London agrees to keep Darfur Sudan trials out of ICC

Today, the Washington Times reveals that London agrees to keep Darfur trials out of ICC:

"London's change of heart shields Washington from accusations that it stands alone against much of the Western world because of politically motivated objections to The Hague-based tribunal."

UK Liberal Democrats call for no-fly zone over Darfur, Sudan

Britain's Liberal Democrat website Feb 3 noted a call for action on Darfur by Sir Menzies Campbell MP, Shadow Foreign Secretary, quoting him as saying:

"Why are troop numbers so low? Has the Sudanese Government been obstructive and if so what is being done about it? As a matter of urgency UN Security Council must institute sanctions, establish a no-fly zone for the protection of Darfur and provide logistical support for the deployment of the full force of military observers."

- - -

Swedish officers to Sudan (one for Darfur!)

The Swedish Government decided Thursday to contribute six staff officers to the UN rapid deployment force SHIRBRIG in southern Sudan over a six-month period and one staff officer to the African Union's peace support initiative in Darfur.
- - -

AU says force in Darfur reaches 1,400

Reuters report Feb 4 excerpt:

The African Union said on Friday its protection force in Darfur had reached 1,401 soldiers after the deployment of 339 troops from Nigeria, Senegal and Kenya. AU spokesman Assane Ba said South Africa and Tanzania were expected to soon provide 196 troops each, but no date for their arrival has yet been set.

The AU force in Darfur is ultimately supposed have 3,320 troops, but it has grown slowly because the pan-African body is relying on foreign aid to pay for it. So far, the AU has received $186.7 million of the $221 million it budgeted for the Darfur operations, Ba said. Contractors building the camps to house the troops are also still behind schedule, Ba said.

- - -

Note, the AU has received a few hundred million dollars while only 1,000 AU soldiers are in Darfur. It's a nonsense for the AU to suggest that funding and the building of military camps are the reasons for the delay in deploying troops to Darfur. Personally, I think Khartoum is doing everything it can to thwart any troops entering Sudan. African leaders (the ones agreeing to send troops for Darfur) may be giving leeway to the regime in Khartoum. No other explanation makes sense.
- - -

Cartoon: Call us back when you have some Europeans says UN


- - -

Americans tell UN: Don't hide from genocide

iAbolish.com summarises what's at stake and invites Americans to tell the UN to take action.

[Cartoon and links via Instapundit and Parkview Blog, with thanks]
- - -

Darfur rebel commanders quit SLA group

The UN inquiry into genocide in Darfur said the rebels have committed crimes too. The EU and UN have made clear that those brought to justice will include some on both sides.

Today, Fred at Rantburg writes a post on the news via Reuters that SLA commander Jumaa Mohamed Haggar said the military field command had renounced the leadership of the movement, which is based in the Eritrean capital Asmara.

"We will very soon be announcing a new secretary-general and chairman," Haggar's head of office told Reuters from Darfur yesterday. The SLA chairman and secretary-general both confirmed the statement but said it posed no threat to the movement.

Fred adds:

The humanitarian coordinator for the movement, Suleiman Adam Jamous, told Reuters he had travelled to meet the commanders, but was still waiting to start talks with them. "There are several commanders with Haggar. There may be 10 of them," Jamous said by telephone from Darfur, adding he did not think it was a serious threat to the movement. Asked why the commanders had said they had no confidence in the leadership, Jamous said: "Because of their absence I think."

- - -

Note, Last summer, in my personal blog, I pointed to news reports that said Darfur rebel groups have bases or headquarters in Europe, and that Darfur rebel leaders visited governments in France, Germany and Britain for closed door talks in the run up to the final round of peace talks on Southern Sudan. After nine months of blogging almost daily on Darfur, and reading almost every news report that has appeared since then, I have yet to find information on how the SLA and JEM rebels are funded/supplied or the location of their European HQ's or who is behind them. It is well known the the US supported the Southern Sudan rebels SPLM.

The above report confirms there is a connection to Eritrea where the rebels' supplies may be coming from (when they are not looting food, petrol and trucks from the UN relief agency). UN food, supplies and vehicles are stolen so regularly, it makes one wonder if it is just another of the many ways in which the international community is "supporting" Sudan's rebels.

Who funds/supplies satellite phones and radios to Sudan's rebels? It has been reported the rebels have their ears glued to BBC radio news Arabic service and communicate with satellite phones. Also, Kofi Annan and Jan Pronk issue such odd statements at times, it seems as if they both use the press to convey cryptic messages to people on the ground in Sudan.

Sometime last year, Kofi Annan, in a UN Off the Cuff interview, revealed he uses the press to communicate to his people on the ground in Sudan [I regret not keeping the link].
- - -

UN envoy: Darfur key to Sudan peace

Fred at Rantburg, in his latest post titled "UN envoy: Darfur key to Sudan peace", writes:

Actually, I'd say Khartoum is the key to Sudan peace. If Darfur was the only place on fire, then Darfur would be the key. But Bashir splits his time between oppressing people and putting down rebellions. You'd almost think the two were connected or something.

Fred notes that Jan Pronk, on calling for thousands of peacekeepers for Southern Sudan, said:

"I am convinced that without a solution in Darfur, the north-south will not remain a sustainable peace agreement."

Fred's reply:

"I dunno. I think that, rather than peacekeepers like they have in DRC, an army of occupation might be more to the point. They obviously are incapable of keeping their own house in order."

Several months ago, I suggested that Darfur should be turned into a UN Protectorate until Sudan could get its house in order. It would allow for the displaced Sudanese to return home to start planting their food and put their lives and livestock back together. If this goes on for much longer, they will be displaced for years and dependent on foreign aid. But when you think about it, if they were in the way in the first place, no country is going to rush in and risk their troops' lives to help Sudanese return home where they are not wanted by their own government.

Western countries weigh up the cost in terms of their own troops, if there were to be military intervention in the Sudan. There are well founded fears it would be seen as colonialism and trigger a holy war. Africa is a tinder box. So the international community puts its stock in the African Union. African solutions to African problems. But who knows, leaders of the African Union may be corrupt. Africans and Arabs often say it is none of our business. They appear to resent help from the West and say the West should not interfere. My hope is one day, they all walk out of Darfur into to Chad, and that African women start refusing to take violence anymore, rise up and band together to do something unique. I did read a report a while ago that explained how some groups of Sudanese women went on strike refusing sex with their partners. It sure got the menfolk's attention, quickly.

Today, the BBC reports news of protestors in Nigeria holding a Nigerian oil plant. One man has died. It shows a photo of Nigerian women standing up against an American oil giant.

Note, as an aside, the report states:

A spokesman from ChevronTexaco - which operates Escravos in partnership with the Nigerian government - said the incident was handled by the security forces, and refused to go into any more details. ChevronTexaco say they do not know why the villagers were demonstrating. But there has been a long standing dispute in the area, with local people claiming that the company has failed to honour of promises of community development which it made following the 2002 occupation.

Three years ago hundreds of women occupied the oil installation

I still suspect there may be oil and other riches in Darfur and, like the native Americans and aborignes in Australia, the African tribes and nomads are perceived as a nuisance, taking up precious resources and standing in the way of "progress".

The regime in Khartoum (many are educated, so they cannot plead ignorance) are so ruthless, they give Arab militias a free reign to commit atrocities. The Sudanese air force bombs civilians to eliminate the rebellion. Rebels are civilians, and civilians who are not rebels (mostly women and children) are seen as supporting an uprising against the regime in Khartoum that wants to hang on to power at any cost, no matter if it costs another 2 million lives.

EU: shortage of water and food in northern Darfur, Sudan

Yesterday, the European Union called for immediate end to "impunity" in Darfur and said "it is up to the UN Security Council to decide" on whether suspects should be taken before the ICC, but noted that the investigation commission had recommended this.

