How to Change the World

'Allo 'Allo! Back on track again, thanks to Apple and The Blogger Team. Not to mention great blogmate support. Sorry I'm not in contact as often as I'd like. Hope to catch up on emails soon. Loved Werner's blog entry 29 May 2007 "How to Change the World". More later. Bye for now, Ingrid.

BBC's Darfur Lifeline project is emergency radio at its best

Via Institute for War and Peace Reporting (AR No. 100, 10-Mar-07) by David Smith in Nyala, Darfur:

When did you last hear a good news story coming out of Darfur? Have you ever heard a good news story from there?

Well, I've got one. There is a small group of Sudanese men and women based in the south Darfur city of Nyala who risk life and limb on a daily basis to deliver humanitarian information over the radio to the millions of displaced persons in the region.

They work for the BBC World Service Trust, a humanitarian arm of the world's best-known broadcaster, and every day they put out a 30-minute programme that is broadcast on shortwave to western Sudan as well as parts of Chad and the Central African Republic.

In a conflict hot spot that is the focus of international media attention, this programme is the only one that targets the people concerned. The George Clooneys and Jan Egelands of the world are talking about Darfur, but not to Darfur.

The Darfur Lifeline project is emergency radio at its best. Twice a day, at 8 am and 8 pm, thousands of people hold their cheap Nigerian-made radios close to their ears inside their temporary homes of plastic sheeting and straw and hear about the crisis that is affecting their lives.

A team of 13 producers and researchers, all Sudanese and from all parts of the country, start their day early on the programme, which is titled “Salam ila Darfur” (“Peace/Greetings to Darfur”). They spend their time talking to internally displaced people living in the camps, health workers, local and international non-governmental organisations and even the military to find out what information is needed on the ground to keep the displaced informed and reduce the suffering even just a little.

Putting the programme together is not easy.

The journalists need permission from the Sudanese Government's Humanitarian Affairs Committee, HAC, if they want to go just about anywhere. And they get it. Even NGOs that tend to shy away from the media make exceptions for the Darfur Lifeline team. NGOs are often suspicious of the media, and feel that media attention can jeopardise their work in sensitive areas by threatening what are often difficult relationships with local authorities.

Yacoub Ismael, the director of Oxfam's regional office in South Darfur, says his organisation makes an exception to the "no talking to the media rule" for Darfur Lifeline. There is widespread acceptance within humanitarian circles that the work strengthens and complements their programmes.

Access is certainly helped by the BBC’s excellent reputation and large listenership. The BBC’s Arabic Service, which is completely separate from the humanitarian operation, has its highest per capita listenership in Sudan.

Walking around the camps in the early hours of the morning, the sound of radio easily travels through the flimsy walls of the shelters. Over the course of several days of intensive on-site surveys with the Darfur Lifeline team, the only wireless sounds we heard were from Bush House, from the Darfur Lifeline team itself and religious programming from the state broadcaster in Khartoum.

[edit]

Information on where it is safe to collect firewood and where food is being distributed, information on where displaced children can go to learn to read, information on where lost friends and relatives can be found, and information on how to avoid or treat the numerous contagious diseases that sweep camps due to a complete breakdown in social services and infrastructure - this is what the Darfur Lifeline team puts on the air every day.

The United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, conducts vaccination campaigns throughout Darfur on a regular basis, the security situation permitting. Their Nyala office makes no bones about the value of the BBC radio programmes. “Our immunisation coverage in the camps doubled after the BBC broadcasts,” said UNICEF’s Nagui Kodsi.

The Sudanese government operates its own radio service in Darfur. However, it is almost impossible to find anybody who believes a word produced by the state broadcaster. In any case, journalists working for the government are not allowed into the camps. The divide is so wide that Kodsi says he has attended health ministry meetings during which the government of Sudan has admitted it relies on the BBC to send messages to its own displaced people.

This may be one of the reasons why the service is tolerated. It is not easy to gather information in Darfur. Most foreign journalists have had their requests for permits to travel there turned down by the Sudanese authorities.

The main reason the programming carries on is simply because it is humanitarian and not political. The Nyala-based team does a fine balancing act so as not to attract too much attention from Khartoum many hundreds of kilometres away in the east.

Officially, they are not journalists but humanitarian workers. However, this correspondent has rarely seen journalists as committed to their craft as this brave little group who are broadcasting from hell.

Salam ila Darfur broadcasts on shortwave from transmitters in Cyprus at 0500 GMT and at 1700 GMT on 7150 kHz and 17595 kHz.

David Smith is a Johannesburg-based media consultant specialising in setting up emergency radio projects in zones of conflict. [Source: http://www.iwpr.net/?p=acr&s=f&o=333980&apc_state=henpacr]

Sudanese migrants clinging to life on a tuna net

Words fail me. Via www.thisislondon.co.uk - May 28, 2007:

As a Maltese tug boat trawls through the water picking up tuna, it becomes the sole means of survival for a group of desperate young migrants.

This astonishing sight reveals the peril facing 27 African migrants who clung to life for three days and nights after their boat sank and they were refused entry on board the tug.

Hanging on to buoys on an 18-inch-wide walkway with almost no food or drink, they were eventually rescued by the Italian navy – far luckier than many who attempt the journey.



Photo: The 27 African migrants cling on to a tuna net platform as the tug boat's captain refuses to let them come aboard

Their small boat, which left Libya, ran adrift for six days and two fishing boats sent to rescue them never arrived.

On Wednesday, the tug boat, Budafel, allowed them to mount the net's walkway but would not land the men because he said he had $1m-worth of tuna in the pen.

He said taking the men to Malta would have taken 12 days. He informed the Maltese authorities who phoned the Libyans.

Malta would not take them – they are full to capacity and have had 157 illegal immigrants come ashore in the past five days.



Photo: The Maltese tug, Budafel, reportedly had caught £1million of tuna which was why the captain refused to help the migrants to safety

Libyan authorities were due to sent a helicopter and thrown down a life raft – but Matlese prime minister Lawrence Gonzi said that was not enough.

Eventually they said they would pick the men up but they did not. Luckily, an Italian navy vessel, Orione, was nearby, searching for other migrants, 53 Eritreans, who had died in the waters.

