U.N. panel recommends sanctions against Sudan officials and rebels blocking peace in Darfur

This time might be for real. A U.N.-appointed panel accused the Sudanese government and rebels of blocking peace in Darfur, and recommended that the Security Council impose sanctions on key figures from all groups.

The panel's final report, obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, also accused all parties to the conflict of committing widespread human rights violations, including torture. It said the government, the rebel Sudan Liberation Army, and militia groups "have shown least regard for the welfare of civilians."

New to U.N. Security Council, Qatar Sides With China

Excerpt from report today on UN news in New York Sun:

"When Qatar joined the U.N. Security Council January 1, some hoped the country's diplomats would be amenable to compromise on issues separating America and the Arab world. But in one of its first acts as a council member, Qatar this week joined China and allied with the government of Sudan on the issue of Darfur."

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How often is the UN Veto used?

"There are five members of the UN Security Council: the United States, Great Britain, France, Russia, and China. The People's Republic of China took the Republic of China's seat in the UN by UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 in 1971. In 1991, the Russian Federation acquired the seat originally held by the Soviet Union, including the Soviet Union's former representation in the Security Council. How many times have these parties used the veto?" Find out at UK blog ComingAnarchy.

Also, from a recent blog entry at ComingAnarchy (sorry no direct link):

A Century of Genocide

Armenia (1915)
Ukraine (1932-1933)
Nazi Germany/Holocaust (World War II)
Bangladesh (1971)
Cambodia (1975-1979)
Countries in the former Yugoslavia (1990s)
Rwanda (1994)
Zimbabwe (2000)
[DR] Congo (Today)
Darfur (Today)
? (Tomorrow)

US sending high level team of diplomats and military officials to Ethiopia and Eritrea

Interesting initiative to UN Security Council by John Bolton, US ambassador to the United Nations.

See Ethiopia Watch: US bid to avert new Horn conflict.

Sudan says its Darfur court is 'competent' and would block ICC team from investigating

Last year, to avoid facing International Criminal Court prosecutors, the Sudanese government created its own court to try Darfur criminals, but had come under fire by rebels and rights groups who saw it as a deliberate bid to avoid international justice.

Understandably (surely he believes he and his henchmen's names are on UN/ICC list of 51 suspects) Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir vowed never to hand over any Sudanese to international jurisdiction.

News 24.com report 11 January 2006 quotes Sudan's justice minister, Mohamed Ali al-Mardhi, as saying on Tuesday that Sudan courts were competent:

"We are satisfied with the competence of our judiciary and therefore we shall not allow any foreign tribunal to do this job", he said.

Asked if the international prosecutor had sent teams into Sudan to investigate, Mardhi said: "He has not asked for that and if he has done so, we will not permit such a team to do investigation in Sudan."

Note, the report states Mardhi made the comments after presiding over a ceremony in which rival tribes signed a reconciliation accord that closed a case in which 126 people of the non-Arab Burgud tribe were killed a year ago in an attack by Arab Rizaigat and Turjum tribes on Hamadah village, in Shiairiyah district, about 30km north of Nyala.

Also, Mardhi said that after the Eid Al-Fitr feast, his ministry and the judiciary would set a date for the trial of those involved in the Hamadah attack.
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African Union investigates Hamadah attack

Excerpt from UK Parliament Hansard 27 Jan 2005

"Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Sudanese authorities on the reports of a combined attack by the Government of Sudan airforce and the Janjaweed militas upon the village of Hamada, in Southern Darfur, on 16 January. [211457]

Mr. Alexander: We have repeatedly made clear to the Government of Sudan and the rebels that they must respect the ceasefire and abide by the Abuja Protocols, including the Government's commitment to refrain from military overflights of Darfur.

The African Union is currently investigating the alleged Arab militia attack on the village of Hamadah. We await the result of its investigation."

Further reading:

Oct 1, 2005 - War crimes warnings from UN and UK on Darfur Sudan.

Oct 1, 2005 - Important African Union Statement on Security in Darfur.

South Sudan militia group unites with SPLA

Sudan Man blogs news Jan 9 of South Sudan militia group uniting with SPLA and says it is "a big story for securing the peace in Southern Sudan as the SSDF has a strong base in the oil rich Upper Nile region of the South."

Strategy Page Jan 10 says "the SSDF (South Sudan Defense Force), one of the major rebel movements in the south, had formally disbanded and many of its members have joined the SPLA (Sudan People's Liberation Army), the main rebel organization that has negotiated a peace deal with the government. The SPLA is now calling itself the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), a political, not military, organization."

Slovene president urges UN to warn world about catastrophe in Darfur

Slovene president Janez Drnovsek has sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and some other well-known personalities, calling upon them to warn the world about the catastrophe and to join Slovenia's humanitarian action.

Drnovsek calls upon the UN to use its mandate for measures in Darfur, to call a Security Council meeting and to immediately organize an operation which NATO could join with its big transport capacities.

"We are all responsible for what is happening, History will be our judge. No excuses will help us. Millions of innocent victims will accuse us. There is still time for action. Seize the opportunity," Drnovsek wrote in his letter addressed to Annan.

"Now it is the time; it will be too late tomorrow. Join our small Slovene humanitarian action and this will no longer be a drop in the sea, but the sea itself," he wrote in the letter.

Full report (TV Slovenia/ST) 9 Jan 2006.

Janjaweed women complicit in rape, says Amnesty report

What on earth is this? Women involved in systematic dehumanisation of women to inflict fear and force them to leave their communities, humiliating the men in their communities? Can this really be true? Amnesty International, in a report* dated 19 July 2004, says while African women in Darfur were being raped by the Janjaweed militiamen, Arab women stood nearby and sang for joy.

Read more in following excerpt from 20 July 2004 article* in The Guardian by Jeevan Vasagar and Ewen MacAskill published today 10 January 2006 by Assyrian International News Agency:

The songs of the Hakama, or the "Janjaweed women" as the refugees call them, encouraged the atrocities committed by the militiamen. The women singers stirred up racial hatred against black civilians during attacks on villages in Darfur and celebrated the humiliation of their enemies, the human rights group said.

"[They] appear to be the communicators during the attacks. They are reportedly not actively involved in attacks on people, but participate in acts of looting." Amnesty International collected several testimonies mentioning the presence of Hakama while women were raped by the Janjaweed. The report said:"Hakama appear to have directly harassed the women [who were] assaulted, and verbally attacked them."

During an attack on the village of Disa in June last year, Arab women accompanied the attackers and sang songs praising the government and scorning the black villagers.

According to an African chief quoted in the report, the singers said: "The blood of the blacks runs like water, we take their goods and we chase them from our area and our cattle will be in their land. The power of [Sudanese president Omer Hassan] al-Bashir belongs to the Arabs and we will kill you until the end, you blacks, we have killed your God."

The chief said that the Arab women also racially insulted women from the village: "You are gorillas, you are black, and you are badly dressed."

The Janjaweed have abducted women for use as sex slaves, in some cases breaking their limbs to prevent them escaping, as well as carrying out rapes in their home villages, the report said.

The militiamen "are happy when they rape. They sing when they rape and they tell that we are just slaves and that they can do with us how they wish", a 37-year-old victim, identified as A, is quoted as saying in the report, which was based onmore than 100 testimonies from women in the refugee camps in neighbouring Chad.

Pollyanna Truscott, Amnesty International's Darfur crisis coordinator, said the rape was part of a systematic dehumanisation of women. "It is done to inflict fear, to force them to leave their communities. It also humiliates the men in their communities."
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*Sudan Watch Editor's Note 11 January 2006: Thanks to notes I've received from Eugene Oregon of Coalition for Darfur and Eric Jon Magnuson of Passion of the Present the above item now contains links to Amnesty International's report and The Guardian article originally published July 2004. Assyrian International Agency's article is dated 10 January 2006.

Documents show Sudanese government ordered its security units to tolerate Janjaweed activities - HRW

Human Rights Watch report alleges Sudanese government documents show it was much more closely involved with the Janjaweed than it had admitted, writes Jeevan Vasagar and Ewen MacAskill in The Guardian 20 July 2004.

Note this excerpt from 10 January 2006 article at Assyrian International News Agency:

The documents, which Human Rights Watch said it had obtained from the civilian administration in Darfur and are dated February and March this year, call for "provisions and ammunition" to be delivered to known Janjaweed militia leaders, camps and "loyalist tribes".