Also on Feb 4, European Union Commissioner Louis Michel strongly condemned recent violence in Darfur. He called on all parties to provide unimpeded access for aid and said he "deplored the further deterioration of the humanitarian situation, notably in Northern Darfur, due to shortage of water and food mostly caused the systematic vandalising of critical water points, accompanied by raiding and looting of crops."
- - -

LETTERS RE DARFUR TO THE EDITOR OF THE LONDON TIMES

February 05, 2005

Responsibility for Darfur atrocities
From Mr Tony Baldry, MP for Banbury (Conservative)

Sir, Five members of the International Development Select Committee and myself have spent the last three days in Darfur.

Wherever we went we heard eyewitness reports of attacks on villages, murder of civilians, rape, looting and a co-ordinated campaign of forced displacements.

From all that we have seen and heard, we find it entirely consistent that the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, set up by the United Nations, should have found that:

the Government of the Sudan and the Janjaweed are responsible for serious violations of international human rights . . . amounting to crimes under international law . . . these acts were conducted on a widespread and systematic basis . . . and therefore may amount to crimes against humanity.

The commission found that there was no policy of genocide, although it concluded that:

the crimes against humanity and war crimes that have been committed in Darfur may be no less serious and heinous than genocide . . .

If there are to be no further Kosovos, Rwandas or Darfurs, there must be no impunity for those responsible for such crimes.

The commission of inquiry has identified a number of perpetrators and the international community, including the UK Government, must ensure that those officials of the Government of Sudan and others responsible for these crimes are brought to trial as soon as possible by the International Criminal Court.

Yours faithfully,
TONY BALDRY,
(Chairman, International Development Select Committee),
House of Commons.
February 3.

From Mr Michael Kennedy

Sir, That the situation in Darfur is allowed to continue, and is in effect rubber-stamped by a UN inquiry that decides that genocide has not taken place (report, February 1), covers that institution in ignominy.

This is beyond my comprehension. How many more lives will be destroyed by fudge, complicity and self-interest?

The United Nations, born out of noble ideas, has failed. It must be replaced by a new authority which calls genocide by its name and calls its perpetrators to account.

Yours faithfully,
MICHAEL KENNEDY,
February 1.
- - -

880 slaves freed in Sudan but many left, says Swiss group

An old friend of mine is descended from William Wilberforce who spent decades, most of his working life really, abolishing slavery - and succeeded just before he died. It is dreadful to know that slavery is still going on in this day and age despite all the media, communications technology, laws, rules and regulations and decades of work by human rights advocates and agencies. Please read the following report out of Geneva via Reuters South Africa, confirming:

Some 880 slaves, said to have been abducted in southern Sudan by government-backed raiders, have been freed, but tens of thousands are still held in Darfur and elsewhere, a Swiss-based group said on Friday.

Christian Solidarity International said the government had transported 607 freed slaves, mainly women and children, back to southern Sudan from northern Sudan, while CSI had helped free 273 slaves, mainly boys.

"880 liberated slaves returned to their homeland of northern Bahr El Ghazal, southern Sudan, between January 23 and February 2," the Zurich-based group said in a statement. It has spearheaded a controversial campaign to buy back slaves.

"Tens of thousands of black Sudanese women and children remain enslaved in Sudan -- mainly in Darfur and neighbouring Kordofan -- notwithstanding the peace agreement signed by the government of Sudan and SPLA," it added.

"The majority of women and older girls said they were raped or gang-raped while in bondage," CSI statement said.

Sudan's government, which has always denied that slavery exists in Africa's largest country, set up a committee in 1999 to investigate and eradicate abductions of women and children.

The peace process has facilitated the liberation of southern Sudanese slaves, but "the capture and enslavement of black (African) women and children by government-backed Arab militias continues in Darfur", CSI said.

"The government appears to be using the same method against the African population in Darfur by arming militia. The description of the raids is identical," CSI's Sudan programme head, John Eibner, told Reuters.

But chaos in Darfur had prevented the group from doing the extensive documentation it had done in southern Sudan, where it documented 80,000 liberated slaves since 1995, he said.

Most had reported "gross abuse by their Arab Muslim masters", including beatings, death threats, forced Islamisation and Arabisation and racial and religious slurs.

Sudan's shame

The below copied op-ed from yesterday's Telegraph says what I would like to say, if I was able to write such a neat piece, with regard to three points in particular: (1) that the disagreement over what constitutes genocide seems academic in the absence of effective outside intervention (2) enforcement of a no-fly zone (3) the truth is that Omar al-Bashir's National Congress is determined to crush any form of dissent and in a country of such political, ethnic and religious diversity, that is no recipe for long-term stability.

Unfortunately, the Telegraph does not credit the name of the author. The piece is copied here in full for future reference:

The American Congress and State Department and the European Parliament have declared that the Sudanese government's military campaign in Darfur amounts to genocide. The United Nations begs to disagree, accusing Khartoum and its allied militias of atrocities that fall short of that crime as defined by the 1948 convention. It is probably true to say that the government did not embark on operations in the western region with the intention of eliminating its sedentary population.

It was, rather, doing what it has done in many other parts of the country: seeking to crush an insurgency through terror tactics. Yet each day the line between that brutal campaign and genocide becomes thinner. Despite numerous appeals for peace, Khartoum is stepping up an offensive aimed not so much at the two rebel groups as the civilian population.

Studying data from various sources, Jan Coebergh, a doctor who has worked in Darfur, estimates that the death toll there is about 300,000, well above the commonly quoted figure of 70,000.

Whatever the truth, the escalation of the conflict is rapidly pushing up the total. Sudan's Islamist government may not have sized up its victims with the same chilling method displayed by the Hutus in Rwanda in 1994, but that is a distinction likely to be lost on those in Darfur subjected to bombing, murder, rape and loot.

Likewise, the disagreement over what constitutes genocide seems academic in the absence of effective outside intervention. It is piously said that this is a problem for Africa to sort out. Yet the African Union force in Darfur is both tardy in deployment and ill equipped to bring order to such a vast area. Western logistical help is overdue. Beyond that, the enforcement of a no-fly zone and the dispatch of a small ground force under a UN mandate should be enough to blunt Khartoum's offensive.

That is not happening because Darfur is regarded as a sideshow to the north-south peace agreement between Khartoum and Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army, which was signed in January and ratified by the Sudanese parliament yesterday. Yet what confidence can there be that a government oblivious to outside appeals over Darfur will not renege on its agreements with the south? The truth is that Omar al-Bashir's National Congress is determined to crush any form of dissent. In a country of such political, ethnic and religious diversity, that is no recipe for long-term stability.

[Telegraph report via Tas's post titled "And how many of these 300,000 deaths were preventable?"]

Conservatives challenge Straw to explain why Darfur atrocities are not 'genocide'

A press release dated February 3, 2005, by Britain's Conservative Party is copied here in full for future reference:

Shadow Foreign Secretary Michael Ancram, today wrote to Jack Straw requesting under the Freedom of Information Act, that he reveal the basis for the government's decision not to label the atrocities in Darfur, as genocide. He said:

"I can only think that you must have received advice suggesting that genocide was/is indeed taking place in Darfur but have chosen deliberately to ignore it.

"If it is the case that you have ignored advice on the scale of atrocities being committed by the Janjaweed militia, and supported by the Sudanese Government, then you now need to explain yourself. If you have not then you will have no problems with releasing the information I seek.

"I hope that you will not use the Freedom of Information Act as a shield or smokescreen. It is only right that the British public learn what sort of decision-making processes you undertake. After all is not the Act designed to hold Ministers to account regarding the decisions that they have made?"

Rt Hon Michael Ancram QC MP

UN suspends its road movements in part of West Darfur, Sudan, after attack on truck

UN road movement has been suspended on the route between two of the main towns in West Darfur after armed men yesterday fired at a clearly marked UN truck and looted all the personal belongings of the driver and passengers, says UN news report Feb 3.

