USA POLICY ON DARFUR IS NOT WORKING TWO YEARS INTO OBAMA'S LEADERSHIP

What could be worse than having Gration (since March 2009) be Obama's Special Envoy to Sudan for two years? What will change when Dane Smith takes on the same impotent Obama policy regarding genocide in Sudan, including Darfur?

Click image to enlarge the letter

The first paragraph written by President Obama states:

"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 Darur is a top priority for my administration. "

For sure, President Obama does not share MY outrage. His personally selected Special Envoy to Sudan has absolutely no support by the Darfuris. I risk little to say NOT ONE DARFURI APPROVES OF GENERAL SCOTT GRATION. And neither do I. He deserves no support from the Darfuri people. He has made statement after statement that could only alienate Darfuri people. And the new man, Dane Smith has the same President to satisfy, so I wonder what will be different?

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." Martin Luther King Jr.

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U.N. accused of caving in to Khartoum over Darfur

Source: iwpr.net/kk/node/49799

Amid growing levels of malnutrition, illness and instability in Darfur displacement camps, United Nations aid and peacekeeping agencies are being accused of capitulating to pressure and interference from the Sudanese government and failing in their duty to protect civilians.

By: Simon Jennings, Katy Glassborow, Tajeldin Adam, Assadiq Mustafa Zakaria Musa (*)

Human rights and civil society activists are joining the region’s internally displaced people, IDPs, and Sudanese opposition politicians in calling on UN agencies not to duck their responsibilities in order to keep Khartoum on side.

This comes as conditions in IDP camps deteriorate, with the government delaying food and medical supplies and many children often too hungry to go to school. One Sudanese opposition politician interviewed for this report claimed that some of the weakest camp inhabitants have started to die because of the shortages.

“International humanitarian capacities have been seriously eroded and impaired to a point that leaves Darfuris in a more vulnerable position now than at any other time since the counter-insurgency operations and forced displacements in 2003,” reads a recent paper, Navigating Without a Compass: The Erosion of Humanitarianism in Darfur, published by Tufts University in the United States.

Since 2003 when fighting between the government and rebel groups began in earnest in Darfur, millions of civilians have been forced to leave their villages – which were frequently razed to the ground – and have since lived in displacement camps or fled to eastern Chad.

They have relied heavily on international aid to survive, but according to research by IWPR and Radio Dabanga (an IWPR partner radio station based in Holland), the government – which sees IDP camps as strongholds of rebel support – has consistently worked to thwart the distribution of food, restrict access of relief workers and control the movements of peacekeepers.

In October last year, the head of the UN children’s agency UNICEF, Nils Kastberg, told Fi al Mizan, a radio programme made by IWPR and Radio Dabanga, that Khartoum is preventing his agency from releasing reports about malnutrition in IDP camps.

“Part of the problem has been when we conduct surveys to help us address issues, in collaboration with the ministry of health, very often other parts of the government such as the humanitarian affairs commission interferes and delays in the release of reports, making it difficult for us to respond [in a] timely [manner],” he said.

“We are raising these issues with the government at the moment that the humanitarian affairs commission should not interfere with the release of these reports.”

UNICEF reported early last year that as many as 21 nutritional surveys were conducted since June 2009, but only seven have been released by the humanitarian affairs commission. Six of those showed malnutrition rates of between 15 and 29 per cent, the report stated.

Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court, ICC, say that restricting humanitarian aid is further evidence of a continued genocidal campaign against the people of Darfur by the Khartoum government.

But of the UN agencies engaged in Darfur, only UNICEF and the peacekeeping operation in Darfur, UNAMID, have talked publically about government interference.

Other UN agencies approached by IWPR have declined to speak about the problem, saying this could jeopardise their entire aid operations and lead to them being thrown out of the country. Sudanese opposition politicians say that by failing to speak out, UN agencies are in effect collaborating with the government.

The Sudanese government, meanwhile, insists that it is meeting its obligation to look after IDPs in Darfur.

“I don’t think the government will try in any way not to fulfil its commitments or not to perform its responsibility as regards the humanitarian access,” Mohammed Eltom, from the Sudanese embassy in London, told IWPR.

Read the full article at ~iwpr.net/kk/node/49799


"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
Martin Luther King Jr. - I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches That Changed the World, Special 75th Anniversary Edition

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Abyei litmus test Sudan's Peace

While much effort has gone into ensuring that the Southern Sudan referendum went ahead on time, the escalating tensions in the contested border region of Abyei serve as an important reminder of the significant challenges that still remain to a successful transition to long-term peace in Sudan.

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) has special provisions for the ‘Three Areas’: Blue Nile, Southern Kordofan (including the Nuba Mountains) and Abyei. Abyei is a transition zone between North and South and has traditionally been an area of cattle owning groups: the Dinka (from the south), and the Missiriyya (from the North). In the negotiations leading up to the CPA, Abyei was always a sticking point and has since continued to be a contested region. Abyei holds a vast amount of Sudan’s oil. However, the pipelines and refineries, essential for the extraction of the oil, are situated in the North.

