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TodaysNetworkNews
July 24, 2009
Darfur ~ UN Peacekeeping Problems by Alain Le Roy
UNTV: Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Alain Le Roy says that while the situation on the ground has changed in Darfur, "we are in many ways no closer to a solution now then we were when the issue was first taken up by the Security Council."
Addressing the Security Council today, Le Roy said that despite the good news surrounding the decision taken by the Court of Arbitration in The Hague on the disputed area of Abyei, there was still a sense of drift surrounding the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) implementation, with direct implications for resolving the crisis in Darfur.
He said that the contested census, large scale displacement and volatility, particularly in the area surrounding Chad, created enormous risks and that the people of Darfur would not be in a position to participate in the electoral process.
Le Roy also emphasized that the supporters and patrons of both the Sudanese government and the rebel movements must refuse to support war and that, dialogue must become the only serious option.
He said that the arms and financial support must stop flowing and that the safe heavens must disappear. That until there wasnt a sustained progress in each of those areas there wouldnt be a resolution to the crisis.
LeRoy cautioned there had been little progress toward a political settlement and that Sudans President Omar Al Bashir remained subject to the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant in The Hague.
Responding to the ICCs arrest warrant, in early March the Sudanses government kicked out 13 international NGOs and revoked the permits of three local groups providing emergency relief assistance in Darfur.
July 26, 2009
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The Obama administration's plan for Sudan could come out any day now. But new, troubling reports this week indicate there are still internal disagreements over how tough the U.S. should be with Khartoum. While the plan for peace must include incentives, the Sudanese regime won't change without tough consequences. An unbalanced plan that lacks these tough measures would spell disaster. Senators Kerry and Lugar are holding a committee hearing Thursday, July 30, 2009, to question Special Envoy Gration on the plan.
Please send a letter now to Senators Kerry and Lugar thanking them for their action and urging them to ask tough questions:
http://action.savedarfur.org/campaign/grationhearing
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STRATEGY FOR SUDAN
Hearing before the
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
Thursday, July 30, 2009
10:00 A.M.
Place: 419 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Presiding: Senator Kerry
PANEL 1
General Scott Gration, USAF (Ret.) Special Envoy to Sudan
Department of State
Washington, DC
Earl Gast Acting Administrator for Africa
U.S. Agency for International Development
Washington, DC
PANEL 2:
The Honorable David ShinnAdjunct Professor
Elliott School of International Affairs
The George Washington University
Washington, DC
Mohammed Ahmed Eisa, M.D. Physician
2007 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights
Award Laureate
Sudan Organization for Rights and Peace-Building
Washington, D.C
Contact information:
U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-6225
Majority Phone: (202) 224-4651
Minority Phone: (202) 224-6797
Source: foreign.senate.gov/hearings/2009
Email Senator Lugar:
http://lugar.senate.gov/contact/contactform.cfm
Email Senator Kerry:
http://kerry.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm
Monday, July 27, 2009
Day 111 - July 27th
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Day 110 - July 26th
- The Census for the Election did not include the Darfuri refugees and Internally Displaced People (IDP) in the camps. Yet the GoS is stating that it will go forward with the Election process. Elections will determine the distribution of wealth and sharing of power.U.N. is mow aware of the danger of excluding the people of Darfur, as reported by Sudan Tribune:
UN official warns Darfur may be excluded from Sudan’s election
Saturday 25 July 2009
July 24, 2009 (UNITED NATIONS) – The UN peacekeeping chief told the Security Council that Darfur Internally Displaced Persons would be deprived of taking part in the 2010 general elections, and this would affect the power sharing in the country.
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Alain Le Roy
Alain Le Roy, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, addressed on Friday the Security Council on the situation in Darfur and the work of UNAMID. He stressed that the situation in Darfur is evolving and asked to adapt UN policy accordingly.
In April 2010 Sudan is expected to hold the first fair and free elections after two decades of totalitarian regime in accordance with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). However, Darfur rebels and former rebels rejected census results and asked to delay the electoral process to after a lasting peace agreement in western Sudan.
