U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY GRATION CANCELED TRIP TO REFUGEE CAMPS THAT HE IS SUPPOSED TO BE HELPING

In the Wednesday (8/19/2009) issue, the most read Arabic newspaper in the world , the London based, Al Sharq Al Awsat, published an analysis to the letter written to the U.S. Sudanese Special Envoy Scott Gration that was sent last Thursday. Al Sharq Al Awsat is considered as the New York Times to the intellectuals and politicians in the Arab world and Arabs intelligentsia living in the West and throughout the world.

This is the headline of the essay:

"Americans joined with Hollywood celebrities are leading a campaign criticizing Obama's Special Envoy to Sudan".

Then in a sub-title:

"They said that his " Friendly approach" towards Khartoum complicates the problems rather than resolving them".

The essay did a great deal of own translation of the letter. They also included some quotes from Reuters' interview with Jerry Fowler and John Prendergast.

The letter, with its factual details, left Khartoum supporters to be pessimistic about lifting sanctions or removing Sudan from the list of states sponsoring terrorism.

This letter is being analyzed by a leading newspaper in the Arab world.

Many writers (in the Sudanese media) in the past days have been discussing the letter, hinted to the fact that Obama was elected because of the movement of grassroots. The writers took the letter very seriously.

Thanks to Mohamed Suleiman for the translation.

Here is the link to the essay:

http://www.aawsat.com/details.asp?section=4&article=532427&issueno=11222

The letter was the first news reported on Radio Dabanga on Friday August 14, 2009. The radio is closely followed and listened to by the Internally Displaced Persons at the camps.

The camps were simmering with anger and some planned demonstrations against Gration (the large IDP camps of Kalma, Abu Shouk, and Zalengei).

Does any one really believe that Gration can bring peace to Darfur anymore?

Special Envoy Gration lost the trust of the victims, because he sided at one time, even briefly, with the perpetrators of genocide.

Mohamed Suleiman's blog http://whilewewaitsudan.blogspot.com/

The letter sent to U.S. Special Envoy Gration:
http://ilovemylifebrothersandsisters.blogspot.com/2009/08/grassroots-efforts-stepping-up-to-be.html

IT IS A WISE PERSON WHO UNDERSTANDS OTHER CULTURES AND RESPECTS THE DIFFERENCES

After I read the article below, I had a better understanding how Darfuri's structure their communities, correct injustices within these communities. I already knew that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir cannot be trusted. I have watched his behavior regarding Darfuris and know he is not a man of his word. Justice is not important to him, unless it is his life he is saving.
When Obama's Special Envoy to Khartoum leaves his current postion, watch and see if he gets rich. Bashir could be paying him to throw the metaphorical softballs and to pedal lies to the world who doesn't want to hear about the story in the first place. Or he could be promising Gration how he will help him get rich one day.

Gration has not been clued into the Darfuri's problems with this wanted criminal, Bashir.

We need a special envoy we don't have to educate so much. One who isn't already off in a ditch with his thinking and with such a steep learning curve even if he were capable.

Darfur: Liquidation of Traditional Leaders in the Camps

by Mohamed E. Suleiman

categories: Darfur & Sudan, Darfuri Perspectives, Refugees and IDPs

Published August 08, 2009 @ 08:32AM PT

Source: genocide.change.org/blog/view/darfur_liquidation_of_traditional_leaders_in_the_camps

The Chief of the sheikhs (leaders) Omdah Omer Adam Ishag was killed last Sunday with his wife in their home in AbuShouk camp for internally displaced persons (IDP). Last year Omdah Ahmed Hagar Karam Eldin was murdered in the same camp. Similar killings of Omdas (tribal leaders) have occurred in IDP camps of Zalengie, Kassab, and El Geneina area in western Darfur, in addition to other camps in the past few years.Last year in August, Government troops attacked Kalma camp and killed 86 people.

These violence incidents are not random. They are designed to break the will of the Darfuri people so that the rulers in Khartoum can have their way in Darfur.

The regime of Khartoum is so cunning that it resorts to devious ways in carrying out its plans to further destroy the people of Darfur. You will hear innocent denials coming out from Khartoum. In the outset Khartoum looks far removed from these assassinations, violence incidents, kidnappings of humanitarian aids, lootings and terrorizing of the camps by armed militias, and banditry operations. Yet this chaotic security environment in Darfur is the creation of the regime in Khartoum. The Government of Sudan controls and manipulates the insecurity level in Darfur effectively, since it is the sole beneficial of such situation in Darfur.

Read more »

DOES OBAMA HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO REPLACE GRATION? - DEFINING MOMENT, DEFINING ISSUE

I remember when Barack Obama told us that Scott Gration was going to be great at his job as Special Envoy to Sudan. He was wrong.

