Sunday 22 July 2007 00:10.
By Jeffrey Gettleman
July 21, 2007 (NAIROBI, Kenya) — The Ethiopian government is blockading emergency food aid and choking off trade to large swaths of a remote region in the eastern part of the country that is home to a rebel force, putting hundreds of thousands of people at risk of starvation, Western diplomats and humanitarian officials say.
The Ethiopian military and its proxy militias have also been siphoning off millions of dollars in international food aid, and using a United Nations polio eradication program to funnel money to their fighters, according to relief officials, former Ethiopian government administrators and a member of the Ethiopian Parliament who defected to Germany last month to protest the government’s actions.
The blockade takes aim at the heart of the Ogaden region, a vast desert on the Somali border where the government is struggling against a growing rebellion and where government soldiers have been accused by human rights groups of widespread brutality.
Humanitarian officials say the ban on aid convoys and commercial traffic, intended to squeeze the rebels and dry up their bases of support, has sent food prices skyrocketing and disrupted trade routes, preventing the nomads who live there from selling their livestock. Hundreds of thousands of people are now sealed off in a desiccated, unforgiving landscape that is difficult to survive in even in the best of times.
“Food cannot get in,” said Mohammed Diab, the director of the United Nations World Food Program in Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian government says the blockade covers only strategic locations, and is meant to prevent guns and matériel from reaching the Ogaden National Liberation Front, the rebel force that the government considers a terrorist group. In April, the rebels killed more than 60 Ethiopian guards and Chinese workers at a Chinese-run oil field in the Ogaden.
“This is not a government which punishes its people,” said Nur Abdi Mohammed, a government spokesman.
But Western diplomats have been urging Ethiopian officials to lift the blockade, arguing that the many people in the area are running out of time. “It’s a starve-out-the-population strategy,” said one Western humanitarian official, who did not want to be quoted by name because he feared reprisals against aid workers. “If something isn’t done on the diplomatic front soon, we’re going to have a government-caused famine on our hands.”
The blockade, which involves soldiers and military trucks cutting off the few roads into the central Ogaden, comes as Congress is increasingly concerned about Ethiopia’s human rights record.
Ethiopia is a close American ally and a key partner in America’s counterterrorism efforts in the Horn of Africa, a region that has become a breeding ground for Islamic militants, many of whom have threatened to wage a holy war against Ethiopia.
The country receives nearly half a billion dollars in American aid each year, but this week, a House subcommittee passed a bill that would put strict conditions on some of that aid and ban Ethiopian officials linked to rights abuses from entering the United States. The House also recently passed an amendment, sponsored by J. Randy Forbes, a Virginia Republican, that stripped Ethiopia of $3 million in assistance to “send a strong message that if they don’t wake up and pay attention, more money will be cut,” Mr. Forbes said.
Ethiopia’s pardon on Friday of 30 political prisoners who had been sentenced to life in prison could ease some criticism. But Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, is pushing ahead with measures to more closely vet assistance to the Ethiopian military. According to human rights groups and firsthand accounts, government troops have gang raped women, burned down huts and killed civilians.
American officials in Ethiopia said they were trying to investigate the situation but that the Ogaden was too dangerous right now for a fact-finding mission. American officials said they had heard persistent reports of burned villages and that the blockade was putting the area on the cusp of a crisis.
Villagers say that anyone who criticizes the government risks getting killed. According to Ogaden Online, a Canadian-based news service that has been highly critical of the Ethiopian government and covers the region through a network of reporters and contributors, some equipped with satellite phones, four young men who were videotaped by The New York Times at a community meeting in an Ogaden village in May were later tortured and executed.
The claim could not be fully verified independently, but their identities may have been discovered by Ethiopian soldiers who had arrested three journalists for The Times in the Ogaden and confiscated their notebooks, cameras and computers.
“The army is out of control,” said Jemal Dirie Kalif, the member of Parliament who defected.
The blockade has been in place since early June, and thousands of people have already fled on foot and by camel. Two weeks ago, Abdullahi Mohammed, a 17-year-old student, walked from his village deep in the Ogaden to the nearest town with a bus station. He carried with him a few pieces of bread. He said that when he stopped to ask villagers in the Ogaden for food, they asked him for some instead. “They had nothing,” he said.
Though good rains this year have fed the few crops in the area and provided a little cushion, “The most these people can last without facing serious problems is one month, maybe two,” said David Throp, country director for Save the Children UK.
Even if relief trucks are allowed in to all the critical areas, the food might not reach the people who need it. According to humanitarian workers and several former Ethiopian officials, including Mr. Kalif, food aid is embezzled in two stages. First, soldiers skim sacks of grain, tins of vegetable oil and bricks of high-energy biscuits from food warehouses to sell at local markets.
“The cash is distributed among security officers and regional officers,” a former government administrator from the Ogaden region said in a recent telephone interview on condition of anonymity because he still works with government officials.
Then the remaining food is hauled out to rural areas where the soldiers divert part of it to local gunmen and informers as a reward for helping them fight the rebels. The former administrator said he also knew of specific cases in which army officers stole food from warehouses and gave it to the families of women whom their soldiers had raped, as compensation.
Several Western humanitarian officials estimated that 20 to 30 percent of the donor countries’ food aid to the Ogaden — aid that last year was valued at more than $70 million — routinely disappears this way. To cover their tracks, the soldiers and the government administrators who work with them tell the aid agencies that the food has spoiled, or has been stolen or hijacked by the rebels, humanitarian officials said.
Relief workers in Ethiopia have known about these problems for several years, a humanitarian official said, and have tried to set up committees of local elders to oversee distribution. But that did not work either, and aid officials eventually concluded that as long as the majority of the food was getting through, they would not stop the shipments.
When informed about these allegations, Mr. Diab of the World Food Program said, “This is the first I’ve heard of them.”
Mr. Mohammed, the government spokesman, denied that Ethiopian troops were pilfering or mishandling foreign aid. “We don’t do that,” he said.
As the food crisis looms, Western diplomats are also concerned about a separate plan by the regional government in the Ogaden to divert a share of its own budget for development projects — like schools and farming — to the Ethiopian military.
