Chad's government said insurgents backed by Sudan had attacked an army base in its southeastern border region on Sunday with the aim of derailing presidential elections.
The Chadian army sent reinforcements to the garrison in the town of Haraze Mangueigne, close to the borders with Sudan and Central African Republic, to try to overcome the attackers, Communication Minister Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor said. Full report Reuters 9 Apr 2006.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
No breakthrough in Darfur talks but efforts still on
Reuters says all-night negotiations involving the warring parties from Darfur and two African heads of state failed to produce a breakthrough in deadlocked peace talks but further meetings were planned later on today.
"So far there's nothing new. We heard from the AU chairman the same proposals we'd heard before from the AU mediation team. It was very disappointing," said Ahmed Tugod, chief negotiator of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel movement.Note, the report points out the peace talks between the government and the rebels, in their seventh round, have been going on for almost TWO YEARS on the three key issues of power-sharing, wealth-sharing and security.
"There's still a big gap. ... We have about nine core issues outstanding and decisions need to be taken on these issues at the political level," said Tugod of the JEM.
Turabi says women's testimony is equal to that of a man
Sandmonkey blog says Dr Hassan Al Turabi, the islamic leader of Sudan, has just issued a Fatwa (arabic link): 
Note, one commentator at the post rightly says "I hope this gets some play in the western media. It is such a good sign that progress IS possible and we should support all those courageous enough to openly call for it."
He stated that the muslim woman has the right to marry a jewish or christian man if she wants to, and that it's not haram at all, and that the rule that says that muslim women can not marry non-muslim men is a bunch of lies [-] "aimed to keep women behind/down".
Not only that, he stated that a woman's testimony is equal to that of a man (Islam considers women to be lying wicked creatures, and therefore1 man's testimony = 2 women's testimony), and that the Hijab (head cover) is wrongly interperted, and that it's supposed to mean a cover, as in women should cover their breasts and the s*xy parts of their body and not to bind her up completely.
He did this all in an islamic conference nonetheless.
Note, one commentator at the post rightly says "I hope this gets some play in the western media. It is such a good sign that progress IS possible and we should support all those courageous enough to openly call for it."
Sudanese government says Darfur rebels attack school convoy at Donki Shata, nr Wana Mountains, N Darfur
An unsourced article at Sudan Tribune April 9 says Sudanese authorities accused Darfur rebel forces of attacking a convoy of school buses transporting students, who did their exams in Al-Fashir town, the headquarters of Northern Darfur State yesterday. Excerpt:
The students were on their way to Kutum town, and were being escorted by security officers from the armed forces and the police. The rebel movement attacked the administrative convoy using 30 Land Cruiser vehicles and four big vehicles, the state-run SUNA said.
Osman Mohamed Youcif Kibir, the governor of Northern Darfur State, has said that the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) Minawi faction forces attacked the convoy at Donki Shata area, near Wana Mountains, adding that some members of the armed forces and the police were killed and some others were wounded in the attack. However, he said, the government forces have caused heavy human and material losses among the rebel forces during the attack.
On the other side in a press release issued today the SLM accused the government troops of carrying out attacks against its forces in the region. It also said that SLM forces attacked a convoy of the Sudanese army near Kutum on 7 April.
The governor further added that this heinous attack was aimed at derailing the Abuja peace talks which are in progress.
Sudanese FM declines to comment on EU Parliament draft resolution
On April 7, 2006 Associated Press reported EU lawmakers voted unanimously to urge the 25 EU governments, the US and other countries to enforce sanctions against those who obstruct the deployment of a UN force in Darfur.
Today, ANDnetwork cites Sudan Vision as its source for the following report:
Today, ANDnetwork cites Sudan Vision as its source for the following report:
The Sudanese Foreign Minister yesterday declined to comment on the European parliament draft resolution calling for imposing sanctions on any party that rejects the deployment of Un forces in Darfur.
The draft resolution has also demanded the Sudanese government to expedite issue of entry visas to Sudan.
When asked about the response of the government to that resolution, Foreign Minister Dr Lam Akol threw the question back to journalists by saying "did they say that?"
Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Jamal Mohamed Ibrahim said he was not informed about the said resolution and therefore he was not in a position to comment on it.
