<body>

Friday, June 26, 2009

DARFUR WITHOUT JUSTICE IS DARFUR WITHOUT PEACE

As the government of Sudan, keeps saying there never has been genocide on the Darfuri families, I always want to have this question answered:

So if you aren't perpetrating the burning of villages, the killing of thousands, raping the females, maming and gouging eyes out, why aren't you charging those who are? Where is the justice, President Omar al-Bashir?

..................................................

..................................................
iACT 8, Day 9, June 23, 2009
There is so much joy in seeing our family in the camps, and also so much sadness that comes with knowing their stories. After all the crazy days to prepare for World Refugee Day events, we finally get to sit with our friends and enjoy the simple parts of life, like drawing pictures.
Uploaded by stopgenocidenow

Day 9 Action: Steps for Peace
Posted by Katie-Jay on June 22nd, 2009

This week the Obama Administration has brought together key signatories and over 30 countries in Washington to discuss the fate of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in Sudan. John Norris, Executive Director of ENOUGH Project, noted recently, “One of the key problems with the CPA to date has been the fact that the parties to the CPA, particularly President Bashir’s National Congress Party, have not faced any cost from the international community for a failure to implement key provisions of the agreement. Unless that changes, conflict in Sudan will only intensify.”

We cannot allow this to happen. The US must be a leader in the international community. After meeting the beautiful people of Darfur, we are responsible to act. While these important leaders are in Washington, take action:

1. Call you member of Congress through the Capitol switchboard at 202.225.3121.Urge them to hold hearings on Sudan and continue to make this issue a high priority for Congress.

2. Sign the open letter to President Obama encouraging his administration to address the immediate humanitarian crisis in Darfur and to achieve long term peace through a political solution for all of Sudan.

Read more about the CPA and Sudan by ENOUGH.



Four
Posted by Gabriel on June 22nd, 2009

IMG_1964.JPG I know the name of three. I feel bad that I did not ask the name of the fourth. Marymouda is the last one. The first and second were Issa and Abrahim. The third died on his mother’s back, as she, Adef and remaining siblings escaped from Darfur. They have lost four children in six years. Who’s counting? Someone should be held accountable.



...............................................................

...............................................................
War ~ No More Trouble
Uploaded by PlayingForChange


Scars
Posted by Katie-Jay on June 22nd, 2009

Family drawing We have a days rest in Abeche before three of our team members move on to Guereda where Camp Kounoungo is located, and one, Eric, begins is several day journey back to Los Angeles. It doesn’t seem like a break. I feel more restless today then any other day since our arrival in Chad. There are any number of tasks that I could be doing, but instead I click through pictures in iPhoto, allowing myself to be transported back to our friends in Camp Djabal.

Abdelmouni, now three years old, is Adef’s serious young man. The giggles and almost consistent smile Bashar, Bashir, and Guisma get from Achta. Adef and Abdelmouni, although they have great laughs too, are more serious and stern. In almost every picture Abdelmouni’s “look” is captured. Only a tickle on the neck or showing him his picture on the camera will get him to giggle. His three older siblings catch the contagious laughter. I wonder what Gbryl (prounounced Ge-briel) will be like. Will he too have a contagious laugh.

Little Gbryl I think about the pain that Achta and Adef must feel after losing four of their children. Guisma is the only girl they have left; of nine children that she has birthed. Nine. Their oldest son, Abrahim, would be 18 years old, the next oldest would be 15. Instead, it is Bashar and Bashir at 8 years old. They were only 3 when they fled their homeland. I wonder what they remember, if anything.

Achta has a great scar on her arm. It is raised with two large oval scars meeting like tips of tear drops touching with another straight scar that is perpendicular. I slowly pass my fingers over them and ask her what happened. Our translator has not arrived. Adef simply points at his wife’s arm, makes a gesture like he shooting an AK-47, and says, “Janjaweed.” Today Achta’s arm still hurts as she bears the scars of gun shot wounds and perhaps more painful, the scars of losing four children.

I don’t know how Achta and Adef feel. But when we ask them what they hope for and what they need, it is always the same. They want justice in order for peace. And they want their children to be educated so Darfur and Sudan will be stronger because of the next generation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

www.flickr.com/photos/stopgenocidenow
Link to pictures of June 23, 2009

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Write to President Obama
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

You can also write to the President at:
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

President Obama can be called:

202-456-1111
or
1-800-GENOCIDE

The White House comment line is available
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. weekdays

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Find USA elected politicians contact information at this link:
www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
www.stopgenocidenow.org


www.enoughproject.org
www.savedarfur.org
www.eyesondarfur.org

whilewewaitsudan.blogspot.com

>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:


OBAMA'S DARFUR PROMISE

By Susan Morgan

www.huffingtonpost.com

During the campaign, when asked about the genocide in Darfur, Candidate Obama said, "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." The candidate also spoke of "ratcheting up sanctions" and "organizing the European Union to be a part of those sanctions." His campaign's policy paper, titled the "Obama-Biden Plan," stated, "As president, Obama will take immediate steps to end the genocide in Darfur by increasing pressure on the Sudanese and pressure the government to halt the killing and stop impeding the deployment of a robust international force."

Fast forward to June 2009. Thus far, President Obama and his Administration have displayed no "immediate" response to the Darfur crisis or any willingness to "pressure" the Sudanese government. Instead we have seen stalls, delays and a very worrisome conciliatory tone in the U.S. response to the ongoing genocide in Darfur. According to a recent article in the Washington Post, Obama's Special Envoy to Sudan, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. J. Scott Gration, has advocated easing some American sanctions and upgrading U.S. diplomatic relations with Sudan's government to induce cooperation.

Many Darfur activists, whose votes for Obama were influenced by his impassioned statements about the responsibility to act in the face of genocide, feel betrayed. Darfuris, who named babies after Obama and waited hopefully for him to take office, feel understandably abandoned.

Concern amongst grassroots activists (aka voters) as well as amongst the Darfuri refugeesfirst press conference, Gration not only contradicted both the President's and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.'s assessment of the crisis in Darfur as an "ongoing genocide" but also the facts when he stated that the aid levels have returned to nearly 100% of their previous levels before the forced expulsion of 13 foreign aid groups by the Government of Sudan.
reached its peak this week due to comments made by Special Envoy Gration. During his

In fact, according to John Holmes, the U.N.'s emergency relief coordinator, the new aid workers "have not yet replaced, and cannot easily or rapidly replace, the capacity and skills lost." Gration's description of the crisis as the "remnants of genocide" was also disproven in the latest report by U.N. human rights investigator, Sima Samar, covering from last August to her visit to Sudan earlier this month. This report accused Sudanese forces of continuing to carry out land and air attacks against civilians in Darfur, in violation of the world body's resolutions during the reported period. She cited reports that Sudan's security forces have arrested and tortured human rights activists and aid workers.

As if to underscore the points made in the report, on the day it was issued, members of the government's National Congress Party (NCP) brutally attacked female students from Darfur who had convened a meeting in the dormitory at the University of Khartoum to discuss crimes of the government against the people of Darfur. Female NCP supporters accompanied by male security agents disguised in female attire attacked the Darfuri female students with iron bars, bats, and knives. Many were seriously injured.

Some grassroots activist leaders together with Darfuri leaders in IDP camps are calling for Gration's replacement. In a letter to President Obama, Martina Knee, a member of the Executive Committee of the San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition writes:

"Since the appointment of General Gration, the Government of Sudan has bombed Darfuri villages and Chad, sentenced over 100 Darfuris to death after unfair trials, censored its media, and arrested and detained human rights activists in unknown locations. His approach to Sudan has emboldened this genocidal regime who he treats as rational actors. He ignores the 20-year history of tyranny, slaughter and broken agreements."