This seems to be part of the Ethiopian government’s strategy to do whatever it takes to crush the rebels, who have deep popular support and, according to the government, are getting arms and training from neighboring Eritrea, Ethiopia’s bitter enemy.
The people of the Ogaden are mostly Somalis and ethnically distinct from the highland Ethiopians who have ruled the country for centuries, and the long battle over the region has been steadily escalating this year. The country director of one Western aid agency, who recently returned from a field visit there, said he saw two villages that had been burned to the ground and several schools that had been converted into military bases, with foxholes.
Humanitarian officials say the military is building up militias and setting the stage for clan-based bloodshed. The rank and file of the Ogaden National Liberation Front tend to be members of the Ogaden clan, and so the government has turned to other clans to form anti-rebel militias. In the past few weeks, thousands of men have been armed.
“Those Ethiopians are smart,” Mr. Kalif, 32, said. “They know Somalis are more loyal to clans than anything else.” Tactics like these, he said, drove him to defect June 20 while attending a conference in Wiesbaden, Germany. He was affiliated with the ruling party, and had been representing an area in the eastern Ogaden for the past seven years.
He described a scheme with a United Nations polio program, which was corroborated by two former administrators in the Ethiopian government and a Western humanitarian official, in which military commanders gave prized jobs as vaccinators to militia fighters, and in the end, much of the polio vaccine was never distributed.
“Army commanders are using the polio money to pay their people, who don’t pass out the vaccines, so the disease continues and the payments continue,” said Mr. Kalif. “It’s the perfect system.” United Nations officials in Geneva said they did not know whether that was happening, but that they would investigate.
When asked how he knew about the polio scheme, Mr. Kalif said: “Everybody out there knows. They’re just too scared to talk.”
“If I don’t get asylum and they send me back to my country, I’m dead,” he added. “But I was sick of being a parrot. I have no regrets.”
Will Connors contributed reporting from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
(New York Times)
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Friday, July 20, 2007
Sudan bans reporting on alleged coup plot
Thu Jul 19, 2007 8:42AM EDT
By Opheera McDoom
KHARTOUM, July 19 (Reuters) - Sudan's justice ministry has banned all media reporting on the case of 17 people accused of trying to overthrow the government, the latest in a string of such restrictions.
Local papers on Thursday said the prosecutor general had issued a decree "banning all media outlets, written or broadcast, from any reporting or comment on the attempted sabotage so as to not influence the course of justice".
State security officials said on Sunday they had arrested 17 people, including opposition politicians and retired army officers, for plotting to overthrow the government and create chaos in the capital.
Similar reporting restrictions were imposed on the cases of the beheading of Sudanese journalist Mohamed Taha last year and demonstrations in the northern region of Kajbar last month where police killed four people.
Justice Minister Mohamed al-Mardi told Reuters the practice was similar to laws from Sudan's ex-colonial power, Britain.
"We said there shouldn't be any comments about the investigation or incident so as not to prejudice the investigation," he said, quoting Article 115 of the penal code.
Sudan's new constitution, drafted after a January 2005 peace deal ended Africa's longest civil war in Sudan's south, enshrines press freedom. Human rights observers say while "some degree of press freedom" followed the deal, there have been numerous instances of censorship and harassment of the press.
Independent daily al-Sudani newspaper was temporarily closed in February after it reported on the beheading of journalist Taha. The justice ministry accused it of breaching criminal law.
Article 115 of Sudan's penal code states: "Any person who intentionally does anything to influence any fair and just legal procedure or any legal matter or procedure connected with it shall be punished by three months in prison or a fine or both."
Deputy head of the parliamentary judicial committee, Ghazi Suleiman, said the ministry could not prevent any publication.
"Let them comment and then instigate a case against them," Suleiman said. "There is nothing in the law which gives the... justice ministry the right to stop comment in the newspapers."
Sudan's state security organ, which made the arrests for the alleged coup attempt, invited media to a briefing and told them they were allowed to publish details they had divulged.
Journalist Mujaheed Abdullah from the opposition al-Rai al-Shaab newspaper was detained without charge last month, a move colleagues said they suspected was linked to the Kajbar killings. Authorities say it was not linked to his reporting.
"We are asking for his release or for him to be charged with something and brought before a court of law," his lawyer Karrar Siddig said. Abdullah's detention has entered its fourth week and neither his family nor his lawyer have been able to see him.
© Reuters
By Opheera McDoom
KHARTOUM, July 19 (Reuters) - Sudan's justice ministry has banned all media reporting on the case of 17 people accused of trying to overthrow the government, the latest in a string of such restrictions.
Local papers on Thursday said the prosecutor general had issued a decree "banning all media outlets, written or broadcast, from any reporting or comment on the attempted sabotage so as to not influence the course of justice".
State security officials said on Sunday they had arrested 17 people, including opposition politicians and retired army officers, for plotting to overthrow the government and create chaos in the capital.
Similar reporting restrictions were imposed on the cases of the beheading of Sudanese journalist Mohamed Taha last year and demonstrations in the northern region of Kajbar last month where police killed four people.
Justice Minister Mohamed al-Mardi told Reuters the practice was similar to laws from Sudan's ex-colonial power, Britain.
"We said there shouldn't be any comments about the investigation or incident so as not to prejudice the investigation," he said, quoting Article 115 of the penal code.
Sudan's new constitution, drafted after a January 2005 peace deal ended Africa's longest civil war in Sudan's south, enshrines press freedom. Human rights observers say while "some degree of press freedom" followed the deal, there have been numerous instances of censorship and harassment of the press.
Independent daily al-Sudani newspaper was temporarily closed in February after it reported on the beheading of journalist Taha. The justice ministry accused it of breaching criminal law.
Article 115 of Sudan's penal code states: "Any person who intentionally does anything to influence any fair and just legal procedure or any legal matter or procedure connected with it shall be punished by three months in prison or a fine or both."
Deputy head of the parliamentary judicial committee, Ghazi Suleiman, said the ministry could not prevent any publication.
