Hassan al-Turabi, a Sudanese intellectual with a British education who built Africa's first Islamist state when he dominated Sudan throughout the 1990s, says bin Laden is 'not dangerous', writes David Blair in the Telegraph 30 January 2006.
Also, see Telegraph Islamic Revolution loses grip in Sudan by Philip Smucker in Khartoum 07/03/2001.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Monday, January 30, 2006
The war on terrorism that most Americans don't know about
With few to fight, U.S. troops extend humanitarian help in East Africa. This is the war on terrorism that most Americans don't know about:
Full story at Captain Marlow's, by Shashank Bengali, Inquirer Foreign Staff, 30 January 2006.
Full story at Captain Marlow's, by Shashank Bengali, Inquirer Foreign Staff, 30 January 2006.
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Islamic jihad groups creating camps in Chad
Douglas Farah's blog entry Jan 26, 2006 entitled "The Africa Pipeline Expands, The Brotherhood Returns to Sudan" says his intelligence contacts are charting an alarming growth of global Islamic jihad groups creating camps in northern West Africa, particularly Mali and Chad and this is coupled with an unusual resurgence of visits of leaders of the international Muslim Brotherhood to Khartoum, Sudan on a regular basis. [via The Counterterrorism Blog]
Iran says "No" to foreign meddling in Darfur, Sudan
Today, Coalition for Darfur publishes BBC Monitoring's text [no date] of report by Sudanese newspaper Alwan claiming Iran says "No" to foreign meddling in Darfur. Excerpt:
"The Vice-President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Dr Ahmad al-Musawi, has said he cast doubts on the enemies' intentions towards the Darfur region.Note Sudan backs Iran's peaceful use of nuclear energy January 26, 2006.
In a press conference held at the Hilton hotel [in Khartoum] yesterday morning, he urged to end foreign interference in Darfur and let the Sudanese government work towards resolving the issue in a suitable way.
He further reiterated Iran's support for a Sudanese solution in this regard, and his trust in the mediation of the AU member states to resolve the crisis."
Major escalation of violence in Jebel Marra Darfur forces aid agencies to evacuate - UN condemns attack by SLA on Golo
UN statement issued January 27, 2006 says UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is seriously concerned by the major escalation of violence in the Jebel Marra region of Darfur, particularly the heavy fighting in the Golo and Shearia areas that has forced humanitarian agencies to evacuate.
The Secretary-General condemns the attack by Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) forces on Golo, and calls on all parties to immediately stop all hostility.
The Secretary-General condemns the attack by Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) forces on Golo, and calls on all parties to immediately stop all hostility.
U.N. sounds Darfur warning in 42-page OHCHR report - U.S. condemns attacks by Sudan's SLA
A new detailed UN report [see summary here below] warns that killings, rapes and indiscriminate attacks are still forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes in Darfur. Excerpt from The Scotsman January 28, 2006:
42-page UN report sounds Darfur warning
On January 27, 2006 UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) issued a detailed report on dismal human rights conditions in Darfur and other parts of Sudan and called on Sudanese Government to take measures to end culture of impunity.
UN News Centre January 27, 2006 reports that while noting some progress since peace accords were signed last year, such as the lifting emergency law in certain areas, the OHCHR report says other initiatives have been inadequate, especially in Darfur, where any positive political measures were "overshadowed by an ineffective judiciary, an ongoing conflict, and widespread human rights abuses." Excerpt:
Janjaweed attacks on refugee camps - OHCHR warns of impending "catastrophe"
See Displaced Populations in Darfur Increasingly Face Annihilation by Eric Reeves January 28, 2006 - Growing number of Janjaweed attacks on camps. UN High Commissioner for Refugees warns of impending "catastrophe" [via Coalition for Darfur]
- - -
US condemns rebels attacks in Darfur
Washington File January 27, 2006 says the U.S. condemns the rebel SLA's attacks on village of Golo and a police convoy in West Darfur on January 23, which killed and wounded a large number of Sudanese Armed Forces personnel.
Photo: Teenage SLA fighters wearing amulets (believed to bring good luck and protect against evil the person who wears them) look on while in the rebel held village of Bodong in North Darfur, March 3, 2005. (Reuters/ST)
- - -
Quote of the Day
"A lasting solution to this conflict can only be found through a negotiated settlement," he [UN Secretary-General] stressed.
"A 42-page report said those carrying out the violence included soldiers who fired at civilians from helicopter gunships.- - -
The report criticised the government of coup leader Omar el-Bashir, saying promises to end centuries of discrimination and marginalisation of black African minorities were marked by "token gestures" while murder and torture went unpunished."
42-page UN report sounds Darfur warning
On January 27, 2006 UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) issued a detailed report on dismal human rights conditions in Darfur and other parts of Sudan and called on Sudanese Government to take measures to end culture of impunity.