"The contested census, large-scale displacement and volatility, particularly in the area bordering Chad, create enormous risks that the people of Darfur will not be in a position to participate in the electoral process," Le Roy said.
"This would further disenfranchise millions already disempowered by conflict," he said, adding that the election results will have an "enormous impact" on the distribution of political power in Darfur where millions of IDPs live in camps.
The election electoral board determined April 2010 to run the presidential and national parliament elections as well as states elections that would mark the end of the interim period that started in July 2005 following the signing of the CPA.
Darfur rebels said Sudanese government seeks to organize the election before the settlement of Darfur conflict in order to exclude them from participating in the electoral process. But the SPLM also had been strongly opposed to such delay.
Speaking about the security situation in the war-ravaged region, Le Roy told Council members that large-scale violence and civilian displacement was now rare, although localized attacks still occur.
However, he pointed out that conflict with Chad which shares border with Darfur, threatens the stability in the region.
Le Roy noted that the evolution of the crisis does not diminish the tragedy of Darfur or lessen the suffering of the 2.7 million people estimated to be displaced.
He said the Sudanese Government must make serious concessions in the peace process and illustrate its commitment to Darfur by actively investing in the region’s people and infrastructure, and he called on the rebels to compromise among themselves and agree on a serious platform for discussions.
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Darfur: We Won't Get Fooled Again from Darfur on Vimeo.
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My messages to Senators Kerry and Lugar:
Thank you so much for scheduling a hearing with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee surrounding the administration's plan for peace in Sudan this Thursday.
Presidential candidate Barack Obama said:
"The United States has a moral obligation anytime you see humanitarian catastrophes…we have the most stake in creating an order in the world that is stable...in which people have hope and opportunity and when you see a genocide whether it's in Rwanda, or Bosnia or in Darfur - that's a stain on all of us, that's a stain on our souls.
…We can't say 'never again' and then allow it to happen again. And as President of the United States I don't intend to abandon people or turn a blind eye to slaughter.”
Special Envoy Gration’s comments have been alarming. He has used language such as “consequences of genocide” that inaccurately describes what is going on in Sudan. General Scott Gration, visited IDP camp in Kass area (West Darfur) and met with some refugees in the camp. A leader said to Radio Dabanga that the American Special Envoy asked them to return to their original villages and catch up with the rainy season to farm their lands. The refugees told the Special Envoy that the janjaweed who drove them from their villages are still there occupying their lands, the Leader told Radio Dabanga.
"We told him (Gration) that as long as these militias are not disarmed there would be no peace in Darfur even if a peace agreement is concluded because we are not sure they would lay down their arms after peace," said Hussein Abu Sharati, the IDPs spokesperson.
Refugees from the village of Shattayah (West Darfur) who are now in IDP camps in Kass ( West Darfur) said the Government of Sudan (GoS) is lying about their voluntary return to their original villages. Two women and a man spoke to Radio Dabanga and said that they heard Radio Omdurman ( GoS state radio) saying that the Shattayah people are back to their villages and farming their lands. The refugees said that is a propaganda from GoS to decieve the international community. They said that Shattayah now is occupied by Janjaweed (pro GoS) and their fertile lands are given to the supporters of GoS.
Mohamed Suleiman, a US-based Darfuri with a broad network of Darfuri contacts from the Diaspora and from IDP camps in Sudan and refugee camps in Chad. Mohamed is the one who provided the information included above.
I implore you to ask tough questions this Thursday, especially of Special Envoy Gen. Gration. And then I ask you to take your leadership to the President and let’s move on this vitally defining issue. It speaks volumes about our lack of political will and lack of moral integrity if another President’s term goes by and we have effectively gotten no where on this issue.
There is nothing redeeming about being silent or not being a part of the ending of genocide. The honor and integrity of the human race and our country rely on it. Complicity is not a policy. Complicity comes from a lack of will.
Thank you very much for your interest.
Sandra Hammel
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