"Let them comment and then instigate a case against them," Suleiman said. "There is nothing in the law which gives the... justice ministry the right to stop comment in the newspapers."
Sudan's state security organ, which made the arrests for the alleged coup attempt, invited media to a briefing and told them they were allowed to publish details they had divulged.
Journalist Mujaheed Abdullah from the opposition al-Rai al-Shaab newspaper was detained without charge last month, a move colleagues said they suspected was linked to the Kajbar killings. Authorities say it was not linked to his reporting.
"We are asking for his release or for him to be charged with something and brought before a court of law," his lawyer Karrar Siddig said. Abdullah's detention has entered its fourth week and neither his family nor his lawyer have been able to see him.
© Reuters
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Arabs from Chad, Niger pile into Sudan’s Darfur - UN
Wednesday 18 July 2007.
By Steve Bloomfield
July 14, 2007 (LONDON) — Arabs from Chad and Niger are crossing into Darfur in "unprecedented" numbers, prompting claims that the Sudanese government is trying systematically to repopulate the war- ravaged region, The Independent reported.
Members of the Um Jalool, an Arab nomadic tribe alleged to be part of the Janjaweed militia, ride their camels 20 kilometers outside the village of Muhkjar in West Darfur, Oct 2004 (HRW)
An internal UN report, obtained by The Independent, shows that up to 30,000 Arabs have crossed the border in the past two months. Most arrived with all their belongings and large flocks. They were greeted by Sudanese Arabs who took them to empty villages cleared by government and janjaweed forces.
One UN official said the process "appeared to have been well planned". The official continued: "This movement is very large. We have not seen such numbers come into west Darfur before."
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, sent a team to the border with Chad at the end of May to interview the new arrivals. Fighting in eastern Chad has been steadily increasing and it was thought that many could be refugees. But only a very small number have required support from UNHCR.
"Most have been relocated by Sudanese Arabs to former villages of IDPs (internally displaced people) and more or less invited to stay there," said the UN official.
The arrivals have been issued with official Sudanese identity cards and awarded citizenship, and analysts say that by encouraging Arabs from Chad, Niger and other parts of Sudan to move to Darfur the Sudanese government is making it "virtually impossible" for displaced people to return home.
James Smith, chief executive of the Aegis Trust, said the revelations proved that the Sudanese government was "cynically trying to change the demographics of the whole region", adding: "If the ethnic cleansing has been consolidated because the land has been repopulated it will become irreversible. The peace process will fall to pieces."
Repopulation has also been happening in south Darfur where Arabs from elsewhere in Sudan have been allowed to move into villages that were once home to local tribes. Aid agency workers said the Arabs were presented as "returning IDPs".
Before the conflict started in 2003, Darfur was home to seven million people, mainly from three African tribes, Fur, Marsalit and Zargahwa. Darfur literally translates as "Land of the Fur". But some 2.5 million have now been forced to flee their homes after attacks by Sudanese troops and planes, and Arab militia on horseback known as janjaweed.
Most are now in camps around Darfur’s main towns, relying on handouts from international aid agencies. About 250,000 have become refugees in Chad. A further 1.5 million have been affected by the conflict, meaning at least four million people are now reliant on the 80 or so international aid agencies in the region. More than 200,000 people are believed to have been killed so far during the four-and-a-half-year conflict.
And if Khartoum is moving Arabs from abroad to replace them, diplomats fear that Darfur rebels may try to remove them forcibly. "It could be quite explosive," said one western diplomat. "It is a very serious situation."
Nomadic Arab tribes have been crossing the border between Chad and Sudan for centuries, long before lines were drawn on a map. It is normal for tribes to follow the rains from west to east and back again, searching for fertile grazing land for their cattle. Straight lines carve out the northern borders of the five countries which spread across the Sahel, taking no notice of traditional tribal links and nomadic routes.
In Mauritania and Sudan, both countries long ruled by Arabs, black African tribes have suffered most. In Mali, Niger and Chad, the Arab and Tuareg nomads have been suppressed.
Towards the end of last year, Niger announced that it planned forcibly to remove more than 150,000 Arab nomads into Chad. Many of the Arabs, known as Mahamid, moved from Chad in the 1970s after a serious drought. Although the government later rescinded the order, it is thought that many decided to return to Chad voluntarily.
Apart from the 30,000 Arabs from Chad and Niger cited in the UNHCR report there have been consistent rumours that a further 45,000 Arabs from Niger have also crossed over. For most nomads citizenship means very little; the lines that separate the countries of the Sahel have not created a sense of nationality. But for the Khartoum regime it could be pivotal. Elections are to be held in two years, the first since President Omar al-Bashir seized power in a coup in 1989.
Although opinion polling is not very advanced, it is thought that no party is likely to win an overall majority. By providing citizenship for the new arrivals, one Khartoum-based diplomat said, President Bashir could be hoping to bolster his election chances.
For the Arabs who have crossed into Darfur there are both push and pull factors. Drought in parts of northern Africa has forced nomads to look further afield for fertile land. Although the spread of desert is rapidly reducing the amount of land available for farmers and nomads in Darfur, much of the area cleared by the janjaweed and government forces is fertile.
(The Independent)
By Steve Bloomfield
July 14, 2007 (LONDON) — Arabs from Chad and Niger are crossing into Darfur in "unprecedented" numbers, prompting claims that the Sudanese government is trying systematically to repopulate the war- ravaged region, The Independent reported.
Members of the Um Jalool, an Arab nomadic tribe alleged to be part of the Janjaweed militia, ride their camels 20 kilometers outside the village of Muhkjar in West Darfur, Oct 2004 (HRW)
An internal UN report, obtained by The Independent, shows that up to 30,000 Arabs have crossed the border in the past two months. Most arrived with all their belongings and large flocks. They were greeted by Sudanese Arabs who took them to empty villages cleared by government and janjaweed forces.
One UN official said the process "appeared to have been well planned". The official continued: "This movement is very large. We have not seen such numbers come into west Darfur before."
