Sudan's topics - tribe.net

Darfur on London's Trafalgar Square

2008-06-20T09:35:00Z

Thought this is relevant:

World Refugee Day: UNHCR brings the Darfur experience to London's Trafalgar Square

LONDON, United Kingdom, June 17 (UNHCR) – Thousands of Londoners, schoolchildren and foreign tourists got a taste of life in Sudan's troubled Darfur region on Tuesday after UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres kicked off World Refugee Day celebrations early with a visit to Trafalgar Square.

After touring a mock refugee camp, Guterres announced the results of the annual Global Trends report, which showed that the number of refugees under UNHCR's responsibility had risen in 2007 for the second year in a row to 11.4 million, while the overall number of people of concern to the agency stood at 31.7 million. He said the rise in refugee numbers was a concern.

The UN refugee agency had turned Trafalgar Square into a mock refugee camp for a day, setting up four lightweight family tents, interactive games, a torched village hut and exhibits of relief items, including blankets, kitchen sets, plastic sheeting, soap, buckets and clean, safe and environmentally friendly stoves as well as UNHCR vehicles with the agency's distinctive logo.

The exhibit, dubbed "Experience Darfur," opened early morning and soon attracted big crowds. Some 800 people signed up in the morning to receive more information about the hundreds of thousands of uprooted Sudanese people in Darfur and in camps run by the UN refugee agency in neighbouring Chad.

"The Trafalgar Square experience and exhibition has attracted a lot of attention and many people have been very positive about learning more about Darfur and the work of UNHCR," said Claudia Gisiger-Gonzalez, who is in charge of special events for the agency.

The exhibition illustrates some of the protection challenges UNHCR faces on a daily basis in delivering aid to some of the world's most vulnerable people. Each of the four tents focuses on a particular aspect of UNHCR's work – shelter; food; education; and rebuilding. Volunteers and UNHCR interns handed out literature and answered questions about humanitarian relief work and Darfur.

A group of 20 female Sudanese refugees sang and danced, while many people imitated the protecting hands of UNHCR's logo, which has become a potent symbol. The exhibit also featured 4X4 vehicles with screens showing videos of UNHCR operations. The event is being held to mark World Refugee Day, which actually falls on Friday.

"I took the day off to be here," said Mariann Wenckheim, an Austrian designer who lives in London. Another visitor, IT consultant Arthur Ochoa, said that he sometimes thought people in the industrialized world were becoming immune to the tragedies and disasters affecting millions, including refugees.

"We forget and take for granted the work of organizations, like UNHCR, bringing relief to the most affected regions of the world," he said, adding: "Keep up the good work."

Other visitors included British celebrities such as actress Sophie Okonedo, who won an Oscar nomination in 2005 for her role in "Hotel Rwanda," which depicts the genocide of the 1990s in that small landlocked African country which led to hundreds of thousands people fleeing their homes and creating a refugee problem in the Great Lakes region that endures to this day.

The conflict in Darfur is another pressing humanitarian crisis. Since the outbreak of violence in 2003, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 2.5 million have been left internally displaced, while some 250,000 refugees from Darfur live in 12 UNHCR-run camps in eastern Chad.

The UN refugee agency has had a presence in Darfur since 2004, coordinating the humanitarian protection effort in West Darfur and maintaining a regular presence in the many camps and settlements of internally displaced Darfurians.

Meanwhile, High Commissioner Guterres said the number of refugees under UNHCR's care had risen from 9.9 to 11.4 million by the end of last year, while the number of people left internally displaced by conflict increased from 24.4 million to 26 million. UNHCR currently provides protection or assistance directly or indirectly to 13.7 million of them – up from 12.8 million in 2006.

The total number of people under UNHCR's care in 2007, including refugees, internally displaced people, stateless people and others, stood at 31.7 million people at the end of 2007. This excluded 4.6 million Palestinian refugees helped by another UN agency.

Guterres, who spoke about migration and the challenges presented by war, persecution and climate change during an address on Monday night at the Royal Geographical Society in London, will spend World Refugee Day itself in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

The Trafalgar Square event was supported by the UK government's Department for International Development, Toyota Gibraltar Stockholding Ltd., and the European Commissioner Representation to the UK. The tents were flown to London for free by UPS.

Sorce: http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/4857e8872.html

posted in Sudan - 0 replies

Frontline on Darfur...

2008-06-10T05:24:07Z

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/darfur/?campaign=pbshomefeatures_1_frontlinebronourwatch_2008-06-09

posted in Sudan - 0 replies

What is the What

2007-12-15T15:08:19Z

I just read it, it was an amazing story.

Have any of you read it? What did you think?

posted in Sudan - 0 replies

Need Reference Photos for Darfur Painting Fundraiser

2007-09-16T02:23:42Z

I am going to paint an oil painting for a UN Darfur fundraiser (end of October) and I am in dire need of reference photos. I paint portraits of people and need something that is not copyright protected. Please if you can help to find some images for this good cause, Email them to me at artenzie@cox.net

Thanks!

posted in Sudan - 0 replies

AUG 18: Art4Africa: Benefit Soiree w- special guest Dr. Suad from Sudan

2007-08-15T21:07:48Z

Dearest Friends & All Agents of Positive Social Change,
This Saturday, August 18th, a benefit soiree will be held at a stunning Beverly Hills estate exemplifying the collaborative, multi-disciplinary spirit of Empowerment Works with an art auction, dance and fire performances, live music, djs, dinner, and an open bar. Ecologist and community health expert, Dr. Suad Sulaiman, will be celebrating the end of her US tour and will share with us her solutions for a healthy, sustainable, peaceful Sudan.

Looking forward to seeing you this Saturday evening! Event webpage: http://empowermentworks.org/Art4Africa.html

Warmest regards,
Melanie St.James, MPA
Executive Director

RSVP NOW w/ Advance Purchase

Saturday, August 18th, 2007

Hosts James Otis, Jay Levin, Zan Naar, Holiday Hadley, Courtney White & Francesca Orsi invite you to

Join Empowerment Works in welcoming its program advisor from the Sudan,

Leading Ecologist and Community Health Expert, Dr. Suad Sulaiman

"Sudanese Environmental Conservation Society"

Join us in the Grand Finale Celebration of her US bridge-building tour as Suad shares her hope and visionary solutions for a Healthy, Sustainable and Peaceful Sudan.

~

6-7:45 - Art Exhibition Preview & VIP Q & A with Dr. Sulaiman

w/ Flutist Rebecca Kleinmann

8pm - The Summer Soiree Ignites

~

FINE ART EXHIBITION & SALE featuring LA’s finest local and international artists in all mediums.

DJs: WISEACRE (funky-in-the-middle/recline sounds) & ARGYLE (beat hackerz/topsoil)

STEAMING FIRE & OTHER EXUISITE PERFORMANCE DANCERS!

LIVE MUSIC: Funky Jazz, Indigenous Beats, Didgeridoos

CUISINE: Ayurvedic, Mediterranean & Vegetarian

OPEN BAR: Organic Margaritas, Wine & Beer,

VALET PARKING

~

1404 Dawnridge Dr. Beverly Hills, CA. 90210

*this is a private, invite only event.

GuestsLimited. Guaranteed entry only with advance purchase RSVP

$60 all inclusive entry RSVP by Aug. 14 / $100 @ Door w/ INVITE ONLY

**********************************************************************************

learn more about Dr. Suad and what this event will support: http://empowermentworks.org/Sudan.html

EW Sudan - Addressing Root-causes of Crisis

While international media highlights political issues surrounding the conflict in Darfur, the United Nations Environment Program reports that competition over scarce resources, including water, timber, oil, and land, could spark more fighting unless the issues are addressed, and that: "Ignoring these environmental issues will ensure that some political and social problems remain unsolvable and [are] even likely to worsen."

OPPORTUNITIES:

• While local communities face extreme poverty, the country is rich in natural resources which can be carefully used & conserved

• Drought & desertification effects of intensive agriculture can be reversed in preparation for climate change effects

• Displaced people are encouraged to return to their home lands when conditions are improved through livelihood creation and empowered through education

ACTION:

To address root-causes of these inextricably linked social and environmental issues, Empowerment Works is seeking funding and strategic partners to advance the following locally-run sustainable livelihood, eco-restoration and health strategies:

• Village Direct Carbon Offset Program (VDCOP) - Creation of Sudanese Carbon Credit fund for sustainable agro-forestry, agriculture, and ecological restoration

• 'El Rahad Appropriate Technology & Health Education Center' creating jobs & health by honoring traditional knowledge of medicinal plants

• Beyond Fair Trade™ micro-grants, capacity building & market access enabling women to support their families

posted in Sudan - 0 replies

http://tribes.tribe.net/savedarfur

2007-03-27T08:16:17Z

Save Darfur. I have started the above tribe. Please join to expand the awareness. Thank you and let's keep our voices alive and loud. Peace, JB

posted in Sudan - 0 replies

UNHCR's operations chief discusses new Darfur strategy...

2007-02-24T16:09:45Z

I find this interview of interest. The OC says in her answer to question 4:
"For historical reasons, UNHCR has been quite modest in its programming in Darfur... But lately, we've been approached by the UN humanitarian coordinator [Manuel Aranda da Silva] ... to ask us to rethink. Do we just want to maintain the status quo. The status quo is not bad...."

UNHCR has been quite modest in Darfur?! The status quo is not bad?! What a strange strategy and troubling serenity in the face of such a disaster!! I am baffled!!! Can someone enlighten me?