Abyei, as the rest of the Three Areas, was supposed to be the litmus test for a united Sudan and for the wealth- and power-sharing arrangements set out by the CPA. The agreement should have identified mechanisms to share the wealth between the North and the South long term but the Abyei Protocol did not tackle any of the disputed issues and was only ever meant as a resolution for the interim period following the signing of the CPA in 2005. The Abyei referendum, on whether Abyei should remain in Southern Kordofan State in Northern Sudan or join Bahr el-Ghazal State in Southern Sudan, was to take place at the same time as the Southern Sudan vote. However, the vote has been delayed and no future date has been set. The borders have also yet to be demarcated.

At this timely event, as the results of the South Sudan referendum begin to emerge, senior NCP and SPLM commentators from Abyei discuss the future of the region.

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US envoy reiterates support to Sudan’s strategy for Darfur

Source: Sudan Tribune

January 13, 2011 (KHARTOUM) — US Special Envoy for Sudan Scott Gration renewed his support to Sudanese government strategy to end Darfur conflict and announced that his country would work jointly with Khartoum to implement it.

Flanked by his aide for Darfur conflict Dane Smith, Gration ended Thursday a two-day visit to the restive region where he met with North Darfur deputy governor Idriss Abdalla Hassan and the head of UNAMID Ibrahim Gambari. He also paid a visit to IDPs camps in Deribat, Khor Abeche and Shangili Tobayai.

The Sudanese government plan aims to domesticate efforts to resolve Darfur conflict though promoting dialogue among local actors from states governments, tribal leaders, civil society and IDPs. It also plans to establish security and support the return of displaced persons besides recovery and development projects there.

In a meeting with deputy governor, Gration praised the Darfur peace strategy prepared by the government to address the eight year conflict. He further said his government has appointed Dane Smith to lead an American team to support these efforts.

"We know that those are your priorities, but we will work together and synergize our efforts to reach a sustainable peace in Darfur conducive to the return of displaced persons and refugees to their homes."

The government’s strategy is founded on the conviction that the rebel groups have become an obstacle to end the conflict. Ghazi Saleh Al-Deen, presidential adviser tasked with the file, considers also that the rebels distorted the origins of the conflict which had been disputes over pastures and land between cattle herders and farmers.

Gration announced his support to the government’s plan since last August after a meeting with Ghazi besides Thabo Mbeki of the African Union panel and Gambari who is supposed to represent the United Nation.

The US envoy however emphasized the need to establish a ceasefire commission supervised by the UNAMID, comprising representatives from the government and all the rebel groups including Minni Minnawi, LJM, JEM and SLM-AW.

GOS-JEM CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES

The head of the Sudanese government negotiating team met today with the Qatari state minister for foreign affairs to discuss the proposal submitted by the mediation to the government and the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM).

Amin Hassan Omer also discussed with Minister Ahmed bin Abdullah Al-Mahmoud a cessation of hostilities draft agreement submitted by the mediation to the government and the Justice and Equality Movement.

Last December, Gration during a visit to Doha contributed to convince JEM rebels to commence talks on cessation of hostilities before to resume peace talks.

Sudanese government withdrew its delegation from Doha last month saying talks can be conducted through exchange of visits and correspondence.

The Joint Chief Mediator Djibril Bassole is expected in Khartoum on Saturday for talks with Sudanese officials on the peace process.

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"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." Martin Luther King Jr.

HOW DO YOU GET PEOPLE TO CARE ABOUT GENOCIDE?

The question in the title is THE question. I don't have the answer. But I care. And I wish I knew the answer(s).

15 year old Rahma took this picture with a camera provided by Gabriel and Katie-Jay Stauring December 2010 while they visited the Darfuris refugee camp Djabal

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Note: Left click and slide mouse arrow over the darkened words below. I can't change their color. I apologize.

UN - Sudan: 2.8 Million at risk if violence breaks out

Source: news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101221/ap_on_re_af/af_south_sudan_un

AP

By MAGGIE FICK, Associated Press Maggie Fick, Associated Press – Tue Dec 21, 10:03 am ET

JUBA, Sudan – The U.N. is planning for the possibility that 2.8 million people will be displaced in Sudan if fighting breaks out over the south's January independence referendum, according to an internal report reviewed by The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Just over two weeks remain before voters in Southern Sudan decide whether to remain with the Khartoum-based north or — more likely — to secede and create the world's newest country.

Tensions are high over the vote. Aircraft from the northern Sudanese military have bombed areas in the south or near disputed north-south borders in recent weeks, and the U.N. report said both northern and southern militaries have been rearming, and that many southerners possess guns and light weapons.

Both militaries have reinforced their positions along the border in recent months, hindering aid work, the report said. If either the north or the south doesn't accept the results of the Jan. 9 referendum, the result could be a "war-like" situation, it said.

"A deterioration of the North-South relationship, as well as tensions within northern and southern Sudan could lead to large-scale outflow of people to neighboring countries," said the U.N.'s humanitarian contingency plan, which is stamped "Not for wider distribution" but was obtained by AP.

Underscoring the precarious security situation, southern military spokesman Col. Philip Aguer said Tuesday that 20 troops were killed and 50 wounded in an attack Saturday by forces loyal to a renegade army commander in the remote and militarized state of Jonglei.

