Waging Peace

One year after the publishing of its report on the illegal interview of Darfuris in Home Office facilities, Waging Peace has finally received a response from the Home Office.  The contents of the response are very concerning and raise points which need to be addressed as a matter of urgency by the Home Office. Please follow this LINK to write to your MP and ask that he contacts the Home Office and the Home Affairs Select Committee to ensure that these interviews are fully investigated. For more information on this issue, please follow this LINK or email louise.roland-gosselin@wagingpeace.info

On 31 October, hundreds of Darfuris travelled to the Hague from across Europe to call for the arrest and trial of Sudanese President Omar al Bashir on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The demonstration has been organised by the Darfuri community groups in the UK, Italy, France, Germany, Holland, Belgium and Spain to enable Darfuri refugees across the continent to express their support for the work of the International Criminal Court and its Prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, in pursuit of justice for Darfur. A letter of support for the ICC’s action against Bashir, signed by representatives of Darfuri community groups, will be handed in at the ICC.

In June 2008, the ICC Prosecutor laid charges against the Sudanese President for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. A decision on whether or not the evidence presented by the Prosecutor merits the issuing of an arrest warrant for Bashir now rests with the three judges of the Pre Trial Chamber. 

However, Sudan has been pushing for his arrest to be delayed using Article 16 of the Rome Statute. This mechanism would allow legal action by the ICC to be temporarily suspended by the UN Security Council.

Khatir M Kayabil, Secretary General of the Darfur Union in the UK, one of the community groups responsible for organising the demonstration, said:

“Critics of ICC action against Bashir argue that it could damage prospects for peace in Darfur, yet the very people not getting heard in this debate are the Darfuris themselves. We are the victims of the crimes for which President Bashir has been charged, and we don’t want this brutal dictator appeased. We need justice. And we need to be heard.”

Organisations supporting the demonstration include the UK-based groups Waging Peace and Aegis Students.

Appealing to the UN to listen to the demands of the Darfuri people, Waging Peace Director, Louise Roland-Gosselin said:

“The UN Security Council must heed the calls of the Darfuri people and support the indictment of Bashir for his part in orchestrating the genocide that has been carried out in Darfur. By invoking Article 16 the International Community would once again be allowing itself to be held hostage by a regime with no concern for human life or international law.

“We have an opportunity to meet the demands of justice and hold those who have ordered the torture, rape and murder of innocent Darfuris to account. We must not allow it to be hijacked by those pursuing alternative agendas.”

Audrey Mogan, National Coordinator of Aegis Students, said:

“Suspending ICC action in response to Bashir’s threats of increased violence would send the worst possible message to this regime; a message that it can carry on getting away with murder in Darfur. The international community should only consider refering to Article 16 as part of a deal in which sustainable peace, justice and security is restored to the region; homes and lands taken from Darfuris are returned to them, and compensation is provided by the Sudanese Government to enable Darfuris to rebuild and develop economically. Justice must not be thrown away in the face of threats or traded away for empty promises.”

The Waging Peace team is thrilled to announce that Archbishop  Desmond Tutu has agreed to be our patron. His steadfast  support for Darfur is an enormous morale boost for people in the refugee camps in Darfur, in exile in eastern Chad and elsewhere. Archbishop Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in dismantling South African apartheid. He has dedicated his life to defending and campaigning for human rights around the world. Archbishop Tutu has described Darfur as "a gaping wound that affronts African values. The people of Darfur have suffered terribly." He has been an outspoken critic of the "oppressive and tyrannical" Sudanese regime. He has also criticised the African Union for abandoning the innocent people of Darfur and allowing the politicians in power to turn Darfur into a  "graveyard." Archbishop Tutu has consistently called for an immediate cease fire, a strengthened UN force and a robust mandate to protect the innocent, saying,"There must be no more excuses. Action needs to be taken right now." We are profoundly grateful for his support.

In recent weeks, African and Arab states in particular have been working hard behind the scenes to try and get the UN Security Council to vote in favour of Article 16 of the Rome Statutes of the ICC– which would defer the indictment of Sudanese President Al Bashir for a period of 12 month.

Article 16 has never been used by the UNSC and there is therefore considerable debate as to the potential negative effects of its use on international justice and the representation of justice as hindering peace.