------------------------

Q&A: UNHCR's operations chief discusses new Darfur strategy, IDPs and other projects

GENEVA, February 23 (UNHCR) – Assistant High Commissioner for Operations Judy Cheng-Hopkins spent more than two decades working in development assistance before moving to the humanitarian field because she wanted to see concrete results more quickly. She joined UNHCR almost exactly a year ago after six years with the World Food Programme and has visited operations in all five regions that the refugee agency operates in. She spoke to Web Editors Leo Dobbs and Haude Morel shortly after returning to Geneva from Sudan's Darfur region. Excerpts from the interview:

What are UNHCR's largest operations?

The biggest are the major hotspots of the world today – Iraq, Chad and southern Sudan. Then we have several protracted, long-standing operations that have been around for more than 10 years.... In some cases, they are slowly winding down, but it takes longer than you expect because return operations are not that easy. The Angola's, the Zambia's, the Liberia's are in that category of programmes winding down.

What are the major challenges you face in these types of operations?

In long-standing operations, the major challenge is usually to maintain donor interest as it tends to wane with time. So, [the major challenge is] trying to attract donor interest in order for us to complete the chapter. That one additional year for the return operation to take place is always an uphill struggle because donors rightfully want to see results and, of course, the better results you can produce the better the chances of them coming forward with the funding. Sometimes it's not so easy, for various reasons. There's still insecurity for people to return home and a lot of times to return home means that you will not have as good education and other basic services as you did in the camps.... So there is a reticence, a reluctance after having had these services for their families, for people to uproot themselves again and go back to nothing.

On the newer emergencies – Iraq and Darfur, for instance – security is a major challenge.... In Iraq, all we can rely on are national NGOs and these are nascent organisations. The problem there is how do you implement. We call it remote management, meaning that you don't sit in the country, you don't have your normal apparatus, your infrastructure to implement. You're sitting in another country and you do it through e-mails, phones, with national staff here and there, an NGO here and there, other partners here and there. That is a problem and we are going around in circles on the question of how to get assistance and protection to those who need it.... So we need some new thinking, because increasingly we are going to be working in these environments. We need to think outside the box.

In the protracted situations you mention, what are the possible solutions?

Durable solutions are voluntary repatriation, local integration or, for a very few, resettlement. There's no one-size-fits-all.... It depends on so many external factors and variables. In some situations, the best solution is voluntary repatriation. In countries like Angola, Liberia, people are longing to go home because they've been living in camps for so many years. In southern Sudan, a good majority want to go home after the peace, but not all because they have other options [in the camps], such as education and other services that they don't have in Sudan. So security and basic services are the two most important variables to decide whether they will return home or not.

I think UNHCR can be instrumental in helping them make an informed decision, by telling them about what is going on back home, by organising go-and-see visits. And then they voluntarily agree, so that's the best situation. That's not possible in some cases. It's not realistic to expect people who've been born and grown up in refugee camps to go home to a country they've never even seen. We have to work with the host government to explain that these people are an asset, they are gainfully employed, they are contributing to the economy, they are productive people and they are such a small number compared to the population of the country. Why not have them locally integrated? That's always the challenge.

Then the third option, resettlement in third countries. It's different from one country to another because the resettlement countries seem to favour certain countries over others for various reasons. In certain situations, happily, we can have thousands of people resettled. In some situations, we would be lucky to have 100 accepted for resettlement.

Tell us about your recent trip to Darfur and UNHCR's strategy for the troubled region

For historical reasons, UNHCR has been quite modest in its programming in Darfur. But lately, we've been approached by the UN humanitarian coordinator [Manuel Aranda da Silva] ... to ask us to rethink. Do we just want to maintain the status quo. The status quo is not bad. We have a presence in West Darfur – one sub-office, four field offices, we have quite a good international presence doing mainly protection work.... But it was felt that we should be more involved because we have the expertise and the needs are ever growing.

So that's why I went out. Actually, I went out simultaneously with a mission that [special adviser on internally displaced people] Dennis McNamara led.... Two sets of team members' brains is better than one.... Happily there was a very good convergence of ideas and I can share it now because this has been endorsed by the High Commissioner [for Refugees António Guterres].

Basically, what we are suggesting is to look at scaling up in a phased manner. Phase one, we're suggesting, is that we consolidate what we have in West Darfur ... and where expansion is needed, you go for it ... so that we can cover basically everything that UNHCR is responsible for – not just protection, but also eventually camp coordination. You need somebody to have a bird's eye view, to coordinate all these various camps [in Darfur] ... and to draw donor attention to the camps that are under-served.

All these various parties, NGOs and others, playing roles in managing the camps need a central body that interfaces with the state authorities ... and what better way than the UN blue flag to have this interface with the state authorities on their behalf. So we do need that role, I see it so clearly. It's easier said than done, but we are now sitting down to chart out a strategy and a path on how we can slowly take over that role and not antagonise others.

For the south, we basically have no programmatic presence. There again, talking to the various interlocutors, there is a need for someone to come in and play the cluster lead role in protection and camp coordination. We would scale up as a phase two after the consolidation in West Darfur. And depending on how things go in West Darfur, obviously.

And then phase three, we would look at North Darfur. Right now the numbers of IDPs in North Darfur are less than in West and South, but it is the place where AU [African Union] forces and the UNMIS [UN Mission in Sudan] are headquartered.... We're suggesting that we have a small liaison presence there for this stage. If the West and South go well, we might expand to North Darfur as cluster leads in camp coordination and protection.

How has UNHCR's increased work with IDPs affected operations?

There's no agency for internal displacement and there probably never will be because it's such a sensitive sovereign issue. You're talking about citizens of a country that are turning to external parties for assistance, including protection. A failed state is another matter, but when you have a sitting government it can be sensitive. The numbers are huge – 25 million and growing – and a lot of governments admit they cannot cope. They need agencies like UNHCR to come in and assist. And in all of the countries in which we are working, the governments bless our presence and the work we are doing – We can only come in and help IDPs at their request.

People often ask me, "Aren't you eating into your stretched capacity already?" But a lot of times a refugee operation works alongside an IDP operation.... If you talk about economies of scale, if you're thinking about cost savings for the international community which sees this as an international obligation, then what is the cheapest way to meet their needs than with an agency already on the ground.

In terms of diverting resources from refugee programmes, there is a slight diversion of some staff to IDP issues. But on the budgetary front and in the field, all these IDP programmes are funded under so-called supplementary appeals – they do not come from the central resources.... It's kind of a difficult situation we're in right now, but as the whole budget reform process goes on this is being debated and I'm just hoping that Excom [UNHCR's Executive Committee] will see this as as good a transitional measure as you can get. On the one hand safeguarding and firewalling the monies that have been raised for refugees and then proving our work with IDPs and thereby attracting resources outside of the central funding.

What are you focusing on in the Iraq operation?

Our new appeal [in January for US$60 million] saw a shift in our emphasis to also assist the countries neighbouring Iraq. They have been most hospitable in receiving Iraqi refugees ... but we have to recognise that there is a breaking point with close to 2 million Iraqis in neighbouring countries. You cannot have a situation where three-quarters of the kids in the public schools are Iraqi and one quarter are local Syrian. We have to come in and problem solve together, for instance with the education ministry.... We must put our money where our mouth is. We have to come up with the funds to do this, whether it's increasing classroom size and increasing school materials, to show the goodwill and appreciation of the international community. That's precisely what we're doing.

The other major thing we are involved in is the whole process of accepting people, registering people.... We're beefing up the registration capacity in neighbouring countries, especially Syria and Jordan. The ultimate goal in this project is to have registered 200,000 people by the end of the year and submitted 20,000 cases for referral for resettlement. We have to have targets otherwise we're just running around like a headless chicken.

Story date: 23 February 2007
UNHCR News Stories

Source: http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/45df01e94.html

posted in Sudan - 0 replies

Lastest BBC News on Darfur...

2007-01-17T22:31:04Z

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6272093.stm

Darfur aid 'on brink of collapse' Fourteen UN aid agencies working in Sudan's troubled Darfur region have warned that their relief operations will collapse unless security improves.
Humanitarian workers, they said, are "holding the line" for the survival and protection of millions in Darfur.
But they need "solid guarantees" of security from all the parties involved in the conflict to be able to continue.
Violence in the western region of Sudan has claimed more than 200,000 lives and led 2.5 million to abandon their homes.
"The UN and its humanitarian partners have effectively been holding the line for the survival and protection of millions," the UN agencies said in the joint statement.
"That line cannot be held much longer."
The UN said that their humanitarian operations in Darfur, which employ almost 14,000 aid workers and costs more than $1bn (£0.5bn, 0.7bn euros), had saved hundreds of thousands of lives since it began in mid-2004.
Shifting frontlines
But the agencies, which include the World Food Programme (WFP), Unicef and the World Health Organisation, said that "malnutrition rates are edging perilously close to the emergency threshold."
Security fears led to the distribution of double food rations in some areas in the month of December, and also prevented some 47,000 people in need being reached, WFP said.
The agencies said that the primary victims of Darfur's conflict are civilians who suffer due to "repeated military attacks, shifting frontlines and fragmentation of armed groups."
A total of 12 aid workers have been killed in the last six months, the statement said - more than the number in the previous two years combined.
Also in the last six months, 30 compounds operated by relief groups, including non-governmental organisations and charities, were directly attacked by armed groups.
The Sudanese government says the instabilty and number of deaths in Darfur have been exaggerated by the west.

posted in Sudan - 0 replies

A simple way to help the people of Darfur

2006-12-17T13:39:06Z

Hi all,

I'm so glad I found this tribe! I was searching for ways I can get the word out about helping Darfur. The genocide in Darfur is worse than ever! And I think the only way we can help get them aid is if diplomatic pressure is put on the government of Sudan. Otherwise, international help will not make it to Darfur. :(

There's a petition online that will help. Please sign and pass it on. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/821715518

Thank you so much!

posted in Sudan - 2 replies

The Afrobeat Sudan Aid Project (ASAP)

2006-12-17T13:38:12Z

ASAP is a concerted effort by Modiba and other partners to help Darfur and raise awareness. Featuring top musicians from around the world, all the proceeds raised by the CD "ASAP" -- over $130,000 thus far -- are benefitting the people suffering in Darfur. More about ASAP on: http://www.modiba.net/asap.html

Modiba has also made a short documentary about the crisis in Darfur and the connection between music and politics that is the basis of ASAP. Featuring Sudan experts, ASAP musicians, and footage from refugee camps the film can be watched on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKaUlIhxb_8

posted in Sudan - 0 replies

In case we needed to be reminded...

