African military monitors now on Sudan-Chad-CAR border

On Feb 8, 2006 the leaders of Sudan and Chad signed a peace agreement to end increasing tension over Darfur, pledging to normalize diplomatic relations and deny refuge to each other's rebel groups. The agreement is known as the Tripoli Declaration.

On March 21, 2006 the African Union Peace and Security Council endorsed plans to deploy military observers on the Chad-Sudan border as per the Tripoli Declaration. Next day, the African Union sent observers on the Chad-Sudan border.



Photo: Leaders of Chad and Sudan on the evening of Wednesday 8 Feb 2006 signed a peace agreement in Tripoli, Libya under which they promised to immediately expel armed groups hostile to their respective governments. - PANA

Today, Apr 10, 2006, an unsourced article at Sudan Tribune says the deployment of military monitors through the Sudan Chad border started April 9, 2006 when African observers departed from Tripoli, Libya, to monitor the common border from Chadian, Sudanese and Central African sides. Excerpt:

Chad-Sudan border monitoring team which is made up of members from Libya, Burkina Faso, Congo and Sudan left Tripoli International Airport this morning for the city of Al-Fashir in Sudan's Darfur to carry out its mission of monitoring the Sudanese side of the border with Chad at points set along the Sudanese side of the border.

Another team of observers from the Libya and the CAR left Tripoli International Airport for the city of Birao in CAR to start its mission of monitoring the Sudan-Chad-Central African Republic border.

A third team of observers from the Libya, Burkina Faso, and Congo is also scheduled to leave tomorrow for the city of Abeche in Chad where Chadian monitors will join them. The team of monitors from these four countries will be in charge of monitoring the Chadian side of the border with Sudan along set monitoring points.

Note, the article explains dispatch of these teams comes in implementation of the decision of the ministerial committee set up under the Tripoli Declaration issued by the African mini summit which was held on 8 February 2006 in Libya to contain the tension between Sudan and Chad. The ministerial committee set up teams to monitor the Sudan-Chad border and identified arrangements to implement the mechanism agreed by the directors of external security services of Libya, Congo, Burkina Faso, Sudan, Chad and the Central African Republic in their Tripoli meeting held on 28 February 2006. Under the Tripoli agreement signed on 8 February, the leaders of Sudan and Chad agreed to normalize diplomatic relations and to immediately commit themselves to work to prevent the presence of rebel groups on each other territory.



Photo: Click on map image to see Chad-Sudan-CAR border



Photo: Map of Libya

Feb 18 2005 Tony Blair hails Gaddafi's efforts for Darfur

Feb 21 2006 Libya's Gaddhafi and Senegal's Wade discuss African solution to Darfur crisis - United States of Africa?

Feb 23 2006 Libya offers African Union 100,000 troops, 1,000 tanks, 100 aircraft to close Chad-Sudan border

Feb 24 2006 Libya's Gaddhafi and Sudan's al-Bashir discuss Darfur crisis - see list of further reports

Feb 26 2006 Chad-Sudan border peacekeeping force - AU chair and Libyan leader Col Gaddafi follow up on Tripoli mini-summit

Feb 28 2006 Libya's Kadhafi urges Africans to fund AU troops in Darfur

Feb 28 2006 Egypt, Libya leaders reject UN Darfur force

Mar 6 2006 Libya sets up surveillance groups on Chad-Sudan borders

Mar 8 2006 Libya receives Sudanese Vice-President Ali Taha

Mar 9 2006 US hopes Libya could expand its mediation efforts for peaceful solution to Darfur conflict

Mar 8 2006 Sudan, Egypt, Libya to hold new Darfur talks

Mar 8 2006 Libya, US discuss relations and Darfur problem

Mar 10 2006 AU proposes 9 month Darfur mission - Sudan ready to reinforce it with 10,000 troops - half SPLA - within 3 wks

Mar 15 2006 Libya to host summit on Darfur - Sudan, Egypt leaders to attend

Mar 15 2006 Gaddafi will urge Sudanese President al-Bashir to hold direct talks with Darfur rebel leaders

Mar 24 2006 Sudan will be president of Arab League summit in Khartoum

Mar 24 2006 Gaddafi lashes out at 'backward society' in Middle East

Mar 25 2006 Sudan says UN takeover of AMIS would encourage intransigence from the armed groups - Sudan wants South Sudan CPA as a model for Darfur

Mar 25 2006 Sudan believes Arab summit supports Khartoum stance on Darfur

Mar 26 2006 Gaddafi arrives in Khartoum for Arab summit Mar 28-29

Mar 27 2006 Libya, Sudan leaders meet to discuss Darfur and Chad

Darfur war criminals chat and luxuriate in hotels while millions depend on UN aid

Still no breakthrough in Darfur peace talks today. Deadline is April 30.

Obasanjo and Sassou, the past and current AU chairmen, held all-night talks with the warring parties in a secluded guest house in Nigerian presidential complex and Sassou reconvened with them for a plenary on Sunday afternoon but failed to break the impasse.



Photo: Nigerian President Obasanjo (R) hosted the talks. Current AU chairman, Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso (Reuters)



Photo: Mohamed Tugod, JEM chief negotiator

After two years of negotiations between the Sudanese government and two rebel groups (who's paying for the rebels' expenses, fancy suits and hotels?) there is this gem to report:

"I can't say that there are any tangible results," Ahmed Tugod, chief negotiator for the JEM rebel group, said after today's talks.

"We are back to the stage of consultations between the parties and the mediation at the hotel."

Meanwhile, in Darfur, where the uprising over the past three years has killed 400,000 people and forced 2 million to flee their homes, most parts are inaccessible for aid workers due to violence, anarchy and lack of security.

Sudan is the size of Europe or one quarter of the United States. North Darfur is 1,000 miles away from Khartoum. 7,500 African Union peacekeepers monitoring a non-existent peace agreement are hamstrung without a protection force mandate and helicopters. 14,000 aid workers in Darfur, a region the size of France, are hindered from their work by the Sudanese government, and risk their lives to reach the millions of displaced Sudanese people who rely on food aid and emergency relief.

The Genocide Convention required States to prevent genocide - Mendez

Note the following excerpt from Sudan Watch entry today entitled Juan Mendez, UN Special Adviser on Prevention of Genocide, tells press "definitely ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur" - particularly where it says "In legal terms, it was not only genocide that required the international community to act. The International Commission of Inquiry had stated that war crimes and crimes against humanity also required the international community to act. In addition, the Genocide Convention required States to prevent genocide."

Asked if what was happening in Darfur was genocide, Mr Mendez replied that there had been a separate body entrusted with making that decision. His job was not to qualify situations that he paid attention to as whether or not they could be defined as genocide, but rather prevention. The International Commission of Inquiry determined that there was, at the very least, enough evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and that the element of intent, of whether it was genocide or not, should be left to a court of law -- the International Criminal Court.

He did not believe that just calling the situation genocide would help, he said, adding that there was definitely ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur. All of that should prompt the international community to act. In legal terms, it was not only genocide that required the international community to act. The International Commission of Inquiry had stated that war crimes and crimes against humanity also required the international community to act. In addition, the Genocide Convention required States to prevent genocide.

Juan Mendez, UN Special Adviser on Prevention of Genocide, tells press "definitely ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur"

The twelfth anniversary of the beginning of the Rwandan genocide should serve as the occasion for the international community to renew its commitment to ensure that it did not let genocide happen ever again, Juan Mendez told correspondents today, April 9, 2006 at a Headquarters press conference.

(PressZoom) - "As we remember the almost 1 million victims, we also have to remember that the international community failed to protect those victims, and that we were unable or unwilling to do what needs to be done to prevent persecution and murder on the basis of ethnicity or race", stated Mr Mendez, who serves as the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide.

For that reason, he continued, it was important to use the date -- 7 April -- to renew the commitment not to let it happen again. In that sense, the creation of his office had to be seen as "an act of self-criticism on the part of the United Nations for having been unable to prevent the genocide in Rwanda". In resolution 1366 (2001), the Security Council had acknowledged that failure and asked the Secretary-General to refer to it situations that risked deteriorating into genocide unless urgent action was taken.

His job, based on the 1948 Genocide Convention, was to follow situations around the world where populations were at risk due to their ethnicity, race, religion or national origin and, if left unattended, might deteriorate into something like genocide. He said he and his staff followed such situations and tried to come up with suggestions for early action that might alter the course of events.

Noting that the obligation to prevent and punish genocide was a fundamental norm in international relations, he said he was pleased that world leaders at last year's World Summit had adopted the norm of the responsibility to protect vulnerable populations, not only from genocide but from ethnic cleansing and massive violations of human rights. "My office was given an important boost with that declaration."

On the other hand, it was important to translate those commitments into action, he said. For that reason, he and his staff had embarked not only on making the new office -- established in July 2004 - work, but also to examine how it worked and what could be done to strengthen it and make it more effective.