If the international community chooses to resort to Article 16, its use should in no way hinder the delivery of justice in Darfur and the crucial prosecution of Al Bashir and others responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Darfur.

If the UNSC wishes to use Article 16 as a tool to put pressure on the Sudanese Government, then it crucially must not do so before the regime takes significant steps to end the conflict and takes genuine measures towards peace. To put the prosecution on hold without demanding real progress from Sudan as a precondition would make a mockery of the UNSC's peace mandate and of the ICC's justice mandate.
 
Benchmarks which the Sudanese Government must meet before Article 16 can be discussed at the UNSC include:

- Unconditional peace talks with Darfur rebel groups, and a clearly-demonstrated willingness to achieve a ceasefire in Darfur

- An end to bombardments and attacks on civilian villages and camps throughout Darfur.

- The surrender of the state minister for humanitarian affairs, Ahmed Haroun, and Janjaweed commander Ali Koysheb to the ICC in accordance with the arrest warrants issued by the court;

- Removal of the obstacles and restrictions that have hampered the deployment of the UNAMID peacekeeping mission, with peacekeeping troops to be given unfettered access to those areas within their geographical responsibility.

- Removal of administrative obstacles to the delivery of humanitarian assistance and improvement of the security necessary to the delivery of aid

- Expedited implementation of the CPA, including demarcation of the internal borders of 1956, establishment of an independent National Electoral Commission and follow through on the agreements on the regions of Abyei, South Kordofan/Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile.

- A resolution acceptable to internally displaced people regarding their return or resettlement.

The Darfuri children's drawings Waging Peace brought back from the Chadian refugee camps are featured in this week's edition of Grazia. If you are inspired by this article, here are a number of ways in which you can take action today:

1- Click here to donate to Waging Peace and help fund our project in Chad aimed at providing psychological support to Darfuri children in the refugee camps. For more information on the project, email louise.roland-gosselin@wagingpeace.info.

2- Click here to ask Home Secretary Jacqui Smith not to send back Darfuris back to Khartoum, where they face torture and death at the hands of the Sudanese Government.

3- Click here to find out what other actions you can take today to help protect the people of Darfur.

As a result of pressure by Waging Peace and others, the Home Office announced last week that it would halt the forced deportation of Darfuri asylum seekers until a 'review' in September, just a few weeks away.
 
Waging Peace believes that Darfuris should not be returned to the Sudan where they currently face persecution at the hands fo their Government, until and unless their safety & security can be guaranteed. Please follow this LINK to email the Home Secretary to demand that no more Darfuris are deported when they are under serious threat of arrest, imprisonment and worse.
 
Media coverge, behind-the scenes lobbying, work in the Houses of Parliament, and hundreds of letters from Waging Peace supporters made the government suspend their deportation plans. Now, we need to ensure that deportations are completely halted until the security situation in Sudan has dramatically improved.
 
Just this week, the International Criminal Court filed genocide charges against the President of Sudan. And there is plentiful evidence of a vicious crackdown on Darfuris in Khartoum over the last few months. Don't let our government force Darfuris back to an uncertain fate.

Gordon Brown rightly called Darfur one of the world's 'darkest corners'. Why then is he allowing his Home Secretary to send Darfuris who have escaped genocide back to Sudan?

UPDATE ON ABUBAKER'S CASE

On Monday 14 July, the ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo requested the indictment of Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir.

Waging Peace greatly welcomes this news. Naming Bashir as the architect of his government’s plan to commit genocide against the people of Darfur is a vital step forward in delivering peace and justice to this war-torn region.

In the last five years, the Sudanese Government has attacked, killed and displaced the people of Darfur, undermined prospects for peace and impeded the delivery of humanitarian aid and the deployment of peacekeepers in the region.

This latest indictment sends a strong signal to Khartoum that the Sudanese Government will be held to account for its genocidal policy in Darfur. It also provides renewed momentum for concerted action by the International Community on Darfur.

In 2007 a Waging Peace researcher brought back the first ever petition of Darfuri refugees from the Chadian camps on the border of Sudan, where hundreds of thousands of Darfuris have escaped to avoid massacre at the hands of the Sudanese Government and Janjaweed militias.