UN and Saudis may do more together in Darfur and Sudan
Top UN aid chief Jan Egeland said after talks with Saudi officials in Riyadh that conditions in Darfur were "getting increasingly difficult," with non-governmental organizations "either (being) thrown out or (facing) severe obstacles to their work." AFP report 7 Apr 2006 - excerpt:
Photo: UN emergency relief cordinator Jan Egeland makes an appeal in Nairobi on 07 April. Egeland said the Sudanese government had invited him to visit Darfur a few days after barring him from the war-torn region, but he had not yet decided if and when he would go. (AFP/File/Simon Maina/Yahoo)
Egeland said he had discussed with Saudi officials "the need for more resources" and "the possibility to do more together in Darfur and Sudan at large." Egeland said he had sought a Saudi contribution to a UN Central Emergency Response Fund launched last month, to which 40 nations have already given 260 million dollars for immediate use in cases of disasters.
Egeland met with Riyadh Governor Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz, foreign ministry undersecretary for political affairs Prince Turki bin Mohammad bin Saud al-Kabeer, and Saudi Red Crescent officials.
He is due to hold talks with officials in the United Arab Emirates Sunday and to give a keynote speech at a humanitarian conference opening in Dubai Monday.
Photo: UN emergency relief cordinator Jan Egeland makes an appeal in Nairobi on 07 April. Egeland said the Sudanese government had invited him to visit Darfur a few days after barring him from the war-torn region, but he had not yet decided if and when he would go. (AFP/File/Simon Maina/Yahoo)
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Sudanese Government hindering care to refugees
On the Sudanese Government, James Lawrence of the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders, is quoted as saying:
Full report CNS 7 Apr 2006.
- - -
Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) calls on the Sudanese authorities and the UN to create the necessary humanitarian space for aid organisations to continue life saving operations
NRC report Mar 10, 2006 excerpt:
"It is hindering the provision of primary health care to refugees."Riek Rackar of the South Sudan Human Development, a humanitarian group assisting in refugee resettlement, said Khartoum's attempt to bar the UN's aid chief Jan Egeland raised doubts about its commitment to engage the international community in ending the Darfur crisis and taking care of affected civilians.
Full report CNS 7 Apr 2006.
- - -
Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) calls on the Sudanese authorities and the UN to create the necessary humanitarian space for aid organisations to continue life saving operations
NRC report Mar 10, 2006 excerpt:
UNHCR's announced cut in activities in Darfur is another clear testimony that the international community, together with the Sudanese authorities, lack the ability to create the necessary humanitarian space for humanitarian actors to assist the Sudanese civilian population.
According to UNHCR, the security situation is so volatile that aid workers cannot get to those in need. Humanitarian convoys are being targeted, the agency said in its statement released in Geneva, and access to large areas of west Darfur is severely limited.
UNHCR blamed lack of security and confidence in the Sudanese Government as the main obstacles for internally displaced persons and refugees to return to their villages.
UN Action Plan to Prevent Genocide - Juan E Mendez of Argentina, Special Adviser on Prevention of Genocide
"In the 20th century, genocides and state mass murder have killed more people than have all wars" - Institute for the Study of Genocide.
Prevent Genocide International notes that:
Photo: Juan E Mendez, the UN's first Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide (Sudan Tribune)
- - -
What is genocide?
PGI provides answers to questions on genocide.
ISG & IAGS Social Scientists' Definitions of Genocide.
What is ethnic cleansing?
See What is the difference between genocide and ethnic cleansing?
Prevent Genocide International notes that:
On April 7, 2004 in a speech in Geneva commemorating the 10th anniversary of the 1994 Genocide In Rwanda, UN Secretary General Kofi Annn announced his future appointment of a Special Advisor on Genocide Prevention and launched an Action Plan to Prevent Genocide. The Five Point Action Plan includes:On July 12, 2004 Mr Annan informed the United Nations Security Council that he had chosen Juan Mendez, a human rights advocate, lawyer and former political prisoner from Argentina, as his first Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide.
1) preventing armed conflict which usually provides the context for genocide,
2) protection of civilians in armed conflict including a mandate for UN peacekeepers to protect civilians,
3) ending impunity through judicial action in both national and international courts,
4) information gathering and early warning through a UN Special Advisor for Genocide Prevention making recommendations to the UN Security Council on actions to prevent or halt genocide, and
5) swift and decisive action along a continuum of steps, including military action.
Immediately prior to his speech Annan and members of the UN Commission on Human Rights who he addresses observed two minutes of silence to commemorate the lives of the more than 800,000 people killed in Rwanda between April 7 and July 17, 1994.
Photo: Juan E Mendez, the UN's first Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide (Sudan Tribune)
- - -
What is genocide?
PGI provides answers to questions on genocide.
ISG & IAGS Social Scientists' Definitions of Genocide.
What is ethnic cleansing?
See What is the difference between genocide and ethnic cleansing?
What is the difference between genocide and ethnic cleansing?