2006-12-17T04:39:42Z

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6186991.stm

posted in Sudan - 0 replies

Darfur diaries (book and documentary)

2006-12-12T22:51:21Z

www.darfurdiaries.org/thefilm.html
(QuickTime player required)

Synopsis: In October, 2004 a team of three independent filmmakers – Aisha Bain, Jen Marlowe and Adam Shapiro – left for Darfur, Sudan and eastern Chad. After monitoring the worsening political and humanitarian crisis for months and recognizing that the mainstream media offered marginal and inadequate coverage, the team set out with the goal of providing a platform for the people of Darfur (both those displaced inside Darfur and those living in refugee camps in Chad) to speak for themselves about their experiences, their fears, and their hopes for the future. The conflict serves as the ongoing narrative in the film, but the focus is on the people who are living through what has been termed a “genocide.” Through the voices of refugees, displaced persons, and in particular women and children, who are always among the most vulnerable in any conflict situation, this film seeks to provide space for the marginalized victims of atrocities to speak and to engage with the world. Additionally, the film probes the history, culture and heritage of Darfur as a means of deepening understanding of the crisis and complicating easily assumed perceptions by which the conflict is often portrayed (such as a matter of race, ethnicity or religion).

The film presents the Darfurians the filmmakers met (refugees and displaced peoples, civilians and fighters resisting the Sudanese government, child soldiers, teachers, students, parents, children and community leaders) as a people with full lives, culture, and heritage--people with homes that they desperately want to return back to, people undergoing traumatic loss but who demonstrate inspiring strength and resilience, and people whose lives, homes, safety and rights deserve to be protected vigilantly as a fundamental human right.

posted in Sudan - 1 reply

Gettlemen Piece in NYT

2006-11-15T22:12:09Z

I just read a really good piece about Sudan. It's from the NYT but I'll link to it another place because I that's where I saw it http://www.shamarat.net/db/viewtopic.php?t=9291507

The piece is by Jeffrey Gettleman whose reporting from Iraq I admired very much. Lots of people are used to thinking and framing thinking in terms of binary opposites: wrong/right, black/white, good/evil, etc. I'm not sure we can really stop doing this, but we'd be well advised to bare in mind the dangers of muddled thinking that can impose.

Members here have wanted to keep the focus on Darfur. Sudan is a huge country. But in Darfur as in other conflicts like the situation in northern Uganda, there's always a broader context that defies simple explanation. Gettlemen does a great job of showing some of the complexity to Darfur in a short piece.

posted in Sudan - 0 replies

UN envoy is told to leave Sudan

2006-10-22T12:59:39Z

The Sudanese government has given the UN envoy in Khartoum, Jan Pronk, three days to leave the country, according to media reports from Sudan.

It follows a statement from the head of the Sudanese army accusing Mr Pronk of spreading false information in an article on his personal website.

The official news agency Suna reported the deadline.

The Sudanese army had called for Mr Pronk to be thrown out, saying he was "waging war against the armed forces".

Resisting pressure

The Sudanese foreign ministry has given Mr Pronk 72 hours to leave the country," Suna said the AFP news agency reported.

"He has until mid-noon on Wednesday to leave," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ali al-Sadig was quoted by the Reuters news agency.

It said comments posted on his personal blog on a UN website that the army was suffering heavy losses in the Darfur region "negatively affects the work of the armed forces".

Sudan is resisting strong international pressure to allow UN peacekeepers to try and end the conflict in DaFormer armed forces spokesman General Mohammed Beshir Suleiman told Suna that Mr Pronk's comments were part of the West's continuing efforts to get Sudan to accept UN troops into Darfur.

More than 200,000 people are thought to have died and two million displaced as a result of the three-year conflict in the Darfur region.

The UN Security Council has passed a resolution calling for 20,000 troops to be sent to Darfur to replace the 7,000 poorly-equipped African Union troops who have failed to end the conflict.

He wrote that there had been hundreds of casualties and prisoners taken, leading to a fall in morale and the sacking of generals.

He also said that pro-government Arab militias were again being mobilised in contravention of UN resolutions.

The Janjaweed militias are accused of widespread atrocities, even genocide.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6074808.stm

Check also Jan Pronk’s weblog: http://janpronk.nl/index120.html

posted in Sudan - 0 replies

Darfur rebels demand new talks, self-determination

2006-10-22T12:58:00Z

By Opheera McDoom

KHARTOUM, Oct 19 (Reuters) - A new Darfur rebel alliance is ready for talks with the government but demands self-determination for the war-torn, arid west of the country, senior rebel leaders said on Thursday.

A May peace accord was signed by only one of three negotiating rebel factions and tens of thousands of war victims have rejected it saying it does not give them enough compensation or Darfuris enough political representation.

Following the agreement signed in the Nigerian capital Abuja, non-signatory rebels formed a new alliance called the National Redemption Front (NRF) and renewed hostilities against the government.

"We are ready for talks with the government," said Khalil Ibrahim, a senior member of the NRF. "But we ... will not just accept the Abuja agreement, we want separate talks."

"We now want self-determination, autonomy for Darfur," he added.

Ibrahim said the NRF wanted a similar deal to one reached to end more than two decades of north-south civil war. That agreement gave the south autonomy and the right to a referendum on secession by 2011.

Fighting has escalated in Darfur since the May deal and a struggling cash-strapped African Union force has been powerless to stem the violence.

U.N. envoy to Sudan Jan Pronk said the government lost two battles with the NRF in North Darfur earlier this month and took heavy losses. There was no immediate Sudanese army confirmation.

Thousands of people have fled their homes to escape the latest fighting, sparking warnings of a return to the emergency of 2003 and 2004 when U.N. officials said Darfur was the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Aid agencies say their work has been seriously hampered by the violence and they have been targets of attack.

In September, the aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres France suffered a serious attack and one female staff member was sexually harassed by armed men in the Jebel Marra region.

SIT FOR TALKS

Senior NRF leader Bahr Idriss Abu Garda told Reuters from Darfur field commanders were ready to talk but were waiting for the government.

"If the government is ready to make new talks and add the actual demands of the people of Darfur we are ready to sit for talks," he added.

Foreign Minister Lam Akol said the government had not received any official confirmation of a desire for negotiations from the NRF. The government calls the NRF "terrorists".

The government has repeatedly refused to entertain the idea of secession for Darfur. Khartoum and the rebel faction that signed the Abuja deal have both so far refused to accept any changes or additions to the unpopular agreement.

But the top U.N. envoy in Khartoum has said additions are needed to the deal bring all those non-signatories on board and stop the bloodshed in Darfur.

Mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003 accusing central government of neglecting the remote west.

Experts estimate 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million forced from their homes in 3-1/2 years of conflict.

The government armed Arab militias to quell the revolt. The militia, known locally as Janjaweed, stand accused of a campaign of rape, murder and pillage, called genocide by Washington.

Khartoum denies genocide and calls the Janjaweed "bandits". The International Criminal Court is investigating alleged war crimes in the region.

Source: http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=L19221837&WTmodLoc=IntNewsHome_C4_Crises-3

posted in Sudan - 0 replies

Escaped Janjaweed confesses his days of slaughter

2006-10-22T12:55:06Z

An Arab shepherd says that for three years he was forced to raze the villages of black Africans in Sudan's Darfur region, Martin Fletcher reports

October 19, 2006

OUTSIDE the back window, Bakerloo Line trains rattle past. Downstairs someone makes tea. But in the upstairs living room of a nondescript house off Lambeth Road in South London a slight, softly spoken young man tells a story of atrocities in a far-off land that is anything but mundane.

Dily, a Sudanese Arab, recounted how for three years he and his fellow Janjaweed charged the farming villages of Darfur on camels and horses, raking the huts with gunfire and shouting: "Kill the slaves. Kill the slaves."

He reckons that he attacked about 30 villages in all, and cannot count the people he shot. The villages were destroyed, he said, and the men, women and children killed - sometimes with the help of government airstrikes.

Survivors "would be left there ... Sometimes they made it to camps but mostly they died of thirst or starvation".

Dily is a rarity in that wretched conflict. Filled with disgust, he escaped and last month, with the help of people-smugglers, reached Britain, where he is seeking political asylum.

Dily contradicts the Sudanese Government's claims that it has no control over the Janjaweed - the predominantly Arab "devils on horseback" who have driven twomillion of Darfur's black Africans into refugee camps and killed at least 200,000.

He claimed the Government deceived innocent Arab shepherds like himself into joining the Janjaweed, saying they had to defend their communities against attack by Darfur's black African rebel groups. They were trained and armed by Sudanese soldiers, ordered by the Government to attack Darfur's villages and given military support. The Janjaweed was formed for ethnic cleansing, he insisted. "Why (else) would you attack villages, kill people, displace them and kill them in their thousands?"

