Tuesday, February 02, 2010

IMPORTANT: Julie Flint's report for the Small Arms Survey: Rhetoric and Reality. The Failure to Resolve the Darfur Sudan Conflict

From Alex de Waal's blog Making Sense of Sudan
The Strife Inside the SLA
By Julie Flint
Monday, February 1st, 2010
The difficulties facing the Doha peace talks—highlighted in my report for the Small Arms Survey: Rhetoric and Reality. The Failure to Resolve the Darfur Conflict—have been starkly illustrated as meetings resume in Doha between mediators and representatives of some of the Darfur armed movements. (Planned talks between the movements and civil society have been postponed, apparently indefinitely, at the insistence of JEM.)

Since 5 January, rival factions of SLA-Abdul Wahid have been fighting each other in Jebel Marra. The fighting, which has been largely unreported, has caused civilians to flee from a number of villages in the south of the mountains, towards Nyertiti and Kass. There are fears that the violence, which has many fault lines, too complicated to explain in this short posting, could have repercussions among civilians in IDP camps where SLA-Abdul Wahid has a hold.

It will be impossible to reach a sustainable settlement to the simmering but still-unresolved conflict in Darfur, regardless of anything the government does or does not do, while the ‘revolution’ of 2003 is eating itself.

The intra-SLA fighting has claimed the lives of a number of commanders critical of the SLA Chairman, his decision to reside in France rather than Darfur, and his refusal both to participate in the Doha process and to seek reconciliation in the SLA faction he leads. Some of the commanders have died in armed clashes; others have perished in ambushes—most recently, a commander from Kass, Mohamed Adam ‘Shamba’, whose car was reportedly attacked with rocket-propelled grenades in Jebel Marra on 26 January.

The long-standing tensions within SLA-AW over Abdul Wahid’s management surfaced dramatically (albeit behind closed doors) in the middle of 2009 when senior SLA commanders—including several of those considered most loyal to Abdul Wahid—‘challenged him for 10 days’, in the words of one of those present, at a capacity-building workshop in Switzerland. The chief of staff of the SLA, Yousif Ahmad Yousif ‘Karjakola’, went as far as to call the SLA chairman incompetent. Others complained about a lack of support, including salaries and military supplies, and the refusal to participate in the internationally-mediated peace process led by Djibril Bassole.

The spark to January’s mini-war appears to have been the capture of Karjakola by JEM in November 2009 as he returned to Darfur from Chad. Abdul Wahid’s critics allege that JEM acted at the instigation of the SLA Chairman, and are super-critical of the US special envoy, Gen. Scott Gration, for not seeking the release of a senior commander who defied Abdul Wahid’s rejectionism and favoured participating in the peace process. After Karjakola’s arrest, I received calls from SLA commanders in Darfur claiming that they have evidence of a ‘hit list’ (reportedly backed by serious money) of pro-peace reformers. I am aware that Abdul Wahid loyalists have made similar claims to others, but have no details of their claims. The list is said to include several SLA leaders in the Ain Siro area—including Ali Haroun, a law graduate of Khartoum University and responsible for justice in the SLA, and Suleiman Sakerey, the highest military commander in Ain Siro. Both met the AU High-Level Panel on Darfur in June last year.

Ain Siro has been untouched by the factional fighting and serious human rights abuses that have cast such a cloud over some rebel-controlled areas. But it has a history of problems with the SLA leadership in Jebel Marra. A number of commanders from Ain Siro were ‘arrested’ and taken to Jebel Marra, Abdul Wahid’s headquarters, late in 2007 as they gave voice to growing popular demand from the field for reform of the movement that Abdul Wahid leads from the diaspora. A confidential UN report said the Ain Siro group were accused of ‘attempting to divide the movement’. During the group’s detention in Jebel Marra, a university companion of Ali Haroun, Abdalla Mohamed, was kidnapped with his bodyguard, Hamadi, by masked men from the centre of Deribat, the SLA stronghold where the Ain Siro group was being held. (Abdalla’s body was later found three months later, hanged, in a village in Jebel Marra. Hamadi’s body was found in the same village, shot in the back.) I personally went to Paris to ask Abdul Wahid for guarantees for the safety of the Ain Siro group. He assured me they would come to no harm, and they were indeed released—albeit many months later. Abdul Wahid claimed that Abdalla Mohamed had been seized, from the market in Deribat, by ‘janjaweed’. I do not know Deribat. I leave it to those who do to judge whether ‘janjaweed’ could have got into the centre of the town, and out again, without a fight.

On 5 January this year, a senior SLA commander critical of Abdul Wahid and supportive of the peace process, Abdalla Abaker, was shot dead by Abdul Wahid loyalists at a checkpoint in Jebel Marra. Abdalla’s supporters subsequently attacked and looted the homes of a number of commanders considered to be Abdul Wahid loyalists, setting in motion a chain of attack and counter-attack that will continue until the root causes of the problem are resolved—most importantly the lack of structures, and accountability, in Jebel Marra.