Someone has just asked me what is the difference between genocide and ethnic cleansing. Good question. I found it difficult to articulate a short answer. The following excerpt from Encyclopaedia Britannica says some critics see little difference between genocide and ethnic cleansing:
Ethnic cleansing is the attempt to create ethnically homogeneous geographic areas through the deportation or forcible displacement of persons belonging to particular ethnic groups. Ethnic cleansing sometimes involves the removal of all physical vestiges of the targeted group through the destruction of monuments, cemeteries, and houses of worship.
The term ethnic cleansing, a literal translation of the Serbo-Croatian phrase etnicko ciscenje, was widely employed in the 1990s (though the term first appeared earlier) to describe the brutal treatment of various civilian groups in the conflicts that erupted upon the disintegration of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. These groups included Bosniacs (Bosnian Muslims) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbs in the Krajina region of Croatia, and ethnic Albanians and later Serbs in the Serbian province of Kosovo. The term also has been attached to the treatment by Indonesian militants of the people of East Timor, many of whom were killed or forced to abandon their homes after citizens there voted in favour of independence in 1999, and to the plight of Chechens who fled Grozny and other areas of Chechnya following Russian military operations against Chechen separatists during the 1990s.
According to a report issued by the United Nations (UN) secretary-general, the frequent occurrence of ethnic cleansing in the 1990s was attributable to the nature of contemporary armed conflicts, in which civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure are not simply by-products of war, but the consequence of the deliberate targeting of non-combatants... [I]n many conflicts, belligerents target civilians in order to expel or eradicate segments of the population, or for the purpose of hastening military surrender.
Ethnic cleansing as a concept has generated considerable controversy. Some critics see little difference between it and genocide. Defenders, however, argue that ethnic cleansing and genocide can be distinguished by the intent of the perpetrator: whereas the primary goal of genocide is the destruction of an ethnic, racial, or religious group, the main purpose of ethnic cleansing is the establishment of ethnically homogeneous lands, which may be achieved by any of a number of methods including genocide.
Another major controversy concerns the question of whether or not ethnic cleansing originated in the 20th century. Some scholars have pointed to the forced resettlement of millions of people by the Assyrians in the 9th and 7th centuries BC as perhaps the first cases of ethnic cleansing. Among other examples cited are the mass execution of Danes by the English in 1002, attempts by the Czechs to rid their territories of Germans in the Middle Ages, the expulsion of Jews from Spain in the 15th century, and the forced displacement of Native Americans by white settlers in North America in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Others argue that ethnic cleansing, unlike earlier acts of forced resettlement, is the result of certain uniquely 20th-century developments, such as the rise of powerful nation-states fueled by nationalist and pseudoscientific racist ideologies in conjunction with the spread of advanced technology and communications. Examples of ethnic cleansing understood in this sense include the Armenian massacres by the Turks in 1915-16, the Nazi Holocaust of European Jews in the 1930s and '40s, the expulsion of Germans from Polish and Czechoslovak territory after World War II, the Soviet Union's deportation of certain ethnic minorities from the Caucasus and Crimea during the 1940s, and the forced migrations and mass killings in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda in the 1990s. In many of these campaigns, women were targeted for particularly brutal treatment - including systematic rape and enslavement - in part because they were viewed by perpetrators as the "carriers," biologically and culturally, of the next generation of their nations. Because many men in victimized populations left their families and communities to join resistance groups once violence began, women and children were often defenseless.
The precise legal definition of ethnic cleansing has been the subject of intense scrutiny within various international bodies, including the UN, the two ad hoc international tribunals created in the 1990s to prosecute violations of international humanitarian law in the former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda (the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia [ICTY] and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda [ICTR], respectively), and the International Criminal Court (ICC), which began sittings in 2002.
In 1992, in reference to the hostilities in Yugoslavia, the UN General Assembly declared ethnic cleansing to be "a form of genocide," and in the following year the Security Council, citing widespread and flagrant violations of international humanitarian law within the territory of the former Yugoslavia, established a tribunal to investigate allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including ethnic cleansing. In its examination of the capture of the town of Kozarac by Bosnian Serbs, the ICTY described the ethnic cleansing that took place there as the process of rounding up and driving "out of the area on foot the entire non-Serb population." In a subsequent case, the tribunal recognized similarities between acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing, noting that both involve the targeting of individuals because of their membership in an ethnic group. The significant difference between the two remains, however: whereas ethnic cleansing aims to force the flight of a particular group, genocide targets the group for physical destruction.
