❧❧❧ Whatever you can do or dream, you can BEGIN IT. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Goethe ❧❧❧
❧❧❧ You were born whole, not broken. Sandra Hammel ❧❧❧
New York Times journalist, Nicholas Kristof, photographed these kids in Sudan's Nuba Mountains in the cave where they shelter from bombings. He writes "They're half-starved and 16 of them live in the cave. They were just haunting."
Op-Ed columnist Nicholas D. Kristof talks with Ryan Boyette, a 30-year-old Florida man who braves bombs by Sudanese military to document atrocities in the Nuba Mountains.
AS Sudan tries to bomb and starve the Nuba people into submission, it faces an unlikely antagonist: an American man from Florida who married a Nuban woman, gets by on local foods like locusts, and is fighting mortars with video cameras.
...President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan has presided over the killings of perhaps 300 times as many people as President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. Bashir hasn’t drawn as much scrutiny as Assad, in part, because many of his killings are in remote areas with no cameras — and Boyette is trying to change that.
I met Boyette here in the Sudanese state of South Kordofan in 2008, and even then he was a remarkable figure who had ritual scarring on his back and lived in a grass-and-mud hut. He had moved to the Nuba Mountains in 2003 to work for Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian aid group, putting on hold his plans to follow his father into police work..
The Op-Ed columnist Nicholas D. Kristof witnesses a growing humanitarian crisis in Sudan, where starving families in the Nuba Mountains are hiding in caves to escape bombing by Sudanese warplanes.
...Like starving people everywhere, they had seemed listless, their bodies conserving every ounce of energy to stay alive. “We’ve had nothing to eat but leaves from trees,” one young mother, Samira Zaka, told me. Her malnourished son was gnawing on a piece of wood.
Then the Antonov bomber buzzed above us, and she and her children rose from their torpor. They rushed into caves, and we all cowered deep in the rocks as the plane passed overhead. The Antonov went on to drop a bomb to the south; more on that in a moment.
This is a mass atrocity that has attracted little attention: a government starving its people, massacring them, raping them, and bombing them — all in hopes of crushing a rebel movement. Sudan has barred aid workers and journalists from the area, the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan, in a largely successful effort to conceal savagery that has echoes of Darfur.
Like many others, I’ve denounced President Bashar al-Assad of Syria for his murderous repression, but the more than 7,000 estimated by human rights groups to have been killed under Assad is within the margin of error of estimates of the numbers of people killed by President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan.
I slipped into Sudan and the Nuba Mountains without a visa, via a rutted dirt track from South Sudan. My vehicle was covered with mud to make it less visible to bombers, which appeared overhead every couple of hours...
The Sudanese government is launching full-scale military assults against the Nuba people in South Kordofan. Hundreds of thousands of civilians are at risk because evacuation routes are blocked in addition to the continuous blockade of humanitarian assistance by the Government of Sudan since June 5, 2011.
Tell Secretary Clinton, “THEY CAN’T WAIT!”
Post the following to the State Department’s Facebook page or tag them in a note on your own page (you will need to “like” the page first):
Dear Secretary Clinton: Like Syrians under attack by their own government, innocent civilians in Sudan need immediate protection from the Government of Sudan. Please Act for Sudan – protection and aid are needed now! Hundreds of thousands of lives are at stake. http://actforsudan.org/2012/02/22/secretary-clinton-they-cant-wait/
Sandra Hammel, retired music teacher and activist, who is trying to raise awareness about the Darfur genocide, has been selected to show her film this Friday at the Compassion Film Festival
My addition: I don't like the picture, but then I don't like any picture of me taken in the last year. I have decided to like being old. However, I wouldn't say that I have totally succeeded. But I am working on it. Young old, but here I am in the years that are no longer even close to young.
The article~
How do you explain a catastrophic event and move an audience to action in five minutes?
Sandra Hammel of Portsmouth will attempt just that this Friday, when she debuts her film “Darfur The Abandoned Genocide” at the Compassion Film Festival at Jane Pickens Theater in Newport.
Hammel, a retired music teacher, became an activist for the cause in 2004 after watching a powerful documentary on the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. "I knew very little about what was happening in Rwanda at the time, but after seeing the film, I decided to educate myself,” said Hammel. “When I heard what was happening in Darfur, I knew I couldn’t be silent anymore.”
Since 2004, Hammel has been extremely proactive about the cause and has volunteered in two major rallies both in Washington, DC, and New York to bring more awareness to the troubles overseas, but in the past few years, the Darfur conflict has not been settled.
“In the last several months, bombing from Sudan has escalated in Darfur, yet we don’t hear about it anymore,” said Hammel. “We are inundated with news daily, yet somehow this entire conflict has dropped out of circulation. The only reason I know what is going on is because I am actively looking for updates on what is going on.”
As for expectations on Friday, Hammel is looking to get the attention of her audience and motivate them to get involved.
“The change starts with us,” said Hammel. “Until we, as people, ask and pressure our leaders to do something, they are just going to let it go.”
As for getting her message down to a five-minute film slot, it wasn’t an easy task but she has faith that it will get through to the audience by the time the ending credits come on.
