Mia Farrow's Writings, Photos and Information on the Growing Crisis in Darfur (Sudan), Chad and Central African Republic (CAR)

Understanding the situation in Congo today

The current crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the recruitment of children, the killing of civilians and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people is but the latest in an unbroken chain of human suffering. The UN peacekeeping force in Congo, the largest in the world, has proved incapable of protecting ordinary Congolese from the region's political and military leaders.

This latest surge of violence is the result of the ambitions of Tutsi rebel leader, Laurent Nkunda, to seize power in North Kivu, a province in eastern Congo. Nkunda is partly supported by neighboring Rwanda, which has twice invaded Congo since 1996. He is opposed by Congo's President, Joseph Kabila, whose undisciplined, incompetent and by current reports from the region, drunken army is allied to Rwandan Hutu rebels linked to the Rwandan genocide of 1994.

Congo's history is rooted in suffering and exploitation, first by Belgium in the 19th century, under the greedy and brutal King Leopold II. For a detailed look at Congo's colonial history read the brilliant, King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa (Houghton-Mifflin, 1998), by Adam Hochschild. Rubber was then the Congo's most desired resource. Today it is gold, diamonds and other minerals, but the link between the plundering of natural resources and massive human suffering remains the same.

An interesting piece by Anneke Van Woudenberg (a senior researcher on the Democratic Republic of Congo at Human Rights Watch in England ) points out that "there's an inspiring message, too, in Hochschild's book: the power of individuals to bring change by naming and shaming those responsible for perpetuating a corrupt and brutal system. Long before the emergence of professional human rights organizations, dedicated individuals such as Edmund Morel and Roger Casement helped to bring an end to the worst of King Leopold's abuses through tireless documentation and campaigning".

Ms Van Woudenberg also recommends Michela Wrong's In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz, which she describes as a riviting account of one of Africas most extraordinary dictators, Mobutu Sese Seko, who came to power after the Belgians withdrew from Congo in 1960. The dictator's manipulation of ethnic conflicts and his encouragement of massive corruption kept the majority of Congolese in dire poverty and set the stage for the implosion of the country in the 1990s. He was ousted by Rwandan backed rebel militia. Wrong's book helps to explain the regional politics that made the 1994 Rwandan genocide the trigger for the regional war that swept Mobutu from power and unleashed a maelstrom of conflict that continues to this day.

Of course anyone interested in Africa has almost certainly read Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, which Ms Wrongs references in her title.

By the way, Michela Wrong also wrote I Didn't Do it For You: How the World Betrayed a Small African Nation, a gripping story of colonialism itself, told through the abuses against Eritrea.

Another book which helps us to understand today's Congo is, The Rebels' Hour, a work of meticulously researched fiction by Dutch writer Lieve Joris. We see a young man forced to chose between becoming a victim or predator in a sea of ethnic violence.

For anyone wanting to read about recent events, there is Bryan Mealer's excellent All Things Must Fight to Live: Stories of War and Deliverance in Congo which focuses on events in the Congo from 2003 to 2006 .

The Congolese people have been victim to violence for too long.

What about Al-Bashir's announcement of a ceasefire.

It seems that Alex De Waal is already celebrating:

"The most important reality today [with announcement of ceasefire] is that the denial and self-imposed political paralysis that have marked the Sudanese political establishment's approach to Darfur have been decisively overcome.. There's a glimmer of hope."

"Decisively overcome"? What am I not seeing?

But Sudanese insiders are more circumspect. Pagan Amum, secretary-general of the Southern Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), a partner in a government of national unity following the 2005 peace deal, said the ceasefire was a good start.

"[But] declarations are not enough. Implementation is what is needed." Amum said this ceasefire alone would not be enough to convince the international community to suspend Bashir's likely indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, but rather, "a peace process, giving results and serious commitment".

Rebels have responded with complete scepticism.

So, while Alex DeWaal's "glimmer of hope" is tempting to see, at this point the ceasefire smacks of pure PR. Until there are major changes on the ground in Darfur: security for civilians and humanitarians, a much more robust deployment of UNAMID, and an inclusive, comprehensive peace agreement implimented - all talk of UN Security Council action vis-a-vis the ICC is premature. And this is certainly true for Article 16 of the Rome Statute, which comes into the ambit of UN SC authority only by means of the 'intl peace and security' responsibilities clause. In other words, Al-Bashir is not even close to warranting Article 16 consideration...but he certainly knows what he has to do.

Who attacked Sam Ouandja and why.

A well informed friend told me this: "Those who attacked Sam Ouandja ( a remote Central African Republic village on the Darfur border)are part of a breakaway faction of Damane Zakaria's UFDR (the union of rebel groups). Damane has signed a peace accord with the government and that accord is still holding. The breakaway group attacked the FACA (the CAR armed forces)in Sam Ouandja in an attempt to steal arms and
ammunition. (There are indications of an ethnic split within the
UFDR.) The peace between the FACA and the UFDR held and they were jointly able to repel the attackers by daybreak.

The attackers ignored the refugees who remain in place.
Sadly, 3/4 of the village of Sam Ouandja are reported to have fled."

Heartbreaking to contemplate people fleeing - I can scarcely imagine the level of terror that people experience as they try to gather their children and run-run away from their their homes.

The refugees, we are told, did not flee. But they know the terror all to well. Their own village was attacked and they fled -walking for 10 days across the desert to Sam Ouandja.

They did not flee this time. Perhaps this is why; A Darfuri refugee in eastern Chad described the first attack on his village, and the long flight into Chad. And then the next attacks-i this time upon the refugee camp. He said the refugees didn't run away because they didn't know the terraine, or where there might be water. They didn't know where to run and they feared they would die if they tried. So they sat on the ground and held their children "and we were thinking, 'no hopes for us, no hopes for us'.

I posted a blog a few days ago about Sam Ouandja and the fact that EUFOR evacuated a group of aid workers.
My friend writes" There is general optimism that the government
is at last moving in good faith. The bad news is an APRD attack into a
new area of the Southwest and an attack on the FACA that left 10-14 dead between the Chadian border and the town of Kabo."

Al-Bashir's new 'peace'tactic is a sham, designed to sideline ICC indictment.

Ms Rice regrets

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; the upcoming New York Times Magazine'

"I have regrets about Darfur, real regrets."