The establishment of the ICC reinforced the links between ethnic cleansing and other offenses such as genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. In its finalized text on the elements of the crimes in the court's jurisdiction, the Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court made clear that ethnic cleansing could constitute all three offenses within the ICC's jurisdiction. Genocide, for example, was defined as an act that may include the systematic expulsion of individuals from their homes; the threat of force or coercion to effect the transfer of a targeted group of persons was recognized as an element of crimes against humanity; and the "unlawful deportation and transfer," as well as the displacement, of civilians were recognized as elements of war crimes.
Despite continuing controversies over its definition, the concept of ethnic cleansing has become firmly anchored within international law. It remains to be seen how mechanisms to prevent and deal with ethnic cleansing will develop and be implemented.
Ethnic cleansing is the attempt to create ethnically homogeneous geographic areas through the deportation or forcible displacement of persons belonging to particular ethnic groups. Ethnic cleansing sometimes involves the removal of all physical vestiges of the targeted group through the destruction of monuments, cemeteries, and houses of worship.
The term ethnic cleansing, a literal translation of the Serbo-Croatian phrase etnicko ciscenje, was widely employed in the 1990s (though the term first appeared earlier) to describe the brutal treatment of various civilian groups in the conflicts that erupted upon the disintegration of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. These groups included Bosniacs (Bosnian Muslims) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbs in the Krajina region of Croatia, and ethnic Albanians and later Serbs in the Serbian province of Kosovo. The term also has been attached to the treatment by Indonesian militants of the people of East Timor, many of whom were killed or forced to abandon their homes after citizens there voted in favour of independence in 1999, and to the plight of Chechens who fled Grozny and other areas of Chechnya following Russian military operations against Chechen separatists during the 1990s.
According to a report issued by the United Nations (UN) secretary-general, the frequent occurrence of ethnic cleansing in the 1990s was attributable to the nature of contemporary armed conflicts, in which civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure are not simply by-products of war, but the consequence of the deliberate targeting of non-combatants... [I]n many conflicts, belligerents target civilians in order to expel or eradicate segments of the population, or for the purpose of hastening military surrender.
Ethnic cleansing as a concept has generated considerable controversy. Some critics see little difference between it and genocide. Defenders, however, argue that ethnic cleansing and genocide can be distinguished by the intent of the perpetrator: whereas the primary goal of genocide is the destruction of an ethnic, racial, or religious group, the main purpose of ethnic cleansing is the establishment of ethnically homogeneous lands, which may be achieved by any of a number of methods including genocide.
Another major controversy concerns the question of whether or not ethnic cleansing originated in the 20th century. Some scholars have pointed to the forced resettlement of millions of people by the Assyrians in the 9th and 7th centuries BC as perhaps the first cases of ethnic cleansing. Among other examples cited are the mass execution of Danes by the English in 1002, attempts by the Czechs to rid their territories of Germans in the Middle Ages, the expulsion of Jews from Spain in the 15th century, and the forced displacement of Native Americans by white settlers in North America in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Others argue that ethnic cleansing, unlike earlier acts of forced resettlement, is the result of certain uniquely 20th-century developments, such as the rise of powerful nation-states fueled by nationalist and pseudoscientific racist ideologies in conjunction with the spread of advanced technology and communications. Examples of ethnic cleansing understood in this sense include the Armenian massacres by the Turks in 1915-16, the Nazi Holocaust of European Jews in the 1930s and '40s, the expulsion of Germans from Polish and Czechoslovak territory after World War II, the Soviet Union's deportation of certain ethnic minorities from the Caucasus and Crimea during the 1940s, and the forced migrations and mass killings in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda in the 1990s. In many of these campaigns, women were targeted for particularly brutal treatment - including systematic rape and enslavement - in part because they were viewed by perpetrators as the "carriers," biologically and culturally, of the next generation of their nations. Because many men in victimized populations left their families and communities to join resistance groups once violence began, women and children were often defenseless.
The precise legal definition of ethnic cleansing has been the subject of intense scrutiny within various international bodies, including the UN, the two ad hoc international tribunals created in the 1990s to prosecute violations of international humanitarian law in the former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda (the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia [ICTY] and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda [ICTR], respectively), and the International Criminal Court (ICC), which began sittings in 2002.
In 1992, in reference to the hostilities in Yugoslavia, the UN General Assembly declared ethnic cleansing to be "a form of genocide," and in the following year the Security Council, citing widespread and flagrant violations of international humanitarian law within the territory of the former Yugoslavia, established a tribunal to investigate allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including ethnic cleansing. In its examination of the capture of the town of Kozarac by Bosnian Serbs, the ICTY described the ethnic cleansing that took place there as the process of rounding up and driving "out of the area on foot the entire non-Serb population." In a subsequent case, the tribunal recognized similarities between acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing, noting that both involve the targeting of individuals because of their membership in an ethnic group. The significant difference between the two remains, however: whereas ethnic cleansing aims to force the flight of a particular group, genocide targets the group for physical destruction.
