Note this interesting AllAfrica interview on Darfur with Charles Snyder, the leading U.S. negotiator for Sudan, April 11, 2005 - copied here in full for future reference:
After decades of neglect, world attention has recently focused on Sudan, Africa's largest country with a land area about one-quarter the size of the United States. A peace agreement has been signed between the government of President Umar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir in Khartoum, which dominates in the north of the country, and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, headed by John Garang in the south.
A pledging conference attended by leading donor nations and institutions opened today amid hopes that new resources will become available to finance the country's reconstruction after 22 years of war. But the disastrous situation in the Darfur region threatens to overshadow and derail that process. Charles Snyder the leading U.S. negotiator for Sudan, discussed the problems and prospects in an AllAfrica interview. Excerpts:
What do you expect will come out of the donors conference in Oslo later this week?
The Oslo Conference has been a long time in the planning. It reflects a great deal of European interest in the Sudan issue going back over the last decade, and the idea of the Oslo conference was to reinforce and celebrate, if you will, the kind of good news of the comprehensive peace agreement.
Now Darfur of course has made that a more mixed story than it would have been. But the idea all along of the Oslo Conference was to pledge for the new development plan for the North, South and all of Sudan. There will now be some attention devoted to Darfur specifically but the idea is nonetheless to work on the joint assessment plans that the two Sudanese parties, North and South, have come up with for how do they develop over the next six years. The idea is to have the donors put their money where their political mouths have been. And we are still optimistic that, despite Darfur, we'll get fairly significant pledges.
The U.S. is hoping to make a substantial pledge, as you would expect, given our role there. But I am not going to steal the deputy secretary's thunder, and since he's going to Oslo. The Europeans, we expect, will do quite a lot. There are probably twelve development Ministers alone from Europe coming; Andrew Natsios [the USAID administrator] as well as our deputy secretary of state and a smattering of heads of state from Africa. It should be a significant conference.
The Sudanese government has rejected the UN Security Council resolution, which asked the International Criminal Court to try those whose are alleged to have committed war crimes and human rights abuses in Darfur. How will this impact the efforts to end the dying?
I think we all knew going into this Security Council vote that the Sudanese had said quite clearly that they didn't accept outside jurisdiction. It was their idea that their courts could do this. Barring that, of course, there was some talk about looking into an African tribunal or something that would be more African. They [indicated they] might consider that. But they had rejected from the beginning anything that was purely non-African so it is not a surprise.
It is not a difficulty yet because I think the big test will come as we see the ICC move forward, as we see the prosecutors examine the evidence. When presented with the facts in that regard, then we'll see if the Sudanese government is at all amenable to a rational process or not. And I think until we get there, for political reasons, they will continue to reject it. They don't know who is on the legendary list now of 51 people [recommended for trial]. They don't know whether this is going to be a political confrontation with them as opposed to a legal confrontation. And I think if those questions are answered in anything approaching a reasonable manner, we will be able to put a good deal of effective pressure on them. It's a little too soon to make a final judgment. It won't be easy, that's for sure.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has passed along the list of 51 names to the International Criminal Court. What is the origin of the list?
It comes from a Commission of Inquiry. When Congress passed that joint resolution last year calling the situation in Darfur genocide, Secretary Powell was already wrestling with this issue. He then decided actually to dispatch a team to Chad, including somebody from the American Bar Association and some people from other traditional NGOs that deal with legal and justice matters to see what the evidence was. They interviewed 1,136, I think it was, refugees. And they decided that there was intent, and therefore Powell made the declaration of genocide. That was the issue for us. It was not 'Were these crimes not horrendous and massive violations clearly aimed at an ethnic group?' But one of the conditions of the Geneva Convention is intent. And while there was clearly intent among some of the local parties, maybe some of the local leaders, the idea of intent as it went to the government wasn't clear-cut for us. After the refugee interviews, Powell decided that that was the case.
Then we had the problem of making this first declaration of genocide under the Genocide Convention. We have to be sure about the precedence and that we didn't open the door for this to turn into political foolishness of some sort. And so the secretary of state made the point that, if only the United States says it's genocide, just like it was only the United States for a long time sanctioning in many ways, it can be dismissed as the U.S with a political objective.
So we took it to the UN, and Kofi Annan decided to appoint a commission of inquiry, which went out and did its work. That resulted in a list of 51 names, which none of us have. The names have not leaked, although there is speculations that it includes some people from the government, some of the tribal leaders, some of the military, some of the rebels.
The United States government abstained from the Darfur resolution because the Bush adminstration opposes the International Criminal Court. What impact is this likely to have on implementation of the resolution?
I don't think as a practical matter it will. The ICC is a self-contained operation that has its own prosecutors, its own court space. Clearly, when presented with human rights violations - significant war crimes and human rights violations - we'd have to look at what we could do. I think we need to answer that question in practice as opposed to in theory. I don't see any impediment mechanically to us deciding to do what we can on a case-by-case basis.
What actions does the U.S. government want to see to stop the killing in Darfur?
It's the same thing we've been saying all along - that the primary responsibility is on the government to change things on the ground. Secondarily, it's up to the international community to facilitate those that are trying to solve the problem on a practical basis, the African Union in this case. We're saying to the Sudanese government: 'You've got to do more. You've got to arrest these perpetrators. You know who they are.' They took a small step in that direction by arresting 15 people, I think it was, the other day. It's too soon to say whether or not that was a political gesture, a false start or maybe the beginning of something more serious. We would hope it's the beginning of something more serious.
It doesn't bother me that they've seemed to have gotten 15 low-ranking people, because, if you're going to build a case in many instances like this, what you have to do is get the smaller fish to turn on the medium-sized fish to turn on the bigger fish. What indicates it might not be serious is the long, bad history of the Sudanese seeming to do everything with a lack of enthusiasm and a little late. We'll have to see how this turns out.
How would you evaluate what the African Union has been able to do to date and what more would you hope they could do?
The good news is that the African Union, despite its relative newness - since it just replaced the OAU two years ago - has stepped up to this problem. Where they are on the ground, they are making a difference. And that's the universal report. Jan Pronk [from the United Nations] has said that. Our own people who've gone out on the ground have said that. The Europeans say that. Where they've been on the ground, for instance, we've seen the violence dissipate, particularly this alarming growth in rapes and violence against women who are trying to gather firewood outside the camps.
Unfortunately, they're having a lot of teething pains and we in the international community are supporting them as best we can. The problem really is there are not enough of them. The real test will come when there's enough of them on the ground
One of the fears I've got, is that the Janjaweed and whoever else is doing this - and it's more than just them - still have plenty of free space to roam, and they may just be moving away from where the AU is. The violence and the rapes are still going on, but they're just not in the zone where the AU is. If we put more AU on the ground, we may finally find out if the Janjaweed are going to be more than a bandit problem, if they will push back. I don't think so. The history of this kind of operation is that it disappears when confronted with a superior force. But we're not there yet. And we haven't got a lot more time to wait.
People have been saying for a long time that more AU troops are needed. Why isn't that happening?
The AU is going through these teething pains and the support and logistics capability in a place that's the size of the United States east of the Mississippi with no infrastructure, no air fields, no roads to speak of - even the waterways are not particularly conducive to the rapid movement of anything, never mind a sophisticated military force - has slowed this down. The truth of the matter is, the AU has met the standard they set for themselves in terms of the protection force and by and large the observers.
What hasn't shown up is the police force. The AU has been unable to generate a sufficient number of policemen to get out there. The South Africans sent a police chief and better than 50 men. The Nigerians have done the same thing, so the number of police is over 100. But the police operation is much more complicated and potentially much more effective than the military one. We are now in the process of constructing things to facilitate police deployment so they'll be closer to the actual major refugee camps. And the South Africans and others have come up with renewed pledges for more police. So we're optimistic that between now and, let's say, the beginning of June, we'll finally see this police number close.
The South African police chief who is out there has impressed everybody. He may not have gotten out there as fast as we wanted him to get out there, but he's there and he's making a difference. And so I think we have reason to hope, but I think the hope has to be informed with a renewed sense of time.
If we get this police number closed, we may start to have a real impact on the criminal activity that we're seeing now. They'll be the ones in the camps, trying to reinforce and enhance the order in the camps. The police obviously can't stand up to well-armed groups like the Janjaweed, but they can stand up to the camp bullies and opportunistic banditry that's going on. And I think, based on the statistics I'm seeing on rapes and things like that, some of this around the major camps has become this more opportunistic thing, as opposed to more organized [activity] by a heavily armed group.
So there's reason to believe that police on the ground will make a difference. This needs to happen within the next few months. I don't think that we can afford to let this increase drag out over a year-and-a-half, which is what this has taken.
It is my impression that there been troops from a few African countries ready to go to Darfur but there hasn't been lift capacity to get them there?
There have been these persistent reports that the logistics was not ready for the troops, but that hasn't been the case for several months. Nobody that wants to be on the ground is not on the ground.
Overall, what is your assessment of the humanitarian situation in Darfur?
If you look back at where we were in August, it's much better. If you look at where we were in November, December, it's a little worse.
Why have conditions worsened since late last year?
Because the situation in the camps changed. As you keep people off their land longer, they become more dependent on aid streams. They're living in conditions that allow disease vectors to begin to catch up with them. You're getting the odd outbreak here and there of the usual diseases like cholera. The solutions are obvious - better water supplies and things, and that's being taken on. Vaccinations for measles are going on. We're in a race between the declining situation of the population and the humanitarian effort to turn that around, complicated by the continued violence and attacks. We had one of our own aid workers shot. We've had attacks on the occasional aid convoys, and we had the UN pull out of a sector for a period of a week because of the instability.
The April ceasefire, April a year ago, has never really taken practical effect. It's been very sporadic. The African Union has tried several times to breath life into this, but the parties need to do better, and that includes the rebels, as well as the Janjaweed and the government.
So we're back to the question of what the government in Khartoum needs to do about Darfur.
Khartoum needs to do more than it's doing. The arrival of the SPLM finally in Khartoum finally over the weekend may make the beginnings of some changes there. Their presence in the government, their presence in some of the ministries, may begin to turn some of these things around. Maybe John Garang will be taken up on offers of men to help in Darfur. It could be the presence on the ground as a new element in the new Sudanese government may begin to turn things around.
The rebels, Lord knows, have legitimate grievances and legitimate aspirations, but their lack of discipline on the ground is making it too easy for the other side - whether they're Janjaweed or government-supported Janjaweed - to do things and stop the international community from crying out as clearly as we would if we could be absolutely of the point of view that the rebels are not at fault in any of this. We're not there yet.
When the mediation meeting took place a month ago in Njamina [Chad], there was some hope that the Sudanese government would put some new items on the table, and they did. Bashir put a serious offer on the table, and he pulled the Antonov bombers out [of Darfur]. He restricted the use of helicopters, restricted reconnaissance. And we've not had any reliable reports they've done anything but that since then. They've been flying around, but it's been reconnaissance here and there or movement of supplies.
He offered to pull back to the December 8 lines. The rebels accepted that. He offered a Nuba mountain style ceasefire. The Nuba mountain ceasefire allows them to be in zones. He put that on the table. The rebels were not represented at a high enough level to take any of those things off the table, and so it deteriorated to another offer that failed.
We've pocketed it. We know what he said, and we keep saying to the rebels: 'This is on the table. You need to find a way to take it, because what we need from you is to make this ceasefire work. If we can make the ceasefire work, you can have a year or two years or whatever it takes to talk politically, but the ceasefire has to work because your people are being disadvantaged and frankly, we don't see any military advantage to persisting in this. Not when you could have a reasonable ceasefire.'
So in the coming weeks the SPLM will become real participants in the Sudanese government?
What they're there to do is, one, to prove there's reality to this comprehensive peace agreement. From a practical point of view, it's to begin interim constitution commission meetings. We've been hopeful that, once it started, it might only take six or eight weeks. They've been over this ground in the negotiation; they're not starting from scratch with this interim constitution process.
They are starting from scratch in terms of making it public and in reaching out to the other parties both in the south and in the north, to make this more acceptable to a broader Sudanese audience. So this will take some time to sell that, and maybe to change the last few words and rearrange the last few paragraphs.
The idea was to make this more than strictly an agreement between the National Congress Party [in Khartoum] and the Sudanese People Liberation Movement [in the south]. This is an agreement between a marginalized area and a center. That's really the problem in Sudan. Whether in Darfur or in the Beja, the problem has always been that power and wealth have been centered in Khartum and maybe 200 miles around it. The rest of the areas have been disadvantaged. The features that Garang negotiated - the power sharing, the wealth sharing, the federalism - are all answers to a marginalized periphery versus center problem.
Where the population really gets invested in this is when they do the election, which is between the third and fourth year. That's when, for the first time the old parties, and any new parties that emerge, including, I assume, some of these Darfurian rebels, will be able to demonstrate their popular support in a way that will change things in the legislatures - the legislatures in the provinces, but also in the center.
For a number of reasons, because of the six-year transition agreement, the presidency itself is held until the end, so that the top man, if you will, the man with the most to lose in a new Sudan to some degree, will be in place until a lot of this change takes place. But it's really possible if the DUP and the Yuma parties still have their old robustness, and the labor unions that used to be so significant in old Sudan, if they begin to reappear as political actors, there's every reason to believe that they can demonstrate that power. And then, the very last thing after the referendum for the south, they move on to a presidential election.
The last real election was '86, the last civilian government was thrown out in '89. These institutions have all atrophied over 14 years. They need the time to revitalize themselves. We in the West need time to help them revitalize. The Arab league needs the time, since a lot of these are Arab parties, to re-establish them as real parties. So the fact that this transition is slow, maybe slower than some want, has some good news hidden in it, and all that begins with this constitution process, flawed though it is. It's a way to take down a hard-line government, expand it and open it, in a fashion in which there may be a new Sudan when we're done, that will be less violent and a hell of a lot more prosperous. And hopefully begin to find a way to reconcile the huge number of ethnic groups inside Sudan in some kind of a system that represents them. Maybe not perfectly, but much more perfectly than now.
So that work is starting. What comes next?
Once the constitution is passed, ratified, then for the first time John Garang's position as the leader of the government of the Southern Sudan, and his position as vice-president exists. That's the moment in which the government really becomes a transition government. They've already begun discussing how they share the cabinet spaces and power, and they've learned from past agreements that failed. The old Addis agreement called for a universal sharing of all the cabinet positions. This one actually divides the cabinet positions up into five or six boxes, in which there are four or five cabinet offices. And they've agreed to split these positions more or less fifty/fifty in some of the key boxes.
I would hope that the smarter politicians would find a way to bring in to this coalition some of the other smaller parties, give them some of these seats, [looking ahead] to the fact that this government has to stand for a real election three or four years.
What is the time frame for getting the constitution and new government into place?
The 'pre-interim period', as we called it - the six months before the six years - was supposed to start from the day of the signatures - January 9. Theoretically they're supposed to be done by July 9 with the constitution and with Garang being in position and the transition government being in place. My guess is they're running about two months behind.
Even though the constitution-writing formation process is behind, the forming of the cabinet - since they're having these discussions anyway - could move rapidly [and] make up some of the time lost, though not necessarily all of it. I'm thinking we're not going to hit July 9, but I'd be unhappy if we didn't hit early September.
How will Darfur impact the Oslo conference?
Darfur has to some degree injected a large 'but' clause, with some donors now saying: 'I'm prepared to give "x" number of dollars, but I won't release some of the infrastructure money until I'm convinced that the Darfur situation is on the road to resolution.'
I doubt that anybody will take the view that it has to be resolved. That would be probably a bridge too far in Sudan in its current circumstances, but I think there has to be a clear sense its on its way to resolution. I think you'll see some serious pledging going on in the south, because there's no reason to believe with the peace and tranquility since that was a disadvantaged area, that some infrastructural projects couldn't proceed. But again unless you're approaching this holistically, including Darfur, and the northern part of the country, there are limits to what you can do to real infrastructural development, that doesn't risk making the situation even worse. You'll see a very mixed picture - good in terms of money pledged, but also some conditionality.
What role do you foresee for private sector involvement in Sudan?
The real tragedy of Sudan will be if we don't get Darfur under control and don't take advantage of this probably once-in-a-decade opportunity to jump-start Sudan, probably all the way into the lower middle-income class. The country is potentially rich, thanks to the oil wealth, and to some degree actually to its wealth in its people. Sudan is one of those places where there are refineries. Sudan is a country that can manufacture its own weapons and ammunition. Not that that's a good thing, but that kind of sophistication and technique can also be applied to manufacturing automobiles and other kinds of things.
Sudan can be a real success story, but what it needs is the kind of debt relief and World Bank assistance that it won't get unless Darfur is turned around and unless the abuse of the populations in the marginalized areas ceases. That's the big 'but' across the board.
We're the largest debtor to Sudan. We will not do anything about that until we're convinced that Darfur is headed on the way to success. And without that, a lot of the international financial institutions won't provide the funds to build another pipeline, double the size of the pipeline, put the port facilities back into shape, put in a road system.