UN News Centre January 27, 2006 reports that while noting some progress since peace accords were signed last year, such as the lifting emergency law in certain areas, the OHCHR report says other initiatives have been inadequate, especially in Darfur, where any positive political measures were "overshadowed by an ineffective judiciary, an ongoing conflict, and widespread human rights abuses." Excerpt:
From September to November 2005 government forces, working with militia who were often described by witnesses as Janjaweed, carried out at least eight organised armed attacks on over a dozen camps or villages occupied by internally displaced persons (IDPs). The attackers killed and wounded civilians and destroyed their homes.- - -
The report rejects Sudan's rationale that it was responding to rebel activities, stating that in most cases civilians were "deliberately targeted." It notes that State-sponsored offensives fan the flames of violence by irregular groups "The increase in large attacks on civilians by Government forces likely encouraged the militia to execute other abuses with impunity."
Examples of sexual violence are also described in the report, such as the case of an IDP who was collecting hay one morning when she was approached by three armed military men, "slapped in the face, kicked in the stomach, and accused of being a rebel. She was then raped by two of the men."
The Geneva-based OHCHR reported allegations of torture at the hands of the national security, military intelligence and police officials in Khartoum, and voices serious concern about the absence of fair trial guarantees as well as inhuman detention conditions.
The 42-page report, which bases its findings mostly on direct investigations and information collected from victims, witnesses, and government authorities, calls on the Government to cease its attacks on civilians in Darfur, disarm militias there, and install an effective law enforcement system.
Khartoum is also urged to end culture of impunity, strengthen the judiciary and revoke immunity laws protecting state agents. "The National Security Service should be stripped of it abusive and unchecked powers of arrest and detention," the OHCHR states in the report, which was prepared in cooperation with the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS).
Noting that the conflict in Sudan was initially sparked in response to marginalisation and discrimination, the report recommends that resource allocation be fair, transparent, non-discriminatory, and involve the affected communities. The Government should also facilitate the humanitarian and development aid and allow civil society to function freely.
In January, 2005, the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), ending a 21-year civil war which resulted in the deaths of an estimated 2 million people and the displacement of some 4 million others.
Janjaweed attacks on refugee camps - OHCHR warns of impending "catastrophe"
See Displaced Populations in Darfur Increasingly Face Annihilation by Eric Reeves January 28, 2006 - Growing number of Janjaweed attacks on camps. UN High Commissioner for Refugees warns of impending "catastrophe" [via Coalition for Darfur]
- - -
US condemns rebels attacks in Darfur
Washington File January 27, 2006 says the U.S. condemns the rebel SLA's attacks on village of Golo and a police convoy in West Darfur on January 23, which killed and wounded a large number of Sudanese Armed Forces personnel.
Photo: Teenage SLA fighters wearing amulets (believed to bring good luck and protect against evil the person who wears them) look on while in the rebel held village of Bodong in North Darfur, March 3, 2005. (Reuters/ST)
- - -
Quote of the Day
"A lasting solution to this conflict can only be found through a negotiated settlement," he [UN Secretary-General] stressed.
Angelina Jolie and Bono at Davos Summit 2006 - China in Africa: CNOOC Nigerian oil deal
Click on image for further details and read more at Jewels in the Jungle.
Bono and Nigerian President Obasanjo at Davos Summit 2006
Grandiose Parlor says Bono wants Africa to be given a preferential treatment, and western economies to remove the subsidy on agricultural produce.
China in Africa: The CNOOC Nigerian Oil Deal
See Bill's blog entry on China in Africa: The CNOOC Nigerian Oil Deal and his readers' comments on the question of whether China's renewed interest and financial investments in Africa are good for the people of the continent or not.
Note, the State Council of China formed CNOOC in 1982 to conduct exploration and production in China's offshore areas, both independently and as the exclusive Chinese partner for foreign entities.
My thoughts are human rights activists got it wrong when they pressured Western companies to withdraw from Sudan as it left the market wide open for unscrupulous Asian companies. Western companies not doing business with Sudan means Sudanese oil is sold elsewhere. Perhaps if Western companies were located in the Sudan, they might have had leverage with the UN Security Council when it came to helping Darfur. We could have pressured them to send specialist lawyers to help settle land disputes; provide training for security forces to protect locals and aid workers; and arrange gainful employment for locals to help build schools, roads and handpumps for drinking water to help quell violent clashes over livestock and watering holes.
The Darfur genocide is now in its fourth year and as things stand now, 7,000 African Union soldiers are in Darfur at a cost GBP 10 million a month. God knows the financial cost of humanitarian aid and 11,000 aid workers or how many miles of roads and water pipes could have been built instead if it weren't for a handful of obstinate men in Khartoum. So far the cost in terms of human life alone is estimated as 400,000 and rising - half the number of the Rwandan genocide.
Bono and Nigerian President Obasanjo at Davos Summit 2006
Grandiose Parlor says Bono wants Africa to be given a preferential treatment, and western economies to remove the subsidy on agricultural produce.
China in Africa: The CNOOC Nigerian Oil Deal
See Bill's blog entry on China in Africa: The CNOOC Nigerian Oil Deal and his readers' comments on the question of whether China's renewed interest and financial investments in Africa are good for the people of the continent or not.
Note, the State Council of China formed CNOOC in 1982 to conduct exploration and production in China's offshore areas, both independently and as the exclusive Chinese partner for foreign entities.
