❧❧❧ 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 ❧❧❧
President Bush signed The Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act (SADA) on December 31, 2007. While most of the provisions of SADA were enacted immediately, the law gave the Administration 120 days to implement the final provision that would prohibit federal contracts with foreign companies funding the genocide.
The 120 days have come and gone and the provision prohibiting federal contracts with foreign companies fueling the genocide has still not been implemented. President Bush has not Stuck to His Promises!
Director Jim Nussle's office oversees the Federal Acquisition Regulation Council, which is in charge of implementing the provision. Send a message to Director Nussle of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
The US government has millions of dollars in contracts with a small group of foreign companies that support the genocidal regime in Sudan. We urgently need the OMB to prevent future contracts, and the renewal of existing contracts, with these companies. The lives of millions in Darfur depend on it. The OMB needs to make sure that the Bush Administration Stick to Its Promises!
Call Director Nussle's office today at 202-395-4840 and tell him he must ensure that companies funding genocide do not have the privilege of being awarded contracts with the United States.
The Darfur War Crimes Test By MIA FARROW and ERIC REEVES May 1, 2008; Page A15
This week marks a grim and largely unnoticed anniversary. On April 27, 2007, International Criminal Court judges issued arrest warrants for two men involved in the massive, ongoing atrocities in the Darfur region of western Sudan: Former state minister of the interior Ahmed Haroun, and Ali Kushayb, a key leader of the brutal Arab militia known as Janjaweed. Both are charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Evidence in the ICC cases against both men is overwhelming, including numerous eyewitness accounts from victims as well as compelling documentary evidence. Yet Khartoum refuses to extradite or lift a finger in prosecuting either man.
No surprise there. Were Mr. Haroun and Mr. Kushayb to testify in the Hague, where the ICC is based, the most senior members of the Khartoum regime would be at obvious risk of indictment themselves. Mr. Haroun in particular could point far up the military and civilian chain of command.
In a grotesque irony, Mr. Haroun has even been promoted to the position of state minister for humanitarian affairs, with major responsibility for millions of desperate victims of the very crimes he orchestrated.
More than five years have passed since the Khartoum regime and its Janjaweed allies launched their campaign of destruction against the non-Arab populations of Darfur. The savagery of the attacks upon civilians, the torched villages, mass murders, rapes, abductions and mutilations have made the word Darfur synonymous with human suffering. More than 2.5 million people have fled from their burning homes in terror, seeking tenuous refuge in wretched camps across Darfur and eastern Chad.
The ICC is charged with investigating and prosecuting cases in which the national courts of a country cannot or will not render justice even in the face of the most horrific international crimes. The ICC, however, has no police force of its own, and so relies on others to execute its arrest warrants. In the case of Darfur, the ICC arrest warrants derive from a United Nations Security Council resolution.
Khartoum's refusal to arrest the suspects should be superseded by the Council's authority to act in the interests of international peace and security. But Security Council members have shown little interest in pressuring Sudan to comply with the resolution. As long as the Security Council continues in this vein, Mr. Haroun and Mr. Kushayb will operate with complete impunity in Sudan.
Those nations who have committed their support to the ICC must understand that a green light for the likes of such men is also a green light for Khartoum's defiance of other international demands. The large, U.N.-authorized protection force, for example, has for nine months been obstructed by this regime. If the international community lacks the will to confront Khartoum, the dying in Darfur will continue apace.
Last December, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor for the ICC, issued a devastating report to the Security Council. "We are witnessing a calculated, organized campaign by Sudanese officials to attack individuals and further destroy the social fabric of entire communities," he declared. "All information points not to chaotic and isolated acts, but to a pattern of attacks."
The Council failed to provide any support for Mr. Moreno-Ocampo and his terrifying indictment. The ICC must find a way to circumvent Security Council paralysis. International justice will only be served if, in the face of the most egregious international crimes, the nations of the world can place justice before sovereignty.
The United States should take the lead in reforming the Security Council to make it more effective, representative and committed to the ideals of international justice. Darfur is the test case - one year and counting.
Ms. Farrow is an actor and advocate. She has visited the Darfur region eight times. Mr. Reeves is author of "A Long Day's Dying: Critical Moments in the Darfur Genocide" (The Key Publishing House, 2007). Source: online.wsj.com/article
PRESIDENT BUSH'S COMMENT PHONE LINE IS 202-456-1111
Call 1-800-GENOCIDE and ask your U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators to fund the UN Peacekeepers.