Aguer said the attack was a surprise because amnesty discussions between the south and commander George Athor are under way. The south's president offered Athor and other dissident military figures amnesty in September in an effort to promote southern unity ahead of the January vote.

The north and south ended a two-decades-plus civil war with the signing of a 2005 peace accord that also guaranteed the south the right to hold an independence referendum. Some 2 million people died in the war, which left southerners scarred and suspicious of Khartoum's Muslim Arab rulers.

In Sudan's capital Khartoum on Tuesday, the leaders of Egypt and Libya met with Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir and southern Sudanese President Salva Kiir to discuss the future of Sudan after the vote.

If worst-case violence scenarios play out after January, the U.N. plan anticipates an estimated 2.8 million internally displaced people within Sudan and an additional 3.2 million people who may be affected by a breakdown in trade and social services.

The hardest hit populations would be those living along Sudan's disputed and militarized 1,300-mile (2,100-kilometer) north-south border, as well as an estimated 800,000 southerners living in and around Khartoum who would "flee or (be) forced to move to Southern Sudan as a result of violence and insecurity."

Egypt says Tuesday's Khartoum talks are designed to ensure that the referendum is held in a "climate of freedom, transparency and credibility" and that the four leaders would review outstanding issues between the north and south, such as the demarcation of the border and the future of the oil-rich border area of Abyei.

Both Libya and Egypt view Sudan as their strategic backyard and would want to see the breakup of their southern neighbor to be peaceful and avoid any massive flow of refugees into their territory as a result of fighting.

While Libya sees Sudan as a vital piece of its Africa-focused foreign policy, there is much more at stake there for Egypt, the most populous Arab nation. Sudan lies astride the middle reaches of the Nile, the primary source of water for mainly desert Egypt. The White Nile, one of the river's two main tributaries, runs through Southern Sudan.

Egypt fears an independent south may come under the influence of rival Nile basin nations like Ethiopia that have been complaining Egypt uses more than its fair share of the river's water.

In preparation for potential problems, the World Food Program is positioning 76,000 metric tons of emergency food to 100 hubs throughout the south. Emergency shelter supplies, medical kits, and water and sanitation equipment have also been prepositioned.

Another challenge is the influx of southerners returning home from northern Sudan, where an estimated 1.5 million have lived since before the 2005 north-south peace agreement was signed. The U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday that 55,000 southern Sudanese have returned to the south in the last few weeks.

The influx is straining aid capacity. Grande said officials are worried the pace of returnees "may inundate us."

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Sudan leader vows to bolster Islamic law in north

Source: news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101220/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_sudan_arab_summit_4

By MOHAMED OSMAN, Associated Press Mohamed Osman, Associated Press – Mon Dec 20, 11:38 am ET

KHARTOUM, Sudan – Sudan's president has vowed to more deeply entrench strict Islamic Sharia law in the northern half of his country if the predominantly animist and Christian south votes to secede in a Jan. 9 referendum.

President Omar al-Bashir's comments on Sunday appear to reflect his anger at the strong likelihood that the south will vote overwhelmingly in favor of independence from the mainly Arab and Muslim north in the long-awaited referendum. The vote is a key provision agreed on in the 2005 peace accord that officially ended more than two decades of north-south civil war.

Al-Bashir will meet the leaders of Sudan's two most powerful neighbors — Egypt and Libya — in the capital Khartoum Tuesday to discuss the future of his country ahead of the referendum. Al-Bashir is wanted on an international indictment for war crimes in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.

With only three weeks left before the vote, al-Bashir appears to be resigned to the secession of the south and also prepared to do away with key provisions of the 2005 peace accord that recognizes Sudan's ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity.

The secession of the south, he said, would be like "losing a part of the homeland, but it will not be the end of the world."

"If the south breaks away, God forbid, the constitution will be amended to have Sharia (Islamic law) as the main source of legislation, Islam the official religion of the state and Arabic the state's main language," said al-Bashir, who came to office in a 1989 military coup backed by Islamists.

A full-fledged implementation of Sharia law in northern Sudan could create a new point of friction between south and north because hundreds of thousands of non-Muslim southerners live in the north and many of them were expected to stay there even if the south breaks away. Currently, non-Muslims are exempt from harsh, prescribed Sharia punishments.

Al-Bashir's comments could be an attempt to cover up his failure to keep Sudan united and intact, according to Sudanese analyst Fayez Selik.

"Al-Bashir is saying to the north: we lost the south but we won Sharia," said Selik, editor of the pro-south daily Ajras al-Hurriya, or Freedom Bells.

Al-Bashir could also be seeking to rally extremist Islamic groups behind him, he said.

Sharia law was first introduced in Sudan in 1983 and it fueled a southern insurgency in its early years. Authorities soon relaxed implementation, but began to be strictly apply it again when al-Bashir came to power. It was relaxed again after the 2005 peace accord.

Al-Bashir is expected to meet Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and southern Sudanese leader Salva Kiir in Khartoum on Tuesday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said in Cairo Monday.