As was seen in Darfur, populations continued to suffer attacks due to their ethnic origin, he stated. He had visited Darfur twice since his appointment, and had made a number of recommendations to the Secretary-General, and through him to the Security Council. Those recommendations involved four areas which had to be addressed simultaneously: physical protection of vulnerable populations, if necessary through armed contingents; humanitarian assistance; accountability, since the cycle of impunity must be broken before victims could expect to find conditions of security that would allow them to return home; and support for the peace process.

"In all four of those areas in Darfur, the international community has taken measures. At the same time, in each one of those four, the measures have been insufficient yet to let us have the sense that we are going in the right direction", he said. The matter of protection, in particular, had become a serious matter today because the situation continued to deteriorate. It was much worse now than it was six months ago, when he visited Darfur, and certainly much worse that it was a year ago.

Describing the situation, he cited renewed fighting between the rebel forces, the militias and the Government of Sudan. Also, the fighting was directed at the civilian population, not against armed contingents. Therefore, there had been several new attacks against the civilian population, resulting in new displacements and hundreds of thousands cut off from international assistance.

At the same time, he noted, the latest news about the peace process indicated that there might be a draft agreement on security conditions that might offer a glimmer of hope that a real, verifiable ceasefire could be reached. In the next few months, while considering a transition from the African Union force to a larger and more internationalized force, it was important to bear in mind that the situation would be complicated due to the vacuum that might be created. Whatever decision was adopted, the most important thing was that the international community must fund and equip that presence in troop strengths larger than was the case now, so they could protect everyone everywhere.

It was also vital, he added, to clarify the mandate under which those troops operated. Debates about troop strength on the ground and about mandate were "very eerily reminiscent" of what happened in Rwanda, and the international community was still debating today.

Asked if what was happening in Darfur was genocide, Mr Mendez replied that there had been a separate body entrusted with making that decision. His job was not to qualify situations that he paid attention to as whether or not they could be defined as genocide, but rather prevention. The International Commission of Inquiry determined that there was, at the very least, enough evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and that the element of intent, of whether it was genocide or not, should be left to a court of law -- the International Criminal Court.

He did not believe that just calling the situation genocide would help, he said, adding that there was definitely ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur. All of that should prompt the international community to act. In legal terms, it was not only genocide that required the international community to act. The International Commission of Inquiry had stated that war crimes and crimes against humanity also required the international community to act. In addition, the Genocide Convention required States to prevent genocide.

On whether he was disappointed that the Europeans and the North Americans were "nowhere to be seen" when it came to providing troops to prevent possible genocide in Darfur, he replied that he was certainly disappointed since the situation continued to deteriorate. Among other things, he was disappointed that the African Union was left to organize a protective mission with less means than they needed from the start. The Union was short $200 million from the beginning, and trapped in a situation where the consent of the Government of Sudan was an important limitation on what it could do.

In effect, he said, for the last two years, the international community had engaged in half measures, which had not been sufficient to protect and which were showing signs of unravelling. All countries bound by the Genocide Convention were not living up to their obligation to prevent the violations from happening. In response to another question, he replied "I think there's still a reluctance to intervene that comes... that's not all that changed from 1994."

As for whether countries were more determined to prevent such atrocities, he said that he had received numerous expressions of support and commitment to establish a clear procedure for early warning and early action and to prevent genocide from happening. However, expressions of support were one thing and being ready to act on recommendations were another. He added that some of his proposals for Darfur and elsewhere had had some immediate effect, including the presence of an international police presence in Darfur, and the abatement of hate speech in Cote d'Ivoire.

In response to further questions, he said that calling a situation genocide would in effect be a confession of failure on his part, because by definition he had not been able to prevent it. The discussion of whether something constituted genocide or not had been "sterile and paralysing", and operated on the wrong assumption that a situation first needed to be qualified before action was taken. He strongly disagreed with that notion, believing that it was necessary to act before a situation became genocide.

Part of the problem in Sudan, he said, was that the Government was "playing games" with the consent that it originally gave to the African Union Mission by, for example, refusing from time to time to give them jet fuel and in effect grounding their helicopters and planes, as well as refusing for months to let them import the armoured personnel carriers that had been donated to the Mission. "It is high time that the African Union, the Security Council and all of us tell the Government of Sudan that consent is indispensable but that consent has to be given in good faith."

Asked about the situations in Ingushetia and Chechnya, he said that he was trying to get more information on those situations and was keeping an eye on them because of the "undeniable ethnic character of what might happen there". He had not yet made any open call for early action because he was trying to monitor the situation, and did not see a "value added" in doing so at the current stage.

Further reading

Apr 7 2006 UN assembly president calls Darfur violence "ethnic cleansing" - ICC Summary

Apr 7 2006 EU parliament says Darfur is "tantamount to genocide"

Apr 7 2006 UN's Mendez on Darfur: "Left unattended, the situation may degenerate into genocide"

Apr 8 2006 UN Action Plan to Prevent Genocide - Juan E Mendez of Argentina, Special Adviser on Prevention of Genocide

Apr 8 2006 What is the difference between genocide and ethnic cleansing?

Apr 9 2006 The Genocide Convention required States to prevent genocide - Mendez

Apr 10 2006 Mendez: Action is particularly needed in Darfur, where the threat of genocide continues to loom large

Chad says Sudan-backed rebels attack southern base

Chad's government said insurgents backed by Sudan had attacked an army base in its southeastern border region on Sunday with the aim of derailing presidential elections.

The Chadian army sent reinforcements to the garrison in the town of Haraze Mangueigne, close to the borders with Sudan and Central African Republic, to try to overcome the attackers, Communication Minister Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor said. Full report Reuters 9 Apr 2006.

No breakthrough in Darfur talks but efforts still on

Reuters says all-night negotiations involving the warring parties from Darfur and two African heads of state failed to produce a breakthrough in deadlocked peace talks but further meetings were planned later on today.

"So far there's nothing new. We heard from the AU chairman the same proposals we'd heard before from the AU mediation team. It was very disappointing," said Ahmed Tugod, chief negotiator of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel movement.

"There's still a big gap. ... We have about nine core issues outstanding and decisions need to be taken on these issues at the political level," said Tugod of the JEM.

Note, the report points out the peace talks between the government and the rebels, in their seventh round, have been going on for almost TWO YEARS on the three key issues of power-sharing, wealth-sharing and security.

Turabi says women's testimony is equal to that of a man

Sandmonkey blog says Dr Hassan Al Turabi, the islamic leader of Sudan, has just issued a Fatwa (arabic link):

He stated that the muslim woman has the right to marry a jewish or christian man if she wants to, and that it's not haram at all, and that the rule that says that muslim women can not marry non-muslim men is a bunch of lies [-] "aimed to keep women behind/down".

Not only that, he stated that a woman's testimony is equal to that of a man (Islam considers women to be lying wicked creatures, and therefore1 man's testimony = 2 women's testimony), and that the Hijab (head cover) is wrongly interperted, and that it's supposed to mean a cover, as in women should cover their breasts and the s*xy parts of their body and not to bind her up completely.

He did this all in an islamic conference nonetheless.

Note, one commentator at the post rightly says "I hope this gets some play in the western media. It is such a good sign that progress IS possible and we should support all those courageous enough to openly call for it."

Sudanese government says Darfur rebels attack school convoy at Donki Shata, nr Wana Mountains, N Darfur

An unsourced article at Sudan Tribune April 9 says Sudanese authorities accused Darfur rebel forces of attacking a convoy of school buses transporting students, who did their exams in Al-Fashir town, the headquarters of Northern Darfur State yesterday. Excerpt:

The students were on their way to Kutum town, and were being escorted by security officers from the armed forces and the police. The rebel movement attacked the administrative convoy using 30 Land Cruiser vehicles and four big vehicles, the state-run SUNA said.

Osman Mohamed Youcif Kibir, the governor of Northern Darfur State, has said that the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) Minawi faction forces attacked the convoy at Donki Shata area, near Wana Mountains, adding that some members of the armed forces and the police were killed and some others were wounded in the attack. However, he said, the government forces have caused heavy human and material losses among the rebel forces during the attack.

On the other side in a press release issued today the SLM accused the government troops of carrying out attacks against its forces in the region. It also said that SLM forces attacked a convoy of the Sudanese army near Kutum on 7 April.

The governor further added that this heinous attack was aimed at derailing the Abuja peace talks which are in progress.

Sudanese FM declines to comment on EU Parliament draft resolution

On April 7, 2006 Associated Press reported EU lawmakers voted unanimously to urge the 25 EU governments, the US and other countries to enforce sanctions against those who obstruct the deployment of a UN force in Darfur.

Today, ANDnetwork cites Sudan Vision as its source for the following report:

The Sudanese Foreign Minister yesterday declined to comment on the European parliament draft resolution calling for imposing sanctions on any party that rejects the deployment of Un forces in Darfur.

The draft resolution has also demanded the Sudanese government to expedite issue of entry visas to Sudan.