Sudan could actually become the bread basket of the Middle East, never mind the oil merchant in the horn of Africa. There has not been a sophisticated assessment of the oil probably in 15 years, since Chevron left. I suspect the oil pool is larger than the current statistics everyone's using. So there's a reason to believe that the wherewithal to drive this is there.
How much of a factor, or how serious, is the HIV/Aids situation there?
It's a very mixed picture in Sudan. It's not a major problem in the north. Considering the population, it's not the kind of problem you would expect. It's not even as large a problem as you would expect in the south, given the chaos over the years. It's a case where a decent medical infrastructure being put in as part of this development project could actually help them get ahead of this crisis.
We still have a chance to get ahead of it, but it depends on getting pledges at the Oslo conference, getting the health and education sector empowered, getting the women's issues, and the empowerment of women, which we've found in many places to be one of the key things in to turning the HIV/Aids thing. All those development projects are really the answer, because it's not yet out of control in Sudan. We have a chance to do the right thing here.
You mentioned the constitution. How much consultation with civil society was done in its drafting?
It's based on the existing Sudanese constitution, which went through the fire in the '80s, was then modified when the Islamicists came in, who turned it into a more Islamic constitution. But many of the underlying features, many of the paragraphs, actually are still untouched.
There's never been anything wrong with the underlying Sudan constitution. The problem has always been the execution and implementation. The Islamic features are modified by the agreement that's been made, the comprehensive peace agreement. One of the first problems they solved is the Sharia problem, which now has to be codified and pieces of the constitution changed. That's what this interim committee is supposed to do.
Is state-sponsored terrorism still a problem in Sudan?
They've done almost everything we've asked them to do on the terrorist front. We're fairly well satisfied with that. From a practical point of view, in terms of international terrorism, I give them a better than 'A' grade. But again, you've got that "but" problem. With Darfur not being resolved in a satisfactory fashion, there's a question mark over the whole counter-terrorism thing.
Snyder, who heads the Office of Sudan Programs in the State Department, served previously as principal deputy assistant secretary for Africa and then as acting assistant secretary in late 2003 and early 2004.
Copyright 2005 allAfrica.com. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
Monday, April 11, 2005
Sudan International Donor's Conference held in Oslo - UN & Partners 2005 Work Plan - Sudan may face renewed civil war
This morning, the Norway Post confirms the Sudan International Donor's Conference will open in Oslo today, Monday 11 April.
Kofi Annan will participate, together with delegates from 60 nations and international organisations.
The US is represented by Deputy Foreign Secretary Robert Zoellick. China and several Arab nations are also represented for the first time.
Photo: The highly regarded Norwegian Minister for International Development, Hilde Frafjord Johnson, hopes the conference will put forward considerable contributions.
Sudan will need aid in the billions to rebuild a nations which has been completely devastated by civil war. The health and education systems have been destroyed, and it has been estimated that USD 8 billion will be needed over the next three years. It is expected that USD 2.6 billion of these must come from donor nations. 'We of course would like to see as much generosity from donors as possible,' Frafjord Johnson says. (AFP/SCANPIX/File)
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2005 United Nations and Partners: Work Plan for the Sudan
Today, April 11, the Scotsman's correspondent, Rob Crilly reports the following from Rumbek, South Sudan in a piece titled Sudan may face renewed civil war:
INTERNATIONAL donors meet in Oslo today to agree a multi-billion-dollar development package for Sudan, amid fresh warnings that anything less than a major programme of funding could start a slide back to civil war in the south of the country.
They say huge expectations of a peace dividend in the new southern capital, Rumbek - where officials have begun dreaming of international airports and power stations - could be dashed, with violent consequences.
A peace agreement in January ended the 21-year war between southern rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Army and the Khartoum government in the north. Now, attention is turning to development in a region where 90 per cent of the population earns less than $1 (53p) a day and average life expectancy is 42.
Today, international governments will be asked to sign up to a 4.2 billion GBP programme to provide clean water and basic health and education services.
It has been drafted by United Nations officials and teams from Khartoum and the south, and two-thirds of the money will come from Sudan's vast oil wealth, with the remainder requested from donors.
Jon Bennett, the UN team leader of the Sudan Joint Assessment Mission, which drafted the programme, said huge expectations, coupled with a lack of financial infrastructure might mean delays in seeing a peace dividend. "The whole equation adds up to the potential for a great deal of disappointment and, even worse, the potential for a return to conflict based around local resources," he said.
Nowhere are expectations more obvious than in Rumbek, a dusty, broken-down town chosen by the rebels as temporary capital of their "New Sudan". Maker Aliap, a tobacco seller in the town's market, says: "We want a city that is like London, but we don't have the human resources to build it yet."
Around him, bare-footed children play amid the detritus of war. Trenches run beside the red-dirt roads, and three tanks rust on the ground where they were stopped by rebels. Local people live in tukuls - round mud huts with thatched roofs. The few brick buildings were largely destroyed during the war that claimed two million lives. It all makes for an unlikely capital.
The optimism is based on Rumbek's potential wealth. Under the terms of the peace deal, a power-sharing government in the south - including rebels and representatives of the Khartoum administration - was handed a 50 per cent stake in Sudan's oil reserves. Back-of-the-envelope calculations by UN officials suggest that it could translate into revenue of $50 million a month.
Already, there are signs of progress - aid agency money and entrepreneurs have arrived in the three months since peace.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has repaired miles of pot-holed tracks so that its huge lorries can rumble off into the drought-stricken countryside. Enterprising businessmen from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, have set up a rudimentary mobile phone network and a bank has opened in one corner of Freedom Square, a dusty collection of football pitches and meeting places at the centre of Rumbek.
Rebuilding the country's infrastructure will take years. But before the fledgling administration can turn its full attention to schools, hospitals and the rule of law, there is a more pressing need - food. The WFP estimates that 3.2 million people in the south are in desperate need of emergency supplies after poor rains ruined last year's harvest.
For now, aid agencies are pinning their hopes on the Oslo conference, which they believe will kick-start development and help attract back the engineers, doctors and other professionals Sudan needs to rebuild itself.
Ramiro Lopes Da Silva, the WFPs country director, said: "Sudan stands at a crossroads. One way leads to peace and development, while the other descends into increasing competition and tensions over scarce land and food."
Photo: Rebel Sudanese fighters signed a peace deal with the Khartoum government in January 2005, but a lack of investment could raise tensions again. [Scott Nelson/Getty Images]
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Donors study south Sudan aid deal
The world's wealthy nations are meeting in Norway today to agree an aid package for rebuilding southern Sudan, three months after a peace deal ended its civil war, says the BBC today in its report Donors study south Sudan aid deal. The BBCs Jonah Fisher in Juba, southern Sudan, says the region is one of the poorest in the world, with women and children among its most needy people.
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Other news agencies over the last 24 hours say a report by the UN and World Bank, backed by Khartoum and the SPLM, confirms Sudan needs $2.6 billion in aid to the end of 2007 to help build everything from roads to schools. Excerpts from April 11, 2005, news reports:
More than two million people were killed and four million displaced by a 21-year long war pitting the mainly animist and Christian south against the Arab north in a conflict complicated by issues of oil, ethnicity and ideology.
Sudanese Vice-President Taha said donors should not be reluctant because of the separate conflict in Darfur. "Sudan needs help," Taha said. "And when people in Darfur see that the prize for peace is support and encouragement by the international community, I think that's a very important incentive for peace to prevail in Darfur."
In the south, 90 percent of people live in poverty, only about a third of young adults are literate and one child of every four dies before the age of five. Many women spend most of their time collecting water and fuel. "Women have been the marginalized of the marginalized," John Garang, leader of southern Sudan's former rebel group SPLM/A said. He drew cheers at the women's meeting by promising free primary education for all - even though he said that it would only be achieved by 2015.
Last week, a senior US official said that Washington, another rich donor, would pledge significant new aid for southern Sudan but added that Darfur cast a shadow.
"If the situation in Darfur continues to worsen neither we nor others will be able to support implementation of the comprehensive (North-South) peace agreement," he told reporters on condition of anonymity. US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick will attend the Oslo talks on Tuesday.
Photo: Refugees from Darfur wait for water to be brought to them by an aid agency. Japan will offer 100 million dollars in aid to Sudan to help rebuild Sudan following a peace deal that ended its 21-year north-south civil war (AFP/File)
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Excerpt from ReliefWeb article titled 'Use aid money effectively to promote Sudan-wide peace', agencies urge donors' April 10, 2005:
The Joint Assessment Mission funding appeal calls for $2.6 billion from the international community to support Sudan's recovery from war. The Joint Assessment Mission is a year-long United Nations/World Bank funded assessment of post conflict needs in Sudan involving the parties to the conflict as well as civil society and international non-governmental organisations.
Most international donors will pledge their funds for Sudan through Multi Donor Trust Funds. The Government of Sudan, the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement, World Bank and UN will be on the Steering Committees of these Trust Funds. Aid agencies are seeking greater independent representation on these Funds.
The UN humanitarian appeal for Sudan is part of the 2005 UN Work Plan, launched in November 2004 which requests $1,528,802,491 for all of Sudan. As of March 13 2005, only $478 million had been pledged. (Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA). The work plan can be accessed here below.
South Sudan has some of the worst humanitarian statistics in the world. One hundred and fifty children in every thousand die during childbirth; one in four children dies before the age of five; only two per cent of children complete primary school - the lowest rate in the world. (Source: New SudanCentre for Statistics and Evaluation and UNICEF, May 2004).
Photo: Sudanese women pose at the Al-Fateh camp, 38 kms north of the city of Omdurman. (AFP/Salah Omar)
Excerpt from the Executive Summary of the Work Plan for the Sudan:
The 2005 Work Plan outlines the strategic and operational plan of the United Nations and its partners, and presents 304 projects to be implemented by 49 agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Programmes and projects focus on southern Sudan, Transitional Areas (Abyei, Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains), Darfur, and eastern Sudan. There are also a number of national programmes in direct support of the peace process. 145 projects are classified as 'humanitarian', and 159 as recovery or development.
To implement these projects in 2005, the UN and its partners require a total of US$ 1.48 billion. Of this amount, nearly US$ 720 million is required to provide and distribute food aid. While the need for food assistance is high, particularly in conflict and drought affected areas, the costs of transporting food assistance in Sudan are also substantial given the poor quality of the road, rail and river transport network. Click here for highlights of the 2005 Work Plan.
Photo: A Sudanese woman loads her donkey standing next to a camel at a relief delivery site in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp of Krinding in 2004. The United States plans to contribute some 1.8 billion dollars to rebuild violence-plagued Sudan but wants to make sure its aid produces no political capital for the current government in Khartoum.(AFP/File/Cris Bouroncle) April 8, 2005.
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China builds Sudan largest power-transmission project
A report today April 11 at China's People's Daily Online says China is building Sudan's largest power-transmission project. Copy:
The foundation stone laying ceremony of a power-transmission and transformation line project undertaken by China was held in Sudan on Saturday. The project is the largest power-transmission and transformation line project ever started in Sudan. The line has a total length of 1,776 kilometers and costs nearly $400 million.
More than 1,000 people including Sudanese Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources, project manager, local officials as well as Chinese officials attended the ceremony. Local people celebrated the occasion by killing animals and chanting folk songs in line with local custom.
The project manager said the project was undertaken by a capable Chinese company - Harbin Power Station Co. Ltd. Once the project was completed it would bring light to most regions in Sudan. It would be of great help to the economic construction in Sudan. He believed that the project would be successfully completed by 2007 as scheduled. By then a grand ceremony would be held at the same place. He said: "I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Chinese government and people for their long-standing support and help in both political and economic terms."
The power-transmission and transformation line project is the supporting project of a dam project under construction. The dam is called "Sudan's Three Gorges Project" by local people. Once the dam is completed it will essentially solve the problem of power shortage in Sudan. It is also one of the largest overseas water conservancy and electricity projects undertaken by China.
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Ottawa will send troops to Sudan
31 Canadian soldiers are to join UN observers in early summer. Full Story via National Post, April 11, 2005.
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UN calls for Irish peacekeepers in Sudan
Reports this morning April 11 say UN representatives asked for Irish involvement in the mission during a visit to Sudan last week by Junior Minister Conor Lenihan.
The reports said Mr Lenihan was "anxious" to facilitate the request and would discuss it shortly with Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea.
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John Prendergast: Bush mistook me for Bono
Like his doppelgaenger, John Prendergast is a man on a mission - to save 2 million lives in Darfur.
Jane Bussmann pushes past Angelina Jolie and Bill Clinton to catch up with the radical peacekeeper. Full Story at Independent UK, April 11, 2005.
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Bush to discuss troubled Great Lakes region with Rwandan leader
President George W Bush will discuss Rwanda's peacekeeping efforts in Sudan and stability in Africa's troubled Great Lakes region, with visiting Rwandan President Paul Kagame, shown here above in February 2005, next week, the White House said April 9. Kagame will visit the White House April 15.
"President Bush looks forward to discussing Rwanda's peacekeeping efforts in Sudan, stability in the African Great Lakes region, democracy and reconciliation issues, and bilateral trade and other developmental efforts," a White House spokesman said. The Great Lakes region has witnessed bloody conflicts that have claimed five million lives. (AFP/File/Salah Omar) April 9, 2005.
Photo: Rwandan President Paul Kagame, February 2005.
Kofi Annan will participate, together with delegates from 60 nations and international organisations.
The US is represented by Deputy Foreign Secretary Robert Zoellick. China and several Arab nations are also represented for the first time.
Photo: The highly regarded Norwegian Minister for International Development, Hilde Frafjord Johnson, hopes the conference will put forward considerable contributions.
Sudan will need aid in the billions to rebuild a nations which has been completely devastated by civil war. The health and education systems have been destroyed, and it has been estimated that USD 8 billion will be needed over the next three years. It is expected that USD 2.6 billion of these must come from donor nations. 'We of course would like to see as much generosity from donors as possible,' Frafjord Johnson says. (AFP/SCANPIX/File)
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2005 United Nations and Partners: Work Plan for the Sudan
Today, April 11, the Scotsman's correspondent, Rob Crilly reports the following from Rumbek, South Sudan in a piece titled Sudan may face renewed civil war:
INTERNATIONAL donors meet in Oslo today to agree a multi-billion-dollar development package for Sudan, amid fresh warnings that anything less than a major programme of funding could start a slide back to civil war in the south of the country.
They say huge expectations of a peace dividend in the new southern capital, Rumbek - where officials have begun dreaming of international airports and power stations - could be dashed, with violent consequences.
A peace agreement in January ended the 21-year war between southern rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Army and the Khartoum government in the north. Now, attention is turning to development in a region where 90 per cent of the population earns less than $1 (53p) a day and average life expectancy is 42.
Today, international governments will be asked to sign up to a 4.2 billion GBP programme to provide clean water and basic health and education services.
It has been drafted by United Nations officials and teams from Khartoum and the south, and two-thirds of the money will come from Sudan's vast oil wealth, with the remainder requested from donors.
Jon Bennett, the UN team leader of the Sudan Joint Assessment Mission, which drafted the programme, said huge expectations, coupled with a lack of financial infrastructure might mean delays in seeing a peace dividend. "The whole equation adds up to the potential for a great deal of disappointment and, even worse, the potential for a return to conflict based around local resources," he said.
Nowhere are expectations more obvious than in Rumbek, a dusty, broken-down town chosen by the rebels as temporary capital of their "New Sudan". Maker Aliap, a tobacco seller in the town's market, says: "We want a city that is like London, but we don't have the human resources to build it yet."
Around him, bare-footed children play amid the detritus of war. Trenches run beside the red-dirt roads, and three tanks rust on the ground where they were stopped by rebels. Local people live in tukuls - round mud huts with thatched roofs. The few brick buildings were largely destroyed during the war that claimed two million lives. It all makes for an unlikely capital.
The optimism is based on Rumbek's potential wealth. Under the terms of the peace deal, a power-sharing government in the south - including rebels and representatives of the Khartoum administration - was handed a 50 per cent stake in Sudan's oil reserves. Back-of-the-envelope calculations by UN officials suggest that it could translate into revenue of $50 million a month.
Already, there are signs of progress - aid agency money and entrepreneurs have arrived in the three months since peace.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has repaired miles of pot-holed tracks so that its huge lorries can rumble off into the drought-stricken countryside. Enterprising businessmen from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, have set up a rudimentary mobile phone network and a bank has opened in one corner of Freedom Square, a dusty collection of football pitches and meeting places at the centre of Rumbek.
Rebuilding the country's infrastructure will take years. But before the fledgling administration can turn its full attention to schools, hospitals and the rule of law, there is a more pressing need - food. The WFP estimates that 3.2 million people in the south are in desperate need of emergency supplies after poor rains ruined last year's harvest.
For now, aid agencies are pinning their hopes on the Oslo conference, which they believe will kick-start development and help attract back the engineers, doctors and other professionals Sudan needs to rebuild itself.
Ramiro Lopes Da Silva, the WFPs country director, said: "Sudan stands at a crossroads. One way leads to peace and development, while the other descends into increasing competition and tensions over scarce land and food."