Aboul Gheit told reporters the meeting was designed to ensure that the referendum is held in a "climate of freedom, transparency and credibility, reflecting the will of the sons of the south" and that the south and north build strong ties.

Aboul Gheit also said that the summit would review some of the outstanding issues between the two Sudanese sides, such as the demarcation of the border and the future of the oil-rich area of Abyei on the border between north and south Sudan.

Both Libya and Egypt view Sudan as their strategic backyard and would want to see the breakup of their southern neighbor to be peaceful and avoid any massive flow of refugees into their territory as a result of any renewed fighting.

While Libya sees Sudan as a vital piece of its Africa-focused foreign policy, there is much more at stake there for Egypt, the most populous Arab nation.

Sudan lies astride the middle reaches of the Nile, the primary source of water for mainly desert Egypt. The White Nile, one of the river's two main tributaries, runs through south Sudan.

Egypt fears an independent south Sudan may come under the influence of rival Nile basin nations like Ethiopia that have been complaining Egypt uses more than its fair share of the river's water.

"Guaranteeing our water needs and safeguarding our Nile resources are a central component of our vision for the future," Mubarak told his parliament on Sunday.

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Sudan court rejects one vote challenge, mulls two

Source: news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101220/wl_nm/us_sudan_referendum_1

Reuters

Reporting by Andrew Heavens and Khaled Abdel Aziz; editing by David Stamp

Mon Dec 20, 3:05 pm ET

KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudan's highest court has thrown out one legal challenge to a referendum on southern independence, but is considering two others that could derail the vote scheduled for next month, officials said on Monday.

Southerners are now 20 days away from the scheduled January 9 start of the plebiscite on whether to declare independence or stay in Sudan, a vote promised in a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war with the north.

Preparations for the referendum -- which are already far behind schedule -- have been disrupted by last-minute petitions to Sudan's Constitutional Court from groups citing a string of irregularities and calling for the organizing commission to be dissolved and voter registration to be re-run.

Southerners, who are widely expected to choose independence, have accused the north of backing the legal challenges to keep control of the south's oil reserves, accusations dismissed by the north's ruling National Congress Party (NCP).

Analysts have warned that there is a risk of a return to conflict if the vote is disrupted or canceled.

An official at the Constitutional Court, who asked not to be named, told Reuters that judges had thrown out one case and were looking into two other petitions. The official declined to go into the detail of the cases.

Two groups, called the Society Organization Network and the Higher Council for Peace and Unity, have announced legal challenges. Their representatives and lawyers were not immediately available for comment on Monday.

The head of the referendum's organizing commission Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil said the court had asked him to respond to points raised in one of the surviving legal challenges.

"The court has summarily dismissed one case. We have received details of another petition and we have been asked to reply to it. That is what I am doing now," he said.

"From what I have seen so far there is absolutely no substance to these petitions. Some are ridiculous. One of them said that the CPA was unconstitutional," he added, referring to the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that set up Sudan's interim constitution and promised the referendum.

The referendum commission was sworn in this July, about three years late. Khalil said he was expecting ballot papers to arrive late on Wednesday or early on Thursday which, he insisted, still gave organizers just enough time to distribute them to remote parts of the south before the January 9 deadline.

International observers from the Carter Center last week praised the commission for holding a "generally credible" registration of voters.

Veronique De Keyser, who heads the European Union observer mission, said on Monday that the registration had been "comprehensive and generally peaceful" but told reporters she would give her full judgment after the voting took place.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak are due to visit Khartoum to meet Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on Tuesday, Sudan's state Suna news agency reported.

Diplomatic sources in Khartoum said they were expected to discuss plans for the referendum and the implications of a north-south split.

Communicate to the President
that he has a role to play

1-800-GENOCIDE
1-202-456-1111
www.whitehouse.gov/contact


Won't you use your voice?

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Source of the following

"7 O'Clock News/Silent Night" is the twelfth and final track on Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, a 1966 album by Simon and Garfunkel. The track consists of an overdubbing of two contrasting recordings: a simple arrangement of the Christmas carol "Silent Night", and a simulated "7 O'Clock News" bulletin of the actual events of 3 August 1966.

The "Silent Night" track consists of Simon and Garfunkel singing the first verse twice over, accompanied by Garfunkel on piano. The voice of the newscaster is that of Charlie O'Donnell, then a radio disc jockey. As the track progresses, the song becomes fainter and the news report louder. Matthew Greenwald calls the effect "positively chilling".^[1] Bruce Eder describes the track as "a grim and ironic (and prophetic) comment on the state of the United States in 1966".^[2]

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I think of the current news that could be put in the background of this 1966 tune today.

Click title to go to Stop Genocide Now's iactivism

THERE ARE TIMES IN MY LIFE I HAVE PRIDE THAT I BELONG TO THE HUMAN RACE AND TODAY WAS ONE OF THOSE

There have been a few times in my life that I feel more at ease, warmth in the heart, stand up more erect and have pride in belonging to the human race. Only a few, but those few times have been inspirational and memorable. Those times never fade from the prominent place that they reside in my experience.

Today, was one of those.