“I think so many of us, myself included, are so busy and now people are losing jobs and have their own issues so it takes a lot more to move people,” said Hammel. “I completely understand that but it is still so important to get involved.”
The Compassion Film Festival, is a benefit event for Looking Upwards, a local non-profit organization and will consist of a juried collection of short films submitted by local and regional film artists that are all based around the theme of compassion.
If you are interested in checking out the event, you can join the group on April 8 at 6 p.m. at the Jane Pickens Theater in Newport.
For more information about the film series, click here.
Unfortunately the lips and audio became out of snyc due to compression of uploading here at Vimeo. Fortunately, the DVD for the Compassion Film Festival of this video was in sync.
I always put credits at the end and couldn't because of the limit I had to get my message across.
Here are more complete credits:
❧ Special thanks to ❧ Eric Reeves for Open Letter excerpts Mohamed Suleiman for Darfuri sayings Photos ~ Mia Farrow Gabriel Stauring Sandra Hammel ♫ Music ♫ Bridge Over Troubled Water Performed by Eva Cassidy Available at itunes Krista Powell Presented by Sandra Hammel
Genocide flourishes when there is no accountability. It has been flourishing in Darfur since February 2003.
One voice won’t stop a genocide, but that is no excuse to be silent.
Please, use your voice to call upon our leaders to do what is right about something that is very wrong. 1-800-GENOCIDE for President Obama, U.S. Senators and Representatives
"We", meaning news outlets, especially TV channels, and leaders of the world's governments.
That saying ~No News is Good News ~ really doesn't mean anything in the USA "news" outlets. I say this because there are so many important stories that the USA news outlets don't include in their coverage. Genocide in Darfur is one of those stories.
UNITED NATIONS — The Darfur conflict claimed more than 2,300 lives in 2010, according to new UN figures released with Western powers expressing renewed alarm over the war.
With growing numbers of abductions and attacks on UN peacekeepers, some diplomats accuse Sudan's government of stepping up its offensive in the remote western region while international attention is focused on the self-determination vote in south Sudan.
The Sudanese military has frequently refused permission for UN peacekeepers to go to areas where trouble is reported, according to UN officials.
Three Bulgarian air crew on a helicopter carrying World Food Programme supplies were abducted last week and this week troubles flared in the west Darfur town of Nertiti after the killing of a Sudanese intelligence officer.
In December, Tanzanian soldiers at Khor Abeche in southern Darfur even decided to give out their own rations because food supplies were blocked for nearly a week and thousands of extra refugees had headed for the UN base amid renewed fighting, UN officials said.
UN rules say peacekeepers should not give their own food to refugees.
More convoys have been halted around Khor Abeche this week, according to the UN mission in Darfur, UNAMID.
At least 2,321 violent deaths were reported in Darfur in 2010, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a report. At least 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur since the conflict erupted in 2003 when tribal fighters rose up against the Khartoum government, the UN says.
Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir is wanted for genocide by the International Criminal Court. He is accused of ordering the campaign by government troops and their Janjaweed militia allies in Darfur.
The renewed fears over the conflict and deadlocked peace talks were highlighted at a UN Security Council meeting on Sudan on Tuesday.
Britain's ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, who has taken a lead role in Security Council efforts on Darfur, said there was "deep concern" at the renewed hostilities.
Last week's abduction of the UN air crew "highlights the lack of security and its impact on humanitarian operations in Darfur," he added.
Lyall Grant called on all rebel groups to join the peace process without delay or pre-conditions.
"These are not sporadic attacks. This is a real war between Sudanese army forces and the rebel groups," said French ambassador Gerard Araud. "It is at the expense of civilians who are chased, causing deaths and tens of thousands of new displaced."
US ambassador Susan Rice called on the Sudanese government to "immediately halt aerial bombardments," adding: "We condemn in the strongest possible terms attacks on civilians."
She said reaching a ceasefire between government forces and the rebel groups "should be the immediate objective of the peace process."
The Sudan Liberation Army-Minni Minnawi Faction is the only group to have signed up to a 2006 peace accord with the government. But its fighters clashed with army troops last month.
The Sudanese government withdrew its negotiating team from Qatar, where talks with some rebels have been held, in late December but insisted it was not leaving the talks.
South Africa, a new member of the UN Security Council, called for a special international Darfur conference to find a political settlement.
However, one African diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: "The Khartoum government is resigned to losing southern Sudan, but it is determined to win back control of Darfur. The referendum in the south has been perfect cover for all sides to open fire again."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
USUN PRESS RELEASE #006
Jan. 18, 2011
AS DELIVERED
Remarks by Ambassador Susan E. Rice, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United
Nations, at a Security Council Briefing on Sudan, January 18, 2011
Thank you, Mr. President.I also want to thank SRSG Menkerios and President
Mkapa for their important briefings today.
This is a historic moment.And I join President Obama in congratulating the
people and leaders of Sudan for the successful completion of voting on the
referendum on independence.The people of Southern Sudan, after decades of war
and more than two million killed, have cast their votes peacefully and expressed
their will.
