Darfur Groups Optimistic They Can Unite - But No JEM or SLM's Nur

From Sudan Radio Service, Monday, 13 July 2009:
Darfur Groups Optimistic They Can Unite - But No JEM

(Cairo) – The Darfur anti-Government groups who are meeting in Egypt say that they are optimistic that they will unite and will reach a common understanding.

The meetings are organized by the Egyptian government in an attempt to encourage the Darfur anti-government groups to take a unified approach to the crisis prior to peace negotiations.

Dr. Sharif Harir, a senior spokesman for the Sudan Liberation Movement-Unity faction, spoke to Sudan Radio Service from Cairo on Monday.

[Dr. Sharif Harir]: “In fact we started the work according to the time table, yesterday (Sunday) was the opening of the meeting, today (Monday) we will discuss the issue of visions and goals, and how we can make our different opinions closer about the issue of negotiation as one of our means of struggle. I think it is going well and I’m optimistic, we are optimistic because this is an essential condition in the success of the movements in achieving the demands and the aspirations of the Darfur people. By our unity we will unite Darfur people.”

The political advisor to the leader of the United Front for Resistance, Abdallah Abakar, also spoke to Sudan Radio Service from Cairo.

[Abdallah Abakar]: “In fact, when we came to Cairo as the different movements and factions of Darfur, the Egyptian government provided a conducive atmosphere for the talks, and they want us to come to a common understanding, because the recent portrayal of the Darfur factions and movements is unacceptable to the world. So they are continuing the Libyan initiative that the movements can come out with a common vision. We, the Darfur movements, have come this time with goodwill, and we have no differences, so what prevents us from being one or at least having a common negotiating theme in any of the coming peace talks?”

The Egyptian government spokesperson, Omar Qenawi, is hoping for a breakthrough in the talks.

[Omar Qenawi]: “There is much discussion about the desire to unite between all of the leaders and decision makers - but talking is not enough. We urge that talk will be transformed into action, so we hope through these meetings we will make a breakthrough, which everybody is waiting for, particularly the people in Sudan and in Darfur.”

Most of Darfur anti-government groups and factions are participating in the Egyptian initiative for unification, except the SLM Abdulwahid’s faction and the Justice and Equality Movement.

See today's news at Sudan Watch: JEM make excuses to avoid peace (again)

GONU became illegal on 9 July under terms of CPA?

From Sudan Radio Service, Monday, 13 July 2009
Opposition Parties Plan Mass Rally Against "Illegal" GONU

(Khartoum) – Last week, the coalition of national opposition parties called for the formation of a national government saying that the current government became illegal on the 9th July under the terms of the CPA.

They threaten to hold a mass demonstration over the legality of the current government.

The Government of National Unity has defended its legal and constitutional legitimacy.

GONU Justice Minister Abdel-Baseet Sabdarat Saleh addressed a press conference in Khartoum on Sunday.

[Abdel-Baseet Sabdarat]: “Who is going to form the government if the President is going to be illegitimate and the President of south Sudan government is going to be illegitimate? There is talk of a constitutional vacuum. Who is going to fill this vacuum?

Is it going to be a voluntary committee? I think these claims are an attempt to make political capital out of the situation.

Article 216 reads as follows: The election is to be conducted within the four-year interim period. It is important to refer to this article, because it doesn’t refer to the period of the Government of National Unity nor to President or First Vice-President nor the President of the south Sudan government or to any level of government mentioned in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.”

Article 216 of the Interim national constitution states that the general elections at all levels of government shall be held not later than the end of the fourth year of the interim period. This period expired on 9th July.

Increased levels of insecurity in southern Sudan

Note that there seems to be little news coming out of Sudan re progress being made on implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement or what to expect from the upcoming ruling on the Abyei boundary.

From Sudan Radio Service, Monday, 13 July 2009:
Kenana Group Upset By Presidential Treatment

(Khartoum) – A group of southern Sudanese politicians calling themselves the “Kenana Group” have accused the President of the Government of southern Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit of refusing to meet and discuss with them the future of southern Sudan.

Speaking at a press conference in Khartoum on Sunday, the deputy-chairman and the official spokesperson of the Kenana Group, Angelo Beda, said his group has been disappointed by the treatment they received from Salva Kiir.

[Angelo Beda]: “The Kenana Group of south Sudanese political leaders, political activists, intellectuals, and elders, who met in Kenana, White Nile State, between 1st-3rd April 2009, hereby wish to release the letter the group had written to the President of the GOSS and the Chairman of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, General Salva Kiir Mayardit. The document contains many issues of concern to the Kenana Group, about the situation in south Sudan. Since the issues in the document concern the future of our country and our people, we wish to make it known to the Sudanese public that we are most disappointed with the treatment our group has received from the President of the GOSS, refusing to meet our committee, for nearly four months. That is why it became necessary to publish the letter.”

Beda explained that the letter they submitted to the GOSS President contained four key issues of concern to the people of southern Sudan which include a review of the implementation of the CPA in southern Sudan over the last four years and preparation for elections and the referendum scheduled for 2011.

He claimed that President Kiir refused to meet them because of misinformation about the Kenana Group.

[Angelo Beda]: “An inaccurate report was taken to them in advance, we got the copy of the this report, which contained information which we never discussed, like we are going to use the elections to remove them from power It said that certain people left the National Congress Party to join the SPLM. They talked of a false scenario in which, if the President of the Republic is arrested [by the ICC], the NCP will destroy the South — all these are wrong. This information was wrong. This information was made for their gain and somebody went and handed it over to the president and we who are politicians, we could not meet the president.”

Beda said the Kenana group is not seeking political positions, but they are concerned about the future of southern Sudan.

He cited the increased levels of insecurity in southern Sudan, mentioning the incident in which three police officers were shot dead by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Yambio town in Western Equatoria in 2007. Up to now, no investigation has been conducted into that incident.

The Kenana group will meet again on Monday night in Khartoum to discuss the next step they will take after having failed to meet the GOSS President.

More people have been killed in South Sudan than Darfur in recent months

The United Nations say that more have died in the south in recent months from violence than in the war-torn western region of Darfur.  

Anger is high after Lou fighters massacred 71 people in the Jikany village of Torkech in May.

Clashes between rival groups in the south have taken place for generations, over resources, land or livestock.  

But these well-planned attacks are no simple disputes over stolen cattle.