Also, in North Darfur, UNAMIS said it had received reports that armed tribesmen had attacked a camp containing members of the rebel SLA and that the SLA had stopped a bus north of El Fasher and abducted four passengers, killing three.
- - -

10,000+ troops proposed for UN peace-support mission for South Sudan

Kofi Annan today formally recommends in a report a deployment of 10,130 military troops and up to 755 civilian police with Chapter VI mandate for southern Sudan. And he voices concern that, despite appeals to at least 100 nations, the UN "has received a very limited number of responses." So far there are enough commitments to meet only the first phase of the planned deployment.

Jan Pronk is expected to brief the Council tomorrow on the contents of Mr Annan's report.
- - -

Call for probe into sexually explicit jokes about Mbeki

On a lighter note, South African Broadcasting Corporation Feb 3 says the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) has called for the National Intelligence Agency and forensic auditors to assist with an internal investigation that some ICD officials are allegedly circulating sexually explicit jokes about President Thabo Mbeki on the organisation's internal email.

Karen McKenzie, the ICD executive director, says a full report will be made public as soon as the probe is completed. She says any ICD employee implicated will be dealt with severely.

According to reports some jokes refer to Mbeki seeking prostitutes. Others are of cartoons of people having sex.
- - -

Note, Mbeki recently ingratiated himself to Sudanese officials by insulting Churchill and the Brits in a speech. So I have posted this to get him back. Heh.
- - -

Update: American blogger Black River Eagle at Jewels in the Jungle in Germany writes another great post on Darfur, this time about the UN report. Sorry I cannot comment more about it now but I need to rest as my eyeballs are burning from reading ten zillion reports flying round cyberspace. Tracking, sifting, summarising and capturing them for here before they disappear from the news reels, is quite a feat. News output changes by the minute and keeping your eyes peeled (literally) is challenging but tiring. Although I will keep up to date with tracking the news and post important items at a later date, I need to take a break from posting for a while. There is plenty for readers to catch up on here from the past week. Bye for now. P.S. I can tell from my visitor stats that hundreds of different readers here visit from all corners of the world. Don't be shy. Please say hi in comments or email me. Thanks.

Putin signs order to send Russian peacekeepers to Sudan

According to an AP report in the Guardian this morning, Moscow President Vladimir Putin has signed an order to send forces to join a proposed UN peacekeeping operation in Sudan. Russian news agencies say the resolution calls for Moscow to send units from the Interior Ministry, which includes police and military but there was no immediate specification on what types of forces would be sent.

Note, dozens of news reports currently covering this story make no mention of peacekeepers for Darfur. This news is probably about Russia's contribution to the 10,000 troops the UN is rallying for the monitoring of the South Sudan peace deal. It has been reported that deployment of the 10,000 troops for southern Sudan won't be completed for another six months.

Recently, Sudanese officials said they would only accept peacekeepers who spoke Arabic. Perhaps this order signed by Putin is to make Russia look good because it is blocking sanctions being imposed on Sudan.
- - -

Cargo plane crashes in Sudan, seven killed

3 Feb Reuters report says a Sudanese cargo plane carrying aid to Darfur crashed near the capital Khartoum on Thursday Feb 3, killing all the crew.

The captain reported an emergency a few minutes before the Ilyushin-76 went off radar screens, Civil Aviation Authority director Abu Bakr Jaafar said. "He (the pilot) said there was something wrong with the fuel system ... A few minutes later it disappeared from the screens," he told Reuters. "Of course, it is too early to tell what is the cause," he added.

"This was a courageous move." Jaafar said at the scene where the Sudanese plane crashed east of the Nile River. "He changed his flight to move the plane out of the inhabited area." The aircraft went down about 800 metres from the residential district.
- - -

Note, a Russian news report says the Russian embassy in Sudan is investigating the circumstances of the crash. Earlier it was reported that the plane's crew consisted of Russians, however, the embassy's representative has told RBC that so far, this information had not been confirmed. The officer said that the embassy was making every effort necessary to identify the crash victims.

Update Feb 3 Moscow News says six Russian citizens were killed in the cargo plane crash. The Russians were crewmembers. Their interpreter, a citizen of Sudan, was also killed.

The plane belonged to the private Sudanese company, Air West. It was flying from Sharjah, UAE, and was being used by the UN to carry humanitarian cargo. An official at the Russian embassy in Sudan is currently at the civilian aviation directorate investigating the cause of the crash, RIA Novosti reported. One of the preliminary reasons given was a lack of fuel.


Rescue workers carry a body wrapped in blankets from the wreckage of a Sudanese Ilyushin plane / Photo: AP

Nato 'could step in to help in Darfur'

NATO's secretary general Japp de Hoop Scheffer, who held talks with Tony Blair yesterday, said:

"If African leaders would come, through the UN, to Nato, and ask Nato what could you do to support what we are doing, I think the Allies would have a very serious discussion."

Full Story at The Scotsman, Feb 3.
- - -

Note, the above report quotes the secretary general as saying,

"Nato could (have a role), if the African Union and the UN would ask Nato, then Nato could I think - but that question is not on the table - Nato could give support, in command and control and logistical support, to an operation. But I think that, quite honestly, we should leave it to the Africans and the African Union to find a way of solving this indeed tragic and horrendous conflict".

Leave it to the Africans, and the African Union? African and Arab leaders often say the same thing. African leaders petitioning the United Nations to help Darfur? Sorry for being so negative here, but the tantalising prospect of NATO coming to the rescue of millions of people in the Sudan is probably just another story the politicians are spinning to the media to add pressure on Khartoum and placate those who are calling for action. NATO's secretary general also said:

"As far as Darfur is concerned, Nato is not involved, because the African Union is trying to set up a peace monitoring mission. The Security Council is divided, and Nato will not go and rush into Darfur. What I think is necessary, and that is an initiative stemming from the G8 group nations, I think much more should be done in the sphere of training African security forces so that they really can mount a serious peace-keeping and monitoring operation."

Note how nobody else is rushing into Darfur either. The AU have received hundreds of millions of dollars from the EU and US for the deployment of troops to Darfur. Recently, the AU confirmed they are not short of funds and claimed the delays are due to lack of accommodation for their soldiers in Darfur. Two million Sudanese are curently suffering with no accommodation because of lack of security. Surely AU soldiers could be temporarily accommodated in military tents.


Sudanese national policemen / Photo: AFP courtesy Moscow News
- - -

2m dead - but still the world stands idly by

Lord Alton of Liverpool, an independent crossbench peer, writes the following must-read opinion piece published today in The Scotsman Feb 3, and copied here in full for future reference:

Imagine a military junta that has killed two million of its population of 32 million in the past two decades because of their skin colour and religion. Imagine a regime that has caused so much terror within its own borders that six million people are internally displaced. Is this a description of the Chinese in Tibet? Or Burma rebranded as Myanmar? Or, until recently, Indonesia in East Timor?

No, this is Sudan, described by the British ambassador to Khartoum in a London-cleared speech, as "on the threshold of a new era", and our great friend. In April last year, at the height of the state-sponsored killing in Darfur, William Patey boasted that British trade with Sudan was up 25 per cent and set to rise further.

The United Nations has released the report of a commission set up four months ago to determine whether genocide could be said to be happening in Darfur. Last September, Colin Powell, then US Secretary of State, determined it was occurring, and that the government of Sudan and its proxies, the Janjaweed, were to blame. While the commission deliberated, the World Health Organisation estimates 10,000 civilians died every week. Under pressure to act, it was the UN Security Council's masterstroke to set up the commission as a useful diversion. Shouldn't we do something about the government of Sudan burning hundreds of its own villages? No, we must wait until the UN commission reports.