By 9pm on Saturday night the men, from Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Sudan and other countries, were finally on their way to Sicily, weak and exhausted.

Egyptian UN soldier killed in Sudan's Darfur

Horrible news. Several news reports today say UN Military Staff Officer Lt-Col Ehab Nazih was killed in Darfur on Friday. The soldier's name seemed familiar, so I searched Werner's blog, Soldier of Africa, and, sadly, found this photo and caption by Werner, dated December 05, 2006.

UN NGO's Leave El Fashier



This is Ehab Nazih from Egypt. He arrived at our house two days ago and was going to stay with us in the house. He works for the UN and today he was told that the UN international staff in El Fashier are withdrawing from the town until the situation stabilises. Half an hour after I took this photo today he was at the airport ready to leave for Khartoum. Does the UN know something we do not? If so please let me know. My e-mail is wklokow@yahoo.com

[http://rsasoldier.blogspot.com/2006/12/un-ngos-leave-el-fashier.html]

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Note, China's People's Daily news says "the Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman confirmed to Xinhua that the victim was Lieutenant Colonel Ihab Ahmad". But UN news says:

The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) today condemned the killing, during an armed robbery, of one of its soldiers serving in Darfur.

The Mission vowed to cooperate with the Sudanese authorities to apprehend the killers of Lt. Colonel Nazih, and hold them accountable. UNMIS said it is also taking urgent measures, in coordination with the Sudanese authorities, to prevent further attacks of this nature from taking place.

The circumstances surrounding the death of Lieutenant-Colonel Ehab Nazih, a Military Staff Officer from Egypt, are still under investigation, according to UNMIS, which confirmed that late Friday, three armed men, wearing civilian clothes, broke into the private house he shared with seven other UNMIS staff.

After taking money and valuables from the other occupants of the house, the armed men moved to the victim's room and demanded money from Lt. Colonel Nazih, who gave them all the money he had and was then shot.

He was rushed to the a Hospital run by the African Union Mission in Darfur (AMIS), where he was pronounced dead, UNMIS said, offering thanks to "the AMIS staff and medical personnel who did all they could to save the life of their UNMIS colleague." [via http://newsblaze.com - insert link]

From Reuters Khartoum 26 May 2007 [insert link]:

A U.N. officer deployed to Sudan's war-ravaged Darfur region to support African Union peacekeepers has been killed by robbers at his residence in el-Fasher, an African Union spokesman said on Saturday.

The spokesman said the officer was an Egyptian national deployed to Darfur as part of a United Nations light support package to assist roughly 7,000 African Union peacekeepers trying to quell violence in Sudan's west.

"The robbers entered the house, shot the officer and took some property," AU spokesman Noureddine Mezni said. "He is an Egyptian military officer."

Mezni said the officer, a lieutenant colonel, was shot and wounded on Friday evening and died of his wounds on Saturday morning in el-Fasher, the capital of north Darfur state.

He said the man was killed at a rented house used by U.N. personnel working with AU peacekeepers. He said the house was located about 1 km from AU force headquarters in el-Fasher.

Mezni said the acting head of the African Union mission in Sudan, Monique Mukaruliza, had "expressed her shock and condemned the killing in the strongest terms".

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Tribute to the late Egyptian military of UN LSP Mission in Darfur

Update: Via Sudan Tribune May 26 May 2007 [insert link to http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article22055] - excerpt

Yesterday night, at 2330hrs, three unidentified armed men scaled the walls of the home of Lieutenant-Colonel Ehrb Nazir, member of UNMIS and staff officer of the Light Support Package, from Egypt, and trying to rob him, shot at him.

Lt Col Nazir was born on 6 May 1967 in Cairo. He joined the Egyptian Army in 1988 and arrived in the mission on the 26 July 2006 and thereafter assigned to AMIS Headquarters in the Joint Logistics Operations Centre (JLOC). He made a sound contribution to AMIS operations and expected to end his one year tour of duty this July 2007. He previously participated in a UN PKO in Morocco. Minutes before the incidents, he had just finished a telephone conversation with his wife and the two daughters back home in Egypt.

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Death of a Soldier



Photo: Two more AU soldiers from Nigeria have been killed in Darfur.  (Source: Soldier of Africa blog by Werner, K - Taken on March 11, 2007 - insert link)
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Five AU soldiers killed in Darfur



Photo: An army officer carries posthumous medals to be awarded to five Senegalese peacekeepers killed in Darfur during a memorial service in Dakar, April 12, 2007. Senegal said on Thursday it might withdraw its troops from the African Union peacekeeping force in Sudan's Darfur region unless the continental body took action to ensure the force was better equipped to defend itself. (Reuters/Diadie Ba Apr 12 2007)

De Waal and Prendergast debate what to do about Darfur

Here's another must-read. A debate on solutions to ending war in Sudan will take place between John Prendergast and Alex de Waal on Wednesday May 30 2007. Via Darfur: An Unforgivable Hell on Earth:

ENOUGH in cooperation with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Genocide Intervention Network, and Social Science Research Council present:

What to do about Darfur?
A debate between John Prendergast and Alex de Waal
Metro: Smithsonian

Join us as two of the leading analysts on Darfur, John Prendergast, co-founder of ENOUGH and Alex de Waal, Social Science Research Council, discuss solutions to ending the genocide.
RSVP to committeeonconscience@ushmm.org or 202-314-0370
This event is free and open to the public. It is held at U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, 100 Raoul Wallenberg Pl, SW, Washington, DC 20024.
Metro: Smithsonian.

ENOUGH is a joint initiative, founded by the International Crisis Group and the Center for American Progress, to prevent and resolve genocide and mass atrocities. For more information, go to www.enoughproject.org.

The debate is bound to be interesting. Alex de Waal is an expert on Sudan's history and has first hand experience of Darfur's peace talks. I guess public donations, mainly from inside North America, fund people like Mr Prendergast to pressure the public and media to influence US government officials. Interestingly, how Sudanese and Chadian rebel leaders are financed rarely makes the news (if it has, I've missed most of it). Who knows, maybe African and Arab rebels are simply lured by promises of land and/or other booty or adventures. Private property and land ownership in areas like Darfur, does it exist? I wonder. Note, along with Sudan, DRC and N Uganda now come under the wing of John Prendergast's ENOUGH :: The project to abolish genocide and mass atrocities.