The promise of self determination was made to the Southern Sudanese people in
2005.Thanks to the commitment of the people of Sudan and the support of the
international community, that promise was finally fulfilled.Let us not
underestimate what this referendum means to the people of Southern Sudan.We
have all heard reports of long lines forming overnight on January 8th, and of
people standing in line for hours to vote.We have even heard of a case in
which a river ferry broke down, and voters jumped into the presumably
crocodile-infested river and swam across to reach the polling station.
As President Obama said after the polling closed, “The past week has given the
world renewed faith in the prospect of a peaceful, prosperous future for all of
the Sudanese people – a future that the American people long to see in Sudan.”
To the men and women of UNMIS: the United States commends you for your
outstanding work.
Thanks to your tireless efforts, under daunting challenges and difficult
circumstances, the people of Sudan have been able to take a huge step forward on
the path of full implementation of the CPA, which ended a 23-year civil war.To
Special Representative Menkerios, my government congratulates you.You are
performing an incredibly difficult job with grace and wisdom.We thank you.We
also welcome the work that the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission, the
Southern Sudan Referendum Bureau, the Government of Sudan, and the Government of
Southern Sudan have done to ensure that this historic referendum occurred on
time, peacefully, and reflects the will of the people.
We welcome the January 16 statement from the Secretary General’s Referenda
Monitoring Panel, in which the panel said it was satisfied that the referendum
process “allowed the people of Southern Sudan to express their will freely.”A
number of other observer missions have also already released preliminary
statements.On January 17, the Carter Center called the referendum “peaceful
and credible” and “broadly consistent with international standards.”The Arab
League stated that the process was “in line with international standards.”The
European Union Observer Mission commended a “peaceful, credible voting process,
with overwhelming turnout.”
On January 16, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the
African Union called the referendum “free, fair, and credible.”We commend the
work of the hundreds of international observers and thousands of domestic
observers.The United States continues to urge all to respect the results of
the referendum.
Of course, we must all focus on the challenging – and promising – road ahead.
We urge the parties to return to the negotiating table as soon as possible to
negotiate a rapid and sustainable resolution to the question of Abyei and other
outstanding CPA issues.
The United States fully supports the efforts of AU High-Level Implementation
Panel Chair President Thabo Mbeki to facilitate these agreements.We reiterate
that any resolution regarding the future of the Abyei area must be reached with
the consent of both parties, through a political settlement or a process that
respects the rights and needs of those communities traditionally associated with
the area.
Along with the status of Abyei, there are other outstanding issues requiring
urgent attention, such border demarcation, citizenship, wealth-sharing
agreements, natural resource management, the division of the national debt,
security arrangements, currency arrangements, and international treaties and
legal obligations, which are all equally important.We also consider peaceful,
inclusive popular consultations in Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan that reflect
the will of the people to be essential components of CPA implementation.We
call on the parties to bring the same spirit to these negotiations as they have
brought to the conduct of the referendum itself.
For all of the inspiring events in Sudan over the last week, the United States
laments the loss of life in the Abyei and border region and reiterates its deep
concern regarding the arrest, detention, and harassment of human rights
activists and journalists by the Government of Sudan’s security forces, which
prevented both an SPLM leader and an Umma Party leader from conducting
television interviews.In addition, four university students were arrested in
separate incidents for trying to host discussions.
We urge Council members to join us in calling on the Government of Sudan to
release those who have been imprisoned unjustly, including those jailed for
exercising such basic rights as freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and
freedom of assembly.
As President Obama has made clear, the United States wants the leaders in Sudan
to choose the path of peace and prosperity for all of the Sudanese people, and
he has extended the U.S. hand in that spirit.In order for this future to be
realized, however, Sudan, too, must work with the international community.
This includes cooperating with UNMIS and UNAMID to facilitate full freedom of
access and movement for UN peacekeepers and for humanitarian workers.
This access is especially important given the alarming reports that Sudanese
Armed Forces have burned homes and blocked civilians’ access to UNAMID in Khor
Abeche, and that the Government of Sudan violated the North/South ceasefire with
repeated aerial bombardments into the Kiir River Valley – in addition to the
all-too-frequent reports of aerial bombardment in Jebel Mara and the Government
of Sudan’s ongoing refusal to grant UNAMID patrols access to affected
populations, despite the Status of Forces Agreement.
We are deeply saddened and troubled by the news that on January 13, three
Bulgarian helicopter crew members contracted to the UN World Food Program were
kidnapped in Darfur.We convey our condolences to their families.And we urge
the Government of Sudan to do its utmost to facilitate their safe return.We
recall that 40,000 residents of Darfur were displaced from their homes in
December alone.Civilians continue to live under the threat of attack, and of
sexual and gender-based violence.It is thus in all of our interests to
continue to work to prevent genocide.
The United States again calls on the Government of Sudan to immediately halt
aerial bombardments, and we condemn in the strongest possible terms attacks on
civilians.Obtaining a ceasefire between the Government of Sudan and the armed
movements should be the immediate objective of the peace process.The political
process for a Darfur peace agreement must be reinvigorated, and all relevant
parties must come back to the negotiating table.