The people of Darfur—those stuck in wretched camps and those still clinging to the countryside so utterly devastated by Khartoum’s criminal counter-insurgency—deserve better leadership than this. I have many reports of, and testimony to, the latest clashes and killings. It is a pity that none of this reaches the ‘ordinary’ people of Darfur, to enable them to judge for themselves who they want to represent them and speak on their behalf. A little naming and shaming, with dispassionate, detailed reporting of what exactly is going on—and why—might help Darfurians to find a voice of their own that is informed by fact rather than internet rumour and propaganda.
Click here to read comments.
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Book by Julie Flint & Alex de Waal - Darfur: A New History of a Long War (African Arguments) - Revised and Updated

Julie Flint

Julie Flint is a journalist and Sudan researcher. She has co-authored two books on Darfur with Alex de Waal—most recently, Darfur: A New History of a Long War—and acted as a consultant for a range of international organizations and human rights groups on the Darfur conflict and the Inter-Sudanese Peace Talks in Abuja, attending four sessions of the talks over two years. (Photo credit: us.macmillan.com)

Julie Flint & Alex de Waal

Photo credit: Amazon.co.uk

Further reading

Nov 29, 2008, Sudan Watch - Qatari Peace Bid: UN, EU, AU, AL, UK, US & France support the joint Arab-African peace initiative for Darfur led by Qatar & Sudan People's Forum (SPF)

Oct 26, 2009, Sudan Watch - Sudan in 2012: Asking New Questions (Alex de Waal)

FULL TEXT: FINAL REPORT OF THE AFRICAN UNION HIGH‐LEVEL PANEL ON DARFUR (AUPD) OCTOBER 2009

Click here for AUPD Report in English

Click here for AUPD Report in Arabic

Monday, February 01, 2010

15,000 job vacancies for southern Sudanese in North - News from Sudan Radio Service for 28 Jan - 01 Feb

15,000 Job Vacancies For Southern Sudanese In North
Report by SRS - Sudan Radio Service, Monday, 01 February 2010:
(Khartoum) - The National Civil Service Commission has disclosed that there are about 15,000 vacancies for southern Sudanese within ministries in the Government of National Unity which need to be filled.

In an interview with SRS in Khartoum on Sunday, the Chairman of the National Civil Service Commission, Prof. Moses Macar Kacual explains how the twenty percent quota stipulated in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement has been allocated to Southern Sudan.

[Prof. Moses Macar Kacual]: “The twenty percent quota represents about 13 to 15 thousand vacancies and we were wondering where we were going to get qualified people from southern Sudan to fill these vacancies. But when we sent 1000 applicants to the ministries, we found that some departments hesitated to recruit these people. The Council of Ministers met on 6th January and we discussed this issue and they instructed the departments to recruit these people and we are now waiting for the response to the request that these people should be employed. This is what we are waiting for.”

Prof. Macar disclosed that about 600 qualified southern Sudanese from 1000 applicants for jobs in the National Civil Service have not taken up their duties due to difficulties created by various departments in the different ministries.

[Prof. Moses Macar Kacual]: “We were supposed to announce the second recruitment phase because our brothers from southern Sudan are hesitating to come. When they heard that the President of the Republic had endorsed the first batch, people realized that the scheme was serious and they submitted applications before we could announce them. I have about 2000 applications so far but I suspended them because I want to see to it that the first 1000 applicants are recruited so that we can review our statistics to see how many vacancies are left in each department. After that we can announce the second batch.”

Prof. Macar said that according to the twenty percent quota, southern Sudanese are supposed to be employed in twenty-eight federal ministries with the exception of the Ministry of Defense and the Interior Ministry. This is because southern Sudan has its own army and its own police force.
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News from Sudan Radio Service for 28 Jan - 01 Feb 2010

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Sudan would accept separation, says President Bashir - North and south will continue to be connected, says Kiir

Quote of the day
"The north and south will continue to be economically and politically connected whatever the choice of the people of Southern Sudan"
- Salva Kiir, Southern Sudan president.   
Source:  BBC News report - Sudan would accept separation, says President Bashir - Tuesday, January 19, 2010. Excerpts:
Sudan would accept the south's secession if southerners were to vote for independence in a referendum next year, President Omar al-Bashir said.

Speaking at a ceremony marking five years since the end of the north-south war, he said his Northern Congress Party did not want the south to secede.

But he said the party would be the first to welcome such a decision.

Analysts say Mr Bashir struck an unusually conciliatory tone in the speech, which has been well received.

In recent months tension has been rising between the two sides. [...]

In a televised address, Mr Bashir promised that the north would act as "good neighbours" to the south.

"The National Congress Party favours unity," he said.