Dily is not his real name. His wife and child remain in Sudan and he fears for their safety if he is identified.

Nor can Dily's story be independently verified, but he specified names, places and events, and spoke with the accent and idiom of the area he said he came from. "He's for real," said Ishag Mekki, deputy chairman of the Darfur Union, which represents Darfuris in Britain. James Smith, chief executive of the Aegis Trust, which campaigns against genocide, agreed: "We've checked his credibility as much as we can and we're convinced he is who he says he is."

The BBC reported yesterday that it had interviewed a former member of the Janjaweed identified only as "Ali", who also admitted to killing villagers in Darfur with government support.

Dily, who is in his early 20s, rarely smiled and fidgeted as he spoke through an interpreter. He said he was tending his family's camel herd in northern Darfur when rebel groups began attacking government targets in 2003: droughts had set black African farmers against nomadic Arabs and the rebels accused the Government of siding with the Arabs.

Dily said he was pressed to join the Janjaweed by tribal elders, who were under pressure from government officials. "We were told we were Arab nomads and we had to protect our lands and our cattle," he said.

Dily went to a training camp near the town of Kebkabiya. Uniformed Sudanese soldiers spent about 20 days teaching hundreds of Janjaweed recruits how to use guns and attack villages, he said.

They were organised into battalions of more than 500 men each. They were paid two million Sudanese pounds ($1173) for the use of their camels and promised a monthly salary of 500,000 Sudanese pounds.

Then they were unleashed. Apart from occasional visits home, Dily and his battalion - led by a former bandit - spent the next three years on the move. "The Government said attack all villages. The local commanders decided which," he said.

Sometimes they used satellite telephones to request airstrikes by the Sudanese military helicopters. "We would see smoke and fire and then we would go in."

The commanders said the villages had to be destroyed. "Mostly they said, 'Kill the blacks. Kill the blacks.' The majority of (the victims) were civilians, most of them women."

Dily denied raping women but said other Janjaweed did. "They took girls and women away, just out of sight, and started to rape them. Sometimes you heard gunshots if they refused."

Dily and his colleagues did not even know what they were fighting for, but faced execution if they disobeyed orders. "I hated the war and I hated the killings and decided to leave and to leave Sudan altogether," he said.

One night he slipped away from the camp and hid in the mountains for three days, then made his way to the town of Kutum. A fellow Arab drove him to Mellit, and from there he was smuggled by car to the Libyan border for 500,000 Sudanese pounds. He reached Italy on a small boat packed with 25 other illegal immigrants, paid more money to get to Paris and was smuggled into Britain.

He arrived somewhere - he thinks Oxford, west of London - on September 20. He was arrested and sent to Croydon in south London to apply for asylum. He lives in a hostel, haunted by memories of burning villages.

The Aegis Trust plans to present Dily's testimony to the International Criminal Court.

The Times

Source: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20606686-2703,00.html

posted in Sudan - 0 replies

International Crisis Group urges tough sanctions over Darfur

2006-10-12T11:38:49Z

Getting the UN into Darfur

Nairobi/Brussels, 12 October 2006: With Khartoum continuing to reject the expanded UN mission in Darfur, the international community must take strong economic and legal, and some new military measures to change the regime’s calculation of the costs of non-cooperation.

Getting the UN into Darfur,* the latest policy briefing from the International Crisis Group, examines ways out of the impasse over deploying a major UN peacekeeping force. Pressure on the ruling National Congress Party should include targeted sanctions on key regime figures, an investigation into the offshore accounts of its businesses, encouraging divestment campaigns, some measures against the petroleum sector, maintaining the threat of International Criminal Court prosecutions for atrocity crimes, and moving to enforce a no-fly zone over Darfur.

“There is a third way between the current approach of gentle persuasion and a full-scale, non-consensual military intervention”, says John Prendergast, Crisis Group Senior Adviser. “We need a series of economic, legal and more limited military measures that impose a cost on regime officials responsible for continuing the destruction and blocking the UN force”.

On 31 August, Security Council Resolution 1706 authorised a UN mission of at least 20,600 troops and police to deploy to Darfur with a Chapter VII mandate allowing the protective use of forceSudan’s consent for this deployment, which would replace the over-stretched African Union (AU) force, is only “invited” not required, but troop contributing countries are unwilling to take part if Khartoum does not agree.

Getting Khartoum to agree means upping the international pressure with four measures:

applying targeted sanctions, such as asset freezes and travel bans, to key NCP leaders who have already been identified by UN-sponsored investigations as responsible for atrocities in Darfur, and encouraging divestment campaigns;
authorising through the Security Council a forensic accounting firm or a panel of experts to investigate the offshore accounts of the NCP and NCP-affiliated businesses so as to pave the way for economic sanctions against the regime’s commercial entities;
exploring sanctions on aspects of Sudan’s petroleum sector, to include at least bars on investment and provision of technical equipment and expertise ; and
planning to enforce a no-fly zone over Darfur by French and U.S. assets in the region, with NATO support; obtaining Chad’s consent to a rapid-reaction force on its Sudan border; and, if everything else fails to change government policies and the situation worsens, contingency planning for non-consensual deployment of 40,000 to 50,000 peace enforcers to Darfur.
The U.S., UN, AU and European Union, should act together to the greatest extent possible but as necessary in smaller constellations and even unilaterally.

“Strengthening the AU is not a long-term solution. Non-consensual deployment criteria are not yet met – there remain steps to try, and it would be desperately difficult, risking making matters for civilians even worse”, says David Mozersky, Horn of Africa Project Director. “But if the situation continues to deteriorate, and the NCP still refuses UN peacekeepers, there may be no other way”.

Source: International Crisis Group
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4442&l=1&m=1

The whole document is available on:
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4442&l=1

posted in Sudan - 0 replies

Sudanese VP Supports U.N. Peacekeepers

2006-09-19T12:29:49Z

Sudanese VP Supports U.N. Peacekeepers
Says Sudan's Government Is Incapable Of Protecting Civilians In Darfur

KHARTOUM, Sudan, Sept. 16, 2006

(AP) One of Sudan's two vice presidents said in remarks published Saturday that he would accept the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region.

First Vice President Salva Kiir Mayardit, head of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement — a former southern rebel group that now shares power in Khartoum — was quoted by the independent Al-Sudani daily as saying the Sudanese government was incapable of protecting civilians in Darfur, and called on the United Nations to intervene.

“The aggravation of the humanitarian and security situation in Darfur necessitates intervention of international forces to protect civilians from the atrocities of the Janjaweed militias so long as the government is not capable of protecting them,” Kiir was quoted as saying at the close of an SPLM politburo meeting held in the southern city of Juba late Friday.

The U.N. wants to take over Darfur peacekeeping from a largely ineffective African Union force — something the Khartoum government has refused.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, in an opinion piece to be published Sunday, urged Sudan to accept the peacekeeping force and push ahead the political process.

“There can be no military solution to the crisis in Darfur,” Annan wrote in an item sent to newspapers around the world for publication Sunday, when non-governmental organizations across the globe are planning activities to raise public awareness on Darfur.

“All parties should have understood by now, after so much death and destruction that only a political agreement, in which all stakeholders are fully engaged, can bring real peace to the region,” Annan wrote in the item that the U.N. e-mailed to The Associated Press.

Sudan's junior foreign affairs minister, Al-Samani Al-Wasila, told Sawt Al-Arab (Voice of the Arabs) Radio on Saturday that the best thing the international community could do for Sudan was to support the Darfur Peace Agreement instead of planning to deploy international forces. He also stressed that peace must be achieved by the people of Sudan themselves, not outside forces.

The Darfur conflict began in early 2003, when ethnic African tribes revolted against the Khartoum government, which was accused of unleashing Arab militiamen blamed for rapes and killings. At least 200,000 people have died.

The Darfur Peace Agreement, signed in May in Abuja, Nigeria, calls for a cease-fire, disarmament of militias and a protection force for civilians — but does not specify the composition of such a force.

Last month, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution demanding a better-funded, larger and more well-equipped U.N. mission take over Darfur peacekeeping duties from the African Union. But the resolution was unlikely to take effect without the consent of the Sudanese government, something nations including the United States have worked — without success — to acquire.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir says a switch in command would violate the country's sovereignty and has warned that his army would fight any U.N. forces sent to Darfur.

In a meeting in Washington in June, U.S. President George W. Bush pressed Kiir to accept a U.N. force in Darfur. But the SPLM leader sidestepped the issue, saying only that “we are sure that we are going to solve the problem so that we don't hear about rapes and killings in Darfur.”

On Friday, Bush said it could be time to send international peacekeepers into Darfur over the objections of the government in Khartoum.

“What you'll hear is, well, the government of Sudan must invite the United Nations in for us to act,” Bush said. “Well, there are other alternatives, like passing a U.N. resolution saying we're coming in with a U.N. force in order to save lives.”

Kiir's group signed a peace agreement with the Sudanese government in January 2005, laying down its arms after 21 years of civil war — Africa's longest war.

Some see that peace deal as a model for resolving the Darfur conflict. Kiir participated in the Abuja talks that led to the signing the Darfur Peace Agreement, and his organization is believed to have influence over the Darfur rebels, though their conflicts were not related.

The newspaper also quoted SPLM Secretary-General Bagan Amom as calling on al-Bashir's National Congress Party to “accept deployment of U.N. forces in Darfur to avert clashes with the international community.”

Amom said the SPLM would “work at convincing the National Congress (Party) to agree to the deployment of U.N. forces in Darfur.”