Sudan: Darfur no-fly zone unworkable says top EU soldier

Via POTP May 22, 2007 report by Reuters' Mark John - excerpt:

A U.S.-backed proposal to stop Sudanese military aircraft flying over the war-ravaged western region of Darfur is technically unworkable, a top European Union soldier said on Tuesday.

President George W. Bush raised the prospect last month, and Britain wants the U.N. Security Council to impose a no-fly zone on Sudan as part of sanctions including broadening an arms ban.

But General Henri Bentegeat, the Frenchman who heads the EU's top military body, said [that] the size of the 500,000-square-km (200,000-square-mile) territory made such a plan unfeasible.

"A no-fly zone is technically impossible. Darfur is around the same size as France," Bentegeat, who heads the EU Military Committee on which the bloc's 27 member states coordinate defence policy, told Reuters in an interview.

"You would need at least 60 combat aircraft [in order] to enforce it correctly. And there would be the question of distinguishing between helicopters," Bentegeat warned of possibly lethal confusion between Sudanese, U.N. and other aircraft.

He said [that] there was no alternative to maintaining pressure on Khartoum to let international troops join a 7,000-strong African Union force that has so far failed to quell the violence.

"Darfur has descended into chaos," said Bentegeat, whose postings in the French army included Senegal and Djibouti. "The only viable solution is the deployment of a very large force that would throw a security net around the region."

Seems to me the only viable solution is for all Sudanese tribal leaders and rebels to commit to peace and reconciliation and agree on compensation asap. Otherwise this could go on for years, keeping the rebels and their leaders on easy street while 'their people' (mostly women and children) are killed or dispersed from land with potential oil and stuff. Sort out Darfur and another so-called rebellion will spring up elsewhere in Sudan, like in S Kordofan or along the Sudan-Chad border where, reportedly, there's unexplored oil. The USA is four times larger than Sudan. Sudan is a country as large and diverse as Europe.

Sudan: We wish the Reuters thing was webcast!!

More on Reuters' Darfur debate May 24 2007 - from Global Voices Online:

"Sudanese Thinker wishes the debate on Darfur was televised: “Told ya! I just wish this damn thing was freaking televized. I’m expecting a heated debate to go down especially since the Sudanese Ambassador to the U.N. is going to be present. I predict that he’ll get banged with many questions. It will be interesting to observe how he responds.
I’m tied up with many things at the moment but I’ll make time for this since I don’t want to miss it. Sudanese boys and girls in da house, blog your thoughts or drop a comment.”

Heh. Rock on Drima! Why no webcast? If there were a transcript, I'd mull over John Prendergast's commentary in the hope of getting some understanding of the rationale behind his warmongering stance on Sudan.
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UPDATE: Note Sudan Tribune article - "US presidential contender calls for military intervention in Darfur" - by Wasil Ali 22 May 2007.

UPDATE May 23 2007: The debate's started & being blogged at Jikomboe (hat tip May 24 2007 Global Voices Online must-read: Darfur: The Reality, the Agenda & the Proposed Solution)

And more re video available via Reuters at Global Voices Online � Join the Debate on Darfur 10am (EST) TODAY!

ComingAnarchy.com finds Soldier of Africa Blog

Happy to note ComingAnarchy's insightful item on fascinating camels and Soldier of Africa Blog. Hi Werner!

Sudan: Reuters' Darfur debate online May 24 2007

Back on track, thanks to The Blogger Team. Lots to catch up on. More later. Meanwhile, in New York starting 9.30am EST Thursday May 24 2007, Reuters' Darfur Newsmaker will be holding an online debate/Q&A session entitled "Dealing with Darfur - what’s at stake?"

List of Panelists:
- Paul Holmes, Reuters (moderator)
- Ann Curry, NBC News
- Hedi Annabi, Under-Secretary General for Peacekeeping U.N*
-Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad, Sudanese Ambassador to the U.N
- John Prendergast, International Crisis Group
- Mia Farrow, Actor and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador
- Lauren Landis, Senior Representative, Sudan, U.S. Department of State

Note, the above mentioned Sudanese Ambassador to the UN is featured in today's Sudan Tribune article by Wasil Ali entitled Sudan's envoy: Darfur "an issue for those who have no issue".

[* Reuters/Ed’s note May 24 2007: This post was updated to reflect Hedi Annabi has replaced Jean-Marie Guehenno, U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping, on the panel]

Further details at Global Voices Online.

UPDATE: Also today, The Sudanese Thinker blog (hi Drima!) urges fellow bloggers to "Join the Debate on Darfur on May 24".
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FAMOUS QUOTES

Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.
Malcolm Forbes

History is a gallery of pictures in which there are few originals and many copies.
Alexis de Tocqueville

Love Quote of the Day
The more you judge, the less you love.
Honore de Balzac

Famous Peace Quotes

Here below, I've starred two favourites and question marked four I don't understand:

Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

One cannot subdue a man by holding back his hands. Lasting peace comes not from force.
David Borenstein

The pacifist's task today is to find a method of helping and healing which provides a revolutionary constructive substitute for war.
Vera Brittain

?I don't know whether war is an interlude during peace, or peace an interlude during war.
Georges Clemenceau

*I think that people want peace so much that one of these days government had better get out of their way and let them have it.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

Peace and justice are two sides of the same coin.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

You don't have to have fought in a war to love peace.
Geraldine Ferraro

?Even peace may be purchased at too high a price.
Benjamin Franklin

He that would live in peace and at ease must not speak all he knows or all he sees.
Benjamin Franklin

An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.
Mohandas Gandhi

It is easier to lead men to combat, stirring up their passion, than to restrain them and direct them toward the patient labors of peace.
Andre Gide

The pursuit of peace and progress cannot end in a few years in either victory or defeat. The pursuit of peace and progress, with its trials and its errors, its successes and its setbacks, can never be relaxed and never abandoned.
Dag Hammarskjold