Now, as the Sudanese government continues to bomb its own citizens, the international community has again found a way of avoiding any discussion of stopping the bloodshed. Returning to one of its favourite spats, Europe and the US are locked in a row about whether those responsible for crimes against humanity in Darfur should be sent to the International Criminal Court or a tribunal run by the UN and African Union. So, while 14 people die every hour in Darfur, the international community is talking about what to do with the people who are murdering them - after the war criminals have gone about their business, that is.

Unfortunately, the UN commission was politically compromised before it began its work. Whatever our politicians may say about Africa being a scar on their consciences, securing peace with the oil-rich south of Sudan is paramount. But while Tony Blair was in Khartoum in October, a German diplomat heard him assure a member of the Sudanese junta that Britain would not turn up the heat on Khartoum over Darfur because of fears of making Sudan a failed state, or provoking a coup.

The British diplomats in Khartoum, and their brothers around the international community, must be heaving a collective sigh of relief now that the UN report on Darfur has been published. By denying that genocide is occurring, it has, in effect, promised to continue looking the other way while the Sudanese kill their own citizens with impunity.

Further reading:

2 Feb Eric Reeves' critical analysis of the report of the international commission of inquiry on Darfur.

3 Feb Japan Times report says Japanese defence officials cool on Sudan - risks seen outweighing benefits to diplomatic image. Japanese peacekeeprs would not be able to go to Sudan anytime soon because it would require careful preparation, meaning a dispatch could not get under way until summer at the earliest. Having SDF troops participate in a Sudan mission could be possible, but there would be "a long way to go" one senior agency official said.

3 Feb Italy On Line, a special news service by AGI on behalf of the Italian Prime Minister's office, reports: "The UN report does not speak of genocide, but this does not take away from the seriousness of the violence in Darfur: 50-70,000 people massacred by the Janjaweed militias are an inerasable tragedy," said the Under Secretary to Foreign Affairs, Margherita Boniver, to the newspaper Avvenire. For Boniver, harsher sanctions "would be an important step. And the UN report takes us in that directions."

Security Council President vows 'no impunity' for war crimes in Darfur, Sudan

A United Nations news report Feb 2 confirms the Security Council is determined to ensure there is no impunity for anyone who has committed war crimes or crimes against humanity in Darfur, its President for February said today as he announced that the situation will be the focus of at least two Council meetings this month.

As Council members study the report of a UN-appointed commission of inquiry into whether genocide has occurred in Darfur, Ambassador Joel Adechi of Benin, which holds the rotating presidency for this month, told reporters at a briefing that the 15-member body wants to deal with the situation in an "internationally recognised way." Full Story.


Council President Amb. Joel W. Adechi

Taha and Garang to appear before UN Security Council next week

Update report at The Scotsman Feb 3 - The Security Council, ratcheting up pressure to resolve the Darfur crisis, has asked two key Sudanese players to appear before the council next week - Vice President Ali Osman Mohammed Taha, and John Garang, head of the main southern Sudanese rebel group that just signed a peace deal with the government.

Britain's UN ambassador, Emyr Jones Parry, said the council needs to do "two things crucially: one to stop any more atrocities in Sudan and secondly to address those things that have happened."

"My primary interest is in addressing them in a way (of) getting an outcome under a council that is united," he said. Full Story.
- - -

A court could eventually find there had been genocidal acts in Darfur

On Feb 2 the Scotsman published an analysis of the 176-page UN report published Feb 1.

Note, the UN report's panel did not rule out that a court could eventually find there had been genocidal acts in Darfur. Also, the panel said:

As many as 2,000 Darfur villages had probably been destroyed, mainly by being torched by the attackers.

"We heard credible accounts showing that the acts of destruction were wanton and deliberate," said the report commissioners. "Oil presses, flour mills, wells and pumps, crops and vegetables and almost all household utensils were found scorched or smashed at the sites inspected by the commission team."

After listing many other atrocities, the commissioners conclude:

"The magnitude and serious nature of the crimes committed against the civilian population in Darfur, both by the government forces and the Janjaweed, and by the rebels, demand immediate action by the international community to end these atrocities. Authors of these crimes must be brought to justice."


A child suffering from malnutrition where it is being treated at the therapeutic feeding centre run by Doctors Without Borders, a non-governmental organisation based in Belgium.
- - -

Tales of burning, rape and looting ... and the men wore army uniforms

The following editorial is taken from the Scotsman's analysis Feb 2, above:

Much of the report consists of graphic case studies of attacks carried out in Darfur during the conflict.

On 23 November last year, for example, two Sudan Air Force helicopter gunships and an Antonov bomber attacked the village of Adwa.

The aircraft were supported by ground forces using a variety of weapons, including assault rifles, anti-tank rockets and heavy machine guns mounted on vehicles.

"Civilians, including women, children and elderly persons, were targeted during the attack," the report says. "Men were summarily shot, as was anyone who attempted to escape. Young girls were taken by the attackers to another location and many were raped in the presence of other women.

The attackers looted the village. Many people were killed and more than one hundred persons were injured.

Following the attack, representatives of an international organisation searched the village and found the bodies of between 20 and 30 civilians, including women and children.

All belonged to the Fur tribe. It is also alleged that many villagers [who fled successfully] are still to be found in the [nearby] mountains."

A young rape victim during an attack on a boarding school at Tawila, North Darfur, 11 months ago, described the assault, by Janjaweed wearing government uniforms, and the rape of one of her friends.

The Arab militiamen arrived in a lorry at 6am while government soldiers surrounded the school.

"When they attacked the boarding house, they pointed their guns at the girls and forced [all 110 of] them to strip naked, took their valuables and all of their bedding," she said. "[My friend] was taken from the group, blindfolded, pushed down to the ground on her back and raped. She was held by her arms and legs. Her legs were forced and held apart. The rape lasted for about one hour.

"[Other girls were] screaming as they were raped. After the rape, the Janjaweed started burning and looting."

The victim whose rape is described became pregnant as a result and gave birth to a child late last year.

The commissioners said they interviewed witnesses "who gave a very credible, detailed and consistent account" of an attack last year on the South Darfur village of Surra by government forces and Janjaweed.

Out of a total population of 1,700, more than 250 people were killed in an early morning attack.

Mortars were used against unarmed civilians. The soldiers and militiamen "entered the homes and killed the men," says the report.

"They gathered the women in the mosque. There were around ten men hidden with the women. They found those men and killed them inside the mosque.

They forced women to take off their [clothes] and when they found young sons hiding under them they killed the boys.

The survivors fled and did not bury the dead."

In a nearby village, men were partially skinned and thrown on fires to burn. Another part of the report details an attack on the village of Anka, North Darfur.

The report said: "Witnesses from Anka observed between 300 and 400 Janjaweed on foot, and another 100 Janjaweed on camels and horseback, advancing towards Anka...

"The attackers were described as wearing the same khaki uniforms as the government soldiers."
- - -

EU Supports ICC to try Darfur war criminals



2 Feb Yuba news report "EU supports ICC to try Darfur war criminals" -- EU Spokesperson Amadeu Altafaj Tardio said EU countries have studied the UN report on Darfur: "We have become one of the strongest supporters of the role of this court in the international community."

Excerpt from the report:

My own support for the ICC is well known," Mr. Annan said in his statement on the report today. "But this is a decision for the Security Council, not for me. What is vital is that these people are indeed held accountable. Such grave crimes cannot be committed with impunity. That would be a terrible betrayal of the victims, and of potential future victims in Darfur and elsewhere."