One document orders all security units in the area to tolerate the activities of Musa Hilal, the alleged Janjaweed leader in north Darfur interviewed by the Guardian last week.

Peter Takirambudde, the executive director of Human Rights Watch's Africa division, said: "These documents show that militia activity has not just been condoned, it's been specifically supported by Sudan government officials."

The official government line is that it did not arm or support the Janjaweed, though its presence was useful in helping to combat rebels in Darfur.

Further reading

July 17, 2004 A POLICY OF FORCED EXPULSION by Eric Reeves - The Guardian found this Janjaweed leader, "dressed in a crisp white robe and prayer cap," sitting in a plush chair as he "patted his nephew's head and offered sweet pastries" (The Guardian [dateline: Khartoum] July 16, 2004). The interviewer later noted:

"In Khartoum Mr Hilal showed no fear of being arrested. There were no bodyguards and no security checks at the gates of the walled compound. When the interview concluded, he was relaxed enough to joke about the Janjaweed with the Guardian's photographer."

*Sudan Watch Editor's Note 11 January 2006: Thanks to notes I've received from Eugene Oregon of Coalition for Darfur and Eric Jon Magnuson of Passion of the Present the above item now contains links to HRW's report and The Guardian article originally published July 2004. Assyrian International Agency's article is dated 10 January 2006.

Sudan president blasts Darfur rebels

Via UPI Jan 9 - Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir called on Darfur rebels to return to negotiations, accusing them of being the enemies of peace.

In a speech to the nation on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, which marks the end of annual pilgrimage to Mecca, al-Bashir said Tuesday, "Sudan's battle is that of development and reconstruction which necessitates great vitality, content spirits and national unity."

He stressed Sudan cannot achieve development without "abandoning warring and terrorism, preventing strife, dropping arms and forgetting enmity and hatred."

He charged, however, that certain bad-intentioned parties are seeking to incite trouble and strife.

"As battle fronts calmed down in the south of the country, new fronts were enflamed by the enemies of peace and unity in another dear part of our country, notably Darfur," he said.

He accused rebel groups in Darfur of obstructing efforts to reach a peaceful settlement in the embattled region.

"There is no more option than repentance and dropping arms and returning to wisdom in order to reach solutions at the negotiating table that would suit all the groups in Darfur," al-Bashir added.

He also vowed to end injustice in all of the country and expand an atmosphere of peace and security and peaceful coexistence between the various Sudanese factions and ethnicities.

Darfur situation very grim and getting worse over last six weeks says UN mission in Sudan

Chair of 53-nation Afiran Union (AU) block, Alpha Oumar Konare, said Saturday he was "deeply saddened" by Friday's attack on AU peacekeepers in West Darfur, close to border with Chad. Extracts from IRIN at ReliefWeb 9 Jan 2006:

One AU peacekeeper killed, ten others injured

A 30-strong Senegalese force was traveling from the town of Tine to their base in Kulbus in West Darfur, when they were ambushed, the AU said in the statement.

The attack is the second ambush against Senegalese forces since November, when four Senegalese soldiers were wounded, two seriously.

AU forces are increasingly targeted by combatants in Darfur, suffering their first casualties in October when three Nigerian soldiers were killed in another ambush.

The AU said they did not know who was behind the attack against them.

UN withdraws non-essential personnel from W Darfur

On Thursday, the UN decided to withdraw all but its essential personnel from West Darfur State, due to a build-up of armed groups on either side of the border with neigbouring Chad.

"The situation is very grim," George Somerwill, chief of public information of the UN mission in Sudan (UNMIS), said. "It has been getting worse over the last six weeks or so."

AU running out of cash for Darfur mission

Last month the AU warned they were running out of cash for the mission and appealed to the international community for more support for its 7,700 peacekeepers.

The force needs US $465 million a year to operate, but so far they only received $330 million.

Chair of AU fears Darfur crisis could spill into Sudan's neighbours - Congo's President urges international community to react

After an audience with Congo's President, the Chair of African Union (AU), Alpha Oumar Konare, said today on Congo Brazzaville State Radio an "urgent" solution must be found to crisis in Darfur to prevent a spill-over effect that could destabilise the entire region involving Sudan, Chad, West and Central Africa through the DR Congo and even the Great Lakes region.

Presidents Denis Sassou Nguesso (Congo) and Idriss Deby (Chad), urged the AU to find a quick solution to the crisis.

At last week's summit of the Economic Community of Central African States in N'djamena, Chad, Nguesso, whose country has troops in the AU peacekeeping force in Darfur, denounced rebels destabilising Chad and urged the international community to react before it was too late.

Full report (AngolaPress) Brazzaville, Congo, Jan 10, 2006.

Police contingent to Darfur yet to get AU's nod

Sources close to Point newspaper intimated that 67 police and immigration officers selected for Darfur peacekeeping mission should have been airlifted some weeks back and are yet to receive green light from AU HQ in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

As Darfur peace talks break for Muslim celebration, little progess reported - Who disarms first: Janjaweed or rebels?

Darfur peace talks making little progress break for Muslim celebration.

How are they helping the one million children beyond aid net in Darfur?



Photo: Majzoub Al-Khalifa head of Sudanese government delegation, centre, sits together with other delegates at the Sudan peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria, Monday, Oct. 3 2005. (AP).

Further reading:

Oct 25, 2005 Why wait on Darfur? - UN could authorise cutting off Sudan's oil exports at Port Sudan.

Oct 24, 2005 Calling Mama Mongella - The stability of Sudan is fundamental to the whole of the African continent.

Sep 27, 2005 Who disarms first - Janjawid militia or Darfur rebels?

Sudan Year in brief 2005 - A chronology of key events.

Consensus on land rights and disarmament is essential



Photo: Photo: Members of one of the two main Darfur rebel groups Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) are seen in Abuja, Nigeria November 29, 2005. Finding a consensus on land rights and disarmament is essential to advance peace talks between Sudan's government and Darfur rebels, African mediators said, although both sides were far apart on the issues. (Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters/Sudan Watch 8 Dec 2005)



Photo: Unidentified members of the Sudan Liberation Army/Movement (SLA/M) attend Darfur peace talks in Abuja November 29, 2005.



Photo: Darfur rebel commander Salah 'Bob' (C, yellow turban) - named after the singer Bob Marley because of his distinctive dreadlocks - listens to speeches at the rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) unity conference in Haskanita, in Sudan's eastern Darfur province October 29, 2005.



Photo: Sudan Liberation Army's (SLA) Secretary-General Minni Arcua Minnawi (C) speaks during the SLA unity conference in Haskanita, in Sudan's eastern Darfur province October 29, 2005. Camouflaged soldiers from Darfur's largest rebel group marched on 29 Oct 2005. Conference ended by voting Minnawi in as SLA president.



Photo: Janjaweed Postcard from Darfur.

Never again is turning into "Oh no, not again".

Digimotion Digital Album - Powerful stuff, check it out

Received a Blogger email this morning for Sudan Watch saying "Ooranos has left a new comment on your post "Chad's president says Khartoum regime is secretly exporting Darfur crisis to Chad." The comment simply said:

Have a good time.

See the comment at Sudan Watch entry Dec 5 and click onto the messsage to view what has been done with all of the images currently showing on this front page, from title banner to sidebar and latest news items.

It's powerful. Made me want to grab a microphone and read out loud the news accompanying each image - and maybe even add some quiet background music. If anyone knows how this can be done, please let me know here in comments or via email. Thanks. I use a PowerBook G4 but apart from having a new (still not used) headphone/microphone set for connecting to Skype (not yet tried) I've no other equipment.

Unfortunately, Ooranos provides no contact details. I've tried linking this entry to the piece but it does not work.

http://file01.flashbox.co.kr/client3/sample/0601/08/MDAwMDAxNTYw/digital_album.swf

How and why was the piece put together, does anyone know? Feedback on this would be much appreciated. Thank you.

PS I've just googled for Digimotion and found this: DigiMotion.sa Freelance Broadcast Graphic Creation services: 3d animation, Logo design and Titling sequence. Contact name and address given is Mr. O'Badine at digimotionsa@hotmail.com in johannesburg South Africa. As soon as I publish this post, I'll email him a link to it, and ask if he can throw any light on the above.