Congo slipping toward war. All prevention measures must be taken by the international community without delay

Update DRC

In Congo, Drunken Gunfire Ruptures a Tense <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/09/AR2008110902127.html>
Washington Post - United States
... sending some 250000 people fleeing their homes and reviving fears that this vast Central African nation could slip into all-out war once again. ...
See all stories on this topic <http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ncl=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/09/AR2008110902127.html>

More info on that amazing site-USHAHIDI means 'testimony'

http://www.ushahidi.com/

Great site showing where the trouble spots are in DRC

http://drc.ushahidi.com/#

Aid workers air lifted out of Ouandja by EUFOR

Nine aid workers in a remote corner of eastern CAR asked EUROR to airlift them out after armed militias raided a government troop encampment. (See my posting from Ouandja-’Diamonds in the Sky’)

Sam Ouandja, a remote village on the Darfur border received some unexpected guests in May of 2007 when the first group refugees arrived from Darfur. Over the days that followed, hundreds more, nearly 3000 in all, arrived on foot after walking for more than ten days when their village (Daffak) in South Darfur was attacked by Sudanese militia. The population of Sam Ouandja generously welcomed the refugees and gave them land to settle on and to cultivate. This despite the fact that the local population had itself sufferered from attacks in 2006 and early 2007.
The area is difficult to reach and during the rainy season it is cut off from CAR’s capital of Bangui. UNHRC, UNICEF and WFP responded quickly to meet the urgent needs of the refugees who were suffering from dehydration, anemia, malnutrition and diarrhea.

When I visited Sam Ouandja earlier this year, the refugees told me they live in fear of attacks from Sudan. Coincidentally, EUFOR was there then too. They were heading towards Chad as they had had news of a janjaweed massing. It was great to see them patrolling that volatile border, providing a measure of security for the people there.

Now, two helicopters from EUFOR’s headquarters in Abece (in neighboring Chad), airlifted the aid workers to safety, but I have no news of what is happening to the refugees and the local populations.

EUFOR began a year-long United Nations-mandated mission in March. I cannot adequately convey how happy the people –refugees and local populations are to have them there. I WISH they could stay at least one more year—or better still, until peace comes to the region.

Another tragedy hits Haiti

On the outskirts of Haiti's capilal, a school collapsed crushing the children. The death count is 84 but many are still under the rubble. There are no words.

Part of an insightful interview with John Prendergast

ST: Your letter discusses trying to achieve a credible deal for Darfur. What would that look like? How is this going to be different from the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) of 2006?

Prendergast: The DPA didn’t address the fundamental issues in Darfur. The DPA was a deeply, deeply flawed document that didn’t deal with the dismantling of the Janjaweed structures, didn’t adequately address the core demand of Darfurians from all walks of life that there would be substantial individual compensation—which is really what they’re seeking—and there was inadequate power-sharing and wealth-sharing terms. So until those issues are on the table and really being negotiated, there won’t be any peace in Darfur.

ST: You believe that peace-making in Sudan would be cost-effective. In what way?

Prendergast: What we’re doing now is we’re sending billions of dollars in humanitarian assistance and in support for observer forces—I can’t even say peacekeeping forces because they’re not keeping any peace—and we’re sending this money without any strategy for addressing the core problem, without any strategy of ending the problems. With these billions of dollars, we are simply managing the symptoms of the crisis in Darfur, not addressing the root causes.

Now we’ve got a chance, because the new administration is coming in, to re-focus the lense and say, instead of continuing with this sort of status quo working around the edges, let’s go at the core. Let’s deal with the crisis directly with a diplomatic strategy to try to end the war, which costs very little, and hopefully save over the next decade billions of dollars for humanitarian assistance and the peace observer mission and those kinds of forces.

ST: Is there anything that would justify deferring the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation of Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir, who is indicted on ten counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity?

Prendergast: The charter of the ICC says that the Security Council can suspend, one year at a time, the proceedings of the case in the interests of peace and justice. If the Sudanese government signed a peace deal with the Darfurian rebels—a serious, significant peace deal that would address the concerns, that wasn’t a DPA-like document but actually was a real peace agreement like we have with the southern Sudanese, then we would be the first ones to argue for a suspension—for a year. And then if they don’t implement the agreement you let the case proceed.

But there are no adequate local mechanisms right now to deal with the enormity of the crimes. In a judicial sense I don’t think you can say that.

ST: The letter to the next president says that US should work with the European Union to bring sanctions against Sudan for leverage. But how will the US work with its partners in the Arab world?

Prendergast: It’s becoming an embarrassment for Arab countries to continuously back this government when this crisis simply sustains itself and nothing happens to diminish it. And the more that they have to defend this government from the rest of the world’s condemnations, the more irritating it becomes for some of these governments. So they have mounted behind Qatar in this effort, but the Qataris didn’t coordinate well with the Egyptians. So that’s a problem within the Arab world—I’m sure that this process is structurally not yet sufficient to even begin to address the problems of Darfur, but you don’t want to dismiss things before they get started. The point is, a comprehensive approach to the problem in Darfur requires deep, serious and sustained engagement of the key countries in the Arab world, starting with Egypt and Saudi Arabia, working with them closely every step of the way.

ST: The letter to the next president states that the U.S. and the UN must not allow Khartoum to decide the size, national composition and timeframe for deployment of the UNAMID peacekeeping mission in Darfur. What mechanism is there to make this happen?

Prendergast: One of the main reasons countries are not supporting UNAMID is that there is no strategy for ending this thing, for ameliorating the conflict. So countries are not sending their forces to do traditional peacekeeping or peace observation, they’re going into a full-scale war that has no prospects for resolution. Very few countries want to send their troops into harm’s way. But if suddenly there is a political strategy and peace process that potentially could end this thing and deal with the serious challenges that Darfur presents, I am sure more countries would get on board. We have got to get at the roots of resistance, the reason why these countries are not owning up is that this is a loser mission, because the war is going to continue in Darfur.

ST: U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer was in Khartoum on Monday. She was in Juba too. Is that the equivalent of the “peace surge” you advocate, or is it different?

Prendergast: The internal divisions alone within the Bush administration have made that impossible. Bickering and undermining of Special Envoy Williamson ensures that the US efforts are divided and largely impotent in addressing the core problems of Darfur. And she has been a major part of the problem—the last envoy, Natsios, and this envoy—there are continuous problems between them and her. It appears she is just concerned about turf, who controls Sudan policy. Sadly, this is one of the obsessions of bureaucrats over the last century. And Jendayi Frazer appears to be no exception to that: controlling the policy appears more important than getting real progress on addressing the fundamental objectives.
And what have we seen? We’ve seen no progress on rapid deployment of UNAMID, we’ve seen no progress in the peace process, we’ve seen very little support for real justice there, and the US isn’t supporting the ICC, we’re just sort of standing on the sidelines. So we’re doing very little to address the reasons that caused the problems there in Darfur.

ST: What leverage is there to bring rebel movements into negotiations? This administration has clearly failed to unite them, the UN has failed to unite them—is that the wrong approach?