Photo: Rebel Sudanese fighters signed a peace deal with the Khartoum government in January 2005, but a lack of investment could raise tensions again. [Scott Nelson/Getty Images]
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Donors study south Sudan aid deal
The world's wealthy nations are meeting in Norway today to agree an aid package for rebuilding southern Sudan, three months after a peace deal ended its civil war, says the BBC today in its report Donors study south Sudan aid deal. The BBCs Jonah Fisher in Juba, southern Sudan, says the region is one of the poorest in the world, with women and children among its most needy people.
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Other news agencies over the last 24 hours say a report by the UN and World Bank, backed by Khartoum and the SPLM, confirms Sudan needs $2.6 billion in aid to the end of 2007 to help build everything from roads to schools. Excerpts from April 11, 2005, news reports:
More than two million people were killed and four million displaced by a 21-year long war pitting the mainly animist and Christian south against the Arab north in a conflict complicated by issues of oil, ethnicity and ideology.
Sudanese Vice-President Taha said donors should not be reluctant because of the separate conflict in Darfur. "Sudan needs help," Taha said. "And when people in Darfur see that the prize for peace is support and encouragement by the international community, I think that's a very important incentive for peace to prevail in Darfur."
In the south, 90 percent of people live in poverty, only about a third of young adults are literate and one child of every four dies before the age of five. Many women spend most of their time collecting water and fuel. "Women have been the marginalized of the marginalized," John Garang, leader of southern Sudan's former rebel group SPLM/A said. He drew cheers at the women's meeting by promising free primary education for all - even though he said that it would only be achieved by 2015.
Last week, a senior US official said that Washington, another rich donor, would pledge significant new aid for southern Sudan but added that Darfur cast a shadow.
"If the situation in Darfur continues to worsen neither we nor others will be able to support implementation of the comprehensive (North-South) peace agreement," he told reporters on condition of anonymity. US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick will attend the Oslo talks on Tuesday.
Photo: Refugees from Darfur wait for water to be brought to them by an aid agency. Japan will offer 100 million dollars in aid to Sudan to help rebuild Sudan following a peace deal that ended its 21-year north-south civil war (AFP/File)
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Excerpt from ReliefWeb article titled 'Use aid money effectively to promote Sudan-wide peace', agencies urge donors' April 10, 2005:
The Joint Assessment Mission funding appeal calls for $2.6 billion from the international community to support Sudan's recovery from war. The Joint Assessment Mission is a year-long United Nations/World Bank funded assessment of post conflict needs in Sudan involving the parties to the conflict as well as civil society and international non-governmental organisations.
Most international donors will pledge their funds for Sudan through Multi Donor Trust Funds. The Government of Sudan, the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement, World Bank and UN will be on the Steering Committees of these Trust Funds. Aid agencies are seeking greater independent representation on these Funds.
The UN humanitarian appeal for Sudan is part of the 2005 UN Work Plan, launched in November 2004 which requests $1,528,802,491 for all of Sudan. As of March 13 2005, only $478 million had been pledged. (Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA). The work plan can be accessed here below.
South Sudan has some of the worst humanitarian statistics in the world. One hundred and fifty children in every thousand die during childbirth; one in four children dies before the age of five; only two per cent of children complete primary school - the lowest rate in the world. (Source: New SudanCentre for Statistics and Evaluation and UNICEF, May 2004).
Photo: Sudanese women pose at the Al-Fateh camp, 38 kms north of the city of Omdurman. (AFP/Salah Omar)
Excerpt from the Executive Summary of the Work Plan for the Sudan:
The 2005 Work Plan outlines the strategic and operational plan of the United Nations and its partners, and presents 304 projects to be implemented by 49 agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Programmes and projects focus on southern Sudan, Transitional Areas (Abyei, Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains), Darfur, and eastern Sudan. There are also a number of national programmes in direct support of the peace process. 145 projects are classified as 'humanitarian', and 159 as recovery or development.
To implement these projects in 2005, the UN and its partners require a total of US$ 1.48 billion. Of this amount, nearly US$ 720 million is required to provide and distribute food aid. While the need for food assistance is high, particularly in conflict and drought affected areas, the costs of transporting food assistance in Sudan are also substantial given the poor quality of the road, rail and river transport network. Click here for highlights of the 2005 Work Plan.
Photo: A Sudanese woman loads her donkey standing next to a camel at a relief delivery site in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp of Krinding in 2004. The United States plans to contribute some 1.8 billion dollars to rebuild violence-plagued Sudan but wants to make sure its aid produces no political capital for the current government in Khartoum.(AFP/File/Cris Bouroncle) April 8, 2005.
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China builds Sudan largest power-transmission project
A report today April 11 at China's People's Daily Online says China is building Sudan's largest power-transmission project. Copy:
The foundation stone laying ceremony of a power-transmission and transformation line project undertaken by China was held in Sudan on Saturday. The project is the largest power-transmission and transformation line project ever started in Sudan. The line has a total length of 1,776 kilometers and costs nearly $400 million.
More than 1,000 people including Sudanese Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources, project manager, local officials as well as Chinese officials attended the ceremony. Local people celebrated the occasion by killing animals and chanting folk songs in line with local custom.
The project manager said the project was undertaken by a capable Chinese company - Harbin Power Station Co. Ltd. Once the project was completed it would bring light to most regions in Sudan. It would be of great help to the economic construction in Sudan. He believed that the project would be successfully completed by 2007 as scheduled. By then a grand ceremony would be held at the same place. He said: "I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Chinese government and people for their long-standing support and help in both political and economic terms."
The power-transmission and transformation line project is the supporting project of a dam project under construction. The dam is called "Sudan's Three Gorges Project" by local people. Once the dam is completed it will essentially solve the problem of power shortage in Sudan. It is also one of the largest overseas water conservancy and electricity projects undertaken by China.
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Ottawa will send troops to Sudan
31 Canadian soldiers are to join UN observers in early summer. Full Story via National Post, April 11, 2005.
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UN calls for Irish peacekeepers in Sudan
Reports this morning April 11 say UN representatives asked for Irish involvement in the mission during a visit to Sudan last week by Junior Minister Conor Lenihan.
The reports said Mr Lenihan was "anxious" to facilitate the request and would discuss it shortly with Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea.
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John Prendergast: Bush mistook me for Bono
Like his doppelgaenger, John Prendergast is a man on a mission - to save 2 million lives in Darfur.
Jane Bussmann pushes past Angelina Jolie and Bill Clinton to catch up with the radical peacekeeper. Full Story at Independent UK, April 11, 2005.
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Bush to discuss troubled Great Lakes region with Rwandan leader
President George W Bush will discuss Rwanda's peacekeeping efforts in Sudan and stability in Africa's troubled Great Lakes region, with visiting Rwandan President Paul Kagame, shown here above in February 2005, next week, the White House said April 9. Kagame will visit the White House April 15.
"President Bush looks forward to discussing Rwanda's peacekeeping efforts in Sudan, stability in the African Great Lakes region, democracy and reconciliation issues, and bilateral trade and other developmental efforts," a White House spokesman said. The Great Lakes region has witnessed bloody conflicts that have claimed five million lives. (AFP/File/Salah Omar) April 9, 2005.
Photo: Rwandan President Paul Kagame, February 2005.
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Indian troops with Chapter VII mandate set for Sudan war zone
More news on the Indian soldiers for South Darfur. Today's Telegraph in Calcutta says Indian Army troops are being posted to Southern Darfur in Sudan to police a ceasefire agreement and enforce peace between warring militia and government forces. [I hope it is not a typo: that the troops are for southern Sudan and South Darfur in western Sudan].
The report reveals the deployment [possibly consisting of 2,000 soldiers] in Sudan will be the second that the Indian Army will undertake under Chapter VII of the UN charter that authorises "peace enforcement" - distinct from "peacekeeping" - and will vest the troops with the power to open fire and use violent measures to quell the chaos.
It is not really clear in the report whether the troops are for Darfur and South Sudan, and have Chapter VII mandate for South Sudan or Darfur, or both. If it is true that Indian troops have Chapter VII mandate for Darfur, this is big news.
Also note, the report says the Indian troops are likely to work alongside a logistics team from the Chinese People's Liberation Army. China and India have large oil interests in areas around South Darfur (see oil concessions map in sidebar here). Full Story by Sujan Dutta April 10, 2005.
Photo: Arms for peace
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Sudan approves UN resolution 1590 on peacekeepers
Following on from above news report, China View says the Sudanese cabinet today approved the UN Security Council's resolution 1590 on sending more than 10,000-strong peacekeepers to Sudan.
The UN resolution underlined the locations of the countries that will participate in the peacekeeping as well as the percentage of troops each country will contribute to the peacekeeping force. A Sudanese minister ruled out any links of the UN peacekeeping troops to the Darfur conflict.
The report reveals the deployment [possibly consisting of 2,000 soldiers] in Sudan will be the second that the Indian Army will undertake under Chapter VII of the UN charter that authorises "peace enforcement" - distinct from "peacekeeping" - and will vest the troops with the power to open fire and use violent measures to quell the chaos.
It is not really clear in the report whether the troops are for Darfur and South Sudan, and have Chapter VII mandate for South Sudan or Darfur, or both. If it is true that Indian troops have Chapter VII mandate for Darfur, this is big news.
Also note, the report says the Indian troops are likely to work alongside a logistics team from the Chinese People's Liberation Army. China and India have large oil interests in areas around South Darfur (see oil concessions map in sidebar here). Full Story by Sujan Dutta April 10, 2005.
Photo: Arms for peace
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Sudan approves UN resolution 1590 on peacekeepers
Following on from above news report, China View says the Sudanese cabinet today approved the UN Security Council's resolution 1590 on sending more than 10,000-strong peacekeepers to Sudan.
The UN resolution underlined the locations of the countries that will participate in the peacekeeping as well as the percentage of troops each country will contribute to the peacekeeping force. A Sudanese minister ruled out any links of the UN peacekeeping troops to the Darfur conflict.
India to send peacekeeping force next month to police southern Darfur, Sudan
During the past several months, there has been a few snippets of news re Indian peacekeepers being prepared for Sudan. Finally, today there is news of a date.
A report from New Delhi April 10 says India will soon become the foremost contributor to the UNs peacekeeping force when it despatches next month a brigade-level group to Sudan. Excerpt:
Also today, AFP news says the US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick was expected Monday to announce 1.8 billion dollars (1.39 billion euros) in aid to the Sudan at the conference before visiting Sudan. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the conference would also focus on curbing violence in Darfur.
"Through his participation in the Donors Conference and visit to Sudan, the Deputy Secretary will emphasize the need for the Sudanese parties to move ahead with implementation of the peace accord, as well as to end violence in Darfur," Boucher said.
Khartoum and the SPLM hope the north-south peace model can be used to bring peace to Darfur.
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Cameroonian police for Darfur peacekeeping mission
Here is some good news via YAOUNDE, Cameroon, Apr 8, 2005 (PANA) -- Forty-nine Cameroonian police officers left here Friday for Darfur, western Sudan, to join the African Union (AU) peacekeeping force in the troubled East African nation.
Top government officials, police authorities and family members attended an official send-off ceremony organised at the Police Academy here. Police authorities said the Cameroonian officers were fluent speakers of French and English.
They constitute the sixth contingent of Cameroonian police to participate in UN and AU peacekeeping missions. Cameroonian cops have taken up missions in Burundi, Cote d'Ivoire, Haiti, Kosovo and DR Congo.
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Photo: Chadian soldiers guard the border with Sudan. (AFP/file).
Sudan denies presence of Chadian rebels in its territory
The Sudanese ambassador was summoned by the Chadian Foreign Ministry and was told that the Chadian government has received information about existence of 3,000 armed Chadians from the opposition who are stationed close to Al-Junaynah region in western Sudan with the knowledge of the Sudanese government, and who are expected to enter Chad. Full Story April 10, Sudan Tribune.
Note, Khartoum said it would investigate the accusations but said it was a "a misunderstanding" that could be cleared through official channels. "We are not going to meet the good deeds of the Chadian government by bad deeds and ingratitude," senior ruling party official Hassan Bargo said, referring to Chadian efforts in mediating the peace process in Sudan.
A report from New Delhi April 10 says India will soon become the foremost contributor to the UNs peacekeeping force when it despatches next month a brigade-level group to Sudan. Excerpt:
The Indian Army brigade group bound for Sudan would include two infantry battalions and some mechanised columns, officials said. They would police Sudan's southern Darfur region.The Indian Minister of State for External Affairs will lead a delegation to the Donors' Conference on Sudan to be held in Oslo Monday, the Indo-Asian NewsService reported on Saturday.
India contributing to the UN peacekeeping force in Sudan assumes significance as its oil flagship ONGC Videsh Limited is operating a producing oil field in southern Sudan and has also taken stake in two exploration blocks there. Protection of the state assets form part of the peacekeeping mandate in Sudan and the officials pointed out that the Indian deployment was being done on request from the the UN Secretary General.
Also today, AFP news says the US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick was expected Monday to announce 1.8 billion dollars (1.39 billion euros) in aid to the Sudan at the conference before visiting Sudan. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the conference would also focus on curbing violence in Darfur.
"Through his participation in the Donors Conference and visit to Sudan, the Deputy Secretary will emphasize the need for the Sudanese parties to move ahead with implementation of the peace accord, as well as to end violence in Darfur," Boucher said.
Khartoum and the SPLM hope the north-south peace model can be used to bring peace to Darfur.
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Cameroonian police for Darfur peacekeeping mission
Here is some good news via YAOUNDE, Cameroon, Apr 8, 2005 (PANA) -- Forty-nine Cameroonian police officers left here Friday for Darfur, western Sudan, to join the African Union (AU) peacekeeping force in the troubled East African nation.
Top government officials, police authorities and family members attended an official send-off ceremony organised at the Police Academy here. Police authorities said the Cameroonian officers were fluent speakers of French and English.
They constitute the sixth contingent of Cameroonian police to participate in UN and AU peacekeeping missions. Cameroonian cops have taken up missions in Burundi, Cote d'Ivoire, Haiti, Kosovo and DR Congo.
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Photo: Chadian soldiers guard the border with Sudan. (AFP/file).
Sudan denies presence of Chadian rebels in its territory
The Sudanese ambassador was summoned by the Chadian Foreign Ministry and was told that the Chadian government has received information about existence of 3,000 armed Chadians from the opposition who are stationed close to Al-Junaynah region in western Sudan with the knowledge of the Sudanese government, and who are expected to enter Chad. Full Story April 10, Sudan Tribune.
Note, Khartoum said it would investigate the accusations but said it was a "a misunderstanding" that could be cleared through official channels. "We are not going to meet the good deeds of the Chadian government by bad deeds and ingratitude," senior ruling party official Hassan Bargo said, referring to Chadian efforts in mediating the peace process in Sudan.
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Pan-African Parliament urges African Union to extend mandate of AU troops in Darfur, Sudan
You have to wonder why the African Union has not increased its troops in Darfur or expanded the mandate of the 2,200 AU soldiers already there. The AU has its own Security Council. It does not have to go through the UN Security Council to change the mandate of its peacekeeping troops.
An AFP report April 5 at SPLMToday says by the end of May, the AU plans to have boosted the number of its troops in Darfur to 3,200 but does not explain the reason for the months of delay. Surely if it was due to funding shortages, they'd have let the press know. They have done nothing of the kind - merely hinted at "accommodation" problems.
In March of last year, the AU established the Pan-African Parliament (PAP). PAP has no powers to pass laws and has no budget for this year although the 265-seat assembly plans to evolve into a law-making body around 2009.
Last November, PAP sent a fact finding mission to Darfur and produced a report. On Tuesday, as a result of the report, PAP urged the AU to extend the mandate of AU troops in Darfur. Why does it take PAP to raise the issue? Some days you can't help wondering if the AU is holding up things to suit the Khartoum regime.
Yesterday's post here about the savage attacks by 350 Janjaweed on the rebel-held village of Khor Abeche in southern Darfur says the AU would have had troops in the area if it weren't for Khartoum holding things up. The area has been under attack before on more than one occasion. On Feb. 25, 2005, Ken Bacon, President of Refugees International states:
An AFP report April 5 at SPLMToday says by the end of May, the AU plans to have boosted the number of its troops in Darfur to 3,200 but does not explain the reason for the months of delay. Surely if it was due to funding shortages, they'd have let the press know. They have done nothing of the kind - merely hinted at "accommodation" problems.
In March of last year, the AU established the Pan-African Parliament (PAP). PAP has no powers to pass laws and has no budget for this year although the 265-seat assembly plans to evolve into a law-making body around 2009.
Last November, PAP sent a fact finding mission to Darfur and produced a report. On Tuesday, as a result of the report, PAP urged the AU to extend the mandate of AU troops in Darfur. Why does it take PAP to raise the issue? Some days you can't help wondering if the AU is holding up things to suit the Khartoum regime.