Darfur rebels attack AU peacekeepers, one killed, 10 wounded

Sadly, African Union (AU) peacekeepers deployed to Darfur without a full mandate to protect and no peace to keep, came under attack Friday when returning to the camps after they finished an escort mission.

One Senegalese soldier of the AU peacekeeping mission was killed and 10 others were wounded in an ambush Friday by armed Sudanese rebels in Darfur.

This is the second ambush against the AU peacekeeping forces by armed Sudanese rebels since Nov. 29, 2005, when four Senegalese soldiers were wounded.

Surely, the time has come for AU peacekeepers in Darfur to be issued Chaper 7 mandate to protect themselves and innocent civilians from the Sudanese army and rebel groups who use the lives of millions of women and children as pawns in their monstrous killing games. So far, more than 400,000 Darfuris have perished while 3 years of anarchy still reins, leaving the boys with their toys feeling free to murder and maim without fear of arrest.

World Bank suspends loans to Chad - Sudan accused of backing Chad rebels

BBC news today confirms the World Bank has suspended all loans to Chad, saying the African country's government had breached an agreement over oil revenue controls. Bank president Paul Wolfowitz announced the move, one of the most drastic the bank can take against a member country.

"We've been trying for some time to open dialogue with the government of Chad to see if the concerns that they have expressed can be addressed, and regrettably instead of engaging in dialogue they have proceeded unilaterally," Mr Wolfowitz told the Reuters news agency.

"We haven't given up on dialogue and hope in fact that perhaps if they stop and appreciate how serious the issue is from our point of view and not only from theirs, we can find some common ground," he added.



Photo: Chadian government troops gather in the town of Adre on the eastern border with Sudan December 19, 2005. (Reuters/Sudan Tribune)

Jan 6, 2005: Sudan accused of backing Chad rebels. The UN reported Thursday a troop buildup along the border between eastern Chad and Sudan's western Darfur province, saying it was reducing its mission in the region "due to the increasing instability in the affected areas."



Photo: Chadian President Idriss Deby. Chad, Africa's newest oil producer, said last month a "state of belligerence" existed between itself and Sudan and has accused Khartoum of directing last month's attacks on Adre by Chadian rebels who have vowed to topple President Idriss Deby.

Last week several Chadian rebel groups opposed to Deby - a 53 year old former army commander who himself led a revolt from the east to seize power in 1990 - announced the formation of a political and military alliance to try to oust him.

Jan 6, 2006: Chad warns Sudan after cross-border raid. Analysts say Chad's dispute with Sudan risks exacerbating an already messy regional conflict and Chad's internal problems.

"Deby clearly hopes to attract sufficient U.N. attention to current problems in the east to head off what are in fact largely domestic troubles," Chris Melville of research group Global Insight said in a report on Thursday.

UK urges support for African Union in Darfur

Britain urged stronger world support, including greater EU funding, for the African Union mission in Darfur.

Britain's UN envoy Emyr Jones Parry told reporters that a planned Security Council meeting on Sudan next week would be an opportunity to explore how to drastically improve security arrangements and the strategic outlook in Darfur this year.

"We really have now to prepare to make sure there's a total continuity of involvement by the international community," the British envoy said.

He said the council, which is scheduled to discuss Sudan on January 13, would need to explore options including turning over the peacekeeping operation in Darfur, currently operated by the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS), to the UN. Full story (UN) via Sudan Tribune Jan 5, 2006.

Clandestine nuclear deals traced to Sudan - The Guardian

According to Guardian sources, Sudan has been named as a major conduit for sophisticated engineering equipment that could be used in nuclear weapons programmes - hundreds of millions of pounds of equipment was imported into Sudan over a three-year period before the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington in 2001 and has since disappeared.

Note, Western analysts and intelligence agencies suspect the equipment has been or is being traded by the nuclear proliferation racket headed by the Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who admitted nuclear trading two years ago and is under house arrest in Islamabad.

Full story (Guardian) by Ian Traynor and Ian Cobain in London Jan 5, 2006.

Chad's president says Khartoum regime is secretly exporting Darfur crisis to Chad

"The Khartoum regime is secretively going ahead with the recruitment of mercenaries and other elements to put into action its Machiavellian plan - the destabilization of Chad," Chadian President Deby said in opening remarks to the CEMAC mini-summit.

"These efforts at destabilization, cunningly orchestrated by Sudan, are deliberately designed to export the Darfur conflict to the subregion," he said.

"Chad has taken measures to face any aggression coming from Sudan."

Deby has accused the Khartoum regime of supporting Chadian rebels in the east, on the border with Darfur. Several new rebel groups have sprung up recently in eastern Chad, to where about 200,000 refugees from the conflict in Darfur have fled.

Deby's government declared a "state of war" with Sudan last month following an attack on a border town and has called for the African Union and international community to head off further escalation of the conflict.

Sudan has accused Chad of deploying planes and troops on its territory. - via Sudan Tribune 5 Jan 2006.

Further reading Sudan Watch 4 Jan 2006: Chad president wants Darfur put under U.N. mandate.

Chad president wants Darfur put under U.N. mandate

How interesting. Chad's President Idriss Deby urged the United Nations on Wednesday to take control of Darfur because he said Khartoum was using the conflict there to destabilise neighbouring states.

Full report (ReliefWeb/Reuters) 4 Jan 2006.

Further reading:

Jan 1 2006: Egypt, Chad discuss means to defuse tension with Sudan

Dec 31 2005: Chad angry at World Bank over oil - Chad in 'state of war' with Sudan - Chad and its links to crisis in Sudan's Darfur

Dec 31 2005: Chad steps up claims of Sudanese subversion

Egypt to deport Sudan squatters

Egypt announces plans to deport about 650 Sudanese refugees rounded up in a violent raid last week.

A spokeswoman said about 650 Sudanese, found to be "illegal immigrants" or to have "violated security conditions", would be sent home by ship on Thursday.

Earlier the UN refugee agency said it had received assurances from Egypt that refugees would not be sent home.

In pictures: Police storm Cairo camp



Photo: The protesters, who included women and children, were forced on to buses and taken away. Note the Egyptian policeman is pushing the baby back into the bus. What a horrible life. Heartbreaking. God help and bless them all.

More pictures courtesy BBC.

African leaders break silence over Mugabe's human rights abuses

President Robert Mugabe's human rights record has been condemned for the first time by African leaders, significantly increasing pressure on the Zimbabwean leader to restore the rule of law and stop evicting people from their homes.

Wow. Why could they not stretch themselves to include Sudanese leader President al-Bashir?

Full story (Guardian UK) by Andrew Meldrum in Pretoria January 4, 2006.

Nubians will be displaced from ancient seat by lake built for Merowe Dam

Far away from the war in Darfur in western Sudan, Nubian peasants in the Fourth Cataract of the Nile in northern Sudan are coming to terms with the fact that their centuries-old way of life is coming to an end soon.

'Until the Chinese actually moved into Merowe a few years ago, we all thought that all government talk about a dam was just a joke. But now we have to accept that it is becoming reality and we all have to go within the next years,' Ali Yousif Ali (47), the spokesman for the hamlet of ed Doma said.

The Merowe Dam Administration in Khartoum finally gave The Irish Times permission to visit the area over Christmas. Living conditions for the peasants on the Nile bank in the Nubian desert and the numerous islands on the Nile are still very much as they were 2000 years ago." Full story.
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Large bridged water channel



Photo: Large bridged water channel. The materials used look much better than ugly man made concrete. Maybe there are no wood eating termites in the Sudan.

Merowe Dam engineer city



Photo: Merowe Dam engineer city near the Nile's fourth cataract, where a $1.8 billion dam is to be built.

The above two photos, courtesy David Haberlah's photostream at Flickr, were taken as part of the scientific effort of the salvage archaeologist team H.U.N.E. to document the Sudanese Arab tribe of the Manasir and their cultural landscape 'Dar al-Manasir' situated at the Fourth Cararact of the River Nile.

David says the homeland of the Manasir will be submerged by the reservoir lake of the Hamdab High Dam (Merowe Multi-Purpose Hydro Project) in the very near future and all inhabitants have to be relocated by the Sudanese government.

See 4th Nile Cataract Sudan 2003 - another of David's photoset on Flickr.

Further reading

May 2, 2005 Sudan Watch: The Merowe/Hamadab Dam Project.