Prendergast: The rebels will not be united in any significant way until there is a serious, sustained peace process that begins to lay out the core issues of concern to the people of Darfur. As long as there is no process, there is a vacuum in which individual assertion of control and inter-communal and inter-organizational divisions are hastening the dissolution of the social fabric of Darfur. The rebels just have not had anybody to seriously deal with yet and until they do they are going to continue to play their games. And I think that’s really been the big failing of our international effort—we haven’t given these guys anything to buy into.
Again, the DPA was the antithesis of what needs to be a comprehensive peace deal.

ST: Obama and his team have spoken favorably of a no-fly zone in Darfur. If there is a no-fly zone, isn’t there potential for escalation of conflict with Sudan?

Prendergast: I think that a no-fly zone is one of these things that should only be deployed if necessary, after we’ve begun a process of dealing with these guys in a more serious way, with multilateral leverage, and if that doesn’t work you go to the next level.
The no-fly zone would entail, most likely, the capacity to bomb individual planes in the Sudanese airfields that have carried out offensive operations. In other words, if there’s an offensive bombing or military attack of a civilian target, then that plane would then be shot at. Probably destroyed on the tarmac. It would not be a simple thing because it would be an act of war and the Sudanese would potentially respond by cutting off all airspace for humanitarian flights. And then we’d have to be prepared to do much more than that, than what we had done just bombing one plane. So it should only be employed if there is a commitment to doing much more in case the Sudanese reaction is destructive towards humanitarian operations.

ST: How influential do you think the activist movement will be on the next administration?

Prendergast: Both candidates in the run-up to the election were responsive and sensitive to the concerns of the Sudan advocates and pledged to do much more than the current administration did on Sudan. I believe that there is a bipartisan commitment in capital hill and within the Obama camp to really make this concept of “Never Again” more meaningful than it has been.

http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article29186

Informative perspective on the DRC crisis

Ulrich Delius is Director of the Africa Desk of the Society for Threatened Peoples in Germany, an international human rights organization dedicated to the promotion of the rights of ethnic and religious minorities. Since joining STP in 1986, he has specialized in ethnic, religious, social and military conflicts in Sudan, including genocide, slavery, and the impact of the oil industry on war and peace in Sudan.

Ulrich Delius: We think it is a very positive development that the British and French foreign secretaries traveled to the region and showed to all participants in this conflict, especially the governments of Rwanda and the Congo, that the EU has a vital interest in stabilizing peace in Central Africa. I think, politically, that is a very important message. Another question is would it be helpful for the EU to send military support to MONUC, the UN mission, or to have a humanitarian mission of its own military forces. This is a completely different point. We are quite reluctant when it comes to such an involvement because we had to analyze it in a practical way. Who might be able to send these soldiers on a very urgent mission to central Africa? It could only be France at the present time, and France has had an extremely difficult relationship with the Rwandan government for a long time due to its implication in its involvement in the genocide in 1994 in Rwanda. So sending French soldiers on behalf of the European Union would incite more problems than it would solve.
Q;There are currently 17,000 UN troops based in the Congo, which is the largest peace keeping force in the world, despite the fact that the Congo has a land area that is roughly the same size as western Europe. Do we need new troops sent in and should they be UN troops?
A. Certainly most experts think that we need new troops and there have been very concrete demands by the former MONUC leader Alan Doss. He presented a list of what he has been looking for months and months and nobody reacted. They only reacted at the last moment when they saw the peace process was collapsing in central Africa. But I think it's not only necessary to discuss new troops, but we also need to discuss the mandate of these troops and why these 17,000 UN peace keepers are unable to protect the civilian population and preserve peace. That's a really important question and nobody on the UN Security Council seems to be talking about this matter.

Q.The EU foreign ministers will gather in Brussels on Monday, November 10th. If sending French troops is such a problem what could they do to battle that?

A. Rebel forces are being led by Laurent Nkunda That would certainly be a positive step to finance more involvement of foreign troops in a MONUC mission. To encourage an open debate in the Security Council about the mandate of these MONUC troops and why they still have been unable to fulfill their mission. And to encourage all of the conflict's parties, especially the governments of the Congo and Rwanda and other African countries who have troops involved, to stick to this peace again there and to fulfill all the promises that were made during the peace conferences that have taken place over the last two years.

Q.Which European governments are considered to be friendly towards the Democratic Republic of Congo and why can't they send soldiers?

A.It's difficult to decide on a European level because we had this discussion in regard to Sudan and the mission there before. We heard about the difficulties of European countries to send any troops and have a larger involvement in the mission to Africa. Most of this is due to technical problems. Many are heavily involved in Iraq, Afghanistan and other peace keeping missions in Europe. We had this discussion for many months in regard to Sudan. European countries have been unable to support the UN there so why should we start this discussion about European involvement in the Congo? Let's focus on more realistic points, specifically putting more pressure on the Rwandan government. Many countries, especially Germany, have a very positive and intensive relationship with Rwanda. So why aren't they using their influence on [Rwandan President Paul Kagame] to push him to stop his support of General Nkunda and why aren't they talking about the inefficiency of the European programs to stabilize the Congo? In 2005 the European Union decided to start the EUSEC mission to improve the security sector in the Congo, especially for the police and the national army. Now the national army is the most prolific violator of human rights in the Congo so we need to talk about why we are spending so much money on these programs which really aren't that efficient.

Q.There talking about Nkunda's troops killing people as well, so can we really just blame the government?

A.No, we shouldn't blame just the government and we shouldn't blame just Nkunda. What we have seen is that over the past few weeks nearly 80 percent of all the human rights violations in the eastern Congo were not committed by rebels, but rather by the regular Congolese army. Just two days ago we got news about an incident where rebels murdered at least 12 civilians, and we have to criticize Nkunda over these killings, that's for sure. However, when we discuss who is responsible for protecting human rights and the civilian populations on both sides we need to ask ourselves what is the Congolese government doing to improve the human rights commitment of its own army and police force? And the answer is nothing.

Q.There was talk a while back about the African Union controlling a force or African countries sending troops into Darfur, why isn't it that the EU is working closer with the AU to try and solve this problem in the Congo?

A.There are certainly many foreign ministries in the European Union which might favor broader involvement of the African Union in the Congo conflict. But on the other hand they're also aware that the Congo conflict is also an African conflict involving many countries, not just the Congo and Rwanda. So many countries are involved militarily or politically in this struggle at the moment. But it's extremely difficult to get the African Union involved as a neutral party, and right now only neutral parties can be effective. Regarding the inefficiency of the African Union and its peace commitment in Darfur, it's really not a good idea to invite the AU to be more involved in the Congo because the Congo conflict is much more complex and much more difficult to solve than the Darfur conflict. They are failing in Darfur and they would be guaranteed to fail in the Congo.