Gabriel and Katie-Jay Stauring, James Thacher, Eric Angel and Yuen-Lin work as a team to bring the people at a Darfuri camp into our lives. Today, the three who are in the camp, Gabriel and Katie-Jay Stauring, James and Eric Angel in California and Yuen-Lin (in Malaysia, I think) did a LIVE online-cast of a Town Meeting, where we could ask questions of the Darfuri people and hear their answers while watching them on our computer screens. Technology meets genocide.

To watch a recorded version of the LIVE Town Hall Meeting of Sunday December 12, 2010 with Darfuris in Camp Djabal in Chad, on the border of the countries of Chad and Sudan (African continent), go here.

Also, if you click the post title, it will take you there.

And I hope you won't miss watching videos by the Darfuri youth, who Gabriel and Katie-Jay provided with cameras. Pictures and videos have been uploaded . It gives a view from their camera lens of what life is like, where they are forced to live because of a genocidal regime in their home region of Darfur.

Much thanks goes out to each one that helps bring this to us and also for allowing those there to have a voice. It is powerful to hear from them!

Darfuri Youth Photo Journalists
Katie-Jay and Gabriel have turned Darfuri youth into photo journalists. The camera work tells us so much about student videographers and photographers and the camp, all at the same time. The town hall, the videos, pictures and stories altogether makes it so easy to feel we are them and they are us.

Photo credit: Khaltouma

Photo credit: Khaltouma

More photos iactivism.org/ionground

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December 13, 2010

Poetry From a Young Darfuri

A young Darfuri handed us these carefully written pages yesterday. They provide a glimpse into one person’s experience of exile, hardship and hope for the future.

Continue Reading

WHY DARFUR?
Reason #12: Children deserve a childhood
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i-ACT 9: Raouda's little brother from iActivism on Vimeo.

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Raouda's little brother and the stuffed animal brought by Katie-Jay

Katie-Jay writes ~
When we met Raouda in January 2009 we asked her what she missed about Darfur. She described a small animal that had cotton inside it, a stuffed animal! Something almost every child has connected with at one time or another during their life. Several people sent us animals to give to Raouda and the other children. Today, we were able to give one to Raouda. It was her youngest brother, Mydi, that enjoyed the animal the most. Raouda herself smiled a bit when I gave it to her. She is married now, at age 13, and I fear that between caring for her grandmother, and now her husband she has missed the small joys of childhood, like playing with stuffed animals.


Blog posts of the trip to Darfuri refugee camp Djabal

www.stopgenocidenow.org/iact/iact9/day3
December 11, 2010

www.stopgenocidenow.org/iact/iact9/day2
December 10, 2010

www.stopgenocidenow.org/iact/iact9/day1
December 9, 2010

www.stopgenocidenow.org/iact/iact9/day0
December 8, 2010

Communicate to the President
that he has a role to play

1-800-GENOCIDE
1-202-456-1111
www.whitehouse.gov/contact


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.

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Eric Reeves' November 12, 2010 article

The Obama Administration"Decouples" Darfur

Khartoum is given free rein to obtain its "perfect ending" ("Misk al-Khitam")

A small fraction of the article ~

One well-informed Darfuri has written to me that “evidence of mobilization in Darfur is everywhere: airports, convoys leaving large cities and towns, heading toward villages in North and West Darfur” (email received November 2, 2010).

This source continues: “Many tanks, troops were seen in North Darfur near Kutum, Kornoi, and al-Tina. Additionally, Janjaweed gatherings were seen in the West Darfur areas of el-Geneina and Kulbus.” And further, “Loads of pro-Government of Sudan volunteers landed in Kutum (North Darfur) airport.” When asked who they were and where they were going, one enthusiast replied, “We are mujahideen and the government told us we have to fight the infidels and supporters in Darfur. We came to clean Darfur.” The same source reports that a family member in Nyala has observed a sharp uptick in military flights out of Nyala airport.

Eric Reeves full article www.sudanreeves.org

OBAMA IS FAILING IN THE CAUSE TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

There was a time back in 2006 that I thought George Clooney wasn't needed to speak out about this issue. I was wrong. We need him and everyone else. President Obama is failing in the cause to speak out against crimes against humanity and genocide.

I feel President Obama got the Nobel Peace Prize at a time we had more hope in what he would do in the area of human rights and genocidal regimes.

The Nobel Peace Prize 2009 was awarded to Barack H. Obama "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples".

ann-curry-george-clooney-visit-sudan
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Africa's next deadly war does not have to happen. January 9, 2011, the people of Southern Sudan will vote for independence, taking with them up to three-quarters of the country's known oil reserves and placing millions of civilians in the potential path of war.

They've done it before. The north and the south fought a 20-year civil war that ended in 2005 only after 2 million people were dead.

Read the full article Endgame in Sudan

Communicate to the President
that he has a role to play

1-800-GENOCIDE
1-202-456-1111
www.whitehouse.gov/contact

Rahma, age 15
Darfuri refugee camp Djabal in eastern Chad

TAKING A STAND ABOUT A HUMANITY-DEFINING SUBJECT

There are especially disturbing reports about the Government of Sudan planning to move millions of displaced Darfuris from the internal camps in which they live to areas where there is even less protection, less humanitarian aid support, and no eyes to witness any further atrocities.