"But if the result of the referendum is separation, then we in the NCP will be the first to take note of this decision and to support it."

The BBC's Peter Martell, in the south's capital Juba, says there is a generally positive feeling about Mr Bashir's comments - people in the crowd were cheering as he delivered his speech.

But he says plenty of people in the south remain sceptical and prefer to wait and see if he will honour his promises. [...]

The election in April will be the first multi-party national election in a generation.

Mr Bashir is standing for president, but the leader of Southern Sudan, Salva Kiir, is not.

Mr Kiir's SPLM party confirmed last week that he would seek re-election to the post of Southern Sudan president rather than national leader.

The SPLM is instead fielding another candidate for the post of national president, which correspondents says shows that the party's priority is independence for the south.

During the celebrations to mark the end of the war, Mr Kiir made a plea for southerners to accept the result of the referendum whatever it may be.

"The north and south will continue to be economically and politically connected whatever the choice of the people of Southern Sudan," he said.

He stressed that oil, which makes up 90% of the south's wealth, would still be pumped through the north for processing until the south could construct its own facilities. [...]

North, south Sudan to stay friendly after break-up

eTaiwan News - ‎2 hours ago‎
AP Sudan's president has said he would be ready to recognize an independent southern Sudanif southerners vote in favor of secession in a 2011 referendum. ...

Security situation in Darfur, 19 Jan 2010 - UNAMID project adds classrooms in West Darfur

Darfur / UNAMID Daily Media Brief
EL FASHER (DARFUR), Sudan, January 20, 2010/via APO
UNAMID Daily Media Brief / 2010-01-19
Security situation in Darfur

The security situation in Darfur remains relatively calm but unpredictable.

UNAMID military forces conducted 80 patrols including routine, short range, long range, night, and Humanitarian escort patrols, covering 83 villages and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps during the reporting period.

UNAMID police advisors also conducted 94 patrols in villages and IDP camps.

UNAMID JSR a.i. visits peacekeepers, expresses appreciation

Today UNAMID Joint Special Representative (JSR) a.i., Henry K. Anyidoho, visited the villages of Saraf Umra and Shanghil Tobaya where he met with Rwandan contingent peacekeepers and UN Police.

The JSR a.i. expressed his appreciation to all the peacekeepers on the manner in which they have continued to discharge their duties despite the attack on their colleagues in December 2009. He also took note of the surge of new IDPs to Shanghil Tobaya in particular as a result of recent inter-tribal fighting in South Darfur.

Mr. Anyidoho assured the peacekeepers of the support from UNAMID headquarters in improving conditions at the team-site. On the IDPs situation, he indicated that their needs will be conveyed to the humanitarian community.

UNAMID project adds classrooms in West Darfur

Yesterday saw the completion of construction on a UNAMID Quick Impact Project (QIP) to build two classrooms and an office at Abubaker Alsidig Elementary School in El Geneina, West Darfur. The project was funded by the Mission’s Civil Affairs section and was implemented by the school’s Educational Council.

The new classrooms were built to ease overcrowding in the school, which has only six classrooms and nearly 600 students.

UNAMID’s QIPs in West Darfur regularly fund projects that improve the region’s health, education and community development. These QIPs also assist with the return of IDPs to their villages and support community reconciliation initiatives.

SOURCE: United Nations – African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID)
Click on label here below to view previous and latest briefings from UNAMID on the security situation in Darfur, western Sudan.

India's Jasbir Singh Lidder heads the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) - UN envoy Qazi to step down next month

The newly-appointed Deputy Special Representative for Political Affairs for Sudan, Lidder of India, arrived in Khartoum Sunday to assume his responsibilities with UNMIS, a statement by the UN Hybrid Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) said Sunday.

The UN Secretary General’s Special Representative in Sudan, Ashraf Qazi, will step down from his post at the end of February 2010, a press release announced.

UN chief appoints Indian army commander top Sudan envoy
Report from Addis Ababa - Pana, Tuesday, January 19, 2010:
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has appointed a high-ranking Indian military official, Jasbir Singh Lidder, to a top political position in Sudan, where he would head the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), PANA reported Monday.

UNMIS is overseeing the implementation of North-South peace accord in Sudan.

The top Indian military officer, who has brokered several agreements in Sudan's former trouble spots in the South, would become the UN Secretary-General's Deputy Special Representative.

He would deputize another Asian diplomat, Ashraf Qazi, who is the current UN Special Envoy to Sudan.

Qazi is a Pakistani national.

The newly-appointed Deputy Special Representative for Political Affairs for Sudan, Lidder of India, arrived in Khartoum Sunday to assume his responsibilities with UNMIS, a statement by the UN Hybrid Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) said Sunday.

"Lidder's appointment to head the mission's substantive sections was announced last December by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon," the UN statement said , adding that "Lidder brings to the position extensive experience on the ground in Sudan, in addition to a long and distinguished career with the Indian military, serving most recently as Commandant of an elite infantry school."

