UN Security Council agrees to peace mission for S. Sudan

Unfortunately, there is still very little news of the UN Security Council meeting held a few days ago. A report today Feb 11 at IRIN confirms the council has started working on a resolution to establish a peacekeeping operation in Sudan to support the peace process, the Council's President, Ambassador Joel Adechi, of Benin, said on Tuesday.

Also, the news report says "council members, Adechi noted, remained gravely concerned by the dire situation prevailing in Darfur and called upon the parties to do their best to bring the conflict to an end quickly through a sustainable political settlement."
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Blair stands firm with Annan

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was in London yesterday Feb 10 giving a speech on UN reform at The Banqueting House, Whitehall. Click here for a copy of the speech.

10 Feb news report says British Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed support for Mr Annan Thursday, calling him a tremendous unifier.


Photo: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan (R), shakes hands with Ali Osman Mohammed Taha (L), Vice-President of Sudan, in New York February 8, 2005. A senior UN envoy called for robust outside troops in Darfur to supplement those from the African Union. (Reuters/Chip East)
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British FM urges Sudan to restart Darfur peace talks

So far, the press has not made much of a meeting in London today between British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, International Development Secretary Hilary Benn and Sudanese foreign minister Mustafa Osman Ismail.

A report today Feb 11 by AFP says they called for peace talks on Darfur in the Nigerian capital Abuja to resume.

Straw held talks with Ismail on Thursday as the Sudanese minister called into London on his way home from a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York.

Britain would continue to back a recent peace deal ending Sudan's 21-year civil war, Straw said in a later statement. "But the situation in Darfur is still extremely worrying," he added. "I urge all sides to stop the fighting, to abide by the commitments they have made and then to return to the negotiating table in Abuja. This can be the only way to a lasting peace in Darfur."

Hilary Benn, who held a separate meeting with FM Ismail, noted that while Khartoum had publicly committed itself to peace, "the world will judge the government by the action it takes".

Note, as far as I am aware, it is not the Sudanese government delaying Darfur peace talks, it is he Darfur rebel group JEM that is refuses to attend any more peace talks until the UN gives in to their request for the UN mediate the talks instead of the African Union.


Photo: Feb 8 Darfur rebels from the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) wait in their base in Gellab, North Darfur, Sudan. The SLM called on the UN to oversee peace negotiations with the government. (AFP/File/Marco Longari)
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Mauritania sends military observers to Darfur Sudan

10 Feb Associated Press confirms a group of armed observers from the Arab-dominated West African nation of Mauritania, flew to Darfur to join in the African Union peace mission, police officials said Thursday.

The military and police observers, 30 in all, arrived Thursday in Sudan to join about 1,400 ceasefire monitors and protection troops sent by the AU, a senior police official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Before departing, the observers met with Mauritanian President Maaoya Sid'Ahmed Ould Taya, who called upon them to "rightly fulfill their mission" which he said was to be "peace messengers," the official said.
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South Africa sends two police teams to Sudan on peacekeeping mission

11 Feb ReliefWeb report from Cape Town, South Africa (Xinhua via COMTEX) says South African police are sending two teams to Darfur on a peacekeeping mission this weekend.

The office of the national police commissioner said on Friday the 12-strong party would form part of an AU operation and will fall under the authority and guidance of the continental body.

National police Commissioner spokesperson, Director Sally de Beer, said Pillay's team would be deployed to Sudan for six months, while an advance team would be deployed for a period of three weeks. Both teams would consist of six people.

"The task for these 12 members will be to establish a headquarters in El Fashir and Nyala and to ensure that accommodation and logistical requirements are put in place as speedily as possible to receive the ten teams of 10 SAPS civilian police monitors as requested by the AU," said de Beer.

"It must be emphasized that the members of the SA Police Service will be regarded as civilian police monitors and will be performing monitoring and advisory duties only," she said.
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Sudan Tribunal would take a year to set up while 100,000 die

11 Feb Former UK foreign secretary Robin Cook (who was replaced by Jack Straw) has an article in today's Guardian saying that US hostility to the international criminal court knows no bounds. He writes:

The gravest, most grotesque crimes against humanity since the international criminal court was set up are to be found in Darfur. The UN commission of inquiry has provided a compelling account of the harrowing brutality with which Sudanese forces are pursuing a strategy of ethnic cleansing, and concluded that the victims are "living a nightmare of violence and abuse". That nightmare has included men being dragged over the ground behind camels by a noose around their necks, women being kept naked in rape camps and girls as young as eight being violated.

Wryly, he adds:

A state department official expressed to a visiting European: "No US citizen is going to be tried by a Belgian", which raises doubts as to whether the Bush administration actually knows in which European country The Hague is located.

Also, Mr Cook points out that Condoleezza Rice has been using her contacts in Europe to lobby privately for the Darfur atrocities to be referred anywhere but the international criminal court. He notes:

It would take at least a year But it would take at least a year before any tribunal starting from scratch would have the staff, premises and procedures to get down to work. In the meantime, while the UN tried to accommodate the ideological antipathy of the Bush administration to the international criminal court, another 100,000 people would have been killed in Darfur. One of the six reasons cited by the UN commission for recommending the international criminal court was precisely that it could be activated immediately, without any delay.

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Reporter's Notebook: Actor Don Cheadle in Sudan

Here is an excerpt from "A View from the Ground on the Killing in Northeast Africa" by American actor Don Cheadle:

I was invited to join five members of Congress on a fact-finding mission to see refugees and the way they are forced to live.

Late last month, we traveled with Paul Rusesabagina, the man I portray in the film "Hotel Rwanda," which is about the genocide of 800,000 people in Rwanda more than a decade ago. Rusesabagina used his hotel as an impromptu refugee camp and saved more than 1,000 lives.

I agreed to go to Sudan because I think it would be very disingenuous for me to have been saying all this time since we made the movie, "We can't allow this to go on," and "We have to get involved" -- and I had the opportunity to get involved and didn't.

We entered Sudan from neighboring Chad. Our first stop was a military base belonging to the 53-nation African Union, which is monitoring the activities in Sudan. Full Story.

African Union "Sudan Tribunal" for war crimes in Darfur

Unusually, there is an absence of UN Security Council news following its meeting held Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Perhaps council members are hammering out details of a "Sudan Tribunal" proposed by the US.

A report Feb 9 by Washington File UN correspondent details the US proposal of an alternative to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for prosecution of violators. What it does not mention though, is how they propose to bring the violators to court. It would be a clever move to get the Africans to decide. Here is an excerpt from the report:

Senior US officials have been meeting with members of the Security Council to work out a way to bring to trial those accused of human rights abuses and war crimes in Darfur. US Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues Pierre-Richard Prosper says that he and other council members are discussing the merits of various proposals, but the most important issue is "to recognize that response is needed now to ensure effective accountability.

"The key is to stop the violence, the killing," Prosper told journalists after a private meeting with council members. "We know that it's hard to pursue justice when people are continuing to be killed and there's an unstable environment. We've seen that in other parts of the world.

"So the immediate task for the Security Council is to take the measures required to end violence and then we'll be in a position to deal with the justice questions, [and] a timetable," the ambassador said.

The US has proposed a "Sudan Tribunal," created and mandated by a UN Security Council resolution and administered by the UN in conjunction with the African Union (AU). The tribunal would have the authority to prosecute those individuals held responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in Darfur from January 1, 2003, to the present.

The proposed tribunal, US officials said, would allow the AU to continue its leadership role while the issue of the accountability for war crimes is pursued by other agencies. It also would contribute to the development of the African Union's overall judicial capacity on the continent.

The United States, which is not a party to the Rome Statute that created the ICC, is confident that there are more suitable alternatives for prosecuting those accused of committing war crimes in Darfur, State Department officials said.