Women and children are now also deliberately targeted - something elders say never happened in the past.

Southern President Salva Kiir says he is "convinced beyond any doubt" that the fighting is the work of "outside forces".

Who is really responsible for the violence, and what lies ahead for Sudan, is unclear.

However, if the past is anything to go by, it will be the most vulnerable who once again suffer most.

Full story:   BBC News, Wednesday, 8 July 2009
Could Sudan clashes herald return to war?
By Peter Martell, BBC News, Nasir, southern Sudan

Click on Jonglei label here below for related reports and latest updates.

Uganda willing to arrest al-Bashir for war crimes

Uganda said Monday it would arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir if he enters the country, an unusual stance after a summit of African leaders denounced the international arrest warrant against al-Bashir.

Henry Oryem Okello, Uganda's minister for international affairs, spoke after meeting with the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, in Kampala.

"It is a legal obligation for Uganda to arrest Bashir if he comes to Uganda," Ocampo said.

Full story from Associated Press by Godfrey Olukya - Monday, 13 July 2009, KAMPALA, Uganda: Uganda willing to arrest al-Bashir for war crimes

USAID has done some sort of audit of Care projects it has funded only to find that millions of dollars cannot be accounted for

From Rob Crilly's blog post, July 13, 2009 -
Shoddy Deals for Darfur - excerpt:

It turns out that Scott Gration is some sort of old chum of Helene Gayle, chief executive of Care USA, and was on the blower to her for a favour to help his deal get off the ground.

At the same time, USAID has done some sort of audit of Care projects it has funded only to find that millions of dollars cannot be accounted for. USAID is one of Care's biggest donors and was able to then dictate that the charity returned to Darfur, or else...

AU corrects Reuters re AUPD position on ICC Darfur

Reporting by Tsegaye Tadesse for Reuters appears to be rubbish.  Bring back Andrew Heavens.  From Bec Hamilton Saturday, 11 July 2009:

I have spoken to two people this afternoon who were actually at the press conference yesterday that the Reuters piece came out of. They both said there was absolutely no way you could have left the press conference with the impression that the Panel had even decided on the issue, let alone decided to support the arrest of Bashir. They are pretty furious, and understandably so. For their part Reuters have at least issued a correction.

Press Statement from African Union
Clarification - African Union Panel on Darfur’s Position on the ICC and Darfur

Addis Ababa, 11 July 2009: The African Union High Level Panel on Darfur (AUPD) has noted a Reuters news report which claims that the former South African President, Thabo Mbeki, Chairperson of the Panel, has called on the three Sudanese personalities, including President Omer Hassan Al-Bashir to present themselves before the International Criminal Court to stand trial.

This report is completely false and highly irresponsible. No member of the Panel has made any such pronouncement. Indeed, no member of the Panel could make any such pronouncement as the Panel has not yet completed its work.

At a press conference held at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa yesterday, Mr. Mbeki was asked about the Panel’s position on the ICC arrest warrant against President Bashir. Mr. Mbeki indicated that the Panel operated on the basis that the ICC warrant “is a given”. He, however, acknowledged that some of the interested parties with whom the Panel has met had called for ICC trials.

The Panel was established to address the issues of peace, reconciliation and justice in Darfur. These issues are fundamental to resolving the crisis of Sudan as manifested in Darfur. The search for peace, reconciliation and justice for Darfur is broader than the ICC process. In this connection, the ICC Prosecutor, Mr. Luis Moreno Ocampo, reiterated his support for the Panel’s work when he met with the Panel this week in Addis Ababa.

The Panel has previously met with the Government of Sudan, representatives of some of the armed opposition movements, political parties, civil society representatives, internally displaced people, refugees, tribal leaders, Native Authorities of Darfur. The Panel has also met with some of Sudan’s neighbouring countries, representatives of other foreign governments and institutions, amongst others.

The Panel will continue with its work and will hand over its report to the AU in September.

- - -

CORRECTED - Mbeki-led African panel says no stance on
From Reuters Sat Jul 11, 2009 4:50am EDT
(Corrects to show that panel has no position on ICC)

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - An African Union (AU) panel led by South Africa's former President Thabo Mbeki said it had not taken a stance on an international court's indictment of Sudanese officials including President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

Fighting between the government, its allies and a myriad of rebel groups in Sudan's western region has claimed as many as 300,000 people, according to the United Nations, but Khartoum says only 10,000 have died since clashes broke out in 2003.

"The panel has not taken a position whether or not the intervention of the (International Criminal Court) in Sudan or the arrest warrants the court has issued are appropriate," it said in a statement.

The ICC has indicted Bashir on seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape and torture.

He has dismissed the allegations as part of a Western conspiracy, and the AU has sought a deferment of the indictment, saying it has complicated peace efforts in Darfur.

An AU summit in Libya last week voted to suspend cooperation with ICC in the matter.

Mbeki told reporters on Friday that his panel of eight eminent Africans had consulted widely inside and outside Sudan.

"The consensus reached is that those charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity should appear in court and defend themselves," he said. "The warrant has been issued. There is nothing that can be done."

(Reporting by Tsegaye Tadesse; Editing by Giles Elgood)

- - -

Mbeki-led African panel backs Darfur warrants
From Reuters Fri Jul 10, 2009 10:46am EDT
ADDIS ABABA, July 10, 2009

(Reuters) - An African Union (AU) panel led by South Africa's former President Thabo Mbeki backed on Friday an international court's indictment of Sudanese officials including President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for war crimes.

The panel's recommendation showed the differences around Africa over the indictment for crimes in the Darfur conflict. An AU summit in Libya last week voted to suspend cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the matter.

Mbeki told reporters his panel of eight eminent Africans had consulted widely inside and outside Sudan.

"The consensus reached is that those charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity should appear in court and defend themselves," he said. "The warrant has been issued. There is nothing that can be done."

The ICC has indicted Bashir on seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape and torture.

He has dismissed the allegations as part of a Western conspiracy, and the AU has sought a deferment of the indictment, saying it has complicated peace efforts in Darfur.