DRC-conditions worsen

Refugees flee latest fighting in east Congo
By Emmanuel Braun and Hereward Holland

KIBATI, Congo, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Thousands of frightened civilians fled fighting near a refugee camp in eastern Congo on Friday, as renewed clashes between rebels and government troops added urgency to a regional peace summit being held in Kenya.
Carrying infants, bundles, pots and even domestic animals, refugees streamed south away from the camp at Kibati at the base of the Nyiragongo volcano in Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern North Kivu province.

The sound of machine-gun, mortar and rocket-propelled grenade fire echoed from the surrounding hills as Tutsi rebels loyal to renegade General Laurent Nkunda fought government troops dug in near Kibati, 7 km (4 miles) north of the North Kivu regional capital Goma. The clash occurred as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met African leaders at a summit at Nairobi in Kenya on Friday to try to end the conflict in eastern Congo.

A recent upsurge in fighting in North Kivu between Nkunda's rebels and government troops backed by militia allies has raised fears of a repeat of a wider 1998-2003 war in the vast, mineral-rich former Belgian colony. United Nations relief agencies, which run the Kibati camp, said the fighting had interrupted the distribution of aid and caused panic among the camp population.

"All our programmes in Kibati have been suspended as a result of the shooting, the whole camp is emptying," Jaya Murthy, spokesperson for the U.N. children's agency UNICEF in Goma, told Reuters.

A spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo (MONUC) said the fighting at Kibati broke out when rebel fighters advanced from their positions and fired into the air, drawing return fire from Congolese army (FARDC) troops.

"The FARDC soldiers were provoked to such a point by the (rebels) that they started to shoot," he said.
Witnesses said heavier firing broke out later, sending people running for cover and fleeing down the road. No details of casualties were immediately available.

CIVILIANS BEING KILLED

Witnesses saw a column of Congolese army troops heading north towards frontline positions occupied by Nkunda's rebels, who had suspended an offensive on Goma last week.
The UNHCR said it was worried about the risk of innocent civilians being caught in the crossfire of fighting.
"We are again appealing to all sides in the conflict to respect the civilian character of the camps, to respect humanitarian principles and to ensure the safety of civilians and those trying to help them," UNHCR chief spokesman Ron Redmond said in Geneva.

Refugees and aid workers have been clamouring for more protection by the 17,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo, whose commanders say they are thinly stretched across a country the size of Western Europe which has few paved roads.

U.S.-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Nkunda's rebels and government-backed Mai-Mai militias of deliberately killing civilians in fighting this week at Kiwanja, north of Goma.

"U.N. peacekeepers in the eastern Congo are simply unable to protect civilians who are being deliberately attacked," said HRW senior researcher Anneke Van Woudenberg. She called on the international community to reinforce the U.N. force.

The number of people displaced by fighting in North Kivu province since September is now estimated at 250,000, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said. This was in addition to 800,000 who had fled previous hostilities in the province bordering Rwanda.

"The humanitarian situation is deteriorating," OCHA spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/) (Additional reporting by Henrique Almeida in Luanda; Writing by Pascal Fletcher; editing by Ralph Boulton)

© Reuters 2008. All Rights Reserved. | Learn more about Reuters

Alarming build up of troops around camps

Darfur IDPs say Sudan building troops, urges world protection

November 6, 2008 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese army is building up troops in the three states of Darfur and started crackdown against displaced people who urge the international community to provide them with protection. Militias are gathered amd mobilized outside the towns.

Hussein Abu Sharati, Darfur IDPs and refugees’ spokesperson warned that the Sudanese army is building troops around the camps and mobilizes militias out side the towns. He further said more than 4000 vehicles full of troops arrived yesterday.
The displaced spokesperson also accused the Sudanese authorities of hindering the activities of International NGOs and indiscriminately arresting the IPDs when they leave their camps and come into the towns.
He urged the international community to protect them with a robust, capable force.

Mr Sharati believes that authorities are preparing new attacks similar to that on Kalma.

Desperatly seeking solutions in DRC. I will travel there very soon-for UNICEF.

UN Chief and African Leaders Seek Congo Peace <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/08/world/africa/08congo.html?ref=world>

New York Times - United States

...hundreds of thousands displaced by intense fighting between rebels and government forces, threatening to plunge a broader swathe of central Africa back into war. ...

congressman John Lewis

Congressman John lewis stood beside Dr Martin luther King Jr. -a hero of the civil rights movement. Asked about the election of Barack Obama, Congressman Lewis replied:

"I was thinking about Martin Luther King Jr and the days that we marched on Washington in 1963; the time that we marched in Selma for the right to vote; when we stood in those unmovable lines when people had to pass a so called 'literacy test'. People were asked to count the number of bubbles in a bar of soap, the number of jelly beans in a jar. And there were hundreds and thousands of black Americans in the heart of the deep south that never had an opportunity to register and to vote."

"To me it (the campaign) was very spiritual. It was something about this man and it was something about the movement he was leading. It was more than a political movement. And I felt that Barack Obama had been tracked down by history and was allowing himself to be used for the common good. "

THE DREAM

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today. "

Dr Martin Luther King

1963

Now is the Time for action

Sudan Tribune
Now is the Time for Action on Darfur
By Anne Bartlett

November 3, 2008 — There has never been a more important time in the history of the Darfur conflict than the present one. Never before has there been an alignment of forces that are likely to be hostile to the interests of the Sudanese regime and that have the potential to bring about a rapid change of policy from the NCP. Change can occur and occur quickly if leverage is used in an intelligent way to ensure that Al-Bashir’s alternatives are closed down. However for this to occur, all areas of pressure must align themselves and work in a concerted manner to generate the leverage needed.

On the political and diplomatic front, the likely installation of an Obama/Biden presidency in the US could have significant impacts on the ability of the Sudanese government to operate. Known to be a hawk on Darfur, Biden has repeatedly stressed the need for tough action, including his view that military intervention should not be taken off the table. The fact is however that military intervention in Darfur is not necessary, provided the US uses its diplomatic credentials to weaken the Sudanese government’s position. Since Obama/Biden’s goal is to resolve pressing foreign policy concerns so that they can concentrate on issues at home, there will be a willingness to engage regional superpowers to lessen the support for conflict. In particular, this means an active engagement with the Chinese and Russians to take away their military and logistical support for the Sudanese regime. Intelligent negotiations over the situation in Georgia and the escalating tensions round the Caspian region over access to oil and gas will encourage the Russians to step back from aggressive posturing against the West through dictators such as Al-Bashir. Where Chinese support is concerned, this can similarly be scaled back with active support of the ICC process. An indicted Bashir is an imperiled China and this is evidenced by China’s attempts to back off from its public support of Al-Bashir in the last few days, in order to ensure that future supplies of oil remain constant.