The so-called "Sudan Tribunal" would be more appropriate than the ICC in this case because it takes full account of and reinforces the AU role in addressing the Darfur conflict, they said.

Under the US proposal the tribunal would be based in Arusha, Tanzania. It would share the existing physical infrastructure the Security Council created for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda but would have its own judges, registrar, prosecutor, and other personnel appointed by Secretary-General Annan in coordination with the AU.

US officials point out that the ICC has a limited presence in Africa and its staff is now occupied with investigations in Uganda and Congo. The Rwanda Tribunal, in contrast, has extensive infrastructure on the ground and established relationship agreements with governments throughout the continent, and thus there would be no significant difference in cost between the additional costs incurred by the ICC and the UN/AU court.
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Airbus cancels Sudan Airways' 45 million dollar debt: minister



9 Feb (AFP) report via Turkish Press confirms European aviation consortium Airbus Industrie has cancelled the 45-million dollar debt owed to it by Sudan Airways, Sudanese Aviation Minister Ali Tamim Fartak said. In return, the European firm will win the majority of the ailing carrier's contracts for new aircraft of various types to boost its fleet, Fartak told the official SUNA news agency.

Sudan announced last year that it would privatize the national carrier and invite foreign investors to buy shares in a new company. It said the decision had been taken because of losses and debts of millions of dollars.

Officials said 30 percent of the shares of the new firm would be held by the government, 21 percent by Sudanese businessmen and 49 percent by foreign investors yet to come forward.

Sudans next challenge: preserving its borders

Following on from the previous post below, here are some extracts from an article at Aljazeera Feb 10 that suggest a national identity needs to be created if Sudan is to remain united, or it may be better for Sudan to go its own way:

An extremely significant article in the peace deal, and one that many have passed off lightly, is that after six years a referendum will be held to the Southern Sudanese on whether they choose to secede from the north or not. This referendum brings up the issue of the possible redrawing of the map of Africa for the first time since the end of the colonial era.

Most of the conflicts within Africa are over control of land and natural resources - oil, diamonds, copper and silver - and the best means of grasping at those have traditionally been to control the central government.

"Most of these insurgencies are striving for power at a national level," said J. Stephen Morrison, director of the Africa program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "That is the only thing that matters. If you are out of power you are out of luck."

In some cases, Morrison saya, the conflicts are simply too deep and complex to be resolved any other way than by breaking up. Sudan, which has been at war for much of its 50-year post-colonial history, would seem to be the foremost example of such a case.

But many times it's the rebels themselves who oppose the border redrawing. Having seen how lucrative centralized power can be, most are reluctant to give it up for what is often paradoxically seen as the lesser goal of independence.

In the case of Sudan, John Garang the SPLA/M leader, has argued against secession despite its popularity among his followers, pushing instead for a bigger role in the central government in Khartoum.

"How can a people who have been subjugated...for so long accept unity?" asked Adam Cholong Ohiri, a professor at Juba University. "Many will conclude it is better to go our own way."


Photo (Aljazeera) SPLA soldiers look at a copy of the comprehensive peace agreement before a meeting in Rumbek, Southern Sudan

Sudan: Child soldiers in Janjaweed and breakaway Darfur rebel group NMRD

In Darfur last week, things were unusually quiet while Sudan's First Vice-President Taha toured the region. It was his first visit to Darfur and proves that Khartoum do have control over the violence. He was not attacked by the outlaws and bandits known as the Janjaweed over which the regime in Khartoum says it has no control. One never sees news of Janjaweed killed by landmines and bombs.

Recently, Khartoum pledged not to use cargo planes for their bombings of Darfur. But the promise did not extend to other military aircraft, such as helicopter gunships that Sudan's air force have used to straf civilians. Maybe Khartoum anticipated a no-fly zone could be on the table at the UN Security Council. Khartoum do not do anything out of kindness.

At times, one can't help feeling that Jan Pronk, the UN special envoy for Sudan, molly coddles Khartoum. There was a time last year when Mr Pronk sat in his office, situated on the upper floor of a hotel in Khartoum, while downstairs, at the same time, the most wanted Arab tribal leader gave press interviews. This happened shortly after Kofi Annan, Colin Powell and the UN Security Council demanded that Khartoum rein in the Arab militias. Khartoum always deny they have any control over the Janjaweed. Arab militias are used by Khartoum to attack the rebels because too many Sudanese soldiers originate from the Darfur region and cannot be trusted to attack their own people.

Regular Sudan Watchers will know there are two main rebel groups in Darfur, namely the SLM/SLA and JEM. Since last summer, a third rebel group has gained publicity. They broke away from the JEM and called themselves the National Movement for Reform and Development (NMRD). You have to wonder if this is a strategy employed by Sudan's rebel groups (including John Garang's) to add more strings to their bow for the Darfur peace talks. It seems obvious (to me anyway) the rebels' only aim is to weaken and overthrow a regime that aims to retain power at any cost. Both sides make the Darfur peace talks seem like a charade. Whenever the SLM/SLA and JEM are in a corner during the Darfur peace talks, they either fail to attend or walk out to cause further delays, and trouble or another rebel group springs up elsewhere to bait Khartoum into responding. NMRD rebels recently bombed an oil pump near Khartoum and protested in the streets of Port Sudan for the people of Eastern Sudan who also want a share of power and oil revenues.

The SLM/SLA and JEM are fighting for Darfur in Western Sudan. A recently signed north-south peace accord, negotiated over several years to bring peace to the whole of Sudan, covers Southern Sudan only. As a result of the signed deal, John Garang, leader of the Southern Sudan rebel group SPLM/A will soon replace Taha as First Vice-President of Sudan. Taha and Bashir are very close. It is difficult to believe Bashir and Taha are not, along with foreign minister Ismail, on the UN's list of 10 Sudanese officials suspected of being responsible for some of the war crimes committed in Darfur.

When Garang takes over as First Vice-President, it looks like Taha who, with his new responsibilities for managing the Darfur catastrophe, will float in the background, perhaps taking on the role of foreign minister Ismail who is stepping down when the newly formed South Sudan Government starts to become a reality.

Note, it is common knowledge US government officials were instrumental in getting Sudan's north-south peace accord negotiated and signed. Maybe they fear being called to an International Criminal Court to answer questions. After all, it is no secret the US backed and supported Garang's rebels. Garang is a trained economist, educated in the States. I have yet to find a report that explains how the Darfur rebels have been supported and funded over the past two years. My theory is they are supported by the international community.

The regime in Khartoum have proven to be completely untrustworthy. It can't be easy for them to know who to trust. Garang and Bashir were arch enemies. Two is company, three is a crowd. Maybe Bashir will slope off and retire, followed by Taha to avoid being called to a tribunal, and Garang will take over as president to try and unite a New Sudan. But there are many people who backed Bashir and Taha and committed atrocities over the last 15 years. Surely they would fear retribution and so continue fighting for the Arabisation of Sudan. In my view, Sudan may need to break apart. It is not easy believing peace is just around the corner. Peace may take many more years to achieve. Meanwhile, something unique is needed to change the mindset of those who hold so many grievances. Perhaps they could be helped by a charismatic and inspirational leader. Maybe Garang can do it. Maybe not. I believe women could manage the change that is needed. Men, over so many decades, attacking, raping and murdering hundreds of thousands defenceless women and children is all wrong. Today's children of Sudan ought to be carrying lambs, not arms.

Darfur rebels roam empty African plains

The following editorial re the child soldiers in the breakaway Darfur rebel group NMRD is a copy of a report dated Feb 9 by Opheera McDoom titled "Darfur rebels roam empty African plains":

JABEL MOUN, Sudan (Reuters) - Mohamed Abdel Karim crouches down on the sandy earth next to a rifle bigger than his tiny frame, lights up a cigarette and nurses a stick cast protecting his broken right arm.