Prior to that, he served for more than two years as Force Commander of the United Nations Mission to the Sudan (UNMIS), where he facilitated the relationship between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA).

The two different armies fought each other for 21 years before a 5 January Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) was signed between the Southern Sudan and the Northern Sudan.

Lidder also assisted in conflict-resolution activities and the protection of civilians and played a major role in the transition from the African Union Mission to the Sudan (AMIS) to the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), the force commanders said.

In the mid-1990s, he served as Chief of Staff in the military component of the United Nations Operation in Mozambique (ONUMOZ).

During his military service, Lidder held a number of important operational, command and staff positions, including Additional Director General of Military Operations in the Indian Army, General Commanding Officer of a division and Brigade Commander.

Lidder attended the National Defence Academy, as well as the Army War College, in India.

He has a master degree in philosophy in defence studies and management and another in defence and strategic studies.

Born in India in 1949, he is married and has two children.
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The UN Secretary General’s Special Representative in Sudan, Ashraf Qazi, will step down from his post at the end of February 2010, a press release announced

Source: Sudan Tribune, Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - UN envoy to quit Sudan next February.

Sudan's Haroun: There is no room for talking about marginalisation of South Kordofan

Haroun: There is no room for talking about marginalization of South Kordofan
From Sudan News Agency - SUNA, Al-Debeibat, January 06, 2010 (SUNA) - The Wali (governor) of Southern Kordofan State, Ahmed Mohamed Haroun, has said that as from now on there is no room for talking about marginalization of the state as it got two third of the Chinese loan extended to Sudan which amounted to 3 billion dollars

Haroun, addressing the celebration of launching Debeibat-Abuzabad Al-Foula road, expressed thanks to the People's Republic of China which extended the loan. IF/BT
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Watch out for old Google Web Alerts
Note to self.  Watch out for old Google Web Alerts.  Right now it is 11:27 am, Wed 20 Jan 2010. I subscribe to Google Web Alerts for news reports on keywords, i.e. Kordofan. Lately, I have noticed a steady stream of incoming Google Web Alerts pointing to old reports, many from last year. Here is a copy of an alert received this morning:
=== Google Web Alert for: kordofan ===

Ambassador to Sudan Li Chengwen attend Dibeibate - Fu La Highway ...
January 6, 2009, the Sudanese government, held in South Kordofan State
Dibeibate - Fu La Highway Project groundbreaking ceremony. ...
http://www.sourcejuice.com/1293717/2010/01/08/Ambassador-Sudan-Chengwen-attend-Dibeibate-Highway-Project/

Making Sense of Sudan » Self-determination
Last week President Omar al Bashir and the cabinet visited South Kordofan
State in the heart of the Nuba Mountains. While the residents welcomed this
long ...
http://blogs.ssrc.org/sudan/category/sudan/self-determination/>
Today, on visiting the link to blogs.ssrc.org, I noticed that the latest blog post at 'Making Sense of Sudan - Self-determination' was by Alex de Waal, posted on Wednesday, January 06, 2010, entitled The Forgotten Case of Hofrat an Nahas and filed under Making Sense of Sudan, Self-determination.  The last comment at the blog post was posted on January 11, 2010.

So, I scrolled down the page and found the blog post that Google Web Alert had picked up on earlier today.   The blog post by Noah Kodi, entitled The Road of Self-Determination: Where Does It Lead? was posted on Friday, May 29, 2009 and filed under Kordofan, Making Sense of Sudan, Self-determination.   The last comment at the blog post was posted on June 05, 2009.

Re-read Alex's blog post re Hofrat an Nahas, and my blog post at Sudan Watch, May 30, 2006 re Interview with Dr Douglas H Johnson, expert on the Abyei Boundary Commission - Hofre Nahas area; part of Bahr El Ghazal transferred to Darfur in 1960

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

UNAMID Sudan: Security situation in Darfur on 18 Jan 2010 - Japanese diplomats make familiarisation visit to Darfur

Media brief from the United Nations – African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) Monday, January 18, 2010, El Fasher, Darfur, western Sudan /via APO:
Security situation in Darfur

The security situation in Darfur remains relatively calm but unpredictable.

UNAMID military forces conducted 84 patrols including routine, short range, long range, night, and Humanitarian escort patrols, covering 88 villages and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps during the reporting period.

UNAMID police advisors also conducted 155 patrols in villages and IDP camps.

Japanese diplomats make familiarisation visit to Darfur

The Deputy Head of Mission of the Japanese Embassy, Mr. Yoichi Nakashima, and Second Secretary, Ms. Mayuko Okabe, arrived yesterday in El Fasher, North Darfur, beginning a five-day tour of the region, facilitated by UNAMID.