For activists on Darfur, it is important to make Biden aware that Darfur is a top priority and that it should be treated as such on the U.S. foreign policy agenda. During the first 100 days of a new presidency, the foreign policy agenda of the government will be re-worked and decisions will be made that can have ramifications for the next 4-8 years. It is important to remind the new incumbent that Darfur can produce a significant foreign policy win (in a way that entrenched wars like Iraq and Afghanistan cannot), if the right leverage is applied at this time. A foreign policy win on Darfur brought about on the back of a concerted effort at this point can not only produce a helpful dynamic for Sudan and its immediate neighbors, but also elsewhere in the region. Serious attempts to solve a major conflict in Africa, coupled with the election of an African American with a lineage from within the continent, will make it much harder for authoritarian forces to line themselves up in the kind of damaging way that they have in recent history.

For the movements in Darfur, now is the time to approach the incoming US government with a view to seeking an expedited settlement. Early face to face meetings with the incoming team members can produce fruitful results. In particular this means producing a workable interim security plan from the movements’ side detailing exactly what is needed to secure the lives of local people in the short term. This plan needs to address security in the camps and elsewhere where there are significant numbers of displaced Darfurians. This will then give the international community leverage which they can use in tandem with the ICC process to press the NCP for concessions and to enforce pre-existing UN resolutions. Once security has been resolved, the larger issue of power sharing and the peace process can be addressed later in a meaningful way.

With the removal of the Bush administration, the international community must take their own responsibility on Darfur seriously. This means a concerted effort to move away from the geopolitical realities brought about by the Bush doctrine — particularly where the “war on terror” is concerned. It is highly unlikely that the intelligence gained from the likes of Salah Ghosh is worth the price that Darfurians, Southerners and Easterners have had to pay to pay for it. The Sudanese government, as instigators of jihadist policy are unlikely to be first in line to stop the war on terror and this point needs to be borne in mind at all times in any negotiations going forward.

Finally the peacekeeping force in Darfur must be radically overhauled. It is manifestly preposterous that the architects of genocide are being allowed to dictate which forces will prevent the slaughter of innocent civilians in Darfur. Resources and logistical support are urgently needed if protection is to mean anything. It was stunning today that David Millband, Bernard Kouchner and others have stepped up to the plate in Congo and yet singularly failed to do so in Darfur. It is not as simple as saying that Kabila is more cooperative than Al-Bashir, even if superficially at least, that is true. Britain in particular bears significant responsibility for the inequitable distribution of power in post-colonial Sudan and should take that responsibility seriously. It is not enough to offer to host peace talks when the world is watching and then withdraw the offer at a later date. Sudan listens only to those who are serious and the international community needs to take a much tougher stance with the regime if change is to occur.

Today, it is more than 5 years since the start of military hostilities on the ground and those living through this nightmare deserve better. The people of Darfur have been left to believe that the international community has abandoned them to their fate and no longer cares about their survival. In the 21st century this is an appalling position which threatens the credibility of the international community and its allied institutions. At this historic moment we must seize the day, use our considerable power for good so that we can change the trajectory of the Darfur crisis once and for all.

* Anne Bartlett is a Director of the Darfur Centre for Human Rights and Development and a Professor of Sociology at the University of San Francisco. She can be reached at albartle@uchicago.edu

Responsibility to Protect

Smoothly, many in the international community lament Darfur's genocide but say that its solutions are beyond the boundaries of national interests and they invoke the concept of "national sovereignty." I contest that statement. The United Nations has, in 2006, clearly stated that the international community, through the United Nations, has the responsibility to "protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity."

"Responsibility to protect" means the international community must "react" when states are unable or unwilling to protect those living within their borders. The international action can be political, diplomatic, economic or military. The latter should be at the ready in "extreme and exceptional cases," which it defines as "cases of violence which ... shock the conscience of mankind."

The responsibility to protect has redefined the concept of sovereignty by clearly stating that it involves not only the rights of nation states, but the responsibilities of civilian protection they bear. The responsibility to protect marks the end of centuries of inviolate borders and impunity within them. In principle.

The reality is something else. Over my 10 trips to the Darfur region since 2004, I have seen men, women and children fleeing for their lives. In terror they fled their burning homes, in terror they endured the rapes and unthinkable atrocities. In terror and dread they await the next attacks. In terror they have waited for more than five unthinkable years for protection that has not come.

Rwandan genocide -sores still festering in DRC

(AP) Food, is the critical issue for most people in and around Goma.
"Everybody is hungry, everybody," said Jean Bizy, 25, a teacher, who watched with envy as the U.N. convoy stopped to deliver a sack of potatoes to U.N. troops in Rugari. Bizy said he has been surviving on wild bananas for days.

Rebel leader Laurent Nkunda went on the offensive Aug. 28 and brought his fighters to the edge of Goma last week before declaring a unilateral cease-fire.

The conflict is fueled by festering ethnic hatred left over from Rwanda's 1994 genocide and Congo's civil wars from 1996-2002. Nkunda claims the Congolese government has not protected ethnic Tutsis from the Rwandan Hutu militia that escaped to Congo after helping slaughter a half-million Rwandan Tutsis. All sides are believed to fund fighters by illegally mining Congo's vast mineral riches, giving them no financial interest in stopping the fighting.

Tens of thousands of people in Kibati have received little food aid since they fled their homes a week ago. Fernandez said families here have been forced to move four or five times in the past 10 days. "They go around in circles ... fleeing the movement of troops and the lines of combat," she said. Since Thursday, streams of refugees have thronged the roads around Goma trying to get home, lugging babies and bundles of belongings, guiding children, pigs and goats. To ease food shortages, rebels on Monday allowed farmers to reach Goma in trucks packed with cabbages, onions and spinach.

Nkunda began a low-level insurgency in 2004, claiming Congo's transition to democracy had excluded the Tutsi ethnic group. Despite agreeing in January to a U.N.-brokered cease-fire, he resumed fighting in August.

Nkunda wants direct talks with the government. He has especially complained about a $9 billion agreement in which China gets access to Congo's valuable minerals in return for building a highway and railroad.

Nkunda's rebellion has threatened to re-ignite the back-to-back wars that afflicted Congo from 1996 to 2002, drawing in a half dozen African nations. Congo President Joseph Kabila, elected in 2006 in Congo's first election in 40 years, has struggled to contain the violence in the east.