Can bloggers change the world?

Excerpt from The Times Online Dec 23, 2005:

In 1999 there were some 50 bloggers on the web; today there are more than 23 million. In Iran, which seen a huge surge in this area, and where reformist newspapers have been closed down and many editors imprisoned, blogs offer a huge opportunity for dissent and discussion. On the other hand, many can be inaccurate, hysterical, or just plain boring. Do you read blogs? How important are they in keeping free speech alive - and can they change the world? Read the article and send us your views using the form below. Your replies will be posted here. Also: visit the Times Online weblogs. Full story.

Sudan to close its embassy in Baghdad - official

This is interesting - via Passion of the Present:

Sudan to close its embassy in Baghdad - official

UN warns of growing catastrophe in Sudan

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned on Thursday that the security situation in Darfur continued to deteriorate.

In his latest monthly report on Darfur, he called it a "deeply disturbing trend" with "devastating effects on the civilian population".

"Civilians continue to pay an intolerably high price as a result of recurrent fighting by warring parties, the renewal of the scorched earth tactics by militia and massive military action by the government," he said in the report released on 29 December.



Photo: The destroyed village of Kamungo just east of Kabkabiya town, North Darfur State. (IRIN)

Some 3.4 million people continue to be affected by the conflict, according to the UN, of whom 1.8 million are internally displaced and 200,000 have fled to neighbouring Chad.

Note the Financial Times Jan 2, 2006 provides an excellent summary of Darfur news over past few months:

A new wave of violence in Sudan's Darfur region is a "shocking indication" of the international community's collective failure to stem "horrendous crimes" there, the United Nations has warned, amid daily reports that the killings continue unabated.

Despite regular Security Council discussions and an African Union (AU) mission, a new UN report says: "Large-scale attacks against civilians continue, women and girls are being raped by armed groups, yet more villages are being burned, and thousands more are being driven from their homes."

Its findings leave few doubts that the world's efforts to stem Sudan's catastrophe are not working, despite its leaders' assertion at last year's UN summit that all nations bore a "responsibility to protect" civilians from crimes against humanity. Full report.

Further details can be found by scrolling through Sudan Watch archives November and December 2005.

Southern Sudan govt condemns refugees massacre in Egypt

LA Times reports the death toll from Egypt's violent clearing of a Sudanese refugees camp rose to at least 27 on Jan 1 as a presidential spokesman expressed sorrow.



Photo: Egyptian riot police surround and attack Sudanese men and women during a forceful evacuation of thousands of Sudanese refugees on their third month protest outside UN offices in Cairo, Dec 29, 2005 (AFP/ST)

According to the Khartoum Monitor, a 4,000 strong force of Egypt's riot police had attacked hundreds of Sudanese families resulting in a death toll of 35 including women and children.

The report says the government of Southern Sudan is demanding explanations from both the Egyptian Government and the UNHCR as to why a peaceful demonstration should have led to such extreme measures of brutality resulting in unnecessary deaths and injuries.



Photo: Some Sudanese protesters praying as they were sprayed with water canon during a forceful evacuation of thousands of Sudanese refugees on their third month protest outside UN offices in Cairo, Dec 30, 2005 (AFP/ST)

Further reading:
Jan 1, 2006 Sudan Watch - The Slow Death of Darfurians out of Sight in Egypt.

Pope urges UN to face its responsibilities and calls for protection of rights of people in crisis in Darfur

Times of Oman January 1, 2006 prints AFP report saying Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday called on the UN to live up to its responsibilities and promote justice, solidarity and peace in the world.

The world must show "courage and faith in God and mankind to choose the path of peace," said the head of the Roman Catholic Church in his first New Year's message from the Vatican. In his appeal the pope included "everybody -- individuals, peoples, international organizations and world powers".

The United Nations in particular "must again be aware of its responsibilities to promote the values of justice, solidarity and peace, in a world more and more marked by the huge phenomenon of globalization," he said at Saint Peter's Basilica.

In the message in which the pope traditionally focuses on the world's trouble spots, Benedict called for protection of the rights of people "experiencing tragic humanitarian crises, such as those in Darfur and other regions of central Africa."

Sudanese Islamist leader Turabi attacks foreign presence

BBC's Jonah Fisher in Khartoum files a report today saying veteran Sudanese Islamist leader Turabi attacks foreign presence. Note Mr Turabi shows no compassion for the millions of Sudanese driven from their homes and forced to flee for their lives from the government's militia:

"Look at Sudan now - it has tens of militias independent of the army. And we have so many African armies here... and other armies of the United Nations," Mr Turabi said.

"We don't have an army here. We have a record of how many armies you have in one country. Would you call that independence?"

Further reading
Dec 10, 2005 Sudan Watch: Sudanese islamist Turabi, is back on the scene.

Egypt, Chad discuss means to defuse tension with Sudan

Egypt's Foreign Minister conferred Saturday with a visiting Chadian delegation on means of defusing the current tension between Chad and Sudan.

The Slow Death of Darfurians out of Sight in Egypt

Sudanese refugees and migrants, pictured below, stand defiantly as Egyptian security troops fire water cannons on them before storming the protest camp housing hundreds of Sudanese where they had lived for three months demanding resettlement outside of Egypt, in Cairo, Egypt, Friday.


(CP/AP/Ben Curtis/Yahoo)

Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy, founded by leaders of the representatives of the Massaleit Community in Exile (RMCE) asks the UN and the international community to:

"Provide immediate aid to the Sudanese refugees, many of whom are homeless and lack basic necessities such as food and protection. UNHCR should continue to protect refugees until conditions in Sudan allow their return in security and with dignity. That protection must include the usual resettlement activities. If Egypt provided protection, including protection from hunger, refugees would not think of moving to other countries. Some refugees crave resettlement in third countries as a way to enhance protection, since the options of staying in Egypt or being forced to return to Sudan provide them with no hope for their future lives."

Damanga advocates for the human rights of the people of Darfur and for the preservation of their ethnic communities. Damanga seeks guarantees of equality, freedom and democracy for the people of Sudan and elsewhere in the world.



Photo: Human Rights Watch counsel Jamera Rone listens to Western Darfur native Mohamed Yahya, Damanga's Chairman, talk about the genocide in Darfur at the University of Virginia, School of Law.

Read 'The Slow Death of Darfurians out of Sight in Egypt' authored by Leben Nelson Moro, a D.Phil. candidate at University of Oxford, UK and Gamal Abdel Rahman Adam, a PhD candidate at York University, Canada.

More photos - Sudanese refugees protest UN policies in Cairo, Egypt



Photo: Egyptian riot policemen storm the protest camp housing hundreds of Sudanese refugees where they had lived for three months demanding resettlement outside of Egypt, after firing water cannons at the site in Cairo, Egypt Friday, Dec. 30, 2005. After a night-long standoff during which the camp was surrounded by thousands of riot police, the security forces charged in wielding batons and sticks. (AP/Ben Curtis)

See post and pictures at Opinionated Voice and photoset on Flickr created by Fahamu and Pambazuka News.



Photo: Sudanese refugees and migrants stand with their makeshift tents behind rows of Egyptian security troops who fired water cannons on them. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis/Yahoo)



Photo: A Sudanese man is beaten by Egyptian riot police. Egypt is under fire over the deaths of 25 Sudanese refugees after riot police wielding sticks and water cannon forcibly removed hundreds of demonstrators camped outside UN offices in Cairo. (AFP/Cris Bouroncle)

U.N. refugee agency will repatriate 60,000 refugees to S Sudan by May?



Photo: Jean-Marie Fakhouri, the head of operations in Sudan for the U.N. High Commissioner on Refugees tells journalists in Nairobi, Kenya Monday Dec. 19, 2005, that the U.N. refugee agency will repatriate about 60,000 refugees to southern Sudan by May. He said that it could take up to five years to repatriate all 560,000 southern Sudanese refugees in seven neighboring countries Central African Republic, Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. (AP Photo/Khalil Senosi/Yahoo).

Probe into deaths of 23 Sudanese refugees at Cairo camp

January 1, 2006 Washington Post report excerpt:

"New York-based Human Rights Watch called for an independent investigation into the deaths, which took place near the Cairo offices of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. The United Nations had said the Sudanese were mostly economic migrants, not people in danger of persecution if they went home.