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, sent a team to the border with Chad at the end of May to interview the new arrivals. Fighting in eastern Chad has been steadily increasing and it was thought that many could be refugees. But only a very small number have required support from UNHCR.
"Most have been relocated by Sudanese Arabs to former villages of IDPs (internally displaced people) and more or less invited to stay there," said the UN official.
The arrivals have been issued with official Sudanese identity cards and awarded citizenship, and analysts say that by encouraging Arabs from Chad, Niger and other parts of Sudan to move to Darfur the Sudanese government is making it "virtually impossible" for displaced people to return home.
James Smith, chief executive of the Aegis Trust, said the revelations proved that the Sudanese government was "cynically trying to change the demographics of the whole region", adding: "If the ethnic cleansing has been consolidated because the land has been repopulated it will become irreversible. The peace process will fall to pieces."
Repopulation has also been happening in south Darfur where Arabs from elsewhere in Sudan have been allowed to move into villages that were once home to local tribes. Aid agency workers said the Arabs were presented as "returning IDPs".
Before the conflict started in 2003, Darfur was home to seven million people, mainly from three African tribes, Fur, Marsalit and Zargahwa. Darfur literally translates as "Land of the Fur". But some 2.5 million have now been forced to flee their homes after attacks by Sudanese troops and planes, and Arab militia on horseback known as janjaweed.
Most are now in camps around Darfur’s main towns, relying on handouts from international aid agencies. About 250,000 have become refugees in Chad. A further 1.5 million have been affected by the conflict, meaning at least four million people are now reliant on the 80 or so international aid agencies in the region. More than 200,000 people are believed to have been killed so far during the four-and-a-half-year conflict.
And if Khartoum is moving Arabs from abroad to replace them, diplomats fear that Darfur rebels may try to remove them forcibly. "It could be quite explosive," said one western diplomat. "It is a very serious situation."
Nomadic Arab tribes have been crossing the border between Chad and Sudan for centuries, long before lines were drawn on a map. It is normal for tribes to follow the rains from west to east and back again, searching for fertile grazing land for their cattle. Straight lines carve out the northern borders of the five countries which spread across the Sahel, taking no notice of traditional tribal links and nomadic routes.
In Mauritania and Sudan, both countries long ruled by Arabs, black African tribes have suffered most. In Mali, Niger and Chad, the Arab and Tuareg nomads have been suppressed.
Towards the end of last year, Niger announced that it planned forcibly to remove more than 150,000 Arab nomads into Chad. Many of the Arabs, known as Mahamid, moved from Chad in the 1970s after a serious drought. Although the government later rescinded the order, it is thought that many decided to return to Chad voluntarily.
Apart from the 30,000 Arabs from Chad and Niger cited in the UNHCR report there have been consistent rumours that a further 45,000 Arabs from Niger have also crossed over. For most nomads citizenship means very little; the lines that separate the countries of the Sahel have not created a sense of nationality. But for the Khartoum regime it could be pivotal. Elections are to be held in two years, the first since President Omar al-Bashir seized power in a coup in 1989.
Although opinion polling is not very advanced, it is thought that no party is likely to win an overall majority. By providing citizenship for the new arrivals, one Khartoum-based diplomat said, President Bashir could be hoping to bolster his election chances.
For the Arabs who have crossed into Darfur there are both push and pull factors. Drought in parts of northern Africa has forced nomads to look further afield for fertile land. Although the spread of desert is rapidly reducing the amount of land available for farmers and nomads in Darfur, much of the area cleared by the janjaweed and government forces is fertile.
(The Independent)
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Spineless on Sudan
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: July 9, 2007
In May 2006, President Bush declared: “The vulnerable people of Darfur deserve more than sympathy. ... America will not turn away from this tragedy.”
Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
Nicholas D. Kristof.
On the Ground
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Since then, Mr. Bush has turned away — and 450,000 more people have been displaced in Darfur. “Things are getting worse,” noted Mudawi Ibrahim Adam, a human rights campaigner in Sudan.
One of the most troubling signs is that Sudan has been encouraging Arabs from Chad, Niger and other countries to settle in Darfur. More than 30,000 of them have moved into areas depopulated after African tribes were driven out.
In the last few months, Sudan’s government has given these new arrivals citizenship papers and weapons, cementing in place the demographic consequences of its genocide. And if Sudan thinks it has gotten away with mass murder in Darfur, it is more likely to resume its war against southern Sudan — which seems increasingly likely.
Within Darfur, aid groups have increasingly become targets, and in April alone three aid workers were shot and 20 were kidnapped, while hijackers tried to seize aid workers’ vehicles at a rate of almost one a day. As for African Union peacekeepers, seven of them were shot dead the same month — so they’re in no position to rescue aid workers.
The cancer has also been spreading into Chad and the Central African Republic, compounding each country’s intrinsic instability. Last month a 27-year-old French woman, Elsa Serfass, on her first assignment with Doctors Without Borders, was shot dead in C.A.R. as she drove through an area where militias had been burning villages. So Doctors Without Borders has had to suspend much of its work in the area.
Something similar is happening in eastern Chad. Mia Farrow, the actress — who has shown a toughness about genocide that no Western leader has — has just returned from her sixth visit to the region and says that eastern Chad now feels like Somalia.
“Pick-ups with machine guns bolted onto the rear and loaded with armed, uniformed men careen through the dusty streets terrorizing people,” she told me. “No one knows who they are.” While Ms. Farrow was visiting the town of Abéché, an elderly guard at a U.N. compound there was killed and two people were badly beaten.
Then there’s rape. Ever since Sudan began the genocide, it has been using rape to terrorize populations of Africans — and then periodically punishing women who seek treatment on charges of adultery or fornication.
So far this year, at least two young women have been sentenced to death by stoning for adultery. As Refugees International puts it in a new report: “The government is more likely to take action against those who report and document rape than those who commit it.”
Much of the news on Darfur has been a bit optimistic lately, because it has focused on recent flurries of international diplomacy. While it’s true that China is belatedly putting some pressure on Sudan to admit international peacekeepers, at the same time China continues to supply Sudan with the guns used to slaughter Darfuri children. China also just signed a 20-year agreement to develop offshore oil for Sudan, and in April China pledged “to boost military exchanges and cooperation” with Sudan.