Congo has charged Nkunda with involvement in war crimes, and Human Rights Watch says it has documented summary executions, torture and rape committed by soldiers under Nkunda's command in 2002 and 2004. Yet rights groups have also accused government forces of atrocities and widespread looting.

The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo is its largest in the world, yet only 6,000 peacekeepers of the 17,000-strong U.N. mission in Congo are in the east because of unrest in other provinces.

Salva Kir to meet with chairman of JEM

The Sudanese First Vice President and Chairman of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) Salva Kiir will meet very soon the Chairman of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) to discuss Darfur peace process and ways to boost party to party relations.

A delegation from the SPLM led by Secretary General Pagan Amum held a two-day meeting with JEM chairman Khalil Ibrahim in Darfur near the Chadian border. The meeting was "historical, constructive and successful" said Ahmed Hussein Adam, the spokesperson of the rebel group. The SPLM -JEM leadership meeting of the two political movements could intervene very soon Ahmed added without further details. Salva Kiir and Khalil Ibrahim will discuss the peace process to reach a common ground also they would discuss the bilateral relationship between the two parties.

Pagan Amum, his deputy Yasir Arman and the head of southern Sudan office in Washington, Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, are in Chad for talks with the Chadian officials and Darfur rebel movements in a bid to mend Sudan-Chad tension and discuss Darfur peace efforts.
In a meeting that lasted two days the two delegations discussed "ways to preserve the unity of Sudan, reach a fair and lasting peace in Darfur and to achieve full implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement" Adam told Sudan Tribune.
(ST)

Who is Laurent Nkunda-The leader of DRC's rebel forces

Laurent Nkunda, 41, has led eastern Congo's most feared rebel force since he broke his 7,000 troops away from the national army and set up his headquarters in a bombed-out former dairy farm in the hills north of Goma. Cheese made in his dairies is famous throughout central Africa.

Tall, urbane and charming, he is rarely seen out of his sharply-dressed green fatigues and mirror-shine black 18-eyelet boots, unless he is posing in a cowboy hat and dark sunglasses. His softly-spoken English occasionally hardens as he lists the litany of violence he says has been meted out against his Tutsi people, by Hutu hardliners who fled over the border after carrying out the genocide in neighboring Rwanda.

Mr. Nkunda claims the militia known as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), is bent on carrying out a fresh genocide against Congo's Tutsis, (who make up three per cent of the population of the country's east-- Hutus are roughly 40%.) Stamping out the FDLR is his stated mission. In reality, his agenda is less clear. He is close to Rwanda, which denies officially supporting his offensive. Also at stake is the control of Eastern Congo's vast mineral wealth, which includes gold and tin and almost all of the world's coltan, a metal crucial to the manufacture of every mobile phone in the world. Perhaps, this accomplished strategist is simply a typical African warlord thirsting for land and power. This he denies, repeating his mantra of saving Congo's people from tyranny.

But it is tyranny that he's unleashed. Thousands have fled from his troops. His soldiers are accused of murder and rape.
Now, he says he is ready to talk peace.

Democratic Republic of Congo - We must not allow Congo to become another Rwanda.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has warned that the world must not allow a repeat of the Rwandan genocide in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The current conflict in the DRC has its roots in the genocide 14 years ago in neighboring Rwanda. At that time, more than a million people were killed when Hutu extremists turned on their Tutsi neighbors. In the last three weeks, a ceasefire brokered by the UN disintegrated in an explosion of violence that has caused as many as 300,000 thousand people to flee their homes. Rebel leader General Laurent Nkunda has said he returned to battle in order to protect his Tutsi community from Rwandan Hutus (who fled to DRC after carrying out the genocide of 1994.)

But after DRC government troops fled –on the outskirts of the regional capital Goma, rebel troops are accused of murder, rape and looting.

The Rwandans have been accused of supporting rebel leader Nkunda - a claim they deny . The rebels accuse the Congolese government of backing the Hutu militias.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband, in a joint statement with with French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner, said the Congolese government needs to take "proper command" of its forces. The politicians, who traveled to DRC to try to help find a diplomatic solution to the renewed conflict between rebel and government forces, added: "There is no excuse for turning away."

The envoys said the current ceasefire must be bolstered and routes must be secured for the delivery of aid. "The international community must support humanitarian delivery, strengthen the United Nations force, and help promote and enforce agreements."
At the same time, they added that the Rwandan government needed to take "active steps" to help end the crisis.

Foreign Office minister Lord Malloch-Brown has already disclosed that contingency plans were being drawn up for the deployment of a European Union force - including UK troops - to support the UN.

Darfur civil society supports ICC and its Chief Prosecutor

Darfuri civil society and human rights activists: Justice for victims in Darfur

The Hague- Supporting the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on his quest of an arrest warrant for Omar al-Bashir, president of Sudan, on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Darfur civil society submits a letter of gratitude to the Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, outlining their strong and genuine support to the endeavour of the Chief Prosecutor in pursuit for justice for the innocent civilians of Darfur.

Darfur civil society worldwide and human rights activists express their full support for Mr Moreno-Ocampo’s work and stressed the importance of the international community’s pursuit of justice for the victims of crimes against humanity in Darfur.

“Sudanese regime and its allied janjaweed militia continue to commit gross crimes against humanity and intentionally maintain inflicting on the people of Darfur the worse conditions of life to create the physical destruction of the civilian populations. To end the suffering of the people of Darfur, perpetrators must be brought to justice. Organizations such as African Union, Arab League and Organization of Islamic conference should not be rewarding perpetrators of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity by attempting to derail ICC indictment on Darfur crimes ” said Ahmed M. Mohamedain, leader of Darfur Union, a Darfuri civil society group based in The Hague.

Darfuri civil society and human rights activists have long stressed the paramount importance of pursuing justice while continuing to seek a political resolution to the conflict in Darfur.

“We call the international community to extend their strong support to the Chief Prosecutor to exercise his duties and to translate the ‘’NEVER AGAIN’’ slogan into reality” said Mohamed Ibrahim Abdelwahab, Spokesman of Darfur People’s Union in U.K and Northern Ireland.

The activists have called especially on the members of the United Nations Security Council to show strong support for the Prosecutor’s work and to insist on Sudanese compliance with the ICC.