When asked about the response of the government to that resolution, Foreign Minister Dr Lam Akol threw the question back to journalists by saying "did they say that?"

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Jamal Mohamed Ibrahim said he was not informed about the said resolution and therefore he was not in a position to comment on it.

UN and Saudis may do more together in Darfur and Sudan

Top UN aid chief Jan Egeland said after talks with Saudi officials in Riyadh that conditions in Darfur were "getting increasingly difficult," with non-governmental organizations "either (being) thrown out or (facing) severe obstacles to their work." AFP report 7 Apr 2006 - excerpt:

Egeland said he had discussed with Saudi officials "the need for more resources" and "the possibility to do more together in Darfur and Sudan at large." Egeland said he had sought a Saudi contribution to a UN Central Emergency Response Fund launched last month, to which 40 nations have already given 260 million dollars for immediate use in cases of disasters.

Egeland met with Riyadh Governor Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz, foreign ministry undersecretary for political affairs Prince Turki bin Mohammad bin Saud al-Kabeer, and Saudi Red Crescent officials.

He is due to hold talks with officials in the United Arab Emirates Sunday and to give a keynote speech at a humanitarian conference opening in Dubai Monday.

Photo: UN emergency relief cordinator Jan Egeland makes an appeal in Nairobi on 07 April. Egeland said the Sudanese government had invited him to visit Darfur a few days after barring him from the war-torn region, but he had not yet decided if and when he would go. (AFP/File/Simon Maina/Yahoo)

Sudanese Government hindering care to refugees

On the Sudanese Government, James Lawrence of the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders, is quoted as saying:

"It is hindering the provision of primary health care to refugees."

Riek Rackar of the South Sudan Human Development, a humanitarian group assisting in refugee resettlement, said Khartoum's attempt to bar the UN's aid chief Jan Egeland raised doubts about its commitment to engage the international community in ending the Darfur crisis and taking care of affected civilians.

Full report CNS 7 Apr 2006.
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Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) calls on the Sudanese authorities and the UN to create the necessary humanitarian space for aid organisations to continue life saving operations

NRC report Mar 10, 2006 excerpt:

UNHCR's announced cut in activities in Darfur is another clear testimony that the international community, together with the Sudanese authorities, lack the ability to create the necessary humanitarian space for humanitarian actors to assist the Sudanese civilian population.

According to UNHCR, the security situation is so volatile that aid workers cannot get to those in need. Humanitarian convoys are being targeted, the agency said in its statement released in Geneva, and access to large areas of west Darfur is severely limited.

UNHCR blamed lack of security and confidence in the Sudanese Government as the main obstacles for internally displaced persons and refugees to return to their villages.

UN Action Plan to Prevent Genocide - Juan E Mendez of Argentina, Special Adviser on Prevention of Genocide

"In the 20th century, genocides and state mass murder have killed more people than have all wars" - Institute for the Study of Genocide.

Prevent Genocide International notes that:

On April 7, 2004 in a speech in Geneva commemorating the 10th anniversary of the 1994 Genocide In Rwanda, UN Secretary General Kofi Annn announced his future appointment of a Special Advisor on Genocide Prevention and launched an Action Plan to Prevent Genocide. The Five Point Action Plan includes:

1) preventing armed conflict which usually provides the context for genocide,
2) protection of civilians in armed conflict including a mandate for UN peacekeepers to protect civilians,
3) ending impunity through judicial action in both national and international courts,
4) information gathering and early warning through a UN Special Advisor for Genocide Prevention making recommendations to the UN Security Council on actions to prevent or halt genocide, and
5) swift and decisive action along a continuum of steps, including military action.

Immediately prior to his speech Annan and members of the UN Commission on Human Rights who he addresses observed two minutes of silence to commemorate the lives of the more than 800,000 people killed in Rwanda between April 7 and July 17, 1994.

On July 12, 2004 Mr Annan informed the United Nations Security Council that he had chosen Juan Mendez, a human rights advocate, lawyer and former political prisoner from Argentina, as his first Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide.



Photo: Juan E Mendez, the UN's first Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide (Sudan Tribune)
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What is genocide?

PGI provides answers to questions on genocide.

ISG & IAGS Social Scientists' Definitions of Genocide.

What is ethnic cleansing?

See What is the difference between genocide and ethnic cleansing?

What is the difference between genocide and ethnic cleansing?

Someone has just asked me what is the difference between genocide and ethnic cleansing. Good question. I found it difficult to articulate a short answer. The following excerpt from Encyclopaedia Britannica says some critics see little difference between genocide and ethnic cleansing:

Ethnic cleansing is the attempt to create ethnically homogeneous geographic areas through the deportation or forcible displacement of persons belonging to particular ethnic groups. Ethnic cleansing sometimes involves the removal of all physical vestiges of the targeted group through the destruction of monuments, cemeteries, and houses of worship.

The term ethnic cleansing, a literal translation of the Serbo-Croatian phrase etnicko ciscenje, was widely employed in the 1990s (though the term first appeared earlier) to describe the brutal treatment of various civilian groups in the conflicts that erupted upon the disintegration of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. These groups included Bosniacs (Bosnian Muslims) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbs in the Krajina region of Croatia, and ethnic Albanians and later Serbs in the Serbian province of Kosovo. The term also has been attached to the treatment by Indonesian militants of the people of East Timor, many of whom were killed or forced to abandon their homes after citizens there voted in favour of independence in 1999, and to the plight of Chechens who fled Grozny and other areas of Chechnya following Russian military operations against Chechen separatists during the 1990s.

According to a report issued by the United Nations (UN) secretary-general, the frequent occurrence of ethnic cleansing in the 1990s was attributable to the nature of contemporary armed conflicts, in which civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure are not simply by-products of war, but the consequence of the deliberate targeting of non-combatants... [I]n many conflicts, belligerents target civilians in order to expel or eradicate segments of the population, or for the purpose of hastening military surrender.

Ethnic cleansing as a concept has generated considerable controversy. Some critics see little difference between it and genocide. Defenders, however, argue that ethnic cleansing and genocide can be distinguished by the intent of the perpetrator: whereas the primary goal of genocide is the destruction of an ethnic, racial, or religious group, the main purpose of ethnic cleansing is the establishment of ethnically homogeneous lands, which may be achieved by any of a number of methods including genocide.

Another major controversy concerns the question of whether or not ethnic cleansing originated in the 20th century. Some scholars have pointed to the forced resettlement of millions of people by the Assyrians in the 9th and 7th centuries BC as perhaps the first cases of ethnic cleansing. Among other examples cited are the mass execution of Danes by the English in 1002, attempts by the Czechs to rid their territories of Germans in the Middle Ages, the expulsion of Jews from Spain in the 15th century, and the forced displacement of Native Americans by white settlers in North America in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Others argue that ethnic cleansing, unlike earlier acts of forced resettlement, is the result of certain uniquely 20th-century developments, such as the rise of powerful nation-states fueled by nationalist and pseudoscientific racist ideologies in conjunction with the spread of advanced technology and communications. Examples of ethnic cleansing understood in this sense include the Armenian massacres by the Turks in 1915-16, the Nazi Holocaust of European Jews in the 1930s and '40s, the expulsion of Germans from Polish and Czechoslovak territory after World War II, the Soviet Union's deportation of certain ethnic minorities from the Caucasus and Crimea during the 1940s, and the forced migrations and mass killings in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda in the 1990s. In many of these campaigns, women were targeted for particularly brutal treatment - including systematic rape and enslavement - in part because they were viewed by perpetrators as the "carriers," biologically and culturally, of the next generation of their nations. Because many men in victimized populations left their families and communities to join resistance groups once violence began, women and children were often defenseless.

The precise legal definition of ethnic cleansing has been the subject of intense scrutiny within various international bodies, including the UN, the two ad hoc international tribunals created in the 1990s to prosecute violations of international humanitarian law in the former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda (the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia [ICTY] and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda [ICTR], respectively), and the International Criminal Court (ICC), which began sittings in 2002.

In 1992, in reference to the hostilities in Yugoslavia, the UN General Assembly declared ethnic cleansing to be "a form of genocide," and in the following year the Security Council, citing widespread and flagrant violations of international humanitarian law within the territory of the former Yugoslavia, established a tribunal to investigate allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including ethnic cleansing. In its examination of the capture of the town of Kozarac by Bosnian Serbs, the ICTY described the ethnic cleansing that took place there as the process of rounding up and driving "out of the area on foot the entire non-Serb population." In a subsequent case, the tribunal recognized similarities between acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing, noting that both involve the targeting of individuals because of their membership in an ethnic group. The significant difference between the two remains, however: whereas ethnic cleansing aims to force the flight of a particular group, genocide targets the group for physical destruction.