Yes, we love peace, but we are not willing to take wounds for it, as we are for war.
John Andrew Holmes

Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy, and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it.
Thomas Jefferson

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
John F. Kennedy

?War will never cease until babies begin to come into the world with larger cerebrums and smaller adrenal glands.
H. L. Mencken

Fair peace becomes men; ferocious anger belongs to beasts.
Ovid

It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it.
Eleanor Roosevelt

A peace is of the nature of a conquest; for then both parties nobly are subdued, and neither party loser.
William Shakespeare

Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice.
Baruch Spinoza

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.
Mother Teresa

?Peace begins with a smile.
Mother Teresa

Peace hath higher tests of manhood, than battle ever knew.
John Greenleaf Whittier

Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_peace.html via without reason

URGENT MESSAGE to European Union: AU still not paying its peace force in Sudan's Darfur

Please take a moment to think about the terrain and people pictured here below and wonder why African peacekeepers in Darfur are still having to wait months on end for their pay. After all that has been said and done about Darfur over the past four years, I find it sickening that nobody, not even the savedarfurcrowd (puke - see below) or Sudan and its neighbours, cares about the welfare of African peacekeepers in Darfur.

By now, there's no excuse, heads should roll. It's a scandal involving billions of taxpayers' euros and dollars. AU personnel in Darfur, far away from home and family for 6 months at a time, risk their health and lives to help the Sudanese and tens of thousands of aid workers. I say, without a shadow of a doubt, given the circumstances, AMIS personnel have been let down badly by everyone, including the people of Sudan, African Union and Arab League.

To add insult to injury (ie forced to work for free) AMIS have to endure hostile locals (see below) who don't understand AMIS' mandate. AMIS was permitted into Darfur to help protect the observers of a ceasefire agreement. The 10,000 UN peacekeepers in South Sudan are there through an historic Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed by all sides. Darfur's Peace Agreement (DPA) has no such clause (long story). In Darfur there is no peace to keep. Darfur rebels and other Sudanese citizens started falling out and fighting each other before the DPA'S ink had dried.

From the outset of the rebellion, slick media-savvy rebels, some residing outside of Sudan in countries such as USA, Canada, France, Germany, UK, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Chad, Eritrea (and many others) made extensive use of the world's press to pressure and engineer UN troops onside, which I believe is one of the reasons why Khartoum is against UN troops in Darfur - it would embolden the rebels and cause all sorts of mayhem, encouraging other lowlife opportunists. (See JEM. The International Crisis Group noted that JEM's president Mr Khalil Ibrahim "is a veteran Islamist and former state minister who sided with the breakaway (Popular Congress) in 2002 and went into exile in the Netherlands ... there is additionally evidence of some level of involvement of al-Qaeda with the Islamist JEM organisation")

The Darfur rebels have done everything within their power to manipulate the media, even going as far as to provoke attacks from Sudanese forces and janjaweed, blocking aid access in order to attract attention to denigrate Khartoum and AMIS and succeed in their coup. Imagine the nonsense and propaganda they've conveyed to masses of illiterate locals with no access to world news. Some of the first reports to come out of the Darfur on the rebellion quoted Sudanese people who, when translated, sounded very strange, flowery and exotic in their choice of words> It wasn't long before I noticed eyewitness accounts sounded strangely westernised, I wondered if they were primed by rebels. I think this is one of the reasons why Khartoum gets so up in the air over rape reports. Can you tell the difference between an unarmed Sudanese rebel and a Sudanese civilian? Or Sudanese forces and the Janjaweed? (See 14 Nov 2004 BBC report Frustration of Darfur 'observer')

Although AMIS does not have the mandate of a full protection force (long story, read this blog) millions of illiterate Darfurians will never know how lucky they've been to even have AMIS on the ground monitoring what's going on. Darfur is extremely dangerous. Reporters aren't allowed in many areas. Aid workers are restricted and need to remain neutral. Thank goodness AMIS is there to help, witness and document issues concerning all sides. Given today's communications technology, I feel confident they are in a position to share intelligence, blow the whistle and leak alerts. I say, why not hand out wind-up radios for Darfurians to tune in to BBC World Service Trust radio project in Darfur? I'd love to hear from anyone who has heard Darfur Salaam, does the signal reach Chad?

If necessary, AMIS' soldiers will shoot in self defence but are mandated to remain neutral. They are there to protect military observers monitoring a ceasefire agreement and IDP camps. Put yourself in their boots and imagine the difficulties and logistics of establishing bases in Darfur, a region the size of France or Jordan. Not to mention all the confusion, shuffling of paper, reports and translations. Take a look at the first photo here below. I couldn't do their job for all the tea in China. Could you? If so, would you expect to be paid, and on time? How would you manage your bills if you worked for no pay? What would you tell your family? Imagine the stress and worry, not to mention troop morale. (An aside: please see last line of Jan Pronk's blog entry 24 Feb 2007 conveying a heartfelt message to peacekeepers).

After the miles of reports I've read, covering the work carried out by hundreds of thousands of people worldwide to help Darfur with outside troops, writing this story is now making me cry. I was born into British military life. The British Army runs like clockwork. I've seen first hand how Canada and the US also take good care of their troops. No pay packet? Inconceivable! In a war zone with two young children to bring up, my mother would have hit the roof!

Hundreds of thousands of people around the world, many in positions of power and influence, follow daily news on Sudan but nobody cares enough to rectify this grossly unfair situation. The Holy Bible says it is wrong to withold the pay, even for a day, of hired workers. Professional soldiers deserve to be treated respectfully. Not paying them is a slap in their face and, I feel, sullies the reputation of EU funding. Just like you, AU soldiers have homes, families, food expenses and bills to pay. They are gainfully employed, not amateurs working for amusement or pin money.

Who knows what is really going on? Surely the UN chief of staff, pictured here below, is aware of the situation. Perhaps the African Union is starving its mission in Sudan (AMIS) of hard cash in order to secure UN funding, training and support or it regards peacekeepers' pay a low priority, or what? I can't think of another reason because this widely reported issue has gone on far too long. I find it hard to believe the EU is lying when it says it has paid the AU (see June 1, 2006: What's going on? AU Mission in Darfur costs $1 billion a year - SA troops in Darfur still waiting to be paid: EU said there was no delay in funding.