Whether Gration's statements represent a dramatic shift in the Administration's policy or were merely careless or misinformed, they indicate clearly that Obama's attention to the Darfur crisis is missing. It is hard to imagine such a serious misstep taking place in a press conference held by George Mitchell on the Middle East or by Richard Holbrooke on Afghanistan. Instead, when it comes to the Administration's response to the first genocide of the 21st century, the usually well-oiled machine seems to need a mechanical overhaul.

Five months into his presidency, the people of Darfur have waited long enough for Barack Obama to keep the promises of his candidacy. Victims of genocide deserve the immediate and direct involvement of the President himself. Many may argue correctly that the President has other pressing issues before him and cannot possibly engage with them all immediately. However, in his own words "ongoing genocide" carries with it the "moral imperative" to act.

The facts speak for themselves. Government of Sudan (GoS) planes are bombing defenseless Darfuri refugees in camps in Chad and its own citizens in IDP camps in Darfur. More than three months after the GoS expelled 13 foreign aid groups from the country, 1.5 million people are still waiting for adequate food, water, sanitation and medical care to be restored. Efforts to convene a civil society conference on Darfur with the aim of building what its organizers call "a mandate for peace" were derailed by the GoS. The GoS executed nine men on April 1, who may have been innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted. Over 70 more men await a similar fate. Their confessions were reported to have been extracted under torture.

Five months after the inauguration, the U.S. State Department, still hasn't completed its lengthy review or unveiled its long-awaited Sudan policy. And the Special Envoy, a man with no prior experience with Sudan or diplomacy, seems to be marching to his own conciliatory tune.

This disarray in policy could not come at a worse time. The Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court has warned that a decision by the Court is imminent on whether to add a genocide charge against Sudan's president Omer al Bashir to the other already approved charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. According to experts at the Enough Project, "many fear the response from Khartoum, which could result in either a government seeking retribution or a government emboldened. As one source put it: 'I read this as a warning to the international community to get prepared.'"

Yet we are not prepared. President Obama -- it is time for you to step in. You must lead the United States and the international community to ensure peace in Darfur and in all of Sudan. You made a promise to the people of Darfur and to the many American voters who care about them. Please keep it. Otherwise, as you said during the campaign, it will be "a stain on all our souls."


Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

CALLING OUT OUR LEADERS WHO ARE MORAL PRETENDERS


It takes political will to prevent and take the steps needed to stop genocide.

Since 2003, the world has had chance after chance to act regarding the genocide on the Darfuri families who now live in refugee camps, if they haven't been killed.

So leaders of the world, you just don't care about genocide.


CARING IS HUMAN

SO WHY DO WE GO WRONG AS A RACE?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When we can watch people from around the planet mourn Michael Jackson's death, Darfuri people who have lost their lives get no such attention.

What does it say about us that we can turn away from those in need, when we have the ability to help?

What does it say about us that we are like moths to a flame to stories of celebrity, but stories of humanity and inhumanity simply are ignored?

When "it" isn't happening to us, few care.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am still playing catch up with the posts from the iACT team visiting the Darfuris

If you want to see all the days posted, use this link
http://www.stopgenocidenow.org/iact/iact8
As of today, each day has a post for June 15 through June 25, 2009 at the above link.


Day 11 Action: Hope Lies in the Babies
Posted by Katie-Jay on June 25th, 2009

During this i-ACT we have called the White House, Special Envoy Gration and sent text messages to Secretary of State Clinton. Today is the time to bombard the White House email box. Cut the message below and Paste it to the White House Comment Box:

Dear President Obama: obama_baby.jpg

With your election, Darfur refugees had as much hope as I that you would work with “unstinting resolve” to bring peace and justice to Darfur and all of Sudan. Mothers and fathers have named their new born sons after you, and students have renamed their schools Obama. They still believe that if the United States becomes a leader in the movement to bring justice and peace, then the international community will follow. Will you stand with the people of Darfur?

Please finish the Sudan Policy Review, support the arrest warrant for al-Bashir, and work multilaterally to bring peace to all of Sudan.

Salaam,

Your Name

Read Speaker Pelosi’s World Refugee Day Statement.

Missed our live feed from Chad for World Refugee Day? View segments of the day here.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Write to President Obama
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

You can also write to the President at:
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

President Obama can be called:

202-456-1111
or
1-800-GENOCIDE

The White House comment line is available
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. weekdays

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Find USA elected politicians contact information at this link:
www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
www.stopgenocidenow.org


www.enoughproject.org
www.savedarfur.org
www.eyesondarfur.org

whilewewaitsudan.blogspot.com

>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:

..........................................................

..........................................................
iACT 8, Day 8 June 22, 2009
From Darfuri refugee camp
Uploaded by stopgenocidenow

Day 8 Action: Be Heard
Posted by Katie-Jay on June 22nd, 2009

Let us be heard by our leader, President Barack Obama. Everyone we meet has faith that he will do the right thing. We even met one man who named is newborn son, Obama because President Obama believes in peace, justice and democracy. Unfortunately, President Obama is like most other politicians in that his actions are motivated by re-election. He needs to hear from you.

This week, between 9am-5pm EST, call the White House 202-456-1111 and tell President Obama to bring justice and peace to Darfur.

If you get a busy signal. Please don’t give up. Call back, usually it takes a few quick dials within a few minutes to reach one of the White House Operators.


The Humanitarians

Posted by Ian on June 22nd, 2009

mother and baby at water station We have all been quite active here in Goz Beida, Chad the last few days. Anyone following the website is well aware of the World Refugee Day activities, and if you saw any of the videos, then you might have an idea of the extensive preparations that went into them as well. This has been one of the most satisfying experiences of my life, and we still have a few days left. The thing that has been on my mind a lot is the intense humanitarian effort on the ground in Chad. The people that work with the UNHCR are simply amazing. Before I got here, I had no idea what UNHCR stood for, now I am a beneficiary of their generosity and knowledge. I can’t imagine working here everyday in the heat, dust, and lack of Starbucks. It’s a thankless job. In this arena, the world is focused on the genocide and how horrible it all is on one side, and on the other side, the UNHCR fields all the refugee’s complaints. In reality, the UNHCR and all the satellite NGO’s here are providing the necessary amenities and infrastructure for people in the camps to survive. Without them, the numbers of deceased would be dramatically higher. I keep thinking to myself, how in the world could anyone be down here for more than two weeks, let alone a year to year and half, which is the length of most contracts. I have developed a sense of guilt about coming in for such a short time, while the refugees and the humanitarians here grind it out…day after day…in conditions that are extremely difficult, if not impossible. This leads me to think about some of the comments and correspondences I’ve had from friends and family over the last week.

washing clothes Many of my friends have written, sometimes in the same sentence, that they are very impressed with what I’m doing, while at the same time feeling it’s a reminder that they’re stuck in an office doing the same old job over and over, which isn’t that fulfilling. (I’m paraphrasing) I suppose it’s a positive thing to have these emotions of feeling stagnant arise, and begin to ask the questions of how to move beyond our own repetitive situation. If I’m the catalyst to that, then so be it. If the instinct is to move, then it’s probably the thing to do. The level of action will most likely be different for everyone as well. I don’t encourage everyone to quit their jobs and hit all the front lines of every conflict around the world, but you could do a humanitarian vacation to start. However, I think being a humanitarian starts on the most basic level, respecting others. That is probably the hardest step of them all. At least for me it is.

look at the camera Even though I’m here in support of refugees, I almost lost my cool with a group of kids the other day in the camps. I needed them to back away from the person I was filming and keep silent. But instead, they kept on crowding me, grabbing at my “manpurse” and my arms, while repeating everything I said. I would make aggressive gestures with my arms to step away and sternly yell “back, back,” and immediately a chorus of ten kids would repeat “back back” and keep advancing. Their laughter made me feel mocked and I wanted to smack those little f#@*!, but then I remembered they didn’t speak my language, (nor I their’s) and I had just spent the last few days encouraging them to repeat all my words and gestures, so in a sense, I created a monster. Not to mention, they had just survived genocide, so I cut them some slack. But I was still frustrated! Point is, if I’m going to get upset with those that might deserve more patience than anyone, it’s probable that every human being on earth is going to get under my skin at some point. So the challenge is there for me personally. It’s a hell of a lot easier to be a humanitarian when you’re surrounded by them everyday, but how do I become a humanitarian in everyday life? That will remain to be seen. But if we all crack that one, it could be contagious.