It is well over due for President Obama to replace Gration.

IF our leader, President Obama, cared about Darfuris and Sudan, he would certainly get rid of the mealy-mouthed General Gration, who wants people to return to their scorched villages while nothing has changed to provide security for them to return.

Fire Gration or ask him to resign.

Obama is losing my support. Over this issue. And he needs people like me, who would be among his strongest supporters, if only he would act like he said he would act on this issue.

This is his defining moment with me.

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

The Phony optimism on Darfur

By Eric Reeves | August 6, 2009

Boston Globe

Source:

www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/the_phony_optimism_on_darfur

IN SENATE testimony last week, the US special presidential envoy for Sudan offered a peculiarly upbeat assessment of the crisis in Darfur and the prospects for peace throughout Sudan. Envoy Scott Gration argued that the United States should move toward normalizing relations with the regime in Khartoum, including lifting sanctions and removing Sudan from the State Department list of terrorist-sponsoring nations. This would be a grave mistake - and would reward a regime comprising the very men who orchestrated genocide in Darfur and continue to renege on key elements of the 2005 north/south peace agreement.

There was little policy detail in Gration’s testimony because debate within the Obama administration continues to be intense. But Gration is close to Obama and seems determined to set the tone and establish the substance of US Sudan policy. He clearly went a step too far in June when he declared that genocide had ended in Darfur, and that there were only “remnants of genocide,’’ a characterization disowned by the State Department, the US ambassador to the United Nations, and President Obama, who used the word “genocide’’ in the present tense during recent speeches in Germany and Ghana.

More troubling, Gration has said too little about the humanitarian crisis in Darfur and the consequences of Khartoum’s March 4 expulsion of 13 key international humanitarian organizations; he has demonstrated little appreciation for what was lost, and the difficulty in generating new capacity. Stop-gap measures are beginning to fail at the height of the rainy season, and a number of camps report grave health and sanitation crises.

Gration also appears excessively optimistic about the moribund Darfur peace process. He repeatedly declared to Darfuris and humanitarians during a recent trip to the region that peace in Darfur would be achieved by the end of this year. But any meaningful peace agreement will first require an effective cease-fire, with robust monitoring of a sort that cannot be provided by the current UN/African Union peacekeeping force, which is badly underequipped, undermanned, and has lost the confidence of most Darfuris.

Humanitarians were dismayed at Gration’s insistent talk about the “voluntary’’ return of some 2.7 million displaced persons languishing in camps throughout Darfur. There is no humanitarian capacity to oversee such returns and ensure their voluntary nature; Khartoum refuses to provide security in areas it controls; and Darfuris in the camps complain bitterly that they are being asked to return to lands without protection, and which have oftentimes been taken over by Arab tribal groups. The notorious Janjaweed have not been disarmed and pose a constant threat. Even in the camps themselves, security is tenuous; women still face rape, men are tortured and murdered, and looting is commonplace. In the past, it has been Khartoum that has pushed for returns under these conditions; now, perversely, it is the US special envoy.

In his Senate testimony, Gration suggests that his travels to Cairo and Beijing enabled him to meet “leaders who share our common concern and want to work together toward shared objectives.’’ This ignores the long and resolutely obstructionist role both Egypt and China have played in Sudan over many years. Shortly after Gration’s testimony, a senior Egyptian official described Darfur as an “artificial’’ crisis directed against the people of Sudan. Beijing’s continued shipment of advanced weaponry to Khartoum; its opposition to the role of the International Criminal Court in pursuing atrocity crimes in Darfur; and its relentless support of Khartoum at the Security Council leave one wondering what Gration means by “common concern.’’

Most disturbing, Gration gives no evidence in any of his public comments of understanding the ruthless nature of the security cabal that rules Sudan and is determined to retain its stranglehold on national wealth and power; like many before him, he is convinced that the National Islamic Front is controlled by men who can be reasoned with, cajoled, rewarded, made to do “the right thing.’’ He ignores the basic truth about these men: during their 20 years in power they have never abided by any agreement with any Sudanese party. Any rapprochement that is not preceded by clear and irreversible actions to establish unimpeded humanitarian access, create freedom of movement and deployment for peacekeepers, and meet the critical benchmarks of the north/south peace agreement is doomed to fail.

Eric Reeves, a Smith College professor, is author of “A Long Day’s Dying: Critical Moments in the Darfur Genocide.’’