The EU gave birth to the AU, an historic initiative costing millions (maybe billions) of euros to empower Africans and enable them to provide African solutions for African problems. Drima, The Sudanese Thinker tells us about Sudan's diversity and identity crisis: Sudanese folk see their country as Afro-Arab, not African. I'm not aware of the Arab League coughing up funds for the African Union's mission in Darfur, are you? Sudan's President Bashir says of his country, "We're all Africans, we're all black - talk of Arabs killing blacks is a lie". (Also, see Feb 17 2007 Interview: Sudanese President Bashir)

Contrary to what you might have read, quality news reports from Africa tell us there is no shortage of African soldiers willing to serve on peacekeeping missions. African countries are saying they can't commit troops until they know all what's involved. I guess this could be made clear if the UN's chief receives a reply to his letter sent to Mr Bashir re a crucial phase of the new AU-UN hybrid force. (See Feb 16 2007: Sudan's Plan for Darfur - Letter from UN's Ban to Sudan's Bashir Jan 24 remains unanswered)

Please don't miss this copy of a Soldier of Africa blog entry by Werner, a South African soldier (and great blogger) currently serving in Darfur:

Feb 28 2007
Last night I went to Zamzam and took this photo of some of the sixty Egyptians who have finished their mission. Thirty three of them should have left on 05 December, but since they had not yet received their money they were forced to stay to wait for the money. According to my calculations the inability of the AU to pay these Military Observers has already resulted in the AU losing $252 450 and with the inclusion of the twenty seven Egyptian CIVPOL members who ended their mission days ago that amount has gone up sharply. Every day they stay here means the AU loses more money. It would make sense that to pay them on time would have resulted in a massive saving. Constantly the AU approaches especially EU countries for more funds and these countries just give, but maybe somebody should start asking some questions. The last time I was paid was three weeks ago when I was paid up to November 2006. If there is a legitimate problem with the AU paying us then why do they not inform us of the problem? The AU's constant silence leaves me with a list of unanswered questions that, if asked, will leave them squirming in their seats. The time is fast approaching that many of these questions have to be answered.

And one of the comments posted:

Anonymous said...
yes please we want our money...we do not like working for free if we give all that we can for this mission...

This rotten problem has irked me so much over the past three years (Kalma Camp is another), I am ceasing this blog in protest until I find news of the issue being resolved. My round-up of media reports and blog entries relating to ICC will have to wait. Sorry, I feel this is more important.



Photo: An AMIS outpost in Darfur. There are more than 25 of these bases scattered over 8 sectors. (Photo/caption via Soldier of Africa)

Demonstration



Photo: The people of El Fashier demonstrating against the UN taking over from AMIS. (Photo/caption via Soldier of Africa) Photo taken Jan 17, 2006, posted to Flickr Nov 27, 2006.

Protection



Photo: Soldiers of AMIS being used to protect the force commander. Not that his life is in any danger. (Photo/caption via Soldier of Africa)

Maj Wolmarans



Photo: Maj L. Wolmarans, the commanding officer at Mahla. (Photo/caption via Soldier of Africa) Photo taken Nov 22, 2006.

Priests on Tarmac



Photo: The death of another member of AMIS. I did not take this photo. (Photo/caption via Soldier of Africa) Photo taken July 10, 2005.

Also, see Feb 17 2007 news report Sixth Rwandan peacekeeper dies in Darfur.

UN Chief of Staff



Photo: UN Chief of Staff of the new hybrid force in Darfur reading a document. (Photo/caption via Soldier of Africa) Photo taken on Jan 7, 2007, posted to Flickr Jan 8 2007.
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As mentioned above, here is a copy of an email received from David Rubenstein, Save Darfur Coalition, Wed 19:15 GMT Feb 28 2007.

Dear Supporter,

New Goal, 10 Hours Left

Help us raise the $88,142 we need to reach our new $300,000 goal by midnight tonight.

Your gift will help us expand our crucial efforts - click here to donate now.

The commitment of the Save Darfur Coalition's supporters is truly inspiring.

We're 10 hours away from the midnight deadline and 3,595 people have already contributed $211,858 to our February fundraising campaign!

Thanks to them, we have exceeded our original $200,000 goal. Because there is so much more work to do, we now hope to achieve a new goal: $300,000 for Darfur by midnight tonight.

Can you help us get there? Click here to make your secure, tax-deductible gift now.

With your help, the Coalition is raising awareness of the crisis, putting our global leaders' feet to the fire to demand action, and bringing hope to the innocent people in Darfur in the process.

But we need to do more in order to stop the genocide and bring the killing, rape, mutilation and terror to an end.

And we need your help to make that possible.

Please consider making a secure, tax-deductible donation to help us expand our crucial advocacy efforts on behalf of the innocent men, women and children of Darfur. Click here to donate now.

This month marks the fourth anniversary of the start of the horrific violence in Darfur. Hundreds of thousands of innocent Darfurians have lost their lives, and millions more have been displaced from their homes.

The violence in Darfur will continue until enough of us decide to take a stand.

We need your help to ratchet our efforts up another notch and make this year the last year of this genocide.

There are only a few hours left before the deadline. Please click here now to make a secure, tax-deductible gift to help us expand our efforts to save Darfur.

Once you've made your gift, please consider forwarding this message to your family and friends and asking them to join you in making a last-minute gift to help end the genocide in Darfur.

Thank you again for helping us to bring hope to the innocent people of Darfur.

Best regards,

David Rubenstein
Save Darfur Coalition

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UN'S Pronk: Hidden forces undermining Sudanese president authority

Don't miss Wasil Ali's fascinating interview (Sudan Tribune 12 Feb 2007) with the former UN Secretary General envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk of The Netherlands.
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Photo: I took this photo from the guard tower earlier today. As you can see the sky was still dusty. In the foreground one can see the coloured concrete platform from where the guard of honour take up position every morning to salute the Force Commander and any visiting VIP's. Feb 25 2007. (Photo/caption via Soldier of Africa)
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Stuck between a rock and a hard place

Mar 1 2007 SA News 24 report - 'No military solution in Darfur' - excerpt:

The African Union's chief administrator on Wednesday said the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region cannot be solved militarily, and urged all sides to adhere to a peace agreement.