Let’s hope that athletes who go to Beijing for the Olympics next year will wear T-shirts honoring the victims of the genocide that China is underwriting.
In the burst of diplomatic activity, one person who stands out is Nicolas Sarkozy, the new president of France. Mr. Sarkozy is pushing to send a European Union force, including many French troops, to stabilize Chad and the Central African Republic. If they arrive by October, as planned, they just might pull those two countries back from the brink of collapse.
In contrast, Mr. Bush has been letting Darfur rhyme with Rwanda and Bosnia. For years, Mr. Bush’s aides have discussed whether he should give a prime-time speech on Darfur to ratchet up the pressure; he still hasn’t. Laura Bush just completed a four-nation swing through Africa, but she didn’t include a visit to any of the areas affected by the Darfur crisis.
Ultimately, the only way the genocide will end will be with a negotiated political settlement — but the only way to get that is to put much more pressure on Khartoum.
So how about if Mr. Bush invites Mr. Sarkozy — along with Gordon Brown, Hu Jintao and Hosni Mubarak — for a joint visit to Chad and C.A.R. to meet Darfuri refugees? Maybe Mr. Sarkozy could lend Mr. Bush and the others a little backbone.
Published: July 9, 2007
In May 2006, President Bush declared: “The vulnerable people of Darfur deserve more than sympathy. ... America will not turn away from this tragedy.”
Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
Nicholas D. Kristof.
On the Ground
Send Your Comments About This Column
Nicholas Kristof addresses reader feedback and posts short takes from his travels.
Readers' Comments »
Columnist Page »
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TimesSelect subscribers can listen to a reading of the day's Op-Ed columns.
Since then, Mr. Bush has turned away — and 450,000 more people have been displaced in Darfur. “Things are getting worse,” noted Mudawi Ibrahim Adam, a human rights campaigner in Sudan.
One of the most troubling signs is that Sudan has been encouraging Arabs from Chad, Niger and other countries to settle in Darfur. More than 30,000 of them have moved into areas depopulated after African tribes were driven out.
In the last few months, Sudan’s government has given these new arrivals citizenship papers and weapons, cementing in place the demographic consequences of its genocide. And if Sudan thinks it has gotten away with mass murder in Darfur, it is more likely to resume its war against southern Sudan — which seems increasingly likely.
Within Darfur, aid groups have increasingly become targets, and in April alone three aid workers were shot and 20 were kidnapped, while hijackers tried to seize aid workers’ vehicles at a rate of almost one a day. As for African Union peacekeepers, seven of them were shot dead the same month — so they’re in no position to rescue aid workers.
The cancer has also been spreading into Chad and the Central African Republic, compounding each country’s intrinsic instability. Last month a 27-year-old French woman, Elsa Serfass, on her first assignment with Doctors Without Borders, was shot dead in C.A.R. as she drove through an area where militias had been burning villages. So Doctors Without Borders has had to suspend much of its work in the area.
Something similar is happening in eastern Chad. Mia Farrow, the actress — who has shown a toughness about genocide that no Western leader has — has just returned from her sixth visit to the region and says that eastern Chad now feels like Somalia.
“Pick-ups with machine guns bolted onto the rear and loaded with armed, uniformed men careen through the dusty streets terrorizing people,” she told me. “No one knows who they are.” While Ms. Farrow was visiting the town of Abéché, an elderly guard at a U.N. compound there was killed and two people were badly beaten.
Then there’s rape. Ever since Sudan began the genocide, it has been using rape to terrorize populations of Africans — and then periodically punishing women who seek treatment on charges of adultery or fornication.
So far this year, at least two young women have been sentenced to death by stoning for adultery. As Refugees International puts it in a new report: “The government is more likely to take action against those who report and document rape than those who commit it.”
Much of the news on Darfur has been a bit optimistic lately, because it has focused on recent flurries of international diplomacy. While it’s true that China is belatedly putting some pressure on Sudan to admit international peacekeepers, at the same time China continues to supply Sudan with the guns used to slaughter Darfuri children. China also just signed a 20-year agreement to develop offshore oil for Sudan, and in April China pledged “to boost military exchanges and cooperation” with Sudan.
Let’s hope that athletes who go to Beijing for the Olympics next year will wear T-shirts honoring the victims of the genocide that China is underwriting.
In the burst of diplomatic activity, one person who stands out is Nicolas Sarkozy, the new president of France. Mr. Sarkozy is pushing to send a European Union force, including many French troops, to stabilize Chad and the Central African Republic. If they arrive by October, as planned, they just might pull those two countries back from the brink of collapse.
In contrast, Mr. Bush has been letting Darfur rhyme with Rwanda and Bosnia. For years, Mr. Bush’s aides have discussed whether he should give a prime-time speech on Darfur to ratchet up the pressure; he still hasn’t. Laura Bush just completed a four-nation swing through Africa, but she didn’t include a visit to any of the areas affected by the Darfur crisis.
Ultimately, the only way the genocide will end will be with a negotiated political settlement — but the only way to get that is to put much more pressure on Khartoum.
So how about if Mr. Bush invites Mr. Sarkozy — along with Gordon Brown, Hu Jintao and Hosni Mubarak — for a joint visit to Chad and C.A.R. to meet Darfuri refugees? Maybe Mr. Sarkozy could lend Mr. Bush and the others a little backbone.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
United Front for Liberation & Development (UFLD)
United Front for Liberation & Development (UFLD)
In response to a kind invitation from the State of Eritrea, partner with the Republic of Chad and the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya in the regional initiative for peace in Darfur; the representatives of resistance movements met in Asmara from May 27th to July 14th, 2007 to reach a unified position at this critical stage of their struggle. The following movements participated in the deliberations:
1- SLA/M – (Khames Abdalla Command). 2- SLM/A – Unity Command. 3- Revolutionary Democratic Front Forces. (RDFF). 4- National Movement for Reform & Development (NMRD). 5- Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance (SFDA).