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

U.S. Backs Implementing U.N. Doctrine Against Genocide
Read at online.wsj.com/article

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

Fast for Darfur

Contact Information for Key U.S. People
Regarding Darfur, Sudan

President Obama

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

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

President Obama can be called:

202-456-1111
or
1-800-GENOCIDE

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

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

Vice President Biden

When I went to his link and contact information, it took me to this
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

Vice President Biden's mailing address:

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/vp_residence/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Main address:
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520

Link to contact information:
http://contact-us.state.gov

Email form for Secretary of State Clinton:

http://contact-us.state.gov/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

UN Ambassador Susan Rice

• United States of AmericaUnited States of America

More information

www.usunnewyork.usmission.gov/

140 East 45th Street, New York, NY 10017

(212) 415-4000

Link to contact information:
http://www.un.org/en/members/index.shtml

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

Scott Gration

may not be worth the effort.

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

Foreign Relations committee members

http://foreign.senate.gov/about.html

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

Senate Sub-Committee on African Affairs
At this link are the members' names, email addresses and phone numbers:

http://www.visi.com/juan/congress
Sub-Committees listed:

http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/cgi-bin/committee_list.cgi?site=ctc

21+ MILLION HUMANS LIVING AS REFUGEES AND WHO CARES

WHAT MOVES US? AND WHY?

The news that gets reported on my local and national news televised shows leaves me with no desire to get my news from them.

Go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/ and get a different sort of world wide coverage than we get in the USA overall. This website covers, in depth, the world.

Get Sudan news here:
http://sudan.net/

Personally I feel that television journalism quality in the USA has sunk so low that it is not worth my time. Is it that we USA citizens don't want to know about what is going on around the planet or that our news media has been feeding us "news candy" for so long that we don't recognize the state of media news coverage?

Yesterday, was Refugee Day. And it made me think that millions of people don't have a bathroom to use, running water, electricity - all the things that we take for granted. Many fear for their lives every minute of every 24 hour day. Children who are abducted to be soldiers and forced to do things that we refuse to think about for more than a fleeting moment.

A refugee is a person who "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country..."

The 1951 Convention relating to
the Status of Refugees

"The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. The agency is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees." http://www.unhcr.org/basics.html

Video from a Refugee Camp with David Rubenstein (Past Executive Director of the Save Darfur Coalition) and actress Mia Farrow. They traveled to Darfuri refugee camps in Chad to document first hand testimonials from the victims of the ongoing genocide in Darfur:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=A_jjTJ19WgE

This is our world. And it is not right that we don't speak up and act when we have so many blessings. The things that consume our time, thoughts and money are what speak to what is important to us. If we don't even want to know what is happening in the real world, then the problem is not only the victims but our individual and governments' moral compasses have been lost.

"Today, there are more than 33 million people in need of international protection and assistance. Roughly 12 million are refugees and more than 21 million are internally displaced people (meaning they have been forced from their homes by violence or disaster but have not crossed an international border). People displaced inside their countries face the same hardships as refugees, without the same protection under international law." http://www.arcrelief.org

I was raised to be a Christian. I was taught: On the last day, Jesus will say to those on His right hand, "Come, enter the Kingdom. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was sick and you visited me." Then Jesus will turn to those on His left hand and say, "Depart from me because I was hungry and you did not feed me, I was thirsty and you did not give me to drink, I was sick and you did not visit me." These will ask Him, "When did we see You hungry, or thirsty or sick and did not come to Your help?" And Jesus will answer them, "Whatever you neglected to do unto one of these least of these, you neglected to do unto Me!"

What I see is "I've got mine". And that seems to be the end of the philosophy. Whether you claim to be Christian, a believer in some other God-based faith or what I consider myself to be today, a humanist, who believes that we are all sisters and brothers who should look out for one another with empathy and compassion - this world is suffering from the "I've got mine" attitude and blaming the ills of the world on the "evil-doers" is lame at best.

What's in it for you is that you aren't free until every one is free. So, those who die with the most possessions or in the so-called "richest" country in the world have no more guarantee to happiness in her or his heart than one living under a tree or piece of card board in a refugee camp.

I am happy not because someone else must receive less than their due to pave the way for my happiness. But I am happy because I am living my life in the light of truth and integrity. What makes no sense to me is that we claim to be free when in deed we are not.

Words are not enough. I am sick of George Bush getting away with his dishonorable conduct. I am sick of speaking out about the Darfur genocide and the whole world just lets it go by without even a genuine effort to stop it. Who are we, if not hypocrites? Hypocrites: a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc. that he or she does not actually possess, especially whose actions belie stated beliefs. That's what my dictionary says a hypocrite is. To me it defines President Bush.