The 12-year-old is one of many child soldiers caught up in fighting during the rebellion in Darfur, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives and forced more than 1.8 million people from their homes in the arid region the size of France since it began in February 2003.

Sheltering from the sweltering heat of the Savannah plains surrounding West Darfur's Jabel Moun area, he proudly states he is fighting for the freedom of his people, sporting the traditional light green head wrap which runs the entire length of his small body.

"My mother and father would be happy because I will free Darfur from tyranny," he said. His family are across the border in Chad in a refugee camp, having fled fighting last year.

He joined the rebels 11 months ago when his two brothers also joined. Mohamed carries a pistol -- he's not graduated to carrying Kalashnikovs like his older comrades.

Jabel Moun, about four and a half hours off-road driving through burned villages, desolate desert and African plains from the Chadian-Sudanese border town of Tine, is the stronghold of a breakaway rebel group, the National Movement for Reform and Development (NMRD).

The NMRD is a little-known group which split from the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) last April. Fighters said they command between 2,000 and 5,000 troops, mostly along the border with Chad and around the Jabel Moun area.

They move camps and stay as mobile as possible in clapped out old vehicles they stole from the government during attacks or in newer 4x4s, which they say were donated to them by rich supporters outside the country. Leader Gibril Abdel Karim Bari's vehicle had no windscreen left.

Gibril is the commander the militias say they most want and the rebels from NMRD most respect. An accomplished military mind, his driving skills are famously lacking. A crashed car wrapped around a smashed tree next to the track was testament to his latest accident.

"Oops, sorry," he said, laughing as he drove at breakneck speed into a ditch, with dozens of soldiers hanging off the back, clinging on for dear life.

The rebel soldiers roam throughout the rough, thorny terrain, empty for hundreds of kilometres but for the odd hawk or pea hen. Most of the inhabitants fled the fighting and are among the more than 200,000 refugees encamped in Chad. Many villages were burned.

Rebels often come under attack from Arab militias, known as Janjaweed. But they say the government has not bombed for about six months in their area.

REBEL FAMILIES

Despite the splits in Darfur's rebel movements and the external political leadership's differences, the lines between the rebel groups on the ground are faint. Many joined the NMRD from JEM or the other group, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA).

One of Mohamed Abdel Karim's brothers is in JEM, and the other in the SLA. He regularly touches base by telephone. Abdel Gasim is the general secretary of the NRMD and his uncle is the JEM spokesman in London.

"We are all fighting for the same reasons -- why would we not coordinate?" said Khalil Abdallah, the political secretary of the movement.

Gibril said his forces in South Darfur took orders from the SLA commander there and the SLA base near Jabel Moun answered to him.

The NMRD move freely back and forth across the Chadian border, where they sporadically signal to groups of armed men to let them pass.

"The roads there are safer -- on the Sudan side there are Janjaweed," said one driver, who identified himself as Ahmed.

UN report warns on child soldiers

9 Feb Guardian UK report says in his annual report to the UN Security Council on child soldiers, Kofi Annan recommended sanctions against groups who use child soldiers. These could include travel bans on leaders, arms embargoes and a "restriction on the flow of financial resources to the parties concerned," he said.

The report said child soldiers are used in Burundi, Ivory Coast, Congo, Somalia, Sudan, Colombia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Uganda. There are about 300,000 child soldiers around the world, compared to between 350,000 and 380,000 two years ago.

Annan's report said child soldiers are used in the Darfur by the Arab militia known as the Janjaweed, which has killed, maimed and committed grave sexual violence against children.

The UN Security Council is to debate Annan's report on Feb. 23.
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Darfur refugees live in Chad within sight of their homes

Update 10 Feb: Reuters report from Tine, Chad tells us a little about the Sudanese refugees sheltering on the Chadian side of Tine, a town that straddles the border of Sudan and Chad. Here is a copy of the report Feb 10:

Sudanese refugee Rajab and thousands of other refugees have lived on the Chadian side of Tine town for 13 months since they fled battles between rebels and government forces in Sudanese Tine. The towns are separated by a dry river bed. Rajab lives 50 metres from his home -- but he dare not go back to live there for fear of being caught in the middle of a two-year-old rebellion in Darfur bordering Chad. "If we go back the opposition (rebels) may kill us thinking we are with the government, and the government may accuse us of being with the rebels and kill us," he said.

A makeshift refugee camp extends Chadian Tine's suburbs by a few kilometres on all sides. Buses and trucks fill the marketplace, ready to transfer hundreds of Sudanese back to the camps set up by aid agencies away from the border and which house more than 200,000 refugees.

Mohamed Mansour Dousa said rebels had told the refugees not to go back to the Sudanese side. He is the son of the leader of the main Zaghawa tribe in Tine and wears Sudanese traditional white turban and galabiyya. "And we don't want to go back until there is a final peace deal between the rebels and the government," he said. "Otherwise war could break out at any time -- there's no guarantees."

Many of the lesser-educated women repeated stories they had clearly heard over and over again. "(President) Omar al-Bashir will kill us if we go back. The Janjaweed are his family," Tanbus Adam Haggar said, flashing a toothless grin. "People say the Janjaweed are still there, attacking," she said.

The Zaghawa, are the base for the revolution

Colourfully dressed women described pictures of sprawling Sudanese Tine completely flattened by government bombardment, and did not believe it was mostly still standing, if completely empty.

Adam Shatta, a Zaghawa, said Janjaweed shot and killed three of his children. He managed to save two by heaving one on each shoulder and running to safety across the border to Chad in February 2004. "I want to go back and will, but only when the government gets rid of the Janjaweed," he said. "My farm is still waiting for me." He said non-Arab tribes could go back but the Zaghawa would never go back until there was a final peace deal.

"We, the Zaghawa, are the base for the revolution," he said. "That's why the government wants to kill us."

African Union not trusted

Najmeddin Ibrahim Eissa said the African Union, mandated to monitor a shaky ceasfire between the warring parties in Darfur, was not well liked among the general population.

"They are seen to be too sympathetic with the government because they have such close relations and cooperate so much together," he said. "I don't have anything against them personally but they do need a wider peace-keeping mandate."

Sudanese Tine was a bustling town of tens of thousands but now about 150 people live there with about 3,000 government soldiers, who fill the market place.

The AU camp of about 90 soldiers lies a few hundred metres outside the town and is the only life to be heard at night, apart from sporadic eery whispers blown over on the wind from acoss the border.

"The people will only go back when the army soldiers leave the town and the African Union soldiers move into Tine," said Hussein Bishara Dousa.
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AU observers have failed people of Darfur: Sudan rebel leader

9 Feb (AFP) report says African Union (AU) observers monitoring a ceasefire between ethnic minority rebels and government forces in Darfur have failed the local population, a rebel leader charged Wednesday.

"They have failed to be observers. Their presence has had no effect on the ground," Abdul Wahid Mohammed Ahmed al-Nur, leader of the SLM, told AFP by telephone from Asmara, Eritrea. "All they have done is watch and write," said Nur, arguing that the military observers have also failed to adequately respond to reports about attacks on civilians, often arriving "four or five days after an incident".

Nur called on the UN Security Council to issue a resolution changing the mandate of the AU in Darfur from observer to a full-fledged peacekeeping mission with a larger force and broader mandate. "I also urge African countries and others to contribute forces to protect civilians in Darfur," the SLM leader said.

Leader of the SPLM/A John Garang has proposed the deployment of a tripartite force -- one-third each from the government, the SPLA and the AU -- to oversee the Darfur ceasefire and end the bloodshed. "You really do need a robust force in order to be able to sufficiently protect the civilian population," Garang said Monday in New York.

Nur welcomed the participation of the SPLA in such a force, but said the government, which he accused of complicity in attacks against civilians in Darfur, cannot be part of that force. "We cannot accept that," he said.

