday at Tumsah administrative unit in Raja ... in south Sudan after altercations with a member of the SPLA, the military arm of Sudan People's Liberation Movement," al-Ray al-A'm newspaper reported Thursday.

Xinhua said an SPLA military official disputed the incident.

"Such incident has never taken place. It is a fabricated and baseless story," the source told Xinhua. "The fabricated killing story comes as part of political harassment and it is an extension of a series of accusations by the ruling party to distort the SPLA and SPLM."

No incidents of violence were reported Thursday, the last day of polling in Sudan's general elections.

[Note from Sudan Watch Ed: It seems UPI has deleted its report and replaced it with another entitled "Ban applauds Sudan elections"]

Electoral Violence As Sudan Polls Close
From Enough Project at www.enoughproject.org
By Amanda Hsiao, Thursday 15 April 2010 - excerpt:

As five days of intense balloting for hundreds of government seats across 16,000 polling centers came to a close today in Sudan, simmering tensions, a reminder of the tremendous potential for violence that still remains, began to emerge in the largely peaceful exercise.

Violence broke out in the westernmost corner of South Sudan, where soldiers in the South Sudanese army, or SPLA, shot and killed nine individuals, five of whom were officials of the ruling party, the NCP. The motivations for the killings are unclear—the SPLA claims it was an act of personal vengeance—but the timing of the act, as voters were going to the polling stations to vote between the two political rivals, should not be overlooked. [...]

Fighting also broke out at a polling center in Northern Bahr el Ghazal, in South Sudan. According to an undisclosed source, SPLA soldiers clashed with locals at a voting station and nine independent candidates were arrested. On the same day, an SPLM candidate reportedly interfered with the ballot boxes. [...]

- - -

Ref: On Tuesday 13 April 2010, Lam Akol went to the media to claim that two of his supporters in Unity State, southern Sudan had been killed by SPLM soldiers, and implied that this was done in coordination with SPLM

Two voters killed, one candidate wounded in South Sudan: opposition leader
From English.news.cn - Wednesday, 14 April 2010:

KHARTOUM, April 13 (Xinhua) -- Two voters were killed and a candidate was wounded in the Unity State in South Sudan on Tuesday, the third polling day in Sudan's general elections, an opposition leader said.

"Two voters were killed and a candidate was wounded when the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) soldiers opened fire on the voters at a polling station in the Unity State," Lam Akol, the chairman of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-Democratic Change (SPLM-DC), told Xinhua here on Tuesday.

The SPLA is the military arm of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), the dominant party in South Sudan.

Akol, the only candidate contesting against SPLM Chairman Salva Kiir Mayardit for the post of South Sudan government president, went on saying that "the SPLA opened fire randomly, which resulted in the deaths of two voters and injury of one candidate."

Akol slammed at the SPLM, saying "the ministers and commissioners belonging to the SPLM and SPLA are intervening in the polling operations and threatening the citizens."

He added that commissioners of western and eastern Bahral- Ghazal states took the ballot boxes to their homes.

He called on Sudan's National Elections Commission (NEC) to take necessary measures to protect the voters and prevent the harassment made by the SPLM supporters.

No comment so far has been made by the South Sudan government or the SPLM on the incident.

The former rebel SPLM in South Sudan signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) with Khartoum in 2005 to end a two-decade civil war between the north and the south, and has become a partner of the ruling National Congress Party in the current Sudanese government.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

Lam Akol says two SLPM-DC members killed in Unity State
From Sudan Tribune - Wednesday, 14 April 2010 - excerpt:

April 13, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — Lam Akol, a candidate for the presidency of south Sudan government and leader of SPLM Democratic Change (SPLM-DC) said on Tuesday that two voters had been killed after the southern army opened fire at a polling station in Unity State.

"I was informed by telephone that at 11 am (0800 GMT), the southern army went to a polling station in Riak in (the southern) Unity State and opened fire, killing two voters and wounding one candidate," said Lam Akol, who is challenging southern leader Salva Kiir in elections for the head of the semi-autonomous government of south Sudan.

The report could not immediately be confirmed by independent sources.

- - -

Postscript

THANKS to Ndesanjo Macha for bringing to our attention 'Sudan Sham Elections 2010 Campaign' sudansham2010.org - and its new phase in activism at http://ionsudan.net/ in his commentary at Global Voices Friday, 16 April 2010 entitled Sudan: Using the web to promote fair elections, justice and democracy.

Note, according to the About page at website 'Sudan Sham Elections 2010 Campaign':

"We are regular citizens around the 50 United States and DC, standing with the people of Sudan—the marginalized, the disenfranchised, and the brutally oppressed—in demanding truth and strength. An indicted war criminal, responsible for millions of deaths, will never be a legitimate leader. Peace, protection, and justice will come from strength in effort and conviction from our leaders.

The Sudan Sham Elections 2010 network is committing to sustained action for peace in Sudan. Our new phase in activism is i On Sudan. Please participate!

iOnSudan.net

i On Sudan connects on-the-ground reports of violence, abuses, and other events to advocacy in the United States and around the world to immediately mobilize leaders towards immediate response on behalf of innocent civilians and to promote peace, protection, and justice in all of Sudan."