The petition and the testimonials scrawled alongside the names call on the international community to intervene to stop the killings and restore peace and justice to Darfur so that the survivors can return home.

The petition, featured in the Guardian on 24 April 2008, has been signed by over 60,000 refugees, the majority of whom are women and it therefore constitutes the largest expression of women’s voices to come out of the region.

Alongside the names are personal stories, describing the atrocities that these innocent people have experienced and witnessed. This grassroots political action is a complete cultural anathema and was done in great bravery as these refugees who have signed their names put their lives at serious risk.

This petition is the true voice of the Darfuri people who, frustrated with their leaders, felt that for the first time they could communicate their desperation and the horror of their experiences directly to decision makers in the West. Without assistance from any foreign agency, they generated the energy within the camps to collect thousands of signatures and two months later sent a first box of 30,000 petitions to the UK, which have since been translated by Waging Peace and volunteers.  Since then, another 30,000 signatures have been collected from men, women and children in the camps.

One testimonial included in the petition reads: “We the mothers want them (the UN peacekeepers) to enter Darfur immediately. They have displaced us, and killed us, and raped us in front of our children and husbands. They killed our children and burnt our houses. This was all done by the Janjaweed in our homeland.”

Another reads: “Why does the government still ask for more time which gives them the chance to kill more people while the UN has not made a move yet? Why is the international community still keeping quiet although the Darfur disaster is the worst human disaster, but we all hear about Palestine and Iraq? Does the international community support what is going on? Do they agree with Omar Bashir that blacks are worthless? Why have they not done anything yet while everyday many women are being raped and many people are being killed and not only in Sudan, but also in Chad?...I ask the international community to take action immediately.”

Extracts from the petition were presented to 10 Downing Street on 25 April 2008 to mark the fifth anniversary of the beginning of the conflict and Waging Peace, on behalf of a desperate and abandoned community called on the British Government to lead the world in bringing an end to this tragic conflict and demonstrate that we have finally learnt something from Rwanda.

Waging Peace calls on the British government to act immediately to:

• Ensure the full-scale deployment of the UNAMID force in Darfur – with the inclusion of experienced Western resources and forces if needed, rather than allowing the Sudanese government to veto any non-African troops.
• Implement a no-fly zone which will prevent the Sudanese government from using planes to bomb towns and villages.
• Abandon ideas of ‘a constructive engagement’ with the Sudanese government and instead demonstrate to Khartoum that there will be serious repercussions should they continue to be obstructive.

For more information about the petitions please contact Louise Roland-Gosselin on louise.roland-gosselin@wagingpeace.info or call 020 7243 0300. 

Last year our researcher, Anna Schmitt, travelled to eastern Chad to interview Darfuri refugees and displaced Chadians. She handed out crayons and paper to children aged between 6 and 18 years, and asked them to draw their dreams for the future and their strongest memories. Most of the resulting pictures depict violent attacks by the Sudanese Government forces and their allied Janjaweed militias. Many drawings show adult males being killed, women being shot and taken prisoner, babies being thrown onto fires and Government of Sudan helicopters and planes attacking ordinary Darfuris.

The result is an unprecedented collection of 500 drawings which have toured the globe - in Lithuania, Canada, the Czech Republic, Italy, and closer to home, in Blackburn Cathedral - raising awareness about the crisis in Darfur and in particular, the impact the continued atrocities are having on children.

We are marking the fifth anniversary of the start of the Darfur conflict by asking children and young adults to draw pictures of themselves and their families and to write messages of hope and support to the children living in the camps. Waging Peace will exhibit these drawings in London and then take them to Chad and give them to the Children in the camps. These messages of encouragement and solidarity from their peers in Britain will hopefully bring some measure of comfort to children who have suffered greatly, and who feel abandoned and isolated.

We are hoping that schools, churches, mosques and synagogues in the UK will get involved in this initiative and stand together with the people of Darfur by taking part in our Drawing Inspiration initiative.

For more information on this project, please contact Sophie McCann on sophie.mccann@wagingpeace.info or call 02072430300.

Teachers and students can get their schools involved by downloading the Teacher's Pack.