Yesterday's post here about the savage attacks by 350 Janjaweed on the rebel-held village of Khor Abeche in southern Darfur says the AU would have had troops in the area if it weren't for Khartoum holding things up. The area has been under attack before on more than one occasion. On Feb. 25, 2005, Ken Bacon, President of Refugees International states:
Earlier this year, AMIS heard that a government-backed militia known as the Janjaweed was about to attack Khor Abeche, a town north of Nyala. AMIS started sending in patrols to protect the village. Without this proactive deployment, the village "would have been torched," said a U.S. military officer who has worked closely with the AU troops.Note also the following copy of a report from Reuters April 8. It reveals the name of a Janjaweed commander as Nasir al Tijani Adel Kaadir of the Miseriyya tribe, based in the Arab militia stronghold of Nitega - the area mentioned in yesterday's post here [the BBC says reports speak of 17 people killed in the raid]:
Over 350 Arab militia fighters mounted on horses and camels rampaged through a village in southern Darfur this week, killing, burning and destroying everything in their paths, the African Union and the United Nations said on Friday.
"We condemn this senseless and premeditated savage attack" which destroyed everything in the rebel-held village of Khor Abeche but the mosque and the school, the organizations said in a joint statement, vowing to refer the militia commander's name to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.
The statement for the first time in the troubled region named the commander, identifying him as Nasir al Tijani Adel Kaadir of the Miseriyya tribe, based in the Arab militia stronghold of Nitega.
The Darfur attack appeared to be in retaliation for the alleged theft of 150 head of cattle, which the fighters blamed on Khor Abeche villagers, the A.U.-U.N. statement said.
Al Tijani also accused Sudan Liberation Army rebels of refusing to return the bodies of two of his men, killed in March in an earlier attack on Khor Abeche, it said.
The African Union had planned to deploy peacekeepers to both Khor Abeche and Nitega before the attack but was prevented from doing so "by what can only be inferred as deliberate official procrastination over the allocation of land for the troops' accommodation," according to the statement.
African Union Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe and U.N. envoy Jan Pronk said Sudan's government should also take action against al Tijani, accusing him of repeatedly threatening the village's destruction before actually doing so on Thursday.
Friday, April 08, 2005
Sudanese officials deliberately delay allocation of land for AU troops' accommodation
After moaning in earlier posts here about there being no explanation for the delay in the completed deployment of the long awaited 1,000 African Union troops, lo and behold a report appears today at the UN News Centre, throwing some light on the accommodation hold ups for African Union troops in Darfur.
A UN News Centre report April 8 says UN and AU reps today condemned a "senseless and pre-meditated savage attack" Thursday on a town in Darfur by more than 350 armed militia while the Government dragged its heels in designating land for the AU monitoring force meant to deter such incidents. The report says:
Having learnt "with utter shock and disbelief" of the relentless daylong attack on Khor Abeche by armed militia of the Miseriyya tribe of Niteaga, "we condemn this senseless and pre-meditated savage attack," Jan Pronk, the Special Representative of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and AU Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe said in a joint statement.
Nasir Al Tijani Adel Kaadir was identified as having commanded the initial force of over 200 on horses and camels and they were later reinforced by a further 150, also from Niteaga, they said in a statement.
His name and those of his collaborators would be sent to the UN Security Council sanctions committee to be brought to justice and they expected the Sudanese Government to take appropriate action, the two said.
The attackers "rampaged through the village, killing, burning and destroying everything in their paths and leaving in their wake total destruction with only the mosque and the school spared," their statement said.
"This attack, the savagery of which has not been seen since the sacking of Hamada in January 2005, was apparently in retaliation for the alleged theft of 150 cattle whose tracks were supposedly traced to Khor Abeche village," Mr. Pronk and Mr. Kingibe said.
They noted that since 3 April the AU had prepared to deploy troops in Niteaga and Khor Abeche to deter precisely this kind of attack, "but was prevented from acting by what can only be inferred as deliberate official procrastination over the allocation of land for the troops' accommodation."
[It's difficult to understand why the Governor of Darfur and Khartoum regime are not being loudly condemned and penalised by the African Union for thwarting troops while, at the same time, refusing to provide adequate policing and security and not arresting those committing such savage attacks. Why should African Union troops need to wait for designated land permission from Sudanese officials? It does not make sense.]
A UN News Centre report April 8 says UN and AU reps today condemned a "senseless and pre-meditated savage attack" Thursday on a town in Darfur by more than 350 armed militia while the Government dragged its heels in designating land for the AU monitoring force meant to deter such incidents. The report says:
Having learnt "with utter shock and disbelief" of the relentless daylong attack on Khor Abeche by armed militia of the Miseriyya tribe of Niteaga, "we condemn this senseless and pre-meditated savage attack," Jan Pronk, the Special Representative of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and AU Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe said in a joint statement.
Nasir Al Tijani Adel Kaadir was identified as having commanded the initial force of over 200 on horses and camels and they were later reinforced by a further 150, also from Niteaga, they said in a statement.
His name and those of his collaborators would be sent to the UN Security Council sanctions committee to be brought to justice and they expected the Sudanese Government to take appropriate action, the two said.
The attackers "rampaged through the village, killing, burning and destroying everything in their paths and leaving in their wake total destruction with only the mosque and the school spared," their statement said.
"This attack, the savagery of which has not been seen since the sacking of Hamada in January 2005, was apparently in retaliation for the alleged theft of 150 cattle whose tracks were supposedly traced to Khor Abeche village," Mr. Pronk and Mr. Kingibe said.
They noted that since 3 April the AU had prepared to deploy troops in Niteaga and Khor Abeche to deter precisely this kind of attack, "but was prevented from acting by what can only be inferred as deliberate official procrastination over the allocation of land for the troops' accommodation."
[It's difficult to understand why the Governor of Darfur and Khartoum regime are not being loudly condemned and penalised by the African Union for thwarting troops while, at the same time, refusing to provide adequate policing and security and not arresting those committing such savage attacks. Why should African Union troops need to wait for designated land permission from Sudanese officials? It does not make sense.]
Darfur: 10,000 aid workers in the Sudan need minders
Waging Peace UK website says:
Politicians involved in brokering the peace deal for South Sudan seem to believe the road to peace in Darfur goes through the Naivasha agreement. If Naivasha can be completed for southern Sudan it could change the face of Sudan's politics and provide a basis for similar deals concerning western and eastern Sudan. John Garang's new South Sudan government urgently needs funding to build a solid foundation for the 'New Sudan' and prepare for the return of its people - not to mention 10,000 UN peacekeepers and everything else involved in bringing about lasting peace in the region.
Personally, I would like to see an unarmed minder provided for each aid worker in hotspots without further delay. At the moment in Sudan, there are at least 1,000 international aid workers alongside 9,000 Sudanese workers. If minders, armed with satellite phones and cameras, were provided as guards for aid workers it might help if more witnesses were in the field. Here in Europe, during war time, women used to carry phials of pepper to throw into the eyes of assailants. You'd think these days, there would be some sort of stun gun or non-violent deterrent that could be used against would be rapists and attackers. I've read somewhere of a ruling that says firewood should be provided with aid - if that is the case, and firewood is not supplied, then minders ought to accompany displaced people collecting fuel for cooking food.
Satellite phone-cameras could transmit evidence of attacks and maybe help as a deterrent, especially since Sudan has been referred to the International Criminal Court. Khartoum always object to armed forces, but can hardly complain about 10,000 more aid workers while Darfur awaits the long overdue protection forces. Maybe the UN or aid agency insurance companies ought to insist that each aid worker is accompanied by a trained minder. There are plenty of strong young unemployed Africans able to speak Arabic and English who could be hired and trained as minders for humanitarian work.
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Peace deal fails to halt the flood of refugees
Here is a copy of a recent report by Rob Crilly in Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya [apologies for mislaid link]:
STARVING refugees are pouring over the border from Sudan to Kenya despite a peace deal designed to end the 21-year war between the Khartoum government and southern rebels, according to aid agencies.
In a region where hunger is often used as a weapon of war, the new arrivals say they have come in search of food after poor rainfall disrupted last year's harvest. Refugees from Darfur, in western Sudan, have even made the 1,000-mile journey to the Kakuma refugee camp, about 50 miles into Kenya.
Next week, international donors will meet in Oslo to pledge more than a billion dollars to begin the process of reconstruction. They will be asked to help fund clean-water projects, new schools, hospitals and roads. However, many of the 67,000 Sudanese refugees in Kakuma say they will not go home until security and basic health services are improved.
George Okoth-Obbo, the Kenyan representative for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said only a handful of families had made "reconnaissance" trips home. Yesterday, the reception centre at Kakuma was packed with women and thin-limbed children.
The World Lutheran Federation, which runs the centre, said 3,360 people had been registered at the facility this year. In the 12 months before the peace deal was signed in January this year, a total of 3,749 people were recorded.
Achiek Ajak Chol is among the new arrivals. Her frail body shows the strains of a tough life. She supported her family after her son lost his arms fighting for the rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Army. "For four years I could cope. I was able to cultivate. But now there is nothing. We have been eating wild fruits and leaves for four months," she said. She collected enough nuts to support her two young grandchildren for the eight-day trek and set off for Kenya, arriving on a lorry earlier this week.
Southern Sudan's vast oil reserves should make it one of the richest regions in Africa. But today it has one of the world's lowest life expectancies: 42.
After nearly 50 years of war - with only the barest of respites - the country's infrastructure is virtually non-existent.
More than two-million people died and about four million fled their homes during the conflict.
Under January's peace deal, Khartoum and the former rebels will set up a coalition government, share oil revenues and form joint military units.
Abdullah Merghani Ahmed is one of the refugees who made the long journey from Darfur. He left after Janjaweed militia swept through his village, killing his brother and raping his sister. "When he left we weren't thinking about Kenya," he said. "But we had nothing left to lose, so we just kept going until we felt safe."
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Further reading:
April 8 Human Rights Watch on the upcoming donors conference: Donors Must Boost Protection Force in Darfur - "The current situation for civilians in Darfur is unacceptable. They need immediate protection from ongoing attacks so they can return home and begin to rebuild their lives," said Takirambudde. "Donors should immediately provide support for an expanded African Union protection mission."
April 8 Irish news says UN is running out of cash to feed more than one million people living in Darfur. Carlos Veloso, WFP Emergency Coordinator for Darfur, said the non-cereal part of the daily ration would be cut by half next month as a last resort to help stretch current food supplies through July and August - the region's traditional lean months.
April 8 Latest overview by Eric Reeves on the current security and humanitarian relief situation in Darfur.
April 8 BBC says Sudan's militias 'threaten Chad'. Chad has accused Sudan of seeking to destabilise it by recruiting Chadian nationals into militias operating in Darfur. Chad's government spokesman said the 3,000-strong force operated just 25km (15 miles) from their common border.
April 8 Arabic news: Egypt's President met yesterday with Sudanese FM Ismail. President Mubarak received a telephone call from Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir during which they tackled ways of achieving comprehensive Sudanese reconciliation in the Sudan and the Darfur summit. Egypt's FM said the ICC would level charges but if the judiciary in the state concerned played its role properly, there would be no need for the international court. More on this at Reuters: "Sudan Darfur Trials Can Evade Hague Court: Egypt".
April 7 UNICEF calls on Arab funds to boost response to global emergencies.
April 6 (AFP) -- Sudan's government accused rebels Wednesday of attacking the town of Tawilah and wounding several residents in Darfur. The rebel group was not identified, nor was the number of casualties released. AU spokesman said it had "no evidence" to support the allegations.
April 5 (AFP) -- US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick will travel next week to Sudan and Darfur, a senior State Department official said Tuesday.
April 5-7 Darfur News roundup at GIF.
Note new blog by Wau Nar African Herbsman, USA.
"On April 11th the World Bank and UN are holding an international donors' conference in Oslo where they will raise nearly $8 billion to rebuild Sudan. Why should the government of Sudan listen to our concerns about Darfur when we are rewarding them with $8 billion for finally signing the peace deal with southern Sudan's rebels (allowing the development of Sudan's oil reserves)? Please contact your MP now, in the run-up to the election, and ask them to raise this issue with the Foreign Office and DFID.Obviously, it's good to see a UK initiative concerning Darfur but I doubt if much can be done to stop the funding for South Sudan which was promised on condition of a signed north-south peace deal. [By the way, the figure mentioned by Waging Peace UK is misleading: Sudan plans to chip in the lions share of the $8 billiion from its oil revenues. International donors may end up contributing around 2 billion, which I believe also includes the cost of peacekeeping forces.]
Politicians involved in brokering the peace deal for South Sudan seem to believe the road to peace in Darfur goes through the Naivasha agreement. If Naivasha can be completed for southern Sudan it could change the face of Sudan's politics and provide a basis for similar deals concerning western and eastern Sudan. John Garang's new South Sudan government urgently needs funding to build a solid foundation for the 'New Sudan' and prepare for the return of its people - not to mention 10,000 UN peacekeepers and everything else involved in bringing about lasting peace in the region.
Personally, I would like to see an unarmed minder provided for each aid worker in hotspots without further delay. At the moment in Sudan, there are at least 1,000 international aid workers alongside 9,000 Sudanese workers. If minders, armed with satellite phones and cameras, were provided as guards for aid workers it might help if more witnesses were in the field. Here in Europe, during war time, women used to carry phials of pepper to throw into the eyes of assailants. You'd think these days, there would be some sort of stun gun or non-violent deterrent that could be used against would be rapists and attackers. I've read somewhere of a ruling that says firewood should be provided with aid - if that is the case, and firewood is not supplied, then minders ought to accompany displaced people collecting fuel for cooking food.
Satellite phone-cameras could transmit evidence of attacks and maybe help as a deterrent, especially since Sudan has been referred to the International Criminal Court. Khartoum always object to armed forces, but can hardly complain about 10,000 more aid workers while Darfur awaits the long overdue protection forces. Maybe the UN or aid agency insurance companies ought to insist that each aid worker is accompanied by a trained minder. There are plenty of strong young unemployed Africans able to speak Arabic and English who could be hired and trained as minders for humanitarian work.
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Peace deal fails to halt the flood of refugees
Here is a copy of a recent report by Rob Crilly in Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya [apologies for mislaid link]:
STARVING refugees are pouring over the border from Sudan to Kenya despite a peace deal designed to end the 21-year war between the Khartoum government and southern rebels, according to aid agencies.
In a region where hunger is often used as a weapon of war, the new arrivals say they have come in search of food after poor rainfall disrupted last year's harvest. Refugees from Darfur, in western Sudan, have even made the 1,000-mile journey to the Kakuma refugee camp, about 50 miles into Kenya.
Next week, international donors will meet in Oslo to pledge more than a billion dollars to begin the process of reconstruction. They will be asked to help fund clean-water projects, new schools, hospitals and roads. However, many of the 67,000 Sudanese refugees in Kakuma say they will not go home until security and basic health services are improved.
George Okoth-Obbo, the Kenyan representative for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said only a handful of families had made "reconnaissance" trips home. Yesterday, the reception centre at Kakuma was packed with women and thin-limbed children.
The World Lutheran Federation, which runs the centre, said 3,360 people had been registered at the facility this year. In the 12 months before the peace deal was signed in January this year, a total of 3,749 people were recorded.
Achiek Ajak Chol is among the new arrivals. Her frail body shows the strains of a tough life. She supported her family after her son lost his arms fighting for the rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Army. "For four years I could cope. I was able to cultivate. But now there is nothing. We have been eating wild fruits and leaves for four months," she said. She collected enough nuts to support her two young grandchildren for the eight-day trek and set off for Kenya, arriving on a lorry earlier this week.
Southern Sudan's vast oil reserves should make it one of the richest regions in Africa. But today it has one of the world's lowest life expectancies: 42.
After nearly 50 years of war - with only the barest of respites - the country's infrastructure is virtually non-existent.
More than two-million people died and about four million fled their homes during the conflict.
Under January's peace deal, Khartoum and the former rebels will set up a coalition government, share oil revenues and form joint military units.
Abdullah Merghani Ahmed is one of the refugees who made the long journey from Darfur. He left after Janjaweed militia swept through his village, killing his brother and raping his sister. "When he left we weren't thinking about Kenya," he said. "But we had nothing left to lose, so we just kept going until we felt safe."
- - -
Further reading:
April 8 Human Rights Watch on the upcoming donors conference: Donors Must Boost Protection Force in Darfur - "The current situation for civilians in Darfur is unacceptable. They need immediate protection from ongoing attacks so they can return home and begin to rebuild their lives," said Takirambudde. "Donors should immediately provide support for an expanded African Union protection mission."
April 8 Irish news says UN is running out of cash to feed more than one million people living in Darfur. Carlos Veloso, WFP Emergency Coordinator for Darfur, said the non-cereal part of the daily ration would be cut by half next month as a last resort to help stretch current food supplies through July and August - the region's traditional lean months.
April 8 Latest overview by Eric Reeves on the current security and humanitarian relief situation in Darfur.
April 8 BBC says Sudan's militias 'threaten Chad'. Chad has accused Sudan of seeking to destabilise it by recruiting Chadian nationals into militias operating in Darfur. Chad's government spokesman said the 3,000-strong force operated just 25km (15 miles) from their common border.
April 8 Arabic news: Egypt's President met yesterday with Sudanese FM Ismail. President Mubarak received a telephone call from Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir during which they tackled ways of achieving comprehensive Sudanese reconciliation in the Sudan and the Darfur summit. Egypt's FM said the ICC would level charges but if the judiciary in the state concerned played its role properly, there would be no need for the international court. More on this at Reuters: "Sudan Darfur Trials Can Evade Hague Court: Egypt".