The visit aims at familiarizing the diplomats with the general situation in Darfur and enhancing their government’s support of the peace process. They met with UNAMID officials, representatives of civil society organisations and various political party leaders in an effort to gain a clearer picture of the political and humanitarian state of affairs.

Ahmed Rufai Abubaker, officer in charge of UNAMID’s Political Affairs Division, noted that “Japan is an important stakeholder in the collective effort to help the people of Darfur to solve its issues, and has been providing aid to the troubled region for several years.”

In the coming days, the two diplomats will also visit UNAMID’s regional office in Nyala, South Darfur.

Source: United Nations – African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID)
Click on Security Situation in Darfur label (here below) to see previous and latest briefings from UNAMID on the security situation in Darfur, western Sudan.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

UN Special Envoy for Haiti Bill Clinton says to submit or request situation or survivor information, visit http://haiti.ushahidi.com

Here below is a copy of an e-mail received yesterday (13 Jan 2010) from President Bill Clinton, Clinton Foundation. Note that President Clinton is the UN Special Envoy for Haiti and the postscript says:
P.S. For missing family, please call the State Department hotline at 1-888-407-4747. To submit or request situation or survivor information, visit http://haiti.ushahidi.com/
Click on Haiti label (at the end of this report) for updates and reports on missing persons in Haiti and Haitian Earthquake Registry.
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From:  President Bill Clinton, Clinton Foundation
Subject: Your help is urgently needed in Haiti

Ingrid,

Today, our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Haiti who are recovering from a devastating earthquake. Buildings have collapsed, thousands of people are missing, and many are presumed homeless.

My UN office and the rest of the UN system are monitoring the situation. While we don't yet know the full impact of this 7.0-magnitude earthquake, we do know that the survivors need immediate help.

There's a way you can help Haiti recover and rebuild right now.

Click here to make a donation and find information on other organizations providing emergency relief efforts.

Approximately 2 million people live in the capital of Haiti and the surrounding areas where the disaster struck.

What we do in these first 48 hours determines how many lives we can save. Together, we can help communities get back on their feet.

I have long been committed to helping Haiti "build back better" from the 2008 hurricanes and prepare for future disasters. Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, now needs our assistance more than ever.

Help provide immediate relief and long-term support to earthquake survivors by making a donation today:

www.clintonfoundation.org/haitirelief

Thank you for joining me in praying for the people of Haiti and bringing hope to the survivors. Working together, we can help them build back stronger and better.

Bill Clinton
UN Special Envoy for Haiti

P.S. For missing family, please call the State Department hotline at 1-888-407-4747. To submit or request situation or survivor information, visit http://haiti.ushahidi.com/.

[end of e-mail copy]

Click on Haiti label (here below) for updates and reports on missing persons in Haiti and Haitian Earthquake Registry.
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UPDATE - From The New York Times, 14 Jan 2010:
FROM AROUND THE WEB
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UPDATE - On Saturday, January 16, 2010 at 17:13 pm GMT UK:
UN says Haiti is the worst situation the organisation has ever faced
News just in via e-mail from UK Channel 4 News
Snowmail by Alex Thomson on Saturday, January 16, 2010 - excerpt:
Greetings to you - Alex T here (tweet @alextomo) with the way things stack up for tonight's Channel 4 News and note - we are at 6.05 this evening.

The United Nations spokesman said today that Haiti is the worst situation the organisation has ever faced.

So in the official opinion of the UN we are looking at the worst humanitarian disaster since 1945.

Aid is only beginning, very slowly of course, to filter out into the wrecked streets of Port-au-Prince.

The Haitian government has handed control of the national airport formally to the United States until further notice.

The fleets of helicopters aboard US naval vessels offshore will become critical to delivering aid into areas where approach roads are blocked and there are many of them.

Here the UK DEC appeal raced past the £10m mark in just 24 hours and as I write, it exceeds £12m.

And of course all the time people are being brought from the rubble. There are stories of small children emerging alive after several days - as in all quakes - and these will continue for some time no doubt, against all apparent odds.

The search for that other thing - a credible figure for the number of people killed, becomes increasingly futile in the sheer chaos and need to get bodies into mass burial pits as fast as possible in the tropical heat.

Suffice to say we are talking in tens of thousands, many tens of thousands. Haiti's interior minister says between 100 and 200,000 have been killed. But he has no real idea, and nor has anybody else.

Looting and sporadic gunfire has been reported around Port-au-Prince today and the UN is considering sending a makeshift police force of up to 5,000 should real security issues arise on the streets.

Our two teams on the ground will bring us up-to-date tonight along with interviews from aid organisations at work there and here, we speak to the Haitian community as they attempt to get news from their loved ones.