U.N. officials say the Darfur conflict in Sudan's western region has killed as many as 300,000 people since 2003. (Reporting by Tsegaye Tadesse; Editing by Sophie Hares)

- - -

Excerpt from Alex de Waal's blog post Sunday, July 12th, 2009 The AU Panel and the Justice Challenge (1) at Making Sense of Darfur:

The allegation that Pres. Mbeki was intent on salvaging Pres. Bashir came up several times in the discussion. One woman said, “We fear you are here to defend the criminal Omar al Bashir.” One man stood up and said, “Seven members of my family were killed. How should I feel if Thabo Mbeki says that Omar al Bashir should not go to court?”

Pres. Mbeki challenged him, “from where did you get this information that I said that President Bashir should not go to court?”
The man responded, “it is well known.” He then said that the Africans were the ones saying Bashir should not go to the ICC, citing the early June meeting in Addis Ababa to discuss the African position on the ICC. This reply did not satisfy Pres. Mbeki, who continued to press him, “I asked you a question. Please answer it. You made an allegation. From where did you get this information?” The man said it was the BBC.

In response, Pres. Mbeki made several points. First, he suggested that the man should obtain his information directly from the source, in Africa, not from outside Africa. Mbeki said that he had not made any statement on whether Bashir should go court, or not. Second, he pointed out that the outcome of the June meeting in Addis Ababa had not been withdrawal from the ICC. Third, he explained the content of the resolutions of the Peace and Security Council on the issue, and promised to ensure that copies of the resolutions were sent so that the people could study them first hand and not rely on others’ interpretations.

JEM make excuses to avoid peace (again)

A major Darfur rebel group threatened on Monday to pull out of discussions with Sudan's government if mediators insisted on inviting other insurgents to negotiate.

JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim criticized joint U.N./African Union mediators on Monday for trying to pull in splinter factions into new negotiations and talking to individuals he said did not represent any real military power on the ground.

"JEM will never be part of these complications. We will never be part of this chaos. We will draw back from this issue," he told Reuters, speaking over satellite telephone.

"If people want to join peace talks, they can join JEM or the government group. There is no third party."

Source:  Reuters, Monday, July 13, 2009 by Andrew Heavens in Khartoum (Editing by Ralph Boulton) - Darfur rebels threaten to boycott "chaotic" talks

CECAFA invite Nigeria to participate in next month's U17 Championship in Khartoum and Juba in Sudan

The Council of East and Central African Football Associations, CECAFA, has invited Nigeria’s U-17 team to participate in next month’s U-17 championship to be staged in Khartoum and Juba in Sudan.

The Nigerians have won the world youth championships twice and their experience will spice up the regional tournament.

Source: Goal.com by James Momanyi, Monday, 13 July 2009:
CECAFA Invite Nigeria To U17 Championship

In a report posted on the CECAFA official website, secretary Nicholas Musonye said Nigeria had been invited so as to raise the standards of the game in the region.

“Nigeria have one of the best under-17 talent in the world. At this level, their football put the likes of Nwankwo Kanu, ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha and Sunday Oliseh on the world map. When Nigeria play in our tournament next month, they will be serving warning to youths in our region that football at this level is no ‘kids’ stuff,” said Musonye.

The CECAFA tournament kicks off in Sudan on August 12 after all the eleven CECAFA member countries assemble in Sudan. Musonye said that according to tentative plans, groups will be based in Khartoum and Juba but there is a possibility of placing the third group in another Sudanese city of Kessala.

It will be the first time ever that a major international sports event will take place in the semi-autonomous Sudanese region ravaged by war for decades. The Unity Government of Sudan has given CECAFA $400,000 towards hosting of the tournament and CAF (African Football Confederation) is also assisting.

Meanwhile CAF has openly praised CECAFA as the most active and efficient regional organisation in the continent. CAF is also pleased with CECAFA’s efforts to encourage co-operation between regional bodies.

After the conclusion of the CECAFA club championship on Sunday, the senior CECAFA championship that involves national teams in the region will take place in Kenya later in the year.

Organizations such as COSAFA (Confederation of Southern African Football Associations) and WAFU (West African Football Union) have lately halted their activities or discontinued them altogether, owing to financial and administrative problems.

Click on CECAFA label here below to read related news reports.

The AU Panel and the Justic Challenge

From Alex de Waal's blog Making Sense of Darfur:
The AU Panel and the Justice Challenge (1)
By Alex de Waal, Sunday, 12 July 2009

In summary, the Panel is still at the stage of asking people—especially Darfurians—for their opinions and proposals. There are certain realities, such as the positions taken by the AU heads of state, and by the ICC, which constrain and influence what the AU Panel can realistically recommend, but there are no overriding determinants on what it may decide.

"Ante Up for Africa" - playing poker for the poor people of Darfur

Rob Crilly says celebrity poker players turned out in full force yesterday for the 3rd annual Ante Up for Africa, a charity tournament co-hosted by world poker champ Annie Duke and actor Don Cheadle. Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Charles Barkley, Sarah Silverman, Jason Alexander, and Mike Tyson were just a few of the poker aficionados who took to the red carpet to talk about the importance of supporting humanitarian relief efforts in Sudan.   

Read more in Rob Crilly's blog post Gambling for Sudan [Frontline Club blogs, July 11, 2009]. Rob wonders if gambling really is the best way to raise cash for Sudan and says:

I was a little nonplussed by "Ante Up for Africa", ... essentially playing poker for the poor people of Darfur.

Now I'm not a leading authority on Islam, but I think after travelling through Sudan and Somalia I know a thing or two about the central tenets of the religion. Is gambling really the best way to raise cash for Sudan? What next, a sponsored hot dog eating competition? A drinkathon? There are plenty of celebrities who have spent time there or in Chad and really get the place (I'm thinking of Mia Farrow). But this just makes people like Matt Damon and Ben Affleck look a little silly.

Sorry to disagree, I think gambling is a good way to raise cash for Sudan.  Poker is popular, especially online.  It is played by some great personalities and warm hearted people and, like most sports, poker is fun.  I reckon poker is a mental agility sport, like chess.  So yes, why not 'Ante Up for Africa'?  Good luck to all those involved.

New uses for Platform Transmitter Terminals (PTTs) are exploding

This news story is about a company that makes and markets satellite trackers of wild animals and birds.  

From Fredericksburg.com, Saturday, July 11, 2009:
Biologists get some guidance from above



Photo: Snow leopard in Asia is wearing a North Star satellite tracking collar. 



Photo:  M. Blake Henke of King George County holds a stuffed pheasant with a North Star satellite tracker on its back. 