The establishment of the ICC reinforced the links between ethnic cleansing and other offenses such as genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. In its finalized text on the elements of the crimes in the court's jurisdiction, the Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court made clear that ethnic cleansing could constitute all three offenses within the ICC's jurisdiction. Genocide, for example, was defined as an act that may include the systematic expulsion of individuals from their homes; the threat of force or coercion to effect the transfer of a targeted group of persons was recognized as an element of crimes against humanity; and the "unlawful deportation and transfer," as well as the displacement, of civilians were recognized as elements of war crimes.
Despite continuing controversies over its definition, the concept of ethnic cleansing has become firmly anchored within international law. It remains to be seen how mechanisms to prevent and deal with ethnic cleansing will develop and be implemented.
Friday, April 07, 2006
UNHCR: Insecurity forces 44% cut in Darfur budget
Citing deteriorating security that has severely limited its operations and access in Darfur, the UN refugee agency 9 Mar 2006 announced a 44% reduction in its 2006 programme budget for the region.
Photo: Displaced women on their way to collect firewood in the Douma area of Darfur. Soldiers from the African Union and the government escort them twice a week to collect wood, guarding against rape by janjaweed attackers. (UNHCR/H.Caux)
Photo: Displaced women on their way to collect firewood in the Douma area of Darfur. Soldiers from the African Union and the government escort them twice a week to collect wood, guarding against rape by janjaweed attackers. (UNHCR/H.Caux)
Darfur - European Parliament urges UN Security Council to draft clear mandate under Chapter VII of UN Charter, on or before 1 Oct 2006
European Parliament says Darfur is "tantamount to genocide" AP reported earlier today. More on this from Noticias Info 7 Apr 2006 - excerpt:
In a resolution on Darfur, adopted by 76 votes in favour, none against and no abstentions, Parliament deplores the continuation of violence and rape by all sides, and condemns the Government of Sudan's continued support for the Janjaweed militia. It urges the United Nations Security Council to meet to address the violence in Darfur, which is tantamount to genocide, and to act on its responsibility to protect civilians by drafting a clear mandate under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, on or before 1 October 2006 (following the expiry of the mandate of the African Union mission in Darfur on 30 September 2006). It calls on the UN Security Council to extend the arms embargo in Darfur throughout Sudan and support the African Union's efforts in Darfur to reach full operational capacity and to robustly interpret its mandate to protect civilians until the transition to a UN mission.
MEPs underline that the mandate of the AMIS force has primarily been to observe violations of the humanitarian ceasefire agreement. They criticise the international community for not having acted to protect civilians sooner and call upon EU Member States to honour the commitments they have already made to provide military observers, staff officers and civilian police to increase security in Darfur and to ensure that the current AMIS mission is adequately funded and equipped to enable it to interpret its limited mandate as broadly as possible.
Parliament welcomes the decisions taken by the UN Security Council in March on a ban on offensive flights in Darfur. It calls for an effectively enforced no-fly zone across Darfur. It further calls on the EU, the US and other international actors to take all necessary action to help end impunity by enforcing the Security Council sanctions regime and seeking for this regime to include targeted sanctions against individuals who obstruct the deployment of the UN force and otherwise contribute to abuses of civilians.
MEPs call for the international community to support the International Criminal Court's investigation into violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in Darfur. They join the UNHCR in calling for an end to forced conscription of Sudanese refugees in Chad and also call for the implementation of a Chad-Sudan border monitoring force, as foreseen in the accord signed by the Presidents of the two countries on 10 February 2006. They strongly criticise the Government of Sudan for preventing Jan Egeland, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, from visiting Darfur.
Parliament asks the African Union to continue to play a leading role in the Abuja peace talks, and for all those involved in the talks to work to achieve these ends. It calls on the Government of Sudan to work alongside the NGO community for the benefit of its people and urges the Government to revise the Organisation of Voluntary and Humanitarian Work Act 2006 to bring it into line with international human rights standards. MEPs insist that Sudan's Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) facilitate the issuing of visas and travel permits to humanitarian workers and stop the harassment of international NGOs; they criticise the lack of independence of the HAC from the Government of Sudan;
Parliament calls on the Government of Sudan to release Ms Amouna Mohamed Ahmed, Ms Fayza Ismail Abaker, Ms Houda Ismail Abdel Rahman and Ms Zahra Adam Abdela while their case is investigated and considers that these girls should be given appropriate care as victims of attempted rape.