A Beat for Peace - Sudan 365: On April 10 & 11, activists from 19 countries will drum a "beat for peace"

Copy of Press Release (note that the Sudan Watch referred to in the Press Release is not connected in any way to this blog, Sudan Watch, or myself):

Association of Canadian Students for Darfur
Apr 10, 2010 08:00 ET

Activists from 19 Countries Join Global Day of Action Ahead of Elections to Urge ‘No Business as Usual’ With Sudan

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - April 10, 2010) - On April 10th and 11th, activists from 19 countries will drum a "beat for peace" in a global demand that the April 11 elections not become a flashpoint for increased violence and human rights abuses. Many opposition parties have withdrawn from the elections citing violent intimidation, fears of vote-rigging, and reports of widespread restrictions on basic freedoms that make election campaigning perilous.

The global Sudan365 (www.sudan365.org) coalition, including Amnesty International, Arab Coalition for Darfur, Darfur Consortium, Enough Project, FIDH, Human Rights Watch, Italians for Darfur, IKV Pax Christi, Refugees International, Save Darfur Coalition, and Sudan Forum Norway, has initiated a one-year/365-day program to promote democracy, justice and peace in Sudan.

Events are taking place from Mali to Norway, South Africa to Israel, Senegal to Northern Ireland (for a full list of locations see www.sudan365.org) as part of a global "beat for peace" backed by famous drummers including Stewart Copeland from The Police, Phil Selway from Radiohead, Ghanaian drummer Mustafa Tettey Addey and Middle Eastern pop star Mohamed Munir.

In solidarity, Canadian Students for Darfur, with STAND UBC, is holding its annual Day for Darfur on April 11 at the Vancouver Art Gallery (Robson Street plaza) between 12:45 and 4 PM, with live music to "beat for peace" including Yoro's amazing talking drum, Dan Beer, the Jarrod Tyler band, and the CJ Thon group with DJ Praise Owora. Speakers include Darfuri refugees, Liberal MP Dr Hedy Fry, NDP MP Bill Siksay, and Adrianne Carr of the Green Party.

Campaigners are urging world leaders to exercise extra vigilance, warning that the elections environment is unstable, and pointing to the recent offensive in the Jebel Marra region in Darfur, in which hundreds of civilians were reported killed and thousands displaced from their homes, and increased violence in southern Sudan.

'Sudan Watch' will invigilate during the election period. See Sudan Vote Monitor (www.sudanvotemonitor.com), a project launched by Sudanese civil society to report on election violations, and Twitter (twitter.com/sudan365).

"Opposition activists have been prevented from carrying out peaceful activities, arrested and tortured. It is clear that elections carried out in this context will be severely compromised." said Osman Hummaida, Executive Director of the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies.

"Violations of human rights – particularly restrictions on freedom of assembly and freedom of the press – are threatening prospects for a free, fair and credible vote across Sudan," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa Director of Human Rights Watch.

"Sudanese authorities are clearly failing to uphold international standards including those agreed with the African Union in Juba in March." said Ms Gagnon.

'The respect, protection and promotion of human rights by all those involved in the election; including the government, candidates, and supporters is of critical importance. Sudan must end the cycle of violence, insecurity and human rights abuses in the country,' said Erwin van der Borght, Africa Director of Amnesty International.

The elections are intended to be a milestone in the implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Campaigners are calling on the international community to insist that Sudanese parties to resolve outstanding issues ahead of the scheduled referendum in January 2011 and increase measures to protect civilians over the course of the year. The campaign calls for:

The Government of National Unity and Government of South Sudan to respect rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, and guarantee freedom of movement to election observers;

Election Observation Missions to remain in Sudan for the election period to monitor and publicly report on the human rights context before, during and after the elections;

The international community to speak out about any serious human rights violations;

The UN mission to increase its presence and patrols in volatile areas, in line with its mandate to protect civilians;

World leaders to scale up their support for Sudanese parties in resolving outstanding issues ahead of the referendum and work with Sudanese parties to agree on a decisive strategy for international engagement after the referendum.

"This is a wake-up call to leaders. The elections start tomorrow. The referendum is less than 9 months away. The situation in Sudan remains dire. The recent spike in violence in Darfur shows that the conflict is far from over. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement, that brought an end to a civil war in which over 2 million people died, remains fragile and inter-ethnic violence has increased. We need a first-class, coordinated international response. And we need it now." said Joel Charny, Vice President for Policy, Refugees International, a member of the campaign.

"Farce will turn into tragedy ... if violence is allowed to get out of control and Sudan's people suffer." said Mark Lotwis, Acting President of the Save Darfur Coalition.

The Association of Canadian Students for Darfur raises public awareness of the ongoing genocide in Darfur, Sudan, and urges the Government of Canada to take world leadership in stopping the genocide, and bringing justice and democracy to Sudan.