Note, Yuba's website features a quotation: "I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it's hell." - Harry Truman
- - -

UK prefers ICC involved in Darfur

2 Feb London Reuters confirms "UK prefers ICC for Darfur, wants consensus" - Amid suggestions Britain was wavering over the ICC on Sudan in the face of US opposition, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told a news conference on Wednesday Feb 2: "Our position has been very clear ... Our preference is for the International Criminal Court to be used in respect of the findings of the international commission in respect of Sudan." But he said the final decision lay with the United Nations Security Council and London would push for a consensus. Since Sudan is not party to the ICC statutes, the Security Council must decide on whether it is used or not, Straw said.

Meanwhile, European diplomats said there were already signs that Britain, a founder member of the ICC, was "less than one hundred per cent" behind the tribunal, and was peeling off from the rest of the EU, says Belfast Telegraph in its report Feb 2 "Britain accused of siding with US on Darfur killings".


British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, seen in January 2005, said it wants 'perpetrators' of atrocities in the rebel-hit Darfur to be put on trial, ideally at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague (AFP/File)
- - -

2 Feb France's International Herald Tribune report "UK caught between US and EU over Sudan".

2 Feb Financial Times report "UK and US on possible collision course over Darfur war crimes suspects" - UN Security Council members - the US, France, Britain, China and Russia - will consider in coming days how to react to the UN report.

France appeared to back the UN's call for international trials, saying Darfur could "legitimately be discussed" when Condoleezza Rice, US secretary of state, visits Europe next week.

Mr Blair, meanwhile, came under domestic pressure to back referral to the ICC publicly. Menzies Campbell, foreign affairs spokesman for the opposition Liberal Democrats, said: "When the present government was first elected, it quite rightly laid a great deal of emphasis on the need for an international court."

2 Feb Financial Times report "US urges UN oil sanctions over Darfur" - Richard Boucher, State Department spokesman, said Washington was working with African nations towards the establishment of a "UN and African Union tribunal that would be based in Arusha, Tanzania". African support for that option could undermine the case for the ICC at the Security Council. At the same time, Mr Boucher did not suggest that the US would veto a referral to the ICC, and variously described the US-proposed tribunal as the "best way", the "preferred way" and the "better way".

France yesterday said it would continue to push for the ICC option. Jean Marc de la Sabliere, French ambassador to the UN, called it a "progress in civilisation", and warned: "I don't think the alternatives are a good option."

But if the council concedes to the US over Darfur, analysts fear that would constitute a serious blow to the ICC's authority. "This is a critical moment for the Blair government. If they fold and buckle in the light of the clear-cut recommendation, they would be sinking beyond redemption," said Richard Dicker, international justice director at Human Rights Watch.

2 Feb Guardian report "UN Envoy Accuses Sudan of Atrocities" - The UN envoy for Sudan accused the government Wednesday of failing to stop the killing of civilians in Darfur and said a UN commission believed more than 50 high-ranking civil servants should be prosecuted in the International Criminal Court.

2 Feb Guardian report "A case for the court".

2 Feb Washington Times report "Separate tribunal for Darfur sought" - The US asked the UN Security Council yesterday to establish an Africa-based tribunal for war crimes in Darfur, to impose sanctions on the Khartoum government and to create a UN peacekeeping mission in the country. [Note, several news reports say an ad hoc tribunal would cause a delay of one year in bringing the war criminals to justice]

2 Feb Christian Aid report welcomes the call made in the UN's report to refer war crimes and human rights abuses by all warring parties to the ICC, and is also calling on the UN to apply targeted sanctions and extend the arms embargo to all parties involved in the conflict.

2 Feb Trocaire Catholic Agency report "UN report on Darfur underlines urgent need for action" - While the world has understandably been focused on the aftermath of the tsunami in Asia, things in Darfur have in many ways been getting worse. "The number of people who have been displaced has doubled since early last year, and now stands at nearly two million," said Trocaire's Director Justin Kilcullen.

2 Feb News from Russia report "400,000 deaths can't be called genocide" - UN special commission has been criticised and accused of "splitting hairs" by refusing to declare the killing of 400 000 people in Sudan to be genocide.


Sudanese displaced children are seen from inside a tent in the Internally Displaced Persons camp of Drage on the outskirts of the town of Nyala in Sudan's southern Darfur region in 2004. Canada called for referring the case of rights abuses in Darfur to the ICC after a UN report said genocide had not occurred in the troubled region. (AFP/File/Jose Cendon)
- - -

How do you trust people who have been fighting you?

The following excerpt from a Financial Times report Feb 2 points out some of the challenges facing the peace process, and why a commander of the SPLA wishes they were still fighting:

"As citizens we have no problems. It's the system, it's the ruling system," said a northern trader trying to explain why north-south conflict has raged for all but 11 years since Sudan gained independence in 1956.

Under the surface the picture is not so rosy. Bahr al-Ghazal region suffered hugely during the conflict and many southerners will struggle to trust or welcome their northern neighbours: the memories of the conflict and its brutality are too fresh. In the 1980s and 1990s, Arab militias unleashed by Khartoum launched camel and horseback raids into southern villages, plundering livestock, killing many civilians and abducting thousands of others as concubines or forced labour, according to Unicef. Bahr al-Ghazal was also a key recruiting ground for the SPLA.

"How do you trust people who have been fighting you?" said Wek Deng, an SPLA official in the region, "GOD IS LOVE" emblazed on his sweater.

John Garang, leader of the SPLA, says it is up to his movement and the planned northern transitional government to create the conditions for a "unity" vote in six years time. But while Commander Garang publicly supports a unified Sudan, many southern Sudanese think the south should separate immediately and he will be tested just keeping the south, where southern factions have often fought each other, together.

"The deal is not good and it's not bad," Mr Deng, 50, said. "Six years is too long" for the referendum.

He later says he would rather the SPLA was still fighting. And it is not just the older generation who will find it hard to live with their northern neighbours. Bahr al-Ghazal's young have also witnessed the violence and suffered its repercussions.

Mary Adel, 12, sits in a mud-hut primary school classroom that has no desks, chairs or electricity and few books - a common feature in a region that has seen virtually no development in decades.

Her father and brother are SPLA members, her uncle was killed during fighting and Arab raiders abducted her sister. She has seen her fellow southerners killed and their livestock looted. "I've been told Arabs are not good people," she said.

The task of changing the mindset of a generation born into war, not to mention that of their elders, will be one of the biggest challenges facing the peace process.
- - -

SUDAN-UGANDA: Refugees reluctant to repatriate to southern Sudan

A recent post here explained how the UN agencies were preparing for the return of at least 500,000 Sudanese refugees into southern Sudan. On Feb 1, the UN agency reports many refugees are reluctant to repatriate to southern Sudan.

Here is an excerpt:

Thousands of Sudanese refugees living in camps in northern Uganda are reluctant to consider repatriation for a variety of reasons, including the lack of facilities in southern Sudan, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, told IRIN on Tuesday.

An estimated 200,000 registered Sudanese refugees are housed in southwestern and western Uganda. However, UNHCR says an estimated 40,000 others who are not registered with the agency have been living in Ugandan border towns, while others are in the capital, Kampala.

In Uganda, according to UNHCR, the refugees were well settled and lived in better material and security conditions than others elsewhere in Africa, and this was also why they were reluctant to leave and face the unknown conditions of southern Sudan.

However, all is not rosy for the Sudanese refugees in Uganda: they have been attacked several times by Ugandan rebels of the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), who at one time claimed their settlements were being used by the SPLA as recruitment grounds.

In early 2004 the LRA launched 31 raids on UNHCR refugee settlements, displacing some 32,000 Sudanese refugees from the southern Zoka Forest Belt in northwestern Adjumani District.

The worst LRA attack was in August 2002, on Achol-pii refugee camp in Pader District, when the rebels killed more than 60 people, and the more than 24,000 Sudanese refugees there dispersed into the bush, fearing relocation to a camp further inland.

During this attack, the LRA took four aid workers from the International Rescue Committee hostage, but later released them.

- - -

10,000 Indian peacekeepers for Sudan?