Finally, MEPs criticise Russian and Chinese efforts to block UN Security Council actions over Darfur. They urge the international community to exert more pressure on these countries in order to prevent their economic interests in oil and arms sales from undermining efforts to bring peace to Darfur.
[Note, Austrian Presidency of the EU 1 January - 30 June 2006. See A Guide to the European Parliament]
In a resolution on Darfur, adopted by 76 votes in favour, none against and no abstentions, Parliament deplores the continuation of violence and rape by all sides, and condemns the Government of Sudan's continued support for the Janjaweed militia. It urges the United Nations Security Council to meet to address the violence in Darfur, which is tantamount to genocide, and to act on its responsibility to protect civilians by drafting a clear mandate under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, on or before 1 October 2006 (following the expiry of the mandate of the African Union mission in Darfur on 30 September 2006). It calls on the UN Security Council to extend the arms embargo in Darfur throughout Sudan and support the African Union's efforts in Darfur to reach full operational capacity and to robustly interpret its mandate to protect civilians until the transition to a UN mission.
MEPs underline that the mandate of the AMIS force has primarily been to observe violations of the humanitarian ceasefire agreement. They criticise the international community for not having acted to protect civilians sooner and call upon EU Member States to honour the commitments they have already made to provide military observers, staff officers and civilian police to increase security in Darfur and to ensure that the current AMIS mission is adequately funded and equipped to enable it to interpret its limited mandate as broadly as possible.
Parliament welcomes the decisions taken by the UN Security Council in March on a ban on offensive flights in Darfur. It calls for an effectively enforced no-fly zone across Darfur. It further calls on the EU, the US and other international actors to take all necessary action to help end impunity by enforcing the Security Council sanctions regime and seeking for this regime to include targeted sanctions against individuals who obstruct the deployment of the UN force and otherwise contribute to abuses of civilians.
MEPs call for the international community to support the International Criminal Court's investigation into violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in Darfur. They join the UNHCR in calling for an end to forced conscription of Sudanese refugees in Chad and also call for the implementation of a Chad-Sudan border monitoring force, as foreseen in the accord signed by the Presidents of the two countries on 10 February 2006. They strongly criticise the Government of Sudan for preventing Jan Egeland, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, from visiting Darfur.
Parliament asks the African Union to continue to play a leading role in the Abuja peace talks, and for all those involved in the talks to work to achieve these ends. It calls on the Government of Sudan to work alongside the NGO community for the benefit of its people and urges the Government to revise the Organisation of Voluntary and Humanitarian Work Act 2006 to bring it into line with international human rights standards. MEPs insist that Sudan's Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) facilitate the issuing of visas and travel permits to humanitarian workers and stop the harassment of international NGOs; they criticise the lack of independence of the HAC from the Government of Sudan;
Parliament calls on the Government of Sudan to release Ms Amouna Mohamed Ahmed, Ms Fayza Ismail Abaker, Ms Houda Ismail Abdel Rahman and Ms Zahra Adam Abdela while their case is investigated and considers that these girls should be given appropriate care as victims of attempted rape.
Finally, MEPs criticise Russian and Chinese efforts to block UN Security Council actions over Darfur. They urge the international community to exert more pressure on these countries in order to prevent their economic interests in oil and arms sales from undermining efforts to bring peace to Darfur.
[Note, Austrian Presidency of the EU 1 January - 30 June 2006. See A Guide to the European Parliament]
UN's Mendez on Darfur: "Left unattended, the situation may degenerate into genocide"
The situation in Darfur "may degenerate into genocide" as African peacekeepers struggle to protect the civilian population, the UN official charged with preventing genocide said Friday - DPA report 7 Apr 2006 - excerpt:
Juan Mendez said the African Union force in Darfur has been hampered by a lack of funding and support for its troops and "half measures" by the Sudanese government in support of its mission.
The failure to protect civilians in a conflict zone could lead to genocide, Mendez warned. But he refused to characterize the current killing in Darfur as genocide, stressing that he has no legal authority on the issue. Instead his role is the prevention of genocide.
The UN on Friday marked the 12th anniversary of the massacre of 800,000 Rwandans by holding a debate on ways to prevent genocide. The worsening situation in Sudan was a focus of the debate.
AU FORCES HAMSTRUNG BY KHARTOUM
Mendez, who bears the title of UN special envoy on prevention of genocide, accused Khartoum of "bad faith" in its dealings with African peacekeepers.