Consider signing the letter drafted by George Clooney and John Prendergast to President Obama. Please ask friends and family to forward a request to also sign it.

For more action opportunities, please visit 100 Days of Action page.

The following is my letter sent to President Obama today via the link above and again at whitehouse.gov/contact

Subject: Sudan, Darfur and USA Leadership Responsibility

October 14, 2010

Dear President Obama,

I believe that we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. I have heard you use this phrase more than once yourself. I consider myself first a human being with compassion and empathy and politically I consider myself a Democrat. I believe Democrats historically have been compassionate to fellow human beings, and are not all out for ourselves, but after trying our best to live our lives responsibly, have expectations that the government should protect our interests with regulations and social programs. And I believe that duties of citizens include the responsibility to know what our politicians are doing in our name and that we must be actively and proactively involved. Furthermore, I believe that we must think about our responsibilities locally and globally, which includes how we address issues such as women’s rights worldwide, human trafficking and genocide.

Since 2004, I have been a community leader who has brought attention to the genocide upon the Darfuri people of Sudan in the state of Rhode Island. In my lifetime, I have watched USA President after President, tolerate genocide in spite of all the correct and moral promises, such as “Never again”. Unfortunately, we have never meant “never again”. We only have said those words when the time that “we” could have done something to divert the madness of genocide is over. We say those words, in order to make ourselves feel better about our lack of doing something. We feel guilty and we try then to assuage our feelings or explain away our behavior of staying away from “The Problem”.

On January 9th, Southern Sudan will hold its independence referendum. Both North and South are preparing for war, leaving civilians at grave risk of major human rights violations. Is this going to be one more time that that we, of the USA and the international community could have diverted another “hell on earth”, but chose not to?

I'm asking you to do all you can to help avert a terrible conflict there. Specifically, I hope you can do more in three areas:

1. Peacemaking: Intensify our support for the North/South peace process and dispatch a senior diplomat to revitalize the Darfur peace effort.

2. Protection: Focus the post-referendum UN peacekeeping mission on civilian protection, particularly in border areas where civilians are most vulnerable to conflict and rights violations.

3. Pressure: You have said there will be benefits for peace and consequences for war. These should be big enough to get the attention of the Sudanese or they won't matter.

Sincerely,

Sandra Hammel

Use Your Voice to Stop Genocide RI

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Here is a letter from George Clooney and John Prendergast asking us for the same proaction ~

If you had 90 days to prevent another Darfur, what would you do?

On January 9th, Southern Sudan will vote for its independence. The country is currently led by an indicted war criminal, Omar al-Bashir. Both north and south are preparing for war, leaving civilians at grave risk of major human rights violations.

Send a message to President Obama asking him to act now.

The U.S. Secretary of State has called the situation a "ticking time bomb." The Director of National Intelligence has said that "mass killing or genocide is most likely to occur in Southern Sudan." President Obama has said that "the stakes are enormous."

We have a brief window of opportunity to do something that has rarely been done: stop a war before it starts. But if the international community is too hesitant or too late in its efforts -- as was the case in Darfur -- hundreds of thousands could die. The last war between the North and South was ended by a U.S.-led peace process, but not before two and a half million men, women, and children perished.

What can we do? Take action now by emailing President Obama.

Republicans and Democrats stand arm in arm for this cause, a cause which does not require sending US troops or billions of dollars. In fact, a combination of international pressure and robust diplomacy ended the last North/South war in 2005. It can work again.

Tell President Obama that we support every effort to use robust diplomacy -- in coordination with all our diplomatic partners -- to ensure a successful referendum, and peace in the South and Darfur. Our President has the power to gather the political will to stop a genocide before it starts, and we must demand that he do so.

The international community was late to Darfur. Late to the Congo. Late to Rwanda. Late to Bosnia. Tell our President that the people of South Sudan can't afford for us to be late again.

Your voice can stop a war.

Send a personal message to the president on the Sudan Now website.

–George Clooney and John Prendergast

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Darfur Daily News

AFP: War crimes-accused LRA chief likely in Darfur: think tank. The war crimes-accused head of the Ugandan rebel group Lord's Resistance Army, Joseph Kony, is likely in the southern part of Sudan's troubled Darfur, International Crisis Group said Wednesday. The International Criminal Court has an arrest warrant out for Kony for war crimes and crimes against humanity, with his outfit accused of massacres, mutilation, using child soldiers and taking girls as sex slaves. Kony is believed to be in the area of Daffak in southern Darfur where an attack took place September 2, according to information from Darfuri rebels from the Liberation and Justice Movement.

Bloomberg: Sudanese General Tanginye Holds Talks About Joining Southern Sudan's Army. A former Southern Sudan militia leader currently serving as a general in Sudan's army began talks with the semi-autonomous region's leader to switch sides ahead of an independence referendum next year. "We have not reached that conclusion, but we are in the process of negotiating," Sudanese Armed Forces Major-General Gabriel Tanginye said in an interview after a meeting today with Southern Sudanese President Salva Kiir in the capital, Juba. "The president is my brother and he is my leader," he said.