As we discussed during consultations on Sudan on January 6, the unity shown by
this Council has gone a long ways towards supporting the parties as they have
stayed on the path of peace.We need to continue to watch closely as the
parties continue to implement the CPA.As progress is made, we should welcome
it and offer continued encouragement.But, just as importantly, we need to be
prepared to insist upon and to support full and final implementation of the CPA
on such issues as protection of minorities and rejection of proxy militias, and
other threats to peace and security in Sudan.
Thank you, Mr. President.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GI-NET/SDC URGES OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO STEP UP EFFORTS FOR PEACE IN DARFUR Group sites dramatic increase in large-scale violence, threats to credible Darfur peace process
(Washington, D.C.) The Genocide Intervention Network/Save Darfur Coalition (GI-NET/SDC) today urged the United States government to reinvigorate its policy on Darfur. The call follows reports of renewed violence in Darfur, and comes amid concerns about the future of credible negotiations to reach a Darfur peace agreement.
"Thirty-two thousand Darfuri women, men and children were driven from their homes by violence during the last weeks of December as the world focused on the Southern referendum for independence,” stated Amir Osman, Senior Director for Policy and Government Relations for GI-NET/SDC. “The United States and international community must act to stop future violence and to ensure humanitarian access to care for these displaced people in Darfur while continuing high level engagement on North-South issues.”
GI-NET/SDC also expressed concern about news reports citing U.S. Special Envoy General Scott Gration indicating that he believes the Government of Sudan’s recently released strategy for Darfur is a ‘very good plan.’
“The Government of Sudan’s Darfur plan has serious flaws, including a call to hold Darfur peace negotiations in Sudan, and it would be a policy blunder if the United States endorses such a plan,” stated Osman. “Many of the civil society and rebel representatives who should be around the table in any negotiation would not feel safe traveling within Sudan, and that makes Sudan an impossible venue for such a critical negotiation.”
“The United States should instead support a high-level, internationally mediated negotiation for Darfur peace that would include the Government of Sudan, the major rebel group and civil society representatives, held in neutral location outside of Sudan,” Osman continued. The historic end the North-South war and signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005 resulted from a similar process.
“We are heartened by the recent appointment of Ambassador Dane Smith, and we hope he will have an opportunity to increase U.S. engagement on Darfur at this critical time,” concluded Osman. “Given the broad concern Americans have demonstrated on this issue and the strong promises President Obama made as a candidate and since his inauguration, it would be a mistake to pursue a policy with the goal of anything less than meaningful peace, protection and justice for civilians in Darfur."
###
The Save Darfur Coalition and Genocide Intervention Networkmergedon November 1, 2010 to create a more powerful voice dedicated to preventing and stopping large-scale, deliberate atrocities against civilians. The organization remains committed to its work to end the crisis in Darfur and bring peace to all of Sudan as well as to end violence in other areas of mass atrocities such as Congo and Burma.
This is the most exciting link that I have ever posted....these young people - going to school in exile due to an on-going government sponsored genocide in their home country - have been provided video cameras and are showing us their resilience and their spirit which is nothing short of inspiring. Do NOT Miss This>iactivism
This is most likely the first time in history that the living survivors of an ongoing genocide have been able to freely communicate with the free world in their own words. No reporters, no government censorship. These are Darfur refugees writing in their own words, expressing their true feelings and sharing their amazing lives with us. May we listen, may we learn and may we act.
In the last two days, as part of the Darfur Dream Team Sister Schools program school children from Darfur have connected to children and classrooms in Chicago, Hawaii, and Connecticut…LIVE! Gabriel tells us, “today the kids spend extended time reading and sending messages between them and the sister schools in the U.S.! They are learning the keyboard fast, and they know what they want to say. “
The team is on Day 7 of i-ACT 9. They have been answering the question, "Why Darfur?" with 100 answers throughout this trip. Follow along as Gabriel and KTJ give us inspiring reasons 42 through 55.
On behalf of the i-ACT team Jeremiah
❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧
This is from Gabriel ~
DARFUR DREAM TEAM CONNECTS DARFURI AND U.S. STUDENTS
Posted by Enough Team on Dec 15, 2010 Darfuri students learn how to use CommKit to exchange video, photos and written messages with American students. (i-ACT). Photo credit: I-ACT, Gabriel Stauring
When we arrive at Djabal, just before sunset, we are welcomed as if we're returning home—word gets out fast! We have to leave within the hour, but before I get in the car, I hear, "Gabriel." Our good friend Rahma, a bright seventh grader, is there with his huge smile. This is our fifth trip to the camp, and spending time with Rahma is one of the highlights.
When walking through the camp and having conversations with refugees about our lives, it is sometimes easy to forget that the people here have experienced extreme violence and lost so much. Many of the children have seen things no child should ever witness. The horrors in their past is not helped by the uncertainty in their future. With all of these uncertainties and challenges in their past, present, and future, it is always surprising that, when asked about what they value the most and where they find hope, their answer is always: “Education!”
The beauty of the Sister Schools Program concept is that it creates a mutually beneficial relationship in which students learn from each other and expand their horizons. Schools in the United States engage in creative fundraising efforts to support their sister schools in the camps, but the program also allows students and communities halfway across the world to connect with the refugees at a very personal level, sharing information about their daily lives and becoming friends.