'President Hosni Mubarak should urgently appoint an independent commission to investigate the use of force by police against Sudanese migrants,' Human Rights Watch said.

'The high loss of life suggests the police acted with extreme brutality. . . . A police force acting responsibly would not have allowed such a tragedy to occur,' said Joe Stork, deputy director of the group's Middle East division.

Eleven Egyptian groups blamed the Interior Ministry for the events and also called for an inquiry.

The ministry 'knows no way to deal with people, whether citizens or refugees, other than by beating, crushing, extrajudicial killing, or transfer to illegal detention centres,' the groups said in a joint statement.

Presidential spokesman Soleiman Awad said Egypt had no choice but to intervene and said the UNHCR office had asked authorities three times to break up the sit-in."

Further reading Dec 30, 2005 Sudan Watch: Darfur genocide continues into 4th year - Ten Sudanese die as camp in Cairo stormed

Kidnapped Sudanese 'free' in Iraq

Five kidnapped members of staff from Sudan's embassy in Iraq have been set 'free' in Iraq. A web statement attributed to al-Qaeda in Iraq had demanded that Sudan cut diplomatic ties with Baghdad.

Chad steps up claims of Sudanese subversion

Further to next post here below, AFP Dec 30 reports that "Sudan is arming, financing and equipping Chadian rebels on its territory to destabilise Chad," Chad's Deputy FM Lucienne Dillah told parliament in Ndjamena, which then voted to back President Idriss Deby's efforts to defend the country.

Chad angry at World Bank over oil - Chad in 'state of war' with Sudan - Chad and its links to crisis in Sudan's Darfur

Some days my imagination works overtime wondering about the possibility of security forces diplomatically (read covertly) intervening in Darfur via Chad using international community clout, Chadian personnel and Sudanese refugees. This is one of those days. It's a recurrent thought whenever Chad and other countries neighbouring Sudan hit the headlines.

A curious story has been developing over the past few months re a World Bank loan to Chad of more than $39m (23m pounds) to build a pipeline with an estimated total cost of almost $4bn. The loan was on condition that Chad's churches, trade unions and non-governmental organisations monitored how oil revenues were spent. This was meant to guarantee that oil money was used to help reduce poverty in Chad.

Today, the BBC reports on Chad's angry reaction to warnings from the World Bank, after its parliament voted to relax controls on the use of its oil revenues. The Chadian government has accused the World Bank of acting like a coloniser.

The new laws introduced by Chad's parliament would give its country more control over the money.

Note, Chad's oil pipeline is barely two years old.

Further reading:
Dec 24, 2005 Sudan Watch: Chad in 'state of war' with Sudan
Dec 21, 2005 Sudan Watch: Chad and its links to crisis in Sudan's Darfur

Arab and African leaders to Darfur: we don't care

"The Sudan story is chilling as it shows the real nature of Islam", writes one commentator at Harry's Place (UK) re Gene's Dec 30 Darfur post entitled Arab and African leaders to Darfur: we don't care - excerpt:

"If the West's shamefully half-hearted response to the continuing genocide, and China's and Russia's obstruction of UN sanctions against Sudan, haven't outraged you yet, now comes the news that the Arab League and the African Union will hold upcoming summit meetings in the Sudanese capital Khartoum."

So far, Gene's post has attracted 95 comments, the most I've ever seen on a blog entry on Darfur. Here are some examples:

Stuart:

"African governments never criticize each other. To expect them to intervene successfully is foolhardy. Even the lauded rulers of states such as Uganda and Ethiopia are now jailing oppostion members and attempting to futher cement their rule. In the forty years since colonial withdrawal Africa's 48 sub-saharan states have produced one substantive statesman in Nelson Mandela. Is it too much to hope for just one more in 2006."

Daffersd:

"People refuse to speak the truth because no one wishes to be seen as anti-Islamic, especially not at the UN."

In 1948 the UN declared the UDHR, now we have an Islamic UDHR which is a complete contradiction of the UDHR. Now we have the UN promoting religions and their value systems over and above the UDHR.

Are we happy to see the value system of Islam, promoted above the UDHR?

We have the obscene sight of the EU and the UN attacking the Danish PM for refusing to intervene in a dispute over cartoons, he declared that it was not correct for a PM in a free country to intervene over what the press prints, if they broke any laws sue them. It is evident that they prefer to put pressure on in an undemocratic way rather then face the issue in court over a point of law.

At this point I think that the most important defence of our freedom, the ability to speak up about something in safety from fear of death or persecution is being eroded.

Islam is a religion (not to me, it's a death cult), but it also has a system of law and government which I can only describe as undemocratic and allows the strong and powerful to rule the weak and poor. I hope that more people see this, especially the liberty loving and equality driven people on the left.

Dafur shows the moral corruption to the world of Islam, but most people chose to ignore it."

Tom:

"So wtf are you saying? Because atrocities have happened in every century on every continent and didn't involve Muslims, then the genocide and other atrocities carried out in Dafur should not be viewed in a religious ie 'Muslim' context. An interesting notion ! rather like an ostrich's view of danger...me thinks."

Ami:

"You mentioned Zimbabwe, Alec. What does the world's inaction there have in common with Darfur? (Of course there are multiple factors, so leave aside for now other common or country specific factors)

Answer: China, the winner so far in the new scramble for Africa Both cases, China has blocked any Security Council resolutions.

In Darfur's case, it really is all about oil.Zimbabwe,semiprecious metals an economic power.
http://www-hjs.pet.cam.ac.uk/sections/africa/document.2005-05-09.6105323022

No doubt it suits other powers to have China doing the blocking, but there are those in the U.S and elsewhere who genuinely would intervene if there was Security Council authority."

Note, this Sudan Watch post opened with an extract from a comment by Daffersd. Here is the whole comment:

"That Sudan story is chilling as it shows the real nature of Islam, but no one seems to listen, it can't happen here in the West can it? We will find out I guess..."

World's worst dictator hopes to be voted chair of African Union - African leaders to meet in Libya Jan 4 on Darfur

Chad rebel groups opposed to President Idriss Deby said on Friday they had formed a military alliance to try to overthrow him, increasing pressure on the Chadian leader who accuses Sudan of backing the insurgents.

Leaders from eight African countries Nigeria, Sudan, Eritrea, Egypt, Chad, Central African Republic, Libya and Gabon, will meet in Libya Jan. 4 for a special African Union mini-summit on Darfur crisis and growing tensions between Sudan and Chad, officials said Friday.

Note, the mini summit comes three weeks before the African Union holds its annual summit involving all 53 members in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

Sudan's President Omar el-Bashir hopes to become the next chairman of the African Union during the summit. That will only be decided after a vote by members of the bloc.

Surely, the AU's 53-member states won't vote for the world's worst dictator to preside over them as chairman? Surely, ordinary African and Arab folk will be outraged? If not, why - can anyone please explain?
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Sudan's President Omar Bashir named as world's worst living dictator

Pictured below is the Republican Palace in Khartoum, where Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir lives.



Photo: His Excellency General Omar al- Bashir, President of the Republic of Sudan [click photo for details]

Last year, President al-Bashir ranked a mere seventh among the 10 worst dictators but this year's list- published ten months ago when Darfur death toll was reported at 70,000 - has him as the worst of the worst.

This week, Darfur genocide enters its 4th year with the death toll estimated at 400,000 and rising.



Despite UN resolutions and the international community imploring President al-Bashir to rein in his Janjaweed militia, he and his regime denies backing the Janjaweed. In October 2004, BBC correspondent Koert Lindijer filed a news report entitled "Reining in the militia" in which he said he saw the President five months earlier addressing a meeting of his supporters in Nyala, south Darfur, and saluting the assembled Janjaweed fighters: "Long live the Mujahideen."

Sudan buys presidential yacht for AU summit

Sudanese refugees won't be thrilled to know the presidential yacht from Czechoslovakia arrived yesterday in Khartoum. The yacht is to be used to ferry delegates to the outrageous AU summit in Khartoum next month. Full report (ST) 30 Dec 2005.