Photo:  One of North Star's collars was put on a rare jaguar in Arizona this year.

BY FRANK DELANO

Wild goose chases will never be the same, thanks partly to M. Blake Henke.

Henke, 41, is the managing partner of North Star Science and Technology LLC. Based at Henke's home in King George County, the company makes and markets satellite trackers of wild animals and birds.

The devices "have totally revolutionized wildlife biology," said Henke. "You can learn a lot about an animal when you know where it goes, where it spends its time and how much territory it needs."

North Star trackers have been used to study dozens of species, including cranes and flamingos in Africa, buzzards and snow leopards in Asia, mountain lions in South Dakota and black bears in New Jersey.

HawkWatch International of Salt Lake City is one of Henke's oldest customers. HawkWatch has bought more than 100 trackers since North Star first started selling them in 1999, said science director Jeff Smith.

Smith said the units have provided "amazing information" about the wanderings of northern goshawks, red-tailed hawks and golden eagles in the Rockies, Cascades and other Western mountains. Some young birds were found to summer in far northern Canada and to winter in Mexico.

Smith said HawkWatch recently loaned four of its North Star trackers to wildlife biologists studying short-toed eagles in Israel.

"The birds migrated to Chad and Sudan in Africa, including the troubled Darfur region, but they all survived and did well," Smith said.

The trackers are called Platform Transmitter Terminals, or PTTs. North Star's PTTs range from small to extra small.

Its biggest transmitter is attached to a collar that will fit a buffalo's neck. It weighs about 2 pounds, depending on the length of the collar.

Small units for birds are often attached to them like miniature backpacks. The smallest North Star PTT weighs just 9.5 grams, less than two nickels.

Powered by batteries or solar panels, the trackers contain tons of technology that fix a critter's location by satellites. The positions are transmitted to satellites, then back to Earth for plotting and analysis. Newer GPS models allow biologists to follow an animal in real time on Google Maps.

Henke said North Star sells about 500 bird PTTs a year at about $3,000 each and about 400 GPS animal collars costing between $2,500 and $3,200. The units are built by high-tech production firms in Maryland and North Carolina.

He graduated with a history degree from the University of Virginia in 1990, "but I always wanted to work in an environmental field somewhere," he said.

His chance came in 1994 when he was working for a defense contractor and met William S. Seegar, an Army research scientist working to rebuild peregrine falcon populations at an Army base in Maryland.

Seegar had worked with the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University to develop the first transmitter to go on a bird in 1984. Henke said he and Seegar hit it off. They formed North Star in 1998.

Henke, his wife, Stephanie, and their two sons moved to King George in 2002 to be closer to relatives. Her parents live in Lancaster County, his in Fauquier.

"King George is sort of in the middle," he said. "What I do is all on the Internet and the phone. I can work anywhere."

North Star "has had very good growth and we see continued growth," he said. The continuing miniaturization of PTTs will allow them to be used on smaller species. Henke thinks more species will lead to more PTT sales.

The company also has high hopes for logging collars that can store a year or two of data before dropping off. When it does, a VHF radio transmitter on the collar will emit a signal so researchers can retrieve it and its data.

New uses for PTTs are exploding, he said.

For example, he said, "We sell a lot to Japan where the government has put a lot of money into avian flu research. What better way to track a possible epidemic associated with widely ranging water birds than to put satellite trackers on them?"

Frank Delano: 804/761-4300
Email: fpdelano@gmail.com

My pet cat is out and about, every few hours, all day long. Outdoors, she walks mostly on stone and lush grass and she knows everything that goes on, sometimes five minutes before it happens. For example, she will hear the milkman arriving to at least fifteen minutes in advance of my hearing the actual delivery. 

How she would react to a tiny PTT around her neck?  Not very well, I'm sure she would sense or hear something emitting from a PTT, her senses are so highly tuned she can hear a spider. 

Naturally, I would love for her to carry a PTT so I could see and hear what she sees and hears and how far she travels.  And what about seals, dolphins, sharks and whales that are tagged with PTTs.  I wonder how a high pitched frequency might interfere with their ability to hear sonar. And what about submarines, fishing boats, etc., all emitting noise and pollution. When I read news reports of whales beaching themselves to death I think about noise pollution and hope that it is taken seriously.  Maybe in the future, cattle in Sudan will be tagged with PTTs to guard against cattle rustlers.

Yesterday, I signed a petition to help Help End The Canadian Seal Slaughter.

Mia Farrow fears that spies are targeting her blog

According to the following news report, Mia Farrow fears that spies are targeting her blog and are tipping off the British government about her actions. Reportedly, someone has been faxing the contents of Ms Farrow's site to members of the House of Commons in England, the Daily Star quoted the American actress as saying in her latest updates. I find such a reaction strange. So what if someone faxed the contents of any site to anyone.

From Thaindian News 12 July 2009:
Mia Farrow warns online spies trying to derail her efforts to help Sudan refugees

London, July 12 (ANI): Actress and activist Mia Farrow has revealed that an online spy is threatening to overturn her efforts to help refugees in Sudan, and has claimed that this won’t budge her from standing for the cause.

The ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ star has been working hard to highlight the plight of those effected by civil war in the country’s Darfur region, and encourage governments to do more to help them.

In fact, the actress had recently fasted to raise awareness of the cause and even runs a daily blog showing pictures as well as up-to-date news on the situation in the Sudan.

And now Mia fears that spies are targeting her blog and are tipping off the British government about her actions.

“I have been notified today that someone has been faxing the contents of this site to members of the House of Commons in England.” the Daily Star quoted the American actress as saying in her latest updates.

She added: “I hope whoever is doing this will cease as this sort of harassment is counterproductive to all we are hoping to accomplish for the people of Darfur… Shame on you.” (ANI)

I wonder why Ms Farrow construes the faxing of contents of websites as being a sort of harassment. Here is a copy of some notes at miafarrow.org

PLEASE STOP

Once again I implore whoever is repeatedly faxing the entire contents of this site to the Members of Parliament in England to cease immediately. The harassment and alienation of persons in positions of leadership is counterproductive to our efforts to alleviate the very real suffering of the people of Darfur. In addition, British taxpayers are being burdened with the cost of the extraordinary amounts of wasted paper and ink.
July 9, 2009

Please don't fax

I have been notified today that someone has been faxing the contents of this site to members of the House of Commons in England. I hope whoever is doing this will cease as this sort of harassment is counterproductive to all we are hoping to accomplish for the people of Darfur.
July 8, 2009

At her website, Mia Farrow says to check out this.

Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir is in Cairo, Egypt for talks with Hosni Mubarak

Egypt is trying to bring the Sudanese government and rebel groups together for negotiations.

From ABC (via BBC) Sunday, 12 July 2009;
Sudan, Egypt meet on Darfur conflict

Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir is in Cairo for talks with his Egyptian counterpart, Hosni Mubarak, to try to resolve the long-running conflict in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.

Egypt is trying to bring the Sudanese government and rebel groups together for negotiations.

The meeting follows talks which Egypt hosted on Saturday between representatives of several rebel factions, including the United Resistance Front and the Sudan Liberation Army.

Afterwards the rebel groups expressed hope that Egyptian efforts could help unite them and pave the way for direct talks with the Sudanese government.

Cairo continues to support president Al-Bashir who faces a warrant for his arrest on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

It has asked the United Nations to freeze his case before the International Court. - BBC

AU panel dismiss false media reports

The African Union Panel on Darfur is expected to hand over its report to the AU in September 2009.

From BuaNews
AU panel dismiss false media reports
Compiled by the Government Communication and Information System
Date: 12 Jul 2009
Title: AU panel dismiss false media reports
By Chris Bathembu

Pretoria - The African Union High Level Panel on Darfur (AUPD) has dismissed media reports claiming former President Thabo Mbeki has called on the three Sudanese personalities, including President Omer Hassan Al-Bashir to present themselves before the International Criminal Court to stand trial.

Mr Mbeki is the chairperson of AUPD.

"This report is completely false and highly irresponsible. No member of the Panel has made any such pronouncement.

"Indeed, no member of the Panel could make any such pronouncement as the Panel has not yet completed its work," AUPD spokesperson Barney Afako said.

Speaking at a press conference held at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa on Friday, Mr Afako said that Mr Mbeki was asked about the Panel's position on the ICC arrest warrant against President Bashir.

"Mr Mbeki indicated that the Panel operated on the basis that the ICC warrant "is a given". He, however, acknowledged that some of the interested parties with whom the Panel has met had called for ICC trials.

The Panel was established to address the issues of peace, reconciliation and justice in Darfur.

These issues were fundamental to resolving the crisis of Sudan as manifested in Darfur.

"The search for peace, reconciliation and justice for Darfur is broader than the ICC process. In this connection, the ICC Prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, reiterated his support for the Panel's work when he met with the Panel this week in Addis Ababa," added Mr Afako.

He said the Panel has previously met with the Government of Sudan, representatives of some of the armed opposition movements, political parties, civil society representatives, internally displaced people, refugees, tribal leaders, Native Authorities of Darfur.

It has also met with some of Sudan's neighbouring countries, representatives of other foreign governments and institutions, amongst others.

It is expected to hand over its report to the AU in September. - BuaNews

Football Without Borders - Sudan, Chad, DR Congo, Niger

Today, I received a newsletter message via Facebook from Jakob. The message inspired me to respond.  I think Jakob is part of a group of Niger watchers, namely @ Play31.  We've probably connected via my 'soccer and free footballs' postings at Niger Watch.  Here is a copy of Jakob's message and my reply.

From Jakob
Football Without Borders
Dear all,

As those of us who are in the northern hemisphere are enjoying the questionable weather of Nordic Summer, a new Play31 tournament is under way in Sierra Leone. Next weekend in Koindu Village in Eastern Sierra Leone, communities from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone will kick off the first tri-nation tournament.

We are very happy and proud to be able to reach out to communities in neighboring countries. The war in Sierra Leone knew no borders: refugees, rebels, arms, and diamonds spilled over the porous line that separates Sierra Leone from Guinea and Liberia and so it only makes sense that we at Play31 also work with “football without borders”. Of course, our objective remains the same: using footie to bring together people who have been torn apart by war.

Because of the generosity of so many of you in this group as well as the Clinton Foundation and a lot of UN Ambassadors, we now have money enough to include two very important aspects into our tournament: below 14-teams and shoes for all players.

Play31 is growing steadily at the moment and we hope to launch quite a few new initiatives soon. Among other things, we are right now setting up a Danish board in Denmark consisting of Danes. More information on all these exciting new projects will come soon so stay tuned.

With continued gratitude for your support and with love for the Beautiful Game,

Jakob and everyone @ Play31

- - -

Copy of my email reply re: Football Without Borders - Sudan

Dear Jakob, Football is a peaceful fun way for people of different cultures to get together, football games are a good thing. I would like to help focus on football in Sudan and, eventually, Chad, DR Congo. Please let me know how I can help using my blogs. Best wishes, Ingrid Jones, England, UK.

http://sudanwatch.blogspot.com
http://congowatch.blogspot.com

plus others on Uganda, Ethiopia, Niger, Kenya, Egypt.

PS  On completing my reply email to Jakob, I pressed SEND (at the Facebook site) but nothing happened. Repeated procedure. Same again. So I have no idea if my message has reached Jakob.

Hopefully this blog post will deliver the above message to Jakob.

Obama comments 'a step back', Sudan says

Sudan has hit out at US President Barack Obama, saying his use of the term "genocide" to describe the conflict in Darfur marked "a step back".

Mr Obama, in Ghana Saturday (local time) on his first official trip as President to Africa, condemned tyrants who enrich themselves and urged Africans to demand stronger governments.

He added that conflicts such as the "genocide" in Darfur and terrorism in Somalia were "a millstone around Africa's neck".

"It is a step back ... it is not helping. It is not constructive," spokesman for the Sudanese foreign ministry Ali Sadiq said, referring to Mr Obama's comments.

"We would like the President to consult with his special envoy about this issue."

Scott Gration, appointed by Mr Obama as US envoy to Sudan in March, declined to use the term "genocide" when referring to the Darfur conflict in his first news briefing in Washington on June 17.

Asked by a reporter at that briefing whether he would characterise the situation in Darfur as "genocide", he replied: "What we see is the remnants of genocide. What we see are the consequences of genocide, the results of genocide".

Source: AFP Sunday 12 July 2009 - Obama comments 'a step back', Sudan says

ICC prosecutor condemns AU support for Bashir, appeals Sudan genocide case

ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, who was in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for meetings with a high level African Union panel on Darfur led by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, Tuesday rejected the decision taken by the AU.