We already are seeing some of the results from the relationships. Two of the schools in Djabal have new classrooms, made of concrete blocks with concrete floors and doors and windows that actually lock. There are blackboards on the walls and desks are arriving soon, while much-needed teacher training and textbook purchases have taken place. And much more is being planned. There is already construction underway to complete more of these classrooms, with the end goal of completely renovating all six schools in Djabal.
Our current trip is ambitious. Even after we leave Djabal, a place with no infrastructure and a population with no experience in online technology, the refugee students and teachers will be able to connect to U.S. students through a simplified online social network. We've started using the technology "Commkit” with the refugee students and they are having a blast learning how to connect—from the basics of using a keyboard, to the idea of sending messages up through a satellite and down onto another continent. What we've seen is that the young Darfuris, just like young Americans, are eager and able to quickly take on the new technology in an almost organic way.
You can follow and participate in our current i-ACT Expedition to Djabal and Goz Amer refugee camps by visiting either the Darfur Dream Team website and Facebook page or the i-ACT website and Facebook page. Once you meet the people of the camps, I know that you will want to keep the conversation going. Katie-Jay, James, and I feel privileged to be able to visit the refugees and work with them on this program. Our team back home is amazing in keeping us connected. I hope that you're able to experience some of what we experience on this side.
Gabriel Stauring is the Co-Founder and Director of i-ACT, an advocacy organization that harnesses the power of video and the internet. They are currently in eastern Chad, visiting Darfuri refugee camps to reconnect with refugees and bring their stories back to the United States on behalf of Enough's Darfur Dream Team Sister Schools Program.
No one wants to eat the same thing for seven years.
Follow Jimiya as she collects rations for her family of 3 to last them a month. She gets sugar, cereal, oil, yellow split peas, grain and some soap. ....................................................
Won't you use your voice? Darfuris have been put on the back burner by our President and many other leaders on the planet and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has put them on the front burner.
When three of us showed up, and few came after us, we discussed why people may not show up like they did when I fist did a walk in 2007. I have done four major events now and only one of them received people from three states and that I didn't know were coming.
Reasons could be:
1) the economy
2) the news has decreasesed even more about Darfur, so it gets ignored
3) people are stressed out in their lives
4) people don't care or don't know
The last thing about people not knowing is still so very true. My brother asked me recently when Haiti had the earthquake, if Darfur and Haiti were the same place and didn't they have the same problem.
People still don't know what genocide is. I prefer using other words to describe what it is, such as targeting a group of people to get rid of, whether by direct killing or by more indirect means, such as withholding care, food and water. And also rape as a tool of exterminating a whole ethnic group or race.
I made this video of our Walk to End Genocide for Sudan
............................................................
The Walk to End Genocide for Sudan was in Newport, Rhode Island
April 11, 2010 Uploaded by ilovemylifesblog ............................................................
............................................................
Uploaded at Facebook, too
Best to watch in High Quality - HQ
Here is my speech
The first part given at the start of the walk and the second part given at the end of the walk.
Touro Park little speech – 3 minutes
Welcome on behalf of the Darfuri people and all the Sudanese marginalized people.They appreciate your moral support more than you know.I know for me, knowing this personally, has moved me to stay inspired to keep doing this volunteer work toward treating human beings with dignity, especially around the reoccurring theme of genocide on this planet.
We come together in solidarity for justice for people most of us have never met, but feel the need to make our desire for freedom for all - known.Today is the first of3 days in Sudan for national elections. These elections are a sham and make a mockery of the CPA - the peace agreement that brought us to this day.At the end of our walk we will have a speech, where more will be explained about the election, music and actions that each one of us can continue to take.Making an effort to drag our leaders toward doing something right about something that is very wrong. (Comprehensive Peace Agreement)
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your presence here today. If you want to talk to me in the future, provide your email and phone number on the petition. And if anyone wants to see the pictures and video from today, please provide me with your email address. When I post it online, I will send you a link.And do check out our new grassroots website: i on sudan
Let’s Walk to End Genocide for Sudan on this day of elections in Sudan
Speech
Walk to End Genocide for Sudan - April 11, 2010
April – Genocide Prevention Month
Newport
10:29
25 minutes
"If we care, the world will care.
If we bear witness, the world will know. If we act, the world will follow."
Words spoken at the first Darfur national rally,
held on the mall in Washington, D.C.
by Barack Obama April 30, 2006
Moments of silence for those who have died and live with injuries from the hands of the government of Sudan.
Babylon - A Song of Exile~composed by Marguerite Heenehan
I would like to thank Miki Green and Sally Hanchett, who have always been willing to help.
And also my thanks to Marguerite Heenehan who accepted the invitation to sing for us today.Her first song was her own composition: Babylon - A Song of Exile
Later, she will sing Pete Seeger's Golden Thread
In April of 2004, in a private moment I made a decision after watching PBS’ 10 year anniversary airing of Ghosts of Rwanda about the genocide. I decided, then, I would speak out about the immorality of genocide.
November 22, 2005.
I spent the day at the death camp at Dachau, Germany. I spent hours just in one room reading how a genocide comes about. In another room, with two ovens built for the purpose of burning fellow human beings, I stood by German high school students on their field trip.
