Made in China: Stop Arms Sales to Sudan

The Summer Olympic Games in Beijing on August 8th give China the opportunity to showcase its accomplishments and its rising global power. China is also working hard to manufacture an image as a responsible and harmonious global actor. But behind this façade lies another China, one that places economic growth over its human rights responsibilities around the world. Read more >>>>>>>>>

Darfur suspect a 'fugitive,' says International Criminal Court Prosecutor

26 April 2008 – Despite an arrest warrant being issued for him one year ago by the International Criminal Court (ICC), a Sudanese minister accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes in the war-ravaged region of Darfur is free and is a "fugitive," the body;s Prosecutor said today.

"He attacked Sudanese people, his people, those he vowed to protect as Minister; he is an indicted minister, he is a fugitive," ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said in a press release. "He will end up in Court."

Last 27 April, the ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber issued warrants for the arrest of Ahman Harun, former Minister of State for the Interior of Sudan -- and current Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs -- and Janjaweed militia leader Ali Muhammad Al Abd-Al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb.

According to The Hague-based ICC, evidence collected over two years from different sources shows that Mr. Harun financed, armed and incited the Janjaweed to attack Darfurian villages from 2003-2004 and killing civilians, with Mr. Kushyab having led the attacks. Their actions have allegedly forced millions to flee their homes.

No national proceedings related to these crimes have been held in Sudan, Mr. Moreno-Ocampo noted. "Brutal and massive attacks, rapes, tortures were committed 5 years ago against Sudanese citizens and their own Government promised everything and has done nothing."

The arrest warrants for Mr. Harun and Mr. Kushayb were transmitted to Sudan last 16 June, but the Government has not responded, is not cooperating and has not complied with Security Council Resolution 1593. Read more >>>>>>>>>>

Darfur Deaths Now Estimated At 300,000 While World Watches

Warning to world leaders over Darfur crisis

By Samantha Novick
IF world leaders continue to neglect the worsening humanitarian crisis in Sudan's Darfur region, violence there could reignite 21 years of civil war and spread, the leader of Scotland's largest international aid charity warned last night.
"It is staggering that the international community has not been able to provide the personnel or logistical support that is vital to handle the vast insecurity in the region," said Paul Chitnis, chief executive of the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund. "They are not giving Darfur the priority it needs in order to bring an end to this crisis. Already it is a situation of too little, too late."

Chitnis' comments come after a report from the United Nations found that violence targeting civilians in Darfur continues at alarming levels, despite numerous resolutions, millions in aid money and four years of UN efforts to end it.

Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, has even said the situation is worse today than when it first began. SCIAF has taken a major step in promoting its work in the country – by establishing its first overseas office there, in the town of Juba, on the White Nile south of Darfur.Read more >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

A Seder for Darfur

By Jessica Schaffer, Special to The Suburban


The Passover Seder focuses on recounting the story of the oppression of Jews in Egypt. In even the most basic Hagadot it is clear that this yearly retelling, along with the symbolic foods that represent the bitterness and tears of the Jewish journey to freedom, is a tool to remind all of the universality of the struggle against oppression, enslavement and racism. It is a constant reminder that we all have a duty to work for the dignity and liberty of all mankind.

When reflecting on the oppression in ancient Egypt, it is natural to remember the devastation that Jews faced during the Holocaust. With that institutional memory, we should all — at every Seder — give some of our attention to a current and ever-intensifying genocide. In Darfur, the southern region of Sudan, more than 400,000 people have been killed since 2003 More than two and a half million are displaced refugees. The Sudanese government army and a government-sponsored militia attack entire villages of non-Arab Darfuris, usually simultaneously bombing from the air, poisoning water sources, and attacking with guns on the ground. Men defending the villages are tortured and slaughtered, and women and children are routinely and repeatedly raped. Read more >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Darfur continues to bleed

It has been five years since the war in Darfur began. It is said to be the worst genocide of the 21st century.

There is an eerie calm in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur. The city has a deserted look and also owns one of the largest camps housing displaced people.

Darfur has been called the world's worst humanitarian crisis and at camp Sekele one can see why the people in this part of the world are completely dependent on the rest of the world for their survival.

The make shift houses can barely keep the blistering heat out. The people live entirely on aid provided by international agencies. UN figures show Darfur gets over $1 billion a year. Yet, it is pitifully inadequate.

''Darfur is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. That is absolutely without a doubt. There are two million people who are living in camps for Internally Displaced People, who are almost entirely dependent on the international community for their food, medical aid water and sanitation,'' said Emilia Kassela, Head of Communications, World Food Programme, Sudan.

In the past five years, over two lakh people have been killed and nearly 20 lakh have been driven from their homes. Read more>>>>

Darfur crisis - Whom to blame?

Meet the Janjaweed(3)

Meet the Janjaweed (1) and (2), check www.DarfurDaily.blogspot.com

Conflict in Darfur: When will it end?

Peering out the helicopter window, my stomach dropped again. This time it wasn't from the twinge of fear I felt when the nose of the U.N. chopper dipped forward on liftoff. It was from what I was seeing on the ground.

We were dropping into Sileia on our way to Sirba – two large villages in West Darfur that suffered immensely during recent government efforts to drive out rebels. After flying for miles over the stark but beautiful desert landscape, golden glints of thatched huts and fences appeared in the distance. As we got closer, the view changed drastically.