A meeting with Obama

Posted by Gabriel on June 22nd, 2009

Adef reading We’re sitting in a hut in the middle of camp with a group of men, talking war, politics, and pain. It is hot, and there are flies everywhere, the kind of flies that think nothing of swatting. It is only the men and us, no children and no laughing. One of them, soft-spoken and wearing their traditional head-scarf that protects them from heat and sand in the desert, starts listing all the attempts at negotiations between rebels and Khartoum government and all the signed agreements–all failed and unkept. Do they, Khartoum, really want to find a peaceful solution? “No, they want all blacks out of Darfur.”

Another even more serious looking man and even more soft-spoken, looks at me straight in the eyes and keeps that eye connection the whole time he speaks–no blinking. We are only about seven feet away, and I feel uncomfortable–I am not sure why, but it must be that, with the look, he is telling me “Now you know. You are responsible.” He is dressed in safari green pants and long-sleeve shirt–very clean and neat. “Justice. Without justice there is no peace. If you start with justice, peace follows. Then we can go home.”

We leave the hut and follow the serious man in green, walking all the way to the other side of the camp. He has us sit in a much cooler hut than the one before, and there are no flies. His wife joins us and is carrying a beautiful 20 days old boy. “His name is Obama.”


It takes EFFORT

Posted by Katie-Jay on June 22nd, 2009

Team Work Today was our last day in Camp Djabal. I already miss them all and it has only been hours. I don’t know when I will be able to come back to Camp Djabal. I fear it will be longer than I want, and that the conditions of the camp will be worse. It makes me sad to think that some may not even make it until our team returns.

In the camp this morning, the sun beat down on the sand, and our backs as we weaved through the straw made alleyways searching for Adef and Achta. We asked one tall man, who smiled, pointed and began to walk beside us.

Achta Abdelmouni Madi watching We soon found our family. I feel very close to Adef and Achta. For about an hour we exchanged with gestures before a translator came. Without words, Achta knew what I was trying to tell the children and she helped direct them. I distributed pens and paper for the children, and a book for their family. Abdelmouni is becoming a little man, still serious, but when he laughs it is the loud giggle of his sister and brothers. I feel so close to them, as if they are part of my own family. In many ways, they are.

They don’t ask for much. Many people I know would be asking for so much if they were in a situation that the refugees, or even IDPs from Chad, were in. I think because we have grown up in such a rich country there is a sense of entitlement to having things, to having everything. Not so much here. What they want is education, justice, and peace. Justice so that Peace will come and Education so they can help lead their country.

Abdullaziz ktj IH on car These are simple concepts that will require effort on the part of the international community. Skilled mediators, Financial Support. Disarmament. Arrest warrants acted on. Educational support through trainings, supplies, and infrastructure. These are things we in America take for granted most of the time. These are things that will help ensure that little Abdelmouni, Guisma, Bashir and Beshar grow up having some chance at leading fulfilling lives. The kind of life we expect to be handed to us.

Maybe I am being to harsh on the country I grew up in. I may be acting on pure emotional response to the serious eyes of a three year old and a laugh of a young girl that used to roar and now rarely giggles. And I know that there are people throughout the world who are suffering, like those who have been injured or killed fighting for democracy in Iran. I know that Darfur and Chad are not the only places where people are seeking peace, justice, education and participation in the leadership of their people.

girl w drawing I just know personally that if I don’t work harder to bring peace and justice to Darfur and all of Sudan that my friends here will not go home. They will not have the opportunity to live fulfilling lives. They will not have choices. They will slowly begin to lose their culture as more generations grow up in camps outside of their homeland. Their entire world has already changed, and they adjusted as much as we can ask someone to adjust. In the end, they want to go home.

Please be part of allowing peace, justice, education, and CHOICE back into their lives.

paz, ktj


Pictures of iACT 8, Day 8 June 22, 2009 while with the Darfuris:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stopgenocidenow/3648441478/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Below is news from Mohamed Suleiman, a Darfuri, who presently lives in the USA. He has relatives still living in Darfur, being affected by the genocidal acts of the government of Sudan.

Ghazi Salahuddin with audacity


Ghazi Salahuddin has a lot to show how his NCP has accomplished in bringing peace to Darfur: on papers! Hundreds of pages signed by NCP in 2006, he said , where all problems of Darfur were addressed.

Ghazi now advises the U.S. Administration to exert maximum preasure on Darfur rebels and the countries "support" them to sign more papers.

Ghazi got a slick PR advice: Take advantage of the American Free Speach ( NCP forbids all kinds of freedom in Sudan), and take your case directly to the American paper, talk about PEACE IN DARFUR.

Read what Ghazi Salahddin wrote in Washington Times, about giving PEACE in DARFUR:

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/23/give-peace-a-chance/print/


Why Gration is Dead Wrong on Darfur

There is nothing called " Remnants of Genocide" when it comes to dealing with the crime of Genocide.

Gration's words help only one party: Perpetrators of the Genocide crime i.e. Khartoum Government.

As defined by U.N. Convention on prevention and punishment of crime of Genocide, the destruction of the people of Darfur is going on NOW. That is GENOCIDE.
Please read:

http://www.hrweb.org/legal/genocide.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Forwarded from US MA Senator Kerry’s office

United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations

WASHINGTON, DC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 23, 2009

Contact: Whitney Smith, 202-224-4651

Kerry Urges North and South Sudan to Implement Comprehensive Peace Agreement

WASHINGTON, D.C. " In a keynote address at last night’s Forum for Supporters of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in Washington, D.C., Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) called on both North and South Sudan to make the compromises and decisions necessary to make the peace accord a lasting reality and a foundation for peace in Darfur. The forum was hosted by President Obama’s Special Envoy to Sudan, General Scott Gration.

We need to think of the CPA as a process, not an event,” said Kerry. “The signing of the Naivasha Accords marked the end of the war, but only the beginning of the peace. Our challenge going forward is to ensure that the CPA does not become one more piece of paper littering the bloody history of Sudan. The reality is, both sides need to want peace more than they want victory at any cost. That’s the only way to make the right decisions. You cannot expect to get everything you want, and also expect to have peace. You have to choose"and I urge you to choose peace.”

Chairman Kerry last traveled to Sudan in April. He met with leaders from both political parties to urge direct Sudanese engagement in the problems plaguing the country.

Full remarks as prepared are below:

I want to thank you for that kind introduction, and for journeying here tonight in support of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Many of you gathered here are architects of this landmark accord, which brought to a close a decades-long war that had claimed over 2 million lives.

I want to recognize General Scott Gration, who today serves as President Obama’s special envoy to Sudan.

General Sumbeiywo of Kenya, who served as chief mediator of the CPA, and the honorable Hilde Johnson of Norway, who also played a critical part in shepherding negotiations, also honor us with their presence tonight. I would also like to recognize the Foreign Ministers of Ethiopia and Kenya, and my colleagues, Senators Corker and Isakson.