Khartoum has only allowed the AU to import limited amounts of fuel, ammunition and armoured carriers for its troops and blocked imports of jet fuel, which forced the AU to ground critical flights to monitor the vast region of Darfur, he said.
KHARTOUM PLAYED GAMES
"The Sudanese have played games with the consent that they originally gave to the AU," Mendez said. "In my mind, it's a bad faith attitude toward the consent the Sudanese government has given.
"It is high time that the AU, the UN Security Council and all of us tell the government of Sudan that consent is indispensable and should be given in good faith," he added. "The situation has become urgent."
Due to the lack of funds and war equipment, the AU has decided to withdraw its 7,000 troops from Darfur by year's end. The UN Security Council is discussing the formation of a UN peacekeeping operation to replace the AU despite opposition by Khartoum, which prefers the African force.
GENOCIDE WARNING
Mendez said Khartoum's expulsion of a Norwegian relief group from Darfur this week would make the civilian population more vulnerable to attacks. He said Khartoum has "more than once" expelled international humanitarian groups from Darfur.
"Left unattended, the situation may degenerate into genocide," he said.
[hat tip Coalition for Darfur]
Juan Mendez said the African Union force in Darfur has been hampered by a lack of funding and support for its troops and "half measures" by the Sudanese government in support of its mission.
The failure to protect civilians in a conflict zone could lead to genocide, Mendez warned. But he refused to characterize the current killing in Darfur as genocide, stressing that he has no legal authority on the issue. Instead his role is the prevention of genocide.
The UN on Friday marked the 12th anniversary of the massacre of 800,000 Rwandans by holding a debate on ways to prevent genocide. The worsening situation in Sudan was a focus of the debate.
AU FORCES HAMSTRUNG BY KHARTOUM
Mendez, who bears the title of UN special envoy on prevention of genocide, accused Khartoum of "bad faith" in its dealings with African peacekeepers.
Khartoum has only allowed the AU to import limited amounts of fuel, ammunition and armoured carriers for its troops and blocked imports of jet fuel, which forced the AU to ground critical flights to monitor the vast region of Darfur, he said.
KHARTOUM PLAYED GAMES
"The Sudanese have played games with the consent that they originally gave to the AU," Mendez said. "In my mind, it's a bad faith attitude toward the consent the Sudanese government has given.
"It is high time that the AU, the UN Security Council and all of us tell the government of Sudan that consent is indispensable and should be given in good faith," he added. "The situation has become urgent."
Due to the lack of funds and war equipment, the AU has decided to withdraw its 7,000 troops from Darfur by year's end. The UN Security Council is discussing the formation of a UN peacekeeping operation to replace the AU despite opposition by Khartoum, which prefers the African force.
GENOCIDE WARNING
Mendez said Khartoum's expulsion of a Norwegian relief group from Darfur this week would make the civilian population more vulnerable to attacks. He said Khartoum has "more than once" expelled international humanitarian groups from Darfur.
"Left unattended, the situation may degenerate into genocide," he said.
[hat tip Coalition for Darfur]
UN assembly president calls Darfur violence "ethnic cleansing"
UN General Assembly President Jan Eliasson said Thursday that "ethnic cleansing" has taken place in Darfur, but stopped short of describing the violence as genocide - AP report 7 Apr 2006 - excerpt:
The International Criminal Court (ICC) - Summary
Note, many quarters, including the British Government and UN special envoy Jan Pronk, refer to what is happening in Darfur as "ethnic cleansing". Perhaps the following excerpt from International Justice Tribune on Darfur, Sudan may help explain why anyone within the UN cannot take it upon themselves to refer to Darfur as genocide:
The Security Council referred the Darfur situation to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on 31 March 2005 in Resolution 1593 (2005), after almost two months of negotiations over how to prosecute the crimes occurring in Darfur.
The Resolution was voted in by 11-0 with four members abstaining: the United States, Algeria, Brazil and China. The International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, chaired by the Italian judge Antonio Cassese, concluded in its report published on 31 January 2005 that crimes against humanity and war crimes such as killings, rape, pillaging and forced displacement have been committed since 1 July 2002 by the government-backed forces and the Janjaweed militia.
It declared, however, that the government of Sudan was not pursuing a policy of genocide in Darfur.
The UN has said crimes against humanity have likely been committed in Darfur, but not genocide as the United States and several other nations claim.- - -
"Of course this is ethnic cleansing," Eliasson told Swedish public radio. "Genocide, I don't know if you can use that definition. But that matters less for the individual people who are affected."