Last week, the United Nations World Food Program announced that it will cut half its food supplies to the people of Darfur because of a lack of funds and relentless attacks on its convoys.
Millions of Darfuris depend on this food supply. Without it, they will be pushed even closer to the knife-sharp edge of starvation.
The only food at the camps is from aid.
Want to help? Action save Darfur campaign There are five year olds who are in the refuge camps who have grown up in a refuge camp...no water, no bathrooms, no way to stop the genocide, the terror, the rapes. The government perpetuating the genocide is Sudanese. China supports the Sudanese government and its President Omar al-Bashir.
The World Does Virtually Nothing for Five Years Regarding Darfur
Sudan gives militia leader government post
Source: Reuters
By Opheera McDoom
KHARTOUM, Jan 20 (Reuters) -
Some analysts suspect Hilal could be charged by the International Criminal Court, which has already issued arrest warrants for junior minister Ahmed Haroun and an allied tribal leader in Darfur, Ali Koshayb, for war crimes in Darfur.
Sudan has appointed Musa Hilal, a man Washington accuses of coordinating Darfur's marauding militias, to a central government position, a move which could undermine peace efforts and anger the international community.
Minister of Federal Affairs Abdel Basit Sabderat confirmed Hilal had been picked as his new adviser. The presidency had earlier denied the appointment. "Yes he is appointed ... advisor to the minister," Sabderat told Reuters, but gave no further details.
Hilal is the leader of the Mahamied clan, part of the powerful Arab Rizeigat tribe in Darfur. Hilal told Reuters he would be based in Khartoum, but said the post could require travel to outlying regions. The ministry coordinates regional administrations with central government.
Washington says Hilal is the coordinator of the Janjaweed militias accused of war crimes in Darfur. He denies atrocities and says he mobilised his tribesmen to defend their lands after a government call to "popular defence".
Gamal Nkrumah, Africa expert at Egypt's al-Ahram weekly newspaper, said Hilal's appointment threatened to undermine upcoming peace talks between the government and Darfur rebels, and strain Khartoum's already troubled international relations. "It was a surprise decision and a very unpleasant surprise," he said. "It's very negative and it just shows the complete intransigence on the government's part," he said, adding the move would also alienate Darfur's rebels.
Rights groups say they have interviewed witnesses putting Hilal at the scene of atrocities during the five-year Darfur conflict, a charge he denies.
Sudanese columnist Mekki al-Maghrabi said Hilal's appointment was worth the political risk for the ruling National Congress Party, even if he might be tried by the world court.
As a tribal elder, Hilal had the kind of clout that was needed to speak to affected tribes in Darfur and resolve the conflict. "The transfer of a tribal leader to a political post is a good step which will open the door to more settlements (of disputes)," Maghrabi said.
International experts estimate some 200,000 have died in Darfur from hunger, disease and violence. About two-thirds of Darfur's population relies on the world's largest humanitarian operation for food, shelter or medical care.
Mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003 accusing central government of neglect. Khartoum mobilised mostly Arab tribes to quell the revolt. But some Darfur Arabs complain they have been left out of a peace process mediated by the United Nations and African Union. They say they also incurred losses during the war and should be consulted on compensation and aid for their people too. (Editing by Caroline Drees)
.............................................................. Hillary Clinton on Darfur Bill Clinton allowed the 1994 genocide in Rwanda to go on with absolutely no action. His administration parsed words over it being "acts of genocide" and not genocide. In Samantha Power's book A Problem from Hell, it is clear that Bill Clinton did nothing because he felt he would suffer nothing politically if he chose to do nothing. He was also in the middle of the Monica Lewinsky "I had no sexual relations with that woman" situation at the very time. We also listened to him answer "it depends on what the definition of is is".
.............................................................. John McCain on Darfur
.............................................................. .............................................................. How Will History Judge Us?
Would you be willing to make a phone call ~ 1-800-GENOCIDE ~ to make a difference about stopping the Darfur genocide? Here is your opportunity......
Last Step for SADA: President Bush Must Sign Bill
Dear Anti-Genocide Activist,
Our office is abuzz this afternoon. Less than an hour ago, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act (SADA) with a vote of 411-0. While speaking on the floor of the House earlier today, Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) personally thanked the Genocide Intervention Network, STAND and advocates across the country for their dedication and commitment to SADA.
Now we need your help with the last step! Last Wednesday, the Senate passed SADA by unanimous consent. With the House's vote today, all we need is for President Bust to sign the bill.