My thoughts are human rights activists got it wrong when they pressured Western companies to withdraw from Sudan as it left the market wide open for unscrupulous Asian companies. Western companies not doing business with Sudan means Sudanese oil is sold elsewhere. Perhaps if Western companies were located in the Sudan, they might have had leverage with the UN Security Council when it came to helping Darfur. We could have pressured them to send specialist lawyers to help settle land disputes; provide training for security forces to protect locals and aid workers; and arrange gainful employment for locals to help build schools, roads and handpumps for drinking water to help quell violent clashes over livestock and watering holes.
The Darfur genocide is now in its fourth year and as things stand now, 7,000 African Union soldiers are in Darfur at a cost GBP 10 million a month. God knows the financial cost of humanitarian aid and 11,000 aid workers or how many miles of roads and water pipes could have been built instead if it weren't for a handful of obstinate men in Khartoum. So far the cost in terms of human life alone is estimated as 400,000 and rising - half the number of the Rwandan genocide.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Sudan accuses Chad of shelling Arm Yakui, West Darfur - NMRD Darfur rebels attack Sudan army base in Arm Yakui
Whenever Darfur peace talks get close to an agreement the rebels fall out or split up and start killing to make headline news involving all sides. None are interested in peace. It's how they make a living. This could go on for years.
Today, Reuters correspondent Opheera McDoom reports the Darfur rebel group National Movement for Reform and Development (NMRD) said they attacked a Sudanese military base in West Darfur January 28, 2006, killing 78 soldiers and accused Chadian insurgents of working alongside Sudan's armed forces.
NMRD (third group of Darfuri rebels) not in Darfur peace talks
Note, the report says the two other Darfur rebel groups, SLA and JEM, are in peace talks with Khartoum, but the NMRD are not and do not respect a ceasefire signed between those groups and the government in 2004. Further excerpts:
Sudan accuses Chad of shelling Arm Yakui, W Darfur
Sudan accused Chad of bombarding an area in its western border state of West Darfur and said its army had retaliated January 28, 2006, reports SAPA:
Jan 24, 2006 Sudan's SLA rebels launch attack in Golo, West Darfur - Note Eric Reeves' analysis March 17, 2005 re third Darfuri rebel group NMRD
Jan 25, 2006 Hundreds of Sudanese flee upsurge of violence in West Darfur after unidentified armed men attacked the town of Guereda - UN Refugee Agency
Jan 25, 2006 Splintering of rebel groups? Nur's forces captured aid workers? UN helicopter crashes near Golo, West Darfur
Jan 29, 2006 ST/AFP Sudan alleges new Chad army incursion - Sudanese army spokesman General Al-Abbas Abdelrahman Khalifa said in a statement that a Chadian unit backed by artillery attacked a Sudanese position 40 kilometres (24 miles) northwest of Geneina in West Darfur state on Saturday.
Today, Reuters correspondent Opheera McDoom reports the Darfur rebel group National Movement for Reform and Development (NMRD) said they attacked a Sudanese military base in West Darfur January 28, 2006, killing 78 soldiers and accused Chadian insurgents of working alongside Sudan's armed forces.
NMRD (third group of Darfuri rebels) not in Darfur peace talks
Note, the report says the two other Darfur rebel groups, SLA and JEM, are in peace talks with Khartoum, but the NMRD are not and do not respect a ceasefire signed between those groups and the government in 2004. Further excerpts:
The Sudanese army source said the attack came from within Chadian territory. "This attack came suddenly from inside Chadian territory, and we returned fire with the same force using artillery," he said.NMRD operate along Chad-Sudan border
The NMRD operate along the Chad-Sudan border. The long border between Chad and Sudan is porous and many tribes span the frontier. Deby himself took power in 1990 in an uprising he launched from Darfur.United Front for Democratic Change (FUC) Chadian rebels, led by Mahamat Nour
Abdallah said Chadian rebels, led by Mahamat Nour, had fought alongside the Sudanese armed forces in the attack. "We don't understand why they are doing this. We have no problem with Mahamat Nour," he said.
Nour leads an alliance of Chadian insurgents called the United Front for Democratic Change, known as FUC. His group attacked the Chadian border town of Adre in December and are sworn to depose Deby.- - -
Nour denied involvement in the clashes. "Our forces were nearby but they did not participate in the attack," he told Reuters by telephone from eastern Chad.
Sudan arrested 20 Chadian rebels in Khartoum last week, including one leader. Nour said they had been released and had left the Sudanese capital.
Sudan denies supporting the Chadian rebels. The rebels declined to say why they were in Khartoum, but Nour had written a letter requesting that his group be given an audience at an African Union summit in Khartoum on Monday.
Sudan accuses Chad of shelling Arm Yakui, W Darfur
Sudan accused Chad of bombarding an area in its western border state of West Darfur and said its army had retaliated January 28, 2006, reports SAPA:
"The area of Armankul northwest of the town of Geneina, capital of West Darfur state, came under artillery shelling that continued for an hour and a half from inside the Chadian territories," military spokesman Gen. Abbas Adul Rahaman Khalifa said in a brief statement carried by the official news agency, SUNA.Further reading:
He did not specify whether the attack was carried out by Chadian soldiers or a rebel group. "Our armed forces have dealt with this aggression with a retaliation in preservation of the sovereignty of the national territories and safeguarding the lives of Sudanese subjects," Khalifa said.