AU Commission chairperson Alpha Oumar Konare lamented that only one Darfur rebel group has signed a peace accord reached in Abuja, Nigeria, in May 2006 aimed at ending the civil war.

"We have always been convinced that the problem does not have a military solution and that we must continue working to make all Sudanese - the government and rebel movements - adhere to the Abuja accord," Konare said at a news conference alongside Brazilian foreign minister Celso Amorim in Brazil.

"When we had to ask for UN troops, we asked, and we want it. But unfortunately, due to trust problems, we have not obtained this," Konare said.

See Feb 24 2007 AU says it does not have the capacity to end Darfur rebellion.
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See Feb 18 2007 news report - Sudan welcomes EU envoy for DDDC.
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Town Hall Meeting



Photo from Jan Pronk's Weblog along with this excerpt:

Since my departure from Sudan, having been declared persona non grata by the Government of Sudan, my deputy Mr. Taye Zerihoun, has taken over as Officer in Charge. Taye Zerihoun had been the Principal Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Sudan. In that capacity he had in particular dealt with political affairs. The second deputy, Manuel Aranda da Silva, will continue as well. He is dealing in particular with humanitarian affairs and fulfills at the same time the position of United Nations Resident Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan.

This picture has been taken at a so called Town Hall meeting attended by all staff of the United Nations Mission in Sudan, two weeks before my departure on 24 October.

From left to right: Taye Zerihoun, Jan Pronk, Manuel Aranda da Silva. Photo: Frederic Noy

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See Sep 29 2006 AP report - UN's Pronk calls for AU force to be extended indefinitely.
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Notable Quote

"To save Darfur, start studying history."

By Elliot Stoller, a student at OPRF High School, USA, 27 Feb 2007 via wednesdayjournalonline.com
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Are you a Sudanese living abroad?

Via Sudanese blogger BLACK KUSH:

Are you a Sudanese living abroad? Do you want to go home and serve your country?

The UNDP TOKTEN programme is the best for you. Let us turn the brain drain to brain gain. Your country needs you!

Good luck. Peace and love. Ingrid.

ICC webcast on situation in Sudan's Darfur

The press conference by the Court's Prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, on the situation in Darfur, Sudan, scheduled to take place on Tuesday 27th February 2007, from 13:00 to 14:00 GMT or 14:00 to 15:00 hours Central European time, will be broadcast live internationally via satellite and web-cast of the press conference in English, French, and Arabic will also be available through the International Criminal Court website www.icc-cpi.int.



Photo: Luis Moreno-Ocampo. Via ST/Reuters report. Note, the report tells us a spokeswoman said the prosecutor's office planned to issue a statement before a news conference due at 1300 GMT today, 27 Feb 2007.

Feb 27 2007 BBC report excerpt:

The chief prosecutor is expected to detail alleged war crimes and give the Hague-based court a list of suspects from the government and rebel sides.

Our correspondent in the Sudanese capital, Jonah Fisher, says that joint attacks on villages have been well-documented and there is little doubt the militia have been given weapons and vehicles to fight rebels.

The BBC's Fergal Keane, reporting from The Hague where the ICC is based, says the presentation of evidence will be a highly significant moment in the Darfur crisis.

Feb 27 2007 Reuters report (via SL) excerpt:

Moreno-Ocampo has said he would examine whether Sudan's government is conducting its own judicial proceedings over Darfur as the ICC is only supposed to prosecute when national courts are unwilling or unable to act.

The ICC, the world's first permanent war crimes court, started work in 2002 and is now supported by 104 nations, although still not by big powers Russia, China and the United States. Washington fiercely opposed the creation of the ICC, fearing it would be used for politically motivated prosecutions of its citizens.

Feb 27 2007 AP report by Mike Corder (via chron.com) excerpt:

It remained unclear whom prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo would name, but his mandate is to prosecute the most senior figures responsible for atrocities.

Since the U.N. Security Council asked Moreno-Ocampo to launch a Darfur investigation in March 2005, his investigators have carried out 70 missions in 17 different countries tracing victims, taking statements from more than 100 victims and witnesses and collecting documents.

They have been unable to carry out investigations in Darfur itself because of the ongoing violence there.

Feb 27 2007 Reuters report via FT.com excerpt:

Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked pre-trial judges to issue summonses for Ahmed Haroun, interior minister during the height of the conflict, and militia commander Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb.

Haroun is currently Sudan's humanitarian affairs minister. Ali Kushayb was identified in press reports from 2003-2004 as a leader of attacks on villages around Mukjar, Bindisi, and Garsil where witnesses said hundreds of men were executed.

In a written filing, Moreno-Ocampo said there was reason to believe Haroun and Ali Kushayb "bear criminal responsibility for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur in 2003 and 2004".

Feb 27 2007 IWPR report by IWPR reporter in The Hague Katy Glassborow, independent Hague-based Darfur expert Jan Coebergh, and Washington-based IWPR reporter Stacy Sullivan - excerpt:

The coming days will be important for future legal jurisprudence on "complementarity" between domestic judicial systems and the ICC and, in the short term, could have major political consequences for those involved in Darfur.

Photo: The Chief Prosecutor Mr. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, sworn in on the 16th of June 2003. (ICC)



Photo: Judge Sir. Adrian FULFORD (United Kingdom). Elected for a 9 year period from the Western European and others Group of States (WEOG). (Source: ICC photo gallery of The Judges)

Further related news reports at POTP and CFD.

Also, see Feb 26 2007 ICC and Darfur - Time running out for Sudanese killers (comments invited or, if you prefer, please email me - address in sidebar)

Tribal massacre reported in Darfur (UPI)

Feb 26 2007 UPI report (via B92):

DARFOUR -- African Union troops have confirmed reports of a tribal massacre of 32 people in Darfour.

The AU troops based in the town of Kaas were alerted to the massacre Sunday by people who fled the village of Amar Jadeed, 20 miles away, the report said.