The establishment of the ICC reinforced the links between ethnic cleansing and other offenses such as genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. In its finalized text on the elements of the crimes in the court's jurisdiction, the Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court made clear that ethnic cleansing could constitute all three offenses within the ICC's jurisdiction. Genocide, for example, was defined as an act that may include the systematic expulsion of individuals from their homes; the threat of force or coercion to effect the transfer of a targeted group of persons was recognized as an element of crimes against humanity; and the "unlawful deportation and transfer," as well as the displacement, of civilians were recognized as elements of war crimes.

Despite continuing controversies over its definition, the concept of ethnic cleansing has become firmly anchored within international law. It remains to be seen how mechanisms to prevent and deal with ethnic cleansing will develop and be implemented.

UNHCR: Insecurity forces 44% cut in Darfur budget

Citing deteriorating security that has severely limited its operations and access in Darfur, the UN refugee agency 9 Mar 2006 announced a 44% reduction in its 2006 programme budget for the region.



Photo: Displaced women on their way to collect firewood in the Douma area of Darfur. Soldiers from the African Union and the government escort them twice a week to collect wood, guarding against rape by janjaweed attackers. (UNHCR/H.Caux)

Darfur - European Parliament urges UN Security Council to draft clear mandate under Chapter VII of UN Charter, on or before 1 Oct 2006

European Parliament says Darfur is "tantamount to genocide" AP reported earlier today. More on this from Noticias Info 7 Apr 2006 - excerpt:

In a resolution on Darfur, adopted by 76 votes in favour, none against and no abstentions, Parliament deplores the continuation of violence and rape by all sides, and condemns the Government of Sudan's continued support for the Janjaweed militia. It urges the United Nations Security Council to meet to address the violence in Darfur, which is tantamount to genocide, and to act on its responsibility to protect civilians by drafting a clear mandate under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, on or before 1 October 2006 (following the expiry of the mandate of the African Union mission in Darfur on 30 September 2006). It calls on the UN Security Council to extend the arms embargo in Darfur throughout Sudan and support the African Union's efforts in Darfur to reach full operational capacity and to robustly interpret its mandate to protect civilians until the transition to a UN mission.

MEPs underline that the mandate of the AMIS force has primarily been to observe violations of the humanitarian ceasefire agreement. They criticise the international community for not having acted to protect civilians sooner and call upon EU Member States to honour the commitments they have already made to provide military observers, staff officers and civilian police to increase security in Darfur and to ensure that the current AMIS mission is adequately funded and equipped to enable it to interpret its limited mandate as broadly as possible.

Parliament welcomes the decisions taken by the UN Security Council in March on a ban on offensive flights in Darfur. It calls for an effectively enforced no-fly zone across Darfur. It further calls on the EU, the US and other international actors to take all necessary action to help end impunity by enforcing the Security Council sanctions regime and seeking for this regime to include targeted sanctions against individuals who obstruct the deployment of the UN force and otherwise contribute to abuses of civilians.

MEPs call for the international community to support the International Criminal Court's investigation into violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in Darfur. They join the UNHCR in calling for an end to forced conscription of Sudanese refugees in Chad and also call for the implementation of a Chad-Sudan border monitoring force, as foreseen in the accord signed by the Presidents of the two countries on 10 February 2006. They strongly criticise the Government of Sudan for preventing Jan Egeland, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, from visiting Darfur.

Parliament asks the African Union to continue to play a leading role in the Abuja peace talks, and for all those involved in the talks to work to achieve these ends. It calls on the Government of Sudan to work alongside the NGO community for the benefit of its people and urges the Government to revise the Organisation of Voluntary and Humanitarian Work Act 2006 to bring it into line with international human rights standards. MEPs insist that Sudan's Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) facilitate the issuing of visas and travel permits to humanitarian workers and stop the harassment of international NGOs; they criticise the lack of independence of the HAC from the Government of Sudan;

Parliament calls on the Government of Sudan to release Ms Amouna Mohamed Ahmed, Ms Fayza Ismail Abaker, Ms Houda Ismail Abdel Rahman and Ms Zahra Adam Abdela while their case is investigated and considers that these girls should be given appropriate care as victims of attempted rape.

Finally, MEPs criticise Russian and Chinese efforts to block UN Security Council actions over Darfur. They urge the international community to exert more pressure on these countries in order to prevent their economic interests in oil and arms sales from undermining efforts to bring peace to Darfur.

[Note, Austrian Presidency of the EU 1 January - 30 June 2006. See A Guide to the European Parliament]

UN's Mendez on Darfur: "Left unattended, the situation may degenerate into genocide"

The situation in Darfur "may degenerate into genocide" as African peacekeepers struggle to protect the civilian population, the UN official charged with preventing genocide said Friday - DPA report 7 Apr 2006 - excerpt:

Juan Mendez said the African Union force in Darfur has been hampered by a lack of funding and support for its troops and "half measures" by the Sudanese government in support of its mission.

The failure to protect civilians in a conflict zone could lead to genocide, Mendez warned. But he refused to characterize the current killing in Darfur as genocide, stressing that he has no legal authority on the issue. Instead his role is the prevention of genocide.

The UN on Friday marked the 12th anniversary of the massacre of 800,000 Rwandans by holding a debate on ways to prevent genocide. The worsening situation in Sudan was a focus of the debate.

AU FORCES HAMSTRUNG BY KHARTOUM

Mendez, who bears the title of UN special envoy on prevention of genocide, accused Khartoum of "bad faith" in its dealings with African peacekeepers.

Khartoum has only allowed the AU to import limited amounts of fuel, ammunition and armoured carriers for its troops and blocked imports of jet fuel, which forced the AU to ground critical flights to monitor the vast region of Darfur, he said.

KHARTOUM PLAYED GAMES

"The Sudanese have played games with the consent that they originally gave to the AU," Mendez said. "In my mind, it's a bad faith attitude toward the consent the Sudanese government has given.

"It is high time that the AU, the UN Security Council and all of us tell the government of Sudan that consent is indispensable and should be given in good faith," he added. "The situation has become urgent."

Due to the lack of funds and war equipment, the AU has decided to withdraw its 7,000 troops from Darfur by year's end. The UN Security Council is discussing the formation of a UN peacekeeping operation to replace the AU despite opposition by Khartoum, which prefers the African force.

GENOCIDE WARNING

Mendez said Khartoum's expulsion of a Norwegian relief group from Darfur this week would make the civilian population more vulnerable to attacks. He said Khartoum has "more than once" expelled international humanitarian groups from Darfur.

"Left unattended, the situation may degenerate into genocide," he said.

[hat tip Coalition for Darfur]

UN assembly president calls Darfur violence "ethnic cleansing"

UN General Assembly President Jan Eliasson said Thursday that "ethnic cleansing" has taken place in Darfur, but stopped short of describing the violence as genocide - AP report 7 Apr 2006 - excerpt:

The UN has said crimes against humanity have likely been committed in Darfur, but not genocide as the United States and several other nations claim.

"Of course this is ethnic cleansing," Eliasson told Swedish public radio. "Genocide, I don't know if you can use that definition. But that matters less for the individual people who are affected."

"Darfur is a political and humanitarian tragedy and an infected wound in world politics," said Eliasson, who also is Sweden's incoming foreign minister.

- - -

The International Criminal Court (ICC) - Summary

Note, many quarters, including the British Government and UN special envoy Jan Pronk, refer to what is happening in Darfur as "ethnic cleansing". Perhaps the following excerpt from International Justice Tribune on Darfur, Sudan may help explain why anyone within the UN cannot take it upon themselves to refer to Darfur as genocide:

The Security Council referred the Darfur situation to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on 31 March 2005 in Resolution 1593 (2005), after almost two months of negotiations over how to prosecute the crimes occurring in Darfur.

The Resolution was voted in by 11-0 with four members abstaining: the United States, Algeria, Brazil and China. The International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, chaired by the Italian judge Antonio Cassese, concluded in its report published on 31 January 2005 that crimes against humanity and war crimes such as killings, rape, pillaging and forced displacement have been committed since 1 July 2002 by the government-backed forces and the Janjaweed militia.

It declared, however, that the government of Sudan was not pursuing a policy of genocide in Darfur.

UN envoy to travel to East Africa to discuss Darfur peace

A senior UN official is to travel to east Africa early next week to discuss prospects for a UN takeover of the African Union peacekeeping mission Darfur, AFP reported April 7, 2006.

Jean-Marie Guehenno, the UN under-secretary general in charge of peacekeeping operations, told AFP Thursday that the official would first stop in Addis Ababa for talks with AU officials before holding contacts with Sudanese authorities and other regional leaders. A diplomatic source said Guehenno's deputy, Hedi Annabi, would make the trip.

"The priority at this time is to clear misunderstandings which Sudanese authorities and others may have had about the role of a UN force in Darfur," Guehenno said.

"As all UN peacekeeping forces, the mission will be deployed with the consent of the host country," he added.

The UN has indicated it could send peacekeepers by the end of the year or at the beginning of 2007 to take over from AU troops.

US passes legislation that expands sanctions against Sudan

Congress is now on vacation for Easter. The House passed legislation that would expand sanctions against Sudan, AP reported 7 Apr 2006.