The full Sudan365 press release is posted on the ACSD blog site www.darfurcanada.wordpress.com.

The Vancouver, Canada contact is; Bruce Edwards 604-820-3646 darfur@telus.net Canadian Students for Darfur
For more information, please contact
Association of Canadian Students for Darfur
Bruce Edwards
604-820-3646
darfur@telus.net

- - -

Beat for Peace - Sudan 365

Copy of an unpublished blog post for Sudan Watch, drafted on 18 January 2010:

"This campaign is unprecedented. It's incredibly exciting. Thousands of drummers from some of the most famous drummers in the world to community groups across five continents have come together to create a global beat for peace in Sudan. The next 365 days will be critical for the people of Sudan. And this global drumbeat is a cry for positive action from world leaders to prevent conflict from returning," said Jamie Catto, founder member of 1 Giant Leap and Faithless.

The film features a drum beat for peace starting in Sudan and being picked up and passed on like a baton between drummers in over 15 countries around the world including Brazil, Mexico, US (NY and LA), UK, France, Spain, Senegal, South Africa, Ghana, Egypt, Mali, UAE, Japan, Russia and Australia.

The film was launched on www.sudan365.org on January 9th 2010. Campaigners will be asked to upload pictures and videos of themselves joining the 'beat for peace'.



From www.ilikemusic.com, Tuesday, 12 January 2010:
Beat for Peace - Sudan 365

World famous drummers are supporting a new global campaign for Sudan - Sudan365 (www.sudan365.org) - calling on global leaders to take urgent diplomatic action over the next 365 days to prevent all out conflict returning to Sudan.

Celebrity drummers - including Phil Selway of Radiohead, Jonny Quinn of Snow Patrol, Stewart Copeland of The Police, Nick Mason of Pink Floyd, the renowned Egyptian drummer Yehia Khalil and Mustapha Tettey Addy from Ghana who has been drumming since the 1970s - have come together to create a global 'beat for peace' for Sudan.

"I wanted to be involved in this project because I think music is such a powerful way of bringing people together. Of course, I'm biased in thinking that what's underpinning it all is always the beat - always drummers! Hopefully this film will show that together people can make a huge noise and through this film I hope people's focus will be brought back to what is happening in the Sudan over this very important next year," said Phil Selway of Radiohead who is supporting the campaign.

The drummers appear in a music film which was the brainchild of Jamie Catto - the drummer of Faithless who was behind the hit global music project '1 Giant Leap' - and produced by Emer Patten and the team at Splinter Films, the specialist music film company who have produced concert films for Beyoncé, Foo Fighters and Kings Of Leon among many others.

"This campaign is unprecedented. It's incredibly exciting. Thousands of drummers from some of the most famous drummers in the world to community groups across five continents have come together to create a global beat for peace in Sudan. The next 365 days will be critical for the people of Sudan. And this global drumbeat is a cry for positive action from world leaders to prevent conflict from returning," said Jamie Catto, founder member of 1 Giant Leap and Faithless.

The film features a drum beat for peace starting in Sudan and being picked up and passed on like a baton between drummers in over 15 countries around the world including Brazil, Mexico, US (NY and LA), UK, France, Spain, Senegal, South Africa, Ghana, Egypt, Mali, UAE, Japan, Russia and Australia.

"It is fantastic to join so many drummers from around the world. Sometimes the spoken word is a barrier but here we are coming together with so many drumming styles, so many instruments, so many sound colours, for a great cause, and we are delighted that we can communicate and hopefully make a difference to so many people through the beat of the drum," said Dame Evelyn Glennie, the award winning percussionist who is featured in the film.

The film was launched on www.sudan365.org on January 9th 2010. Campaigners will be asked to upload pictures and videos of themselves joining the 'beat for peace'.

"We are very proud to be a part of this cause for the Sudan. We think that music is the best way to unify a common message, and that message is peace," said Ojos de Bruno, a famous Spanish flamenco group who are featured in the film.

"Sudan has experienced too much pain and suffering in the last three decades. Now is the time to make sure that the future is one of peace and prosperity for all those in Darfur and the rest of Sudan. Music is an incredible force for positive action and this global beat for peace calls on world leaders to act now to stop a disaster later." Mohammed Munir, Middle East musician & drummer.

« View all web results for A global drumbeat for peace in Sudan

BBC News

Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Police drummers unite to launch global drum-beat for peace

NME.com - ‎Jan 8, 2010‎

The brainchild of Faithless drummer Jamie Catto, the video features a 'drum beat for peace' that starts in Sudan and is then passed around 15 other ...

International drumming event held for Sudan peace Sudan Tribune

World famous drummers launch global drum-beat for peace for Sudan ReliefWeb (press release)

Music stars to drum for peace in Sudan AFP

hotpress.com (subscription) - Amnesty International

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Sudan 365: A beat for peace- Thousands gather in 15 countries to warn of ...

Amnesty International UK - ‎Jan 8, 2010‎

The next 365 days will be critical for the people of Sudan. And this global drumbeat is a cry for positive action from world leaders to prevent conflict ...