Prosecutor Ocampo believes there is sufficient evidence to prove Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir's guilt.

I wonder what the Chadian and Sudanese rebels think when they hear of such news, why should they give in to peace when it sounds like they have the ICC onside.  I wonder if they listen to a radio and, if so, what they listen to.  I wonder if anyone reading this has also listened to Sudan Radio Service (details in sidebar here on right).

From Afrik.com by Desalegn Sisay, Saturday, 11 July 2009:
Addis Ababa: ICC prosecutor condemns AU support for Bashir, appeals Sudan genocide case

Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, who was in Addis Ababa for meetings with a high level African Union panel on Darfur led by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, Tuesday rejected the decision taken by the AU. "The AU is not a signatory of the charter, but individual nations are," said Moreno Ocampo, Chief Prosecutor of the ICC. He added that 30 African nations have signed the court’s founding document, which obliges them to cooperate with the court.

"African leaders may make political statements but individual nations’ laws take precedence," Moreno Ocampo said. He added that he appealed the ICC’s decision not to charge Bashir with genocide because he believes the evidence is clear that the Sudanese leader mobilised his Government to exterminate three Darfuri ethnic groups.

The decision on the genocide charge was split. While the entire chamber accepted seven charges - five crimes against humanity and two war crimes - two of the judges refused the charges on genocide.

The chief prosecutor says the summit’s statement does not relieve African states who are signatories to the ICC of their obligation to arrest Bashir if he sets foot on their soil. "He tried to go to South Africa and South Africa told him, if you come here, you will be arrested. He is not traveling around," he said.

"Today, President Bashir has to be arrested on five counts. If we win this appeal in some months, President Bashir will also have to answer the charges of genocide,” the prosecutor said.

Q&A with Former ICC Prosecutor Christine Chung - The Reckoning: The Battle for the ICC

Note to self to re-read this, from The AM Law Litigation Daily
Q&A with Former ICC Prosecutor Christine Chung
By Ben Hallman, Friday, July 10, 2009

We tend to steer away from film recommendations here at the Litigation Daily, but a documentary about the International Criminal Court, airing on PBS on Tuesday, should be worth your while. "The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court" follows ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo and his team for three years as they issues arrest warrants for Lord's Resistance Army leaders in Uganda, put Congolese warlords on trial, and charge Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir with war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. A central figure in the film is Christine Chung, an American lawyer who was one of the three first senior trial attorneys at the ICC. We caught up with her by phone on Friday afternoon at her office at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges, where she has worked since leaving the ICC in 2007.

LIT DAILY: Hi Christine, thanks for taking the time to talk to us. How did you come to be one of the first trial attorneys at the ICC?

CHUNG: At the time when I was leaving [the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan], the chief prosecutor had just been elected. He was teaching at Harvard at the time. I had read about the court, but figured he was probably not so interested in having an American lawyer on board, given that the U.S. government was so opposed to the court at the time. I called him and asked if he would be interested in having someone with my background on his team, and he encouraged me to apply. I got hired in the first round, along with a British and a German lawyer.

LD: How did being a federal prosecutor experience prepare you for investigating cases for the ICC?

CHUNG: Maybe half way. The American prosecutorial system is very sophisticated, but [the ICC rules] were very different. I had to learn a whole new set of substantive and procedural rules. I had to learn a new governing text. The court itself was new. We often said it was like building an airplane and flying it at the same time. We had to hire translators, and hire investigators. It was a brick by brick process.

LD: What would you describe as your greatest personal triumph at the ICC?

CHUNG: For most of us it was getting the court up and running in what people perceive as a credible way. In part because of U.S. opposition, and other reasons, there was some belief that we would try and fail. Today, it's a viable institution.

LD: The best known action of the ICC was the indictment of Sudan leader Omar al-Bashir on war crimes charges. What did that mean for the ICC?

CHUNG: Charging Bashir was two milestones. For one, the United Nations security counsel referred the case to the court, which is a real achievement in terms of credibility. Second, he was the first sitting head of state to be prosecuted by the court in connection with one of the worst crimes in the world.

LD: What did you want the filmmakers, and eventually the viewers, to understand about the work of the ICC?

CHUNG: We wanted them to understand how it works. We wanted them to understand the rules, the kinds of crimes the court will investigate and prosecute. We saw this as a vehicle to let the world know that the ICC is not just a concept, but is a reality.

LD: What do you think of the finished film?

CHUNG: It's amazing. They take a complicated legal story and convert it into a compelling narrative. The filmmakers call it a legal thriller, but it's a little more geeky than that. Lawyers, especially, find it fascinating. You're really watching the frontier of the law. You wonder as you are watching, will it work? You can see the thing shudder off the ground to lift off.

The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court
Premiere Date: July 14, 2009
Click here to watch trailer now.

Synopsis

Over 120 countries have united to form the International Criminal Court (ICC) — the first permanent court created to prosecute perpetrators, no matter how powerful, of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. The Reckoning follows dynamic ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo and his team for three years across four continents as he issues arrest warrants for Lord's Resistance Army leaders in Uganda, puts Congolese warlords on trial, shakes up the Colombian justice system, and charges Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir with genocide in Darfur. Like a deft thriller, The Reckoning keeps you on the edge of your seat. Will the prosecutor succeed? Will the world ensure that justice prevails? An Official Selection of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

Read the full Film Description

The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court is an epic, nail-biting account of the new International Criminal Court's struggle to prosecute perpetrators — however powerful or concealed they may be — of crimes against humanity as the Court fights to establish its own credibility on the world stage. The film shows the lead-up to the court's most recent and sensational action, the indictment of Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir on March 4, 2009, for crimes against humanity and war crimes. Established by treaty in 2002 in response to the mass atrocities that stained the late 20th century, the International Criminal Court (known as the ICC) is the first permanent international criminal court created to seek justice for victims of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. But the Court, given a historic mandate by its founding 100-plus nations, was not given a police force or other enforcement arm. Moreover, the ICC faces major obstacles in pursuing its mission from nations that did not join the treaty.