The village is home to the Arab Terjem tribe, and survivors said the attackers were from the Arab Reizegat tribe, who rode in on camels and began shooting.

The two tribes have traditionally been friendly but four years of violence in the region has led to shortages of water and food.

The Terjem tribe accused the Islamist government of arming nomadic Arab tribes, echoing claims by other tribes since violence flared in the impoverished region, the report said.

The AU peacekeepers took no action after viewing the smoldering remains of the village, as their mandate only allows them to observe and shoot in self-defense, VOA said.

See more by VOA at huliq.com

French troops secure airstrip in CAR

Photo: French troops secure the airstrip outside the town of Birao, the small sun-blasted capital of Vakaga, a region held for a month by rebels until late 2006, Central African Republic, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2007. Central African Republic has struggled for more than a year to contain a homegrown low-intensity rebellion in the northwest. Now, a new insurgency in the northeast near Sudan's Darfur region has compounded this fragile nation's troubles and displaced tens of thousands of people. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)

Kony, Otti and 400 LRA rebels arrive in CAR

Feb 26 2007 via Uganda-CAN:

Major Felix Kulayigye, Uganda's defence minister, confirmed reports that LRA commanders Joseph Kony and Vincent Otti and 400 other LRA rebels have arrived in the Central African Republic after fleeing the DR Congo several days ago. The LRA has been under pressure to leave the DR Congo by authorities in Kinshasa, which intensified last week after a meeting between Ugandan, Congolese and South-Sudanese security officials about how to handle the LRA threat. Read more at AllAfrica.com.

For more on the LRA, see sidebar here for link to Sudan Watch's sister blogs: Uganda Watch and Congo Watch.

ICC and Darfur - Time running out for Sudanese killers

Tomorrow (Feb 27) the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands (homeland of Jan Pronk) is to release the names of Darfur war crimes suspects. Black Kush, a Sudanese blogger (from Darfur, according to Werner) writes of time running out and asks:

The important point is what this all mean for Darfur? Will it help resolve the Darfur crisis or make it worse? Will the Sudan agree to hand over the suspects? Will Sudan later agree for the UN force?

I just have a feeling it is going to have the reverse effect . . .

I agree. What do you think? This blog receives visits from the ICC. Have your say here, they are listening. I'm still thinking about this issue, victims of crimes and forgiveness. It seemed right that Saddam was returned to Iraq. If the Iraqi people had decided to jail and/or free him, fine by me. At least the atrocities committed were aired and documented. I do not support the death penalty. Hess in Spandau, and all that went with it over so many years, wasn't a bad thing for victims, and relatives and friends of dead victims, to see.

After three years of blogging Darfur, I am still trying to understand why Sudanese people are still killing each other these past 50 years, holding their country back and to ransom. I'd like to see the ICC advise Sudan on how to make its justice system world class, credible and respected. People under arrest deserve to go through proper procedures and quickly, without fear of disappearing into a black hole. Those who hamper emergency aid or physically attack any aid worker and/or peacekeeper in the field (anywhere in the world, not just Sudan) should be jailed for life and publicly shamed as cretinous barbarians.

As for the Janjaweed and rebels I do not know who they are, not sure that Khartoum knows either. Surely, Khartoum can't disarm the so-called Janjaweed and Arab tribal leaders without fear of retaliation, if they could, they would have done so by now. Sudan's Arab tribal leaders are a law unto themselves, it's how things work there. They lord it over huge swathes of Sudan, ruling through fear and benevolence. Sudan is a country (I can't emphasise this enough) the size of Europe, with just as much diversity. It took years for the British government to sort out Northern Ireland where horrendous killings and conflict had gone on for hundreds of years.

What is going on in Darfur is far more complex than the media and activists lead us to believe and I feel they are doing the people of Sudan a disservice. Read this blog and you will see why. As if. These days, most people want little sound bytes that don't involve much reading or homework. "Stop genocide in Darfur" is easier to understand than "stop tribalism, desertification and droughts in Sudan" (or, in other words, too many people in the wrong place). I'm still pondering the Arab v African thingy and still don't get it. Everyone loves Sudan and its beauty. Great weather for growing food and stuff. Could be wonderful for tourists from all over the world.

The way I see it, Sudan has a serious national identity problem requiring charismatic leadership. I can see why Sudan, home to millions of uneducated villagers and nomads, is ruled by a stick. The Sudanese government (incuding South Sudan) is doing a good job of holding it all together. Better the devil you know than the one you don't. The shambolic rebels and their slippery leaders and child soldiers stopping aid from reaching those in need, could do worse if their coup succeeds.

I'd like to see a World Law that bars gun toting rebels anywhere in the world from working in government, for life.



Photo: Arab tribal leaders (from left) Ramadhan Daju Hassan, Mohammed Idris Maghrib and former member of parliament Obeid Habullah Dico calling for peace in West Darfur, Sudan. Source: Sudan Watch entry Sep 26, 2004.



Photo: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is greeted by rebel, tribal and opposition Sudanese leaders from Darfur at his tent in Tripoli, Libya, Wednesday, May 11, 2005. Two main rebel groups in Sudan's Darfur declared Monday their commitment to a cease-fire and to unconditionally resuming talks with the Sudanese government. (AP/Yousef Al-Ageli/Sudan Watch archive)



Photo: Soldiers believed to be Janjaweed (BBC/Sudan Watch archives)



Photo: Sultan Timan Deby, the traditional ruler of Bahai - a Chadian settlement and refugee camp on the border with Sudan's Darfur region - is pictured in the desert outpost of Bahai, Chad Thursday, Feb. 22, 2007. Tribal leaders and local officials in Chad are pushing hard for a U.N. peacekeeping force to be deployed to stop violence and protect refugees spilling over from desperate Darfur into next-door Sudan. (AP Photo/Alfred de Montesquiou)



Photo: Displaced Sudanese (Source: Soldier of Africa blog)



God help the children of Sudan and please return the Norwegian Refugee Council to Kalma Camp in Darfur, home to 93,000 displaced Sudanese.