Job: Danish Refugee Council seeks Programme Manager, Sudan

The Danish Refugee Council invites applications for the position of Programme Manager in Darfur, Sudan. Further information please visit the link provided or contact Emergency Coordinator, Anette Christoffersen, email: anette.christoffersen@drc.dk. Application deadline has been extended until April 23 2006. Please forward your application in English to: suzanne.frost@drc.dk

German parliament extends Sudan mandate for another six months

German legislators voted in favor of extending Germany's participation in the UN's Sudan Mandate (UNMIS) for another six months, DPA/Irna reported Friday.

A number of 78 German military monitors and soldiers are taking part in the UN mission of whom there are presently only 28 observers in Sudan.

Post-World War II German troops had never been deployed in the African Continent before the Sudan peace mission.

EU parliament says Darfur is "tantamount to genocide"

The European Parliament called Thursday for a meeting of the UN Security Council to address violence in Darfur and said Darfur was "tantamount to genocide," AP reported 7 Apr 2006:

EU lawmakers voted unanimously to urge the 25 EU governments, the US and other countries to enforce sanctions against those who obstruct the deployment of a UN force in Darfur.

In a resolution, EU deputies called on Sudan to facilitate the issuing of visas and travel permits to humanitarian workers and stop the harassment of aid agencies.

TEXT- AU Security Council on progress of Darfur peace talks

Click here to read the African Union Peace and Security Council Briefing 6 April 2006 on the progress of the Darfur peace talks.

World Health Day

Today is World Health Day. The brain drain siphons away nearly one quarter of the few African doctors available in the poorest parts of the continent, according to a World Health Organisation report.



Photo: An internally displaced Sudanese woman receives with her child medical attention at a Spanish Red Cross health center in Beleil camp, near the town of Nyala in Sudan's southern Darfur region, in 2004. (AFP/Jose Cendon/Yahoo)

New UN Press Release web site

UN Pulse announces a new Press Release web site has been launched April 6.

UAE, Sudan ink MoU to fight against terrorism

The UAE and Sudan on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the fight against terrorism and organised crimes.

Lieutenant General Shaikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Interior and his Sudanese counterpart Al Zubair Bashir Taha inked the MoU in the presence of top officers from both sides and a representative of UAE foreign ministry. The Sudanese Minister is leading a high-level interior ministry delegation.

Shaikh Saif said: 'It continues the cooperation between us and opens a door for new horizon of coordination between the two countries. This MoU affirms our commitments in establishing the foundation of cooperation with friendly countries.' Full report Khaleej Times Online 6 Apr 2006.

Norway would send troops to Darfur: prime minister

Norway may offer troops for a UN peacekeeping operation in Darfur, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday.

Mr Stoltenberg said at UN headquarters that his government was "very concerned" that things are getting worse in Darfur.

"We're strongly supporting the work of the African Union (in Darfur)," he said. "We are also considering sending military personnel to Darfur if there is a strong international basis for doing so, but it is not there yet." Full report by Deutsche Presse Agentur via ReliefWeb 6 Apr 2006.

Norwegian Refugee Council hopes to return to South Darfur

Some media reports published in the last two days have suggested that Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has been asked to leave Sudan. This is not correct. NRC has been asked to discontinue its humanitarian aid operation in the state of South Darfur in Western Sudan, says NRC 6 Apr 2006.

On Monday NRC was informed by the NRC's agreement with Sudan on camp coordination in Kalma camp would not be renewed. NRC was also informed that its presence in South Darfur was not wanted, and NRC was asked to leave the state. No reasons were given by the authorities as to why NRC had to leave the state of South Darfur. While this is being resolved, NRC continues its humanitarian aid programmes in North and South Sudan.



Photo: African Union soldier at Kalma Camp, South Darfur. Sign says: "WE NEED INTERNATIONAL FORCE TO PROTECT US"

NRC has been coordinating relief work in Kalma camp in cooperation with the local authorities in South Darfur since mid 2004. Kalma camp is the largest camp for internally displaced persons in Sudan with almost 100,000 people. As an implementing partner of World Food Programme (WFP), NRC has also been distributing food aid to some 50,000 people in an area south of the state capital of Nyala in South Darfur, and has been running an education programme for 16,000 children in Kalma camp.

See list of previous entries at Sudan Watch on Kalma camp, South Darfur.

RNW: UN envoy criticises Security Council and Khartoum

The following snippets and photo of Jan Pronk are from a Radio Netherlands article, by RN Security and Defence editor Hans de Vreij 6 April 2006, entitled: UN envoy criticises Security Council and Khartoum.

Jan Pronk, former Dutch government minister and now UN envoy for Sudan, has criticised Western diplomacy with regard to Sudan as lacking intelligence. He also says the Khartoum government is held together by lies and tricks, and the UN Security Council's statements are not backed up by deeds. His comments came at a discussion meeting with students, held on Wednesday in the Dutch capital, Amsterdam.



Photo: As head of the UN mission in Sudan (UNMIS), Mr Pronk currently fulfils two different roles. On the one hand, he is responsible for ensuring that peace is maintained in Southern Sudan. For that purpose, he has a UN peacekeeping force in that part of the country, which - as he says himself - is proving successful in calming the sporadic resurgence of the regional conflicts in that area. However, the object of most attention is his second role: that of trying to bring peace to Darfur and of caring for the victims of the ethnic conflict in this western part of Sudan - the two million local refugees which account for around one third of the total population of Darfur.

IN THE DARK

Speaking in Amsterdam, Mr Pronk pointed out, for example, that the AU troops in Darfur are strictly observing the local curfew regulations, which means all kinds of militia groups are free to operate after dusk.

LIES AND TRICKS

The fact that Mr Pronk criticised the government of Sudan - "held together by lies and tricks" - comes as no surprise, especially since there have been many verbal onslaughts from Khartoum against the UN envoy. However, Jan Pronk was also critical of the people who represent the Darfur rebel movements at the peace talks in the Nigerian capital, Abuja: "They are people who live in the Netherlands, Britain or the US and do not feel the urgency of achieving peace."

He believes there's considerably more willingness to achieve peace among the military forces on both the government and rebel sides. They may be engaged in the fighting, but they also have first hand knowledge of the misery it is causing.

MISBEGOTTEN IDEAS

Mr Pronk's criticism also extended to the White House, which has launched the plan to deploy a NATO peacekeeping force in Darfur. He regards this as a misbegotten idea and one which will simply infuriate all Muslims because of the association with events in Afghanistan and Iraq. "Western diplomacy is indeed extremely foolish at this moment," he said, "We're strengthening the regime and strengthening the opponents in Sudan against a UN intervention".

He also played down reports about the threat of war with Sudan's western neighbour, Chad. He believes the risk of all-out war is extremely small, but confirmed that incursions by militia forces have been taking place on both sides of the border.
- - -

LOLOGO TRANSIT CAMP, SOUTH SUDAN



Photo: A Sudanese boy walks in the Lologo Transit camp, near the southern Sudan capital of Juba on 02 April. UN emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland called on the international community to put pressure on Sudan to allow aid groups to work freely in Darfur. (AFP/File/Simon Maina)

Apr 4 2006 UNMIS statement protesting the decision by the government of Sudan not to welcome the visit of UN's Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mr Jan Egeland, to Sudan.

Apr 6 2006 EU Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on access for humanitarian operations in Darfur.

UK wants Egeland to brief UN Security Council "on his entire experience" of problems with Sudan

After it was reported today that Sudan clears UN visit to Darfur, Sudan's Foreign Ministry now says Jan Egeland's visit has been postponed "due to the keenness to make a success this visit", Sudan News Agency reported.

Reuters says Mr Egeland said a visit to Nairobi to launch a famine appeal for East Africa would delay an immediate return to Darfur. "I cannot go now. This is not a game. This is serious humanitarian work," he said. "I had agreed on a time with them and I cannot just come and go when they please."

The UN Security Council was briefed on Egeland's problems with Sudan Tuesday morning by Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Hedi Annab. The UK's UN ambassador, Sir Emyr Jones Parry, said he wants Egeland to brief the Security Council "on his entire experience."

Note, could this be the game Khartoum was playing: a UN Security Council meeting is due to consider travel bans against eight people, including Sudanese officials - late today Reuters says the US recommends sanctions only against one Janjaweed and a rebel - no Sudanese officials, and hey presto, Sudan allows the UN's Jan Egeland to travel to Darfur again.

US recommends sanctions on one Janjaweed and a rebel

The US is opposing the inclusion of any Sudanese official on a potential UN Security Council sanctions list of individuals blocking peace in Darfur, two diplomats said on Wednesday, reports Evelyn Leopold for Reuters today:

Britain and other nations on a council sanctions committee have recommended a list of eight names of people including some Sudanese government officials who would be subject to a travel ban and an assets freeze. All 15 council nations have to approve.