India is getting cosy with Sudan. See why in the next post here below. And note this excerpt from an Indian news report Feb 2 "Sudan welcomes Indian role in UN mission" - Sudan will welcome India's participation in the UN peace mission to the country for the implementation of the Jan 9 peace accord that ended over two decades of civil war, a senior minister has said.

"If you have to bring in someone to keep peace here, you have to bring in someone who understands the traditions and customs here," Energy and Mining Minister Awad Ahmed Al-Jazz told a visiting IANS correspondent.

"We have a very intimate relationship with India. We don't feel any problem if India is ready to partner with us in the peace era," said Al-Jazz.

Al-Jazz described reports of genocide in Darfur as "propaganda" by the Western media. "Life is almost normal there, with no fighting," he claimed.

Indian Ambassador to Sudan Ashok Kumar said New Delhi had agreed in principle to send a peace mission to the country under the UN to monitor the implementation of the peace agreement. He said up to 10,000 Indian peace troopers were likely to be involved in the mission, though the numbers were yet to be finalised.

A 25-member UN Advance Mission, including Indian officials, is already here to help in the peace process. Col. Vikram Taneja of the Indian Army, a member of the team, said the UN Security Council is expected to finalise the details of the mission shortly.

"The Sudanese government is not opposed to Indian presence here," he said.

But officials and the Sudanese people are keeping their fingers crossed.

"I am optimistic but it is going to be a long haul," said a senior official.

Mamoun Gamal, managing director of Citypharm Pharmaceutical Industry in north Khartoum, echoed the sentiments. "Implementation of the peace accord would face challenges as often happens and there is going to be differences on interpretation of the accord," he said.
- - -

India's ONGC to build 1.2 billion GBP refinery in Sudan

2 Feb India news report - India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), which is laying a 741-km long petroleum product pipeline in Sudan, will also build a 1.2 billion GBP oil refinery in the African nation. Sudanese Minister of Energy and Mining Awad Ahmed Al-Jazz said, "We had previously awarded the work of building a 100,000 barrels per day refinery at Port Sudan to Malaysian firms but the project could not take off. We have now mandated ONGC to build the refinery."

Further reading:

2 Feb Navhind Times report "India seeking more exploration blocks in Sudan" - Sudan Energy and Mining Minister, Mr Awad Ahmed Al-Jazz said:

"Sudan plans to open the bids on Block 15 in the beginning of February. After that we will invite tender for Block 12. The award of contract for Block 15 may be done by mid-February."

OVL is one of the bidders for the Blocks 12 and 15 along with Chinese and companies from other countries, the Minister said.

1 Feb Hindustan Times report - India is keenly looking to acquire more exploration blocks in Sudan where it has already got equity stakes in three concessions, including the Greater Nile Oil Project producing around 15 million tonne annually.

2 Feb These Times opinion piece "The Axis of Oil" by Jehangir Pocha.

2 Feb China View report "Chinese, Sudanese FMs talk over phone" - both agreed to further develop friendly relations of the two countries in all fields on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit.


Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said the UN had asked Japan to send troops for a potential mission in Darfur. (AFP/File/Toru Yamanaka)
- - -

Darfur & US black history month 2005

American blogger Marian Douglas writes:

"We need something from each of us who reads this blog to help save the people of Darfur in 2005. The first thing is sharing a commitment to act; to do some little thing for Darfur on a regular basis. That includes sending designated material help through known and respected organisations. There is no choice ... Darfur must be our priority.

See Okuwori's entry on Darfur over at her blog, Black Looks.

UN commission finds Sudanese Government responsible for crimes in Darfur

A 176-PAGE REPORT BY A UNITED NATIONS-APPOINTED COMMISSION OF INQUIRY into whether genocide has occurred in Darfur has established that the Government and Janjaweed militia are responsible for crimes under international law and recommends referring the dossier to the International Criminal Court (ICC), Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today.

While concluding that the Government of Sudan "has not pursued a policy of genocide," the report declared that "the crimes against humanity and war crimes that have been committed in Darfur may be no less serious and heinous than genocide," he said in a statement, calling on the Security Council to consider possible sanctions. - Full Story via UN News Service Feb 1.

GOAL chief executive slams UN approach to Darfur

The chief executive of Irish aid agency GOAL has launched a scathing attack on the United Nations for failing to describe the situation in Darfur as genocide.

A UN commission stopped short of describing the situation as genocide, which would legally require the United Nations to intervene.

This has angered GOAL chief executive John O'Shea, who claimed today the UN's failure to use the word genocide was linked to its alleged fear of facing up to China, which has oil interests in Sudan. - IOL Feb 1.
- - -

Further reading:

Feb 1 Gunmen shoot at African monitors in Darfur: Gunmen shot at unarmed observers investigating a bombing in Darfur blamed by the UN on Sudan's government, an AU envoy said on Tuesday. His statement had no word on the identity of the attackers.

Feb 1 Sudan accuses UN's Darfur report of being biased: France said it endorses the recommendation that violators of human rights in Darfur stand trial in the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. But Washington does not recognise that court and would like a new tribunal to prosecute crimes in Darfur.

Feb 1 UN wants Darfur war crimes trial: Human rights campaigners believe Britain's position on Darfur will be crucial. London formally backs the ICC and several British officials have described Darfur as an obvious case to be referred to it. But the Government has not said yet whether it feels the issue should be referred to the ICC. Officials have been working behind the scenes to avert a new transatlantic dispute ahead of a fence-mending visit to Europe by President George W Bush this month.

Human Rights Watch, a campaign group, urged Europe to take a stand against America. "The delay involved in setting up a new tribunal would only lead to the loss of more innocent lives in Darfur," said Richard Dicker, director of the group's international justice programme.

Feb 1 Sudan atrocities strain US relations: Clash of views. US allies and others see Darfur as a clear case for the ICC. These allies include Britain, though for the moment the British government is treading carefully. "We have said that we must ensure that those responsible are brought to justice," said a Foreign Office spokesman, "We support the ICC, but whether this is taken to the ICC is for the Security Council." Opposition to the ICC by the Bush administration has been strong and remains so. The US has proposed instead that a special war crimes tribunal for Darfur be set up. This would sit in Tanzania and would be run by the UN and the African Union.

Peer attacks UN's 'impotence' and 'collusion' over Darfur

One cannot help but agree with every word of the following article in UK Ekklesia Feb 1, particularly the word 'collusion'. Here is a copy in full:

A well known Christian and member of the House of Lords has attacked the failure of a UN commission to call the mass killings in the Western Darfur region 'genocide' and suggested that securing access to the oil fields in the south 'seem to matter more to the international community than preventing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians'.

A new UN report has concluded that the Sudanese government and militias carried out mass killings and probably war crimes in the western Darfur region, but it stopped short of calling the violence genocide.

The UN commission recommended that the International Criminal Court investigate evidence of widespread abuses including torture, rape, killings of civilians and pillaging.

However, independent Peer Lord Alton of Liverpool who recently visited Darfur and has been campaigning for months to have the killings acknowledged as genocide told the Ekklesia news service; "In another resounding example of the UN's impotence they have decided not to risk offending the perpetrators of these atrocities or their belligerent allies."

"The long awaited UN commission on events in Darfur has, in effect, given the government of Sudan permission to continue killing its black African population with impunity. Their report will give encouragement to despotic governments the world over."

"Even though the government of Sudan bombed villages in Darfur as recently as Wednesday January 26th, and despite an increase in violence in Darfur, stopping aid agencies reaching many refugees, the commission does not recommend sanctions against the military dictatorship in Khartoum.

"This is worse than impotent, it amounts to collusion."

"Although the report is a disappointment" he continued, "it is not a surprise".

"Diplomats have repeatedly shown themselves unwilling to criticize the Khartoum regime for fear of jeopardizing the ongoing north-south peace deal."