Next to a cluster of picturesque family compounds was a sickening scar of scorched earth. Blackened circles clearly marked where huts had been burned to the ground. The helicopter banked left, and the scene repeated itself.

Five years in, the conflict in Darfur continues unabated. More than 2 million people are displaced from their homes, feeling too scared to return to their villages and risk another attack. Each week, the number grows. Yet, somehow, people still find hope.

Eleven-year-old Faiza Khalil Hamad is happy to be attending classes in the West Darfur capital of El Geneina: "I used to look after our sheep every day, but now I am in school. I have learned a lot so far. I like school." Abdullah Assal is proud to be part of a Catholic Relief Services food relief committee that helps distribute emergency rations each month to thousands of people, pleased to be helping his neighbors. Read more >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Clinton: Bush to Boycott Olympic Opening Games

On Monday, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, called for President George W. Bush to refrain from personally participating in the opening ceremony of the Beijing Summer Olympics to protest China's record on human rights.

The circumstances are dramatically different. But the dilemma of whether or not a public figure should lend his credibility to the China Olympics occurred last year, when firm director Steven Spielberg sought the opinion of former President Bill Clinton (among dozens of others) as to whether he should remain an "Overseas Artistic Director" for the opening and closing ceremonies for Olympics despite his serious concerns about China's role in the genocide in Darfur.

In 2007, knowledgeable sources say, the former President advised Spielberg to participate, that he could be an effective agent for positive change by working with China. Spielberg wasn't sure. He didn't sign his contract with the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games. Read more >>>>>>>>>>

Five years on, Darfur rape widespread-Rights Watch

By Opheera McDoom

KHARTOUM, April 7 (Reuters) - Widespread rape, mostly committed by pro-government forces, is going unpunished in Sudan's Darfur region and peacekeepers are unable to protect victims as young as 11, a rights group said on Monday.

New York-based Human Rights Watch urged Sudan's government to pass and enforce laws immediately to prosecute rapists and protect victims in Darfur, racked by five years of conflict.

"The victims of these horrific attacks have little or no hope of redress in Darfur's current climate of impunity," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director of the group.

"By failing to prosecute the perpetrators, the government is giving them a licence to rape."

The rights group said the numerous rapes it documented in its 44-page report were only a fraction of those in Darfur because most go unreported. Victims are often prosecuted for adultery or treated indifferently by Sudanese police.

"The Sudanese government has declared `zero-tolerance' for sexual violence, yet has done almost nothing to protect these victims," Gagnon added.Read more >>>>>>>>

Genocide by Attrition in Sudan

Sudan's National Islamic Front regime has begun its sixth year of genocidal counterinsurgency warfare in the vast western region of Darfur, targeting African civilian populations perceived as the primary support for fractious rebel groups. Given the length of the conflict, news reports have inevitably taken on a grimly familiar and repetitive character that obscures the impending cataclysm of human destruction.

Without significant improvement in security on the ground -- for civilians and the humanitarians upon whom they increasingly depend -- deaths in the coming months will reach a staggering total. What Khartoum was unable to accomplish with the massive violence of 2003-04, entailing wholesale destruction of African villages, will be achieved through a "genocide by attrition." Civilians displaced into camps or surviving precariously in rural areas will face unprecedented shortfalls in humanitarian assistance, primarily food and potable water.

A recent U.N. map indicating aid access throughout Darfur shows that a large majority of people in the region are in areas with highly limited humanitarian access or none at all. The consensus among nongovernmental aid organizations is that they have access to only 40 percent of the population in need; 2.5 million of the 4.3 million Darfuris affected by conflict -- primarily women and children -- can't be securely reached by those attempting to provide food, clean water, shelter and primary medical care.

And things are poised to get much worse. Read more >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Darfur activists urge leaders to skip ceremony

Darfur activists urge leaders to skip ceremony
WASHINGTON, April 3 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush and other leaders should shun the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony unless China does more to stop bloodshed in Sudan's Darfur region, activists said on Thursday.
The umbrella group of Darfur organizations said it was not advocating that countries, athletes or corporate sponsors boycott the Aug. 8-24 Games. But it said host China's close ties to Sudan undercut the spirit of the opening ceremony.
"Beijing should not be allowed to bask in the warm glow of peace and brotherhood associated with the opening games if China is still underwriting atrocities in Darfur and still has not done what it should to bring peace and security to Sudan," said the group in a statement from Washington.
"We call on world leaders not to attend the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics," it said. Read more >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Beijing olympic games

U.S. urges U.N. to speed up Darfur deployment

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States has urged the United Nations to speed deployment of more U.N.-African Union peacekeepers to Sudan's war-racked Darfur region, a U.S. diplomat said in a letter to the U.N. chief.

Only 9,000 of the required 26,000 international troops and police have been deployed in Darfur. Western governments have blamed Khartoum for the slow pace of deployment, saying it has dragged its feet in approving the composition of the force and set up unnecessary obstacles.

But in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, U.S. Presidential Envoy for Darfur Richard Williamson made clear that Washington felt the United Nations shared some of the blame for the slow deployment.

"The United States supports the U.N.'s objective to deploy the best-equipped troops possible, but it seems that some U.N. practices may hinder deployment," Williamson said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters on Wednesday.

"We believe that the deployment of 3,600 new African troops by June -- a target number based on the U.N.'s planning schedule -- will bring increased security and stability to the people of Darfur," he said. Read more >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>