ICC Prosecutor says 1st case against Sudan crimes is ready

Excerpt from AP report (via ST) 16 Dec 2006:

The chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court said he believes his investigation has collected enough evidence to prove who are those most responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan’s Darfur region.

Luis Moreno Ocampo told the U.N. Security Council that he plans to submit the case to the court's judges in February. Under the Rome statute that created the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal, the judges must review the evidence and decide whether the case should go forward.

'We are ready to present the first case to the judges,' he told reporters afterwards. 'The case will show evidence of willful killings, massive rapes, tortures and pillaging of entire villages.'

Ocampo refused to divulge the number of people in the case or the names, but he said the investigation focused on 'a series of incidents that occurred in 2003 and 2004, during a period and in a location where the highest number of crimes were recorded.'

'We believe we have enough evidence to prove who are the most responsible for the crimes committed in Darfur,' he said.

'The only way to stop me from putting my case before the judges is if there is a case in the national system,' Ocampo said. 'If there is a case in the national system, then I will request to go to see the case...'

AU blames Khartoum as Darfur crisis worsens

Dec 16 2006 Reuters report - AU blames Khartoum as Darfur crisis worsens - excerpt:

The African Union on Saturday said the situation in Sudan's troubled Darfur region was worsening due to the return of re-armed Janjaweed militia and Khartoum's resolve to use military force.

"The security situation in Darfur is fast deteriorating mainly because of the re-emergence of Janjaweed militias," said an AU communique issued at the end of a meeting on Darfur.

"(They) seem to have been supplied and rearmed and have been carrying out nefarious activities with impunity in parts of Darfur, particularly in areas controlled by the government of Sudan.

The statement added that another cause for the decline was Khartoum's insistence on a military option to quell the conflict.

The AU also condemned attacks by the National Redemption Front (NRF) in Darfur. The rebel faction is comprised of groups that rejected a peace deal with the government signed in May.

"The meeting expressed deep concern on the prevailing situation in El Fasher, El Geneina, Kutum and Merllit characterised by harassment, attacks and killings of innocent civilians including IDPs (internally displace people)," the AU communique said.

It deplored attacks on AU personnel including the abduction of a military officer on Dec. 10 in El Fasher.

Sudan walks out from AU meeting on Darfur

Via Sudan Tribune: Sudan walks out from AU meeting on Darfur - see full text of a statement by the African Union on the Fourth Meeting of the Darfur Peace Agreement Joint Commission held in Addis Ababa on 15 December 2006.

US Rice dangles a threat of sanctions against Sudan

Dec 16 2006 Reuters report via SABC - excerpt:

Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of State said Sudan would be held accountable if it did not accept international troops into Darfur and she dangled the threat of sanctions against Khartoum.

"The Sudanese need to be convinced that if they are not willing to accept that help from the international system, then they are going to be held accountable for anything that happens," said Rice.

German parliament gives green light to extending Sudan mission

Berlin, Dec 15, IRNA German parliament gives green light to extending Sudan mission - excerpt:

German lawmakers approved on Friday the extension of the Sudan mission until June amid the worsening security situation in the Darfur region.

A total of 466 MPs voted in favor, 44 opposed it and 9 abstained.

Under the mandate, up to 200 German soldiers could be sent to Sudan as part of the UN-led monitoring mission (UNMIS).

There are presently around 78 German military monitors and soldiers based in Sudan.

Post-World War II German troops had never been deployed in the African continent before the Sudan peace mission.

Around 10,000 German UN peacekeeping and anti-terror troops are stationed in areas like Afghanistan, the Balkan region, Congo, Sudan, Ethiopia, Georgia and the Horn of Africa.

Sudanese govt and janjaweed stepping up activities- BBC

Note, the BBC's Jonah Fisher in Khartoum says the six agencies call for all sides to observe a ceasefire, allowing a full resumption of aid activities, is likely to fall on deaf ears as the Sudanese government and its partners in the Janjaweed militia appear to be stepping up their activities.

Full story BBC Darfur violence 'preventing aid' 15 Dec 2006.

Rwanda Redux? (ComingAnarchy.com)

See 19 responses ComingAnarchy.com - Rwanda Redux?