April 7 UNICEF calls on Arab funds to boost response to global emergencies.
April 6 (AFP) -- Sudan's government accused rebels Wednesday of attacking the town of Tawilah and wounding several residents in Darfur. The rebel group was not identified, nor was the number of casualties released. AU spokesman said it had "no evidence" to support the allegations.
April 5 (AFP) -- US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick will travel next week to Sudan and Darfur, a senior State Department official said Tuesday.
April 5-7 Darfur News roundup at GIF.
Note new blog by Wau Nar African Herbsman, USA.
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
What can bloggers do about Darfur, Sudan?
Note this copy of a post April 6, 2005, by Gene at Harry's Place in the UK titled "What you can do about Darfur":
Here are a couple of practical ideas for anyone looking for ways to help stop the genocide in Darfur:
-- If you live in the US, urge your represenatives in Congress to support the 'Darfur Accountability Act' (S 495), which calls for a new UN Security Council resolution with sanctions, accelerated assistance to the African Union mission and a military no-fly zone in Darfur.
If you live in another country, see about supporting similar legislation in that country or in the EU.
-- Support divestment from Sudan at whatever level you can. As I posted last December, China is putting billions of dollars into investment, oil revenue and weapons which help sustain the Sudanese government's genocidal policies. I don't expect everyone to stop buying Chinese-made goods (the earnings from which provide those billions), but companies in China and elsewhere are strengthening the Sudanese government's ability to support the Darfur massacres.
Thanks to petitions and protests by students, Harvard University agreed to sell $4.4 million worth of shares in PetroChina -- a subsidiary of state-owned China National Petroleum -- which has invested more than $1 billion in the Sudanese government to secure oil outputs. According to divestsudan.org PetroChina is one of 83 publicly-traded companies doing business in Sudan.
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Note, here is a copy of a comment I left at Gene's post today:
Hello and thanks to Gene and Sonic and others on this thread: it's refreshing for me to see a UK blog posting on what one can do about Darfur. I am in England and have posted almost daily on Darfur - along with Jim Moore and friends at http://passionofthepresent.org - since April of last year. Jim, as far as I am aware, was the first blogger to put the spotlight on Darfur and stay with it all the way. In August I started up a blog called Sudan Watch as a place in which to log events unfolding in Darfur and file my posts on UK/European news/blogs re Darfur at Jim's site because my main personal blog became swamped with Sudan posts from April-August. Over the past year, I've spent many an hour searching for British/European bloggers posting on Darfur. Disappointingly, they have been few and far between. Please, if any blogger outside the US posts on Darfur/Sudan do let me know and I will point to their post and link them in my sidebar.
Gene, do you, or any of your readers know of UK/European initiatives or how we in the UK can support similar legislation to the type you mention in your post? Apart from contacting various MPs - including my own - several times I've only found American initiatives to support.
I'd be pleased to spread the word on any info re UK/European initiatives, blogs, websites - or any news out of UK/Europe - concerning Darfur/Sudan. Please feel free to email me anytime or leave a comment at http://sudanwatch.blogspot.com
Thanks again. I have put a link to this post in my sidebar at Sudan Watch.
Here are a couple of practical ideas for anyone looking for ways to help stop the genocide in Darfur:
-- If you live in the US, urge your represenatives in Congress to support the 'Darfur Accountability Act' (S 495), which calls for a new UN Security Council resolution with sanctions, accelerated assistance to the African Union mission and a military no-fly zone in Darfur.
If you live in another country, see about supporting similar legislation in that country or in the EU.
-- Support divestment from Sudan at whatever level you can. As I posted last December, China is putting billions of dollars into investment, oil revenue and weapons which help sustain the Sudanese government's genocidal policies. I don't expect everyone to stop buying Chinese-made goods (the earnings from which provide those billions), but companies in China and elsewhere are strengthening the Sudanese government's ability to support the Darfur massacres.
Thanks to petitions and protests by students, Harvard University agreed to sell $4.4 million worth of shares in PetroChina -- a subsidiary of state-owned China National Petroleum -- which has invested more than $1 billion in the Sudanese government to secure oil outputs. According to divestsudan.org PetroChina is one of 83 publicly-traded companies doing business in Sudan.
- - -
Note, here is a copy of a comment I left at Gene's post today:
Hello and thanks to Gene and Sonic and others on this thread: it's refreshing for me to see a UK blog posting on what one can do about Darfur. I am in England and have posted almost daily on Darfur - along with Jim Moore and friends at http://passionofthepresent.org - since April of last year. Jim, as far as I am aware, was the first blogger to put the spotlight on Darfur and stay with it all the way. In August I started up a blog called Sudan Watch as a place in which to log events unfolding in Darfur and file my posts on UK/European news/blogs re Darfur at Jim's site because my main personal blog became swamped with Sudan posts from April-August. Over the past year, I've spent many an hour searching for British/European bloggers posting on Darfur. Disappointingly, they have been few and far between. Please, if any blogger outside the US posts on Darfur/Sudan do let me know and I will point to their post and link them in my sidebar.
Gene, do you, or any of your readers know of UK/European initiatives or how we in the UK can support similar legislation to the type you mention in your post? Apart from contacting various MPs - including my own - several times I've only found American initiatives to support.
I'd be pleased to spread the word on any info re UK/European initiatives, blogs, websites - or any news out of UK/Europe - concerning Darfur/Sudan. Please feel free to email me anytime or leave a comment at http://sudanwatch.blogspot.com
Thanks again. I have put a link to this post in my sidebar at Sudan Watch.
Raids on Darfur food aid trucks leave drivers dead, wounded - UN WFP says Sudan will face a new catastrophe unless more food gets there fast
Yesterday, April 5, the UNs World Food Programme (WFP) said they do not have enough food to provide for 5.5 million Sudanese people in need and that Sudan will face a new catastrophe unless more food gets there fast. WFP told ENS newswire:
"In West Darfur, areas to the north of the capital of El-Geneina remain "no go" for UN agencies, although security restrictions on some other areas have been lifted.
On March 11, WFP staff and other UN and nongovernmental organization personnel were pulled back to the state capital, following three days of attacks by armed bandits on clearly marked humanitarian vehicles. The attacks and the impact on relief operations have been raised with local authorities in West Darfur.
"We are doing everything we can to get food to those who need it," said Ramiro Lopes da Silva, WFP Sudan country director. "But banditry, conflict and insecurity make this an uphill battle."
"We are dispatching assessment teams to the worst-hit areas to find out by mid April how many more people need food aid in the months ahead," said Lopes da Silva.
"But so far, WFP doesn't have enough food to provide for the 5.5 million people who need assistance in 2005 in the east, transitional areas, the south and Darfur. If the numbers continue to rise, Sudan will face a new catastrophe unless more food gets here fast."
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Raids on Darfur food aid trucks leave drivers dead, wounded
The UNs WFP reported April 5 that shootings, attacks on drivers and thefts of trucks carrying food aid are creating a climate of fear that is hampering the delivery of essential food to millions of displaced people in Darfur. Excerpt:
Why such large convoys of food trucks are not escorted by police and helicopters is incomprehensible. Khartoum ought to be made responsible for escorting the aid safely to its destination, or they get no development funding. 10,000 aid workers are doing a tremendous job for the Sudanese people while risking their own lives. They and the aid must be protected. Khartoum and the rebels have their own security forces. What about everyone else? Who is protecting them? African Union soldiers do not have the necessary mandate to act as a protection force. The African Union has its own Security Council that does not need to go through the UN Security Council to get a mandate for AU troops. Why the 53-member bloc African Union is not insisting on a full mandate for Darfur is mind boggling. One can only conclude they are sympathetic to the regime in Khartoum, regardless of everyone else.
What exactly is the Sudan anyway - is it an African nation or an Arab nation? It comes under the umbrella of both the Arab League and the African Union. It seems (to me anyway) the Sudan has an identity crisis that cannot be resolved unless Khartoum comes out and makes clear Sudan is an Arab nation. Africans and Arabs who wish the freedom to choose their own religion and not be subjected to Islamic law ought to be able to live in South Sudan and Darfur with a government that represents the needs and wants of citizens.
Trouble is, there is oil in South Sudan and Darfur. North Sudan is loathe to lose that - Khartoum included. Wherever you turn to work out the root problem in Sudan, it always leads you to the northern region of Sudan which has always given itself preferential treatment, never mind the rest. Nomads - like the gypsies here in England who are shunned by mainstream communities - live on the fringes of society. They have their own customs and traditions and take it upon themselves to draw on the resources that surround local communities such as land, water and other facilities while not heeding licensing laws or paying full taxes like everyone else.]
Photo: Every day, hundreds of WFP trucks and planes are on the move to deliver food aid. (Photo by Laura Melo courtesy WFP)
The UNs WFP says in crowded camps throughout the three states of Darfur and across the border in Chad, two million people who have fled their homes rely on food aid to survive. It is estimated that a monthly average of 2.3 million people will need food assistance in the Darfurs over 2005, rising to 2.8 million during the rainy season months. In February, WFP fed 1.6 million people in Darfur, the highest monthly total since its emergency operation began in April 2004. Bravo to all involved.
UPDATE April 6, 2005: Relief workers have reported an upsurge in severe malnutrition among Sudanese refugees from Darfur at three camps in eastern Chad. See Severe Malnutrition on the Rise - via Coalition for Darfur [with thanks].
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Darfur aid workers under threat
There are 1,000 international aid workers on the ground, assisted by 9,000 Sudanese workers but its never explained how the local workers are selected or where they are from. We don't really know what is going on half the time. There is still no further news on what happened to the route to Darfur via Libya that was offered by the Libyan leader several months ago. In a recent interview, US Defence Secretary Rice mentioned "problems" with the Libyan route over the past few months and the need to keep pressing Khartoum on the issue.
On April 5 Human Rights Watch said the Sudanese government has sought to intimidate humanitarian relief agencies in Darfur by arbitrarily arresting or detaining at least 20 aid workers since December - and in several incidents rebels in Darfur have also detained or attacked aid workers. Sudanese authorities and rebels must not impede relief efforts, they said.
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Danish Refugee Council has withdrawn aid workers
The banditry is part of a deteriorating security situation across Darfur including attacks on humanitarian teams from WFP partner organizations, says the UNs WFP April 5.
The Danish Refugee Council has temporarily withdrawn from the Jebel Marra region after two of its aid workers were abducted from a vehicle on March 20. The two were released, but the vehicle is still missing.
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US aid workers returned to UN representative
An AGI report from Rome, Italy, April 4 says Italian negotiators succeeded in brokering the release of three US aid workers kidnapped last December in Sudan.
The three were members of ADRA (Adventist development and relief agency) and had been kidnapped by anti government factions whilst their aid convoy travelled from Khartoum to Darfur.
Italian UN envoy Barbara Contini actively brokered the release. After lengthy negotiations the three were returned released without payment of a ransom.
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UN turning a blind eye to Darfur deaths, says Straw
Gethin Chamberlain, the Scotsman's correspondent who covered news on Darfur from the Chad-Sudan border last year, reports today, April 6, that Britain yesterday accused other members of the UN Security Council of turning a blind eye to the atrocities in Darfur.
In a strongly worded statement, Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, said they had put commercial or political interests above their commitments under the UN charter.
Britain has worked to get other members of the UN Security Council "to recognise the gravity of the situation and, for some of them, to appreciate that their obligations under the UN Charter must take precedence over their immediate commercial or political interests with the government of Sudan", he said.
"There are still members of the so-called international community, members of the Security Council and others, who are turning a blind eye from clear atrocities which have taken place in Darfur," Mr Straw said.
[No doubt he was thinking of China, Russia and Algeria that have blocked any concrete action by the Security Council against Sudan]
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Ireland: Darfur top of agenda as Minister Lenihan travels to Sudan
Irish news says the humanitarian crisis in Darfur is back on the Irish Government's agenda ahead of an international meeting to discuss relief efforts in the region.
On April 3, Ireland's Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Conor Lenihan, departed for Darfur.
Minister Lenihan said that he supports the UN call to bring the killers to justice: "I think the UNs overview is the right one and I think it is very important now that people who have been perpetrating these killings and bringing death to everyone's door are brought to justice through the International Criminal Court."
[Irish aid agency GOAL has been doing a tremendous job for many years in the Sudan]
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Straw Calls for International Consensus on Sudan
April 5 2005 report by Nick Mead, PA Political Staff, at Scotsman - excerpt:
"Speaking at Commons questions, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the resolution "sent a very clear message that there is now no hiding place for those committing crimes against humanity".
Shadow foreign minister Mark Simmonds called on the UK and the rest of the international community to ensure perpetrators of war crimes are brought to justice, enforce a "no fly" zone over Darfur and impose oil and arms sanctions.
Mr Straw replied: "We have always argued for the toughest possible action but achieving that depends on gaining agreement inside the Security Council.
"We have to gain a consensus. It involves international engagement, even with our European partners.
"Where we've got to is not where we would wish to get to but it is infinitely better than where we would have got to under a Conservative government."
Sir Menzies Campbell, for Lib Dems, called for the African Union force in Sudan to be increased from 2,500 to 10,000 and for its mandate to be strengthened to allow for peacekeeping rather than simply monitoring.
The Foreign Secretary said the UK was giving the African Union technical and logistical support to get the available troops effectively deployed."
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30 million in emergency aid for Sudan
A Minister from The Netherlands (Jan Pronk's home country) returned home this week following her 4-day visit to the Sudan.
Here is a copy of a April 5, 2005, press release outlining the conclusions she reached. [Note, the Minister observed that where the African Union is present in Darfur, the situation improves. I can find no report that explains why it is taking so long for even 1,000 extra AU troops to arrive in Darfur to make the full numbers approved. The European Union has committed a few hundred million dollars to the African Union. AU officials themselves have said money is not an issue but that "accommodation" for the troops in Darfur is the problem]. Here is the press release:
In Darfur too many people still have to get by without water, food supplies are insufficient, aid convoys are being attacked, the security situation for refugees and aid workers is alarming and women are being intimidated and sexually assaulted. These are the conclusions that the Minister for Development Cooperation, Agnes van Ardenne, drew at the end of her four-day visit to Sudan. The Netherlands will donate 30 million euros through international aid organisations to alleviate human suffering in Sudan. "But that is not nearly enough," says Van Ardenne. "I call upon other donors to make their contributions. That way we can show that a human life in Darfur is just as valuable as a human life in the tsunami impacted regions."
Van Ardenne expressed dismay that no progress has been made on the implementation of the North-South peace agreement. The accord has not been used in any way to resolve the conflict in Darfur. It is of vital importance for a new government to be formed immediately. Van Ardenne: "With the UN Security Council adopting three resolutions, the African Union enlarging its membership, and extensive humanitarian aid efforts being made, the international donor community is doing what can be expected. There are no more obstacles to prevent the Sudanese government and the rebels from sitting down at the negotiating table in Abuja and finding a political solution for Darfur." The violence in Darfur must be stopped, for the sake of the people there, for peace in all of Sudan and, not least, for the success of the Donors' Conference on Sudan to be held in Oslo next week. The Netherlands has set aside 100 million euros for the reconstruction of Sudan, but will not release the funds until Darfur is stable.
The minister observed in Darfur that where the African Union is present, the situation improves. The AU mission is making good use of three helicopters deployed with financial support from the Netherlands. To further improve security in Darfur, the AU mission needs to be expanded quickly. Van Ardenne believes that the current pledge of 3,200 African troops should be doubled and that the AU mission is insufficiently equipped. It lacks adequate transport vehicles, communication equipment and reliable information services. Van Ardenne informed the AU that, if necessary, the Netherlands would be willing to contribute more than the eight million euros it has made available thus far.
In Darfur, she spoke with the African Union, the Sudanese government, the SLA rebels and representatives of aid organisations. In the refugee camps, she spoke with several women and aid workers in emergency hospitals. "In my contact with Sudanese women," she says, "I was again moved by their resilience. Despite their harrowing stories, they want to focus on the future and are already getting to work, for example, making wicker baskets. They hope to earn an income selling them on the local market." Van Ardenne was also impressed by the courage and perseverance of the aid workers, who often have to do their work under the most difficult of circumstances.
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Darfur war crimes evidence driven overnight from Geneva to The Hague
A report in the Scotsman April 6 quotes British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw as saying it was too early to say when the ICC might issue indictments or arrest warrants over Darfur and added he hoped the Sudanese government would help with the investigation. "We hope there will be constructive co-operation. We will co-operate with international institutions and governments to collect as much information as we can," he said.
His comments came as the International Criminal Court in the Hague took delivery of boxes of documents gathered last year by a UN commission. The boxes were driven overnight from Geneva to the court in The Hague, in the Netherlands.
Photo: Boxes of documents have been delivered to the court. See BBC report UN sets Darfur trials in motion.
On April 5 at UN HQ in New York, Kofi Annan, handed the ICC's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, a sealed envelope holding a list of 51 people the commission recommends should stand trial. UN officials have said the list includes Sudan government and army officials, militia leaders and rebel and foreign army commanders but the ICC will not reveal the content of the list and will only decide later who it wants to indict.