On the stone structure’s pillars and walls, I read of the unthinkable human experiments done by doctors to the residents of the camp, which were not only Jews, but priests, homosexuals, mentally ill and anyone who disagreed with the dictator, Mr. Hitler. Dachau’s camp was opened March 20, 1933 and the surviving victims were liberated by American forces April 29, 1945. April is Genocide Preveniton Month. The holocaust went on for 12 long years.
I believe that
GENOCIDES GO ON BECAUSE WE THINK IT COSTS US NOTHING,
BUT WE ARE WRONG - it defines us
I wonder how many of us heard about the April 6 anniversary this year of the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Even though it took place in Rwanda, it is an anniversary for the world. All genocides are.
I would like to offer some perspective to the reason we gather today and the place we are standing right now.
Historical Town
This is a historical town. Newport. We have a history here rich in examples of how varied human behavior expresses itself. The good, the bad. Just every day average people.
Slave Trade
Newport, Rhode Island played a leading role during the Colonial Period in the Slave Trade.
By 1776, several thousand African slaves lived and work here.
In Colonial times, slaves comprised nearly one third of our town’s total population
with one in three Newport families owning at least one slave.
Jews
When Jews were forced to convert to Catholicism in Europe
and expelled if they refused,
some eventually came to Newport.
In the spring of 1658, fifteen Spanish Portuguese Jewish families arrived in Newport
who formed the beginnings of what eventually is the congregation of Touro Synagogue.
Native Americans- Genocide Right Here
This land was the homeland of people such as the Wampanoag, Coweset, Nipmuc, Niantic, Pequot and Narragansett. The truth is we stand on land that once had an entirely different social structure than the one that came from immigrants.Land that was stolen from those already here, then treaty after treaty was dishonored by the government side of the treaty.And a very neglected story of discrimination became a systematic attempt to exterminate indigenous peoples.So the subject that we are here to speak out against today for Darfuris, is not a remote story that only has happened in a far off land.
Still Tolerated in Sudan
In this 21st century, Genocide is still tolerated.Since, 2004, the world has little more than spoken words
against the actions of systematic extermination by the government of Sudan for the people of the Darfur region.
It has been disheartening to see President Obama’s Special Envoy to Sudan,
Scott Gration, be so very lame, though he promised “carrots and sticks” to his approach,
we have seen nothing but “carrots”.
This in spite a multitude of violations that warrant “sticks”.
His remark of only having “remnants of genocide” in Darfur is an insult to the Darfuri people.It is difficult to destroy a village a second time.A village that has already been burned to the ground and water wells stuffed with murdered Darfuris to insure the survivors won’t return.
Death by starvation and removing the humanitarian aid agencies that provided clean water and medical assistance is no less an effective means to exterminate the Darfuris.
The government of Sudan began expelling humanitarian aid agencies from Darfur March 4, 2009, immediately following the International Criminal Court charging President A-Bashir with many counts, including “crimes against humanity”.
It is easy for the world to dismiss this story because there is scarce media attention.
But it is still systematic and death by intention to do away with a targeted people.How we moralize it into being acceptable is simple.
Primarily, nations who could do something, ignore it.And if there aren’t enough standing up and saying clearly and persistently “Genocide Will Stop With Us”, then genocide will go on.And so it does.
In my volunteer work with others in the 50 United States – including the Sudan Sham campaign, I have gotten to know three Darfuri of the DiASpora community living in the USA.I exchange thoughts through emails with Mohamed Suleiman, Mohamed Yahya and Bakheit Shata. I asked them what they thought I should say today to you and I received their emails yesterday.
Mohamed Suleiman has a blog where he updates information before official news outlets have it and sometimes never post it. Mohamed has daily contacts inside Sudan.
Genocide articles don’t sell much copy. In reality, a certain golf pro (Tiger Woods) defeats Darfur for winning space in a newspaper and on your nightly news stations.
Mohamed Suleiman said
1- Needed first is Justice, then a safe environment without harm, followed with peace for the people of Darfur.
2- The sham elections in Sudan will serve only to legitimize the rule of al-Bashir, the indicted war criminal.
Mohamed’s 2nd point has been underscored by many human rights groups around the world.
3- Obama's Administration should be on the side of the victims, not the perpetrators.
The Obama administration, led by Scott Gration has cozied up to al-Bashir, to the detriment of the Darfuri people.
When you are already feeling broken, vulnerable and forgotten by the world in your need for hope, seeing the President of the USA pick a man that sides with the perpetrators of genocide, would naturally lead you to lose trust that the USA is a reliable resource to the road back to a peaceful village.
4 – Humanitarian Aid restored to pre March 4, 2009 levels
“After the arrest warrant for al-Bashir was announcedon March 4, 2009, 13 humanitarian aid agencies’ expulsions began.Still today, humanitarian aid is not at the level before the expulsions.”
Most of the aid agencies that were thrown out last year by President al-Bashir were working quietly to support survivors of sexual violence and to protect thousands of women and girls from rape. One of the principal tools of war in Darfur has been systematic rape, a factor in any argument supporting the existence of genocidal intent. By removing most of the groups that were protecting or caring for rape survivors, a cover up is on.