Following extensive and continuous discussions, the movements agreed on the following steps:-
1. Establishing a united front to deal with the crisis in Darfur and the Sudan; and appeal to all other movements to contribute to unity efforts.
2. Setting-up a unified internal structure for the front with a Leadership Council (LC), specialized departments and Consultative Council to lead negotiations efforts, political and military struggles.
3. Creating a Joint Military Command.
4. Chairmanship of the LC is rotational between Heads of Movements (each for six months duration).
5. The LC will appoint a negotiating team that will be issued a common position.
6. The LC is the highest authority of the ULFD and its decisions are taken collectively.
For the purposes of rendering this agreement operational, the LC decided to assign Cdr Khames Abdalla Abakr to Chair the first round of six month rotation. Moreover the LC has established five specialized departments to shoulder executive responsibilities.
ULFD would to express its gratitude to President Isaias Afwerki and the State of Eritrea together with Libya and Chad, the core group of the regional initiative and under whose auspices our meetings took place. Our deep appreciation is extended to the SPLM/A & GOSS for their continued engagement and kind invitation. Particular recognition is due to the internal community represented by the UN, the EU and the AU for their concern and support.
Asmara, July 14th 2007.
In response to a kind invitation from the State of Eritrea, partner with the Republic of Chad and the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya in the regional initiative for peace in Darfur; the representatives of resistance movements met in Asmara from May 27th to July 14th, 2007 to reach a unified position at this critical stage of their struggle. The following movements participated in the deliberations:
1- SLA/M – (Khames Abdalla Command). 2- SLM/A – Unity Command. 3- Revolutionary Democratic Front Forces. (RDFF). 4- National Movement for Reform & Development (NMRD). 5- Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance (SFDA).
Following extensive and continuous discussions, the movements agreed on the following steps:-
1. Establishing a united front to deal with the crisis in Darfur and the Sudan; and appeal to all other movements to contribute to unity efforts.
2. Setting-up a unified internal structure for the front with a Leadership Council (LC), specialized departments and Consultative Council to lead negotiations efforts, political and military struggles.
3. Creating a Joint Military Command.
4. Chairmanship of the LC is rotational between Heads of Movements (each for six months duration).
5. The LC will appoint a negotiating team that will be issued a common position.
6. The LC is the highest authority of the ULFD and its decisions are taken collectively.
For the purposes of rendering this agreement operational, the LC decided to assign Cdr Khames Abdalla Abakr to Chair the first round of six month rotation. Moreover the LC has established five specialized departments to shoulder executive responsibilities.
ULFD would to express its gratitude to President Isaias Afwerki and the State of Eritrea together with Libya and Chad, the core group of the regional initiative and under whose auspices our meetings took place. Our deep appreciation is extended to the SPLM/A & GOSS for their continued engagement and kind invitation. Particular recognition is due to the internal community represented by the UN, the EU and the AU for their concern and support.
Asmara, July 14th 2007.
Five Darfur rebel groups agree to unite
Sat Jul 14, 2007 2:07PM EDT
By Jack Kimball
ASMARA (Reuters) - Five Darfur rebel groups agreed on Saturday to unite ahead of possible peace talks to end a four-year conflict in the region which so far has defied resolution, in part because of fractious rebel groups.
In a statement to reporters, the new group, the United Front for Liberation and Development (UFLD), called on other rebels in Sudan's western region to join them.
"This announcement of the formation of the UFLD is preparation for that eventuality (the peace talks) once it takes place," said Sherif Herir, a top leader in one of two Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) factions that signed the agreement in Asmara.
"The door is open for any movements to join," he added.
The Darfur rebels fractured into more than a dozen armed groups after an unpopular peace deal last year with Khartoum that only one faction signed.
International experts estimate that some 200,000 people have died in Darfur in what the United States has termed genocide.
The violence flared after mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in 2003 accusing Sudan's central government of neglecting the remote, arid western region. Khartoum mobilized brutal militias, called Janjaweed, to quell the revolt. Khartoum denies supporting the Janjaweed puts the death toll at 9,000.
The new rebel group includes two SLA factions, the Revolutionary Democratic Front Forces, the National Movement for Reform and Development and Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance.
The announcement came one day after the rebels met the U.N. envoy for Sudan, Jan Eliasson, ahead of a meeting in Libya this weekend aimed at advancing peace talks among Darfur's rebel groups.
U.N. and African Union envoys have also set a self-imposed August deadline to launch peace negotiations.
Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki announced on Saturday that Asmara would attend the meeting in the Libyan capital -- scheduled for July 15-16, which would include regional and international envoys discussing the shape of new peace talks.
In talks with Eliasson, Eritrea's leader said more must be done to resolve the conflict in Darfur.
"The president called for stepped-up endeavors so that the Tripoli meeting may reach a joint consensus for the coming forum regarding endeavors to resolve the Darfur issue," said a statement in an Eritrean government newspaper.
Under sustained international pressure, Sudan agreed last month to a combined U.N.-AU peacekeeping force of more than 20,000 troops and police to bolster the cash-strapped AU force of 7,000 already operating in Darfur. The AU troops have failed to stem the violence.
By Jack Kimball
ASMARA (Reuters) - Five Darfur rebel groups agreed on Saturday to unite ahead of possible peace talks to end a four-year conflict in the region which so far has defied resolution, in part because of fractious rebel groups.
In a statement to reporters, the new group, the United Front for Liberation and Development (UFLD), called on other rebels in Sudan's western region to join them.
"This announcement of the formation of the UFLD is preparation for that eventuality (the peace talks) once it takes place," said Sherif Herir, a top leader in one of two Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) factions that signed the agreement in Asmara.
"The door is open for any movements to join," he added.
The Darfur rebels fractured into more than a dozen armed groups after an unpopular peace deal last year with Khartoum that only one faction signed.
International experts estimate that some 200,000 people have died in Darfur in what the United States has termed genocide.
The violence flared after mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in 2003 accusing Sudan's central government of neglecting the remote, arid western region. Khartoum mobilized brutal militias, called Janjaweed, to quell the revolt. Khartoum denies supporting the Janjaweed puts the death toll at 9,000.