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

May 29, 2007 Lobbying U.S. RI Senator Whitehouse
regarding Darfur genocide

Left to right: Bill York, Frankie DaPonte,Samantha Brilhante, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, me, Sandra Hammel,"Instead of Mourning a Genocide - Stop One", Jackie Cano, Michael Murphy, Juliana Beltran, Patrick Schmitt,Frank T. Caprio, RI General Treasurer, not pictured, Xay Khamsyvoravong, RI Treasurer’s Deputy Chief of Staff, not pictured

On May 29, 2007, I arranged to meet with United States Rhode Island Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse in their Rhode Island offices to lobby them about Darfur. I invited other constituents to go with me. This was the third time that I had lobbied Senator Reed. Senator Whitehouse is in his first 6 year term as Senator. The need for the China Resolution was spelled out to Senator Reed in our lobby meeting. When I called Senator Reed's contact person for Darfur to follow up on our requests of action last week, she admitted to knowing absolutely nothing about there being a China Resolution. So I repeated my request, giving her the number of the Resolution. She said she would look into China Resolution and she didn't think there would be any problem getting Senator Reed to sign on. This proves it is not enough to speak to the Senator and trust him to do what is right. Furthermore, Senator Reed even told us that he thought he might already be a co-sponsor of the resolution. No, this was not so. We are the "Checks and Balance" on our elected politicians.

May 29, 2007 Lobbying U.S. RI Senator Reed regarding Darfur genocide

Left to right: Xay Khamsyvoravong, Deputy Chief of Staff of RI Treasurer, Patrick Schmitt, Senator Jack Reed, me, Sandra Hammel, Frank T. Caprio, RI General Treasurer, Jennifer Ross

We took five requests of action to the senators and the slowness of this kind of response to people who are living on the ground without any thing but their spirits to keep them going day into night is NOT GOOD Enough.

Here are the five requests that we Rhode Island constituents asks of our United States Senators when lobbying about Darfur:

1 Senate Bill 831 Divestment Authorization Act

Move it by working with northeastern Senators

Member of the Sudan Democratic Caucus?

(Note: H R 180 sponsored by Lee & Frank in Financial Service committee)

_________________________

2 Appropriations

a. Administration’s budgeted amount for AU and UN Hybrid Peacekeepers: insufficient

b. Asking for additional $186 Million above President Bush’s requested amount

c. Ask him to move it out of committee with the $186 Million amount

__________________________

3 China Resolution Senate Resolution 203

a. Tell him we want him to be a co-sponsor on the Senate Resolution 203

(House of Rep has a sister H Res 423)

1. 70% of Sudan Oil exported to China

2. China provides arms to Sudan

3. China is protector at UN for Sudan, President Omar al-Bashir

(4. Note: China untypically assigned a Darfur Special Envoy)

___________________________

4 Oversight of Administration’s efforts to address crisis in Darfur: To ensure that Darfur is being correctly prioritized within U.S. foreign policy and to ensure that no opportunities for peace are missed for lack of resources. This oversight can come in the form Dear Colleague sign-on letters, congressional delegation trips to Darfur and Chad, as well as private conversations with Administration officials. Oversight is also critical to guarantee that any sanctions which may be enacted as part of a package of “Plan B” measures are fully implemented. Special effort to ensure that all areas of the Administration are pulling their weight to make the sanctions effective is needed. Please exercise oversight responsibilities to make sure that the U.S. government is doing all it should be to end the genocide in Darfur.

____________________________

5 We ask the Senator to write an Op-Ed piece regarding S. 831, as well as the importance of the China Resolution, S. Res. 203 to end the four year + genocide in Darfur, Sudan in the Providence Journal with Senator Whitehouse.

INSTANT KARMA CD The Campaign To Save Darfur:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=XGbP23uHYE8

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

There are paid lobbyists in Washington, D.C. who are not paid to look out for us the citizens, but for their businesses’ bottom line, money. “We the People” must wake up from a sleep and become a part of our government or we have no right to complain that our government is not listening to us. “We the People” does not mean elected politicians and paid-by-corporations-lobbyists – it means “We the People”. That is you and me.

This is a mock cover.

It is shocking what has been happening in the name of the citizens of the United States of America these last several years. I believe if you think President George Bush and his hand-picked administration have been serving this country well – you just haven’t been paying attention. I know some think I am absolutely wrong.

This is not a mock cover. It is/was for real.

But the rest of the world have no USA blinders on. These blinders are an anomaly known to US Americans only.

Find your USA senator and become part of the solution to our poor governing:

http://www.senate.gov/

http://www.house.gov/

President George Bush

president@whitehouse.gov

202-456-1111

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, D.C. 20500, USA

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

The Honorable Ban ki-Moon

Secretary-General United Nations

Room 3800

New York, NY 10017 USA

Website: www.un.org

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

Refugee help:
http://www.arcrelief.org
http://www.theirc.org/

Darfur Genocide activists websites:
www.savedarfur.org
www.genocideintervention.net
www.sudandivestment.com

A fact:

Did you know that the United States citizens who live in the nations capital, Washington, D.C. do not have any voting representative in the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives? Isn't that taxation without representation? I think so.