Jan 24, 2006 Sudan's SLA rebels launch attack in Golo, West Darfur - Note Eric Reeves' analysis March 17, 2005 re third Darfuri rebel group NMRD
Jan 25, 2006 Hundreds of Sudanese flee upsurge of violence in West Darfur after unidentified armed men attacked the town of Guereda - UN Refugee Agency
Jan 25, 2006 Splintering of rebel groups? Nur's forces captured aid workers? UN helicopter crashes near Golo, West Darfur
Jan 29, 2006 ST/AFP Sudan alleges new Chad army incursion - Sudanese army spokesman General Al-Abbas Abdelrahman Khalifa said in a statement that a Chadian unit backed by artillery attacked a Sudanese position 40 kilometres (24 miles) northwest of Geneina in West Darfur state on Saturday.
Friday, January 27, 2006
AMIS African troops in Darfur cost GBP 10 million a month
According to an article in today's Guardian by diplomatic editor Ewen MacAskill, the African mission in Darfur (AMIS) costs ten million pounds a month:
"The UN said it wanted the US and European countries to help form a tough mobile force. But this has met with resistance so far in Washington and Europe and the preference is for a largely African force.Imagine, if all the money used for Darfur aid and peacekeeping over the past three years had been spent on building water pumps, schools and roads in Darfur. By continuing to murder while refusing to reach a peace agreement, uneducated and unemployed gun toting men are making a living from ruining the Sudan, failing its children while getting away with rape and murder. What a waste. It's a crime against humanity.
The AU, at its summit in Khartoum last week, exasperated western diplomats by failing to discuss in any detail the Darfur crisis. But it did agree a resolution supporting the take-over of the force by the UN. The AU said it was struggling to find the 10m a month needed to maintain it."
David Wallechinsky puts dictators in their places and lists Sudan's president as the world's worst dictator
Today's Washington Post has an amusing article by Mark Leibovich about the world's worst dictators. According to the article the potential "hot" dictator we should keep an eye on for next year's rankings is, quote:
Click into Sudan Watch flickr post for links to Parade's lists of the world's worst dictators - Sudan's president won first place in this year's list.
"Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia [No. 18]. He keeps getting worse. If his police keep arresting and shooting people, he's definitely gonna be someone to watch."See why by scrolling though Sudan Watch's sister blog Ethiopia Watch and note Basque News article 25 January 2006 entitled "AU condemns worst right offenders, among them Ethiopia".
Click into Sudan Watch flickr post for links to Parade's lists of the world's worst dictators - Sudan's president won first place in this year's list.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Sudan backs Iran's peaceful use of nuclear energy
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Wednesday pledged his country's support for Iran's position on peaceful use of nuclear technology.
Iranian Deputy President Ahmed Moussawi, who arrived in Khartoum earlier Wednesday on an official visit to Sudan, delivered a letter to the Sudanese president from his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmedinejad concerning the position of the Iranian authority toward its nuclear file and its right topeaceful use of nuclear energy, the Sudanese news agency reported.
See full report by China's Xinhua at SudanTribune 26 January 2006.
More information at Sudan Watch's sister blog Tehran Watch.
Iranian Deputy President Ahmed Moussawi, who arrived in Khartoum earlier Wednesday on an official visit to Sudan, delivered a letter to the Sudanese president from his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmedinejad concerning the position of the Iranian authority toward its nuclear file and its right topeaceful use of nuclear energy, the Sudanese news agency reported.
See full report by China's Xinhua at SudanTribune 26 January 2006.
More information at Sudan Watch's sister blog Tehran Watch.
The children of Sudan are its future - Save the Children
This photo is the "Pulitzer Prize" winning photo taken in 1994 during the Sudan famine. The picture depicts a famine stricken child crawling towards a United Nations food camp, located a kilometer away.
The vulture is waiting for the child to die so it can eat it. This picture shocked the whole world. No one knows what happened to the child, not even the photographer Kevin Carter who left the place as soon as the photograph was taken.
Three months later he commited suicide due to depression.
How many more years must Sudanese children and mothers suffer?
Here we are in the year 2006. In a Jan 26 statement on Darfur, Save the Children notes it has been 3 years since the violence against civilians uprooted millions of people in Darfur and the causes of the conflict remain unresolved.
Why is it going on so long? After two years of blogging Darfur, it is this author's view that the rebels are not serious about peace at all. It seems to me their aim is overthrow the regime in Khartoum and seize power for themselves. What other explanation can there be? They have been given every chance and the world has bent over backwards to help. Even UN envoy Jan Pronk was quoted as saying in a news report this week he believes the Sudanese government were serious in their negotiations at the Darfur peace talks -- excerpt from Jan 23, 2006 Sudan Tribune report:
The children of Sudan are its future. The rebels are responsible for holding back another generation of Sudanese children. God help them all. We don't really know half of what goes on or who funds the rebel bases and their leaders in Europe. This blog author finds it all too depressing and is taking a short break. Note this other excerpt from the statement by Save the Children:
- - -
Children's drawings from Darfur
Above drawing by Doa, Age 11 or 12: Janjaweed descend on a village on horses and camels, a woman flings her arms in the air as she is targeted for sexual violence or execution. A soldier takes a woman to be raped. She has a cell phone next to her head: "She wants to call the agencies for help." (Image courtesy Human Rights Watch/Sudan Watch archive)
See more children's drawings from Darfur.