The United Nations has called Darfur the world's worst humanitarian crisis, saying that some 70,000 of the nearly two million people displaced by the conflict have died from disease and famine. Thousands more were killed in the fighting, though no firm figures exist.

The report detailed a host of violations, including the Sudanese government's failure to protect civilians from rebel attack, use of disproportionate force and attacks meant to force people to flee their homes.

It blamed the government for joining in the attacks and for complicity with the Arab militias, and also accused rebels of massive violence.

"There was no military necessity for the destruction and devastation caused. The targets of destruction during the attacks under discussion were exclusively civilian objects," the panel said.

While the commission was clearly reluctant to pronounce a verdict on the violence, it said many of the worst attacks "may amount to crimes against humanity."

"The conclusion that no genocidal policy has been pursued and implemented in Darfur by the government authorities, directly or through the militias under their control, should not be taken in any way as detracting from the gravity of the crimes perpetrated in the region," the report said.

The commission said the Sudanese government had not pursued a policy of genocide because there was no "genocidal intent" - a push to exterminate an entire group for ethnic, religious or other reasons.

However Lord Alton said: "During my recent visit to Sudan and Darfur I became convinced that securing access to the oil fields in the south seemed to matter more to the international community than preventing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians, and the displacement of two million people."

"A key member of the UN's Security Council, China, owns the lion's share of Sudan's oil industry."
- - -

Further reading at BBC online Feb 1 UN rules out genocide in Darfur where other news sites reporting the story are listed in right hand sidebar.
- - -

Quote of the day

"It's time for the Bush administration to back-pocket its abstract objections to the ICC so justice can be done" - Richard Dicker, Human Rights Watch

[via BBC new online Feb 1 UN urges Darfur war crimes trials]
- - -

Is the Darfur conflict genocide?

BBC News online asks its readers: Is the UN right or wrong to say the atrocities in Darfur is not genocide? A week after the Jewish Holocaust was remembered, is the world doing enough to stop the violence? How could the conflict be ended? Have you been affected personally by the violence in Darfur?

Click here to read the comments reflecting the balance of opinion they have received so far.
- - -

'No genocide' in Darfur but UK urged to take action

The Times in London reports today Feb 1 that Britain and the United States have taken opposite sides in an historic clash over how to mete out justice to the perpetrators of pillage and slaughter in the western Sudanese province of Darfur. Full Story at Times Online Feb 1.

Note the report ends by saying:

The Sudanese ambassador to the UK, Hassan Abdin, told Today: "We are grateful to this international commission for exonerating the Sudanese government of committing genocide. This was the main issue."

- - -

UN mistaken in failing to find genocide - Darfur rebels

Darfur rebels said on Tuesday Feb 1 a UN report was mistaken in failing to accuse the Sudan government and allied Arab militias of genocide in the Darfur conflict.

"If this report says there is no genocide in Darfur then we reject this report," Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) leader Khalil Ibrahim told Reuters by telephone from his headquarters in the Eritrean capital Asmara.

"There are hundreds of mass graves that the commission did not go to," he said, adding the decision to stop short of a genocide finding was political.
- - -

Sudan's parliament ratifies peace treaty

Guardian Feb 1 - More than 20 years after fighting began, Sudan's parliament on Tuesday Feb 1 unanimously ratified the government's peace agreement with southern rebels, officially ending Africa's longest civil war.

When the speaker called the "yes" vote, every legislator in the chamber stood up to show approval, according to a live broadcast on state television. Lawmakers clapped and some shouted "Allahu Akbar!" - the Islamic rallying cry meaning "God is Great."

Sudanese troops attack homes after shooting demonstrators

News via Reuters Jan 31 reveals Sudanese police and troops went on a rampage in ethnic Beja parts of Port Sudan on Saturday after shooting dead at least 18 people preparing to take part in a demonstration, witnesses said on Sunday.

At least seven people were seriously wounded in the rampage in the Red Sea city in eastern Sudan, in which soldiers threw hand grenades into houses several miles from the scene of the demonstration.

The authorities were not immediately available to comment on the report.

Sudanese Interior Minister said police had opened fire on demonstrators after cars were set on fire and shops looted. "Security forces had to protect the port and oil reservoirs," he told Reuters during a visit to Dubai on Sunday, adding that the situation was now stable.

In the graveyard outside the city, thousands of angry men were preparing to bury the dead following the riots.

"Yesterday there was a massacre here. We need international protection," Abdel Salem Mohamed shouted. "We are going to struggle. We are going to prepare for war."

Photo: A Sudanese Army soldier on guard close to his machine gun. Armed police were out in force across Port Sudan, following two days of riots by protestors from Beja ethnic group in which at least 14 people were killed, witnesses said. (AFP/File/Marco Longari)
- - -

The Beja Congress

The Beja live in expansive shanty towns on the outskirts of Port Sudan. Originally a nomadic people, many moved to the port to work as labourers after famine killed their cattle and mechanised farming took over their lands in the 1980s.

The Beja Congress, a political party representing the Beja ethnic group, and other Sudanese opposition groups accuse the Sudanese government of neglecting the remote regions of the country in favour of the centre. They see the agreement this month between the government and the southern rebels SPLM as a model for their own regions. The agreement gives the southerners a share of their region's oil revenues.

The Beja Congress has a military wing, which has performed minor military operations in the east. Beja forces attacked government forces on Saturday and Sunday in an area south of the town of Kassala.
- - -


Photo: A woman in the southern Sudanese town of Rumbek cleans grain. About 100 people were killed in an air raid last week on a town in western Darfur, despite a truce, the African Union said. (AFP/File/Simon Maina)
- - -

Annan says another 3,500 AU troops for Darfur in Feb

An Allafrica report Jan 31 quotes Kofi Annan as saying, yesterday in Abuja:

"AU is pursuing a noble and bold mission in Darfur. There are already 1,000 AU troops deployed to Dafur. It is in the lead and by February will deploy another 3,500 troops. AU troops are making an important contribution and difference. The international community is making generous contributions and as far as Sudan is concerned the Union is doing well. The UN will deploy peace keeping operations to the South and once on ground will work with AU," he said.

Note: It is likely that Russia and China may once again ensure sanctions are not imposed by the UN Security Council. And it is unlikely a travel ban will be imposed by the council because Khartoum has threatened to reciprocate. Nobody mentions a no-fly zone. Why isn't anyone pressing for a no-fly zone over Darfur? Perhaps it would entail deploying troops and affect aid entering by air into the country.

[Personally, I do not see what else the council can do to punish Khartoum, except increase AU troops and improve their mandate - and maintain pressure with threats of sanctions in the knowledge the international community will withhold millions of dollars of development funding, which is what is currently happening, until there is peace in Sudan.

As expected, the eastern Sudan rebellion is making itself known through protests in Port of Sudan over the weekend. Last year, John Garang forecasted trouble from rebels in the east. The Beja Congress Party representing those in the east also want a share of the power and oil revenues. This could go on for many more months and years, step by step weakening the regime in Khartoum, until [and this is my theory] they are overthrown. Seems like a strategy which I believe the international community is behind - and one which Khartoum will resist at any cost, no matter if it means millions of lives.