Mr Moreno-Ocampo said that he would analyse the material, assess the alleged crimes and the admissibility of the cases. He urged those with information on Darfur to provide it to his office. "We all have a common task - to protect life, ending the culture of impunity," he said.
His deputy at The Hague, Serge Brammertz, said yesterday prosecutors would decide if the case fell within the court's jurisdiction and merited formal investigation and that the court would not necessarily follow the UNs findings, either in terms of suspects or crimes to be prosecuted. He said it was too early to say when a formal investigation would begin and that he hoped the Sudanese government would cooperate with prosecutors. "We will now proceed with the analysis of the documents and prepare a work. We will put together a team of analysts and investigators," he said.
Sources within the ICC told the Associated Press last week that about two dozen prosecution investigators were preparing to travel soon to Sudan.
Photo courtesy ICC: Mr. Serge BRAMMERTZ, Deputy Prosecutor of the ICC (Investigations), Mr. Luis MORENO-OCAMPO, Chief Prosecutor, and Mrs. Fatou BENSOUDA, Deputy Prosecutor (Prosecutions)
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1,000 Teso children in captivity
April 4, 2005 AllAfrica report by Samuel Okiror in Kampala - copy:
ARROW group coordinator Musa Ecweru on Friday said 1,028 Teso children abducted by LRA rebels in 2003 are still under rebel captivity in southern Sudan.
"We have confirmed that the children are being traded for guns and uniforms for the rebels," he said in an interview.
Ecweru, the Soroti RDC, said LRA leader Joseph Kony was selling the children to the governments of Sudan and Somalia. He said the people of Teso would appeal to the international community to trace the children.
Ecweru said about 5,000 children were abducted in Teso by the rebels in 2003 but the UPDF and Arrow boys rescued only 3,000.
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Further reading:
April 1, 2005: Darfur is now a household name in Britain, but a year ago, when I was among the first aid workers to be sent to this remote province of western Sudan, even old Africa hands might have been hard pushed to place it on the map. I was part of a UNHCR team charged with setting up the first refugee camps in the Sahel scrubland on the border with eastern Chad, where the number of displaced and traumatised Darfurians was growing rapidly. Full Story "On the edge of existence" by Katherine Grant, Financial Times, April 1, 2005.
April 2, 2005: The destruction and killing visited on Darfur might best be understood as ethnic cleansing along the lines seen in Kosovo, rather than the spasm of violence that gripped Rwanda. That means stopping the killing and the flight of an estimated 2 million people from the region will be messy and time-consuming. The best solution remains an African one: more support for the African Union, and encouragement for it to send larger peacekeeping forces. The sooner that is done, the better for Darfur. Full Story "Saving Darfur" Guardian UK, April 2, 2005.
April 3, 2005: In the six months I spent in Darfur as a "ceasefire observer", I saw entire villages burned down with Sudanese locked inside their huts. I saw villagers with their eyes or ears plucked out, or men who had bled to death after being castrated. I interviewed women who had been gang-raped while out collecting firewood. I saw evidence of summary executions. I walked through a field where it was impossible to move without stepping on human bones. Full Story "I walked through a field filled with human bones" by American Captain Brian Steidle, The Independent UK. Captain Brian Steidle was a ceasefire monitor in Darfur with the African Union, where he watched helplessly as a genocide unfolded. The former US Marine is the first observer to go public on the atrocities in the region.
April 4, 2005: But above all Sudan needs international commitments of aid for those displaced in Darfur and elsewhere in the vast country, concrete plans to return them home and assurances that political pressure will be kept up to ensure these agreements are followed through. This is a huge and demanding agenda which has been kept in the public eye mainly by aid agencies. Governments must now act on it with sustained pressure on all concerned. Full Story, Welcome break in Darfur impasse" The Irish Times.
April 5, 2005: "We're proud of what we do," said Kenny Gluck, the operations director based in the Netherlands for Medecins Sans Frontieres. "But people's villages have been burned, their crops have been destroyed, their wells spiked, their family members raped, tortured and killed - and they come to us, and we give them 2,100 kilocalories a day." In effect, Gluck said, the aid effort is sustaining victims so they can be killed with a full belly. Full Story "Hypocrisy on Darfur" by Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times.
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Sudan stages 'million-man' march against UN war crimes trial
The Sudanese government has been accused of seeking to intimidate humanitarian relief agencies in Darfur by arresting or detaining at least 20 aid workers since December. Human Rights Watch, which has campaigned against the genocide, said that rebels had also detained or attacked aid workers. The group called on all parties to the conflict to ensure the safety of humanitarian aid workers and enable them to reach Sudanese civilians in need of assistance.
"The Sudanese authorities are using the same strong-arm tactics against aid workers that they have used against human rights defenders," said Peter Takirambudde, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Donor governments should condemn Khartoum's attempts to intimidate aid workers and others assisting civilians in Sudan."
On April 5, hundreds of thousands took to the streets of Khartoum - not for any concern over the humanitarian crisis and the scorched earth campaign waged by the government against the rebels that has left more than 350,000 dead and 2.4 million people displaced - but because of the UNs demands for war crimes suspects, including high officials, to be handed over for trail by the International Criminal Court.
Photo: Sudanese protestors carry placards and banners during a protest march in Khartoum April 5, 2005. (Reuters)
Reuters reported that protesters directed much of their anger against British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and French and US presidents Jacques Chirac and George W. Bush, but they also had harsh words for UN chief Kofi Annan. "Death to Bush, death to Blair, death to Chirac," chanted the demonstrators, many of whom travelled in from the provinces for the rally and arrived hours ahead of the start. State television had given extensive advance publicity to the march and carried live footage on the day. Traffic came to a standstill in the capital, as the protestors marched from the republican palace to UN headquarters, calling for Annan to resign.
"If it does not comply by surrendering the suspects to the ICC, (it) will open the door to punishments that will go beyond sanctions to the use of military force," said Abdel Qadir Bakash of the Beja Congress, an ethnic minority rebel group active in eastern Sudan.
He said the regime had two options -- "either to destroy itself and the Sudan as well by refusing to cooperate with the international community, or to agree to participate in a national conference of all opposition political forces ... to establish a broad-based government that will implement the Naivasha peace accords." Full Story via Sudan Tribune.
Photo: Radio stations and newspapers urged people to join the protest. The state-owned mobile phone company MobiTel had publicised the protest march through a text message to many subscribers on Monday evening.
Sudan has said it will refuse to hand over its citizens to face trial abroad, preferring to rely on local justice, but it is not clear if they know the trials will be held a lot closer to home. The ICC is mobile and prepared to hold court in order to gather evidence and witnesses. Sudan's President al-Bashir swore "thrice in the name of Almighty Allah that I shall never hand any Sudanese national to a foreign court", he is quoted as saying by AFP news agency.
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Sudanese tribes reject UN resolution on Darfur
April 5 Arabic News says the legal advisor of the UN mission in Sudan cited Sunday an ample opportunity for Khartoum to hold transparent and fair trials of Darfur war criminals. He said that if Khartoum puts such criminals on trial the ICC will not intervene. Excerpt:
The council of Sudanese tribes Sunday slammed UN Security Council resolution 1593 on Darfur as "unjust." A statement by the council called on all tribes to stand united against such an "insulting" resolution.
Meanwhile, the Sudanese government formed a committee to look into the repercussions of the resolution at the political, legal and diplomatic levels.
Reaffirming Khartoum's stance rejecting the resolution, Sudanese Information and Communications Minister designate Abdel Bassit Sidrat said the cabinet branded the resolution as a violation of Sudanese sovereignty.
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Egyptian news says UN resolution racist
Excerpt from Arab press roundup at World Peace Herald by UPI April 6, 2005:
Egypt's al-Gumhouriya commented in its editorial on what it described as the "justice of the new world order," saying the UN Security Council resolution to try suspected Sudanese officials on war crimes in Darfur was "reeking with racism."
The semi-official mass-circulation daily said the decision sought to try the officials in an international tribunal that was set up by the legitimacy of the new world order to punish anyone in the world "except those with noble American blood." It said the resolution, other than being a blatant interference in Sudan's internal affairs, was racist in nature because "it distinguishes between Americans and Sudanese and others."
The paper opined there appeared to be two types of justice, one that judges Muslims and Arabs, and another that judges "the noble Americans ... and all in the name of the illegitimate international legitimacy."
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Australia applauds UN decision to refer Darfur war crime to ICC
Associated Press April 6 says Australia and New Zealand on Wednesday applauded the UN decision to refer allegations of atrocities in Darfur to an international war crimes tribunal. Excerpt:
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said his government strongly supported the decision.
"This is an essential step to ending the atrocities in Darfur," Downer said in a statement.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Phil Goff said the moves were "a major step toward justice and peace for the people of the Sudan after 21 years of civil war and internal conflict."
He said the court's investigation into the Darfur atrocities "hopefully" would act to deter further crimes being committed.
"In West Darfur, areas to the north of the capital of El-Geneina remain "no go" for UN agencies, although security restrictions on some other areas have been lifted.
On March 11, WFP staff and other UN and nongovernmental organization personnel were pulled back to the state capital, following three days of attacks by armed bandits on clearly marked humanitarian vehicles. The attacks and the impact on relief operations have been raised with local authorities in West Darfur.
"We are doing everything we can to get food to those who need it," said Ramiro Lopes da Silva, WFP Sudan country director. "But banditry, conflict and insecurity make this an uphill battle."
"We are dispatching assessment teams to the worst-hit areas to find out by mid April how many more people need food aid in the months ahead," said Lopes da Silva.
"But so far, WFP doesn't have enough food to provide for the 5.5 million people who need assistance in 2005 in the east, transitional areas, the south and Darfur. If the numbers continue to rise, Sudan will face a new catastrophe unless more food gets here fast."
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Raids on Darfur food aid trucks leave drivers dead, wounded
The UNs WFP reported April 5 that shootings, attacks on drivers and thefts of trucks carrying food aid are creating a climate of fear that is hampering the delivery of essential food to millions of displaced people in Darfur. Excerpt:
"The security situation is so bad that many drivers are now refusing to move through sections of the road corridors to the three Darfur states," said Ramiro Lopes da Silva, World Food Programme (WFP) Sudan country director.[As if the rebels will take heed. They, like all the other bandits in Sudan, seem to survive by looting and stealing trucks, petrol and food. How else are they supporting themselves? If bandits are travelling in UN trucks, and there is no UN security to stop them, it can't come as a surprise to the UN that their trucks are being attacked and cargoes failing to reach their destination.
Mr Lopes da Silva said some WFP contract truck drivers are refusing to move out onto the increasingly dangerous roads. They halted a 37 truck convoy in Ed-Daien last week for security reasons. In March, a driver was shot and wounded, another had his hands broken, and others were severely beaten. A total of 13 WFP contracted trucks are still missing after a string of raids; eight of these are known to be held by the Darfur rebel group SLA.
"These attacks are completely unconscionable. They create a climate of fear that together with truck seizures pose a real threat to our ability to deliver food to the Darfurs," said Lopes da Silva. "These attacks must stop, and the trucks must be returned - it is as simple as that," he said.
Why such large convoys of food trucks are not escorted by police and helicopters is incomprehensible. Khartoum ought to be made responsible for escorting the aid safely to its destination, or they get no development funding. 10,000 aid workers are doing a tremendous job for the Sudanese people while risking their own lives. They and the aid must be protected. Khartoum and the rebels have their own security forces. What about everyone else? Who is protecting them? African Union soldiers do not have the necessary mandate to act as a protection force. The African Union has its own Security Council that does not need to go through the UN Security Council to get a mandate for AU troops. Why the 53-member bloc African Union is not insisting on a full mandate for Darfur is mind boggling. One can only conclude they are sympathetic to the regime in Khartoum, regardless of everyone else.
What exactly is the Sudan anyway - is it an African nation or an Arab nation? It comes under the umbrella of both the Arab League and the African Union. It seems (to me anyway) the Sudan has an identity crisis that cannot be resolved unless Khartoum comes out and makes clear Sudan is an Arab nation. Africans and Arabs who wish the freedom to choose their own religion and not be subjected to Islamic law ought to be able to live in South Sudan and Darfur with a government that represents the needs and wants of citizens.
Trouble is, there is oil in South Sudan and Darfur. North Sudan is loathe to lose that - Khartoum included. Wherever you turn to work out the root problem in Sudan, it always leads you to the northern region of Sudan which has always given itself preferential treatment, never mind the rest. Nomads - like the gypsies here in England who are shunned by mainstream communities - live on the fringes of society. They have their own customs and traditions and take it upon themselves to draw on the resources that surround local communities such as land, water and other facilities while not heeding licensing laws or paying full taxes like everyone else.]
Photo: Every day, hundreds of WFP trucks and planes are on the move to deliver food aid. (Photo by Laura Melo courtesy WFP)
The UNs WFP says in crowded camps throughout the three states of Darfur and across the border in Chad, two million people who have fled their homes rely on food aid to survive. It is estimated that a monthly average of 2.3 million people will need food assistance in the Darfurs over 2005, rising to 2.8 million during the rainy season months. In February, WFP fed 1.6 million people in Darfur, the highest monthly total since its emergency operation began in April 2004. Bravo to all involved.
UPDATE April 6, 2005: Relief workers have reported an upsurge in severe malnutrition among Sudanese refugees from Darfur at three camps in eastern Chad. See Severe Malnutrition on the Rise - via Coalition for Darfur [with thanks].
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Darfur aid workers under threat
There are 1,000 international aid workers on the ground, assisted by 9,000 Sudanese workers but its never explained how the local workers are selected or where they are from. We don't really know what is going on half the time. There is still no further news on what happened to the route to Darfur via Libya that was offered by the Libyan leader several months ago. In a recent interview, US Defence Secretary Rice mentioned "problems" with the Libyan route over the past few months and the need to keep pressing Khartoum on the issue.
On April 5 Human Rights Watch said the Sudanese government has sought to intimidate humanitarian relief agencies in Darfur by arbitrarily arresting or detaining at least 20 aid workers since December - and in several incidents rebels in Darfur have also detained or attacked aid workers. Sudanese authorities and rebels must not impede relief efforts, they said.
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Danish Refugee Council has withdrawn aid workers
The banditry is part of a deteriorating security situation across Darfur including attacks on humanitarian teams from WFP partner organizations, says the UNs WFP April 5.
The Danish Refugee Council has temporarily withdrawn from the Jebel Marra region after two of its aid workers were abducted from a vehicle on March 20. The two were released, but the vehicle is still missing.
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US aid workers returned to UN representative
An AGI report from Rome, Italy, April 4 says Italian negotiators succeeded in brokering the release of three US aid workers kidnapped last December in Sudan.
The three were members of ADRA (Adventist development and relief agency) and had been kidnapped by anti government factions whilst their aid convoy travelled from Khartoum to Darfur.
Italian UN envoy Barbara Contini actively brokered the release. After lengthy negotiations the three were returned released without payment of a ransom.
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UN turning a blind eye to Darfur deaths, says Straw
Gethin Chamberlain, the Scotsman's correspondent who covered news on Darfur from the Chad-Sudan border last year, reports today, April 6, that Britain yesterday accused other members of the UN Security Council of turning a blind eye to the atrocities in Darfur.
In a strongly worded statement, Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, said they had put commercial or political interests above their commitments under the UN charter.
Britain has worked to get other members of the UN Security Council "to recognise the gravity of the situation and, for some of them, to appreciate that their obligations under the UN Charter must take precedence over their immediate commercial or political interests with the government of Sudan", he said.
"There are still members of the so-called international community, members of the Security Council and others, who are turning a blind eye from clear atrocities which have taken place in Darfur," Mr Straw said.
[No doubt he was thinking of China, Russia and Algeria that have blocked any concrete action by the Security Council against Sudan]
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Ireland: Darfur top of agenda as Minister Lenihan travels to Sudan
Irish news says the humanitarian crisis in Darfur is back on the Irish Government's agenda ahead of an international meeting to discuss relief efforts in the region.
On April 3, Ireland's Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Conor Lenihan, departed for Darfur.
Minister Lenihan said that he supports the UN call to bring the killers to justice: "I think the UNs overview is the right one and I think it is very important now that people who have been perpetrating these killings and bringing death to everyone's door are brought to justice through the International Criminal Court."
[Irish aid agency GOAL has been doing a tremendous job for many years in the Sudan]
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Straw Calls for International Consensus on Sudan
April 5 2005 report by Nick Mead, PA Political Staff, at Scotsman - excerpt:
"Speaking at Commons questions, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the resolution "sent a very clear message that there is now no hiding place for those committing crimes against humanity".
Shadow foreign minister Mark Simmonds called on the UK and the rest of the international community to ensure perpetrators of war crimes are brought to justice, enforce a "no fly" zone over Darfur and impose oil and arms sanctions.
Mr Straw replied: "We have always argued for the toughest possible action but achieving that depends on gaining agreement inside the Security Council.
"We have to gain a consensus. It involves international engagement, even with our European partners.