AU says parties have demonstrated no real political will or commitment to finding solution for Darfur Sudan crisis

8 Feb Reuters report says Taha and Garang told the UN Security Council today not to make prosecuting war criminals as its first priority. Taha said bringing the accused to justice "should not distract us from the need to realise peace first and to put an end to all hostilities."

Taha and Garang said development aid that was promised upon signing of the North-South peace agreement should be provided before the Darfur conflict ends. [Note, the international community is withholding development aid for Sudan until there is peace throughout Sudan]

Taha said the impoverished country should be free of any economic sanctions and that foreign debt should be completely written off. Garang agreed, saying any lack of reconstruction help, in a country that has known only a few years of peace since independence, would be self defeating.

Garang proposed a new force of some 15,000 to 30,000 troops to keep peace in Darfur -- a third from the government, a third from his Sudanese People's Liberation Army and the rest from the African Union and others.

Garang said the janjaweed, needed to be punished -- but only after peace was achieved.
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Parties not demonstrating political will or commitment

Jan Pronk said the Sudanese government was incapable of reining in the Janjaweed, the Darfur rebels were making a power grab and the African Union peacekeeping force needed to be supplemented by a "third force."

Pronk appealed to all parties, including the AU and members of the Security Council, "to find a creative way to expand the present third force into one which can stop all attacks."

Baba Gana Kingibe, the African Union special representative in Sudan, said the number of troops was not the issue.

"So far, I have not found that the parties have demonstrated sufficient political will or commitment to finding a lasting solution to the crisis," he said, adding that 3,320 troops and police would be on the ground by mid-April.
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Sudanese tell UN Security Council it wants all for nothing

8 Feb UN news report excerpt:

Mr. Taha called on the international community to support efforts aimed at reconstruction and development, to lift any economic and trade restrictions or sanctions, to write off all foreign debt, to initiate partnerships with Sudan and to give generously at a forthcoming donors' conference in Oslo, Norway.

Mr. Garang noted the many challenges ahead, including the return of hundreds of thousands of refugees and millions of internally displaced persons (IDPs), some of whom are already moving to their home areas before necessary conditions were in place, thus putting additional strain on host communities. The SPLM needs assistance, he said.

Mr. Annan, who attended the session in view of its historic significance, did not speak, but in his report he emphasizes the substantial resources needed for relief and recovery and calls for the deployment of a multidimensional UN peace support operation that includes more than 10,000 troops and civilian police.

His Special Representative for Sudan, Jan Pronk, underlined the important momentum the peace accord in the south could give to efforts to solve Sudan's other major conflict in the west, in Darfur, where tens of thousands of people have been killed and nearly 2 million displaced in the past two years in what the UN has called the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

The Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission in the Sudan, Baba Gana Kingibe, stressed that the coming weeks would be critical for the smooth take-off of the new agreement and the manner in which its implementation unfolded would determine the future not only of Darfur and other areas in conflict within the Sudan but also to the future of the country as a whole.

Further reading:

8 Feb UN press statement on Sudan by Security Council President, excerpt: The Council calls on all parties to cooperate fully with the African Union mission and to ensure its freedom of movement and safety in all areas of Darfur. In the absence of progress on the ground and in the political process the situation in Darfur can only further deteriorate, and put at great risk the future of the whole country. The Council encourages Vice-President Taha and Dr. Garang to use their leverage in Darfur to ensure speedy progress in the Abuja talks.

Darfur Sudan genocide has killed more than the tsunami

Jan Coebergh, a doctor with an interest in epidemiology who worked in Darfur before the present crisis writes:

News reports have consistently reported 70,000 dead in Darfur. This figure is certainly wrong. Infact, at least three and perhaps four times as many people have died. By this time next year the death toll may equal that of Rwanda in 1984.

Full Story Sudan Tribune Jan 31, 2005 [via A Tangled Web, with thanks]
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UN: reports of unrest continue to flow in from Darfur

7 Feb UN confirms reports of unrest continue to flow in from various parts of Sudan's western Darfur region, including abductions, the burning of villages, the disruption of relief operations and shooting, the UN mission in the country said.

African Union (AU) monitors and humanitarian agencies last week found seven villages that have been totally burnt recently and three others abandoned in South Darfur state, but there was no information on who was responsible, the UN Advance Mission in Sudan (UNAMIS) reported.

In North Darfur, an AU team found over the weekend that six people were abducted allegedly by three armed men who took their cattle before releasing them. In West Darfur suspected armed tribesmen disrupted a food distribution operation by a non-governmental organization (NGO), while other armed tribesmen looted 50 bags of cereal and five bags of sugar.

The UN World Health Organization (WHO), meanwhile, is helping the Ministry of Health to raise supplementary funds to constitute a vaccine stock in the event of widespread meningitis outbreak.

According to the Ministry, between 22 January and 2 February, 69 cases, 23 deaths of them fatal, were reported from Gadaref and Blue Nile states. Since then, more cases and related deaths have been reported form South Kordofan and El Gazeria states.
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Situation in Darfur dramatically worsened, says African Union

7 Feb Deutsche Presse article says the African Union envoy to Sudan confirmed in a statement late Sunday that the security situation in Darfur "had progressively deteriorated to appalling levels over the last four months, with with unacceptable consequences to the peace and tranquility of the civilian populations." Also, that the worst perpetrators in the worsening situation in Darfur were "mostly the Janjaweed/Armed Militias who appeared to enjoy immunity from their inhuman and brazen acts of destruction of life and property wherever they struck".

An AU mission is currently in South Darfur, investigating an air raid by government planes reported to have killed about 100 people on January 26. Thirty people were killed on January 13 and 24 more on January 21 in previous air raids, according to AU reports.
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Darfur rebel commanders split from group

4 Feb ReliefWeb confirms that about 10 Darfur rebel commanders have renounced leadership of the main movement in Sudan's west, rebel officials said on Friday, raising fears that negotiations for Darfur could stutter.

Also last week, UN envoy Jan Pronk stressed to Council members that the peace process in southern Sudan will falter unless there is no incentive for any Sudanese groups to solve their problems through force. These groups "could be people in other parts of Sudan who feel oppressed, marginalized or neglected," he said.

Mr. Pronk said it was therefore vital to move quickly to disarm and demobilise former combatants, reform the security sector, return and reintegrate refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), establish solid economic and political governance, promote the rule of law, remove landmines, rebuild damaged infrastructure and reduce poverty.

The envoy acknowledged that "this is an enormous challenge," and also emphasised that the UN mission is designed to have "a relatively light footprint" - helping the Sudanese fulfil functions rather than imposing or carrying them out itself.
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Darfur rebel group NMRD halts talks with government

8 Feb Swiss news report says a breakaway Darfur rebel group has suspended negotiations with the Sudanese government after Arab militias attacked villages in its areas, the leaders of the movement said. The group, the National Movement for Reform and Development, (NMRD), split from the two main Darfur rebel movements last year but signed separate ceasefire agreements and humanitarian and security protocols with Khartoum on December 17. The two sides were supposed to meet on January 17 to discuss implementing those deals.

"We never went and now we are suspending negotiations," said political secretary Khalil Abdallah.
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Sudan's Beja opposition demands more power

6 Feb Reuters report says an opposition group from Sudan's increasingly unstable east called today for more power and resources for the impoverished region, echoing demands made by other anti-Khartoum forces in Africa's largest country. Here is an excerpt from the report:

Last month, Sudanese police killed at least 20 ethnic Beja when they opened fire in Port Sudan on protesters preparing for a march to demand that the Khartoum government start negotiations on sharing power and the country's resources.

Ali El-Safi, an official of the opposition Beja Congress, added in an interview that the movement rejected a recent pact on Sudan's future reached with Khartoum by an alliance of opposition groups of which it is a member, arguing it does not tackle the east's problems.