- - -
Peace will only be made, and kept, by the Sudanese people themselves
Photo: A young Sudanese child is helped with a drink of clean water at the Abu Shouk refugee camp near El Fasher, in Darfur, Sudan, in August 2004. (AFP/File/Jim Watson/Sudan Watch archive May 27, 2005)
- - -
Teenage fighters in Darfur
Photo: Teenage Sudan Liberation Army fighters in the rebel held village of Bodong in North Darfur. (Reuters/Sudan Watch archive)
- - -
Photo: A member of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), listens to a radio at Dorsa village in west Darfur, October 10, 2004. (Reuters/Sudan Watch archive)
- - -
Photo: A Darfur rebel (Unsourced - Sudan Watch archive)
- - -
Photo: Rebels from Sudan's Eastern Front parade during a conference held by the Front north of Kassala town, near the Eritrean border. (AFP/Sudan Watch archive April 2005)
Further reading:
Oct 3, 2005 Sudan's SLA Minnawi faction quits Darfur peace talks
Oct 2, 2005 Sudan's Janjaweed leader Musa Hilal led attack on Darfur
Oct 1, 2005 Sudanese army attacks Darfur civilians - African Union concludes all parties to the conflict were violating ceasefire agreements and there is neither good faith nor commitment on the part of any of the parties
Oct 1, 2005 Important African Union Statement on Security in Darfur
Oct 1, 2005 War crimes warnings from UN and UK on Darfur Sudan
Oct 1, 2005 Darfur: Peace talks expected to conclude early 2006
Oct 1, 2005 UN Security Council calls for Darfur peace deal by end 2005
- - -
Calling Mama Mongella: The stability of Sudan is fundamental to the whole of the African continent
Marvel at this historic photo: A WOMAN among the 30 African leaders gathering in Khartoum to decide whether to allow a Sudanese dictator to lead Africa or to vote for a Congolese dictator instead.
The world watched African politics in motion and witnessed how African leaders once again chose another dictator to lead Africa. The African Union was set up to replace an organisation that at one time was chaired by Idi Amin. Had there not been so much adverse publicity from activists, Sudan would probably be chairing the AU and overseeing the Darfur genocide.
Photo: Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (C) is escorted out of a conference hall after a closed-door meeting with other African leaders at the sixth African Union Summit in Sudanese capital Khartoum January 24, 2006. The African Union chose Congo Republic as a compromise to chair the organisation after opposition to Sudan because of fears its human rights record could hurt the continent's credibility. Under the deal, Sudan takes over leadership of the 53-nation body after Congo Republic steps down next year. Critics had said Sudan should not get the chair while it was under fire for rights abuses in its western region of Darfur, where 7,000 AU peacekeepers are trying to uphold a tentative ceasefire between the government and rebels. (Reuters/Antony Njuguna/Yahoo)
- - -
African summit rejects one tyrant but elects another
See Jan 25, 2006 report in the Telegraph "African summit rejects one tyrant but elects another" by David Blair in Khartoum. Excerpt:
War crimes - have we learned anything?
Finally, here is a copy of a Sudan Watch post dated 18 April, 2005:
"Haven't we learned anything? Are we no further forward than we were 60 years ago?" asks the BBC's highly regarded world affairs editor John Simpson, in his report "War crimes - have we learned anything?
In the piece, published at BBC news online today, he writes:
"There was a time when we thought that killing on an industrial scale might be a thing of the past; but, depressingly, the pictures are no longer just in black and white nowadays. It may be 32 years since General Augusto Pinochet's men began killing left-wingers in Chile, and 30 since the Khmer Rouge arrived in Phnom Penh to force the entire population out into the killing fields. But it's only 11 years since Rwanda, and 10 since the Bosnian Serb general, Ratko Mladic, ordered the murder of every male Muslim in Srebrenica. And in Darfur people are dying right now."
He concludes by saying:
"It takes more than shaking our heads over old television pictures of piles of bodies to make sure that these terrible crimes aren't repeated. Governments will never take enthusiastic action unless they think we really care about these things."
Full Story.
Photo (AFP/BBC UK): More than a million people died under the Khmer Rouge rule.
- - -
Quotation
"If the people will lead, the leaders will follow."
[via Nile Basin Blog with thanks]
The vulture is waiting for the child to die so it can eat it. This picture shocked the whole world. No one knows what happened to the child, not even the photographer Kevin Carter who left the place as soon as the photograph was taken.
Three months later he commited suicide due to depression.
How many more years must Sudanese children and mothers suffer?