AFP: S.Sudan foes mend fences before independence vote. The south Sudanese leadership has been setting aside its differences with armed dissidents and civil war militia foes as a landmark referendum on independence for the region looms in January. Southern regional president Salva Kiir has offered an amnesty to rebel fighters and sought to reconcile with his leading political adversary, former foreign minister Lam Akol, in a bid to ease tensions in the run-up to the vote.

Reuters: North, south Sudan disagree over Abyei vote. A referendum on the future of Sudan's oil-producing Abyei region should be postponed, northern officials said on Thursday, but the south dismissed the proposal as unacceptable.

BBC: George Clooney call to freeze Sudan leader's assets. The Sudanese leader is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Darfur - charges he denies. Mr Clooney told the BBC that freezing his bank accounts would be a good way of putting pressure on Khartoum. The Hollywood star has just returned from Sudan in his role as a UN messenger of peace ahead of January's referendum on secession for the south.

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Double click on video to to see in larger screen at Youtube

Uploaded by cfr

WHEN WILL THE TIME BE THE RIGHT TIME FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA

TO DO SOMETHING OF SIGNIFICANCE REGARDING DARFURIS?

A letter I sent today via: www.whitehouse.gov/contact

August 5, 2010

Dear President Obama,

Happy Birthday wishes.

I am a supporter of yours and your efforts with one heartfelt exception. And that is your lack of engagement in the Darfur and Sudan issues. I don't believe General Gration has served us or the Darfuri and Sundanese people well at all. He has been a disaster in my opinion as many community leaders also feel.

Mr. President, millions of lives – and your legacy – are on the line.

One recent report is only one of many that are unforgivable to let languish:

“UNITED NATIONS, August 4 In Darfur, while the UN is giving assurances that the violence in the Kalma camp has passed, humanitarian groups have been barred from the camp, housing eighty thousand internally displaced people, for the past four days. This emerged only upon detailed questioning of top UN peacekeeper Alain Le Roy…”

I have written many letters to you about this humanity-defining issue. I have made several youtube videos, some addressed to you, which I am sure you have not seen, but I do out of desperation, because I don’t know how to get your attention and I must do something. Here is a link to just one of my youtube videos with inclusion of the New Hampshire primary party night where I helped your campaign for the week running up to the primary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVsvZPry_0Y

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Uploaded by ilovemylifesblog

I understand that you are have been overwhelmed with the many issues in our country and the war in Afghanistan (which I disapprove of) and they have had your attention. But it is simply not acceptable to let this issue of extreme human injustice of the Darfuris to go on and on. And furthermore, we essentially have lost any credibility because we have not made stands based on morality and justice.

Please, I implore you to put this crisis on your "to do" list. We await your leadership with much angst with good reasons. So you can imagine how it is for the tens of thousands living in the heat on the sand under a canvas.

Thank you for your attention in advance.

Most sincerely,

Sandra Hammel

Use Your Voice to Stop Genocide RI, Community leader since 2004

Genocide will only stop with "us" - our leaders have taught us this

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Dear President Obama - my first letter to the President

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Both uploaded by ilovemylifesblog

Click post title to take simple action to make a difference.

www.stopgenocidenow.org/awol

Source for below information:

www.innercitypress.com/dpko1sudan

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, August 4 -- In Darfur, while the UN is giving assurances that the violence in the Kalma camp has passed, humanitarian groups have been barred from the camp, housing eighty thousand internally displaced people, for the past four days. This emerged only upon detailed questioning of top UN peacekeeper Alain Le Roy. Video here, from Minute 47:36.

Inner City Press asked if there had not also been murders in the Zalingi camp -- Le Roy said yes -- and about the restrictions on UN peacekeepers' movements ordered by Sudanese authorities.

Le Roy said that while the Wali of South Darfur has issued such a declaration, requiring advance notice of any UNAMID mission movements, including on the roads, the UN is “discussing” this with Khartoum.

One wonders why the UN has not said more about the barring of humanitarian groups from the Kalma camp. Is it a sop to the government, or reflective of a lull before new UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos takes over in September?

Why has the US, after Friday's consultations, not asked for any Council action in the five days since? There were rumors early in the week of an Obama administration re-think of, or at least meeting on, Sudan policy. But it does not appear to have happened.

While admitting further deterioration and tensions in Darfur, the UN is still putting South Sudan developments in a positive light, noting that the National Congress Party as well as SPLM have asked the UN to monitor the referendum.

Le Roy said the UN does not usually monitor, but in this case is moving toward naming three Eminent Persons, whom it will support with 10 to 20 staff, to monitor.

Inner City Press asked who would choose the Eminent Persons -- might they included former South African president and Al Bashir supporter Thabo Mbeki? -- but Le Roy did not answer.

Regarding Abyei, he described the Dinka questioning the rights of nomads to come in and vote, but said it would be up to a Commission which does not yet exist.


UN's Le Roy in Sudan, humanitarian access not shown

Le Roy's logistics colleague Susana Malcorra recently briefed the Press, and was asked by Inner City Press what the UN would do to ensure that those Southerners in the north who are registered to vote by the NCP can, in fact, vote.