''We need our share of power and wealth. We need a federal state. That is, we need to solve our problems by ourselves,'' Safi told Reuters at a meeting in neighbouring Eritrea of Sudan's opposition umbrella National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

''Then there are grievances of development. We are a backwater in the East, so we need to allocate resources to address these problems,'' he added.

Originally a nomadic people, many moved to the port to work as labourers after famine killed their cattle and mechanised farming took over their lands in the 1980s.

The Beja Congress, which has a military wing that has carried out minor military operations in the east, and other Sudanese opposition groups accuse the government of neglecting the remote regions of the country in favour of the centre.

They see an accord signed in January between the government and the southern rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) as a model for their own regions. The agreement gives the southerners a share of their region's oil revenues.

The NDA was a serious challenge to Khartoum in the 1990s, when it launched a military campaign into the east from Eritrea. The alliance says it still has thousands of fighters under arms.

Apart from the SPLM, the other main group in the NDA is the Democratic Unionist Party, one of the big traditional parties in the Arab north. Other members include the Sudanese Communist Party, the Baath Party, the Beja Congress, the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) from Darfur in the west and an alliance of southern parties independent of the SPLM.

The government and NDA reached a tentative agreement in Cairo on January 16 on Sudan's political future that builds on a peace accord already signed with the SPLM.

The power-sharing deal struck by Khartoum and the SPLM allocates a proportion of seats in a new national government to other parties, and the Cairo accordpaves the way for talks on how to divide up those seats and how to integrate opposition armed forces into the national army.

But Safi said the Beja Congress rejected the pact.

''Our stance is clear. We refused the Cairo agreement because it doesn't address the Eastern problem,'' he said. ''The substance is not convincing, a very superficial tackling of the problem.'' NDA negotiators are due to fly to Cairo on Friday for further talks with the Khartoum government to build on the Cairo pact. Safi said the Beja Congress should be the sole negotiator for the NDA when the east is discussed at the Cairo talks.
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Sudanese vice president, leader of former rebels to attend UN meeting today

8 Feb Reuters report says Kofi Annan said Sudan refused to arrest those responsible for atrocities in Darfur, and rebels intensified attacks against police forces. Also, Annan said he was investigating how a planned UN peacekeeping mission in the South could help the African Union, which is monitoring the Darfur crisis. But he stopped short of recommending the peacekeepers go to Darfur, which would require Khartoum's permission.


Photo: Kofi Annan and Jan Pronk

Today, Mr Annan, along with AU representative Baba Gana Kingibe, Sudanese First Vice President Osman Taha and John Garang, leader of former rebels in southern Sudan, will participate in an open meeting of the UN Security Council. During the session which will last for two days, the council will discuss the arrangements to implement the North-South peace agreement which the Sudanese government signed with the SPLM on Jan. 9 as well as the establishment of a UN peacekeeping mission to this effect, and the conflict in Darfur, West Sudan.
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Annan discussed Darfur with Bashir and Ismail on Feb 2

6 Feb RFE/RL report reveals Kofi Annan told a press conference on 2 February that on a recent trip to Nigeria he was able to meet with Sudanese leaders to warn them that they must end the bloodshed.

"And I was also able to sit down with President of Sudan and his foreign minister, with my representative, for us to tell them exactly what we think should be done and the fact that the situation in Darfur was not getting any better and it was essential that they took every step to bring the situation under control," Annan said.

The chairman of the UN Security Council, said on 2 February after a closed council meeting that the council members are determined to make sure the Darfur crimes are punished.

But the Security Council has yet to take concrete action. One reason is that China and the United States oppose referring the case to the ICC, for very different reasons.


Photo: Sudanese First Vice President Osman Taha (AFP/File/Gerard Cerles)

Sudan will not allow any citizen to be tried abroad in connection with suspected crimes against humanity in Darfur, Taha was quoted by the press as saying.

A sealed envelope containing 51 names of senior officials, security force members and other citizens accused of serious war crimes has been sent to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The identities of about 40 more individuals accused of similar abuses, but with less evidence gathered against them, have been sent to the U.N. Commissioner for Human Rights for possible further investigations.

None of the names have been made public to ensure due process is carried out and to protect witnesses. Washington lobbied Security Council members for a new tribunal to prosecute alleged crimes from Darfur which would operate with the African Union.
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Justice for Darfur needs more than 'consensus'

7 Feb report at Independent UK suggests Britain supports an ICC referral as long as America does not disagree.

Note, well that's what real friends are for. No?
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Sudan number two sets out Darfur peace proposals

5 Feb Middle East news report says Taha called upon "the holders of weapons" to abide by a much broken 10-month-old truce and return to the negotiating table in search of a comprehensive settlement, state television reported from the North Darfur state capital of El Fasher.

"The gun will not bring about a solution to the problem -- development and services will not be reached via subversion," Taha said, urging the rebels to "put down the gun so that all of us will carry the spade for building Darfur."

"We reiterate our commitment to a decentralized rule in Darfur and the people of Darfur will rule their region at their own will."

Taha warned the rebels not to rely on foreign intervention to secure satisfaction of their demands. "Seeking foreign protection and resorting to international powers will not contribute to confidence building and will only lead to renewed fighting among the sons of the homeland." [Note: this is what he means - see Feb 8 report titled "Darfur rebels want UN to supervise talks with Sudan government"]

The vice president, who was recently appointed the government's pointman in the Darfur conflict, said the search for a solution was proceeding on three tracks.

One subcommittee would investigate complaints of criminal acts against the security forces and their allied militias, another would look into compensation for the victims, while a third would address the root causes of conflict between the minorities and the region's Arab tribes.

Taha said the subcommittees would tour the entire region to listen to grievances and vowed: "There will be no courtesy or leniency with anyone who has done injustice."

UN envoy Jan Pronk said Friday that he feared last month's peace deal ending two decades of conflict in southern Sudan would prove short-lived without an end to the bloodshed in Darfur.

"I am convinced that without a solution in Darfur, the north-south will not remain a sustainable peace agreement," he told reporters after briefing the Security Council in New York.

The European Union has called for an immediate end to the "impunity" of government forces and militias in Darfur, which are held responsible for widespread rape and murder in the suppression of the nearly two year old rebellion.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Friday that the Security Council would decide how to bring to justice suspected war criminals in Darfur but Khartoum has said it is totally opposed to any overseas trials of its nationals.
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Kofi Annan's 6-month review of Darfur confirms dramatic increase in lawlessness

A 6-month review of the Darfur crisis was issued by Kofi Annan in a report to the UN Security Council last night. It said Sudan's government implemented some promised measures but ignored others and instituted a "road-clearance" project that wiped out villages in an attempt to retaliate against armed rebels.

"The last six months have seen a substantial increase in lawlessness, in particular banditry and abduction, which have dramatically increased since October," said the report.

"Fighting on the ground continues, and those responsible for atrocious crimes on a passive scale go unpunished. Militias continue to attack, claiming they are not part of any agreement. The government has not stopped them."

On hand for today's UN Security Council meeting will be Charles Snyder, the State Department's lead negotiator on Sudan, and Pierre-Richard Prosper, the U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes. Prosper is lobbying council members to have the Sudanese accused of atrocities tried in a court in Tanzania, rather than the European-preferred International Criminal Court, which the Bush administration opposes.

The US intends to pick up "a significant share of the costs," a senior U.S. officials said. But Prosper's presence could prove embarrassing for Taha, whose government has said no Sudanese would go on trial outside the country. In anticipation of the meeting, the US distributed "elements" of a resolution to the 15 council members. It would create a committee to decide which Sudanese officials, militia and rebels members should be put under a travel ban and have their assets frozen abroad.

In addition, the draft resolution seeks an arms embargo on Darfur and again threatens an oil embargo but does not call for it to be instituted. The draft, when completed, will not designate where perpetrators of atrocities would be tried until that issue is settled among council members.