It would be natural to think that all Sudanese would welcome having its first national election in 24 years after al-Bashir assumed the role for 21 years.
This was supposed to be an exciting time for Sudan, but it is not by Darfuris for sure.
The preoccupation of al-Bashir’s Party (NCP) has been to win the election now taking place.
1) In total Control
2) Manipulated voter registration
3 )Drafted the election laws in its favour
4) Gerrymandered electoral districts
5) co-opted traditional leaders and paid people to vote for them.
This is true all over Sudan, but especially in Darfur, where it has had freedom to carry out its strategy, since that is the only region still under emergency rule.
One indication of the NCP's long-term plans to rig the elections was the management of the 2008 census.
The flawed results were then used to draw electoral districts,
apportion seats in the national and state legislatures and organise the voter registration drive.
Census takers – aided by NCP party – expended great efforts to count those who support the current regime. They also reportedly counted newcomers from Chad and Niger, who had settled in areas originally inhabited by persons displaced in the Darfur conflict, and issued them identity papers so they can vote as Sudanese citizens.
However, most of the estimated 2.6 million internally displaced (IDPs) living in camps, as well as people from The result is an almost certain victory for the NCP and Omar al-Bashir.
And the consequences for Darfur are catastrophic.
Disenfranchising large numbers of people will only further
marginalise them and complicate an already complicated huge problem.
Since the vote will impose illegitimate officials through rigged polls, they will be left with little or no hope of a peaceful change in the status quo, and many can be expected to look to rebel groups to fight and win back their lost rights and lands.
Ideally, elections would be held after a peace deal has been negotiated and the problems with the census, voter registration and demarcation of electoral districts resolved.
The NCP is desperate to legitimize President Omar al-Bashir,especially because he has been indicted by the International Criminal Court.
And there are fears that any delay may risk jeopardising the southern Sudan’s referendum scheduled for January 2011 to vote to become a separate country.
On top of all this
Candidates were blocked from campaigning freely, detained, and threatened.
The major party that represents southern Sudan’s candidate withdrew from the presidential race last week – (Yasser Arman, of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement- SPLM)
and the party announced its will boycott the parliamentary races in Darfur, as well.
Fraud, Unresolved, Unfair, Unfree
They cited alleged fraud, the unresolved crisis in Darfur, and unfair and unfree conditions as reasons for withdrawing.
Many northern party candidates have also voluntarily withdrawn from the presidential race. The Umma party has withdrawn from all races.
At this point the presidential race is virtually uncontested.
Monitors Withdrew
The European Union has withdrawn their election monitors from Darfur citing insecurity and lack of access.
Observers and monitors have been threatened and intimidated by al-Bashir.
Cut fingers off
Al-Bashir responded to a comment re a potential slight delay in elections with the statement:“if they interfere in our affairs, we will cut their fingers off, put them under our shoes, and throw them out."
President Jimmy Carter arrived in Sudan last Thursday to lead the Carter Center’s monitoring mission.
Gration said that Sudan had “given him confidence that the elections … would be as free and as fair as possible,” adding that they “have gone to great lengths to ensure that the people of Sudan will have access to polling places and that the procedures and processes will ensure transparency.”
Sean Brooks of SDC – recent 4 week trip to Sudan
Sean Brooks of SDC said: Gration’s optimism is baffling. After recently visiting Khartoum, the southern part of the country, and Darfur, Brooks stated
“There is no chance that these elections will be even remotely free or fair.
The government has been harassing its opponents for months.”
BBC: stated: “Sudan's elections risk going down in the history books for all the wrong reasons.”
My friend Mohamed Yahya, said,
"Sudan should be ready for war. The government has torn life apart. There is no one to help the Darfuri people
* with 6,000 villages, of which 90% aredestroyed
* thousands of women and girls identity destroyed
** I lost 21 relatives in one day.
** There are 1000s of people like me. How do I forget?
They will never change, this is unjustified and deliberate.
It will continue, if al-Bashir is not stopped.
There is a clear divide between what the Sudanese people are saying and what Gration is promoting.”
Last night from a fellow activist, I received an email with these words written by a young Darfuri woman who still lives in Sudan:
"It does feel good though, that there are people like you concerned about what's going on here, I do believe some day he will fall, people here are powerless, even authorities of power, I mean this President is making it impossible for almost everyone. Thanks - it's your words that are a highlight in days full of darkness."Fatimah Ismail
I receive these same kind of comments from the Darfuris living in this country.They are so grateful for any support we give them.
"Our Lives Begin to End The Day We Become Silent About Things That Matter." Martin Luther King, Jr.
Golden Thread sung by Marguerite Heenehan
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I skipped this page by mistake:
I believe we must make decisions based on moral principles.
Unfortunately too many politicians won’t do that, unless we make it clear
that is what must be done.
That is evident because of every genocide that has come and gone.
What human behavior will we condemn – if not genocide?
We step up when there are disasters caused by weather, such as in Haiti,
but where are the multitude of news reports and TV shows,
asking us to support the end of genocide, a disaster of our human race’s making?
Where there is a will there is always a way
and where there is no will there is never a way.