The January 2005 peace accord provided for an autonomous south with its own army, national power and wealth-sharing, religious freedom and a new constitution during a six-year interim period. After those six years, the 10 southern states will hold a referendum on independence.

Sudan has a unity government, in which Kiir now serves as first vice president, in addition to his post as the south's president.

The southern government's Cabinet has 70 percent representation from the SPLM, 15 percent from al-Bashir's northern ruling National Democratic Party and 15 percent from other southern parties.

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/16/world/main2015581.shtml

posted in Sudan - 2 replies

"Voices for Darfur" DVD released

2006-09-19T09:19:45Z

In December 2004, some of the music industry's most illustrious artists joined up with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra at London's Royal Albert Hall for a special concert to raise funds for the victims of the conflict in Darfur.

Now, EMI has released the DVD of the concert, the proceeds of which will also go to support the UN refugee agency's work in Darfur and Chad. The DVD features additional exclusive songs by Sade, David Gray and Franz Ferdinand, as well as backstage footage from the concert, and is already attracting some high praise from music critics (see Reviews).

More on:http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/events?id=%204337e98e2

posted in Sudan - 0 replies

Hundreds of Thousands Demand Peace in Darfur

2006-09-19T09:06:51Z

Hundreds of Thousands Demand Peace in Darfur

Haider Rizvi
OneWorld US
Mon., Sep. 18, 2006

NEW YORK, Sep 18 (OneWorld) - Human rights and peace activists in many parts of the world took to the streets Sunday protesting the international community's failure to stop the ongoing bloody ethnic conflict in Sudan's Darfur region.

In addition to organizing events in dozens of cities and towns across the world, activist communities also held prayers and protest meetings in New York, Toronto, London, Berlin, Paris, Cairo, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Rio de Janeiro.

Condemning the Sudanese government for its partisan role in the conflict, protesters demanded that Khartoum immediately accept the United Nations decision to deploy an international force in Darfur, where innocent civilians continue to suffer from death and displacement.

In a resolution adopted early this month, the 15-member Security Council agreed to send more than 17,000 international peacekeepers to the region, but fierce opposition from Khartoum has left the plan's implementation in doubt.

The resolution, which was not endorsed by Russia, China, or Qatar, cannot be applied unless Khartoum nods its approval because it requires the "consent" of the Sudanese government for the deployment of the UN force. In rejecting the UN resolution, the Sudanese argued that they could address the issue of civilian protection by using their own military might in the region.

But critics, including some senior UN officials, strongly doubt the Sudanese government could enforce peace while its military continues to bomb civilian areas in Darfur. Reports from the region claim scores of people have died and some 50,000 displaced as a result of aerial attacks on villages by the Sudanese military since May when a peace agreement was reached between Khartoum and one of the main rebel groups.

For its part, the Khartoum government has repeatedly denied the incidents of bombings and has described such reports as "exaggerations." However, senior UN officials and relief organizations active in the region say there has been no let up in military atrocities against civilians population since the signing of the peace agreement and that thousands continue to flee their homes every day.

"The situation on the ground is serious, is desperate," Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, told OneWorld last week. In response to Khartoum's assertion that it can handle the situation on its own, Annan added, "If the government had been able to do it itself, I don't think we would be having this debate."

Annan said that in recent days he worked with "quite a few governments" to try to get Khartoum to show "some flexibility," but acknowledged that his efforts "have so far not been successful."

Currently, about 7,000 African Union (AU) troops are stationed in Darfur, the only force that is providing security to the civilian population to some degree, but their mandate is due to expire by the end of this month. Since its deployment, the AU force has repeatedly complained about the lack of adequate funding and equipment. Groups involved in humanitarian operations fear that the departure of AU troops would lead to further bloodshed and violence.

"The situation is deteriorating with each passing day," said Ken Bacon, president of Refugees International, a U.S.-based humanitarian organization, in a statement urging the African Union Peace and Security Council to extend the mandate of its force in Darfur until UN troops can be deployed. Bacon, who has visited the region several times, said the United States and the international community must ensure that the AU has the funds it needs to do its job.

"As a start, the U.S. Congress should pass current legislation that provides an additional $20 million to support the AU force," he added in a statement.

Other human rights groups have repeatedly called for the international community to impose sanctions against senior Khartoum officials who are blocking peace efforts. Annan and other UN officials have also endorsed such calls, but such a move is unlikely to materialize unless all Security Council members reach a consensus.

In the past diplomats from Russia and China have expressed their reservations about sanctions and many believe that both the veto-wielding powers are still opposed to adopting such measures.

"The only thing at this moment we can do is to keep the African Union alive," a UN official close to Annan told OneWorld. "That's the only game in town."

The African Union is due to discuss the future of the AU force Monday, when many of its leaders attend the UN General Assembly meeting at the world body's headquarters in New York. Sudanese government officials have reportedly indicated they may allow AU troops to remain in the country past their September 30 departure deadline to buy time until a more permanent solution can be negotiated if the mission recieves increased support from the international community.

Sunday's "Global Day for Darfur" events were organized by the Save Darfur Coalition, an umbrella group representing more than 30 major groups working for peace, human rights, and justice throughout the world. The New York City crowd, which was estimated between 20,000 and 30,000, called on United States officials to use their country's diplomatic muscle to press Khartoum to accept the UN peacekeeping force.

Source: http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/139512/1/

posted in Sudan - 0 replies

Clooney on Darfur

2006-09-17T03:43:24Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHfuk2bfgrw

Watch this!

A deadline is approaching. We must do all that we can to raise awareness on this issue.

posted in Sudan - 0 replies

Global Day For Darfur

2006-09-17T02:32:56Z

Sanaag mentioned this in the previous thread. Sunday September 17th is the Global Day for Darfur http://www.dayfordarfur.org/About_Us.htm

Add your name: http://www.dayfordarfur.org/Thank_You.htm

posted in Sudan - 0 replies

Tribe Name

2006-09-17T01:11:03Z

Did the name of this tribe change recently?

If this is a tribe about the genocide in Darfur then I think that another name might be more appropriate.

I've traveled through Sudan, Sudan is a massive country and there really is much more to the country than just what is going on in Darfur.

posted in Sudan - 4 replies

Blogger Sudanese Thinker

2006-09-12T19:02:42Z

This blogger's perspective on Darfur and UN troops is interesting:

http://sudanesethinker.blogspot.com/2006/07/savedarfurorg-pushing-for-un-troops.html

Darfur previously = Disaster

Darfur now = STILL a disaster but to a lesser extent

Darfur + UN troops = Bigger disaster

Darfur + AU troops reinforced by UN & NATO = HUGE improvements.

Darfur + UN troops + Al Qaeda = One big ass GIGANTIC Disaster !!!

posted in Sudan - 1 reply

we have killed your god

2006-09-12T18:25:47Z

http://www.harpers.org/WeHaveKilledYourGod.html
---
We Have Killed Your God

Posted on Monday, September 11, 2006. From interviews with Darfuri refugees conducted in Chad, by Amnesty International, for its 2004 report “Darfur: Rape as a Weapon of War.”. Originally from Harper's Magazine, August 2006.

I was in Khartoum for many years, but when I found out what happened in my home, I returned to Darfur. On the way, the janjaweed stopped my truck, and we had to give them all our belongings. They kept three people, and we don’t know what happened to them. After I arrived at Furo Baranga, I was in a shop when the janjaweed came and took me and another man to a camp, three kilometers to the north. They told me that I am a rebel and that I should shut up. They tied my arms and legs and left me under a tree for five hours. Next they tied my legs to my body, put a stick under my knees, and tied my hands behind my back. They took all my clothes, and I was naked. They hung me upside down from the tree, by the stick under my knees. Then they swung me back and forth. I was beaten with sticks and whips. They left me hanging upside down with another person until morning. For three days they beat us every day, and at night they hung us upside down under the tree. They gave us no food and only a little water. They rubbed pili pili [hot pepper] in our eyes and noses. They put blankets around our heads and tied them very tight. On the fourth day, they told me and another local leader to dig a well for them. While we worked, they poured cold water over our hot bodies but refused to give us water to drink, and sometimes they would fire guns at us. One day they showed me a letter and told me, “This is a letter from our leader. He orders us to kill you.” They put a red cloth around my neck as a sign that I would be killed. Four days later, another janjaweed came and told me, “You with the red cloth, you are chosen to die. If you pay, you can save yourself.” They asked for 200,000 Sudanese pounds. When they let me go, they said, “We are now letting you go, even though our leader said we must kill you. This is only our kindness.”
—A., a male refugee from Magarsa

The janjaweed said during the attack, “You are complicit with the opponents, you are blacks, no black can stay here, and no black can stay in Sudan.” Arab women were accompanying the attackers singing songs in praise of the government and encouraging the attackers. The women said, “The blood of the blacks runs like water. We take their goods and we chase them from our area and our cattle will be in their land. The power belongs to the Arabs, and we will kill you until the end, you blacks. We have killed your God.” They also insulted the women from the village, saying, “You are gorillas, you are black, and you are badly dressed.”
—M., a male village chief from Disa

The janjaweed destroyed the village and took everything. None of us had arms, so we were not able to resist the attack. From me they took one grain mill, one donkey, ten cows, two goats, and the full harvest of groundnut and sorghum. They were young men, and they sang songs of disrespect. They shouted, “We will get rid of the blacks, all of you. We know you are going to Chad. You will not be protected there and you will not be protected in Sudan. You have no place to go now.” When I left, I did not know if my wife and children were alive. I soon realized that nobody cared what happened to us.