African and Arab politics never cease to amaze - along with ordinary African and Arab folk who keep quiet about NIF and Darfur but waste no time in slating the West when it promotes global awareness campaigns like Live Aid, Live 8 and Make Poverty History.
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Czech yacht arrives in Sudan for AU summit

Copy of report by BBC Monitoring, Al Ayyam, 28 Dec, Khartoum:

The presidential yacht from Czechoslovakia arrived yesterday in Khartoum among tightened security. The yacht is to be used to ferry delegates to the AU summit in Khartoum next January from the presidential villas to Friendship Hall, the summit venue. The yacht, which has two decks and measures 9.5 m by 36 m, completed an arduous journey from Port Sudan to Khartoum and took about 20 days to arrive in Giad town yesterday. The yacht, which was bought in accordance with Sudanese naval specifications, has been named Al-Qasr [palace] and will be put on the Nile at the Baburat area in Bahri [Khartoum North]. Al-Qasr is the first large yacht to arrive in Sudan for presidential services.

http://www.unmis.org/english/documents/mmr/MMR2006/MMR-jan02.pdf.

Darfur genocide continues into 4th year - Ten Sudanese die as camp in Cairo stormed

Eric Reeves explains genocide continues in Darfur into its fourth year because there is no real international pressure on the architects of the genocide, the National Islamic Front security cabal in Khartoum, to bring the killing to a halt and none of its African and Arab neighbors really cares what NIF does in Darfur.

Despite a consistent and forceful Security Council response to the crisis in Darfur, reports from there confirm a marked deterioration since September, including an increase in ethnic clashes, destabilizing elements crossing in from Chad and continuing banditry, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a report released yesterday Dec 29.

Note, the U.N. refugee agency in Cairo has broken off talks with thousands of Sudanese protesters camped outside its building because they are making impossible demands, a U.N. official said on Thursday.

The UN says the 3,000 Sudanese protestors living in Cairo are economic migrants rather than those fleeing persecution, and so do not qualify as refugees. The protestors had been demanding that the UN refugee agency place them in a country with better conditions.

UNHCR says it has to prioritise help for people genuinely at risk of persecution and cannot solve issues of discrimination and deprivation in Egypt, where unemployment is high. Full report (BBC) 30 Dec 2005.

UPDATE 31 Dec 2005 CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian police end protest - Egyptian riot police on Friday stormed a protest camp in Cairo set up by thousands of Sudanese refugees, sparking clashes that left 23 Sudanese dead, officials and witnesses said.

EU provides EUR 165M for humanitarian crises in Africa

The European Union Monday earmarked EUR165 million ($195 million) for 10 crisis centers in Africa, saying droughts, floods and armed conflict ravage the continent like "silent tsunamis."

Sudan is the biggest beneficiary and will receive EUR48 million, while Congo has been allocated EUR38 million. Burundi, Chad, Liberia, Tanzania and Uganda will each receive over EUR10 million in aid. Full report (AP) Dec 26, 2005.

Sudanese official nominated as Arab League envoy in Iraq

You have to wonder what the UN Secretary-General and International Criminal Court Prosecuters think of this. SUNA news reports 25 Dec 2005 Sudan's President has accepted a request by the secretary-general of the Arab League, nominating the "presidential adviser" Mustafa Osman Ismail as a temporary representative of the Arab League in Iraq until the completion of the Iraqi reconciliation.
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ICC has list of 51 names of suspected Darfur war criminals

The International Criminal Court has a sealed list of 51 names of suspected war criminals, among them, it is believed, senior Sudanese officials, writes Eric Reeves. Extracts:

"Certainly on the list is First Vice President Ali Osman Taha, presently the most powerful member of the NIF.

Interior Minister Abd al-Rahim Muhammad Hussein is also surely on the list, as he is, among other things, the primary architect of forced removals of internally displaced persons from camps of refuge in Darfur.

So, too, is the director of security and intelligence within the NIF regime, Maj. Gen. Salih Gosh."

European Union Statement on Darfur peace talks in Abuja

Statement by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the Darfur peace talks in Abuja. - Dec 21, 2005 (Brussels) via Sudan Tribune.

China scooping up deals in Africa as US firms hesitate

Report in today's Boston Globe says China scooping up deals in Africa as US firms hesitate.

Surely we could do a lot more to help Darfuris if Western companies were operating in Sudan. Powerful multinationals, oil and defence firms might have leverage with the UN Security Council. We could have contacted firms like British Petroleum Oil to ask for security forces to protect shareholders interests and locals in Darfur. As things stand, all I can do here in the UK is contact British politicians, sign petitions and use this blog to keep asking what happened to the five-point plan Tony Blair delivered in person to Khartoum October 6, 2004.

We ought to welcome Western firms doing business in African countries where unscrupulous Asian firms are taking natural resources from oil rich countries like the Sudan without giving much back in return.

See Sudan Watch October 25, 2005: UN could authorise cutting off Sudan's oil exports at Port Sudan.
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So what can you do?

Take action against genocide.

[via 1 Raindrop Darfur 3 with thanks]

Blog for Human Rights

Visit Human Rights Watch and see how to become a blogger for Human Rights. Get involved. Spread the Word.

Email Christmas card to Tony Blair

Send eCard to British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Click the link and hover your mouse over cards and you might see one I sent today from Sudan Watch Blog saying:

Please let us know what happened to the five-point plan you kindly delivered to Khartoum October 6, 2004. Thanks.

Chad in 'state of war' with Sudan - World Bank mulls withdrawal from Chad oil pipeline

BBC news report today Chad in 'state of war' with Sudan reveals statement issued by Chad's government on Friday afternoon is the most aggressive yet.

It claims that not only was Sudan behind the attack on Adre, but it also accuses Sudanese militia of making daily incursions into Chad, stealing cattle, killing innocent people and burning villages on the Chadian border.

'Chad is today in a state of war with Sudan,' the statement says.

It asks Chadians to form a patriotic front against what it calls 'the common enemy of the nation'.

See Sudan Watch Dec 21, 2005: Chad and its links to crisis in Sudan's Darfur

World Bank mulls withdrawal from Chad oil pipeline

Excerpt from Reuters Oct 28, 2005:

The World Bank may withdraw from a high-profile oil pipeline investment in Chad and halt lending to the government if it changes a law to access a larger share of oil profits, officials said on Thursday.

The officials, which called it "the nuclear option," said such drastic steps are possible if Chad changes the World Bank-backed oil revenue management law.

The move would be a major setback for the bank's biggest investment in Africa -- one it considered a test case for its strategy for oil investments as a way to benefit poverty-stricken nations.

In exchange for funding the $3.7 billion pipeline, the World Bank told Chad to pass a law ensuring that 10 percent from oil proceeds go into an overseas bank accounts and be spent only on poverty programs.

Christmas eCard from UNICEF and the 59th Norwegian Christmas tree in London's Trafalger Square

Yesterday, I received this eCard from UNICEF with news saying more than 1 million children beyond aid net in Darfur:



Christmas Greetings to Sudan Watch readers from England, UK

The 59th Norwegian Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square was lit on 29 Nov, 2005.

The first tree was brought over in 1947 as a token of Norwegian appreciation of British friendship during the Second World War. When Norway was invaded by German forces in 1940, King Haakon VII escaped to Britain and a Norwegian exile government was set up in London.

To most Norwegians, London came to represent the spirit of freedom during those difficult years. From London, the latest war news was broadcast in Norwegian, along with a message and information network which became vital to the resistance movement and which gave the people in Norway inspiration and hope of liberation.

The tree has become a symbol of the close and warm relationship between the people of Britain and Norway. Norwegians are happy and proud that this token of their friendship - probably the most famous Christmas tree in the world - seems to have become so much a part of Christmas for Londoners.



The tree itself, pictured above, a Norwegian spruce (Picea abies), is chosen with great care. Selected from the forests surrounding Oslo, it is normally earmarked for its pride of place in London's Trafalgar Square several months, even years, in advance. The Norwegian foresters who look after it describe it fondly as 'the queen of the forest'. This year, however, the tree will be chosen by a young viewer of the BBC's children's programme Blue Peter.

The tree is cut down one day in November during a ceremony in which the Lord Mayor of Westminster, the British ambassador to Norway and the Mayor of Oslo take active part. Most years, the first snow will have just fallen to brighten the otherwise dark forest. Local and international schoolchildren sing Christmas carols and the city authorities serve 'forest coffee' and sandwiches.

All I Want for Christmas is for women to nurture and run Africa ... to Remember the Poor ... and Human Rights for All

Last December, the senior pastor of Ginghamsburg church in America, Mike Slaughter, challenged his parishioners to spend only one-half of what they would normally spend on Christmas gifts and bring the rest in for a Sudan Project.