During his first year in office, President Bust wrote the words "Not on my watch" in the margins of a memo on the genocide in Rwanda. Help President Bush to remember his promise.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (from Save DarfurCoalition )
December 18, 2007
DARFUR DIVESTMENT BILL PASSES HOUSE AND SENATE, MEASURE CLEARED FOR WHITE HOUSE ACTION
Statement: ‘Scrawling ‘not on my watch’ along the margins of this bill isn’t required, the president just needs to sign his name’
WASHINGTON – Following unanimous action last week in the U.S. Senate, the House of Representatives today overwhelmingly passed the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act, clearing the bill for White House action. The bill would authorize state and local governments to divest from companies that support the Khartoum government at the expense of marginalized populations in Sudan and prohibit federal contracts with those companies.
In a joint statement, Darfur activist groups – including the Save Darfur Coalition, Genocide Intervention Network, and American Jewish World Service– said the president has an opportunity to make a difference for the people of Darfur by signing this bill.
"The House of Representatives wasted no time in passing this key bipartisan measure and Darfur activists applaud their swift action,” the groups said in a joint statement. “Representatives Frank, Lee and Bachus all played key roles in ensuring this legislation was tough, thorough, and was singularly focused on helping the people of Darfur. The measure is now ready for White House action and Darfur activists across the country expect nothing less than for President Bush to swiftly sign and implement this legislation. Scrawling ‘not on my watch’ along the margins of this bill isn’t required, the president just needs to sign his name.”
In 2001, President Bush wrote "not on my watch" in the margins of a memo detailing the Rwandan genocide. With a little over a year left in office President Bush has an opportunity to protect civilians in Darfur and help ensure lasting peace for Sudan. Signing the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act is the first step towards fulfilling the promise he made early in his presidency.
President Bush described the ongoing crisis in Darfur as “genocide” more than three years ago and identified the Government of Sudan and its allied militia as responsible. Since then, diplomatic efforts by the United States and the international community have failed to leverage sufficient pressure on the Government of Sudan to end the violence. In the meantime, as many as 400,000 Darfurians have been killed and more than two million displaced.
A U.N. peacekeeping mission authorized by the Security Council in July has yet to deploy in large part because the Government of Sudan has refused to allow non-African peacekeepers into Darfur, landing rights for U.N. transport and unfettered communications between peacekeepers. In addition, the Government of Sudan continues to bomb villages and to relocate its supporters onto land vacated by the displaced.
Since 2005, 22 states and over 50 universities have adopted Sudan divestment policies. The movement has rapidly spread through Europe: in July the European Parliament unanimously adopted a resolution calling on European Union members to support targeted Sudan divestment efforts. Seven major foreign companies - CHC Helicopter, ABB, Siemens, Rolls Royce, ICSA of India, Schlumberger and La Mancha Resources - have ceased problematic operations in Sudan or significantly changed their behavior in the country since the proliferation of the Sudan divestment movement.
The broad and diverse coalition that supported and played a critical role in the passage of Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act also includes the American Jewish Committee, the Armenian National Committee of America, the Armenian Assembly of America, B'nai B'rith International, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the National Council of Churches, the ENOUGH Project, STAND, the National Council of Jewish Women, the Religious Action Center, the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, and dozens of state and local faith-based and community organizations.
Thank you.
Sandra Hammel
Portsmouth ~ Rhode Island ~ USA
Above pictures of the New York City Torch Relay are provided by Gerry and Melissa or Fall River, Masschusetts, who were Torch Carriers at our Providence, Rhode Island Torch Relay.
Definition: something that you say which means that a person's character, especially if it is bad, will not change, even if they pretend it has.
Sudan: Obstructions and delays endanger UN deployment and civilian lives in Darfur
17 December 2007
Amnesty International today released a 16-point agenda for effective protection of civilians in Darfur and warned that the peacekeeping operation in Darfur was doomed to fail – thereby further endangering civilian lives -- if the Sudanese government and international community do not immediately halt the obstructions and delays that have been plaguing the mission thus far.
“The Sudanese government continues to obstruct the deployment of non-African units, continues to deny forces permission to fly at night, and continues to demand the right to disrupt communications for peacekeeping forces.”
“If this continues, the UN’s hands will be tied as much as the African Union’s have been – spelling disaster for the UN and, more importantly, for the Darfuri people,” said Erwin van der Borght, Director of Amnesty International’s Africa Programme.