"Where we've got to is not where we would wish to get to but it is infinitely better than where we would have got to under a Conservative government."
Sir Menzies Campbell, for Lib Dems, called for the African Union force in Sudan to be increased from 2,500 to 10,000 and for its mandate to be strengthened to allow for peacekeeping rather than simply monitoring.
The Foreign Secretary said the UK was giving the African Union technical and logistical support to get the available troops effectively deployed."
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30 million in emergency aid for Sudan
A Minister from The Netherlands (Jan Pronk's home country) returned home this week following her 4-day visit to the Sudan.
Here is a copy of a April 5, 2005, press release outlining the conclusions she reached. [Note, the Minister observed that where the African Union is present in Darfur, the situation improves. I can find no report that explains why it is taking so long for even 1,000 extra AU troops to arrive in Darfur to make the full numbers approved. The European Union has committed a few hundred million dollars to the African Union. AU officials themselves have said money is not an issue but that "accommodation" for the troops in Darfur is the problem]. Here is the press release:
In Darfur too many people still have to get by without water, food supplies are insufficient, aid convoys are being attacked, the security situation for refugees and aid workers is alarming and women are being intimidated and sexually assaulted. These are the conclusions that the Minister for Development Cooperation, Agnes van Ardenne, drew at the end of her four-day visit to Sudan. The Netherlands will donate 30 million euros through international aid organisations to alleviate human suffering in Sudan. "But that is not nearly enough," says Van Ardenne. "I call upon other donors to make their contributions. That way we can show that a human life in Darfur is just as valuable as a human life in the tsunami impacted regions."
Van Ardenne expressed dismay that no progress has been made on the implementation of the North-South peace agreement. The accord has not been used in any way to resolve the conflict in Darfur. It is of vital importance for a new government to be formed immediately. Van Ardenne: "With the UN Security Council adopting three resolutions, the African Union enlarging its membership, and extensive humanitarian aid efforts being made, the international donor community is doing what can be expected. There are no more obstacles to prevent the Sudanese government and the rebels from sitting down at the negotiating table in Abuja and finding a political solution for Darfur." The violence in Darfur must be stopped, for the sake of the people there, for peace in all of Sudan and, not least, for the success of the Donors' Conference on Sudan to be held in Oslo next week. The Netherlands has set aside 100 million euros for the reconstruction of Sudan, but will not release the funds until Darfur is stable.
The minister observed in Darfur that where the African Union is present, the situation improves. The AU mission is making good use of three helicopters deployed with financial support from the Netherlands. To further improve security in Darfur, the AU mission needs to be expanded quickly. Van Ardenne believes that the current pledge of 3,200 African troops should be doubled and that the AU mission is insufficiently equipped. It lacks adequate transport vehicles, communication equipment and reliable information services. Van Ardenne informed the AU that, if necessary, the Netherlands would be willing to contribute more than the eight million euros it has made available thus far.
In Darfur, she spoke with the African Union, the Sudanese government, the SLA rebels and representatives of aid organisations. In the refugee camps, she spoke with several women and aid workers in emergency hospitals. "In my contact with Sudanese women," she says, "I was again moved by their resilience. Despite their harrowing stories, they want to focus on the future and are already getting to work, for example, making wicker baskets. They hope to earn an income selling them on the local market." Van Ardenne was also impressed by the courage and perseverance of the aid workers, who often have to do their work under the most difficult of circumstances.
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Darfur war crimes evidence driven overnight from Geneva to The Hague
A report in the Scotsman April 6 quotes British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw as saying it was too early to say when the ICC might issue indictments or arrest warrants over Darfur and added he hoped the Sudanese government would help with the investigation. "We hope there will be constructive co-operation. We will co-operate with international institutions and governments to collect as much information as we can," he said.
His comments came as the International Criminal Court in the Hague took delivery of boxes of documents gathered last year by a UN commission. The boxes were driven overnight from Geneva to the court in The Hague, in the Netherlands.
Photo: Boxes of documents have been delivered to the court. See BBC report UN sets Darfur trials in motion.
On April 5 at UN HQ in New York, Kofi Annan, handed the ICC's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, a sealed envelope holding a list of 51 people the commission recommends should stand trial. UN officials have said the list includes Sudan government and army officials, militia leaders and rebel and foreign army commanders but the ICC will not reveal the content of the list and will only decide later who it wants to indict.
Mr Moreno-Ocampo said that he would analyse the material, assess the alleged crimes and the admissibility of the cases. He urged those with information on Darfur to provide it to his office. "We all have a common task - to protect life, ending the culture of impunity," he said.
His deputy at The Hague, Serge Brammertz, said yesterday prosecutors would decide if the case fell within the court's jurisdiction and merited formal investigation and that the court would not necessarily follow the UNs findings, either in terms of suspects or crimes to be prosecuted. He said it was too early to say when a formal investigation would begin and that he hoped the Sudanese government would cooperate with prosecutors. "We will now proceed with the analysis of the documents and prepare a work. We will put together a team of analysts and investigators," he said.
Sources within the ICC told the Associated Press last week that about two dozen prosecution investigators were preparing to travel soon to Sudan.
Photo courtesy ICC: Mr. Serge BRAMMERTZ, Deputy Prosecutor of the ICC (Investigations), Mr. Luis MORENO-OCAMPO, Chief Prosecutor, and Mrs. Fatou BENSOUDA, Deputy Prosecutor (Prosecutions)
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1,000 Teso children in captivity
April 4, 2005 AllAfrica report by Samuel Okiror in Kampala - copy:
ARROW group coordinator Musa Ecweru on Friday said 1,028 Teso children abducted by LRA rebels in 2003 are still under rebel captivity in southern Sudan.
"We have confirmed that the children are being traded for guns and uniforms for the rebels," he said in an interview.
Ecweru, the Soroti RDC, said LRA leader Joseph Kony was selling the children to the governments of Sudan and Somalia. He said the people of Teso would appeal to the international community to trace the children.
Ecweru said about 5,000 children were abducted in Teso by the rebels in 2003 but the UPDF and Arrow boys rescued only 3,000.
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Further reading:
April 1, 2005: Darfur is now a household name in Britain, but a year ago, when I was among the first aid workers to be sent to this remote province of western Sudan, even old Africa hands might have been hard pushed to place it on the map. I was part of a UNHCR team charged with setting up the first refugee camps in the Sahel scrubland on the border with eastern Chad, where the number of displaced and traumatised Darfurians was growing rapidly. Full Story "On the edge of existence" by Katherine Grant, Financial Times, April 1, 2005.
April 2, 2005: The destruction and killing visited on Darfur might best be understood as ethnic cleansing along the lines seen in Kosovo, rather than the spasm of violence that gripped Rwanda. That means stopping the killing and the flight of an estimated 2 million people from the region will be messy and time-consuming. The best solution remains an African one: more support for the African Union, and encouragement for it to send larger peacekeeping forces. The sooner that is done, the better for Darfur. Full Story "Saving Darfur" Guardian UK, April 2, 2005.
April 3, 2005: In the six months I spent in Darfur as a "ceasefire observer", I saw entire villages burned down with Sudanese locked inside their huts. I saw villagers with their eyes or ears plucked out, or men who had bled to death after being castrated. I interviewed women who had been gang-raped while out collecting firewood. I saw evidence of summary executions. I walked through a field where it was impossible to move without stepping on human bones. Full Story "I walked through a field filled with human bones" by American Captain Brian Steidle, The Independent UK. Captain Brian Steidle was a ceasefire monitor in Darfur with the African Union, where he watched helplessly as a genocide unfolded. The former US Marine is the first observer to go public on the atrocities in the region.
April 4, 2005: But above all Sudan needs international commitments of aid for those displaced in Darfur and elsewhere in the vast country, concrete plans to return them home and assurances that political pressure will be kept up to ensure these agreements are followed through. This is a huge and demanding agenda which has been kept in the public eye mainly by aid agencies. Governments must now act on it with sustained pressure on all concerned. Full Story, Welcome break in Darfur impasse" The Irish Times.
April 5, 2005: "We're proud of what we do," said Kenny Gluck, the operations director based in the Netherlands for Medecins Sans Frontieres. "But people's villages have been burned, their crops have been destroyed, their wells spiked, their family members raped, tortured and killed - and they come to us, and we give them 2,100 kilocalories a day." In effect, Gluck said, the aid effort is sustaining victims so they can be killed with a full belly. Full Story "Hypocrisy on Darfur" by Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times.
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Sudan stages 'million-man' march against UN war crimes trial
The Sudanese government has been accused of seeking to intimidate humanitarian relief agencies in Darfur by arresting or detaining at least 20 aid workers since December. Human Rights Watch, which has campaigned against the genocide, said that rebels had also detained or attacked aid workers. The group called on all parties to the conflict to ensure the safety of humanitarian aid workers and enable them to reach Sudanese civilians in need of assistance.
"The Sudanese authorities are using the same strong-arm tactics against aid workers that they have used against human rights defenders," said Peter Takirambudde, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Donor governments should condemn Khartoum's attempts to intimidate aid workers and others assisting civilians in Sudan."
On April 5, hundreds of thousands took to the streets of Khartoum - not for any concern over the humanitarian crisis and the scorched earth campaign waged by the government against the rebels that has left more than 350,000 dead and 2.4 million people displaced - but because of the UNs demands for war crimes suspects, including high officials, to be handed over for trail by the International Criminal Court.
Photo: Sudanese protestors carry placards and banners during a protest march in Khartoum April 5, 2005. (Reuters)
Reuters reported that protesters directed much of their anger against British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and French and US presidents Jacques Chirac and George W. Bush, but they also had harsh words for UN chief Kofi Annan. "Death to Bush, death to Blair, death to Chirac," chanted the demonstrators, many of whom travelled in from the provinces for the rally and arrived hours ahead of the start. State television had given extensive advance publicity to the march and carried live footage on the day. Traffic came to a standstill in the capital, as the protestors marched from the republican palace to UN headquarters, calling for Annan to resign.
"If it does not comply by surrendering the suspects to the ICC, (it) will open the door to punishments that will go beyond sanctions to the use of military force," said Abdel Qadir Bakash of the Beja Congress, an ethnic minority rebel group active in eastern Sudan.
He said the regime had two options -- "either to destroy itself and the Sudan as well by refusing to cooperate with the international community, or to agree to participate in a national conference of all opposition political forces ... to establish a broad-based government that will implement the Naivasha peace accords." Full Story via Sudan Tribune.
Photo: Radio stations and newspapers urged people to join the protest. The state-owned mobile phone company MobiTel had publicised the protest march through a text message to many subscribers on Monday evening.
Sudan has said it will refuse to hand over its citizens to face trial abroad, preferring to rely on local justice, but it is not clear if they know the trials will be held a lot closer to home. The ICC is mobile and prepared to hold court in order to gather evidence and witnesses. Sudan's President al-Bashir swore "thrice in the name of Almighty Allah that I shall never hand any Sudanese national to a foreign court", he is quoted as saying by AFP news agency.
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Sudanese tribes reject UN resolution on Darfur
April 5 Arabic News says the legal advisor of the UN mission in Sudan cited Sunday an ample opportunity for Khartoum to hold transparent and fair trials of Darfur war criminals. He said that if Khartoum puts such criminals on trial the ICC will not intervene. Excerpt:
The council of Sudanese tribes Sunday slammed UN Security Council resolution 1593 on Darfur as "unjust." A statement by the council called on all tribes to stand united against such an "insulting" resolution.
Meanwhile, the Sudanese government formed a committee to look into the repercussions of the resolution at the political, legal and diplomatic levels.
Reaffirming Khartoum's stance rejecting the resolution, Sudanese Information and Communications Minister designate Abdel Bassit Sidrat said the cabinet branded the resolution as a violation of Sudanese sovereignty.
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Egyptian news says UN resolution racist
Excerpt from Arab press roundup at World Peace Herald by UPI April 6, 2005:
Egypt's al-Gumhouriya commented in its editorial on what it described as the "justice of the new world order," saying the UN Security Council resolution to try suspected Sudanese officials on war crimes in Darfur was "reeking with racism."
The semi-official mass-circulation daily said the decision sought to try the officials in an international tribunal that was set up by the legitimacy of the new world order to punish anyone in the world "except those with noble American blood." It said the resolution, other than being a blatant interference in Sudan's internal affairs, was racist in nature because "it distinguishes between Americans and Sudanese and others."
The paper opined there appeared to be two types of justice, one that judges Muslims and Arabs, and another that judges "the noble Americans ... and all in the name of the illegitimate international legitimacy."
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Australia applauds UN decision to refer Darfur war crime to ICC
Associated Press April 6 says Australia and New Zealand on Wednesday applauded the UN decision to refer allegations of atrocities in Darfur to an international war crimes tribunal. Excerpt:
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said his government strongly supported the decision.
"This is an essential step to ending the atrocities in Darfur," Downer said in a statement.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Phil Goff said the moves were "a major step toward justice and peace for the people of the Sudan after 21 years of civil war and internal conflict."
He said the court's investigation into the Darfur atrocities "hopefully" would act to deter further crimes being committed.
Sudan Civil Society Forum in Oslo - For a just and lasting peace - 7-9 April 2005
Sudan's future to be discussed in Oslo 7-9 April 2005. See the following copy of a recent Press Release:
More than 50 representatives from Sudanese organisations are to come together in Oslo from April 7, 9 to discuss ways in which civil society can contribute to a lasting peace in their homeland.
Minister for Development Hilde Frafjord Johnson will open the conference on Thursday 7th April at 18:00. Representatives from the parties who signed Sudan's peace agreement in January this year, the government in Khartoum and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), will be holding opening addresses.
Conference participants will represent a broad spread of political, cultural and religious groups both from northern and southern Sudan, and roughly half of the participants are women. The conference is a rare opportunity for civil society to meet and discuss common challenges for the years ahead.
The conference is open to the press, and there will be the opportunity to meet participants in person.
Participants are to elect four delegates to represent the voice of Sudanese civil society at the international Donors' Conference for Sudan that is to be held in Oslo 11, 12 April, which both Kofi Annan and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be attending.
The Sudan Civil Society Forum in Oslo has arranged by Norwegian Church Aid, Norwegian Peoples' Aid and Sudan Support Group. On Sunday, April 10 a press conference will be held giving details of the conference's findings. An invitation to this press conference will follow.
For more information, contact:
Stein Erik Horjen, Special Adviser - Peace and Reconciliation, Norwegian Church Aid
Tel. +47 22 09 28 43, Mob. +47 93 88 14 41
Email: stein-erik.horjen@nca.no
Laurie MacGregor, Press Officer, Norwegian Church Aid
Tel. +47 22 09 27 32, Mob. +47 47 41 31 15
Email: laurie.macgregor@nca.no
Ivar Christiansen, Press Officer, Norwegian People's Aid
Tel. +47 22 03 77 62 Mob. +47 91 61 08 73
Email: ivar.christiansen@npaid.org
Website http://english.nca.no/
- - -
100 Days of Action drumming up support and awareness for Darfur
From the Coalition for Darfur: 100 Days of Action.
- - -
Spotlight on Darfur Week April 4-8, Harvard University, USA
From Jim at Sudan: The Passion of the Present: Spotlight on Darfur Week April 4-8, Harvard University. A distinguished panel will discuss "Darfur: Can the World Stop the Horror?"
Important UPDATES from Jim Moore at Passion of the Present April 6:
Harvard sells PetroChina stake
Dear Abby, Sudan could use your help..
PRESS CONFERENCE: 100 DAYS OF ACTION
Personally, I believe the Genocide Intervention Fund is the most important initiative now. Don't kid yourself -- NGO aid organizations can not stop the killing. Killers can only be stopped by some form of on-the-ground policing. And the GIF, sponsored by Swarthmore students and now being picked up by many many others, is the ONLY initiative truly focused on policing. Here is the announcement of their big event today: Today's kickoff for the Genocide Intervention Fund
Jim
- - -
From Jocelyn Hanamirian at The Daily Princetonian: Drumming up support and awareness for Darfur.
Photo by Willie Poor. Students watch a drum circle on the south lawn of Frist Campus Center on Monday afternoon as the first in a series of events to raise money for Darfur.
Students heading to late meal walked to a different beat last night, as a circle of students jammed on African drums on the south lawn of Frist Campus Center. Led by New Jersey-based artist Dorothy Sikora, about 20 students made the campus resound with the first sounds of Embracing Darfur, a week of events organized by the Princeton Darfur Action Committee (PDAC).
The week was scheduled to coincide with the anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, which began April 7, 1994. In November, PDAC organized An Evening for Darfur, a night of dance and vocal performances that raised more than $5,000 for Oxfam.
- - -
Canadian students taking a stand for Darfur
April 7 Canadian Jewish News excerpt:
"Many McGill students were relieved to discover that attention is finally being paid to the crisis in Dafur, and STAND members were thrilled with the number of McGill students eager to join their group.
But this enthusiasm was not unanimous among students. Many responded with apathy, refusing to sign the petition, or even to pick up the information sheets being distributed. Several group members said that disinterest has been the group's biggest obstacle.
"Apathy has been our biggest challenge," STAND representative from Concordia, Josh Fisher, said. "Some people don't care because they don't know what's going on. Others don't care because they live in a country where their security is a given, and can't be bothered to help those who don't share that liberty."