The Reckoning's history of the ICC's founding will be as valuable to those familiar with the story as to those new to it. But the film's central drama concerns events that occurred after 2002. For three years, the filmmakers followed chief ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo and his team of investigators and prosecutors across four continents as they issued arrest warrants for Lord's Resistance Army leaders in Uganda, put an infamous Congolese warlord on trial, shook up the Colombian justice system and charged Sudan's al-Bashir with crimes against humanity. At every turn, Moreno-Ocampo and crew faced danger, hostility and resistance. The larger drama in The Reckoning is the fate of the ICC itself. Will this tiny court in The Hague succeed against the odds in forging a new paradigm for human rights and justice in the world?

Interested in screening The Reckoning in your community?

Just sign up in our Community Network, fill out an application and POV will send you a copy of the film and a discussion guide. After your screening, all you have to do is tell us how it went and send back the DVD.

The Reckoning has a mythological opening. A man holding a human skull in a lonely field offers perhaps the most eloquent argument for the ICC. "Without justice," he says, "people have no respect for each other. If this is left unpunished, it will be repeated." He is speaking of the more than 5 million people killed in the wars that have torn eastern Congo apart since 1998. But he might as well have been speaking for the victims of mass murder in Guatemala (200,000), Cambodia (1.7 million), East Timor (200,000), Sierra Leone (50,000), Bosnia (200,000) and Rwanda (800,000), to name only the most notorious cases. It was the horror of these events — and the prospect of more occurring — that brought the world's nations together at the 1998 Rome Conference and set in motion the negotiations that would lead to the ICC's establishment in 2002.

The Reckoning shows that the idea for the Court goes back further, to the Nuremberg Trials of Nazi leaders following World War II, which the United States was the leader in establishing. This connection is uniquely expressed in the film by Ben Ferencz, who, as a 27-year-old lawyer, prosecuted 22 German officers at Nuremberg for murdering over a million people; all were convicted and 13 were sentenced to death. Ferencz never forgot the horror of the Nazi death camps and became a writer on world peace and a tireless campaigner for a permanent tribunal to prosecute crimes against humanity. He recalls the significance of Nuremberg: that the Allies sought justice through rule of law, establishing that no one was above the law and that not only was the killing of civilians a war crime, but the murder of people on the basis of their race, creed or class — genocide — was a crime of the greatest magnitude. Ferencz was there at The Hague on June 16, 2003, when Moreno-Ocampo was sworn in as the first Prosecutor of the new International Criminal Court.

Moreno-Ocampo himself brings unique experience and moral authority to the ICC — and an acute awareness of its historical roots. In 1985, a younger Moreno-Ocampo successfully prosecuted members of the Argentine military junta that, from 1976 to 1983, conducted a "dirty war" of murder, "disappearances" and torture against its political opponents. "It was the first trial of generals since Nuremberg," Moreno-Ocampo notes. Later, as district attorney for the Federal Circuit of the City of Buenos Aires from 1987 to 1992, he prosecuted the military commanders responsible for the Falklands War, the leaders of two military rebellions and dozens of high-profile corruption cases.

Moreno-Ocampo's team includes such savvy lawyers and investigators as former U.S. federal prosecutor Christine Chung, the ICC's first senior trial attorney, who has been a visiting lecturer and senior fellow at the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School. She is now a partner at the law firm Quinn Emanuel. Well aware of the obstacles facing the ICC, she describes the Court as a "justice start-up."

Three great powers — China, Russia and the United States — are not members of the Court. The United States actively opposed the Court during the George W. Bush administration. In The Reckoning, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John R. Bolton explains his rationale for the American campaign against it. He doesn't ever want to contemplate U.S. leaders in an international dock. For Bolton, national sovereignty cannot be compromised. For its part, China opposes the ICC arrest warrant indicting Sudanese President al-Bashir, and Russia remains skeptical about it.

The ICC's job, as a court of "last resort," is to support and push national judiciaries to investigate and prosecute alleged crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. Only when a country's justice system proves completely incapable of dealing with such crimes, and only when asked, does the ICC step in directly — and then gingerly. Where international justice conflicts with national sovereignty, the ICC must employ both clarity of purpose and political diplomacy.

Thus, in Colombia, where officials "at the highest levels" have been implicated in the political violence ravaging the country, the Court throws its prestige and resources behind Colombian prosecutors who are fighting to investigate the allegations in the face of political opposition. In Congo, by contrast, the Congolese government has asked the ICC to intervene because chaos prevents any credible judicial process. So the ICC investigates and issues its own arrest warrant for Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, a notorious militia leader, for abducting children to serve as his child soldiers. To serve its warrant in Congo, the ICC must rely on local allies, in this case the government — making Dyilo the first war criminal brought to trial at the ICC's headquarters in The Hague.

The Sudan/Darfur case was referred to the ICC by the U.N. Security Council. Since many around the world see Darfur as a clear case of genocide by the Sudanese government against indigenous Darfurians, the government's open defiance of the ICC's warrant for al-Bashir forces the ICC to return to the U.N. Security Council itself to get the international community to bring pressure to arrest al-Bashir. At that point, the clarity provided by law and the U.N. is caught up in murky realpolitik.

In the case of Uganda, an even more difficult contradiction threatens to derail the ICC's work. The government of Uganda asked the ICC to investigate and bring the leaders of a rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), to justice. After 50 investigative missions documenting some 2,200 murders, the ICC prepares to bring warrants when the LRA leaders, clearly worried, try to turn the situation on its head. They come in from the bush, offering negotiations and a new era of peace and stability — but only if the ICC warrants are lifted. After so many years of war and death, even surviving victims of the LRA's worst atrocities find it all but impossible not to take the bait.

ICC prosecutors go on a campaign to convince Ugandans that, in the long run, there will be no peace or stability if the LRA leaders are allowed to get away with their crimes. Ultimately, whether speaking to the august ambassadors of state at the U.N. or to maimed villagers in Uganda, the ICC holds fast to the simple principle spoken by that Congolese man in the field: "Without justice, people have no respect for each other."

Nothing less than a real-life thriller, The Reckoning keeps you on the edge of your seat with two riveting dramas — the prosecution of three cases of unspeakable crimes against humanity and the ICC's fight for its own survival and effectiveness. Senior Trial Attorney Chung reveals the stakes that still hang in the balance when she wonders if the ICC will emerge as an effective institution for justice or simply a symbolic one, a "shadow" of what it was meant to be.