Some women were raped. We heard about this, but only those who are not married can talk about it. We believe that nobody can become pregnant when raped, because you cannot have a child from unwanted sex. The women in the camps in Darfur, those whom they rape day and night—they might become pregnant. Then only Allah can help the child to look like the mother. If an Arab child is born, this cannot be accepted.

It is cheap to get married now. You are lucky if you find somebody for your daughter to marry. And the age of the girls is going down—they are very young now. The families are happy to get rid of their daughters, especially in a refugee camp, where there is no control over the girls. Girls are more difficult because you have to take care of their honor, and they are more expensive. For boys you need only soap.
—M., a male refugee from Kenyu

I was looking after goats when I was arrested by the janjaweed. They took me to a camp in Abu Jidad where there were also army soldiers. They asked me where the goats were and beat me when I didn’t answer. They tied up my sexual organ with a rope and pulled from both sides each time they asked a question. They beat me several times a day. When I told them where the goats were, they stopped beating me. Eight other children, who were not from my village, received the same treatment. They are still there. As for me, I was able to escape.
—A., a fifteen-year-old boy from Goz Um Bela

posted in Sudan - 0 replies

Darfur Trembles as Peacekeepers’ Exit Looms

2006-09-11T19:15:38Z

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/10/world/africa/10darfur.html?ex=1158120000&en=2e66449d7a14406d&ei=5087%0ADarfur

posted in Sudan - 0 replies

Tim Nonn

2006-09-08T20:15:14Z

Darfur Redding (California) is hosting a potluck/discussion with Tim Nonn (founder of Dear Sudan) tonight. I'm looking forward to meeting him. Afterwards we're having a prayer vigil on the Sundial Bridge.

posted in Sudan - 1 reply

for kids: Camp Darfur Comix

2006-07-27T22:37:11Z

In the spring a collaborative group of supporters created Camp Darfur, a live and virtual experience to raise public awareness on genocide and displacement in the Sudan. We have created a touring exhibition and a virtual camp in Second Life where anyone can see a bit of what is going on and what we can do halfway across the world to help. http://www.campdarfur.org

Some of our team will be traveling to the Sudan and Chad later this year. Gabriel Stauring traveled there last year and filmed 21 days of videoblogs called iACT (interactive activism), hosted on his website at http://www.stopgenocide.now

In May my studio created the Camp Darfur Comix, a students' guide to Darfur with an introduction to this crisis and simple ways to get involved. This is not suitable for young kids (it uses the word rape and defines "genocide") but older students are welcome to request copies by sending me a message or by visiting Camp Darfur on the road.

posted in Sudan - 3 replies

Hello? Is anyone there?

2006-07-27T17:23:48Z

Not a post in months? What's going on? Has everyone just forgotten about Darfur?

posted in Sudan - 5 replies

Chad and Sudan unite over rebels

2006-07-27T00:00:28Z

BBC article http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5218064.stm

Fontaine at Yebo Gogo http://americanafrican.blogspot.com/2006/07/chad-sudan-reach-rebel-agreement.html writes:

It appears the situation would be bad enough as is, but Khartoum and N'Djamena arming rival militias only hurts the situation. This agreement could have some long-term benefits, but will one side stand idly by when its sponsored rebel group weakens?

Good question.

posted in Sudan - 0 replies

Darfur rebel to meet US president

2006-07-26T02:40:20Z

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5213038.stm

Africa Action Pumping up the Power to Protect PDF file) http://www.africaaction.org/campaign_new/docs/PumpingUpthePowertoProtect.pdf

The first action we would like for you to participate in is in an email campaign to tell President Bush to call President Al Bashir with the message that the future of U.S. Sudan relations depends on the deployment of UNPKO in Darfur. This letter will urge President Bush to pick up the phone and call President Al Bashir by August 1st or we will “hang up” on the Bush Administration for failing to protect the people of Darfur!

http://capwiz.com/africaaction/issues/alert/?alertid=8930051&type=PR

posted in Sudan - 1 reply

Darfur awareness event - San Diego

2006-05-28T10:37:23Z

My sister has put a lot of time and effort into organizing this event and I am extremely proud of her. If any of you live near SD or have friends that do, please get the word out. This will be a fun and educational event with drink specials and great raffle prizes. She is still looking around for raffle prizes so if you know of any person or business that may be willing to donate to a worthy cause, please send me a message. Here is my sister's offical message.

Host: Nadia Rassas
Location: Coaster Saloon
744 Ventura Place, San Diego, CA View Map
When: Saturday, June 17, 6:00pm
I am hosting a fundraiser on Saturday June 17th to bring awareness to the people of Dafur, Sudan. I have created this Darfur Awareness Event to give you the opportunity to educate yourselves on the plight of those whose lives are more difficult than most of us can even imagine. I have the wonderful opportunity to give the people of Darfur a voice. It may be a faint voice, but I hope to do all that I can to make sure as many people hear me as possible.

Dafur is a small region in the western part of Sudan and the Sudanese government is responsible for crimes against humanity in the context of an internal conflict. Open warfare erupted in Darfur in early 2003, and the Janjaweed militias have, over the past three years, received government support to ‘clear’ civilians from areas considered disloyal. Militia attacks and a scorched earth policy have lead to massive displacement, indiscriminant killings, looting, and mass rape. The region of Darfur is acknowledged to be “a humanitarian and human rights tragedy of the first order.” Over 400,000 people have been murdered. It is simply genocide.

So I would like to invite you to support my efforts in raising funds to help end this crisis. Come on down to Coaster Saloon (Mission Beach) on June 17th at 6pm. There will be drink specials and a fundraising raffle with prizes sponsored by the Paul Mitchell School, Salon Massimo in La Jolla, as well as other generous gifts from local businesses.

$10 at the door includes a raffle ticket.
($20 will get you 3. $30 will get you 10.)

All Proceeds will go to the Save Durfur Coalition

posted in Sudan - 1 reply

Urgent!!! Please help

2006-04-11T13:52:23Z

I am posting this everywhere I can, Please help us.
There are thousands of good people who could potentially lose their lives very soon.

Since the release of the information on the Sujiatun concentration camp in China, which is reported to do live organ harvesting on Falun Gong practicioners. More people have been stepping forward to reveal information. Recently, a veteran military doctor in the region of Shenyang said that the Sujiatun Concentration camp is just one of 36 such camps. Another camp in Jilin Province referred to as 672-S is said to hold over 120,000 people.

According to the Integrated Committee's announcement, transplant hospitals in China are now telling patients to "come in quickly" to get transplants. Patients are told that matching organs can be found at this time in as short as one or two days. The hospitals are also reported to say that, "it will be difficult after this batch of organs is used up."

We fear that there is going to be a mass execution to “hide the evidence” and get rid of witnesses. PLEASE HELP us, Falun Gong practitioners around the world are requesting an international investigation while there is still time.

This is the US petition, please sign it. It can save someone’s life.
http://www.fofg.org/act/act_petition.php?pid=1

you can also help by going here:
http://publicpetition.unvcc.com/UN/index.php
this is an easy, fill in the blank letter that with a click is automatically
sent to the senators and representatives of your choice
And it would also greatly help us if you would please pass this information on.

Thank you,
Joshua

You can learn more about this at:
The Epoch Times
http://www.theepochtimes.com/211,111,,1.html
Amnesty International
http://web.amnesty.org/report2004/chn-summary-eng
Falun Dafa Information Center
http://www.faluninfo.net/why/index.asp
or, you can ask me any questions you have by sending me a message.

posted in Sudan - 1 reply

abramoff offered to aid sudan,envoy says

2006-04-04T20:16:31Z

Abramoff Offered to Aid Sudan, Envoy Says
By Tom Hamburger and Ken Silverstein
The Los Angeles Times

Tuesday 04 April 2006

The former lobbyist sought millions to help the sanctioned nation clean up its image, the country's ambassador and an ex-associate say.

Washington - Two eyewitnesses say that former lobbyist Jack Abramoff proposed to sell his services to the much-criticized government of Sudan to help improve its abysmal reputation in the United States, especially among Christian evangelicals who were campaigning against human rights violations in the troubled African nation.

Khidir Haroun Ahmed, Sudan's ambassador to the United States, said in an interview that Abramoff proposed a multimillion-dollar lobbying contract in late 2001 but that the proposal was "never seriously considered" by the Sudanese. He declined to elaborate.

The story Ahmed and a former Abramoff associate tell about the solicitation of Sudan, which the U.S. had sanctioned for its record on terrorism and rights violations, is a striking example of the kind of aggressive machinations of Abramoff as spelled out in the criminal cases against him. The super-lobbyist made tens of millions of dollars representing - and sometimes defrauding - corporations, foreign clients and American Indian gambling interests.

A spokesman for Abramoff, Andrew Blum, confirmed that a conversation took place between Abramoff and the ambassador but said Abramoff never sought a contract and rejected working for the Sudanese because of that country's human rights record.

The ambassador and the former associate of Abramoff dispute Blum's account. The former associate said the ex-lobbyist discussed the possible contract while sitting with the ambassador in Abramoff's skybox at Washington's Fed-Ex field during a Redskin football game in late 2001.

The former associate, who did not want to be named out of fear it might damage future business opportunities, said that Abramoff proposed a $16- to $18-million contract - "a staggering sum" for the destitute nation - but one that the lobbyist considered reasonable because international disapproval was so costly to Sudan's economy.

For more than two decades, a civil war divided Sudan's Arab-Muslim government in the north and the mainly Christian and animist south.

Abramoff offers a different account of events. Blum, his spokesman said the lobbyist did not suggest any sums to the Sudanese but rather "objected in explicit terms to Sudan's treatment of Christians." He said Abramoff remembered the encounter "because he felt it was deeply embarrassing to the ambassador at the time."