A prayer for the janjaweed rape babies
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UPDATE:

Feb 26 2007 AFP report (via ST) - Sudan rejects ICC authority over Darfur

Feb 26 2007 Sudan Tribune report - Sudan sets up special court to try Darfur criminals

Feb 26 2007 Reuters report (via Alarab) - Sudan suspicious of UN Darfur plan - "Resolution 1706 of the U.N. Security Council actually confirmed our suspicion because the content of the resolution places Sudan under international trusteeship of the United Nations," [Sudanese president] Bashir said at a press conference in Addis Ababa. "That plan to transform the peacekeeping job in Darfur from African Union (AU) to United Nations held a hidden agenda aimed at putting Sudan under the United Nations trusteeship." He said the AU force deployed in Darfur had been doing an "excellent job" until the Abuja agreement was signed. "Immediately after the signing of the agreement, talks shifted into transforming the responsibilities of the AU force to an international peacekeeping force," he said in Addis Ababa [today] where he attended a heads of state meeting on Somalia. "Our position was to maintain AU force to keep security in Darfur and to be supported logistically and financially by the U.N.," he added.

UN chief proposes changes to the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Disarmament Affairs

Via UN Pulse - a service/blog of the United Nations Library - Connecting to UN Information - Feb 22 2007:

A new letter from the Secretary-General outlines proposed changes to the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Disarmament Affairs (A/61/749). The current Department of Peacekeeping Operations would be reconfigured to two departments, a Department of Peace Operations and a Department of Field Support. The proposal for the Department for Disarmament Affairs would establish a new office directly reporting to the Secretary-General. The document includes organization charts for the proposed departments.

New deputy UN chief is a woman

Great news, long overdue. A woman is now deputy chief of the United Nations. Dr. Asha-Rose Migiro, pictured here, assumed office 6 Feb 2007 as the third Deputy Secretary General. - UNSG.org



If the UN, full of ambitious men, can do it, so can Sudan. See Feb 26 2007 - Wake up Sudan, more women needed in your government - Rwandan women offer a blueprint.

Wake up Sudan, more women needed in your government - Rwandan women offer a blueprint

Great commentary - Rwandan women offer a blueprint - by Zainab Salbi Feb 23, 2007 (via sfgate.com) Excerpt:

The genocide in Rwanda literally left the women behind to pick up the pieces. After the violence subsided in 1994, 70 percent of the remaining population of Rwanda was women. If communities were going to survive, and if the country was ever going to recover, it was up to them to make it happen. They forced themselves to face the inconceivable and they rebuilt. It was women who cleared the dead bodies from the streets; women who rebuilt the homes and women who solved the national orphan crisis -- more than 500,000 children with nowhere to go. Nearly every woman took at least one child into her home.

The government of Rwanda was quick to acknowledge the significance of women in the rebuilding process. In 1996, President Paul Kagame mandated that 30 percent of the parliamentary seats be designated for women. Kagame stressed that he saw them as key agents in the country's reconstruction, and argued that the government must train, support and mobilize them. As we see from today's revived Rwanda, he was right on target.

Rwandan women represent 49.8 percent of the country's lower house of parliament, a larger percentage than any other country in the world. Women also occupy nearly 50 percent of the positions in Rwanda's ministries from the village to the province to the national government level.

Thus, Rwanda was the obvious and fitting location for the 2007 Women Parliamentarians International Conference, under way now, whose theme is "Gender, Nation Building, and the Role of Parliaments." More than 400 world leaders and dignitaries have gathered in Kigali, among them, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, president of the Republic of Liberia, Gertrude I. Mongella, president of the Pan African Parliament, and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai.

Zainab Salbi is the founder and CEO of Women for Women International, an organization that helps women in war-torn regions rebuild their lives by giving them financial and emotional support, job skills training, rights education, access to capital and assistance for small business development. www.womenforwomen.org

Source: ComingAnarchy.com - Women and Political Development in Africa - where this insightful comment was posted Feb 26 2007:

snow said:
Very interesting. Certainly makes alot of sense. I've always figured that a society that doesn't allow its women to step forward is one that is leaving half their talent un/underdeveloped (not to say that it doesn't take talent to raise children and run households, but that women can have an influential public life as well as a private one). In this day and age, no country can hope to get a competitive edge when half the population is not allowed or restricted from participating outside the home. To me, its a question of taking advantage of talents and skills rather than a gender equality one.

Well said. Thanks.

Note, Feb 26 2007: New deputy UN chief is a woman!

Celebrating miserable African leaders

Notable quote from The sub-Saharan African roundtable:

Unless Africa gets honest leaders such as Nyerere, Mandela, Kaunda and...... we are doomed.

[hat tip GVO - celebrating miserable African leaders]

Al-Bashir affirms Sudan's desire to establish firm relations with European Union

If true, here is a rare item containing words of appreciation from Khartoum. Reportedly, on Saturday Sudan's President Bashir met with new Sudan Ambassador to Belgium and the EU and Sudan Ambassador to Sweden and expressed Sudan's desire to establish firm relations with European Union. Today, according to Sudanese News Agency (SUNA), Mr Bashir is due in Ethiopia for the Sana'a Grouping Summit.

Via SudaneseOnline.com 25 Feb 2007 via SUNA:

President of the Republic, Field Marshal Omer Al-Bashir, has affirmed Sudan keenness to establish stable and distinguished relations with the European Union which are based on cooperation, the exchange of benefits and the principles and values governing the international relations. This came during his meeting Saturday with the new Sudan Ambassador to Belgium and the European Union, Nagib Al-Khair Abdul-Wahab, and Sudan Ambassador to Sweden, Moses Akol. President Al-Bashir expressed Sudan government appreciation to the role of the European Union in the humanitarian field, as well as support to the mission of the African Union. He also appreciated the stances in support of the peace and stability in Darfur. In a statement to SUNA, Ambassador Al-Khair affirmed the keenness of himself and Ambassador Moses Akol to do their best in serving Sudan issues and causes at the bilateral level and the regional and international forums.

Clash with West - Africa's top film festival opens

Feb 24 2007 BBC report says this year, the vast majority of the films on show are in French, despite the recent rise of South African cinema. Many of the films deal with issues of traditional values and modernity. Another emerging theme seems to be the clash between Africa and the West, says the BBC's James Copnall in Ouagadougou.