“The Sudanese government must stop playing games with the lives of the Darfuri people. They must allow the UN peacekeeping force – whose deployment they clearly agreed to – to do their job effectively. That means allowing them all facilities, personnel and infrastructure necessary for the important tasks that lie ahead.”
On 1 January 2008, a UN force (UNAMID) is due to take over peacekeeping duties from the African Union (AU), which has suffered under the persistent restrictions imposed by the Sudanese government.
On 14 December, the Sudanese government delayed the evacuation of an AU peacekeeper who had been shot in the back by an unknown attacker. It took three hours of negotiation before the AU was finally given permission to fly the seriously wounded soldier to Khartoum for urgent medical treatment.
“The Sudanese government is obliged, under international law, to assist in the evacuation of anyone wounded during the course of the conflict. The delays they are imposing are dangerous and simply unacceptable,” said van der Borght. “UNAMID must gain assurances that this kind of behaviour will stop as they get ready for deployment in the coming weeks.”
“In addition to the obstacles imposed by the Sudanese government, the UN’s efforts are being hampered by the fact that the international community, on their side, has so far refused to supply the helicopters needed for them to do their job,” said van der Borght.
The UN has said that it needs a minimum of 24 helicopters to carry out an effective peacekeeping operation in Darfur. Thus far, not one helicopter has been donated – despite personal pleas from the UN Secretary-General to European, US, Canadian and other heads of state.
“It is not enough for the international community to simply wring its hands about the ongoing tragedy in Darfur, while not providing the necessary equipment” said van der Borght.
“International anguish about the suffering in Darfur seems insincere when governments are not even willing to donate a single helicopter to enable the troops to be able to do the job being asked of them – to protect civilians in Darfur.”
Please click here to see Amnesty International’s 16-point agenda for effective protection of civilians in Darfur, Time is not on our side -- An agenda for the Darfur Peacekeeping Mission, AI Index AFR 54/065/2007).
Senate OKs Cutting Investment With Sudan By MARY CLARE JALONICK
WASHINGTON (AP) -- State and local governments and other institutions could divest Sudan related investments under legislation passed by the Senate late Wednesday despite administration opposition. The bill, designed to pressure Sudan to ease suffering in its Darfur region and sponsored by Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., was approved shortly before midnight under a consent agreement in which no vote was taken. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and millions driven from their homes in four years of violence in the Darfur region since ethnic African rebels took up arms against militia supported by the Arab-dominated central government. The House passed a similar bill July 31 by a 418-1 vote. Dodd said his version will now go to the House for consideration. It remained unclear, however, what legislation, if any, eventually will become law in the face of administration opposition. The administration argues the legislation would infringe on a president's constitutional power to establish and execute U.S. foreign policy. A letter from the Justice Department to the Senate Democratic and Republican leaders suggested the courts might become involved in knocking down a provision that would give congressional authorization for state and local governments' divestment schemes. The letter was circulated in November by the Save Darfur Coalition. Dated Oct. 26, the letter was the second within a week from the administration, following by four days a similar document from the State Department that made some of the same arguments on constitutional and foreign policy grounds rather than legal. The Sudan legislation would punish U.S. or foreign entities for investing in Sudan while militias aligned with President Omar al-Bashir's government wage a terror campaign in the arid Darfur region of western Sudan. Like the State Department letter, the Justice letter emphasized as objectionable congressional authorization for U.S. state and local divestment policies. It said the approach is flawed not only because it would "authorize states to act in an area in which the federal government has chosen not to act" but because it "would broadly authorize state and local divestitures in an area or field of foreign policy in which both Congress and the executive branch are extremely active." Even if sponsors of the legislation believe it is consistent with President Bush's policies regarding Sudan, the letter said, "that may not be the case in the future. It is entirely possible, for example, that a state could enact a divestment law ... that requires divestment in circumstances directly contrary to specific federal laws." "During this period," the letter said, "it is critical that the federal government -- the president, Congress and, if necessary, the federal courts -- retain the tools the Constitution gives them to ensure that state and local governments do not engage in divestment activity that, however well-intentioned, would jeopardize United States foreign policy on Sudan and potentially other issues." It said the Justice Department strongly opposes the divestment part of the proposed law. "This legislation empowers Americans to exercise their rights as investors, taxpayers, and pensioners to divest from businesses directly contributing to the violence and misery of hundreds of thousands of innocent Darfuris," said Dodd, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination.