But the US recommended just one middle-ranking Janjaweed militiaman and a rebel fighting opposing the militia, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The names were not disclosed.

Washington expects to include names of government officials in the future, a US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. It wants to be able to gradually increase pressure on Sudan and to make sure there is a solid case against any people on the sanctions list, he said.

Russia, China and Qatar, the only Arab member of the council, appear to want to ditch the sanctions list altogether, diplomats said.

EU on Europe's Darfur role

Cristina Gallach, Brussels Spokesperson of EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, writes the following commentary in the International Herald Tribune April 5, 2006 entitled Europe's Darfur role:

Regarding "Where is Europe's voice against genocide?" by Kenneth Jacobson (March 21, Views): Far from being "missing in action," Europe is taking center stage in the effort to bring about a solution to the crisis in Darfur, Sudan.

Since January 2004, the European Union has been the main provider of support to the African Union's efforts to stabilize Darfur on all fronts: humanitarian, political and in the security field, including police and military. So far the European Union has also provided 500 million euros in humanitarian aid.

Jacobson claims that the EU has not supported the United States in requesting stronger action by the United Nations. This is not true. Only a few weeks ago, high level EU officials hosted a series of meetings in Brussels between representatives from the United States, Sudan, the African Union and the United Nations. The aim was to get agreement on a smooth transition from the current, overstretched AU force to a stronger UN force later this year. Two days later, the African Union took the decision to do just that and speed up the peace process.

In the coming months, the European Union will step up assistance for the peace process; increase financial aid and other support for the African Union mission; and help the United Nations to prepare for its mission.

It is also factually wrong to suggest that the European Union has remained silent on the human rights abuses in Darfur. The European Union has repeatedly spoken out against them.

More importantly, these are not just words. The EU applies an arms embargo to Sudan, and the EU ministers have also stressed support for targeted sanctions against those blocking the peace process, committing human rights violations or violating the cease- fire and the arms embargo.

Jacobson asks if there is truly "a new Europe." I would draw his attention to the 12 crisis-management operations that the EU is conducting worldwide.

Of course we should always see if we can do more. But the empirical record backs up the assertion that the European Union is fully engaged to promote peace and protect the vulnerable.

Sudan clears UN visit to Darfur

Quelle surprise. Sudan has said it will allow Jan Egeland, the UN undersecretary, to visit Darfur, three days after it barred his flight to Darfur. Will we ever know what this stunt and media game was all about? More later, if I can find out.



Photo: Elsamani Elwasilah Elsamani, Sudan's state minister for foreign affairs, said in a press statement that "we reiterate our commitment to receive concerned officials from the United Nations and all other those who are engaged in extending humanitarian aid and assistance".

The visit of Egeland, the UN Undersecretary for Humanitarian Affairs, had been postponed for 10 days because of "internal reasons", the statement said, without elaboration.

Full report AP/Aljazeera 5 Apr 2006. Photo courtesy Sudan Tribune.

Apr 3 2006 What's going on in Janana, S Darfur? 60 villages attacked by Janjaweed while Khartoum "safeguards" Norwegians from being in Sudan for next 2 weeks?

Apr 4 2006 Annan met with AU, EU on Darfur - Seeks to speak to Sudan's president over ban on UN aid chief's trip to Darfur

Apr 4 2006 Amnesty International Statement on Sudan's blockade of humanitarian aid

Apr 5 2006 Norway sends protest to Sudan

Amnesty International Statement on Sudan's blockade of humanitarian aid

Amnesty International Statement April 4, 2006 condemns Sudan's blockade of humanitarian aid . The Statement points out this latest trend does not affect only international NGOs - on 13 March 2006, SUDO was ordered by HAC to close its offices in al-Jeneina, capital of West Darfur State, and Zalingei, West Darfur State.

Also, a further concern is the enactment of new legislation regulating the work of NGOs - excerpt:

"Amnesty International calls on the government of Sudan to abide by its repeated commitments to cease the obstruction of humanitarian aid. The undue delay and/or often unreasonable withholding of travel permits and exit visas should cease. Illegal closure and suspension of humanitarian organisations must also be halted.

Amnesty International also calls on the President of Sudan not to sign into effect the 'Organisation of Humanitarian and Voluntary Work Act, 2006' until all provisions that contravene international standards on freedom of association and the Sudanese Interim National Constitution are amended.

Note, Mar 15 2006 Sudan closes offices of rights group

Foreign donors turning backs on Darfur - UNICEF

International donors are turning their backs on Darfur UNICEF said on Wednesday - Reuters:

Dan Toole, head of emergency programmes for UNICEF, said large parts of Darfur were off limits to aid workers as government forces and local militias battled each other as peace talks faltered.

"Donors are just not coming up with the money. I can understand that they are fed up [--] the peace process isn't moving forward, security is deteriorating -- we have no access to the area of the border with Chad, there are parts of south Darfur you can't even travel anymore -- and donors have not kicked in adequate funds."

[I say, "fed up" may be an understatement. How many more years will this go on for? 20 ... 50 ... or what? Surely if the Arabs were made to cough up a few billion dollars for humanitarian aid for the Sudanese people, they'd pay more attention to what their brothers in the Sudan are doing]



Cartoon by M.e Cohen, Politicalcartoons.com courtesy EditorialCartoonists.com.

Note, Apr 5 2006 Sudan clears UN visit to Darfur

International Day for Mine Awareness

Why aren't landmines banned? Who manufactures and sells them? The UN's mine action office in South Sudan, in a statement issued to mark the first International Day for Mine Awareness, stressed that thousands of landmines were obstructing the implementation of South Sudan's peace deal.

Without demining, reconstruction of roads, schools, hospitals and any other post-war recovery and development project cannot be implemented.

According to UN estimates, 1,800 people have been killed by landmines in the Sudan. Between 15,000 and 20,000 are killed by landmines and unexploded ordnance around the world each year. Some 20 percent of them are children. AFP/ST 5 April 2006.

Sudan VP Garang crash initial report blames pilot-SPLM

A report into the death of Sudanese First Vice President John Garang blamed pilot error for the crash of the helicopter last year.

The initial report also ruled out mechanical failure in the helicopter which crashed into a hill killing all 14 passengers last year just three weeks after Garang took office, a spokesman of Garang's Sudan People' Liberation Movement (SPLM) said on Wednesday.

"The initial report suggested it was pilot error," said Walid Hamid of the SPLM. He said the report added there was no hill sensor on the helicopter and the pilot was flying at 5,300 feet and the hill was 6,000 feet. There was no mention of foul play. Full report Reuters 5 April 2006.

Aug 1 2005 John Garang Sudan's first VP and former rebel leader killed

Aug 1 2005 Sudan VP Garang killed in crash

Mar 14 2006 Insurers pay out on Garang crash

AU's Darfur troops in abuse probe

On March 16, 2006 More4News, an offshoot of Channel 4 TV here in the UK, claimed that Sudanese air force resumes bombing Darfur villages. I don't recall seeing any other news sources reporting such a story.

Today, a report by Jonah Fisher in Khartoum for BBC News says AMIS will look into claims that its troops committed sexual abuse in Darfur. Excerpt from Mr Fisher's report 4 April 2006:

"The UK's More4 TV channel last week aired allegations [see More4 Exclusive: More abuse in Darfur?] that AU soldiers paid women, some as young as 11, for sex.

The AU said the claims were disturbing, but added there had recently been many allegations against its mission - all of which had been found to be baseless. The AU has 7,000 troops guarding some of Darfur's 2 million displaced people.

The report broadcast on More4 showed interviews with two women at a camp in south Darfur called Gereida. One said she had been paid for sex with an AU peacekeeper and was now pregnant. The other, an 11-year-old, said she was paid, then raped by a soldier. According to the reporter, many other women at the camp said they were being paid for sex.

A statement from the AU mission in Sudan said the accusations were very disturbing and that a committee including representatives from outside the AU had been set up to investigate them. It went on to say that there had been a spate of orchestrated allegations against the AU in recent months - all of which had been proven, after investigation, to be baseless.

The Sudanese government is keen for the AU peacekeepers to remain but Darfur's rebels would like to see them replaced by a larger, more robust United Nations force."

UPDATES

Apr 5 2006 Channel 4 acknowledges the report.

Apr 5 2006 More4 Darfur investigation

Advance team of Chinese peacekeepers arrive in Sudan on UN mission

An advance team of Chinese peacekeeping troops to serve on a UN peacekeeping mission in south Sudan arrived in Sudan by plane yesterday. The 25 members of the advance team were met at the airport by officials of the UN Mission in Sudan and Military Attache of the Chinese Embassy in Sudan Li Jingping. The team is to head for south Sudan today, according to sources.

Some 400 Chinese peacekeepers are due to arrive in Sudan in April and May. - Xinhua via PDO 5 April 2006.