TV crew rescues toddler in Haiti: http://bit.ly/5GIrQh
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Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC)  Haiti Earthquake Appeal
DEC Haiti Earthquake Appeal online at www.dec.org.uk



Click here for latest at BBC News - Haiti Earthquake 2010.
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UPDATE - On Sunday, January 17, 2010 at 18:08 pm GMT UK:
JON SNOW WRITES FROM HAITI
News just in via e-mail from UK Channel 4 News
Snowmail by Jon Snow on Sunday, January 17, 2010 - excerpt:
Channel 4 News comes to you live tonight from Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

They have buried 25,000 bodies so far.

It's estimated 100,000-200,000 people have now died and some are still dying.

Aid is beginning to come in by the planeload but distrbution is still very difficult.

As I write, a massive jumbo cargo plane is landing on the runway.

There are blackhawk helicopters in the sky above me.

American troops are on the ground but as yet in small numbers and there is a political row brewing.

Some aid agencies have complained their flights were redirected to enable Hillary Clinton to land

Sarah Smith will be handling that end of the Haiti crisis.

Being Sunday, I have been to the wreckage of the cathedral here in Port-au-Prince.

The face of Christ survives in the shattered rose window and almost the only thing intact otherwise is a white bone crucifix outside.

I have talked to beggars who were gathered outside the cathedral. I have talked to others who saw it come down.

We have also been to the burial pit where thousands of bodies are being bundled out of the city in dumper trucks.

They cascade out of the trucks, somehow neutered and inanimate until you see the body of a baby thrown clear and there he lies in the grass, a symbol of humanity's abject loss.

Tonight on Channel 4 News we will be talking to the United Nations here in Haiti and to a doctor from Medecins Sans Frontieres, which is struggling to save lives.

We will be on air at 7.30pm tonight.
Jon

TWEET ALL ABOUT IT
Join the Channel 4 News conversation:
www.twitter.com/channel4news

CHANNEL 4 NEWS SERVICES
Online: Watch our video reports at:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1529573111
READ THE LATEST BLOGS
From CHANNEL 4 NEWS teams of reporters making their way to Haiti: http://bit.ly/6Wp6df

HOW THE HAITI STORY IS BEING TOLD ONLINE
Tweets from CHANNEL 4 NEWS: How the #Haiti story is being told online: http://bit.ly/5TghGy & the search for survivors via Twitter: http://bit.ly/891kdi Help Haiti
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Secretary Clinton Announces Launch of State.Gov Person Finder Tool for Those Missing in Haiti - Press Release - From US Department of State, January 15, 2010 - excerpt:
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced today the launch of a new tool on www.state.gov, the “Person Finder,” to allow people to find and share information on missing loved ones in Haiti. The tool can be found at http://www.state.gov/haitiquake.
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UPDATE - On Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 18:03 pm GMT UK:
News just in via e-mail from Channel 4 News, UK:
Haiti: water purification gets serious
Snowmail by Alex Thomson on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - excerpt:
Greetings all. Alex T here with the way it's all beginning to shake down for tonight's Channel 4 News (tweet @alextomo).

As the DEC appeal roars past the £25m mark, we still think Haiti is the strongest issue and story for us tonight. As I write, the US commander of the military effort on the ground is speaking. Water purification gets serious as from today - tomorrow sees the arrival of a hospital ship offshore from Port-au-Prince.

Things are certainly moving in all kinds of ways, but the logistical obstacles and the scale of it all remain daunting and are slowing things down.

Agencies on the ground, and the US commander, are growing doubtful now of finding anybody else alive. He says US forces have not found anybody alive for the past two days. But we know that earthquakes always surprise us with the endurance of the human spirit. We may yet be further surprised.

3,500 more UN peacekeepers are due into Haiti in the coming days to secure the aid distribution, though in truth the issue of security has not been the concern that some thought it might be.

Haiti receives US air drops: http://bit.ly/5JkmDx
Haiti – are the images too explicit?: http://bit.ly/6kolNF
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See my blog post at Congo Watch today, Tuesday, January 19, 2010: BBC News says DR Congo offers help to Haitians - Senegal offers free land to any Haitians who want to "return" to Africa.
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UPDATE - On Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 17:40 pm GMT UK:
News just in via e-mail from Channel 4 News, UK - excerpt:

HAITI QUAKE AFTERSHOCK
From Jon, Jon and Sarah and their teams in Haiti, another traumatic day, heightened by at least one powerful aftershock. This as US plans to get a hospital ship in place with appropriate helicopter uplift take shape.

Haiti hit by earthquake aftershock:http://bit.ly/6xGyAD

Security situation in Darfur, W. Sudan, 13 Jan 2010 - UNAMID Statement re earthquake in Haiti

Media brief from the United Nations – African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) 13 Jan 2010, El Fasher, Darfur, Western Sudan - via APO 14 Jan 2010:
Security situation in Darfur

The security situation in Darfur remains relatively calm but unpredictable.

UNAMID military forces conducted 78 patrols including routine, short range, long range, night, and Humanitarian escort patrols, thereby covering 85 villages and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps during the reporting period.