Russia and China have argued against sanctions in the past. But all 15 council members, except for the United States and China, have signed or ratified the treaty creating the Hague-based International Criminal Court, a permanent court set up to try individuals for genocide, war crimes and massive human-rights abuses.

Further reading:

8 Feb report in the Guardian UK says Sudan has failed two major UN demands aimed at ending violence in its Darfur region - disarm militias and arrest groups attacking villagers, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Monday Excerpt:

Annan's grim report details commitments the government has failed to keep, a lack of cooperation by rebels in peace talks, and increasing threats to humanitarian workers. Annan has asked the council to approve a 10,130-strong U.N. peacekeeping mission to enforce the north-south peace deal, but he stressed again yesterday that efforts to monitor and verify the Jan. 9 agreement must include the separate Darfur crisis.

Annan's report said the government has made "little progress" in meeting its UN obligation to adopt measures to end impunity, investigate reports of human rights violations, and ensure that the accused are brought to justice without delay.

Since September, it said, there also has been no evidence of disarmament as the government promised. "Disarmament and arrest of the perpetrators of these brutal acts is the single most important demand of the council and the clearest case of failure by the government to live up to its responsibilities," the report said.
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Sudan vows to frustrate sanction attempts

7 Feb Xinhua China View reports that Sudanese Secretary General of the ruling National Congress (NC) Party Ibrahim Ahmed Omar stressed on Monday that the government would do its best to frustrate attempts to impose sanctions on Sudan.

Omar told reporters that Sudanese First Vice President Ali Osman Taha would present the government's stance on how to solve the Darfur problem to the UN Security Council on Tuesday Feb 8.

Omar pointed out that the Sudanese government had decided to assume the stance at the five-way summit held in Tripoli last October, which was attended by leaders of Libya, Egypt, Nigeria, Chad and Sudan.

"The UN secretary general's call to impose sanctions on Sudan is baseless and unjustified because he is not a president of an international government nor an executive authority," said Omar. "Annan might have been confused about the issue," he said, expressing hope that the UN Security Council would listen to real facts on the issue and regard the efforts exerted to end the crisis in the region.
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Garang said he is willing to help seek a solution to Darfur

5 Feb - Former southern rebel leader John Garang, soon to be installed as Sudan's vice president following the north-south peace accord in January, has said he is willing to help seek a solution to the war in Darfur. "I will listen to the government and the resistance and I will be happy to play that role," he said after meeting the head of the AU, Alpha Oumar Konare, over the weekend.
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Sudan accuses some "foreign circles" of stirring up Darfur conflict

7 Feb China View reports that Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir accused on Monday some "foreign circles" of stirring up conflict in the western region of Darfur.

In an interview with an Iranian TV channel, Bashir affirmed that "some hidden hands are working for stirring up the conflict in Darfur."

"These foreign circles wanted to internationalize the Darfur issue to divert attention of the international community from what is taking place in Palestine and Iraq," he said.

He announced that his government will soon reach an agreement with the opposition Democratic National Alliance in Cairo, Egypt, to realize a national compromise among Sudanese people.

The Sudanese president reiterated his government's determination to implement a peace agreement it signed with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Jan. 9.

"We will achieve our objectives," he said, referring to an improvement in the wake of the long-standing war in southern Sudan.


Photo: Omar el-Bashir
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Homecoming delayed for Sudanese refugees in Uganda

8 Feb report by IRIN confirms the SPLM/A has opened offices in Juba barely a month after signing a peace accord with Khartoum to end 21 years of conflict. The southern Sudanese flag flew high as jubilant crowds held banners that read: 'Welcome, Welcome new Sudan', 'Bye-Bye Old Sudan' and 'Our long awaited child "peace" is born, handle him with care'. Full Story. Note, While the town of Rumbek will initially be the main political headquarters in the south, John Garang, the leader of SPLM/A, has previously stated that Juba would eventually become the new capital of South Sudan.
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5 Feb Reuters report via Sudan Tribune: Shattered infrastructure and the threat of landmines are delaying the assisted return of thousands of south Sudanese refugees languishing in camps in northern Uganda, the UN refugee agency said on Saturday. Full Story.


Photo: Sudanese refugees arriving at Kyangwali settlement in Uganda after being displaced from their original camp in Achol Pii

Note, Uganda hosts about 220,000 Sudanese refugees, more than any other country bordering Sudan. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) says moves to transport them home are not expected to start until October. "We are taking a very cautious, phased approach," the agency's representative in Uganda, told Reuters.

"UNHCR has not been operating in southern Sudan for 20 years, so we are starting from scratch to begin receiving these groups. There is very little infrastructure in place, and of course there is the huge problem of landmines."

Officials from seven nations hosting Sudanese refugees -- Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda -- held talks in Khartoum this week to discuss repatriation plans.



This is the market where an returning refugee sells her homemade beer. There is not a lot of choice as most of the goods which are on sale here are made locally. A few of the things are brought in from Uganda and Kenya. Photo courtesy BBC.

Analysts say some of those who fled to neighbouring states do not necessarily support southern leader John Garang -- who becomes vice president under the peace deal -- and are seeking assurances of their safety before making the journey home.

Since Sudan's peace deal was signed in January there have been no large-scale movements of refugees heading home unaided.
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Darfur ghost town awaits return of its citizens

6 Feb Reuters describes the ghost town of Tine on the Chad-Sudan border where a few residents remain, camping in the hospital and the dilapidated school while they wait for their old neighbours to return:

All 5,000 or so inhabitants of the town, in the Darfur region of western Sudan, fled in late 2003 when rebels and government forces clashed nearby and government forces bombarded the town and surrounding areas.

About 200 have returned but they live from day to day, ready to move on if the need arises. Full Story.

Note, their stories stop people coming back. But also the people are scared. They do not believe there is now security.
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Stricken Darfur faces food crisis

The following editorial is an excerpt from an in-depth report at the Wall Street Journal Feb 7:

Jan Pronk, the UN's chief envoy in Sudan, says the cumulative effect of one failed harvest after another, along with rising prices and malnutrition rates, could eventually leave all six million Darfurians in need of food aid. Surveying the economics now in play, he says, "the future in 2005 is bad."

Hunger has been willfully engineered by destroying all aspects of the agricultural system. Seed stocks have been burned, animals stolen or killed, and the tools of cultivation, such as hoes and tractors, smashed. The current Darfur crisis, however, will likely continue even after the farmers return to their land, because the very means of their livelihood have been destroyed.

In December WFP said more than half of the $438 million of food aid needed in Darfur for 2005 must be delivered by the end of January, to insure food would be in place before rains make overland transport nearly impossible and isolate tens of thousands of people. In addition to food donations -- wheat, beans, cooking oil and a corn-soya blend make up the standard ration -- cash contributions were needed to buy dozens of heavy-duty trucks to haul the food across the desert.

If enough food isn't available for Darfur, the WFP may be forced to reduce the size of the monthly rations, or limit the number of recipients.

Even when Darfur dominated the humanitarian spotlight last year -- nearly 100 relief agencies flocked in to help with water, sanitation and health care -- Darfur's farming needs were overlooked. The U.N. says the agriculture section of its appeal, which would have provided seeds and tools to help farmers, received less than one-fifth of funding requirements.

Note, Last year I published a post that quotes Sudanese President Bashir saying he would ensure the Darfurians were provided with all sorts of things including, seeds. See here, the offer is not mentioned again:

Government officials in Khartoum downplay the food scarcities, and have resisted pressure from the U.N. to stabilize prices by shifting 100,000 tons of food from other regions to Darfur. "There is a food gap in Darfur, but it's not so significant," says Ahmad Ali El Hassan, the director of rain-fed agriculture. "Humanitarian assistance will fill the gap."