Sapa lifted quotes from Werner's blog - SA troops adapt to peacekeeping

What a cheek. Dec 15 2006 Sapa news reporter Louis Oelofse (via Mail & Guardian Online) lifted captions from Werner's blog entries at Soldier of Africa without linking to it or giving the blog credit. Excerpt from Sapa's report:

South Africans and the African peacekeeping operation in Sudan's embattled Darfur region are facing an uphill battle.

"Things are definitely escalating ... the question is, when and where will it peak and how bad will it be," writes Captain Werner Klokow.

He is a military observer in El Fasher and said in the past week tensions were taken to a new level.

"Tonight an Amis (peacekeeping contingent) vehicle was hijacked close to our house and the night has seen a moderate volume of gunfire. It has prompted us to rehearse our emergency plan and we are constantly observing," he wrote last Sunday.

Skimming through the above report might give one the impression Werner talked to the reporter. I know it's a nit pick but people quoting from a blog, ought to credit the blog by name.

EU calls for troops in Darfur

EU officials say a sanction such as a no-fly zone would first need a UN Security Council resolution.

Full story by ITN (via Channel4.com) 15 Dec 2006 EU calls for troops in Darfur .

Rebels in Darfur keep thousands from getting food

True story. Rebels in Darfur keep thousands from getting food (AP report by Alfred de Montesquiou 14 Dec 2006 via WS). Excerpt:

Violence has been increasing. Last month, in the worst looting yet, Arab tribal fighters known as janjaweed ripped apart a WFP warehouse and took 800 tons of food in the rebel stronghold of Bir Maza as government forces assaulted the town.

More than 200 U.N. and aid workers have had to leave remote outposts, and refugee camps and some of the region's main towns - like the North Darfur capital of El Fasher, which last week was also looted by janjaweed.

Meanwhile, some 200 World Food Program trucks are being blocked by the government from reaching Darfur, said Kenro Oshidari, the Sudan director for the U.N. agency.

"Food security is one of the most basic human rights, and it's constantly being challenged in Darfur," Oshidari said.

What's happening at Kalma camp Farah Mustafa?

Surely these two men must know why the Sudanese government continuously stops Norwegian Refugee Council from coordinating Kalma camp in South Darfur. If NRC are no longer running Kalma camp in South Darfur, who is?



Farah Mustafa, left, deputy governor of the southern Sudan region of Darfur, delivers his speech as Sudanese Ambassador to the United Nations, Ibrahim Margani Ibrahim, right, listens during the special session of the Human Rights Council on the human rights situation in Darfur, at the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2006. (AP Photo/Keystone, Salvatore di Nolfi)

New Al-Fatih hotel in Khartoum

Al-Fatih, the name of a new five star hotel in Khartoum, is Arabic for 'September'.



Photo: An old yellow taxi sits parked outside the new Libyan-funded Al-Fatih five star hotel in the capital Khartoum, Sudan Friday, Dec. 8, 2006. Sudan is enjoying an oil-fueled economic boom even as its wartorn Darfur region suffers through brutal violence, with some calling the boom a hopeful sign that the famine-prone African country is pulling itself together. Al-Fatih is Arabic for 'September'. (AP Dec 15 2006 Photo/Alfred de Montesquiou)

ICC Prosecutor: First Darfur cases almost ready

Dec 14 2006 UN Press Release (via Scoop) - ICC Prosecutor: First Darfur Cases Almost Ready - excerpt:

The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) informed the Security Council today that he is almost ready to bring cases about some of the worst war crimes committed in the Sudanese region of Darfur during the past three years.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo said he will submit evidence to ICC judges by February at the latest and, ahead of that step, he is now introducing measures to protect victims and witnesses.

According to the text of his statement to the closed-door Council meeting, Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said that his first case will focus on a series of incidents in 2003 and 2004, when conflict emerged in Darfur as Government forces and allied militia clashes with rebel groups seeking greater autonomy.

"The evidence provides reasonable grounds to believe that the individuals identified have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes, including the crimes of persecution, torture, murder and rape, during a period in which the gravest crimes occurred in Darfur," he said.

In a press statement released following his briefing, the Prosecutor said "perhaps most significant, the evidence reveals the underlying operational system that enabled the commission of these massive crimes."