Sources tell Inner City Press that Khartoum plans to register many Southerners and then make it difficult to vote, to drive turn out below 60% and invalidate the referendum. Ms. Malcorra said that the UN would be watching Southern registrants in the North. But Le Roy on Wednesday spoke only of the South. Watch this site.

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Sudan Not on August Agenda of UN Council, Russia Against Larger Investigations But Has "Clear Picture of Bizarre Incident"

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, August 4 -- Despite increased violence in Darfur and the stalling of talks in South Sudan about the referendum, the UN Security Council in August does not have a single Sudan item on its agenda.

Inner City Press on August 3 asked this month's Council president Vitaly Churkin of Russia how had been responsible for the hostage taking of the Russian pilot in Darfur. Video here, from Minute 20:32.

Churkin said Russian now has a “clear picture of this rather bizarre episode.” But he declined twice to say if government aligned Janjaweed had been responsible. “The Sudanese authorities did what they could,” he said. Informed sources say that Janjaweed did it in order to revive or increase payments from the Sudanese government.

Following up on the July 30 Security Council meeting on the killings in the Kalma camp, Inner City Press asked Churkin about what other Council members revealed, that Russia along with China opposed France's request for an “investigation.”

While Churkin began, You are not accurate in your assertion, he then said that there is a danger of the UN turning into an investigative body, with “new panels springing up.” The reference, it seemed, was to the UN's advisory panel of experts on war crimes in Sri Lanka, which Russia has opposed.

n Nyala, Gambari and copter, Russian pilot and "bizarre episode" not shown

Like China, though, and the U.S., Russia has a special envoy to Sudan, Mr. Margelov, who was quoted blaming the pilot taking on the Janjaweed.

Calling the killings in the Kalma camp a “relatively minor incident,” Churkin said Russia had accepted a UNAMID investigation, just not a “larger investigation.” We'll see -- top UN peacekeeper Alain Le Roy is slated to brief the Press later today.

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On Darfur Camp Violence, Nur's Role as Unclear as US Stance on Doha, Sudan Says Camp Is Under UN Control, Lobbies

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 30, updated -- Darfur camp violence was taken up by the UN Security Council on Friday afternoon. According to UN sources, members of the Liberation and Justice Movement group which is negotiating with Khartoum were targeted by members of the Abdel Wahid Nur faction, which is not.

While the United States called for the consultations, it is not clear if the US stands with the UN and its Darfur envoy Ibrahim Gambari in saying that the solution to Darfur is to be found in Doha across the table from Omar al Bashir's negotiators.

French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner loudly announced that Paris based Abdel Wahid Nur would be joining the Doha process. Nearly immediately, Abdel Wahid Nur qualified this with the conditions previously listed, including safety in Darfur.

Inner City Press asked Ibrahim Gambari on July 27 about Abdel Wahid Nur's participation. Gambari said no, and characterized the conditions, including safety, as something you get at the END of negotiations, not as a precondition. One can see this as either realism or a too cavalier attitude to the protection of civilians, especially for one in charge of a peacekeeping mission with such a mandate.

More Kalma from the past, Gambari not shown

Sudan's acting Ambassador, on his way at 4 pm into the Council's suite where he would not be allowed into consultations, said that Gambari had told him at 2:30 that he would be placing some calls to get information, and would himself be giving the briefing at 4. But at that time, he was spotted by an Inner City Press source strolling the streets outside the UN, dress in white national dress.

Gambari also said on June 27 that he has gone to Paris twice to meet Abdel Wahid Nur. Three days later, he is still in New York, but not in the consultations room. Briefing was Alain Le Roy of Peacekeeping, joined at 4:40 by Lynn Pascoe of Political Affairs.

The South Sudan referendum Eminent persons monitoring group the UN is moving to set up, which Inner City Press exclusively reported earlier today, would be staffed by Pascoe's Department of Political Affairs and not the UN peacekeeping mission run by Haile Menkerios. Whether Pascoe's arrival at the Council was about this, or the Doha process implications of the attacks in the Darfur IDP camps is not yet known. Watch this site.

Update of 5:09 -- Sudan's charge d'affaires was lobbying in the hall outside the Council. “We cannot live with a paragraph about inspecting the Kalma camp... the camp is under the control of UNAMID...” Then, after fumbling with their passes, they went into the Council's suite. Coming out were the outgoing Nigerian presidency's plants and bean bag chairs with Islamic script. Coming in -- Russia's set up, for August..

Update of 5:29 p.m. -- there will be a press statement. Unclear if it will include the paragraph about inspecting or investigating in Kalma camp, which Sudan is opposing.

Update of 5:55 p.m. -- while UN TV had been told the press statement would be ready and read by now, the Council has gone into recess. Inner City Press is told by Council source that France has proposed the UN send an investigation team to Kalma camp. China and Russia have opposed it, as does Sudan. Developing.

Update of 6:13 p.m. -- Here's what happened: France “aggressively” asked for an investigation, setting of “red lights” among some other delegations. But wait - the US asked the meeting, but France made the proposal. Why? Le Roy pointed the finger at the Abdel Wahid Nur group, but France says they've spoken to him and he denies it. THAT's why France wants the investigation. You heard it here first....