Political will won’t just happen.That is transparently clear.
We could find ways to stop genocide, if we wanted.
Our politicians get away with doing nothing because they believe it will cost them nothing to do nothing.
But we do have some brave ones who have stepped to the plate, but they need also to hear from us.
When I have lobbied US RI Senators and Representatives about Darfur, I have been told that they need to know we are behind them when they do step forward.
Stopping genocide is a choice – and we choose, even if we do nothing.
So, I ask you to do something.This week.
end of the page I skipped
TAKE ACTION
Suggestions:
1 Sign the petition
2 Make calls or email
US officials
President, Secretary of State, Senators Reed, Whitehouse, Reps Kennedy and Langevin
1-800-GENOCIDE
President Obama and VP President Biden
202-456-1111
email: whitehouse.gov
on right hand side is Contact
Encourage them to ensure that the Sudanese elections do not legitimize a genocidal, corrupt government and instead reflect the true will of the Sudanese people.
3 Get involved locally. I am willing to keep up the good fight. But, I need help.
Provide your name, email and or phone number if you will help in some way
Just like our leaders, it helps to have support.
Mohamed Yahya has offered to come and speak to us.So when he does, come and listen.
If you know a school or church group, who would like me to come and speak, ask.
I encourage you to go to our new website: ionsudan.net
reporting news on the ground in Sudan and giving actions you cantake that are up-to-date.
4 Donate - If you want to make a tax-deductible donation to the effort:
Thank you for your letter urging action to end the genocide in Darfur. I share your outrage over the hundreds of thousands of lives lost, and the suffering of millions more. It has gone on for far too long. Bringing relief to the battered region of Darfur is a top priority for my Administration.
So help me hold him to this commitment.So far, his man Gration has not.
I am waiting to see the legacy about genocide and in particular Darfur and Sudan of this administration.
If you want peace, work for justice
إذا كنت تريد السلام ، أعمل من أجل العدالة
Our being silent is used as a tool in the arsenal of Bashir.
But we gather here to say with our presence
Genocide is Not Okay with Us.
Genocide in our time
MUST Be Noticed,
Genocide in our time is
worthy of being reported by our media,
worthy of having the leaders
of free nations use their political will
to end the Darfur genocide
And actually put some meaning to the words
Never Again
Words we love to use
At the languishing end of each genocide that this planet has hosted.
A Moral Nation Needs to Stand Up for Right
Genocide flourishes when there is no accountability.
We have been called to be human in the most basic way on this subject.
I am one person, but I am on a mission. Genocide vs. the human right to live…out … a normal existence -a passion for me.
How long will we allow ourselves, our nations, our will, to be defined by the tolerance, acceptance of genocide?Our leaders have certainly shown that it doesn’t matter, whether Republican or Democrat, the political will needs us to make the difference.
So, let’s be the difference.
Let’s do something that will bring peace to our pillow – knowing we have done our part.
Thank you on behalf of the voiceless Darfuris and all marginalized Sudanese.
We are a symbol of what is right about humans being human.
Let your light shine.
Photos taken by Krista Powell
April 11, 2010
Newport, Rhode Island
Our route:
Touro Park
Pelham Street
Bellevue Aveune
Memorial Boulevard
Americas Cup Avenue
Thames Street
Touro Street
Washington Square
Eisenhower Park
when-humans-humanity-is-indifferent
Soapbox The media has been missing an opportunity and responsibility to report on this story.It seems the US media would rather obsess on Sarah Palin, The Tea Party and Tiger Woods – the “soup de jour”.There is always some story that the US media obsesses over until they latch onto some other story to go on and on about.All while ignoring real stories that direly need them to report them.It is no longer news, it is entertainment.And it isn’t even good “entertainment” value.They should live that up to artists, actors and writers and report stories of importance.
I love my life. I love where I live. And I am passionate about my passions. I love to dance. Necessary to live: music, piano, singing, writing, acting, painting.
I have been fighting for and supporting the arts all my adult life. Since 2004, I have been working with other activists to end the Darfur genocide.
I have traveled to Europe many times since my early twenties. Places I have been: many USA states including Hawaii, Montreal, Canada, Barbados, France, Spain, Luxembourg, England, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Greece and Germany - and have wonderful memories.
My last trip was in May - June 2013 to Spain.
I would like to travel to Europe and Kyoto, Japan.
I love the southwest where I have visited Hopi, Navajo, Zia and San Idlefonso potters.
Life is exciting and I intend to live it full-out to the end.
B.S. and M.M., both in music
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Khartoum, Sudan Stop Genocide Time
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Spain Time
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Melbourne Time
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Hawaii Time
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RAFA NADAL -BRING BACK LONG PANTS - SLEEVELESS TOPS
Double Click on Videos to Enlarge
Darfur - The Abandoned Genocide - a video by Sandra Hammel
Want to help? Call 1~800~GENOCIDE
"May I Suggest" by Susan Werner
Satchita - Playing for Change
Stand By Me ~ Playing for Change
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Genocide is not only a word,
it is crying of the whole human race.
There is nothing redeeming about being silent
when speaking up is the humane thing to do.
The honor and integrity of the human race is at stake.