There were many parties to the peace negotiations, but ultimately the two that mattered most were the combatants themselves. Since declaring independence on New Year’s Day, 1956, Sudan had known far more years of war than periods of peace. In 2005, the leaders of North and South broke that pattern and committed to a better future. Dr. Ghazi Salaheddin and Governor Malac Agar tonight head the delegations for the National Congress Party and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, respectively. I want to welcome them both.

So many of you here today are the fathers and mothers " and even a few midwives"of Sudan’s peace agreement. As any parent will tell you, your obligations just begin at birth. They do not end there, believe me. Right now, peace is still a work in progress. You could even say the agreement is entering its troubled adolescence" and needs help to grow safely into maturity.

This April, for the first time, I traveled to Sudan to assist in the efforts to restore humanitarian assistance, to meet with men and women living in the camps in Darfur, and to safeguard the promise of the CPA.

Too many see America’s efforts to achieve peace in Darfur and peace between the North and the South as an either-or proposition. The truth is, new peace agreements in Darfur depend on upholding the CPA. Our engagement on the North-South deal isn’t a distraction from Darfur"it is essential to what we hope to achieve there. All of Sudan should know peace. We need a comprehensive approach"a process that I know General Gration is deeply involved in.

In my meetings in Sudan, I urged political leaders from both parties to re-engage on the tough issues that lie before them. And I acknowledged that the United States, which had helped them achieve this breakthrough agreement, had been too absent from helping the parties to deliver on the promise of Naivasha. A central focus of my visit was to further efforts, supported by General Gration, to bring the North and South into direct meetings, together with the United States to strengthen implementation of the CPA.

Like General Gration, I pledged that America would renew our commitment to see the CPA through to its conclusion. By gathering the signatories to the 2005 Agreement here in Washington, General Gration has inaugurated a new phase in the implementation of the CPA and has signaled America’s commitment to remaining at the table and growing Sudan’s four-plus years of fragile peace into decades of a durable peace.

January 9, 2005 was a momentous day. But we need to think of the CPA as a process, not an event. The signing of the Naivasha Accords marked the end of the war, but only the beginning of the peace. And, by design, the agreement postponed many of the critical decisions that would transform a cessation of hostilities into a lasting peace. We knew we had to build up trust first.

Our challenge going forward"before you, before me, before all of us here"is to ensure that the CPA does not become one more piece of paper littering the bloody history of Sudan.

Nobody in this room needs a lecture on all of the unresolved issues. You know them all too well. Our time is short and the obstacles are formidable. It’s not hard to see the path toward an escalation and collision. We all know the dangers: competition for oil and land, escalating arms races, and an unwillingness to communicate or compromise.

The reality is, both sides need to want peace more than they want victory at any cost. That’s the only way to make the right decisions. You cannot expect to get everything you want, and also expect to have peace. You have to choose"and I urge you to choose peace.

Just as the path toward war is clear, so too are the steps you must take to prevent it. There is no great mystery here: North and South need to share the wealth derived from oil; demarcate and define your boundaries; hold successful elections; and settle your questions of citizenship. None of which will happen unless the parties show a steely sense of resolve that peace was hard-won, and now must be protected. Successful implementation also requires the international community to deliver on their promises for development assistance for these war-torn areas.

In 2002, another special envoy, Senator John Danforth, wrote to the President that “Both sides want the conflict resolved, but on their own terms...Both sides view progress as a zero sum game.”

Today, you have a peace agreement replete with any number of committees and instruments for negotiation, but progress on actual implementation has stalled out. I urge you to recognize that 2011 does not, in fact, have to equal a zero sum game. Progress toward the peaceful fulfillment of the CPA, including a free and fair referendum on the question of self-determination for the South, offers enormous benefits to both sides, whatever the outcome of that vote.

Now is the time for the parties to help create post-referendum arrangements for mutual cooperation. I urge you not to fix your gaze on 2011 alone, but to think beyond that onrushing horizon: let’s talk about what Sudan could look like in 2012. Or 2015. Whatever the outcome of the referendum, time will not stand still in 2011 and we must not be afraid to think beyond it.

To get there, it is important to stick to the remaining timetable. Time is already not on your side and delaying national elections only foreshortens the narrow window parties have to prepare for a peaceful referendum. Rising violence in the South is a matter of growing concern and underscores the need for a tangible peace dividend.

America is eager to support the process of resolution, and the commitment among those present today is considerable. I am especially pleased that we are joined by Liu Guijin China’s Special Envoy to Sudan, because China can play such an important role in this process.

If we want peace in the future, we must learn the lessons of the past. The CPA offers a roadmap for resolving the remaining North-South issues, as well as lessons for the crisis in Darfur.

The first lesson is that peace would not have been possible without engagement. Like Senator Danforth, General Gration has initially concentrated on critical life-saving issues, especially restoring the humanitarian capacity on which millions of lives depend. Efforts to rebuild that operation are still underway" and the return of critical services such as assistance for the victims of gender-based violence has not even begun. But, unquestionably, it is moving in the right direction. Darfur’s still unresolved genocide"whose causes and consequences remain unaddressed-- demands our commitment to greater humanitarian assistance but also to help seek a lasting peace settlement for the people of Darfur. This is also part of the path to a new U.S.-Sudanese relationship.

A second lesson is that there is no process unless the combatants themselves commit to it, and regional and other partners support them in peacemaking. Efforts are underway today in Doha to achieve a political settlement in Darfur and to reduce tensions between Chad and Sudan"but some of the seats at the table are still empty. It is time for the principal rebel leaders to leave their refuges in Paris and elsewhere and come to the table.

A third lesson the CPA underscores is the importance of civil society. Too often those voices were not heard during the drafting of the CPA. I hope that with Darfur, the efforts of Mo Ibrahim and others to bring these voices into the discussion, and particularly to ensure that women are heard, finally succeed. Women have borne some of the most brutal costs of war and must be part of the peace process.

Having gone to war myself, I know what it means that in peacetime, children bury their parents, but in wartime, parents bury their children. Sudan has known too many generations of parents forced to bury their children, and too many children who, until 2005, knew nothing but war.

Today there are young children across the North and South alike who are actually growing up knowing what peace is like. If we fail, they will become soldiers in tomorrow’s war"a war that is in your power to avert.

The leaders of Sudan"and all who care about Sudan"need to ask ourselves: What is at stake here? What future do we choose? You can either choose to do the hard work of implementing peace"or you can all too easily drift back into the nightmare of war.

If you get this right, it doesn’t matter how the referendum turns out. And frankly, if you get it wrong, it doesn’t matter either. Two million deaths in the last war have taught everyone in this room that hard lesson.

Peace is never a zero sum game. The well being of your children is never a zero sum game. The future of your peoples are not, and cannot be, a zero sum game. We can all have a better future"but we have to choose it, and we have to choose it together.

Tomeika Bowden

Deputy Press

Committee on Foreign Relations (Majority)

Phone: 202.224.3468

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arabic newspaper in London says

Senator Kerry is leading normalization with Khartoum

London based Arabic newspaper Alsharque AlAwsat

Saturday June 27

1- The newspaper said Ghazi Salahuddin (Albashir adviser) was speaking to the Arab Correspondents League in Washington D.C.

2- Ghazi Salahuddin was very pleased with what Senator John Kerry told him in Washington. Ghazi Salahuddin said Senator Kerry told him that he will work on lifting of sanctions against Sudan and lifting Sudan's name from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism.

3- Ghazi Salahuddin said he met with many high American Officials in the White House, the Pentagon, The Department of State and discussed topics of relations normalization and how to implement CPA , but Darfur was not subject of any discussion.