The Senate bill would allow states and localities to divest from companies involved in certain Sudanese business sectors and allow mutual fund and private pension managers to cut ties with those same companies. Dodd is chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, which approved the bill unanimously in October. Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
This is Mr. Joseph Omar, who returned to the still smouldering ashes of his village of Tamandjor, at great personal risk, to search for anything that might help him and his family survive.
FOLLOW THE MONEY...
Paying for genocide of the Darfuris with your money....
Did you know that your invested money is quite likely helping pay for the genocide of the Darfur people of Sudan? I had to take my money out of Fidelity Investment and American Funds for that very reason. Here is information to help you know what companies to trust with your investments. I called my financial investor and he is more than happy to take my little bit of invested money and put it with companies with a conscience. I hope you will consider doing the same thing.
Investment Firms that have Divested
Want to make sure your investments are not funding genocide in Darfur?
The following companies have no direct investments in PetroChina or CNPC, its parent company, and have formal divestment policies. Most follow the targeted divestment model developed by the Sudan Divestment Task Force.
While we do encourage you to remember Darfur when making decisions about your investments, the Save Darfur Coalition does not give investment advice, and the inclusion of a company here does not constitute an endorsement of its investment strategy.
>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>: Call 1~800~GENOCIDE and ask your U.S. Representative and Senators to pass the funding fully for the UN Peacekeepers for Darfur
President Bush's Comment Phone Line 202-456-1111 He needs a push to do something right.
Great news! Late last night, the United States Senate unanimously passed the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act (PDF). It was a tough fight and opposition to the bill was only overcome after thousands of Americans from all 50 states called and e-mailed their Senators.
SADA is a huge blow to the small group of foreign companies funding the ongoing genocide in Darfur. Already, three companies have suspended their Sudan operations fearing that SADA will become law. To keep our elected officials engaged on the issue, it is important to call and thank your Senators for supporting this important measure.
SADA will be sent to the House of Representatives for consideration. In August, the House passed a similar bill, the Darfur Accountability and Divestment Act, with a vote of 418-1. On Monday, the House is expected to quickly pass SADA by an overwhelming majority.
Once the House passes SADA, President Bush will have ten days to sign the bill into law. Your calls and e-mails will be critical as President Bush has been unsupportive of the bill.
Jimmy Carter toured Sudan as part of a group of international celebrities who are calling themselves "the Elders." Founded by Nelson Mandela, the Elders aim--in the modest words of one member, British billionaire Richard Branson--to address "problems in the world that need a group of people who are maybe...beyond politics, beyond ego, and who have got great wisdom."
Great wisdom? Let's just say the group is off to a rocky start. That's because Carter took the opportunity of his visit to Sudan to criticize the United States for labeling the killing and destruction in Darfur genocide. "There is a legal definition of genocide and Darfur does not meet that legal standard," Carter lectured. "The atrocities were horrible but I don't think it qualifies to be called genocide." He also said, "If you read the law textbooks...you'll see very clearly that it's not genocide and to call it genocide falsely just to exaggerate a horrible situation--I don't think it helps."
Carter got one thing right--that there is a legal definition of genocide, embodied in the 1948 U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide--but that's it.
The "atrocities" Carter refers to have included, over the past four and a half years, the deliberate, ethnically targeted destruction of not only African tribal populations, but their villages, homes, food- and seed-stocks, agricultural implements, and water sources. People die now in Darfur primarily because of this antecedent violence, directed against not only lives but livelihoods. Here, the Genocide Convention is explicit: You can commit genocide not only by "[k]illing members of [a] group" but also by "[d]eliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part." The destruction in Darfur clearly meets that test.
Then there is the use of rape as a weapon of war by Arab militias in Darfur.
The racial component of rape in Darfur has been well-documented at this point. In a typical example, here is what three Fur women--the Fur are the largest African tribal group in Darfur--told Doctors Without Borders: "We saw five Arab men who came to us and asked where our husbands were. Then they told us that we should have sex with them. We said no.
So they beat and raped us.
After they abused us, they told us that now we would have Arab babies; and if they would find any Fur, they would rape them again to change the color of their children." Racist epithets are typically hurled at women and girls, who are often gang-raped and then scarred to mark them as rape victims--a terrible burden in Darfur's conservative Muslim ethos.