UNAMID police advisors also conducted 106 patrols in villages and IDP camps.

UNAMID conducts Human Rights workshop for El-Geneina lawyers
The UNAMID Human Rights Unit concluded today a two-day workshop for lawyers in El-Geneina.

The event, entitled “Human Rights and Legal Aid for Lawyers,” brought together more than a dozen legal practitioners for training on human rights concepts, values and principles, trial rights, and international legal standards.

UNAMID Head of Office Mr. Abdullah Fadil opened the event, noting that the role of the international community is to assist the local practitioners in the implementation of principles which are global, regardless of faith and culture.

As part of its mandate, UNAMID is tasked with assisting in human rights issues through workshops and capacity building activities targeting government agencies, civil society, IDPs and other stakeholders.

Statement by Acting JSR Henry K. Anyidoho regarding earthquake in Haiti

It is with deep sadness that news of the tragedy of yesterday’s earthquake in Haiti reaches us. I especially wish to extend my deepest sympathy to our Haitian colleagues in UNAMID who are struggling in the aftermath of this tragedy to get information about the safety of their loved ones. Our thoughts are with you and your families. We also remember our colleagues in MINUSTAH during this difficult moment as we have learned of the collapse of the UN headquarters in Port-au-Prince and devastation throughout the country. As the news unfolds on the tragedy in Haiti, the victims of the earthquake are in our prayers and thoughts.
- - -

FULL EXTENT OF THE HAITI DESTRUCTION EMERGES

News just in via email from UK Channel 4 News - Jon Snow's Snowmail 18:30 PM UK GMT, Thursday, 14 January 2010:
Very brief Snowmail tonight I’m afraid. Haiti dominates everything. The Red Cross estimates 40,000-50,000 are dead but they have no certainty on that. There are many places that have not been reached yet. Up to 3 million people are estimated to be injured or displaced. The scale of it all remains unimaginable. Aid is being shipped in as fast as possible. Sarah Smith is on the ground in Port-au-Prince and we have a huge amount of material coming in from everywhere, from the US Navy as they proceed at sea, from the British teams flying in, from satellite imaging which begins to show the areas affected and much else. I've also blogged earlier about the impact on theUN which has long held the ring in Haiti.

Snowblog: http://bit.ly/5YKfTo
Coming to terms with disaster: http://bit.ly/64hCyC
Survivors confront the devastation: http://bit.ly/8DUyv3
Aid supplies arriving: http://bit.ly/77v8Ed
The rescue race: http://bit.ly/8nIWOt
No indications of UK casualties: http://bit.ly/7dqCCn
Tweeting from the disaster zone: http://bit.ly/4zikNS
Email from BBC TWO Newsnight by Emily Maitlis, late Thursday afternoon, 14 January 2010 - excerpt:
President Obama has called Haiti a tragedy 'that calls out for American leadership'. And in thus doing he has reported to have put two former presidents in charge of the operation. Clinton and Bush make unlikely bedfellows. (No one, it seems, is mentioning Katrina). But Haiti is a country that barely functions at the best of times. And these are the worst.

Haitians - suffering their most lethal earthquake for two centuries - are digging for survivors with their bare hands. And in such an inaccessible country, the death toll can only be guessed at. Obama has pledged a hundred million dollars - but warned it will take time to get the rescue effort through. Time is already running out.

We hope to be speaking to Bill Clinton on the programme tonight.
Further reading

Click on Haiti label (here below) for news of missing persons and Haitian Earthquake Registry.

Click on Security Situation in Darfur label for previous (and latest) briefings from UNAMID.

Six Sudanese men executed for riot at Soba Aradi camp in Khartoum in 2005

Six Sudanese men have been executed for their part in a riot at a refugee camp in Khartoum in 2005.

The men were held responsible for killing 13 policemen during the riots in which five civilians also died.

The violence flared when police tried to clear the Soba Aradi camp, which housed refugees from the two-decade long north-south civil war.

Full story at BBC News at 16:10 GMT, Thursday, 14 January 2010: 

Pass this on: Missing Persons Registry - Haitian Earthquake January 2010

Copy of message today on Twitter from Ushahidi's Erik Hersman:
Pass this on. Missing persons registry for #haiti is http://www.haitianquake.com
about 4 hours ago from twhirl
ushahidi
Further reading

Patrick Meier's report at Ushahidi's blog, 13 January 2010: Our Efforts in Response to Haiti’s Earthquake - We’ve launched Haiti.Ushahidi.com

Ethan Zuckerman's blog post at My Heart's in Accra, 13 January 2010: Following the Haitian earthquake online

UPDATE:  Click on Haiti label here below for latest news and updates.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Security situation in Darfur, Western Sudan, 12 Jan 2010 - UNAMID/UNMIS begins assistance with electoral nomination process

Media brief from the United Nations – African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) 12 Jan 2010, El Fasher, Darfur, Western Sudan - via APO 13 Jan 2010:
Security situation in Darfur

The security situation in Darfur remains relatively calm but unpredictable.