"I started out thinking that The Reckoning would be about the ICC's cases and trials, like any good crime thriller," says director Pamela Yates. "I quickly realized I had to expand the film's vision to include the far-reaching effects the ICC was having at the local level, with the tremendous amount of controversy as well as hope that its investigations were causing. The Court itself became the protagonist of The Reckoning, and all the cinematic elements were developed in realizing this idea."

The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court is a production of Skylight Pictures. Visit the filmmakers' site, IJCentral* if you want to support the international justice movement and join in their action campaigns.

Posted on June 8, 2009 Updated on July 10, 2009

*About Us
Skylight Pictures and the International Center for Transitional Justice Productions (ICTJP) are producing a 3-year campaign to build a global grassroots movement to support an effective international justice system, with IJCentral at its core. By joining the IJCentral global community, you will be kept informed about developments with the ICC and other international justice cases, and your voice will be heard by our leaders and policy makers, letting them know that we want perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide to be held to account.
We’d love to hear what you think about IJCentral as we’re always trying to improve it.
You can let us know what you think on the contact page.

The AU Panel Hears Controversies Over Land

From Making Sense of Darfur
By Alex de Waal, Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
The AU Panel Hears Controversies Over Land

The AU Panel hearings witnessed some heated exchanges on the land issue including divergent interpretations of the traditional hakura system. One of these was in Zalingei.

Dimingawi Fadul Seisi Mohamed Ateem, the most senior Fur chief in the historic province of Dar Diima, now known as the eastern localities of West Darfur State, spoke at length to the Panel. “We are Darfurians, we are true Africans.” He provided a history of how the war began in the late 1980s, and in many ways the discussions that followed showed how the conflict of twenty years ago was still unfinished business in the heartland of the Fur.

“The civil war started in Chad and led to the displacement of citizens to my area. They came and never returned back home. Our customs and traditions are different from theirs, our values are different. The political parties did not all care about the misery of individuals, they were just addressing the political aspect, and ignoring the citizens.”

“I represent all the eastern localities [of West Darfur]. I have been through it all. We sat and made agreements. I have a book, full of agreements, from 1989 onwards. I have all these agreements in writing. But they have come to nothing on account of those who are carrying weapons. Many of those who are carrying weapons are from Chad. The Janjawiid are paramount, they are beyond the law. We need to hold everyone accountable.”

An Arab Omda, Daud Dahab Abdu (from Nyertete) responded to the Dimangawi, and also to Shartai Ahmed Bakheit, who had presented the consolidated recommendations of the Native Administration, and spoken about how 600 Chadian Arab families had settled in his locality. Omda Daud said:

“The tribal wars began in the 1980s, all localities, Arab and Fur. The reason was that some began to claim that the nomads are not Sudanese. History tells us that all the tribes in Darfur are original and native, known from history from the time that the Arabs came to Sudan. When the war erupted in the 1980s, reconciliation was achieved in 1991. Then came the [SPLA] invasion of Daud Bolad and Abdel Aziz al Hilu…”

He had a different version of the history of the last twenty years. When he began to recount it, there was an outcry from the assembled chiefs, who encouraged him to go straight to his major points.

“With all due respect to the Shartay and the Dimangawi… On the issue of settlement, war led to a lot of displacement, a lot of movement of people from one place to another. Some people found empty lands and started using them and farming them. It doesn’t mean they are claiming ownership. We can all go back to our lands. This is not a crucial issue, it can be resolved. The concern for us is the conflict between the government and the armed movements, what is our role in that?”

After speaking, returning to his seat, Omda Daud made a point of stopping to greet the Dimangawi warmly, shaking him by the hand.

In several hearings, President Thabo Mbeki asked participants whether there was a problem with the hakura system of land tenure. The answers revealed differing interpretations of what the hakura system actually meant, and whether it should be reinstated, adapted, or even abolished. Some noted the importance of balancing citizenship rights with customary land rights. Others noted that a hakura is not, historically speaking, a tribal land grant, but rather a neighbourhood in which rights need not be granted on a tribal basis. In some cases, the issue was not so much the hakura system per se, but disputes over who has entitled to control which piece of land. Part of the disagreement arose because historically the hakura system was not monolithic, with different practices prevailing in different places. The interpretation of hakura as “tribal land ownership” is a recent re-invention of tradition. But arguments over historical interpretation should not obscure the massive violation of rights that has taken place with the forced displacement of millions of people from their villages.

The issue of land rights and citizenship interact in important ways. In the al Fashir hearings, Hassan Abdel Aziz of the Arab Coordination Council said “We shouldn’t be categorized as a part of society that is different. Don’t classify us as a segment that is not part of society.” That same day, Adam Mahmud, Omda of Salaam camp al Fashir, did not dispute the Arabs’ citizenship, but argued that recovering alienated land was an essential step: “We are in a prison, ten by ten [blocks], while others are living on our lands.”

Several nomad representatives made the point that historically, the nomadic communities had been disadvantaged, including under-representation on voting rolls. Some raised concerns about the implicit xenophobia that crept into some discussions on land. For example, Yousif Ismail Abdalla, of the Masar Organization (which provides services for nomads) spoke in the Khartoum civil society hearing, “Many tribes are nomads, and have different problems to those who are settled. Also those who are moving across borders to Chad and Central African Republic, they should have the same rights.” The issue of removing settlers who originated outside Sudan was raised—but no-one spoke on behalf of those settlers and their rights.

In the Geneina hearings, the issue of land alienation and occupation was particularly salient. Two inter-related issues arose: the alleged preferential award of citizenship to new settlers and the forced removal from land. One IDP said: “If I go to the Ministry of Interior to get an IDP card, I can’t get a document even with witnesses, but someone from Niger can come and get one even without.” And another spoke: “Some tribes are above the law, they behave like government. For us to be equal, justice must prevail.” The point about forced removal was emphasized by one IDP who said that the name of his former village had been changed and the trees that had previously been the boundary markers had been cut down, so the place could not be recognized. The IDPs had a practical suggestion: “We look forward to a mechanism to come to the IDP community to look into our claims and address our issues in an independent manner.” They said that they had all the evidence for land occupation, but a neutral body was needed to investigate and establish the facts.

In the final press conference before leaving Sudan, Pres. Mbeki outlined some steps that could be done immediately, without waiting for any agreement. Among them was a joint investigation by UNAMID and the government, with the involvement of IDPs, into the threats to IDP security, both in camps and on their return home. Examining the extent and nature of land occupation is part of this agenda.