The new rebel group includes two SLA factions, the Revolutionary Democratic Front Forces, the National Movement for Reform and Development and Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance.
The announcement came one day after the rebels met the U.N. envoy for Sudan, Jan Eliasson, ahead of a meeting in Libya this weekend aimed at advancing peace talks among Darfur's rebel groups.
U.N. and African Union envoys have also set a self-imposed August deadline to launch peace negotiations.
Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki announced on Saturday that Asmara would attend the meeting in the Libyan capital -- scheduled for July 15-16, which would include regional and international envoys discussing the shape of new peace talks.
In talks with Eliasson, Eritrea's leader said more must be done to resolve the conflict in Darfur.
"The president called for stepped-up endeavors so that the Tripoli meeting may reach a joint consensus for the coming forum regarding endeavors to resolve the Darfur issue," said a statement in an Eritrean government newspaper.
Under sustained international pressure, Sudan agreed last month to a combined U.N.-AU peacekeeping force of more than 20,000 troops and police to bolster the cash-strapped AU force of 7,000 already operating in Darfur. The AU troops have failed to stem the violence.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Sudan 'resumes bombing in Darfur'
Sudan's government has resumed bombing in the country's troubled western region of Darfur, says US special envoy to Sudan Andrew Natsios.
Mr Natsios urged Sudan to stop its campaign and respect a 2004 ceasefire.
He said the bombing was focused on the Jebel Marra region, a stronghold of one of the rebel faction leaders, Abdul Wahid Mohammed Nour.
Some 200,000 people have died in Darfur in the past four years, while 2m have fled their homes, the UN says.
The BBC's Amber Henshaw in Khartoum says no-one was available from the Sudanese government to comment on Mr Natsios' claims.
'Warlordism'
"After a halt in the bombing between the beginning of February and the end of April in 2007, the Sudanese government has resumed bombing in Darfur," Mr Natsios said.
He also accused rebel groups of descending into "criminality and warlordism".
"Some rebel leaders are cynically obstructing the peace process and the United States government is very disturbed by this. It needs to end now," he said.
The US special envoy's comments come as Britain, France and Ghana circulate a draft resolution to the UN security Council for a joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping operation for Darfur.
The Sudanese government finally agreed to allow a 20,000-strong hybrid force into the region after months of pressure from the international community.
There are also moves to get the government and the rebels back to peace talks in the next few months.
Government officials say they are more than ready for talks.
A widely unpopular peace deal was signed last year by one of the three negotiating factions but the groups have now splintered and many are calling for fresh negotiations.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/6898158.stm
Published: 2007/07/13 17:24:18 GMT
Mr Natsios urged Sudan to stop its campaign and respect a 2004 ceasefire.
He said the bombing was focused on the Jebel Marra region, a stronghold of one of the rebel faction leaders, Abdul Wahid Mohammed Nour.
Some 200,000 people have died in Darfur in the past four years, while 2m have fled their homes, the UN says.
The BBC's Amber Henshaw in Khartoum says no-one was available from the Sudanese government to comment on Mr Natsios' claims.
'Warlordism'
"After a halt in the bombing between the beginning of February and the end of April in 2007, the Sudanese government has resumed bombing in Darfur," Mr Natsios said.
He also accused rebel groups of descending into "criminality and warlordism".
"Some rebel leaders are cynically obstructing the peace process and the United States government is very disturbed by this. It needs to end now," he said.
The US special envoy's comments come as Britain, France and Ghana circulate a draft resolution to the UN security Council for a joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping operation for Darfur.
The Sudanese government finally agreed to allow a 20,000-strong hybrid force into the region after months of pressure from the international community.
There are also moves to get the government and the rebels back to peace talks in the next few months.
Government officials say they are more than ready for talks.
A widely unpopular peace deal was signed last year by one of the three negotiating factions but the groups have now splintered and many are calling for fresh negotiations.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/6898158.stm
Published: 2007/07/13 17:24:18 GMT
Friday, June 29, 2007
EU says runs out of cash for Darfur peacekeepers
By Brian Rohan
Fri Jun 29, 1:37 PM ET
European Union funding for an African peacekeeping force in Darfur has run out, and the United States and Arab League should help cover the costs until a replacement force arrives, the EU's aid chief said on Friday.
"At the Commission level we are dry and we cannot find any more additional resources," European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Louis Michel told a news conference.
The Commission and EU states have given over 400 million euros ($537.8 million) to the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) since it was deployed to Sudan's violent western Darfur region in 2004 to try to ease the humanitarian crisis there.
The United Nations has proposed working with the African Union to send a better-equipped force to the area, but Michel said AMIS still needed cash before the new operation started.
"Other donors besides the Commission must find the resources to make the transition from the AMIS force to the African Union/United Nations hybrid force," Michel said.
"I would like to call on the United States and the Arab League to contribute to financing this transition," he said.
Diplomats say a resolution to send the new international force could come to a vote at the U.N. Security Council next week, but that peacekeepers could take six months to deploy.
Some 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million driven from their homes in the conflict, which began in 2003 when non-Arab rebels took up arms, accusing the government of ignoring their plight in the remote, arid region. Sudan mobilized Arab militias to quell the revolt.
Some militia members, known locally as Janjaweed, embarked on a campaign of killing, pillage and rape that the United States has said amounts to genocide. Sudan denies it supported the Janjaweed, and calls them outlaws.
Michel attended an international meeting on Darfur in Paris on Monday and said he had also discussed funding for the current AMIS mission with President Nicolas Sarkozy this week.
Copyright © 2007 Reuters
Fri Jun 29, 1:37 PM ET
European Union funding for an African peacekeeping force in Darfur has run out, and the United States and Arab League should help cover the costs until a replacement force arrives, the EU's aid chief said on Friday.
"At the Commission level we are dry and we cannot find any more additional resources," European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Louis Michel told a news conference.