Abdelbagi Jibril, Executive Director of the Darfur Relief and Documentation Centre, noted: “The decision to refer the situation in Darfur to the ICC was done by a means of UN Security Council resolution 1593 (2005) of 31stMarch 2005. As such the ICC action on Darfur is a mechanism for implementation of the provisions of UNSC resolution 1593. We wish to remind all UN member states, whether they are State Parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC or not, to fully support the ICC work on Darfur and meet their obligations to cooperate in implementing mandatory UN Security Council resolutions”

Darfuri activist and Liaison Officer with the Save Darfur Coalition Niemat Ahmadi said: “As Darfuri woman I strongly believe that justice for the genocide victims must be an uncompromised right. I believe the suffering that came as the result of the injustice will not be alleviated without a proper trial and investigation, which will only be found in the ICC. Albashir has been given the last six years to make peace, but instead we have only seen the suffering of our people increase and the situation worsening. This gathering of the Darfuri civil society from all over Europe today is to press for justice to become a reality now in Darfur. The world must take into account that Darfuri concerns should be the priority among any other concerns. We are the victims and we want justice to be allowed to take its course.”

For further information contact:

Darfur Union, The HagueAhmed M. Mohamedain: +31 642 330 058

Darfur Relief and Documentation Centre, GenevaAbdelbagi Jibril: +41 22 747 00 89

Darfur People’s Union in UK and Northern IrelandMohamed Ibrahim Abdelwahab, London +44 7717 408 966

Liaison Officer with the Save Darfur Coalition, Niemat Ahmadi, Washington + 12022239541

A third IDP camp being attacked by Janjaweed

This email came from an NGO working in Darfur
"As I write this, Kassab camp (North Darfur), home to 25,000 unarmed civilians and the location of DPDO's women's center, is under attack by Janjaweed forces. Rebel forces are too distant and under-equipped to defend Kassab. UNAMID has only a small presence there. Who will be dead tomorrow?"

Click here to see horrifying pictures of the victims of the slaughter, in August, of the residents at Kalma camp. Yet another camp, Zamzam, was attacked in September. But be warned, these pictures are extremely graphic and NOT for young children.

My friend Nicholas Kristof, who also received this same email, writes
"Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir tends to be at his worst when the world is distracted. These days the U.S. is absorbed by the presidential election, Darfur fatigue has set in, and so he evidently feels a little freedom. So we're seeing attacks on camps of displaced people, where Darfuris have sought protection and assistance after fleeing their villages.

"People often ask me if I find it impossibly depressing to go to Darfur and talk to the victims there. Yes, sometimes. But I find it just as depressing that five years into a genocide, the international community mumbles homilies about human rights and 'never again' even as camps like this are attacked without the world even noticing."

The latest UN Secretary General's report

The latest Secretary-General's report on Sudan dated 20 October 2008 can be accessed and downloaded at the link below:

English: http://www.unmis.org/english/en-main.htm

Arabic: http://www.unmis.org/arabic/ar-main.htm

All SG's reports on Sudan can be found at UNMIS website, www.unmis.org <http://www.unmis.org/>

US accuses Sudan of duplicity in Darfur

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Sudan has violated an embargo on arms transfers to its war-torn Darfur region and disguised planes to look like U.N. humanitarian aircraft, the U.S. envoy to the United Nations said on Tuesday. Speaking at a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Darfur, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad accused Khartoum of a litany of duplicitous actions, all of which he said had been documented by an expert panel of the U.N. Sanctions Committee. They included "violating the limited arms embargo on Darfur, using aircraft painted to resemble U.N. humanitarian aircraft, (and) conducting offensive overflights in Darfur."
He also accused Sudan of "not accepting that there is no impunity for war crimes and crimes against humanity" -- a reference to Khartoum's refusal to hand over two men indicted by the International Criminal Court for mass murder in Darfur.

The U.N. under-secretary-general for field support, Susana Malcorra, told the council that her new targets assumed that 60 percent of UNAMID's full mandated strength of 26,000 would be deployed by the year's end.Malcorra said a previous U.N. goal of 80 percent of full UNAMID deployment by the end of this year had been unrealistic. That would be reached by the end of March 2009, she said. "These new revised targets reflect a scaling back of initial extremely ambitious projections," she said. "The new targets are still ambitious but in our view can be achieved."

The United States complained for months about the slow deployment, blaming it on Sudanese obstructionism and U.N. bureaucracy. But Washington's special envoy to Sudan Richard Williamson told Reuters he welcomed the revised targets.
"We're encouraged that we should have at least 3,600 more UNAMID troops in Darfur by the end of this year," he said.

U.N. officials have dismissed suggestions that they have moved slowly with the deployment of UNAMID, which was created in July 2007. They accuse troop-contributing countries of not providing badly needed military hardware like helicopters.
The council also discussed U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's new report on UNAMID, in which he says up to 300,000 people have been forced to flee violence in Darfur this year.

According to U.N. estimates, a recent increase in violence in North Darfur alone has displaced at least 40,000 people.

HELP HAITI IF YOU CAN

UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes said yesterday that he was willing to make an additional allocation from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to meet urgent needs. CERF has already allocated $4.3 million to three UN aid agencies and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), but that was more than a month ago.
Haiti remains in desperate need of support after four hurricanes and tropical storms Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike lashed the country between mid-August and mid-September, killing nearly 800 people and affecting an estimated 1 million people.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that only $24.8 million has been received of the $106 million requested by aid agencies to help with relief and recovery efforts.

Mr. Holmes, who is also the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, toured the northern seaside city of Gonaives, considered the hardest-hit city. Living conditions inside Gonaives have been made more difficult by large volumes of stagnant water and mud.

There are many organizations providing relief to Haiti, among them UNICEF, the World Food Program, CARE, Save the Children, Americares, American Red Cross and Yele Haiti.

Humanitarian Situation in Darfur

Renewed brutal attacks and forced recruitment by LRA have raised fears throughout three African nations.

In the last month, a series of raids in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and southern Sudan has been attributed to Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) . The group, known for the brutality of their attacks, has also attacked a remote eastern area of the Central African Republic (CAR), kidnapping more than 100 children from the Obo area. Neither the children nor their remains have been found.

Recent attacks in northeastern DRC have killed more than 200 people. The rebels "conducted a campaign of killing, systematic abduction of children and burning of almost all houses," a UN report stated.

Witnesses say, "They were killing, burning the huts, destroying the food and they took the children with them from the school into the bush."
Local officials say at least 100 children were abducted from villages in southern Sudan and another 100 from DRC, with thousands displaced.

LRA rebel chief Joseph Kony began his battle 20 years ago, claiming to fight against the marginalization of the people of northern Uganda. But the LRA's savage attacks, in which they cut off the limbs and lips of their victims, were directed at civilians more often than the military.

In the 1990s, the rebels began moving into neighboring south Sudan, reportedly backed by Khartoum as a proxy force against southern rebels.