4- Ghazi Salahuddin critizied Dr. Susan Rice and said that she is the only voice that "stuck in the past" and the lonely voice in the Administration that is standing against Khartoum. Ghazi Salahuddin said Rice is the only one working against the wishes of President Obama and still calls what is happening in Darfur a genocide while The Special Envoy of the President and Senator Kerry are no more calling it that...

Here is the source ( it is in Arabic):

http://www.aawsat.com/details.asp?section=4&issueno=11169&article=525123&search=%DB%C7%D2%ED%20%D5%E1%C7%CD%20%C7%E1%CF%ED%E4&state=true

.......................................................................
WHO'S THE BOSS?

Printer-friendly version
Gration and Obama - AP

President Obama’s Special Envoy to Sudan created a public relations firestorm last week when he insisted that the situation in Darfur today reflected “remnants of genocide” rather than an ongoing genocide as had been suggested by President Obama and Ambassador Rice.

Gration’s initial comments triggered a spate of press stories about divisions within the administration on Sudan policy as well as a gleeful reaction from the Bashir regime which felt the special envoy was exonerating them from any involvement in genocide. After heated internal discussions that delayed the noon State Department briefing for over an hour, the State Department spokesman issued a clarification, saying, “I think there is no question that genocide has taken place in Darfur. We continue to characterize the circumstances in Darfur as genocide.”

One would have hoped that would have been the end of the story, but Gration was back at it again yesterday, publicly declaring in an interview with NPR’s Diane Rehm: “What I’m seeing personally on the ground is that those conditions [genocide] are not taking place right now.”

It is incredibly unfortunate that the administration, particularly the special envoy, can’t seem to answer this basic question consistently and without creating the damaging impression that administration policy on this issue is badly in disarray. The administration’s public back and forth on the genocide question only serves to embolden Khartoum, alienate the activist community, and distract the administration from leading an international coalition to address the myriad challenges in Sudan that loom from any number of key challenges that need to urgently be addressed.

So, in an effort to help the administration delineate its two options, we offer these audio clips. Here is Special Envoy Scott Gration yesterday, followed by President Obama at a recent press conference in Germany:

Who’s the boss?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brutally honest, blatantly true, and extremely specific, the U.N.’s Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Sudan recently gave her report to the U.N.’s Human Rights Council. The report includes a section on Darfur, which is the only area of the world where a declared genocide is taking place.

Report of the Special Rapporteur
on the situation of human rights in the Sudan, Ms. Sima Samar

from

UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL OF THE

11th session of the Human Rights Council: Reports


A/HRC/11/14

Advance unedited version

from page 10 (totalling 22 pages)


Here are some highlights of the report:

During the reporting period, ongoing fighting involving Government forces, signatories to the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA), non-signatories to the DPA, and other armed groups, resulted in civilian casualties, destruction of civilian property, including homes and markets, loss of livelihood and mass displacement of affected communities. Violations of the right to life, torture, ill-treatment, arbitrary detention by all sides have also been reported.

From August 2008 to May 2009 there were 129 carjackings of United Nations and humanitarian vehicles, and the killings of three UNAMID peacekeepers. In a number of cases, Human Rights Officers continue to face difficulty in undertaking missions to various areas. On 31 December 2008, they were prevented from conducting monitoring work in Abu Suruj, West Darfur by SAF officials who demanded travel permits, and refused access to the area. A similar incident occurred in Abu Suruj on 15 April 2009. Obstruction of UNAMID personnel in the conduct of their mandated functions is inconsistent with the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) signed by the Government and UN in February 2008. In March, three international and two national staff of an international NGO were also briefly abducted.

Apart from human rights and humanitarian workers, the NISS continued to detain a number of IDPs and other civilians, often holding them incommunicado and without charge. Cases of ill-treatment and allegations of torture by the NISS continue to be reported across Darfur.

To view the full report on human rights situation in Sudan, please click here.

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Thursday, June 25, 2009

HEAL THE WORLD


A Tribute to Darfuri Refugees

..............................................

..............................................
We Are The Children
Upload thanks to rachies

I've been busy polyurethaning my front door, repairing faucets, toilets, and calling plumbing supply companies over the last couple of weeks. And feeling overwhelmed. So, I have neglected positng here. But I did tune in to World Refugee Day live streams last Saturday and was in awe of seeing the Darfuri refugees in Djabal camp speak in real time to us. I am furious that our candy media doesn't see fit to report the Darfur story. But other stories are done ad nauseam.

I am behind on sharing iACTs trip to the Darfuri refugee camp and am posting the post they shared June 21, 2009 below. If you go to this link hwww.stopgenocidenow.org/iact/iact8/day8 you can catch up on your own. Just click on the little video picture which will take you to each day's postings up until today.

I wrote the email below to Rachel Maddow and Ed Schultz of MSNBC. I have since stopped watching MSNBC. Never did watch FOX. CNN is the better of the poor news outlets on TV. BBC is better than CNN, but still not good enough. The network news stations tonight might as well been called "Entertainment Tonight". At this time, I don't have any reason to watch the USA supposed news shows, on any channel. It isn't news. It is pop culture type reporting and recently, Iran stories, affairs of politicians ~ that get the time on air. Now, it is all about Michael Jackson. I admit the Michael Jackson death news got to me, though.

See my Michael Jackson videos below. I am from Indiana and so is Michael. My love crush in 6th through 8th grade was with a boy from Gary, where the Jackson family was raised. The fact that I was white and he was not was forbidden by my mother.

I don't know Michael, but I think it is safe to believe that Michael had an internal tortured world. Something about his family is unhealthy emotionally. Like Michael, I was whipped throughout my childhood. The anxiety stays with us forever that is born in this kind of violence on our spirits who trust the one whipping us. Children who grow up in pain can find a harbour in the arts. I do. Michael did.
.................................................

.................................................
Michael Jackson sings Heal the World
Uploaded by Roby76


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DARFUR

Here is my complaint letter which tries to reach out and educate, but I think it is a lost cause with the people who "own" the air waves.

June 22, 2009

I write with respect, but with a question:
Why isn’t coverage for Darfuri justice from their own government just as important as Iranian justice? The news including your show has reported extensively about the Iran election and the aftermath. Some salient points reported are
• Injustice on the people by their own government is wrong
• Some Republicans are saying that Iranians should have the right to peacefully protest
• President Obama needs to say the Iranian powers-that-be are wrong

I agree with injustice being wrong and peaceful protest as a goal to be sought everywhere. The third point is useless unless President Obama has some action plan up his sleeve.

(Virginia U.S. Representative) Eric Canter (Republican Whip) says: "America has a moral responsibility to stand up for human rights around the world and to condemn the abuses that are occurring in Tehran today."

Criticism by John McCain, Eric Canter is more political than thoughtful. If it was thoughtful it would include Darfur. And I haven’t heard Eric Canter say
"America has a moral responsibility to stand up for human rights around the world and to condemn the abuses that are occurring in Darfur today."

I have heard politicians say that the “international community” needs to speak out about Iran. Okay. But what about Darfur? It has been going on under-reported for 6 years. Where has the “international community” been on this defining issue? Short of the ICC doing the right thing about President Omar al-Bashir, what have the “civilized” nations of the world done about genocide?

What do the Darfuri people have to do to get our attention…like Iran has right now? All die? I say that and it sounds harsh, but seriously what do the Darfuris have to do? They had hope during the U.S. Presidential campaign because they thought that Barack Obama meant what he said about Darfur and genocide. Now he has an administration that has two different views on Bashir, Khartoum and the genocide. They can’t even speak with one voice.