Here we are in the year 2006. In a Jan 26 statement on Darfur, Save the Children notes it has been 3 years since the violence against civilians uprooted millions of people in Darfur and the causes of the conflict remain unresolved.
Why is it going on so long? After two years of blogging Darfur, it is this author's view that the rebels are not serious about peace at all. It seems to me their aim is overthrow the regime in Khartoum and seize power for themselves. What other explanation can there be? They have been given every chance and the world has bent over backwards to help. Even UN envoy Jan Pronk was quoted as saying in a news report this week he believes the Sudanese government were serious in their negotiations at the Darfur peace talks -- excerpt from Jan 23, 2006 Sudan Tribune report:
"I have no reason to believe that the Government would not be interested. I think that the Government will be interested in getting a peace agreement soon. And they have been to Abuja," he said.Surely a peace agreement could have been reached by now if the rebels really cared about the millions of defenceless women and children imprisoned in camps. This could go on for decades. The rebels keep splitting up and are not disciplined enough or educated to govern responsibly.
The UN envoy said he had been to the Abuja talks often "and the Government negotiated quite constructively. They were good, tough negotiators but constructive."
The children of Sudan are its future. The rebels are responsible for holding back another generation of Sudanese children. God help them all. We don't really know half of what goes on or who funds the rebel bases and their leaders in Europe. This blog author finds it all too depressing and is taking a short break. Note this other excerpt from the statement by Save the Children:
"The Darfur crisis has already impacted negatively on millions of children in Darfur, and if it is not resolved, it will have far reaching repercussions for many tens of thousands of children in the decades to come.Save the Children fights for children in the UK and around the world who suffer from poverty, disease, injustice and violence.
- - -
Children's drawings from Darfur
Above drawing by Doa, Age 11 or 12: Janjaweed descend on a village on horses and camels, a woman flings her arms in the air as she is targeted for sexual violence or execution. A soldier takes a woman to be raped. She has a cell phone next to her head: "She wants to call the agencies for help." (Image courtesy Human Rights Watch/Sudan Watch archive)
See more children's drawings from Darfur.
- - -
Peace will only be made, and kept, by the Sudanese people themselves
Photo: A young Sudanese child is helped with a drink of clean water at the Abu Shouk refugee camp near El Fasher, in Darfur, Sudan, in August 2004. (AFP/File/Jim Watson/Sudan Watch archive May 27, 2005)
- - -
Teenage fighters in Darfur
Photo: Teenage Sudan Liberation Army fighters in the rebel held village of Bodong in North Darfur. (Reuters/Sudan Watch archive)
- - -
Photo: A member of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), listens to a radio at Dorsa village in west Darfur, October 10, 2004. (Reuters/Sudan Watch archive)
- - -
Photo: A Darfur rebel (Unsourced - Sudan Watch archive)
- - -
Photo: Rebels from Sudan's Eastern Front parade during a conference held by the Front north of Kassala town, near the Eritrean border. (AFP/Sudan Watch archive April 2005)
Further reading:
Oct 3, 2005 Sudan's SLA Minnawi faction quits Darfur peace talks
Oct 2, 2005 Sudan's Janjaweed leader Musa Hilal led attack on Darfur
Oct 1, 2005 Sudanese army attacks Darfur civilians - African Union concludes all parties to the conflict were violating ceasefire agreements and there is neither good faith nor commitment on the part of any of the parties
Oct 1, 2005 Important African Union Statement on Security in Darfur
Oct 1, 2005 War crimes warnings from UN and UK on Darfur Sudan
Oct 1, 2005 Darfur: Peace talks expected to conclude early 2006
Oct 1, 2005 UN Security Council calls for Darfur peace deal by end 2005
- - -
Calling Mama Mongella: The stability of Sudan is fundamental to the whole of the African continent
Marvel at this historic photo: A WOMAN among the 30 African leaders gathering in Khartoum to decide whether to allow a Sudanese dictator to lead Africa or to vote for a Congolese dictator instead.
The world watched African politics in motion and witnessed how African leaders once again chose another dictator to lead Africa. The African Union was set up to replace an organisation that at one time was chaired by Idi Amin. Had there not been so much adverse publicity from activists, Sudan would probably be chairing the AU and overseeing the Darfur genocide.
Photo: Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (C) is escorted out of a conference hall after a closed-door meeting with other African leaders at the sixth African Union Summit in Sudanese capital Khartoum January 24, 2006. The African Union chose Congo Republic as a compromise to chair the organisation after opposition to Sudan because of fears its human rights record could hurt the continent's credibility. Under the deal, Sudan takes over leadership of the 53-nation body after Congo Republic steps down next year. Critics had said Sudan should not get the chair while it was under fire for rights abuses in its western region of Darfur, where 7,000 AU peacekeepers are trying to uphold a tentative ceasefire between the government and rebels. (Reuters/Antony Njuguna/Yahoo)
- - -
African summit rejects one tyrant but elects another
See Jan 25, 2006 report in the Telegraph "African summit rejects one tyrant but elects another" by David Blair in Khartoum. Excerpt:
"If Sudan's record of atrocities makes it unsuitable to lead Africa this year, it is hard to see how al-Bashir will be the best leader to make Africa's case to the world next year," said Reed Brody, of Human Rights Watch.- - -
He added that Congo-Brazzaville's human rights record, while better than Sudan's, was "nothing to celebrate".