Can there be any denying that such ethnically targeted rapes fall under the Genocide Convention's admonition that "[c]ausing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group" constitutes genocide? Moreover, because of the stigma that attaches to raped women, marriage and thus child-bearing becomes impossible for many. And, for some victims, especially younger girls, ensuing medical complications make child-bearing physically impossible. Which means that these rapes clearly meet yet another definition of genocide contained in the U.N. convention: "[i]mposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.
" In addition, children, as well as women, are continually abducted by the Janjaweed. This, too, is a genocidal act under the convention, which prohibits "[f]orcibly transferring children of the group to another group." None of this should be controversial at this late date.
Numerous human rights organizations have, over the past four years, collected unambiguous evidence of genocide.
The examples could fill books.
A young African man who had lost many family members in an attack heard the gunmen say, "You blacks, we're going to exterminate you." Speaking of Khartoum's relentless aggression, an African tribal leader told a U.N. news service, "I believe this is an elimination of the black race."
A refugee reported these words as coming from his attackers: "You are opponents to the regime, we must crush you.As you are black, you are like slaves. Then the entire Darfur region will be in the hands of the Arabs." Another African tribal chief declared, "The Arabs and the government forces...said they wanted to conquer the whole territory and that the blacks did not have a right to remain in the region." And Musa Hilal, the most powerful Janjaweed leader, declared his objective in simple terms back in 2004: "Change the demography of Darfur and empty it of African tribes."
As for the complicity of the Sudanese government officials whom Carter clearly imagines he can charm with his criticism of the genocide label: The air attacks mounted by Khartoum, often in conjunction with Arab Janjaweed ground forces, have been directed exclusively at African villages, primarily those of the Fur, Massalit, and Zaghawa ~ the perceived civilian base of support for Darfur's rebels. The hand-in-glove operations of Khartoum's regular military forces and the Janjaweed have been authoritatively documented by Human Rights Watch.
In short, it seems doubtful that Carter has read the textbooks he claims to have read, or the vast body of human rights literature on Darfur--or even the Genocide Convention itself. If he had done any of these things, he would not speak so ignorantly. But Carter isn't just wrong on the facts. His prescriptive point--that it is unhelpful to label Darfur a genocide--is foolish as well. No doubt Carter's statement was the quid in some ghastly quid pro quo he hopes to arrange with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. But Sudan's leaders are realists, and our only hope of changing their behavior is to credibly threaten them. The calculus is simple: If they believe the west--the United States, Europe, human-rights activists--now see the Darfur conflict as a chaotic civil war, not a genocide, they will feel less threatened. Which means they are more likely to dig in their heels on the diplomatic front--refusing to negotiate a political solution to the crisis--while waiting for the final cleansing of Darfur to run its course. The upshot is that Carter, a man who is so fond of lecturing others about the need for diplomacy, has managed to make a diplomatic solution to Darfur's bloodletting less likely.
Great wisdom, indeed.
Eric Reeves is a professor of English Language and Literature at Smith College and has written extensively on Sudan.
DARFUR is a western region in the country of SUDAN. The President, Omar al-Bashir, of Sudan is killing some people that he doesn't like, the Darfuri families. When you target a group of people because of who there are it is not only sick, we invented a word for it after World War II.The word is GENOCIDE.But Bashir says that he isn't murdering his people.But by accounts but his, he is. And there are Chinese companies in Sudan with oil rigsreaping their oil.And 70% of the money made by selling the Sudanese oil goes to buy the very weapons that are used to murder the people of Darfur and on the border of Sudan and Chad.
Recognizing liars isn't a difficult thing. But it does mean we have to face the truth. And sometimes we choose not to face the truth. Sad, very, very sad. And a disgrace. And it means once again that we never meant it when we said “NEVER AGAIN!”
DO or DIE.
WE DO. . .
or . . .THEY DIE. .................................................................................................................
WE = the average, common every day human being, living in our homes.
THEY = the average, common every day human beings, the Darfuri family members and some Chadian family members.
There's a GENOCIDE going on. But is your American free press reporting it?
Who cares?President Bush - after reading the report on the 100 day 1994 Rwandan genocide that President Clinton complicitly allowed to go on, while ignoring its grim story - wrote in the margins of the report
“Not On MY Watch”
Well, we know he didn’t mean it.Don’t we?
Does he mean ANYthing he says?
Rwanda went on for 100 days.Darfuri families having been living, or dying, in a state of “shock and awe” otherwise defined as genocide since 2004 – for over four years.Yes, four years and “not on MY watch” are just
empty
words.