How more unjust can a government be than to support burning houses and entire villages down of their own people? Rape of the women and killing of the men – are used as a systematic way to exterminate the people who were asking to be treated fairly and equally by their own government. All possessions and land have been stolen and denied. Oppression by violence is commonplace and not reported to the outside world like we have seen the last week in Iran. Why is the story of Iran important and the story of Darfur only going out in dribs and drabs?

Scott Gration, President Obama’s U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan is a disaster. If he can’t support justice and take off the naïve blinders that he has been sporting, then he is the wrong one for the job. He needs to be replaced with someone who is up to the job. It is complex. And we need someone who listens to more than Khartoum. Gration’s extending a hand of friendship to the one who has perpetrated and supported the genocide certainly has left the Darfuri people out on a limb without the Obama hope that they had reason to believe in. Gration’s remarks about “remnants of genocide” are wrong. He should be talking to the refugees and the expatriates who are living in this country if he wants to know what is going on. Trusting Bashir’s version of the truth puts us off in the ditch of finding any resolution for the Darfuri families.

We have seen the videos taken with cell phones by people on the ground in Tehran, Iran on your show. We have seen the twitter effect as a source of news out of Tehran. What we haven’t seen is reporting from on the ground on your show inside the Darfuri’s lives at the many refugee camps. And reporting is especially needed since March 4th when the humanitarian aid agencies were expelled by the government of Sudan from Darfur and left the refugee population without water, food and medical attention. Some refugees in camps have been scattered because the camps have since been shut down. Where is the non-stop news coverag e on this story of injustice? And why don’t we care about it as much as Iran?

Saturday, June 20, 2009 was World Refugee Day and there was all day live streaming from camps. This was historical because it was a first time for this event.

The link is provided below to see video from the live stream of June 20.
Included is Djabal camp - a Darfuri refugee camp in eastern Chad – where 17,000 refugees are trying to live and 13 year old Rahma shows us his home. iACT8 team of http://www.stopgenocidenow.org are the ones responsible for the live stream and video footage from Djabal camp. The founder, Gabriel Stauring’s email address is sgn.org@gmail.com He would welcome hearing from you.

http://www.refugeedaylive.org/
Highlights of World Refugee Day now available at this link.
Text taken from the website: For the first time in history, the world will be able to witness refugee camp life – real time, LIVE. In the next few days, content from the live webcast of June 20th’s World Refugee Day will be available at this link.

The schedule of viewing is on the left under the video.

Great daily videos are posted about the Darfuri refugee camp from June 15 to 24, 2009. Ten days a team is there on the ground reporting back to us via their website.

About the trip: iACT is the term used for the trips taken to Darfuri refugee camps by the team from http://www.stopgenocidenow.org ; This is their 8th trip so it is called iACT8 - from June 15 to 24, 2009. This trip is to Djabal camp - a Darfuri refugee camp in eastern Chad – where 17,000 refugees are trying to live

http://www.stopgenocidenow.org/iact/iact8/day7
See each of the daily videos here by clicking on the daily picture near the top, as well as read the team members’ daily journal entries at this link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_h6jfUXtYw
Day 4 – June 18, 2009 - in Djabal camp – a Darfuri refugee camp in eastern Chad
The Darfuri Children, say “Hello Mr. Obama….are you there?”
“Is this hope?” campaign
Darfuri man speaking to President Obama “we request President Obama to do his promise, as he said in election… my message to President Obama: we need him to do more and more, to help Darfurian refugees, in order to grow back hope.”

iACT 8, Day 6 June 20, 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0lc5-M-igI
World Refugee Day - shown is a musical instrument made at the camp with a cooking pot, they dance on the sand without shoes in 110 degree weather.
From live stream in Djabal camp – a Darfuri refugee camp in eastern Chad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LLsTFWx7Sc
i-ACT8 Day 7, June 21, 2009
World Refugee Day Behind the Scenes – from live stream in Djabal camp – a Darfuri refugee camp in eastern Chad. This is very interesting.

Below is from Eric who is with the iACT8 Stop Genocide Now team this trip and working as the technical person while they are at Djabal camp.
Here is Eric’s journal entry for Fathers Day
Focused and Determined
Posted on June 21st, 2009

Yesterday was World Refugee Day, and the people of Camp Djabal’s lives were intertwined with people from around the world in real-time. It was without a doubt the most important work I’ve ever done in my life. I haven’t had time to really process or absorb what I have been taking in on this trip, at least not as deeply as I know I eventually will.

Today is Sunday, Father’s Day, and I’m thinking of my Dad. I didn’t send him a card or a gift, but I know he knows I’m thinking of him. Yesterday morning in the hours before the start of the live video broadcast we sat on a mat and spoke with a group of men that are father figures of the camp. They told us about what they left behind in Darfur, and how they describe the beauty of Darfur to their young children so that they have at least a basic description of a home that they have never seen with their own eyes. They told us unanimously that there can be no peace in Darfur with there first being Justice. There was no debate, and they did not hesitate to state with complete confidence that everyone shared their non-negotiable demand for justice and accountability for Omar al-Bashir and a ll who have committed genocide and crimes against humanity. They voiced their support for the ICC and Luis Moreno Ocampo’s work.

I sat in awe listening and studying the faces of the men, astonished at how much pain, suffering, and evil their eyes had seen. We shared a mat on the ground. They shared their pain from the past, and their hope for the future. This was now on my shoulders. Focused and determined. It’s a weird metaphor, but one that I think people reading this will understand: This conversation was like the most inspirational pre-Superbowl motivational speech ever given by a coach to his team. Except, they didn’t know they were giving it. The conversation was totally impromptu, we didn’t plan on having it, it just happened… the way all things have happened on our trip. It happened for a reason. I left energized and focused on the task ahead — make sure that the stories of these men and those of the other people in the camp are beamed live across the world for all to see and hear.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDE1bhcLkr8
Here is a video (41 seconds) of children and adults wishing President Obama “Happy Fathers Day” from Djabal camp - a Darfuri refugee camp in eastern Chad
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Below is from
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article31512

NCP supporters disrupt female students’ discussion of Darfur crimes
Tuesday 16 June 2009 04:10.

June 15, 2009 (KHARTOUM) – Several male supporters of the Nation al Congress Party disguised themselves as women in order to infiltrate and disrupt a gathering held by Darfur women students at the University of Khartoum today.

The Darfur students were engaged in a legal discussion on the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant issued to arrest the top member of the NCP, President Omer al-Bashir, for crimes against humanity in Darfur.

The students affirmed the legal liability of al-Bashir and his formal obligation to surrender himself to the ICC.

According to the Sudan Human Rights Organization (SHRO-Cairo), in the course of the discussion, male supporters of the ruling party, who had dressed themselves up in women’s clothes to be able to stay inside the discussion hall at the female section of the campus, violently attacked the Darfur women.

Under law, women are supposed to have the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly on campus. Earlier crackdowns against supporters of the ICC warrant occurred in March, soon after the warrant was issued, when security forces made incursions on campus to disperse public meetings about the issue.

On March 19, security forces and student backers of the NCP used steel bars to attack a meeting organized by the United Democratic Front (UDF), a student organization supporting the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) led by Darfur rebel leader Abdel Wahid Al-Nur. Two students were detained in the assault.

"SHRO links this unprecedented violence with the permanent orders the President of the State and the NIF/NCP ruling party instigated to be forcibly executed by the Security and Intelligence Department against all citizens who spoke favourably for the ICC warrant of arrest," said the Cairo-based rights organization in a statement.

"Accused of supporting the ICC decision, a few human rights activists and several journalists had been arbitrarily arrested and/or put to trial by government authorities recently."