UNAMID military forces conducted 90 patrols including routine, short range, long range, night, and Humanitarian escort patrols, thereby covering 83 villages and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps during the reporting period.

UNAMID police advisors also conducted 92 patrols in villages and IDP camps.

UNAMID/UNMIS begins assistance with electoral nomination process

The UNAMID/UNMIS Electoral Assistance Division today announced the opening of the nomination period for the upcoming Sudanese elections. The announcement comes on the heels of yesterday’s publication of the final voters’ list, which contained more than 2.4 million voters out of an estimated 3.6 million eligible voters from Darfur.

The 10-day filing window allows for political parties and independent candidates to file qualification papers and is followed by a challenge period.

Voters go the polls in April 2010 to elect Presidents of the Republic of Sudan and the Government of Southern Sudan, a National and State Assembly, and Governors within Sudan’s 25 states.

The joint team of 20 UN mission staff in Darfur is tasked with providing technical and logistical support to the National Electoral Commission of Sudan.
Click on Security Situation in Darfur label here below to view latest and previous reports.

France contributed €1 million through the UNDP's fund aimed at ending Sudan crisis, to support the 2010 elections

Copy of report in full by French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs:
Violence in southern Sudan (January 8, 2010)

France expresses its grave concern given the increased violence in southern Sudan and reaffirms that peace and stability constitute essential conditions for the holding of general elections in April 2010 and the referendum on self-determination in 2011.

France contributes to international efforts to help restore stability in southern Sudan: we have provided funding to the Permanent Court of Arbitration for the Abyei dispute. France also provided funding of €1 million, through the United Nations Development Program’s fund aimed at ending the crisis, to support the 2010 elections.
Source: ISRIA

Sudan: We'll pay U.S. back by stepping up security checks for U.S. citizens

Sudanese Foreign Minister undersecretary Mutrif Siddiq has told U.S. charge d'affaires Robert Whitehead that Sudan was retaining its right to step up its security checks of U.S. Citizens on its soil.

The statements came in response to the U.S. decision to intensify security scrutiny for Sudanese travellers.

Source: Al-Rai Al-'Aam, Sudan, 12 January 2010 - via The Memri Blog, 12 January 2010 - Sudan: We'll Pay U.S. Back By Stepping Up Security Checks For U.S. Citizens

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

UK's Kinnock: EU may send observers to help Sudan have a credible election

Baroness Kinnock in Sudan

Photo: British minister for Africa, Baroness Glenys Kinnock, seen here addressing reporters in Khartoum, warned that greater international efforts must be made to support Sudan's historic north-south peace deal. (AFP/File/Peter Martell)

Reuters report by Opheera McDoom, Tuesday, 12 Jan 2010 - excerpts:
Sudan's elections need credible monitors - Britain
(Khartoum) - Credible monitoring of Sudan's first multi-party elections in 24 years is essential and the EU may send observers to help ensure such scrutiny occurs, Britain, Sudan's second largest bilateral aid donor, said Tuesday. [...]

Britain's Africa minister, Glenys Kinnock, said there was an urgent need for an international effort to support the "fragile" north-south peace process ahead of the elections and a 2011 south Sudanese vote on secession.

"If we are to have a credible election there has to be freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom for the media," Kinnock, on a three-day visit, told reporters. [...]

Kinnock said she had held many talks with the EU about monitoring the elections.

"It's not announced yet so I can smile and say I'm fairly confident (EU monitors will come)."

Last week Britain announced a 54 million pounds aid package to Sudan.

At present the Carter Centre (of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter) are the only official observers, with about two dozen people to cover Africa's largest country of a million square miles. [...]

(Editing by Matthew Jones)
Click on Kinnock label here below to view related reports.

US seeks EU's help in Sudan

Report by Europolitics, Tuesday, 12 January 2010:
US seeks EU's help in Sudan
The United States is urging the European Union to help Sudan organise its April 2010 presidential and parliamentary elections.

"We would encourage the EU to provide the election monitors that have been discussed, upwards of 300," US Special Envoy for Sudan, Scott Gration, told Europolitics, on 11 January, at a press briefing.

He said the EU should also "become involved" in financing the election and the 2011 referendum on whether South Sudan should become independent.

Gration, who met his EU counterpart, Torben Brylle, in December 2009 in Brussels, said the situation in Sudan remained fragile and that in the long term, the country's development of governance and infrastructure "cannot be done without the participation of the Europeans".

Can south Sudan be a viable state?

BBC News - ‎10 minutes ago‎
With just a year to go until a referendum on Southern Sudanese secession, we're asking whether the south could survive on its own? ...