To combat this feeling of apathy among students, STAND and Hillel Montreal are holding a benefit concert called Give It Up For Darfur, to raise awareness about the crisis and money for the victims. It takes place on April 7 at Just for Laughs Cabaret.
- - -
USA: Harvard Divests From PetroChina Stock
Excerpt from an April 5 article at the Harvard Crimson by Daniel J Hemel:
"Harvard announced yesterday that it will sell its stake in PetroChina, bowing to pressure from students and faculty members who had denounced the Beijing-based oil company for its ties to the Sudanese government.
The Corporation Committee on Shareholder Responsibility (CCSR) said in a statement yesterday that the decision "reflects deep concerns about the grievous crisis that persists in the Darfur region of Sudan," where government-backed militiamen have killed tens of thousands of black Muslim villagers."
Photo: Crimson/Mitra Dowlatshahi. Chimnomso K. S. Kalu '07, Alexander D. Rafael '07, Felipe A. Tewes '06, and Vikram Viswanathan '06, along with 150 other students walked to Loeb House yesterday in a silent protest organized by the United Front for Divestment. Staff writer Daniel J. Hemel can be reached at hemel@fas.harvard.edu.
- - -
USA: Darfur Action Group
Darfur Action Group is "an independent body that began as an umbrella organization to link different human rights sub-groups on Harvard's many campuses.
It has expanded beyond this original definition to offer its services to all Northeastern campuses in the US. By communicating through Darfur Action Group, the many student organizations coordinate and support each campus group's initiative to bring awareness of the Darfur conflict to their campus community. It is our hope that the unity of the organizers and organizations pushing to create an awareness and indignation of Darfur in their respective communities, will eventually reach the critical mass necessary to create the powerful hand of popular outrage and action to influence Congress and the world.
If your organization is in the Northeastern US and you would like to disseminate your information and activities to college campuses, please contact us. We will do our best to incorporate you into our community and together we will reach our communities and stop the killing."
- - -
MTV brings Nobel laureate to students
Elie Wiesel talks about genocide in Sudan. By Megha Garg. Published April 5, 2005 at University of Miami Hurricane online. Here is an excerpt:
When students walked into the seminar room at the Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic studies on Tuesday, they knew class was going to be a little different than usual. Professors Sherri Porcelain and Miriam Klein Kassenoff had combined their classes and moved them to a different location, and there were cameras all over the room when students took their seats.
But when 1986 Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel walked in, the collective "Oooh!" displayed the awe and shock of the students sitting in the room.
"The class before we were talking about his book Night [Wiesel's autobiographical novel about his experiences during the Holocaust] and all of a sudden he just walks in there," Rajiv Nijhawan, sophomore, said. "It was totally unexpected."
Wiesel's visit was arranged by and taped for the mtvU series Stand-in, in which celebrities make a surprise appearance and take the place of the professor for the class.
Wiesel focused on the worldwide indifference toward the mass genocides occurring in Sudan and Rwanda, relating them to his experiences in the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust.
"The opposite of love is not hate, but indifference," Wiesel said. "An ethical person is one who is not indifferent."
He talked about suffering through the Nazi regime and finding out that the world was aware of what was happening.
"When we learned that people knew, it was easy to give up on humanity," Wiesel said.
Wiesel' advice to college students was simple."
"When you read about an injustice, always take the side of the victims," he said. "Your silence or indifference will never hurt the killer, only the victim."
- - -
Lost Boys of Sudan relate survival stories
Two men recall war, horrors of Sudan life. By JJ Hensley at The Arizona Republic, April 5, 2005. Copy:
How do you quiet an auditorium full of rambunctious high schoolers in the grip of spring fever? Tell them one of the most enthralling stories they have ever heard.
Teachers at Dobson High School pulled off that feat last week with the help of two of the Lost Boys of Sudan, the name given to the hundreds of Sudanese children orphaned by war who spent years walking through southeast Africa and waiting to immigrate to the United States.
The Lost Boys are young men now, many in college, working to support themselves and raising money and awareness about their plight.
"Every time we share what we went through, it's a part of the process of healing for what we went through," said Jany Deng, one of about 500 Lost Boys living in the Phoenix area.
More than 600 Dobson students in a crowded auditorium experienced that catharsis Wednesday, though it was hard to predict that from the way the presentation started.
As the students watched a CBS-TV 60 Minutes piece on the Lost Boys, there were pockets of laughter when a frame of a Sudanese boy with a crooked smile flashed across the screen.
The boy had damaged teeth, but the air went out of their laughter when they realized how it got that way: It was the result of a decade-long diet of mainly of mud and meal.
From that point on, the students were eating out of the Lost Boys' scarred hands, sitting in silence as the video detailed a journey colored with war and famine the boys began at an age when many of these students were learning their ABC's.
"We didn't know where we were going, we just prayed to God," said Deng, 26, who started his trek when he was 6 years old. "If this person (dies), you just step over them and keep on walking."
Anecdotes like that shook the hundreds of high school students in attendance, drawing a collective gasp from the audience.
"To see everything they went through, it puts everything in perspective. It teaches you humility," Dobson senior Brodie Phillips, 18, said after the presentation.
Many of the more interesting aspects of their journey, from fighting off jungle animals and crocodiles, to learning to use a can opener and drive a car, were detailed in the video, but seeing two of the survivors in person made the experience more tangible, Phillips said.
"Most school assemblies, it's a joke. It's an excuse to get out of class," he said. "I think the story is just so powerful that you can't help but be amazed by it."
Despite the serious circumstances that brought the students together, there were some lighthearted moments, particularly when Deng and his counterpart, Gabriel Majok, 25, took questions from the crowd.
"When you came to America did you think we were, like, the fattest people ever," asked one observant student, noting the slim build of the Sudanese emigrants.
"It didn't surprise me that much," Deng said.
Their journey here had taken them through parts of Europe where residents were at least as hefty as Americans, he said. In a follow-up question, the student asked about his favorite food. It's pizza, for the record, a response that drew cheers and applause.
But the biggest response came at the end of the presentation, when the Lost Boys got a standing ovation.
"The message I wanted them to get from it is about how valuable education is, something that we take for granted," said Kim Klett, the English teacher who set up the assembly. "I am hoping that since spring fever has set in and many students aren't thinking so seriously about school, that this will rejuvenate them and make them realize how important school is."
- - -
The Nairobi Declaration on the Final Phase of Peace in the Sudan
Please click here for the full text of "The Nairobi Declaration on the Final Phase of Peace in the Sudan" signed by Sudanese vice president and the chairman of the SPLM/A, on Sunday, January 9, 2005.
More than 50 representatives from Sudanese organisations are to come together in Oslo from April 7, 9 to discuss ways in which civil society can contribute to a lasting peace in their homeland.
Minister for Development Hilde Frafjord Johnson will open the conference on Thursday 7th April at 18:00. Representatives from the parties who signed Sudan's peace agreement in January this year, the government in Khartoum and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), will be holding opening addresses.
Conference participants will represent a broad spread of political, cultural and religious groups both from northern and southern Sudan, and roughly half of the participants are women. The conference is a rare opportunity for civil society to meet and discuss common challenges for the years ahead.
The conference is open to the press, and there will be the opportunity to meet participants in person.
Participants are to elect four delegates to represent the voice of Sudanese civil society at the international Donors' Conference for Sudan that is to be held in Oslo 11, 12 April, which both Kofi Annan and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be attending.
The Sudan Civil Society Forum in Oslo has arranged by Norwegian Church Aid, Norwegian Peoples' Aid and Sudan Support Group. On Sunday, April 10 a press conference will be held giving details of the conference's findings. An invitation to this press conference will follow.
For more information, contact:
Stein Erik Horjen, Special Adviser - Peace and Reconciliation, Norwegian Church Aid
Tel. +47 22 09 28 43, Mob. +47 93 88 14 41
Email: stein-erik.horjen@nca.no
Laurie MacGregor, Press Officer, Norwegian Church Aid
Tel. +47 22 09 27 32, Mob. +47 47 41 31 15
Email: laurie.macgregor@nca.no
Ivar Christiansen, Press Officer, Norwegian People's Aid
Tel. +47 22 03 77 62 Mob. +47 91 61 08 73
Email: ivar.christiansen@npaid.org
Website http://english.nca.no/
- - -
100 Days of Action drumming up support and awareness for Darfur
From the Coalition for Darfur: 100 Days of Action.
- - -
Spotlight on Darfur Week April 4-8, Harvard University, USA
From Jim at Sudan: The Passion of the Present: Spotlight on Darfur Week April 4-8, Harvard University. A distinguished panel will discuss "Darfur: Can the World Stop the Horror?"
Important UPDATES from Jim Moore at Passion of the Present April 6:
Harvard sells PetroChina stake
Dear Abby, Sudan could use your help..
PRESS CONFERENCE: 100 DAYS OF ACTION
Personally, I believe the Genocide Intervention Fund is the most important initiative now. Don't kid yourself -- NGO aid organizations can not stop the killing. Killers can only be stopped by some form of on-the-ground policing. And the GIF, sponsored by Swarthmore students and now being picked up by many many others, is the ONLY initiative truly focused on policing. Here is the announcement of their big event today: Today's kickoff for the Genocide Intervention Fund
Jim
- - -
From Jocelyn Hanamirian at The Daily Princetonian: Drumming up support and awareness for Darfur.
Photo by Willie Poor. Students watch a drum circle on the south lawn of Frist Campus Center on Monday afternoon as the first in a series of events to raise money for Darfur.
Students heading to late meal walked to a different beat last night, as a circle of students jammed on African drums on the south lawn of Frist Campus Center. Led by New Jersey-based artist Dorothy Sikora, about 20 students made the campus resound with the first sounds of Embracing Darfur, a week of events organized by the Princeton Darfur Action Committee (PDAC).
The week was scheduled to coincide with the anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, which began April 7, 1994. In November, PDAC organized An Evening for Darfur, a night of dance and vocal performances that raised more than $5,000 for Oxfam.
- - -
Canadian students taking a stand for Darfur
April 7 Canadian Jewish News excerpt:
"Many McGill students were relieved to discover that attention is finally being paid to the crisis in Dafur, and STAND members were thrilled with the number of McGill students eager to join their group.
But this enthusiasm was not unanimous among students. Many responded with apathy, refusing to sign the petition, or even to pick up the information sheets being distributed. Several group members said that disinterest has been the group's biggest obstacle.
"Apathy has been our biggest challenge," STAND representative from Concordia, Josh Fisher, said. "Some people don't care because they don't know what's going on. Others don't care because they live in a country where their security is a given, and can't be bothered to help those who don't share that liberty."
To combat this feeling of apathy among students, STAND and Hillel Montreal are holding a benefit concert called Give It Up For Darfur, to raise awareness about the crisis and money for the victims. It takes place on April 7 at Just for Laughs Cabaret.
- - -
USA: Harvard Divests From PetroChina Stock
Excerpt from an April 5 article at the Harvard Crimson by Daniel J Hemel:
"Harvard announced yesterday that it will sell its stake in PetroChina, bowing to pressure from students and faculty members who had denounced the Beijing-based oil company for its ties to the Sudanese government.
The Corporation Committee on Shareholder Responsibility (CCSR) said in a statement yesterday that the decision "reflects deep concerns about the grievous crisis that persists in the Darfur region of Sudan," where government-backed militiamen have killed tens of thousands of black Muslim villagers."
Photo: Crimson/Mitra Dowlatshahi. Chimnomso K. S. Kalu '07, Alexander D. Rafael '07, Felipe A. Tewes '06, and Vikram Viswanathan '06, along with 150 other students walked to Loeb House yesterday in a silent protest organized by the United Front for Divestment. Staff writer Daniel J. Hemel can be reached at hemel@fas.harvard.edu.
- - -
USA: Darfur Action Group
Darfur Action Group is "an independent body that began as an umbrella organization to link different human rights sub-groups on Harvard's many campuses.
It has expanded beyond this original definition to offer its services to all Northeastern campuses in the US. By communicating through Darfur Action Group, the many student organizations coordinate and support each campus group's initiative to bring awareness of the Darfur conflict to their campus community. It is our hope that the unity of the organizers and organizations pushing to create an awareness and indignation of Darfur in their respective communities, will eventually reach the critical mass necessary to create the powerful hand of popular outrage and action to influence Congress and the world.
If your organization is in the Northeastern US and you would like to disseminate your information and activities to college campuses, please contact us. We will do our best to incorporate you into our community and together we will reach our communities and stop the killing."
- - -
MTV brings Nobel laureate to students
Elie Wiesel talks about genocide in Sudan. By Megha Garg. Published April 5, 2005 at University of Miami Hurricane online. Here is an excerpt:
When students walked into the seminar room at the Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic studies on Tuesday, they knew class was going to be a little different than usual. Professors Sherri Porcelain and Miriam Klein Kassenoff had combined their classes and moved them to a different location, and there were cameras all over the room when students took their seats.
But when 1986 Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel walked in, the collective "Oooh!" displayed the awe and shock of the students sitting in the room.
"The class before we were talking about his book Night [Wiesel's autobiographical novel about his experiences during the Holocaust] and all of a sudden he just walks in there," Rajiv Nijhawan, sophomore, said. "It was totally unexpected."
Wiesel's visit was arranged by and taped for the mtvU series Stand-in, in which celebrities make a surprise appearance and take the place of the professor for the class.
Wiesel focused on the worldwide indifference toward the mass genocides occurring in Sudan and Rwanda, relating them to his experiences in the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust.
"The opposite of love is not hate, but indifference," Wiesel said. "An ethical person is one who is not indifferent."
He talked about suffering through the Nazi regime and finding out that the world was aware of what was happening.
"When we learned that people knew, it was easy to give up on humanity," Wiesel said.
Wiesel' advice to college students was simple."
"When you read about an injustice, always take the side of the victims," he said. "Your silence or indifference will never hurt the killer, only the victim."
- - -
Lost Boys of Sudan relate survival stories
Two men recall war, horrors of Sudan life. By JJ Hensley at The Arizona Republic, April 5, 2005. Copy:
How do you quiet an auditorium full of rambunctious high schoolers in the grip of spring fever? Tell them one of the most enthralling stories they have ever heard.
Teachers at Dobson High School pulled off that feat last week with the help of two of the Lost Boys of Sudan, the name given to the hundreds of Sudanese children orphaned by war who spent years walking through southeast Africa and waiting to immigrate to the United States.
The Lost Boys are young men now, many in college, working to support themselves and raising money and awareness about their plight.
"Every time we share what we went through, it's a part of the process of healing for what we went through," said Jany Deng, one of about 500 Lost Boys living in the Phoenix area.
More than 600 Dobson students in a crowded auditorium experienced that catharsis Wednesday, though it was hard to predict that from the way the presentation started.
As the students watched a CBS-TV 60 Minutes piece on the Lost Boys, there were pockets of laughter when a frame of a Sudanese boy with a crooked smile flashed across the screen.
The boy had damaged teeth, but the air went out of their laughter when they realized how it got that way: It was the result of a decade-long diet of mainly of mud and meal.
From that point on, the students were eating out of the Lost Boys' scarred hands, sitting in silence as the video detailed a journey colored with war and famine the boys began at an age when many of these students were learning their ABC's.
"We didn't know where we were going, we just prayed to God," said Deng, 26, who started his trek when he was 6 years old. "If this person (dies), you just step over them and keep on walking."
Anecdotes like that shook the hundreds of high school students in attendance, drawing a collective gasp from the audience.
"To see everything they went through, it puts everything in perspective. It teaches you humility," Dobson senior Brodie Phillips, 18, said after the presentation.
Many of the more interesting aspects of their journey, from fighting off jungle animals and crocodiles, to learning to use a can opener and drive a car, were detailed in the video, but seeing two of the survivors in person made the experience more tangible, Phillips said.
"Most school assemblies, it's a joke. It's an excuse to get out of class," he said. "I think the story is just so powerful that you can't help but be amazed by it."
Despite the serious circumstances that brought the students together, there were some lighthearted moments, particularly when Deng and his counterpart, Gabriel Majok, 25, took questions from the crowd.
"When you came to America did you think we were, like, the fattest people ever," asked one observant student, noting the slim build of the Sudanese emigrants.
"It didn't surprise me that much," Deng said.
Their journey here had taken them through parts of Europe where residents were at least as hefty as Americans, he said. In a follow-up question, the student asked about his favorite food. It's pizza, for the record, a response that drew cheers and applause.
But the biggest response came at the end of the presentation, when the Lost Boys got a standing ovation.
"The message I wanted them to get from it is about how valuable education is, something that we take for granted," said Kim Klett, the English teacher who set up the assembly. "I am hoping that since spring fever has set in and many students aren't thinking so seriously about school, that this will rejuvenate them and make them realize how important school is."
- - -
The Nairobi Declaration on the Final Phase of Peace in the Sudan
Please click here for the full text of "The Nairobi Declaration on the Final Phase of Peace in the Sudan" signed by Sudanese vice president and the chairman of the SPLM/A, on Sunday, January 9, 2005.
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