Mr Sassou-Nguesso, 62, seized power in the oil-rich state in 1979. His Marxist regime was a key ally of the Soviet Union. Under pressure from France, the former colonial power, he eventually introduced democratic ref-orms and left office after losing an election in 1992. But he returned to power in a welter of bloodshed by leading a victorious rebel army with Angolan military backing in a civil war in 1997.
He called an election in 2002, banned his two main rivals from running and claimed victory with almost 90 per cent of the vote. Fighting continues in Congo-Brazzaville, where rebels are trying to oust him.
Mr Sassou-Nguesso's human rights record has been heavily criticised. When the United Nations repatriated 350 refugees to his capital, Brazzaville, in 1999, they immediately disappeared and their fate has never been established.
Despite all that, African officials insisted that Mr Bashir's failure to win the chairmanship demonstrated Africa's new concern for human rights.
War crimes - have we learned anything?
Finally, here is a copy of a Sudan Watch post dated 18 April, 2005:
"Haven't we learned anything? Are we no further forward than we were 60 years ago?" asks the BBC's highly regarded world affairs editor John Simpson, in his report "War crimes - have we learned anything?
In the piece, published at BBC news online today, he writes:
"There was a time when we thought that killing on an industrial scale might be a thing of the past; but, depressingly, the pictures are no longer just in black and white nowadays. It may be 32 years since General Augusto Pinochet's men began killing left-wingers in Chile, and 30 since the Khmer Rouge arrived in Phnom Penh to force the entire population out into the killing fields. But it's only 11 years since Rwanda, and 10 since the Bosnian Serb general, Ratko Mladic, ordered the murder of every male Muslim in Srebrenica. And in Darfur people are dying right now."
He concludes by saying:
"It takes more than shaking our heads over old television pictures of piles of bodies to make sure that these terrible crimes aren't repeated. Governments will never take enthusiastic action unless they think we really care about these things."
Full Story.
Photo (AFP/BBC UK): More than a million people died under the Khmer Rouge rule.
- - -
Quotation
"If the people will lead, the leaders will follow."
[via Nile Basin Blog with thanks]
In Darfur, handpumps are on the frontline of peacebuilding
Ever since December when government soldiers overran the town of Tawila, burning homes and ruining wells, the pump has been the only source of safe water for kilometres around. It has become a commodity so valued that residents and soldiers alike fight -- and sometimes kill -- to quench their thirst. Indeed, this particular handpump has been the site of numerous rapes, beatings, and at least three deaths, including of soldiers shot by rebels.
Full story by Dorn Townsend, UNICEF, 26 January 2006 via ReliefWeb.
Photo: Waiting at the well - Naga, Sudan.
Courtesy www.markpelletierphotography.com/photo_galleries.htm (Sudan Watch archive)
Full story by Dorn Townsend, UNICEF, 26 January 2006 via ReliefWeb.
Photo: Waiting at the well - Naga, Sudan.
Courtesy www.markpelletierphotography.com/photo_galleries.htm (Sudan Watch archive)
UK House of Commons International Development Committee Report on Darfur: The Killing Continues
Link to pdf report Darfur: the killing continues (HC 657) 23 January 2006 went live online a few minutes ago here in England 11:10 am 26 January, 2006.
Click here and scroll down for link to the Committee's March 2005 report: "Darfur, Sudan and the Responsibility to Protect".
Click here and scroll down for link to the Committee's March 2005 report: "Darfur, Sudan and the Responsibility to Protect".
Blair admits world is failing Darfur as sanction calls grow
The Scotsman's political correspondent Gerri Peev says says Tony Blair has admitted the international community is failing Darfur and that more troops are needed to curb the violence.
Jan 26, 2006 UK Parliament House of Commons International Development Committee Reports - British MPs demand sanctions over Darfur.
Jan 26, 2006 Press Association report in the Scotsman MPs demand 'sanctions' on Sudanese - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has called for plans to deploy a new, Western-backed rapid reaction force with air support and sophisticated equipment. He said: "The overriding priority for the international community must be to end the bloodshed. The UN should mobilise additional resources for the AU mission's work and reinforce its role with a UN mandate."
Jan 25, 2006 Sudan Watch Britain calls for more peacekeepers in Darfur.
When questioned by Sir Menzies Campbell, the interim Liberal Democrat leader, over the lack of action, Mr Blair said: "I think the international community is failing people in Darfur." He agreed that the African Union troops should have a boosted mandate.Further reading:
Jan 26, 2006 UK Parliament House of Commons International Development Committee Reports - British MPs demand sanctions over Darfur.
Jan 26, 2006 Press Association report in the Scotsman MPs demand 'sanctions' on Sudanese - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has called for plans to deploy a new, Western-backed rapid reaction force with air support and sophisticated equipment. He said: "The overriding priority for the international community must be to end the bloodshed. The UN should mobilise additional resources for the AU mission's work and reinforce its role with a UN mandate."