Norway sends protest to Sudan

As noted here previously, Norway's Jan Egeland, the UN's coordinator of emergency aid, was told he would not be allowed to enter Darfur or even Khartoum for two weeks and yesterday Sudan asked the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) terminate its work in the whole of Darfur. NRC operates the largest refugee camp in Darfur, housing 100,000 displaced persons.

Today, Norway has sent a note to Sudan, expressing the Norwegian Government's concern over the development of the situation in the country, Norway Post reported. The note points to the working conditions for the humanitarian organisations, the Sudanese authorities lack of ability to protect its own population and Jan Egeland being denied entry to Sudan.

Norway has been heavily involved in the Sudan, both with emergency aid and in connection with the peace process to end the civil war between North and Southern Sudan.

Annan met with AU, EU on Darfur - Seeks to speak to Sudan's president over ban on UN aid chief's trip to Darfur

Secretary-General Kofi Annan is seeking to speak to Sudanese President al-Bashir after his Government banned a visit by Jan Egeland, the top UN relief official to Darfur UN News reported 4 April 2006.

Note, UN News says Mr Annan held separate talks in New York March 31 with top African and European officials on the situation in Darfur. In a meeting with the Chairman of the AU Commission, the two discussed the Darfur peace talks. They also discussed support for the AU force in Darfur, including the possibility of a donors' conference, and the situation on Chad-Sudan border and steps being taken to defuse the tension there.

Darfur was also on the agenda at a separate meeting between Mr Annan and European Common Foreign and Security Policy High Representative Javier Solana. They reviewed European Union support for the AU force in Darfur.

First Sudanese refugees from Ethiopia arrive home under UN programme

Seeing this photo today of a UNHCR convoy of refugees returning to Sudan yesterday brought tears to my eyes.



Photo: First Sudanese refugees from Ethiopia arrive home under UN programme - UNHCR convoy of refugees returning to Sudan (UN) Full story UN News Centre 4 Apr 2006 - and Ethiopia Watch.

Dramatic development in next few days? African leaders to push for Darfur talks breakthrough

Sudanese Vice-President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha might attend Darfur peace talks Saturday in what observers said was perhaps a signal Khartoum would be willing to make new concessions.

Congo Republic's President Denis Sassou Nguesso, current chairman of the AU, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and AU Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare are due to take part in Saturday's meeting in Abuja, Nigeria.

The African heads of state will push the warring parties to clinch a peace agreement at a meeting on April 8 that all sides said on Tuesday could help break the deadlock.

"Vice-President Taha would not be coming if the talks hadn't reached a critical stage ... I expect dramatic developments in the next few days," said a government delegate.

"The presence of heads of state at peace negotiations in Africa is a big deal and it usually ends up breaking impasses," said Berhanu Dinka, who chairs negotiations on power-sharing, one of the three areas under discussion.

"We are in the last straight line before the finish ... We have high hopes of securing an agreement before the 30th," said Boubou Niang, who chairs the wealth-sharing negotiations.

"What we need now is for the two sides to take courageous political decisions and make concessions," he added.

Full report Reuters 4 Apr 2006.

SLM claims Sudanese troops and Janjaweed now massed in Geneina, W Darfur to bring down Chad's President Deby

Today, SLM rebels in Darfur charged Khartoum of systematically obstructing "any attempts to discover and understand what is actually happening on the ground in Darfur."

"The regime will do whatever it can to prevent people from making reports that could strengthen the case for sending UN troops in Darfur," said SLM spokesman Mahjub Hussein.

"An increased number of government troops and Janjaweed are now massed in the Geneina region as part of Sudan's efforts to bring down the regime of Chadian President Idriss Deby," he added. Full report AFP/ST 4 Apr 2006.

Mar 31 2006 Mercenaries from Sudan attacked Chadian town of Modeina - dozens killed, 4,000 civilians displaced

Mar 31 2006 Sudanese Janjaweed slay Chad Army General Abakar Youssouf Mahamat

Apr 2 2006 Mohamat Nour's Chadian rebel United Front for Change (FUC) aims to depose Chadian president Deby

Apr 3 2006 Chad's ACTUS on French intervention to rescue Deby regime

Hundreds of thousands Sudanese children go to school for first time thanks to UN aid

Hundreds of thousands of children will go to school for the first time in Southern Sudan this year in a massive United Nations-backed campaign.

Education is the key to future peace and prosperity in the region. About 8,600 teachers, the majority untrained volunteers, cover approximately 2,000 schools. The campaign aims to deliver over 3.8 million textbooks and teachers' guides and basic school supplies for up to 1.6 million children. From 6 million exercise books to 1.6 million pencil sharpeners, no child should go without the basics.

Over 1,500 new classrooms are being constructed and accelerated training is underway for teachers and classroom facilitators. The effort is led by the Government of Southern Sudan with the support of UN agencies, donors, non-governmental organizations and communities. Some $22 million has been received so far, with a similar amount still required to complete the targets for 2006. Full story UN News Service 3 April 2006.

Finland to give 4.4 million euros in aid for Sudan

In Sudan, the number of internal refugees, at 6.5 million people, is the highest in the world. Finland pledges 4.4 million euros in aid for Sudan, the sum to be channelled, among others, through the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Finnchurch Aid. Full story ReliefWeb 4 Apr 2006.

Medecins du Monde-Greece begins health clinics in North Kutum area, North Darfur

Medecins du Monde - Greece has started operating health clinics in three locations across North Kutum, one of the most neglected and devastated areas of North Darfur, whose inhabitants suffer from long-term water shortages and insecurity.

More than 75,000 people, among them most-vulnerable groups like Internally Displaced People and members of nomadic tribes now enjoy basic health services, vaccination campaigns against childhood and seasonal diseases. Full story Reuters 4 Apr 2006.

Germany donates millions towards peace talks

The German government made a $500 000 contribution to the Darfur peace talks, the third Berlin has made and contributed close to $4-million towards the operational cost of the African Mission in Sudan (AMIS),

"Germany is deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in Darfur and has tried to lower the human suffering on the ground by donating almost 25 million dollars for projects on food security, potable water, basic health services and in support and reintegration of refugees," a statement said. Full story Sapa-dpa 4 April 2006.

Egypt's President Mubarak arrives in Khartoum on short visit

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak arrived in Khartoum Tuesday on an unnanounced short visit to Sudan,. His meeting with Sudanese President al-Bashir lasted three hours UPI reported.

NATO plans to increase support for AU force in Darfur

NATO's chief diplomat said Monday that the alliance planned to increase support for African peacekeepers in Darfur, but he again stressed that the deployment of NATO troops was not an option, AP report 4 April 2006 - excerpt:

Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said NATO was considering increasing training, planning and transportation support for the African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur, and a U.N. mission that may replace it in September.

"That can very much be done without speaking of a NATO force," he said. "It's the African Union, it's the U.N. which are the guiding organizations."

Sudanese President al-Bashir now supports human rights?

President Omar al-Bashir said in a speech to parliament Monday that resolving the Darfur conflict was his nation's top priority.

"The peace that we have received with joy (in southern Sudan) remains incomplete until we achieve a solution in Darfur," he said.

He said the government would work to end the suffering of civilians and reach a political settlement that included all parties involved in the conflict.

"There cannot be a solution that ignores the rights of anyone or suppresses anyone. A permanent solution is the one that embraces all and resolves all the problems of Darfur," he said.

Full report (AP/Yahoo) 4 April 2006.

Chinese peacekeepers leave for South Sudan mission

When John Garang was alive, I posted news reports here at Sudan Watch on how he was against having Chinese troops as part of a UN peacekeeping force in South Sudan because they were too onside with Khartoum over oil.

Note a 25-member squad of a Chinese detachment that is part of a UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan left Beijing Monday, heading for Khartoum, China's Xinhua reported 4 April 2006:

China plans to send 435 peace-keepers in response to an appeal by the UN Security Council. They will be mainly responsible for rebuilding infrastructure facilities, destroying weapons, and assisting all peace-keeping forces in the area. The Chinese detachment comes from the Jinan Area Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
On March 24, 2005, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution to send peacekeepers to South Sudan, to help accomplish a North-South peace agreement in the country.

Apr 3 2006 (Xinhua/ST) China, Sudan to boost exchanges between armed forces

What's going on in Janana, S Darfur? 60 villages attacked by Janjaweed while Khartoum "safeguards" Norwegians from being in Sudan for next 2 weeks?

What is going on in South Darfur between the SLA and Janjaweed in Janana? Whenever a strange story hits the news on Darfur, like today when the headlines are filled with reports of UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland being refused access to Darfur, even though he has the necessary visa says the UN, I start looking for clues of a major Janjaweed attack in Darfur. Usually, a few days or even weeks later, news emerges of a huge attack that took place around the time of a strange story hitting the headlines.

Today's strange story is that Sudanese authorities have refused to extend the mandate of the Norwegian NGO Norwegian Refugee Council which heads the main refugee camp in Darfur, sheltering some 100,000 people, the organisation announced on Monday. NRC is one of Norway's largest NGOs, with 1,300 people working for refugees and displaced persons.