Unless there is the political will (which will probably never happen unless there is a change of tactics and strategy) to provide an adequate number of people on the ground in Darfur, there appears to be nothing we can do except keep applying media pressure on Khartoum. Maybe the looming prospect of prosecutions by a global court will help to make Khartoum crack. Ismail recently announced he is stepping down. Garang will soon take over Taha's position. Bashir and Taha are key, along with the Arab tribal leaders. A news report recently quoted Jan Pronk as saying he was proposing to include Sudan's Arab tribal leaders in future peace talks. If somehow the tribal leaders could be brought onside, Bashir and Taha would not have much left to govern. Within the next six months there could be 10,000 peacekeepers in South Sudan - which, together with tens of thousands of rebels in southern Sudan - could in theory (my imagination is working overtime here) make a move to help Darfur]
- - -

Darfur peace talks due to resume in Feb

Guardian Jan 31: Sudan Govt, Rebels to Reopen Peace Talks - A Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the latest Darfur peace conference is scheduled for the third week of February, in the Nigerian capital of Abuja.
- - -

Sudan's Garang vows to back Ugandan peace process



John Garang, pictured above, has spent the past 42 years fighting in the bush and is expected to take over from Taha as First Vice President of Sudan. Recently Garang said he believes in negotiation, not violence, and would not be using any of his troops to help Darfur.

Now he says he wants to take action against the LRA:

"We will not be putting down our arms. We are going to defend our country and we don't want any foreign armed groups within our territory ... there should not be anyone with unlicensed guns," he said.

Full Story.


Photo: Soldiers of Garang's Sudan People's Liberation Army train in Rumbek. (AFP/File/Simon Maina)
- - -

UN denies genocide is taking place in Darfur

Here is an extract from Jan 31 Independent UK article re UN commission report on inquiry into genocide in Darfur:

Lord Alton of Liverpool, who visited Darfur last October, said: "The long-awaited UN commission on events in Darfur has, in effect, given the government of Sudan permission to continue killing its black African population with impunity."

A report in the Sunday Herald Jan 29 says China and Russia put pressure on key report team to reject US claim. [It is interesting to see mainstream media at long last quoting the death toll as high as 370,000 - probably taken from mortality figures provided by Sudan expert, Prof Eric Reeves who estimates a death toll of 400,000]

Note, in a report Jan 29 the Scotsman points out that in practice, bringing the perpetrators of atrocities in Sudan to court would not be possible without overthrowing the government, which would mean international military intervention.
- - -

Darfur Abandoned

Sudan expert, Prof Eric Reeves has just published another must-read analysis dated January 30, 2005: "Darfur Abandoned - Khartoum Continues Genocidal Assaults on Darfur Civilians, According the international community a well-earned contempt". It is important to note Prof Reeves points out:

Well over 1.5 million people are without any food assistance at all, and the fighting in South Darfur last week that caused more than 9,000 people to flee their homes adds to a still-growing population of displaced persons in Darfur and Chad, which now numbers approximately 2.4 million (1.65 million in accessible camp areas in Darfur; more than 200,000 refugees in Chad; an estimated figure of 500,000 displaced persons in inaccessible rural areas; an estimated 50,000 additional displaced persons since December 1, 2004).

Prof Reeves explains, "in turn, continued displacement adds to the humanitarian requirements for Darfur, even as humanitarian capacity is falling further and further behind increasingly desperate needs. Insecurity consequent upon Khartoum's unconstrained military actions is of course a major factor limiting humanitarian capacity."

[In other words, hundreds of thousands more Sudanese - maybe even millions - could die from malnutrition and disease, exceeding Rwanda's genocide of 800,000. Prof Reeves estimates 400,000 Darfurians have already perished over the past 23 months. Who knows, the worst could be yet to come. The death toll to date is much greater than the recent tsunami that affected 11 Asian countries. The UN's figure of 70,000 deaths continues to remain static over the past three months, even though 10,000 Sudanese die each month from malnutrition and disease and millions are inaccessible to aid workers. The UN refuses to update its figures and admits the 70,000 it quotes are for March 2004 onwards, not the 12 months prior]


Photo: Refugees International via ISN Switzerland
- - -

Darfur misery 'fault of Sudan'

A Scotsman report Jan 31 says the UN, AU and aid groups on the ground have warned of a resurgence of government air raids in Darfur in recent weeks in which hundreds of people have died and thousands have been displaced:

Sudan is guilty of "gross violations" of human rights in Darfur, Kofi Annan said yesterday, amid growing evidence that Khartoum has restarted its devastating campaign against black Africans in the region. Speaking at an AU summit in Nigeria, Mr Annan said

"This cannot be allowed to stand and action will have to be taken, I believe that sanctions should still be on the table."

Also at the summit, Darfur rebel groups called on the AU to send more peacekeepers to the region to disarm Janjaweed Arab militia.

Last night, Khartoum denied the bombing charges, saying they were fabricated by foreign media and organisations. The governor of North Darfur state, said in a statement published by the official Sudan News Agency:

"We personally went there [to Shangil Tobaya] ... and the people in the area were surprised as to the lies diffused by the organisations and the western media."

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan condemned an attack near Shangel-Topayi in Sudan's western Darfur region that claimed around 100 lives. (AFP/File)
- - -

Sudan asks US to lift political and economic sanctions

Meanwhile, China View article Jan 30 reports that Sudanese foreign minister Mustafa Ismail [who is stepping down within next few months] expressed his country's appreciation to the US administration over its initiative that contributed to the signing of the peace agreement in Nairobi, Kenya on January 9 and made an appeal in a congratulation message to new US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice on her new post:

"It is the time for the American Administration to fulfill its commitments to improve its relations with Sudan by normalizing all the ties as well as lifting the political and economic sanctions it imposed against Sudan," he said.

Ismail affirmed his country's commitment to solving the Darfur problem and urged the US government to put pressures on the Darfur rebel groups to take serious steps towards peace.

Ismail concluded his message by renewing Sudan's commitment to maintaining contact and dialogue with the American administration over the second four-year term of President George W. Bush in order to achieve peace and security.

[Note: Has anyone else noticed that Ismail, at certain pressure points, ie whenever Sudan faces wrongdoings in the run up to a UN Security Council meeting, he wastes no time issuing a press statement that reminds the US about its "commitments" to Sudan? In my view (for what its worth) it comes across as a veiled threat rather than a reminder. It's as though Khartoum has some sort of hold or sway over the US. One can't help wondering if Sudan still has some sort of ongoing deal with the US on exchange of information relating to the war on terrorism]


Photo: A Rwandan soldier belonging to the African Union Force patrols in El-Fasher, Sudan. The Sudanese government would support any reinforcement of the 1,700-strong African Union peacekeeping force deployed to Darfur, Sudan's ambassador to Nigeria told AFP. (AFP/File/Marco Longari)

[Note how the figures vary. Some reports say there are 1,700 AU troops in Darfur. Kofi Annan said yesterday there are 1,000. I believe Mr Annan. As far as I am aware, the only troops to arrive in Darfur this year were 46 soldiers from Nigeria]
- - -

Darfur peace talks due to resume in Feb

Guardian Jan 31: Sudan Govt, Rebels to Reopen Peace Talks - A Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the latest Darfur peace conference is scheduled for the third week of February, in the Nigerian capital of Abuja.
- - -

African heads tackle key problems

Heads of state from more than 25 African countries are meeting in Nigeria to try to resolve some of the continent's most pressing problems: see Jan 30 BBC report:

Delegates at the two-day African Union (AU) summit will tackle a host of issues, including alleviating poverty, UN reform and ending African conflicts.

UN chief Kofi Annan said he was very worried at the security situation in the western Sudanese region of Darfur. He also warned that Africa was not on target to meet development goals.

"[Africa] continues to suffer from the tragic consequences of deadly conflict and poor governance," he said.


Africa remains blighted by conflict, poverty and poor governance
- - -

US oil companies return to Libya

BBC report Jan 31 confirms Occidental is the major winner of oil and gas licences in Libya, returning to the country after two decades:

US oil companies have been awarded most of the contracts on offer at the first open licence auction in Libya. Companies like Occidental and Chevron Texaco will return to Libya for the first time in more than 20 years.

European oil and gas companies were not awarded any of the licences to explore 127,000 sq km (51,000 sq miles).


US companies have been out of Libya for two decades

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."
- - -

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.
- - -

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.
- - -

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."
- - -

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.
- - -

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
- - -

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