"Darfur is a political and humanitarian tragedy and an infected wound in world politics," said Eliasson, who also is Sweden's incoming foreign minister.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) - Summary
Note, many quarters, including the British Government and UN special envoy Jan Pronk, refer to what is happening in Darfur as "ethnic cleansing". Perhaps the following excerpt from International Justice Tribune on Darfur, Sudan may help explain why anyone within the UN cannot take it upon themselves to refer to Darfur as genocide:
The Security Council referred the Darfur situation to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on 31 March 2005 in Resolution 1593 (2005), after almost two months of negotiations over how to prosecute the crimes occurring in Darfur.
The Resolution was voted in by 11-0 with four members abstaining: the United States, Algeria, Brazil and China. The International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, chaired by the Italian judge Antonio Cassese, concluded in its report published on 31 January 2005 that crimes against humanity and war crimes such as killings, rape, pillaging and forced displacement have been committed since 1 July 2002 by the government-backed forces and the Janjaweed militia.
It declared, however, that the government of Sudan was not pursuing a policy of genocide in Darfur.
UN envoy to travel to East Africa to discuss Darfur peace
A senior UN official is to travel to east Africa early next week to discuss prospects for a UN takeover of the African Union peacekeeping mission Darfur, AFP reported April 7, 2006.
Jean-Marie Guehenno, the UN under-secretary general in charge of peacekeeping operations, told AFP Thursday that the official would first stop in Addis Ababa for talks with AU officials before holding contacts with Sudanese authorities and other regional leaders. A diplomatic source said Guehenno's deputy, Hedi Annabi, would make the trip.The UN has indicated it could send peacekeepers by the end of the year or at the beginning of 2007 to take over from AU troops.
"The priority at this time is to clear misunderstandings which Sudanese authorities and others may have had about the role of a UN force in Darfur," Guehenno said.
"As all UN peacekeeping forces, the mission will be deployed with the consent of the host country," he added.
US passes legislation that expands sanctions against Sudan
Congress is now on vacation for Easter. The House passed legislation that would expand sanctions against Sudan, AP reported 7 Apr 2006.
Job: Danish Refugee Council seeks Programme Manager, Sudan
The Danish Refugee Council invites applications for the position of Programme Manager in Darfur, Sudan. Further information please visit the link provided or contact Emergency Coordinator, Anette Christoffersen, email: anette.christoffersen@drc.dk. Application deadline has been extended until April 23 2006. Please forward your application in English to: suzanne.frost@drc.dk
German parliament extends Sudan mandate for another six months
German legislators voted in favor of extending Germany's participation in the UN's Sudan Mandate (UNMIS) for another six months, DPA/Irna reported Friday.
A number of 78 German military monitors and soldiers are taking part in the UN mission of whom there are presently only 28 observers in Sudan.
Post-World War II German troops had never been deployed in the African Continent before the Sudan peace mission.
A number of 78 German military monitors and soldiers are taking part in the UN mission of whom there are presently only 28 observers in Sudan.
Post-World War II German troops had never been deployed in the African Continent before the Sudan peace mission.
EU parliament says Darfur is "tantamount to genocide"
The European Parliament called Thursday for a meeting of the UN Security Council to address violence in Darfur and said Darfur was "tantamount to genocide," AP reported 7 Apr 2006:
EU lawmakers voted unanimously to urge the 25 EU governments, the US and other countries to enforce sanctions against those who obstruct the deployment of a UN force in Darfur.
In a resolution, EU deputies called on Sudan to facilitate the issuing of visas and travel permits to humanitarian workers and stop the harassment of aid agencies.
EU lawmakers voted unanimously to urge the 25 EU governments, the US and other countries to enforce sanctions against those who obstruct the deployment of a UN force in Darfur.
In a resolution, EU deputies called on Sudan to facilitate the issuing of visas and travel permits to humanitarian workers and stop the harassment of aid agencies.
TEXT- AU Security Council on progress of Darfur peace talks
Click here to read the African Union Peace and Security Council Briefing 6 April 2006 on the progress of the Darfur peace talks.
Thursday, April 06, 2006
World Health Day
Today is World Health Day. The brain drain siphons away nearly one quarter of the few African doctors available in the poorest parts of the continent, according to a World Health Organisation report.
Photo: An internally displaced Sudanese woman receives with her child medical attention at a Spanish Red Cross health center in Beleil camp, near the town of Nyala in Sudan's southern Darfur region, in 2004. (AFP/Jose Cendon/Yahoo)
Photo: An internally displaced Sudanese woman receives with her child medical attention at a Spanish Red Cross health center in Beleil camp, near the town of Nyala in Sudan's southern Darfur region, in 2004. (AFP/Jose Cendon/Yahoo)
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