That challenge resulted in a $317,000 offering, which Ginghamsburg is using to fund a sustainable agricultural program in Darfur.

Since January 2005, CHF International has distributed over 25,000 egg-laying chickens in Darfur, benefiting c. 8,000 IDP families (44,000 individuals), which have produced over 1.5 million eggs.
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Sudan Christmas Cards

This December, Ginghamsburg has Sudan Christmas Cards:



Front: All I Want For Christmas
Inside: ...is for you to remember the poor - Jesus
Back: features information on how the recipient can be involved in The Sudan Project.
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Darfuris have little to look forward to in New Year

UN says Darfur sliding into anarchy and deteriorating further in last week.

The International Criminal Court has 51 Darfur war criminals on its list while ICC Prosecutor uncovers evidence of campaign of atrocities in Darfur.

Sudan gets away with barring investigations and telling the world HRW's report is ridiculous.

The regime in Khartoum have nothing to fear. Sanctions will never be imposed. Murder, rape and other crimes against humanity will go unpunished. Darfur war criminals will never be arrested. Khartoum is too useful to West in its war against terrorism. The world's tepid reaction to genocide in Darfur says (to me anyway) uneducated black nomads are not equally as important as educated rich black or white folk.

In the last two decades, the Sudanese government proved themselves capable of destroying two million Sudanese lives.

Current Darfur death toll stands at 400,000 and rising.

Rwanda's genocide cost 800,000 lives.

Darfur is Rwanda in slow motion.
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Christmas in Sudan

There are about 1.5 million Christians in Sudan. Christmas in Sudan is a time of joy, prayer, and getting together with friends and family.

In South Sudan, Christmas starts on December 23rd, and lasts until January 15th. For Christmas, people always wear their best clothes. If they can afford it, they get new clothes and bedsheets, and goats and bulls are slaughtered.



Photo: Nimule, Southern Sudan: Church Under A Tree. Many people in South Sudan do not have a church building, so they have church under a tree.

Following material courtesy Kids of the Nile:
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The Nuba Mountains

The Nuba Mountain area is in Southern Kordofan, in the center of Sudan.

The Nuba people are the grandchildren of the people of the Kush kingdom of the 8th century. They are a mixture of dozens of different tribes with different cultures and languages.

The Nuba hills rise sharply from the plains, sometimes in long ranges. They rise some 500-1000 metres from the surrounding plains. The mountains are rocky, with hill slopes and valleys. The Nuba are mostly farmers, cultivating fields in the hills, at the foot of the hills, and in the plains.



Nuba photo: The most famous dance which the Nuba have, is the 'Kambala Dance'.

The Kambala is a spiritual dance, and it has much to do with bringing up Nuba men to be brave, and courageous like a bull. That's why they wear the buffalo horns when they dance.

When the day for Kambala to start is announced all the young men who have reached 12-14 years of age have to join in and dance with the adults.
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Omdurman and Khartoum

Omdurman is a beautiful city that lies on the White Nile, opposite to Khartoum the capital of Sudan, Africa's largest country.

Khartoum means "elephant trunk" in Arabic. It is a "tri-town" city, made of three towns: Khartoum, Omdurman, and Bahri.

Omdurman is a place of many important events in the history of Sudan and its independence.



Photo: Sailor on the White Nile in Omdurman, in the area of "Abu Rofe", where many people go to fish.

Khartoum is where the Blue and White Niles both meet to make the mighty Nile River, the longest river in the world. You can actually see the two different "colours" mix together where the two rivers meet.

When the city was first established, Khartoum was the political city, where the government buildings were.

Omdurman was the residential city where most people lived and had their homes, and Bahri was the industrial city, where you would find factories, mills, and train stations.

You can go up and down the Blue Nile on a sailboat, ferry, or cross over to Tutti Island. Trees are heavy with plump, ripe mango, guava, and lemon trees.
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Port Sudan

Port Sudan is the main port in the northeast of Sudan, where ships come in from all over the world through the Red Sea to reach the people of Sudan.

Port Sudan is famous for its rich sea life, fun things like fishing in the Red Sea swimming, deap-sea diving, water-skiing. On a boat ride, legend has it that, if you look hard enough, you can see the lights of Jeddah, all the way across the Sea in Saudi Arabia. Beautiful underwater features like coral reefs, starfish, swordfish, and more.



Photo of Red Sea: Port Sudan is nicknamed, "The Bride of the Sea" because of its beautiful nature, and beaches. The weather is really humid because of the Sea.
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Sudan's President Omar Bashir named as world's worst living dictator

Khartoum Weather this Christmas week is sunny with highs of around 95 and lows around 70.



Photo: This is the Republican Palace in Khartoum, where the President Omar al-Bashir lives. Last year, President Bashir ranked a mere seventh among the 10 worst dictators but this year's list, published ten months ago when Darfur death toll was reported at 70,000, has him as the worst of the worst.

Despite UN resolutions and the international community imploring President Bashir to rein in his Janjaweed militia, he and his regime denies backing the Janjaweed. In October 2004, BBC correspondent Koert Lindijer filed a news report entitled "Reining in the militia" in which he said he saw President Bashir five months earlier addressing a meeting of his supporters in Nyala, south Darfur, and saluting the assembled Janjaweed fighters: "Long live the Mujahideen."
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Two million Sudanese perished in S Sudan



Photo: "Gubbat al Mahdi" in Omdurman is where Al Mahdi, the man who fought for Sudan's independence, was buried. You have to wonder what he'd think of Darfur today. Up until January 9th of this year, when a peace agreement was signed for South Sudan, two million Sudanese had perished in a 22-year long internal war.
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400,000 Sudanese die in Darfur, western Sudan

On December 8, some activists rallied at the US State Department in Washington DC challenging US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to take immediate action to stop the genocide in Darfur.



Photo: Protesters participate in a 'Die in for Darfur: Turn Up the Heat on Rice' while demonstrating in front of the US State Department in Washington, DC, 8 Dec 2005. (AFP/File/Jim Watson)

Recently, Dr Rice launched a behind-the-scenes lobbying effort this week to persuade Congress to appropriate $50 million in funding for an African Union effort to halt genocidal killings in Darfur.

But on Dec 18 Congressional aides said that Rice's attempt may have been a case of too little, too late. They said lawmakers have no plan on Darfur troop funding adding extra funding for Darfur to a federal budget that is stretched thin by Hurricane Katrina reconstruction, the Iraq war, and planning for avian flu.



Photo: Dr Condoleezza Rice
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Christmas, a new ray of hope

Excerpt from the spiritual journey by Celestino Paul published by Sudan Mirror December, 2003:

"In Sudan today how difficult it is to be a brother and sister to one another, how difficult it is to say to the one who has killed your parents and children, robbed you of all your possessions and rendered you homeless. To one before whom you are nothing but a slave. Yet it is what we must say this Christmas, the day on which God himself reaffirms the equal dignity of every human being, respect and love to everyone.

Our quest for peace can be sensible if it is based on the principle of brotherhood. The argument for peace cannot be the unity of the country alone. It cannot be the improvement of the economy alone. The victorious cry for peace is: Every Sudanese is my brother and sister. The cry for war is the denial of God who created the brotherhood and himself became part of it. May this Christmas be a turning point in our history, adding a new chapter to our presence in Sudan, where we will no longer identify ourselves as Keresh (Gbaya), Ndogo, Zande, Bari, Balanda, Nuer, Dinka, Lathuho; but simply as children of God. There will be news of great joy for Sudan. May this Christmas help us to walk together in peace. May the new year be a year of life. Remember God is with us in all endeavours for peace."
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Africa, Democracy and Human Rights For All

Dr D is an Associate Professor of Government at Franklin & Marshall College and specialises in human rights and African politics.

Dr D's Human rights 4 all-Africa blog has interesting comments at a post discussing Africa's ability to handle democracy or not.

My view is democracy might work if all the crazy men that Africans allow to rule their countries were deposed and replaced with strong African women. Read Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf's story in recent New York Times and see how Africa's first female president is ready to repay a favour.