Jan 25, 2006 Sudan Watch Britain calls for more peacekeepers in Darfur.
UK Parliament House of Commons International Development Committee Reports - British MPs demand sanctions over Darfur
January 26 BBC report says a group of British MPs wants the government to push the UN to impose sanctions against Sudan.
Note, the UK Commons International Development Committee published a report January 23, 2006 entitled Darfur: The Killing Continues*. Apparently, it is scathing about the Sudanese authorities.
On Wednesday, Tony Blair promised to do more to help refugees in the region and said strengthening peacekeeping forces should be a priority.
UK House of Commons Report: "Darfur: The Killing Continues"
The Committee will be releasing an online copy of its 23 January 2006 Report on "Darfur: The killing Continues" (HC 657), on Thursday 26 January at 00.01am (at which point the link should become active)
UK House of Commons Report: "Darfur, Sudan and the Responsibility to Protect"
The short report "Darfur: The Killing Continues" is a follow-up to the Committee's earlier report entitled Darfur, Sudan and the Responsibility to Protect [HC 67] published on 30 March 2005. It emerged from an oral evidence session held in November with the Secretary of State for International Development, Lord Triesman, International Crisis Group and Aegis Trust.
Also, see corrected transcript of oral evidence to be published as HC 657-i.
Note, the UK Commons International Development Committee published a report January 23, 2006 entitled Darfur: The Killing Continues*. Apparently, it is scathing about the Sudanese authorities.
On Wednesday, Tony Blair promised to do more to help refugees in the region and said strengthening peacekeeping forces should be a priority.
UK House of Commons Report: "Darfur: The Killing Continues"
The Committee will be releasing an online copy of its 23 January 2006 Report on "Darfur: The killing Continues" (HC 657), on Thursday 26 January at 00.01am (at which point the link should become active)
UK House of Commons Report: "Darfur, Sudan and the Responsibility to Protect"
The short report "Darfur: The Killing Continues" is a follow-up to the Committee's earlier report entitled Darfur, Sudan and the Responsibility to Protect [HC 67] published on 30 March 2005. It emerged from an oral evidence session held in November with the Secretary of State for International Development, Lord Triesman, International Crisis Group and Aegis Trust.
Also, see corrected transcript of oral evidence to be published as HC 657-i.
Ageis Trust webcast featuring Lt Gen Romeo Dallaire
View Aegis Trust archive of panel discussion webcast 25 January 2006. Speakers: Lt Gen Romeo Dallaire, Rt Hon Clare Short MP, John Bercow MP, Dr Mukesh Kapila.
Julie Flint and Alex de Waal's Darfur: A Short History of a Long War, and Gerard Prunier's Darfur: The Ambiguous Genocide
Instapundit's Darfur update January 24, 2006 provides an excerpt from Nicholas Kristof's review of two new books on Darfur -- Julie Flint and Alex de Waal's Darfur: A Short History of a Long War, and Gerard Prunier's Darfur: The Ambiguous Genocide. [via Captain Marlow with thanks]
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
New AU chairman would welcome UN support for AU troops in Darfur: International force in Darfur must be African-led
Reuters report by Nick Tattersall Jan 25, 2006 says the African Union would want to maintain control of peacekeepers in Darfur even if UN soldiers were sent to bolster the mission, the new head of the AU said. Excerpt:
Congo Republic's President Denis Sassou Nguesso, who was appointed by African leaders on Tuesday as chairman of the AU, said he would welcome UN support for AU troops in Darfur but that the force had to remain African-led.
'The United Nations can bring forces, but all of that should be to support the AU forces, under the command of the AU and its officers who are there,' Sassou told Reuters in a joint interview with French radio late on Tuesday.
'This dossier must be managed by the African Union. I believe that the international community will understand that it is better to operate like that,' he said after an AU summit in Sudan's capital Khartoum."
Hundreds of Sudanese flee upsurge of violence in West Darfur after unidentified armed men attacked the town of Guereda - UN Refugee Agency
Almost 800 Sudanese have fled to eastern Chad to escape increased violence in West Darfur, the UN refugee agency said yesterday. Excerpt from Press Release - UN News Center via Harold Doan and Associates UK, Jan 24 2006:
Ron Redmond, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said the Sudanese are receiving help in Gaga camp, which currently holds around 6,600 people.
There are more than 200,000 refugees from strife-torn Darfur in camps in eastern Chad and Mr. Redmond said the security situation had deteriorated in West Darfur in recent months, involving both the Janjaweed militia and "a recent rise of tensions between Chad and Sudan."
Gaga is the newest of 12 UNHCR camps in eastern Chad and many of the new arrivals say they travelled at night, riding donkeys to reach the camp, or else walked for days to find safety.
Mr. Redmond said that because of the worsening security situation in West Darfur, the Geneva-based agency had reduced the number of aid workers operating in the area and, as announced at the weekend, security concerns had also forced the UNHCR to reduce staff numbers in eastern Chad.
The weekend announcement came after unidentified armed men attacked the town of Guereda and abducted five government officials last Friday. While expressing concern for their safety, UNHCR calls for the immediate release of those detained, Mr. Redmond said today.
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