In GW Bush’s second swearing to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States he uttered these words:
“All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors…”I think that is exactly what GW has done…ignored the Darfuri families’ oppression and excused their oppressors.
In the same speech just a couple paragraphs below he also said:
“The leaders of governments with long habits of control need to know: To serve your people you must learn to trust them. Start on this journey of progress and justice, and America will walk at your side.”How does he say his words without choking while he says them.
His words are noble.His actions are not.
He says a lot of things.He just doesn’t do many of them, but the senseless ones.
On December 9, 1948, in the shadow of the Holocaust and in no small part due to the tireless efforts of a Polish-Jewish lawyer named Raphael Lemkin, the United Nations approved the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. This convention establishes "genocide” as an international crime, which signatory nations “undertake to prevent and punish.” It defines genocide as:
Genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
INTERNATIONAL MILITARY TRIBUNAL: THE DEFENDANTS
The defendants listen as the prosecution begins introducing documents at the International Military Tribunal trial of war criminals at Nuremberg. November 22, 1945.
On October 18, 1945, the chief prosecutors of the International Military Tribunal (IMT) read the indictments against 24 leading Nazi officials. The four charges brought against these officials were:
1. Conspiracy to commit crimes of peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity
2. Crimes against peace
3. War crimes
4. Crimes against humanity
At this link there are the sentences handed down to the defendants at the
This weekend, Saturday, but probably more on Sunday, there are events going on around the planet earth networked by average, common every day human beings who are leaving the comforts of their homes for people who have no homes, STANDING UP, walking, lying down at the Boston Commons DIE-INS, carrying posters with messages that Time Is Up - Darfur needs us to be what we claim to be. Decent human beings who have the moral conscience that we were born with.
I sent my final email out to my list of sign-ups and others that are on an email list regarding Darfur, but most of which I have never met.Here it is:
April 26, 2007 Last Email before the NewportDarfur Walk & Gathering
Dear Person of Conscience,
This email is going out to all people that have either signed up for Newport’s Darfur Walk & Gathering on www.savedarfur.org/globaldays or are on my original Darfur email list.I would like to send what will probably be my last email before the Walk & Gathering, this Saturday, April 28 at 3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.Rain or Shine.Let’s send positive thoughts out for the “Shine” option.I request that if you haven’t gone online to sign up, that you do so.This gives me a better sense of what to tell NBC, ABC and CBS when I call them again Saturday morning to see if they have chosen us for coverage that day on the news.It is important that Darfur gets in the news.If you go to www.beawitness.org and watch an extremely brief clip, you will see why it is important to me that this Darfur Walk & Gathering get in the news here in Rhode Island along side all the other events around the world.
Bring your digital cameras, take pictures and download them to me at________. I am looking for a few good pictures that capture the essence of our day to send in to have them posted alongside every other event on www.savedarfur.orgIf you are able Save Darfur asks us to put clips of the day up on www.youtube.comThis is our way of saying we’ve had enough silence and complicity on this human rights issue of genocide vs. living out a natural life.Cox Cable is willing to put up video of the day’s event on the public access channel.It needs to be in DVD form.Another great way to help be the media instead of waiting for the media to find this story and put it on the radar screen of what is note worthy.Real news and not the entertainment news that is too common.
This is the first time that the Save Darfur Coalition of Churches, organizations and small groups have networked and planned the Darfur movement in this way where we aren’t having one central city where we transport ourselves out of state and even have to stay overnight to participate in this grassroots quiet, but steadily growing swell of voices that are saying “NO MORE” Standing Idly By and being complicit in yet one more genocide.This is the first genocide that the citizens around the world are empowered by the networking available to us through the wonderful world of the web.Over 400 events in the USA are planned this week of Global Days for Darfur. And over 30 countries besides US are stepping up and taking our swing at being the voice of the people who have no voice in Darfur.
GOOD for US.And we must not let the momentum grind to an abrupt stop after Saturday.I just got off the phone of our weekly conference call with the Save Darfur office in Washington, D.C.And what I like about this activism this time is that we already have in place plans for two or three follow-up actions to take after Saturday and Sunday’s big events are over.I’ll be telling you all about these on Saturday.
Don’t stay home. Come. Bring your friends, children, family members, co-workers…I am so excited that we ARE going to have media coverage.This is one of the goals for this under-reported story that belongs on the front pages of responsible journalism.Not relegated to a Letter to the Editor or infrequent mentions over the four years that it has been allowed to deny our words of NEVER AGAIN.Overall, Rhode Island is apathetic about this issue.But you are not.And because there is so much disinterest and apathy, you are even more important than you think you are.