Blum said any specifics, such as fees and contacts, were discussed only by the former associate, not by Abramoff.

"Mr. Abramoff never contemplated nor did he undertake this representation," Blum said.

The reported proposal to Sudan seems to fit Abramoff's willingness as a lobbyist to take on most any client who would pay the bills. He collected a $1.2-million fee from the Malaysian government and boasted of arranging a 2002 meeting with President Bush for that country's president, who was known for making derogatory comments about Jews.

Abramoff pleaded guilty in January to fraud, tax evasion and conspiring to bribe public officials. He was sentenced in federal court in Florida last week to 5 years and 10 months in prison in connection with a casino boat venture.

To his clients, Abramoff offered connections to his well-placed contacts in the Bush administration, on Capitol Hill and elsewhere, especially among Republicans.

In the case of Sudan, the former associate said Abramoff invoked his connections to Ralph Reed, the former executive director of the Christian Coalition who is running for lieutenant governor in Georgia. Reed had worked with Abramoff and other now-powerful conservatives decades earlier in the College Republicans organization.

In a statement, Reed's spokeswoman, Lisa Baron, said, "Under no circumstances would he have worked on behalf of the Sudan and he has never done so."

For years, Sudan has been a galvanizing issue for Christian conservatives, including the Christian Coalition. They aggressively lobbied both the Clinton and Bush administrations to side with Christians and other rebels in southern Sudan.

In January 2005, the two sides signed a peace agreement that finally ended the long civil war, in which both sides committed atrocities. The conflict left 1.5 million people dead and 4 million displaced, and left the economy in tatters. In 2003, a separate conflict broke out in the western region of Darfur, leaving more than 180,000 dead and displacing more than 2 million people. Then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell accused Sudan of committing genocide.

Abramoff's contact with the Sudanese was reported briefly by the National Journal in 2004.

According to the lobbyist's former associate, Abramoff sat with the ambassador in the skybox and described an elaborate and costly plan to blunt the effect of pressure from Christian groups with money and travel, two of the methods Abramoff frequently deployed in his Washington lobbying campaigns.

He said some of the money would be sent to the Christian Coalition and some would be spent encouraging Christian leaders to visit Sudan and talk with the government. Other money would be spent on a grass-roots campaign to promote a better image of the country in the United States.

The former associate said Abramoff repeatedly told the ambassador that he would arrange for his friend Reed to push the idea with Christian groups.

There was a follow-up discussion with the former associate when the Sudanese foreign minister came to Washington months later. The Cabinet minister, Mustafa Osman Ismail, met with Abramoff's former associate at the Sudanese Embassy. Ismail seemed interested in Abramoff's services, the former associate said, but asked for guaranteed results, which Abramoff could not provide. The proposed deal went no further.

The idea of representing Sudan was first broached by Abramoff to his onetime associate in early 2002, the associate recalled. "Abramoff waved two videotapes at me that were made by a Christian rights organization and said that the tapes showed the need for Sudan to have Washington representation that could relieve this kind of pressure," he said.

A group called the Persecution Project had produced a video called "Sudan: The Hidden Holocaust," which a brochure said "reveals the unknow? struggle of the African Christian tribes of central and southern Sudan who are presently engaged in a life-and-death battle against radical Moslem invaders from the north." Sudan has denied such accusations and said the Christian groups exaggerated the problems.

"Sudan was a hot-button issue that was at the forefront of our work and the work of many other [Christian] groups," said Matt Chancey, a spokesman for the Persecution Project.

Chancey said that in 2002 the groups were heavily lobbying Congress and the White House to maintain economic sanctions against Sudan, which had originally been imposed by the Clinton administration.

"We believed our government was appeasing the government of Sudan and not holding their feet to the fire," Chancey said.

At the time, the country, which was once a haven for Osama bin Laden, was under sanctions prohibiting tourist travel and doing any business with the government. To lobby for the government of Sudan requires a waiver from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control.

posted in Sudan - 0 replies

Help the victims, confront the perps, ventilate the facts

2006-04-03T07:21:43Z

HELP the hungry. The real problem now is water. How is that being addressed? Migration (fleeing the destroyed villages).

CONFRONT the perpetrators. Not just the competing janjaweed tribes. Confront the "leaders" who are benefitting and funding sources -- religious leaders, radio hosts, rich Arabs who are supporting the expansion of Arab influence by genocidal removal of others.

We want NAMES.

VENTILATE this holocaust. The journalists of the world who are witnessing the events are themselves not being heard. It is not possible to understand this indifference. This is part of the unraveling of Africa which continues and which must be stopped. Financial aid seems to be part of the problem.

posted in Sudan - 0 replies

Good Article that really explains the Darfur situation

2006-04-03T06:21:30Z

Death in Darfur
Murder on a Mass Scale

http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2006/04/02/news-darfur2-04-02.html

By Genie Abrams
Times Herald-Record
gabrams@th-record.com
It's genocide: the deliberate and systematic extermination of one racial, national, political, ethnic, cultural or religious group by another.

It's happening today, in a place called Darfur.

Nobel Peace Prize winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel wrote, "Whenever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe."

For most people, Darfur is not the center of their universe. It's just the troubled western region of the African nation of Sudan. But for many, turning away from Darfur is not an option. Why not?

Where and what is Darfur?

Darfur is a harsh, dry region of 7 million residents on the western edge of Sudan.

On Africa's east coast, Sudan is bordered to the north by Egypt and Libya and on the northeast by the Red Sea. In all other directions, it is encircled by seven nations. They are, clockwise from the Red Sea: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic and Chad.

"Darfur" is an Arabic word meaning "region of the Fur people." The Fur are black subsistence farmers who live in the south of Darfur, working ever-poorer land as the northern desert encroaches on them. Arabic-speaking, Muslim camel-herders in the north make up 39 percent of Darfur's population.

The black residents are mostly animists, who believe that natural objects have souls. Five percent are Christians.

What is happening there?

In June 1989, Maj. Gen. Omar Hassan al-Bashir took power in Sudan by staging a coup with a group of his fellow military officers against the elected government. He is an Islamist who runs the nation according to sharia (Islamic law).

In 2003, two black rebel groups attacked government military installations. In response, a bloodthirsty, terrorist-style militia group called janjaweed received government support to clear civilians from "disloyal" areas, meaning Darfur. They have been raiding black villages and killing civilians ever since.

The World Food Program, the United Nations and the Coalition for International Justice estimate that 2.5 million people have been displaced, 3.5 million are hungry and 400,000 have died in Darfur since the 2003 uprising began.

The Reuters Foundation's AlertNet reports widespread massacres, rape, torture and looting. And through it all, Bashir has refused to allow humanitarian aid like food, water and medicine into Darfur. The U.N. warns of mass starvation and epidemics and calls it "one of the world's worst humanitarian crises."

What about now?

Now there's a severe cholera outbreak, also. Cholera is caused by contaminated water, and without treatment, you can die within hours of contracting it. Most of the Fur people live near water supplies that are usually safe. But they have had to flee for their lives to unfamiliar areas with unsafe water.

First reported in January, the outbreak has spread quickly. By Feb. 21, 1,864 cases and 45 deaths were reported from cholera - and those are just the ones that Doctors Without Borders (see below) knows about.

Relief workers are rushing to get desperately needed water, as well as food and medicine, to the people, but much of it never arrives. The U.N. says Khartoum is restricting people's access to aid agencies and journalists, despite promises to the contrary. The Belgian-based think tank International Crisis Group says Khartoum is using delays in the peace process to further its genocidal agenda in Darfur.

Are there ties to oil?

Possibly. Khartoum announced in April 2005 that its ABCO Corporation had started drilling in Darfur and that it expects the oil field to be a large one. Darfur residents might be in the way.

What is the world doing?

Not much. The international community is failing to protect civilians or to influence the Sudanese government to do so. The 22-member African Union, of which Sudan is a member, has condemned attacks on civilians in general but remained silent about Sudan's atrocities in Darfur. More than a year ago, the U.S. House and Senate both voted unanimously to condemn the genocide but had no effect on actually ending it. The United Nations has so far failed to send any semblance of an adequate peacekeeping force to Darfur. Such a force is needed simply to allow humanitarian supplies into the region.

There are two shining exceptions to the apathy:

- Doctors Without Borders (www.doctorswithoutborders.org) is an international not-for-profit health-care organization that runs four programs in Darfur covering 300,000 people. Their team includes 27 aid workers and more than 580 Sudanese nationals. They run mobile clinics as well as clinics at displaced-person camps. You can make a tax-deductible donation to Doctors Without Borders by going to its Web site or by calling them at 888-392-0392. Either way, they will honor your request that your money be designated for Darfur.

- At the Save Darfur Coalition (www.savedarfur.org) Web site, you can also send an online postcard to President Bush reminding him that he wrote o f the Rwandan genocide: "Not on my watch," and asking him to support "a stronger multinational force to protect the citizens of Darfur." It also has a link to www.millionvoicesfordarfur.org, where you can donate money or sign up for the April 30 Rally Against Genocide (see below).

Dr. Pauline Horrill, Doctors Without Borders' program manager for Sudan, says on the group's Web site that every delay or reduction in supplies "can almost immediately worsen families' nutritional status. There's a continued suffering that affects all the displaced persons in the camps: the lack of hope that the situation will change."

Genocide isn't easy to look at. But sometimes, looking at something awful is easier if you know that there's something you can do about it. Some of your neighbors are doing something about it, and you can, too. Some of the things you can do might be very effective, and they will only cost you the price of a stamp or a phone call. Please, take a look.