New Border Intelligence Forces? - Sudan gov't says Janjaweed are border guards

Are Janjaweed now wearing the dark green uniforms of Sudanese government troops? Dec 14 2006 Reuters report Darfur: Gov't Says Janjaweed Are Border Guards - excerpt:

Pekka Haavisto, the European Union special envoy to Sudan, said he complained about the Janjaweed activities in El Fasher to the government on Thursday.

"The government response was: they are not Janjaweed, we are not calling them Janjaweed, because they are government border guards," he said.

"And my response was that if you recognize (them) as being part of the government, you have even more responsibility for their behavior."

There was no comment from the government, but state-run media has referred to one of the groups involved in the clashes as the "Border Intelligence Forces."

Darfur: France unready to support no-fly zone

Dec 14 2006 Kuna news report (via CFD) France Unready to Support No-Fly Zone - excerpt:

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei remarked that his government had learned of the proposal through the press and that France was not approached by Britain on this subject.

U.S. envoy to fly from Sudan to Brussels after getting OK for forerunners of Darfur force

Dec 14 2006 AP report via International Herald Tribune - excerpt:

[US special envoy to Sudan] Andrew Natsios scrubbed planned visits to Chad, the country just west of Darfur where violence has migrated back and forth from Sudan, and London after he met for two hours with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Wednesday at the end of a four-day visit to Sudan.

During the discussions, al-Bashir told Natsios for the first time that Sudan would provide visas for UN logistical experts to join the 7,000 African Union peacekeepers in Darfur, McCormack said.

"The Sudanese have previously agreed to these individuals coming in as part of the first step in the deployment of a force, but they had not yet issued the visas for them to come in," McCormack said. "That hurdle had been cleared."

Ali Karti, the Sudanese state minister for foreign affairs, said in Khartoum that al-Bashir had agreed to "technical assistance" for the AU troops.

The U.N. mission in Sudan said it was ready to send 105 military advisers, 33 police officers and 48 civilian staff.

An African Union spokesman, Noureddine Mezni, said the overextended and insufficiently armed AU troops need help urgently, "both financially and in personnel."

McCormack said Natsios would arrive in Brussels on Friday and would meet with technical experts from the European Union as well as Solana and de Hoop Scheffer.

UK Blair tells US Bush they have to deal with Bashir in next 2-3 months

Dec 12 2006 Financial Times Blair backs no-fly zone over Darfur - excerpt:

Mr Blair declared his support for a no-fly zone for the first time during his visit last week to Washington. He told President George W Bush that they had to deal with Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, in the next two to three months.

"If rapid progress is not made, we will need to consider alternative approaches, with international partners," Mr Blair warned on returning to London.

Planning has moved ahead, according to one official, who added: "The Americans mean business."

Bet Khartoum thinks UK is bluffing. Doubt it's now a bluff. Lately, Khartoum's sounding too cocky. When's Bashir retiring?

Sudan despises threats of no-fly zone over Darfur by U.S.,Britain

Dec 15 2006 China's Xinhua - news report excerpt:

Financial Times reported on Wednesday that British Prime Minister Tony Blair had backed setting up a no-fly zone over Darfur while U.S. military planners were also developing plans for air strikes and a naval blockade to pressure Khartoum to stop the violence.

Sudanese Envoy to UK Dismisses "No Fly Zone Over Darfur Reports"

BBC Monitoring report via RedOrbit - Text of report by Sudanese radio on 14 December:

The media adviser for Sudanese embassy in London, Mr Sadiq Bakhit, has dismissed media reports which said that the USA and Britain were planning to impose [designate] no fly zone over Darfur airspace if Sudanese government does not accept deployment of UN troops in the region.

In an interview with the Radio Omdurman he said these media reports were denied by both the British and US governments, and up to now it is a mere media leakage.

Bakhit said there were several foreign organizations targeting Sudan, and providing baseless propaganda to Western media outlets, which level false allegations and accusation against Sudan, particularly on issues concerning humanitarian affairs in Darfur.

(c) 2006 BBC Monitoring Middle East. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved. Source: BBC Monitoring Middle East

Daily Kos links on Darfur

See Dec 14 2006 Daily Kos Background and Resources: Genocide in Darfur (Just the facts baby).