He insists Darfur's farmers, despite continuing security threats, will leave the camps and return to their farms to plant this spring. He concedes the farmers' seeds, tools and livestock have been destroyed in the war, which the government blames on tribal conflicts. Still, he says, "God willing, we'll get a good crop."

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Meanwhile, Sudan plans to put its first satellite in orbit this year at a cost of 60 million dollars.
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MSF news update on activities in Darfur, Sudan

Here is an excerpt from the latest news in the field by Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Darfur:

By December 2004, 197 international volunteers and 2,582 national staff for MSF were providing emergency assistance in 27 locations in Darfur in areas with more than 600,000 displaced people. MSF doctors and nurses conducted an estimated 78,000 consultations each month. MSF's main activities continued to focus on treating malnourished children in therapeutic feeding centers (TFCs) and supplementary feeding centers (SFCs); treating patients suffering from diseases like respiratory infections, diarrhea, hepatitis E, and malaria; running blanket feeding programs; and providing clean water and improving sanitation to reduce the risk of disease.

It is now winter, and very cold in the mountainous regions. There are still many needs in the areas controlled by the rebels. The MSF assessment of the Jebel Si region in November and December showed that people in remote and isolated regions still need absolutely everything - food, non-food items, medical care etc.

Increasing insecurity has impacted on the food distribution activities of other agencies, especially in the north part of North Darfur. On November 1st, a group of 300 women demonstrated at Abu Shouk camp during a WFP food distribution. They were protesting about being omitted from the distribution for the past 3 months. Police were called in, and tear gas and electric sticks were used to disperse the angry mob.
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Violence strikes Eastern Sudan

Graham Wood, Head of Policy at Ockenden International, has lived and worked in Africa, Asia and the Middle East for the past 20 years. Here is an excerpt from his op-ed:

Eastern Sudan has received little attention by the international media and even by some donors. Yet according to the UN World Food Programme, the nutritional situation of children is worse than in parts of Darfur.

Some 250,000 displaced Sudanese also live in the main towns of Port Sudan and Kassala. Many of these live under cardboard boxes, spending what little they have on the water to survive in the desert climate. In 20 years of working in some of the world's poorest countries, the conditions in the poorest areas of Port Sudan are as bad as any I have seen.

Ethnic tensions run high in Sudan. There will be many calls on the resources of the new [South Sudan] government. And that government has to respond, throughout the country, by ensuring a representative mix of peoples making up its number and the even-handed distribution of resources.

Some three million have lost their lives as a result of 20 years of conflict. North, south, east and west: the vast majority of Sudanese live an existence on the edge. Without an intelligent distribution of aid money, conflict is likely to be the result from those who feel left out.

The [recent] Port Sudan clashes herald changes to come and are likely to occur elsewhere. They are, in some ways, part of the bidding process of peace. How they are dealt with will be an indication of the future shape, and fate, of this troubled state.
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Sudan and Chad's leaders to meet on Darfur with AU next week

7 Feb Middle East article says the presidents of Sudan and Chad will meet African Union officials February 15-16 to discuss enforcing a ceasefire.

"This will entail knowing where rebel positions are in order to enforce a ceasefire, the neutralisation and disarming of the Janjaweed and the withdrawal of government forces to their positions of before December 8, 2004, in line with the last resolution made by the AU Peace and Security Council" in Gabon.

The talks will also be attended by representatives of Libya, the United States, France and the European Union.
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Professor explores cause of genocide

8 Feb Nashville City Paper article by Ron Wynn - excerpt:

Dictatorial practices by Sudan's central government are the main culprit responsible for the ongoing crisis in that African nation, according to Dr. Mahgoub Mahmoud, Tennessee State University (TSU) professor of sociology.

"In realty, the central government has created a situation where parties from the other regions have been in conflict trying to get some measure of representation, and their wishes have been repeatedly ignored.

"The central government seized power in a military coup decades ago and has been brutalizing all political opponents and refusing to share power ever since.

"Without addressing the political problems in all the regions of Sudan, you have a situation of constant conflict, lawlessness and groups preying on other groups. But all that has to be understood within the realm of the central government refusing to share power and acknowledge its faults," he added.

Mahmoud has been at TSU since the late '90s, but he was born and raised in Omdurman, the capital city in central Sudan.

He credits human rights organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch with publicizing the atrocities that have often spotlighted the enslavement and brutalization of Christians in the area by Muslims, but he cautions things are far more complex than usually presented.

"As far as injustices go, the central military has been responsible for a campaign that has tried to eliminate many different groups and religions," Mahmoud said. "There is an element of enslavement in this, but it must be viewed within a political context, not a racial or a religious one."

Mahmoud also praised the American government for its role in working alongside other African nations in the region to find some peaceful solutions.

"As a result of those efforts, the Southern region will now have a chance for autonomous rule," Mahmoud said.

"This accord, which also instituted a referendum in January, has opened the possibilities for changes in the nation's other regions and for eventually the central government to share the wealth and power with all the people and regions of Sudan. Until they really recognize and begin that process, the problems will continue."

"The biggest misconception that many around the world have regarding the Sudan is that is it just a tribal conflict with the JanJaweed tribal group attacking other groups," Mahmoud said.
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Sudan Crisis far from over, warns Sudan expert

7 Feb 2005 Caritas report says two recent developments have allowed the Sudanese government to get away with increasing atrocities in Darfur, warned John Ashworth, a spokesman for Sudan Focal Point, who is visiting Australia on behalf of Caritas Australia during Project Compassion to warn about the worsening of the Sudan crisis.

Mr. Ashworth spoke at the annual Caritas Australia lunch hosted by Premier Bob Carr at State Parliament House on Monday. Here is an excerpt from a report at ReliefWeb:

"The Asian tsunami has taken the media's attention away from Darfur. And the recent peace settlement in the South, announced in early January, has given many in the West the impression that the Darfur crisis is now over," said Mr. Ashworth. "But in fact, nothing could be further from the truth. The situation for people in Darfur has actually worsened - and is likely to deteriorate even more," he said.

"In the 1970s oil was discovered in the South, so the strategy of the government, highly centralized in the North, then became one of dividing the loyalties of groups who had been agitating for the rights of the people in the South, so both groups would be severely weakened," he said. "In fact, the Sudanese government began carrying out ethnic cleansing campaigns around the oil fields of the South as early as 1997," he said.

Mr Ashworth said that recent interest by the American administration in monitoring the events in the Sudan had been helpful in bringing peace to the South. The US government is motivated by its fear of Sudan's potential as a terrorist state and continues to watch the situation carefully because of plans it has for a restructured middle east. In addition, the US needs to diversify its sources of oil supply.

"All these factors mean that the US is interested in the Sudan and this has a protective effect. But unfortunately the priorities of the US are not about the long-term interests of the people of the Sudan. And many of us have grave concerns about the vulnerability of the South, once the US loses interest in it."

Mr. Ashworth said the peace agreement recently struck between the North and the South 'looks good on paper'. The people of the South have been offered a six year interim period, after which they will be given the opportunity to vote on seceding from the North. "But the Southern Sudanese are very concerned that, given the 50 year history of agreements broken by the North that this agreement may also be undermined," he said. So how can the people of the Australia help the Sudanese of the South? Mr. Ashworth identified six ways. Full Story
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World forgetting Darfur crisis, says Dallaire

8 Feb Canadian CTVNews excerpt: Romeo Dallaire says the world's silence over the crisis in Sudan bears haunting resemblance to what he remembers before the massacre in Rwanda a decade ago.

The retired lieutenant general, whose horrific experiences in Rwanda became both an award-winning book and documentary, is now a fellow with the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. There, he works on preventing other Rwandan-style crises.

Dallaire says the atrocities in the Darfur region of Sudan are not any different from the genocide he observed in Rwanda, in which about 800,000 Rwandans, most of them Tutsis, died at the hands of Hutus.