Today SHRO condemned "the illegal climate of violence the government has been spreading over the public life in pursuit of the President’s personal effort to silence all comments on the international prosecution and the warrant of arrest issued against him by the ICC."

SHRO is asking the government party and supporters "to act in accordance with the rule of law, the decent manners of Sudanese traditions, and the deserved respect to the female students in the university."

The rights organization urges the NCP supporters to be dealt with according to university laws, the Code of Ethics, and furthermore prosecuted under criminal law for any grievous injuries.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Below is from Mohamed Suleiman (a Darfuri who presently lives in the USA. He still has family in Darfur being affected by the genocide). His blog is http://whilewewaitsudan.blogspot.com/


Two victims of rape still in Zalengie hospital. Raped by janjaweed using rape as a weapon to break the will of Darfur people. Government of Sudan tell the Janjaweed : You have to kill t hem savegly and violate their women, otherwise they will come back and claim their land.

Still bomb craters fresh in Furawiah when it was bombed just few days ago.
Gration is a hero in Khartoum. Champion of normalization.
Gration does not feel the pain of Darfur people who are still suffering from an on going Genocide.

I received in an email from Mohamed Suleiman on June 20, 2009 the following:

The IDPs (Internally Displaced People) in the refugees camps in Darfur speak out.
Leaders of refugees in IDP camps in Darfur in interviews with Radio Dabanga this morning asked The President of The United States of America Barack Obama to fire his Special Envoy General Scott Gration for his remarks on Wednesday. One leader from a camp in Zalengie (west Darfur) said since the expulsion of the NGOs "the rations are cut 50%, we live with our children under rain in torn shelters, we lack health services, how could the Special Envoys says the humanitarian conditions are improving, from where he got this 100% figure?!". Another Leader said that when Gration visited Sudan in his first trip he said that he came to learn from the Government of Sudan. The refugees' Leader said that it is evident that Gration has learned from GoS how to lie and distort facts about the humanitarian situation on the ground. The Leader challenged the Special Envoy to come to his camp or any other camp in Darfur not staged by GoS to see the real conditions for himself.

UNAMIDsaid in a statem ent that the incidents of attacks by armed militias against people in the IDP camps has increased dramatically. The UNAMID spokesperson Nurddin said in a separate interview to Radio Dabanga that there is serious lack of drinking water, blankets, shelter material, food, health care, and education in the IDP camps of Darfur. The spokesperson said that no one likes to live in these camps due to the bad living conditions there. He added that there is a lot to be done to improve the living situation there and/or work on the return of these refugees to their original homes.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

These female students were targeted solely because they are from Darfur discussing crimes committed against their relatives in Darfur.

- Last week, female students from Darfur in University of Khartoum convened a meeting to discuss crimes of GoS against the people of Darfur. The meeting was held in the girls dormitory in female residence in the University in Khartoum. NCP female supporters accompanied with male security agents disguised in female covers attacked the Darfuri female students with iron bars, bats, knives. It is forbidden by law and tradition for any male to enter the girls dormitories.
The Darfuri female students were savagely attacked, chased out of the compounds with bijamas and many bare footed, many bleeding seriously.
The toll of attack is as follows:

A- Seriously injured:

1- Nada Abdulrahman ---- four broken teeth (top), one broken tooth (bottom)-Facial injuries.

2- Aziza Adam Manice --- Beaten with iron bar on kidney, head, back.

3- Saadiah Idris -- injured on head by iron bar, underwent surgery and stitching.

4- Shadiyah Haroun --- Injuries all over the body, in critical condition.

5- Hawaa Aamir -- Injuries all over the body, in critical condition.

6- Howaida Dawood -- injuries on buttocks, back, arms.

7- Thurayah Abdulrahman -- injuries on arms, almost paralyzed.

8- Rawdah Mohamed Ali -- very serious injuries all over her body.

9- Thurayah Bakheit -- injuries on arms, buttocks, back.

10- Aayaat Adam Alnour -- injuries in the head, back, arms.

11 - Hagga Seleiman -- beaten all over her body.

12 - Tawassul Abdulrahman - Beaten with iron bars on head and back, now detained.

13 - Nadiah Abdulkarim -- Beaten on her stomach, legs, broken rib,now detained.

14 - Sagdah Musa - injuries on legs, now detained.

15- Samirah Ahmed Makki - beaten on stomach and legs.

16 - Aamnah Elddein -- beaten on the chest, neck, now detained.

17 - Susan Omer -- in critical condition now.

18 - Salwa Mubarak -- beaten with iron barall over her body.

19 - Mawahib Munsour Alnour -- beaten with iron bar, now in critical condition.

20 - Amani Mohamed Gumaa - Beaten with iron bar on the back, now in critical
condition.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The text I sent to obameter@politifact.com is be low. I received this reply “Thanks for the tip. We will look into this. We have received e-mail from several readers alerting us.”
Angie Holan, staff writer

President Obama has broken Promise #430

I am shocked over President Obama's lack of leadership regarding Darfuri families. Extermination by dehydration, starvation and diseases of cholera, meningitis and diarrhea are happening increasingly since March 4, 2009.

Hearing what our Special Envoy Gration said on his trip to Khartoum, I find myself in disbelief. Gration used the word “friendship” when referring to a man Barack Obama said was behind the genocide on his own people. Is diplomacy with the perpetrators of the genocide really going to be the Obama administration's policy for ending a genocide? I am sure President Obama knows the history of Bashir saying one thing and doing another. Why is Obama's administration disregarding the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant out for President Bashir and his genocide associated crimes?

How can President Obama believe that we can affectively use diplomacy with a génocidaire? When he ran for President, Obama said he wanted, we the people, to let him know when he is wrong. He is wrong on Darfur. He is wrong because he is not taking the lead on handling the Darfuris situation. He is wrong because his administration is talking as if Bashir is a rational human being who can have a shred of trustworthiness. We need President Obama's leadership regarding Sudan and the Darfuri families. We need his leadership for the short term. We need it for the long term. We need Obama to be the man he claimed to be on this defining issue. It defines all of us because of what President Obama chooses to do and what he chooses not to do. I don’t want to be defined by another administration who says “never again” and means it only in the terms of what sounds good in the immediate moment.

"The United States has a moral obligation anytime you see humanitarian catastrophes...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.” Barack Obama Where is this man? I would stand with him in any kind of storm. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEd583-fA8M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPDUIWRIf0Q
A letter I sent to President Obama March 12, 2009. I read it aloud on this video.

Links to Djabal camp videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZN0rqp4Dnw
Day 2 – June 16, 2009 - in Djabal camp – a Darfuri refugee camp in eastern Chad
Arriving in Djabal camp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W97sc0tL4zM
Day 3 – June 17, 2009 - in Djabal camp – a Darfuri refugee camp in eastern Chad
Water station and building a home in the camp


Won't you consider this story of the Darfuri people? If you will look at the videos of Djabal camp, you will see as I do, lovely people living lives of oppression at best and at worst dying due to a world disinterested in genocide and simple human rights.

Thank you for your kind attention to this deeply defining issue.

Sincerely,

Sandra Hammel

..............................................

..............................................
From iACT's day 7 of current trip to Darfuri refugee camp - Djabal:
http://www.stopgenocidenow.org/iact/iact8/day7


............................................................................................
Darfuris, Genocide and Living in a Refugee Camp for 6 Years

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Father's Day


iACT Stop Genocide Now team in Darfuri Refugee Camp

Focused and Determined
Posted by Eric on June 21st, 2009

IMG_1858.JPG Yesterday was World Refugee Day, and the people of Camp Djabal’s lives were intertwined with people from around the world in real-time. It was without a doubt the most important work I’ve ever done in my life. I haven’t had time to really process or absorb what I have been taking in on this trip, at least not as deeply as I know I eventually will.