In July 2004, Elie Wiesel addressed the Darfur Emergency Summit in New York City, convened by the American Jewish World Service. He said:

"Sudan has become today's world capital of human pain, suffering and agony. There, one part of the population is being subjected by another part, the dominating part, to humiliation, hunger and death ... A million human beings, young and old, have been uprooted, deported. Women are being raped, children are dying of disease, hunger, and violence. ...

"How can a citizen of a free country not pay attention? How can anyone, anywhere not feel outraged? How can a person, whether religious or secular, not be moved by compassion? And above all, how can anyone who remembers remain silent? ...

"Not to assist Sudan's victims today would for me be unworthy of what I have learned from my teachers, my ancestors and my friends, namely that God alone is alone: His creatures must not be."

What Can I Do to Help?

1. Contact U.S. Sens. Charles E. Schumer and Hillary Clinton and your own representative in the House. Their contact information is listed below, or make an appointment to see them face-to-face. Tell them you want them to support an international peacekeeping force in Sudan that will allow adequate food and health-care supplies and personnel to reach the areas of Darfur where they are needed and to stay as long as they are needed. Add that you would like to know how they stand on this issue and what they're going to do about it.

2. Write letters to the editor at letters@th-record.com. Legislators, religious leaders, and other key decision-makers read the paper and will know how important this issue is to their constituencies and community.

3. Attend the April 30 "Rally to Stop Genocide" on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. President Bush has been invited to speak. Updated information about the rally can be found online at www.savedarfur.org.

Your senators and representatives:

Sue Kelly: 2182 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515; 202-225-5441; Orange County office: Orange County Government Center, 255 Main St., 3rd floor, Goshen, NY 10924; 845-291-4100.

Maurice Hinchey: 2431 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515; 202-225-6335; Orange County office: City Hall, 3rd floor, 16 James St., Middletown, NY 10940; 845-344-3211. Ulster County office: 291 Wall St., Kingston, NY 12401, 845-331-4466; Sullivan County office: 18 Anawana Lake Road, Monticello, NY 12701; 845-791-7116.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer: 313 Hart Senate Building, Washington, DC 20510, 202-224-6542; Hudson Valley office: P.O. Box A, Red Hook, NY 12571; 845-758-9741.

Sen. Hillary Clinton: 476 Russell Senate Building, Washington, DC 20510, 202-224-4451.

Quick Facts about Sudan

Capital: Khartoum, in the north-central part of the eastern half of the country.

Size: 1,553,602 square miles (six times the size of Texas)

Median age: 18

Life expectancy: Men, 57.3; women, 59.8; median, 58.54.

Population: 40,187,486 (twice the population of Texas). Sudan is divided between mostly Muslim Arabs in the north and Christian or animist black Africans in the south.

Government: The president is 59-year-old Maj. Gen. Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir, an Islamist who runs the nation according to sharia (Islamic law). In June 1989, he staged a coup with a group of his fellow military officers against the elected government of Sadiq al-Mahdi. He has been president ever since, running the country with a coalition of the National Congress Party and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement.

posted in Sudan - 0 replies

Camp Darfur and the Convoy for Peace

2006-03-28T19:12:40Z

www.campdarfur.org

This campaign is in the early stages, launching in one week and making the trek crosscountry to DC for a rally with the Save Darfur coalition on April 30th. Together we are rallying support in the US for divestment while educating the public (kids and families) on this complex situation and our shared legacy of genocide.

Camp Darfur opens April 7th in LA with five days of film screenings with special guests, interactive exhibits and a final night Light A Fire ceremony and concert honoring those who struggle hard to light a fire and survive in displacement camps. Lawmakers and other leaders are joining us for a series of discussions on site in LA and around the country leading up to the April 30th rally. We are expecting ~1000 visitors a day to the LA camp hosted at Lennox Middle School near LAX.

After LA mini-camps are planned across the country as native Sudanese and aid workers make stops in cities across the US (stay tuned for more details on events close to you).

Our goal is to show support for the Sudanese people caught in this crisis and help find solutions for a peaceful resolution. Understanding that this is a global effort we will be encouraging our visitors to not only lobby leaders in the US but to reach out to their other native countries: China, Pakistan, India and others to put pressure on the Sudanese government.

We hope that all Sudanese friends will join us for this month-long campaign of awareness and action.
If you are not in the US you can also show support through the Omidyar Network: www.omidyar.net/group/sudancrisis
Or visit our virtual Camp Darfur in Second Life on Better World Island: www.secondlife.com has the free download

posted in Sudan - 1 reply

no "happily ever after" just yet

2006-03-27T20:11:41Z

KHARTOUM, Mar 23 (IPS) - Fifteen African heads of state were in attendance, and thousands of spectators -- witnesses to the signing of a peace deal more than two years in the making, that was ending war between Sudan's government and southern rebels.

"This peace agreement signals the beginning of one Sudan regardless of race, religion or tribe," said John Garang, then head of the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army -- now deceased.

Similar words came from Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmed el-Bashir. "Today is a glorious day for Sudan and Africa -- a day to alleviate the distress and suffering of our people," he told the crowd at Nyayo stadium in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, in early January, 2005.

"It is a great day, when insecurity will be replaced by security and displacement by homecoming."

More than a year later, has this happened? As separate conflicts in the Western region of Darfur and in eastern Sudan clamour for attention, is it even possible to argue that a promising start has been made in bridging the religious and racial divides between north and south that the peace agreement was intended to address?

In many respects, the signs are less than promising. Consider the tenor of events held to mark the first anniversary of the peace deal, an agreement that resulted in a government of national unity, and which gave the south its own administration -- with the eventual possibility of secession.

Residents of the southern capital of Juba danced, sang and held a celebratory rally where signs saying "South for Southerners Only" and "Northerners go Home" were visible. Perhaps understandably, not one northern representative attended the Juba celebration.

In the north, it was difficult to find any festivities at all.

Abendego Akok, a southerner who heads the Juba University Centre for Peace and Justice Studies in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, said he was disappointed to receive only one invitation to a party, held by the United Nations rather than Sudan's government of national unity.

"When I entered the compound I discovered that most of the participants were southern Sudanese. I didn't see any federal ministers. In the whole city, nothing showed the spirit of celebration," he recounted.

"That is a very serious action," added Akok, normally a genial optimist. "The southern government celebrated the peace agreement alone. It is one of the areas where you can see the differences growing."

Financial hardship and entrenched suspicions seem to be at the root of these differences.

Following the grand buildup to the signing of the peace agreement, southerners clearly expected an improvement in their own lives. Years of fighting have left the south bereft of roads and other infrastructure, while services of all kinds are in short supply -- often non-existent.

Reports indicate that while 4.5 billion dollars in aid was pledged for reconstruction in the south, little money has actually been paid out.

"Tribal leaders say that life in the south is even worse. The tribes have started to fight among themselves to see who can get the best benefit from the CPA (comprehensive peace agreement)," says Edmund Yakani, who heads a community-based organisation that works with displaced southern Sudanese. He has just finished a survey of southern opinions of the peace deal.

Then there is the matter of deep-seated distrust between north and south. Underpinned by religious differences (the north is largely Muslim, the south Christian and animist), and racial tensions between northern Arabs and black southerners, this distrust presents enormous obstacles to implementing the peace agreement in spirit -- as well as fact.

"We have very big suspicions of northerners: we don't trust them. How can you live with someone you don't trust?" asks southern community leader Philip Ungang, this despite having spent half his life in the north -- and being friendly with northerners.

There is also a widespread belief that the peace agreement's provision for Sudanese oil revenues to be shared between north and south is not being adhered to -- with southern Sudan failing to receive its full portion of the funds. This is despite the creation of a body to monitor oil revenues, previously controlled only by government in the north.

One local newspaper recently depicted the shadowy oil sector as a tangled mass of oil pipes bearing question marks that snaked directly into a large purse, carried by a northern, Arab Sudanese.

Perceptions of unfairness -- real or imagined -- cut both ways, however.

"The CPA was not fair to the northerners," argues El Tayib Zain Al Abdeen, a professor of political science at Khartoum University, and secretary general of the Sudan Inter Religious Council.

The fact that the agreement gives southerners a say in national government, even though they have their own, autonomous administration, is a source of particular bitterness.

"Many people feel it's a complete yield to the southerners and to international pressure. Why should the southerners have a share in the judiciary that is ruling the north? They have their own judiciary," says Al Abdeen.

He also has a different view of the cultural divide between north and south.

"If you ask people from southern Sudan, they will not complain about northern Sudanese -- they will complain about government policies. The distrust is against government policies and government decisions, not against common people," he insists.

Certainly, some policies offer much to object about.

"Fundamental freedoms of expression continue to be abused by the national intelligence services or military intelligence," Sami Samar, a United Nations official in Sudan, told reporters in Khartoum recently.

Concerning alleged racism towards black southerners, Justin Ding -- a member of the southern Shilluk royal family -- believe this will wane as Arab and black youngsters attend schools, universities and social events together.

Others are considerably less optimistic, convinced that a black skin is a guarantee only of grueling, low-paid work such as manual labour.

A joke told by Al Abdeen, one of the few northerners who is comfortable discussing race, suggests that racial tensions stem from more than a simple divide between Arabs and blacks, however.

A southerner married an Egyptian woman, he says, and they had several beautiful daughters. When the girls came of age, the southerner's nephews asked to marry them -- only to be told by the southerner: "I am trying to improve the bloodline and the breeding, not worsen it!"

Al Abdeen says both northerners and southerners see humour in this joke. If so, it would mark a rare moment of unity in a nation where economics and culture seem at odds with peace. (END/2006)

posted in Sudan - 0 replies