Also, Jan Egeland has been asked by the Sudanese government to delay his visit to Darfur because it coincided with a Muslim holiday says the BBC. Sudanese foreign ministry spokesman Jamal Ibrahim said that in the light of the Danish cartoons row, it would not be sensitive or safe for a Norwegian such as Mr Egeland to visit.

AFP report says the Sudanese government denied barring Jan Egeland from Darfur, but instead asked his visit be delayed because of "popular sentiment". "Egeland was not barred from visiting Darfur but was only asked to postpone the visit due to the growing popular sentiment against the UN for its plans of deploying foreign forces in Darfur," information ministry official Bekri Mulah told AFP by telephone.

Mr Egeland's Darfur trip was in doubt on Monday as government officials refused to allow him to visit the rebel-held town of Gereida reported Reuters today. AFP says Egeland was scheduled to travel to either Nyala or El Geneina in Darfur on Monday before proceeding to the capital for talks with officials there.

AP report explains a statement from the UNMIS said Egeland's flight into Sudan was not given authorization to land Sunday and that Sudanese officials had expressed opposition to his visit. It quoted Sudan's representative to the UN in New York as saying Egeland would not be welcome in Darfur or the capital, Khartoum. Egeland's spokeswoman, Stephanie Bunker, said Sudan told him it could not guarantee his security and said he should delay his visit for up to two weeks.

Here's the clue I was looking for: Jan Egeland told the BBC today the SLA helped provoke latest Janjaweed attacks in Janana. He said the Sudanese government, guerrilla forces and ethnic militia groups were all responsible for the current instability in Darfur. Angola Press picks up on the BBC report quoting Mr Egeland as saying thousands of people had fled after 60 villages were attacked by pro-government Janjaweed militias. Egeland told the BBC he thought the Sudanese government did not want him to see the latest wave of "ethnic cleansing" against black Africans in South Darfur.

The BBC's Jonah Fisher in Sudan says Mr Egeland is known for his willingness to speak his mind and has been a strong critic of the government's role in Darfur's violence.

Chad's ACTUS on French intervention to rescue Deby regime

The Action of the Chad for the Unity and Socialism (ACTUS) says it condemns the intervention of the French Army beside governmental forces to fight the forces of the opposition armed with the SCUD and with the RPJ. See Press Release March 31, 2006.

Report: The strategic behaviour of multinational oil corporations and the new wars in Sudan

See pdf file at Sudan Tribune on Oil in the Sudan - A complex reality by Luke A Patey, Danish Institute for International Studies, March 2006.

Mark Fiore's new animated cartoon: Preemptive Apology

Turn up your sound and click here to view Mark Fiore's latest animated cartoon "Preemptive Apology" - ending with a link to Save Darfur.

[via Philadelphia Freedom Watch blog, with thanks]

Mohamat Nour's Chadian rebel United Front for Change (FUC) aims to depose Chadian president Deby

Who are these people? Sudanese Janjaweed, organised criminals, mercenaries? Whatever, they claim to be soldiers under the name of United Front for Change (FUC), bringing together several "dissident" Chadian armed gangs, and deny being backed by Sudan as the Chadian government alleged, says an unsourced article from Paris at France based Sudan Tribune 2 April 2006.

According to the article, the leader of the FUC, Mohamat Nour, rejected repeated Chadian accusations of being in the pay of Sudan and told Radio France Internationale:

"If we had received Sudanese assistance since 1994, [President] Idriss [Deby] would not be in power now".

"I am a soldier. We are currently being forced to do it by the arms and we will then hold a national forum which will bring together all Chadians who will then decide on Chad's political future and we, soldiers, will return to our barracks", said Nour.

Photo: Mohamat Nour (ST)

Who is currently "forcing" them to do it by arms? Where do such thugs and criminals get their guns, equipment and sharp new uniforms? Who is funding them - Sudan? France? Surely there is much more to this than meets the eye and that Chad's oil has something to do with it.

Note, a reader left the following comment at SW post Jan 13, 2006:

"The commander in charge of the massacres in Darfur is called MAHAMAT NOUR ABDELKRIM: http://genocidedarfour.blogspot.com/

The "captain" Mahamat Nour, ex-officer of the chadian army, has commanded the Jandjawids with the sudanese logistic. He has been the principal planner of the genocide in Darfur. Thanks to his chadian nationality, he was used as an alibi by the Sudanese government."

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SUDAN DENIES SUPPORTING CHADIAN REBELS



Photo: Chadian rebels stand by their vehicle in a small camp along the Sudan-Chad border Feb 10, 2006. The Sudanese army on that date denied reports which said Sudan's military lent support to rebels who recently carried out a series of attacks in the eastern Chad, slamming the reports as "baseless and lack of evidences and witnesses," reported Xinhua 1 Apr 2006 - excerpt:

In a press statement to the official SUNA, Spokesperson of the Sudanese Armed Forces Osman Mohammed al-Aghbash said that the army was completely committed to all international agreements and treaties, especially the Tripoli agreement signed by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and Chadian President Idris Deby during a mini African summit in the capital of Libya on Feb. 8. The agreement calls for a good neighborhood between the two countries.

Note, Chad and Sudan promised in the agreement that they would not harbor rebels on their territories or conduct mutually hostile activities.
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CHAD ARMY CHIEF KILLED IN BATTLE WITH REBELS



Photo: A soldier of the Chad National Army patrols the wadi Tine, the empty bed of a seasonal river that marks the border between Tine Chad and Tine Sudan, in 2004. See Sudan Tribune 31 Mar 2006: Chad army chief killed in battle with rebels.

Further reading:

Feb 12 2006 Interview: Mahamat Nour the Chad rebel leader demands change, by force if needed

Feb 20 2006 Two Chadian army generals desert, join rebels

Mar 1 2006 Al Qaeda is entrenched in Sudan, UN envoy warns

Mar 15 2006 Chad's President Deby was sponsored by Khartoum and helped into power by the French secret services

Sudanese rebel group JEM dismisses peace talks and calls for Darfur's sovereignty

War in Sudan has gone on almost non-stop for the past 50 years. Who can tell if it will go on for another 50 years or longer ...

The chair of Darfur rebels group JEM, Khalil Mohammed, on Wednesday dismissed Darfur peace talks as "a waste of time, energy and resources of stakeholders." He said the peace talks would not achieve any meaningful result as they were "merely going in circles."

Mohammed said that if the African Union's April deadline for peace in the region lapsed without success, "the people of Darfur will be left with no choice other than to ask for self-determination".

"If we do not get our own sovereignty, the only alternative is a forceful change of the government in Khartoum," Chairman of Darfur rebel group JEM threatened.

Full report (Sapa-dpa) 30 Mar 2006.

Further reading:

Mar 24 2006 Sharia row hits South Sudan peace deal - Sudan's SPLM pull out of team drafting Khartoum constitution

Mar 30 2006 Eric Reeves Darfur, President Bush, and the Triumph of Expediency

Apr 1 2006 Al-Bashir Interview - US makes Sudan problems part of US politics

Sudanese government not pursuing policy of genocide in Darfur

Many quarters, including UN special envoy Jan Pronk, refer to what is happening in Darfur as ethnic cleansing. People who refer to Darfur as genocide ought to take note of the following excerpt from International Justice Tribune on Darfur, Sudan:

The Security Council referred the Darfur situation to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on 31 March 2005 in Resolution 1593 (2005), after almost two months of negotiations over how to prosecute the crimes occurring in Darfur.

The Resolution was voted in by 11-0 with four members abstaining: the United States, Algeria, Brazil and China. The International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, chaired by the Italian judge Antonio Cassese, concluded in its report published on 31 January 2005 that crimes against humanity and war crimes such as killings, rape, pillaging and forced displacement have been committed since 1 July 2002 by the government-backed forces and the Janjaweed militia.

It declared, however, that the government of Sudan was not pursuing a policy of genocide in Darfur.

US makes Sudan problems part of US politics - Al-Bashir

Click here for text of President Bashir's interview with Qatari Al-Jazeera satellite TV on 29 March 2006. Excerpt:

Mr President, you are now the president of the current Arab summit session. Some say you have solved the problem of Sudan in an African manner and there is now an effort to approach the Arabs to help solve the problem of Darfur. Where is Sudan heading? Is it heading toward Africa or the Arab world?

Al-Bashir: Sudan is an Arab-African country. We reject dividing Africa into Arab and black Africa or north and south of the desert. We are now talking about a united Africa and an African Union representing all African countries. According to this concept, we find that most of the Arabs are inside Africa.

Therefore, there can be no talk about Africa without the Arabs. Consequently, one cannot talk about an African unity without having ties with the Arabs. The Arabs outside Africa are linked to the Arabs in Africa. Therefore, all Arabs in and outside Africa are strongly linked to Africa. Our role is strengthening Arab-African cooperation in the interest of Africa and the Arabs. (Jazeera TV/BBCMS/ST)