Today is Sunday, Father’s Day, and I’m thinking of my Dad. I didn’t send him a card or a gift, but I know he knows I’m thinking of him. Yesterday morning in the hours before the start of the live video broadcast we sat on a mat and spoke with a group of men that are father figures of the camp. They told us about what they left behind in Darfur, and how they describe the beauty of Darfur to their young children so that they have at least a basic description of a home that they have never seen with their own eyes. They told us unanimously that there can be no peace in Darfur with there first being Justice. There was no debate, and they did not hesitate to state with complete confidence that everyone shared their non-negotiable demand for justice and accountability for Omar al-Bashir and all who have committed genocide and crimes against humanity. They voiced their support for the ICC and Luis Moreno Ocampo’s work.

IMG_1906.JPG I sat in awe listening and studying the faces of the men, astonished at how much pain, suffering, and evil their eyes had seen. We shared a mat on the ground. They shared their pain from the past, and their hope for the future. This was now on my shoulders. Focused and determined. It’s a weird metaphor, but one that I think people reading this will understand: This conversation was like the most inspirational pre-Superbowl motivational speech ever given by a coach to his team. Except, they didn’t know they were giving it. The conversation was totally impromptu, we didn’t plan on having it, it just happened… the way all things have happened on our trip. It happened for a reason. I left energized and focused on the task ahead — make sure that the stories of these men and those of the other people in the camp are beamed live across the world for all to see and hear.



Posted by Gabriel on June 21st, 2009

IMG_1914.JPG The team here on the ground has been wracking its collective brain with a simple question, how do we get people to care? I know, it’s not simple at all. So, we make it more manageable and ask, how do we get enough people to care just enough? Care just a little?

And from caring, to action.

“Out of the entire population of US, how many people do you think have called the White House?,” Ian asked. It has to be a fraction of 1%, is my guess.

Samantha Power, genocide scholar and now with the Obama administration, summarizes her key findings from researching for her book “A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide”:

  • Despite graphic media coverage, most American policymakers, journalists, and citizens are extremely slow to muster the imagination needed to reckon with evil. Ahead of the killings, they assume rational actors will not inflict seemingly gratuitous violence. They trust in negotiations and traditional diplomacy. Once the killings start, they assume that civilians who keep their heads down will be left alone. They urge cease-fires and donate aid.
  • It is in the realm of domestic politics that the battle to stop genocide is lost. American leaders interpret society-wide silence as indifference and reason that involvement carries steep risks while non-engagement is safe. Lawmakers, editorial boards, nongovernmental groups, and ordinary constituents do not generate sufficient political pressure to change that calculus.
  • The U.S. government not only abstains from sending its troops, but it takes very few steps along a continuum of intervention to deter genocide.
  • U.S. officials spin themselves (as well as the American public) about the nature of the violence and the likely impact of an American intervention. They render the bloodshed two-sided and inevitable, not genocidal. They insist that any proposed U.S. response will be futile, and may harm the victims and jeopardize other precious American moral or strategic interests. They brand as “emotional” those U.S. officials who urge intervention. They avoid use of the word “genocide.” Thus, they can in good conscience favor stopping genocide in the abstract, while simultaneously opposing American involvement.

IMG_1948.JPG The suffering that has been experienced during the last years in Darfur is far from an abstract. It is very real. I know that you care, since you’re here in our website reading this. How do we get more to care? How do we win the battle?

Paz, G

Posted by Katie-Jay on June 21st, 2009

IMG_1921.JPG Yesterday was World Refugee Day. My friends got to speak to the world. Directly to anyone who logged in. To anyone who was following any of the many twitter updates. To anyone who was on the live chat - anywhere in the world. We had spent the days leading up to WRD preparing for the live video feed to Washington DC and then for the several hours of live video feed to the world.

We walked the camp, back and forth in the sand and the heat. We talked with refugees, asked them to gather their friends to be included and to control the crowd, and we tested tech equipment. We slept on the floor of an office, quite comfortably actually, and had only a few moments of down time and sleep over the past week.

It was all worth it. Broadcasting the voices of the refugees to world, live, offering interactions and question/answer sessions, all of this is why I am here.

IMG_1898.JPG At the end of the day, during the sunset over Djabal, Annette Rehl from UNHCR was saying the closing words for the day. This is when it hit me. The power of what we did today and possibilities for the future. The possibility that the world’s most vulnerable can participate in the conversations and peace processes that affect their lives most directly is real. It is very real. This is why I am here.

Thank you to those who tuned in, and if you didn’t get a chance, please check out the “on demand” or archived footage of the day. You will see all our friends speaking to the world.

http://www.stopgenocidenow.org/iact/iact8/day8
Day 8 iACT - Stop Genocide Now

http://www.stopgenocidenow.org/iact/iact8/day9

Day 9 iACT - Stop Genocide Now

http://www.stopgenocidenow.org/iact/iact8/day10
Day 10 iACT - Stop Genocide Now

http://www.stopgenocidenow.org/iact/iact8/day11
Day 11 iACT - Stop Genocide Now

CALL 1-800-GENOCIDE

Call President Obama
202-456-1111


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Write to President Obama
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

You can also write to the President at:
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

President Obama can be called:

202-456-1111
or
1-800-GENOCIDE

The White House comment line is available
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. weekdays

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Find USA elected politicians contact information at this link:
www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
www.stopgenocidenow.org


www.enoughproject.org
www.savedarfur.org
www.eyesondarfur.org

whilewewaitsudan.blogspot.com

>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:

Michael Jackson

...............................................

...............................................
Childhood ~ the song Michael Jackson wanted all to hear
He called this song autobiographical
Uploaded by Luluvine

Heal the World


Don't Stop Til You Get Enough
from michaeljackson
..............................................

..............................................
Ben with the instrumental removed - just below is the same with the instruments
Uploaded by temps0

..............................................

..............................................
Ben
Uploaded by mytube4yourtube

..............................................

..............................................
Ben ~ over the years
Uploaded by ElegantMJJ

..............................................

..............................................
Michael Jackson and Jackson Brown

Alice Miller
writes

Child Mistreatment, Child Abuse

What is it?

Humiliations, spankings and beatings, slaps in the face, betrayal, sexual exploitation, derision, neglect, etc. are all forms of mistreatment, because they injure the integrity and dignity of a child, even if their consequences are not visible right away. However, as adults, most abused children will suffer, and let others suffer, from these injuries. This dynamic of violence can deform some victims into hangmen who take revenge even on whole nations and become willing executors to dictators as unutterably appalling as Hitler and other cruel leaders. Beaten children very early on assimilate the violence they endured, which they may glorify and apply later as parents, in believing that they deserved the punishment and were beaten out of love. They don't know that the only reason for the punishments they have ( or in retrospect, had) to endure is the fact that their parents themselves endured and learned violence without being able to question it. Later, the adults, once abused children, beat their own children and often feel grateful to their parents who mistreated them when they were small and defenseless.

This is why society's ignorance remains so immovable and parents continue to produce severe pain and destructivity - in all "good will", in every generation. Most people tolerate this blindly because the origins of human violence in childhood have been and are still being ignored worldwide. Almost all small children are smacked during the first three years of life when they begin to walk and to touch objects which may not be touched. This happens at exactly the time when the human brain builds up its structure and should thus learn kindness, truthfulness, and love but never, never cruelty and lies. Fortunately, there are many mistreated children who find "helping witnesses" and can feel loved by them.

..............................................


..............................................
Micheal's video of his song ~
Childhood

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,