"It is. It's another Rwanda," Dallaire told Canada AM from Boston. Full Story.


Photo: Amnesty International's Alex Neve

Alex Neve of Amnesty International Canada says UN has to start taking tougher action and begin arresting those responsible for the killings.

"A recent UN commission of inquiry has looked at the situation in Darfur and it's very clearly said there's a need for strong international justice now," he told Canada AM from Ottawa. "We have a tribunal that was established two years ago, the International Criminal Court, which is perfectly poised to play that role.

"If there's not something done very quickly to break that kind of cycle of impunity whereby military and other leaders in Sudan feel they can commit abuses of this sort and get away with it, then the crisis in Darfur is only going to deepen -- and in other parts of Sudan where there's very serious concerns may deteriorate as well."

"There's been ample advance warning going back months and even years that a crisis was mounting in Darfur, just as there was ample warning that a crisis was coming in Rwanda.

"If the international community doesn't start soon to begin to take effective action at early stages to head off crises of this sort, then Africa is going to continue to suffer the kind of inattention it's getting now."

As for the current Darfur situation, Dallaire has his own ideas of what should be done. He says if the UN Security Council cannot get its act together and come with a resolution, "then middle powers, like Canada and Germany and Japan, should join forces with the African Union, beef it up, and go in under that regional power."


Photo: Romeo Dallaire
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Sudan Begins 3rd Consecutive Term on Human Rights Panel

8 Feb Talon news report from Hawaii, copied here in full:

Even while the UN is recommending sending 10,000 troops to Sudan to quell genocidal violence there, the African nation begins a third consecutive term on the world body's Human Rights Commission.

Fred Gedrich, a former US State and Defense Department official who has traveled extensively throughout Africa and the Middle East, explained to Talon News that politics is at the center of the incongruity.

"The global body -- particularly its general assembly -- is controlled by a majority of states that do not have truly free and democratic governments," Gedrich said. "Sudan happens to be a member of three powerful voting blocs in the institution: 56-nation Islamic Conference, 53-nation African Union, and the 22 members of the League of Arab States. Such alliances serve to protect ruthless regimes like Sudan from criticism and get them promoted to prestigious positions within the U.N. system -- often to the detriment of their citizens and mankind."

The State Department has labeled Sudan a terrorist state, and many human rights groups classify its regime as being one of the worst human rights abusers. It had been the home of such notorious terrorists as Abu Nidal, Carlos the Jackal, and Usama bin Laden, and a supporter of terror groups such as Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and Hezbollah.

Gedrich recounted Sudan's bloody past saying, "Sudan has remained in almost a perpetual state of civil warfare since it achieved independence, with British and Egyptian consent, in 1956. The Sunni Arab majority -- which represents about 70 percent of the population -- controls the government apparatus and the military. Human rights groups like Freedom House and Amnesty International as well as the U.S. Department of State and others have accused Sudan's rulers of committing genocide against millions of Black Africans that occupy the southern part of the nation."

He is critical of the U.N.'s response to the situation, creating a commission of inquiry that recently concluded that the Arab controlled government has not pursued a policy of genocide despite compelling evidence to the contrary.

Gedrich said, "These U.N. actions offer little comfort to the 2 billion people in the world who live under oppression and who would like to look to the U.N. Human Rights Commission for hope and help - or millions of Black African Sudanese currently suffering under the tight-fisted rule of their Arab oppressors."

He pointed out that since the end of the colonial era African nations have opposed outside interference in their internal affairs. Millions have perished as the result of that policy that breeds situations like those witnessed in Rwanda, Sudan, and elsewhere.

Gedrich chastised the U.N., saying, "Responsible members of the free world - led by the United States - appear ready to help alleviate and end the massive suffering being endured by Sudan's African Black population. The U.N and leaders of groups like the African Union should do likewise and take the additional step of ostracizing instead of rewarding those, like Sudan's terror regime, who clearly do not abide by the U.N.'s Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

Several other countries with repressive governments also sit on the commission, including China, Cuba, and Zimbabwe.

Sudan will not allow Darfur crimes suspects to be tried abroad: Taha

Middle East news report Feb 5 says Sudan will not allow any citizen to be tried abroad in connection with suspected crimes against humanity in Darfur, First Vice President Ali Osman Taha was quoted by the press as saying. Here is an excerpt from the report:

Taha, speaking at a meeting with officials in South Darfur state on Friday, was referring to an international discussion over whether Sudanese suspected of such crimes be tried by the International Criminal Court (ICC) or by a special tribunal.

"The government is opposed to trying any Sudanese official or ordinary citizen involved in the Darfur incidents outside the Sudan," Taha was quoted as saying.

"The government is capable of doing justice among its people in Darfur," said Taha, adding that Sudan "is a sovereign state committed to the international agreements and conventions it has signed."

The independent Al-Ayam daily reported Saturday that 51 Sudanese accused by a UN fact-finding commission of committing crimes against humanity in Darfur included 10 senior officials in the national government.
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Note, The regime in Khartoum is either full of bluff and bluster or it believes it can get away with anything. Bluff and bluster more like. Some of them are educated enough to know if there is a warrant for their arrest, and they fail to surrender or show up in court, security forces will have to go and fetch them, even if it means military force. I believe the days of the present regime in Khartoum are numbered. Trouble is, it may take a long while and cost many more lives.

51 names are on the UN's sealed list of names for prosecution, some may be rebels, approximately 10 are Sudanese officials. You have to wonder if any of the rebel leaders or Sudanese officials know whether they are on the sealed list of names or not. Psychologically, it must be sobering for them, especially in the still of the night when they put their head down to sleep, wondering if they are marked men or not. They may as well give up violence and work towards peace, now.

Sudan says to withdraw Antonov planes in Darfur

One cannot trust or believe a word the regime in Khartoum say. This item is only posted here for future reference so the next time a bomb is dropped on civilians via helicopters or MiGs, I can point back to this post:

Reuters report Feb 5 confirms Sudan said today it would remove all its Antonov planes and would not use them at all in Darfur, where it has been accused of using the aircraft to bomb villages.

"We are not going to use Antonov aircraft at all anymore," Interior Minister Abdel Rahim Hussein told Reuters during a trip to the remote west on Saturday. "We are not going to use them at all not for anything," he said.

The governor of North Darfur state, Osman Kedir, said all the aircraft had been withdrawn from the region. "They have been withdrawn. All of them and they will not return -- from all of Darfur," he said.

The government has said it needs to fly the planes for reconnaissance and said the ceasefire and security deals signed with the rebels only banned them from bombing, not from flying their aircraft.

First Vice-President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, on his FIRST visit to Darfur since taking responsibility for the region last month, said on Saturday he wanted to see for himself what had been happening. He met international aid workers in all three Darfur states.

London agrees to keep Darfur Sudan trials out of ICC

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

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

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

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

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

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Swedish officers to Sudan (one for Darfur!)

The Swedish Government decided Thursday to contribute six staff officers to the UN rapid deployment force SHIRBRIG in southern Sudan over a six-month period and one staff officer to the African Union's peace support initiative in Darfur.
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AU says force in Darfur reaches 1,400

Reuters report Feb 4 excerpt:

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

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

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


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Americans tell UN: Don't hide from genocide

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

[Cartoon and links via Instapundit and Parkview Blog, with thanks]
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Darfur rebel commanders quit SLA group

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

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

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

Fred adds:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fred's reply:

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

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

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

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

Note, as an aside, the report states:

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

Three years ago hundreds of women occupied the oil installation

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

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

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

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

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

February 05, 2005

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

From Mr Michael Kennedy

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

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

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

Yours faithfully,
MICHAEL KENNEDY,
February 1.
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880 slaves freed in Sudan but many left, says Swiss group

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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