Since 2005, when Sudan signed a peace deal to end its long-running north-south civil war, the LRA moved into remote jungles in DRC.

"The LRA has gone from Uganda, but with this wave of abductions it is consolidating its forces in isolated areas of south Sudan, CAR and the DR Congo," said Francois Grignon of the International Crisis Group think tank.
It is widely believed that the LRA enjoys the support of the Khartoum government.

40 killed, 12,000 displaced in S. Darfur

A surge in violence in Darfur recently has displaced thousands more civilians, say aid agencies and human rights groups. Human Rights Watch said that more than 40 civilians had been killed in attacks by Janjaweed, pro-government Arab militias, on villages in South Darfur.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said thousands had fled the fighting in the last month. It said that many were sheltering under trees and lacked basic supplies. Aid agencies say the latest violence happened in the area of Muhajiriya, east of the South Darfur capital, Nyala.

Human Rights Watch said that government-backed Arab militias attacked more than 15 villages around Muhajiriya, burning homes and stealing livestock, forcing thousands to flee. "Once again, civilians are bearing the brunt of fighting in Darfur," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at the agency.
About 12,000 people have been displaced in the last two weeks.

Facing possible prosecution for genocide in the International Criminal Court, president Bashir's government has warned that Sudan could cancel all its agreements with the UN if the ICC case goes ahead. In July, ICC prosecutors in the Hague formally requested an arrest warrant for Bashir, saying that he had "masterminded" massacres in Darfur and that he should stand trial for genocide.
One of the recent steps taken by the Sudanese government to appease foreign powers and assert its authority has been to arrest militia leader Ali Kushayb, accused by the ICC of murder, rape and torture, as well as the forced displacement of villagers, and other war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. In 2007, the ICC charged Kushayb with crimes against humanity and demanded that Sudan hand him over but its government refused to do so, denying that he had done anything wrong. Analysts say that by changing its tack and deciding to put Kushayb on trail, Sudan is trying to show its legal system can handle the investigations itself and further the push to block the global court's move against the Sudanese President.

While judges in The Hague are deliberating whether to prosecute President Bashir, African and Arab leaders are urging the UN and the court to drop the case, arguing that it could unleash a backlash against civilians and aid workers and lessen the dim prospects for peace in Darfur.

An estimated 400,000 Darfuri lives have already been lost and 2.7 million have been displace. They have fled to refuge camps in Darfur, neighboring Chad, and the Central African Republic.

Muslims in America

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/23/syed.muslim/index.html
When Colin Powell used his endorsement speech to recognise Muslim-Americans and state the only appropriate response to the questions about obama being Muslim, all I could think was - why has no one with clout been saying this before??? Nafees Sayed, a Harvard student, makes the point most powerfully.

Did you know the current realities for women in Iraq?

I'm in Seoul, Korea. Yesterday I shared a panel with Rory Kennedy (whom I love and admire so much; she makes GREAT and important documentaries). The third panelist was Yanar Mohammed -- an Iraqi woman who is an extremely courageous advocate for women's rights in Iraq.

The eye popper for me was hearing her say that since 2003, since the US invaded Iraq, women's rights have slid down to an abysmal low-the worst in her life. She told us the new government is set up to include 30%women-but 98% of those women are "a part of the boys' club". I'ts back to the burka, no rights for women. Men can treat women any way they want-women are the property of men. Most women are no longer receiving an education.
I had NO IDEA. We leave THIS "democracy" behind? After ALL THIS?

We don't hear it because journalists interview soldiers, or they never leave the green zone. Ms Mohammed was living quietly and safely in Canada with her son for 10 years. In 2003 she returned to Iraq to help her country. She cannot move there without armed guards. She is not permitted to speak publically. So this was a revelation

Kony sells 30,000 children in Darfur

Yasiin Mugerwa
Some 30,000 children, who were forcibly conscripted into the rebel Lord's Resistance Army in northern Uganda, were sold in the troubled Darfur region in Sudan, Parliament heard yesterday.

"Some of these children are in Darfur being used as child soldiers, porters and others sold as sex slaves to the Sudanese," Dr Stephen Kagoda, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Internal Affairs told the Parliamentary Defence Committee. "In fact, that's why (LRA leader Joseph] Kony fears to come out of the bush because we shall ask him to show us our children."

Dr Kagoda was among officials from the Internal Affairs Ministry led by State Minister for Youth and Children Affairs James Kinobe who appeared before the committee to give their views on "Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Bill, 2007". The Bill seeks to combat human trafficking in the country. Dr Kagoda told the MPs that between 25,000-30,000 children abducted by the LRA in its two-decade long insurgency, cannot be accounted for as they were sold to Darfur to act as mercenaries.

The United Nations Children's Fund puts the number of abducted children by the LRA at 25,000. Among the notable abductions was that of 139 female students of St. Mary's College Aboke, Apac in October 1996. The deputy headmistress, Sr. Rachele Fassera, pursued the rebels and negotiated the release of 109 girls, but the rest, have never returned. Maj. Kinobe confirmed Mr Kagoda's revelation, insisting that Kony should account for the missing children. "When Unicef demanded that LRA rebels release our children, Kony said he didn't have any children," Maj. Kinobe said. "This confirms our information that actually LRA sold our children to Darfur for economic gain. Before doing anything, we want this Kony man to account for our children and if he sold them to Darfur, he should come out and say so."

According to the World Bank report titled "Development and the next Generation", the LRA rebels focused on abducting males between 13 and 18 years but people of all ages and both sexes were taken.

The LRA has for more than 19 years fought the government in a war that left hundreds dead, about two million displaced and more than 20,000 children abducted. Some of the girls were turned into top commander's wives, and Kony himself is thought to have at least 60 wives. The Ugandan government has for the last two years been engaged in peace negotiations with the LRA, mediated by the Government of South Sudan, but the signing of the final peace agreement in April stalled after the LRA leader refused to sign.

Kony, who together with some of his senior commanders are wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court, is demanding that the ICC indictments against him be lifted first. The issue of missing children could set more hurdles for any continued negotiations between the LRA and the government and the eventual signing of the final peace agreement.

Meanwhile, the committee heard that some Ugandan children were being trafficked out of the country in exchange for their kidneys and other organs for economic gains. "Human trafficking is real and is serious in Uganda today. Our children are being trafficked for organ transfers by a racket of people pretending to be generous," Dr Kagoda said.

Maj. Kinobe said orphanage centres and labour agencies have become a conduit for human trafficking. "We have evidence that some of these orphanage centres are owned by people pretending to be helping others yet they are committing serious offences of human trafficking. We want the new law to target such people in order to protect our people."

JEM Rebel Group going to Qatar for peace talk

Shedding light