Photo: Dr Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
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Spotlight on Darfur - Christmas Edition

Congratulations to Catez of Allthings2all in New Zealand and fellow bloggers for the Christmas Edition of Spotlight on Darfur. This post is dedicated to them and all bloggers keeping the spotlight on Darfur day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year:

Jim, Joanne and Eric at Passion of the Present
Eric Reeves
Eugene's Coalition for Darfur
Genocide Intervention Network
Bill's Jewels in the Jungle
Eddie somewhere at sea with US navy
UN Dispatch
Global Voices
Sudan Man
The Sudan Project
Loaded Mouth.

Here's wishing peace for the tribes of Sudan [click on each photo], the 200,000 refugees trapped in Chad, those in Cairo, Egypt who are protesting but not getting anywhere) - and not forgetting the Baby Mogo's of Sudan.

Who does not wish peace within a united Sudan? The stability of Sudan is fundamental to the whole of the African continent.

God bless them and all donors, peacemakers and foreign troops and aid workers who risk their lives to provide protection, food, shelter, medicine and comfort to millions of Sudanese in need.



Further reading:

The Darfur Collection
Spotlight on Darfur 1
Spotlight On Darfur 2
Spotlight on Darfur 3

UN Security Council to hold accountable those blocking peace in Darfur?

The U.N. Security Council has demanded that the warring parties in Darfur honor a ceasefire agreement and reaffirmed its determination to hold accountable anyone impeding the peace process and breaking the arms embargo.

The council on Wednesday welcomed the start of a new round of peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria, and called on the government and rebels "to fulfill their commitments to conclude a just and full peace accord without further delay." The African Union-sponsored talks ended Dec. 7 and are not expected to resume until next year.

In a statement read at a formal meeting, the council demanded "that all parties refrain from violence and put an end to atrocities on the ground, especially those committed against civilians, including women and children, humanitarian workers, and international peacekeepers."

Full report (PA/Scotsman) 22 Dec 2005.



Note, Cox & Forkum's cartoon and report on Annan Threat date back to November 19, 2004 - more than one year ago.

December 17, 2005 Eric Reeves rightly says "Khartoum Triumphant: The international community has failed to prevent, and gives no promise of punishing the ultimate crime."

Ugandan LRA terrorists pose significant threat to Sudan

The UN's humanitarian chief, Jan Egeland, has warned that the aid operation in Darfur is at risk because of threats to aid workers. Killings, rapes and forced displacement were continuing and the situation was deteriorating, he told the UN Security Council in a report.

Mr Egeland also warned of the "significant threat" posed by the LRA rebels in Uganda. [As noted previously here at Sudan Watch, the U.S. sees LRA as a terrorist organisation]

On Dec 21, Kuwait News Agency reported that UNICEF say the security situation in Darfur imperils over one million children and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan late on Tuesday strongly condemned the vicious attack Monday on Abu Sarouj village in West Darfur.

Chad and its links to crisis in Sudan's Darfur

Launching a report to highlight the plight of Darfur's 3 million children after nearly three years of fighting, UNICEF appealed for a political solution and far more outside aid. "Darfur is complicated enough without the Chadians getting involved," UNICEF told reporters.

See Chad Chronology and its links to crisis in Darfur. 200,000 Darfur refugees are enterting their third year trapped in UN camps in Chad.

On Dec 29, the U.S. warned that Chadian rebel groups could launch new attacks against their government's forces across the Sudanese border after a clash on Sunday that the African country said killed hundreds.

On Dec 18, Chad accused Sudan after clashes:

A Chadian minister said Sudan was "wholly responsible" for an attack allegedly launched from Sudan on the eastern town of Adre. Apparently, the raid was repulsed by the Chadian army.

Several new rebel groups have begun operating in eastern Chad recently, led by mutinous military officers who say President Idriss Deby must step down. The raid on Adre is the second attack in the area in just three days, the BBC's Stephanie Hancock in Chad reports.

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UPDATE 22 Dec 2005: Chadian rebels say poised for fresh attack. Chad urges UN to stem spread of Darfur conflict.



Photo: Chadian government troops guard rebel prisoners following an attack by Chadian rebels and army deserters on the town of Adre on the eastern border with Sudan, December 19, 2005. (Reuters)

Several hundred militia attack Abu Sarouj in Darfur - UN

Militias riding on camels and horses attacked Abu Sarouj village in the West Darfur state of Sudan on Monday.

UN statement Dec 20 says twenty people are reported to have been brutally murdered, including several women and children, in the attack involving several hundred armed militia who also burned dozens of huts and looted livestock. Excerpt:

The Secretary-General urges the Government of Sudan to take immediate measures to prevent further attacks, protect its civilian population, and to pursue those responsible. The perpetrators of this and other attacks against civilians must be brought to justice.

The Secretary-General further condemns all the violent clashes, instances of banditry and inter-tribal fighting that have continued in Darfur in recent days. He calls on the parties to the conflict in the strongest terms to respect their agreements and the provisions of international humanitarian law, and to accelerate their efforts to reach an early, negotiated settlement in Abuja.

Note, two of the victims were burnt alive when their homes were torched. Those wounded included five policemen.

On Tuesday, hundreds of people affected by the raid on Abu Sarouj brought the bodies of the victims to the provincial hospital in West Darfur's capital, El-Geneina, where the crowd ran riot and stoned a policeman to death.



Photo: Sudanese police secures Abu Shouk camp. Governor of Western Darfur Jaafar Abdulhakam said Dec 20 that the militia attack mentioned above targeted Abu-Saruj police stations in Kulbus locality in Western Darfur State. Policemen returned fire and several civilians were killed because of the attack, he added. (ST)

Darfur betrayed: African Union summit to be presided and hosted next month by Khartoum's genocidaires

Without public objection from any African leader, the next African Union summit is scheduled to be held in Khartoum, January 23-24, 2006.

The countries of the AU have evidently concluded that a regime guilty of massive, ongoing genocidal destruction can serve as an appropriate host for the business of Africa.

The ominous prospect of an AU summit hosted by Khartoum's genocidaires calls into question whether the African Union has fully surmounted the political challenges of replacing the corrupt and self-serving Organization of African Unity (OAU).

Read more by Eric Reeves - if your stomach and brain can take it:

Darfur Betrayed: The African Union Summit in Khartoum (January 2006); A symbol of political, military, and moral failure. - Dec 11, 2005

Ghosts of Rwanda: The Failure of the African Union in Darfur; An international abandonment of the "Responsibility to Protect" (Part 1 of 2) - Nov 13, 2005.

Ghosts of Rwanda: The Failure of the African Union in Darfur An international abandonment of the "Responsibility to Protect" (Part 2 of 2) - Nov 21, 2005.

Sudanese islamist Turabi, is back on the scene

A turbaned Hassan Turabi sinks back into a large, plush sitting-room sofa, his stockinged feet barely touching the floor.

It's hard to comprehend that this aging former law professor with a chipmunk grin is the same man condemned by Western leaders as a terrorism-loving extremist and jailed repeatedly by Sudanese dictators he once helped empower.



"I'm an old man," the white-bearded Turabi, fresh out of his latest stint in prison, says with unconvincing modesty.

But behind the glinting teeth and rectangular spectacles is one of Africa's most influential Islamists, a man who has arguably had more impact on Sudan than anyone else.

Nicknamed "The Fox" at home and "The Pope of Terrorism" abroad, Turabi is climbing his way back onto Sudan's political stage, forging an opposition alliance, preparing candidates for the next election and criticizing the recently formed unity government as a failure.

Full report by Edmund Sanders, LA Times 10 Dec 2005.

China sells fighter jets to Sudanese army

China has become the top supplier of fighter-bombers to Khartoum regime, a report published in Washington revealed.



Photo: Shenyang fighter

'The Russians and Chinese from their permanent seats on the Security Council have constantly opposed moves by other members to impose sanctions or an arms embargo on Sudan.

China has sold fighter jets and helicopters to Sudan since the 1990s, while Russia sent 12 MiG jet fighters to Sudan in July 2004.

Sudan's air force recently bought $100 million worth of Shenyang fighter planes, including a dozen supersonic F-7 jets, and also purchased 34 other fighter-bombers from Beijing.

Vice-Chairman of China's Central Military Commission Xu Caihou, said that China is ready to increase military exchanges and cooperation with the Sudan. Mohamed Ismail, deputy chief of general staff of the Sudanese armed forces was in a visit to China at the end of November.' (UPI/MENL/ST) 8 Dec 2005.