The Newport Daily News has committed two things:1) publish my Letter to the Editor, hopefully, April 28, Friday, otherwise, my text will be stale 2) they are sending a reporter and a staff photographer to our event.So, if you have a Darfur t-shirt, wear it.If you have a blue hat we suggest you wear it to signify UN Peacekeepers’ blue.Four women “who rule in my book” got together last evening for two intensely artful hours and made fabulous posters for you to carry and make our presence effective as we walk.I have various flyers that will need to be passed out not only to you, but to people we pass as we walk to Washington Square.This is an historic town and we are on an historic path to be the first citizens to insist that genocide’s termination is long over due.
We are a part of probably hundreds of thousands over the weekend around the world.We may not be a huge group, but we walk along side other “people of conscience” around the nation and around this planet that all want to see peace.We are given love to give it.
And please, when asked by a volunteer to sign the petitionto ask Fidelity to divest their holdings from Chinese Oil Companies in Sudan which in turn that money buys the Sudanese government’s military equipment (70% of Sudan’s budget goes to the military) to bomb and murder their own unarmed families in their homes - please, sign the petition.It IS ONE thing we can do with or without our government’s direct support and action.
Come, find that there are others in Rhode Island who care about the human disaster, genocide.
Thanks for being willing to “Stand Up & Stand Out” for Darfur.
Great news!Thanks to your work, 96 Senators are now signing the
Biden-Lugar Darfur letter to President Hu of China!
Here’s The Letter your elected politicians have been signing to pressure China to stop being supporters of President Omar al-Bashir and his government-supported genocide on unarmed families, while using rape as a tool of genocide.
April ___, 2006
President Hu Jintao
c/o Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong
Embassy of China
2300 Connecticut Avenue NW
Washington, DC20008
Dear President Hu:
We are writing to request your assistance on a matter of grave mutual concern requiring urgent action.
The devastating crisis in western Sudan has escalated despite UNSC Resolution 1706, and the subsequent agreement brokered by the United Nations late last year in Addis Ababa to establish a joint African Union-UN peacekeeping mission in Darfur.Simply put, the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) has not had the troop level, financial resources, institutional capacity or mandate to protect civilians or humanitarian organizations in Darfur.The Government of Sudan has yet to formally agree to admit UN peacekeepers.In fact, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir recently sent a disturbing letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in which he backed away from the Addis agreement to implement phases II and III, the heavy support package and a robust UN peacekeeping force. President al-Bashir’s stonewalling while civilians are raped and killed in Darfur is unacceptable.
The conflict waged by Sudanese government forces and government-backed Janjawid militias against armed rebel groups has driven more than 230,000 Darfuri refugees into Chad, and displaced more than 120,000 Chadians.Hundreds of thousands of Darfuri civilians have been killed and an estimated 2 million displaced in Darfur itself.The conflict has had particularly devastating consequences for women and children, who make up the vast majority of victims. Humanitarian operations have also been increasingly attacked and disrupted in recent months—leaving millions without access to the most basic assistance.
We appreciate the steps the international community and China have taken to confront war crimes and other egregious human rights violations in Darfur.Now, we urge China to do even more and to reassess one recent decision.Providing the Government of Sudan an interest-free loan to build a presidential palace clearly sends the wrong message to Khartoum.We hope that you will reconsider the loan and impress upon President al-Bashir the need to halt Sudan's military operations throughout Darfur, to withdraw Sudanese troops from the area, and to accept a robust AU/UN peacekeeping force in Darfur. These steps, at a minimum, are essential to enforce the ceasefire, protect civilians, ensure access to humanitarian assistance, and begin the path to reconstruction and reconciliation in Darfur.
As Members of the U.S. Congress, our primary objectives in this endeavor, and those of our constituents across the United States, are to protect civilians in Darfur, end the violence, find a just resolution to the political conflict, and begin the long path to reconstruction and reconciliation.
We must now work together as an international community; there is no time left to wait.We therefore appeal to you today to use your influence in words and in deeds to protect civilians.China has a lead role to play in insuring that President al-Bashir accept the best and most reasonable path to peace, move forward with the heavy support package, and the full contingent of UN peacekeepers and related personnel in Darfur.We would appreciate any information you can share on actions China intends to take to protect civilians in Darfur.
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.