The Commission and EU states have given over 400 million euros ($537.8 million) to the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) since it was deployed to Sudan's violent western Darfur region in 2004 to try to ease the humanitarian crisis there.
The United Nations has proposed working with the African Union to send a better-equipped force to the area, but Michel said AMIS still needed cash before the new operation started.
"Other donors besides the Commission must find the resources to make the transition from the AMIS force to the African Union/United Nations hybrid force," Michel said.
"I would like to call on the United States and the Arab League to contribute to financing this transition," he said.
Diplomats say a resolution to send the new international force could come to a vote at the U.N. Security Council next week, but that peacekeepers could take six months to deploy.
Some 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million driven from their homes in the conflict, which began in 2003 when non-Arab rebels took up arms, accusing the government of ignoring their plight in the remote, arid region. Sudan mobilized Arab militias to quell the revolt.
Some militia members, known locally as Janjaweed, embarked on a campaign of killing, pillage and rape that the United States has said amounts to genocide. Sudan denies it supported the Janjaweed, and calls them outlaws.
Michel attended an international meeting on Darfur in Paris on Monday and said he had also discussed funding for the current AMIS mission with President Nicolas Sarkozy this week.
Copyright © 2007 Reuters
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
The Justice and Equality Movement's self-described "road map for peace in Darfur" demonstrates at once the potential for great progress and great failures. JEM's recognition of the need to 'transcend' the DPA is crucially important. The JEM also points out the "necessity of reaching an agreement that deals with the root-causes of the problem and fully addresses the issue of power and wealth sharing," and that is essential to a successful peace agreement. The acknowledgement of the need for "wide consultations" with all the people of Darfur is extremely significant, but it is not enough.
"Wide consultation" regarding what Darfur's people need is just the beginning: what is also required is (as the International Crisis Group's report on "Revitalising the [Darfur] Peace Process" of April 2007 states) a "reference group of constituencies not part of past negotiations, including representatives of Arab tribes, IDPs [internally displaced persons], women's groups, and civil society," and constant, open contact with these groups must be maintained in order to come to any sort of agreement which would last successfully.
Further, although the JEM and SLM are internationally recognized, the two groups cannot be the only representatives of the people of Darfur. Indeed, the SLM cannot even be said to represent one group, as it has become so splintered since the signing of the DPA in May 2006. Again from the ICG report, "Greater inclusivity [of all Darfur's people]would translate into more buy-in and easier implementation". One negotiating position does not necessarily need to be achieved before serious talks begin, although it is necessary "at least to consolidate into recognizable blocs, with coherent leadership and political positions". In order for this sort of political and social cohesion to be possible, field commanders of different groups must unite and allow such cohesion to occur (ICG).
None of these things are possible if the JEM feels that it is "forced to resume negotiations on unilateral bases" (JEM). Certainly, it would be good if the SLM would "unify itself", but in the event that this does not occur in 45 days, the JEM must not try to negotiate unilaterally. The DPA has failed because it was not representative of the entire people of Darfur: any unilateral agreement would be doomed to similar, catastrophic failure. Not only would a unilateral agreement fail to protect Darfur, but it would give the international community at large yet another excuse to claim that the dire situation of Darfur is improving, when in fact the lives of thousands upon thousands are at excruciatingly high risk of being lost foerever.
http://www.sudanjem.com/en/index.php
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4769
"Wide consultation" regarding what Darfur's people need is just the beginning: what is also required is (as the International Crisis Group's report on "Revitalising the [Darfur] Peace Process" of April 2007 states) a "reference group of constituencies not part of past negotiations, including representatives of Arab tribes, IDPs [internally displaced persons], women's groups, and civil society," and constant, open contact with these groups must be maintained in order to come to any sort of agreement which would last successfully.
Further, although the JEM and SLM are internationally recognized, the two groups cannot be the only representatives of the people of Darfur. Indeed, the SLM cannot even be said to represent one group, as it has become so splintered since the signing of the DPA in May 2006. Again from the ICG report, "Greater inclusivity [of all Darfur's people]would translate into more buy-in and easier implementation". One negotiating position does not necessarily need to be achieved before serious talks begin, although it is necessary "at least to consolidate into recognizable blocs, with coherent leadership and political positions". In order for this sort of political and social cohesion to be possible, field commanders of different groups must unite and allow such cohesion to occur (ICG).
None of these things are possible if the JEM feels that it is "forced to resume negotiations on unilateral bases" (JEM). Certainly, it would be good if the SLM would "unify itself", but in the event that this does not occur in 45 days, the JEM must not try to negotiate unilaterally. The DPA has failed because it was not representative of the entire people of Darfur: any unilateral agreement would be doomed to similar, catastrophic failure. Not only would a unilateral agreement fail to protect Darfur, but it would give the international community at large yet another excuse to claim that the dire situation of Darfur is improving, when in fact the lives of thousands upon thousands are at excruciatingly high risk of being lost foerever.
http://www.sudanjem.com/en/index.php
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4769
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Oxfam withdraws from Darfur's largest camp
Sat Jun 16, 2007 10:20AM EDT
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - British aid agency Oxfam said on Saturday it was withdrawing permanently from Gereida in Sudan's Darfur region, home to the largest population of Darfuris driven from their homes over four years of conflict.
In a coordinated attack on three aid agency bases in Gereida in December, an aid worker was raped, an Oxfam staff member badly beaten and others subjected to mock executions.
Since then most operations have remained suspended in the area controlled by the former rebel faction of Minni Arcua Minnawi, the only leader to sign a May 2006 peace deal with the Khartoum government.
"Despite our repeated requests, none of the perpetrators have been held to account, none of the assets stolen in the attack have been returned, and we have not received credible assurances that similar attacks would not take place if we did return," said Caroline Nursey, Oxfam's Sudan programme manager.
Oxfam provided water and sanitation, healthcare and livelihood education to 130,000 Darfuris encamped around Gereida town. The International Committee for the Red Cross will take over the provision of water.
"As usual in Darfur, the people who will suffer most are the civilians who have already been attacked, forced from their homes and had their lives thrown into turmoil. For the last six months they have not had the level of assistance that they need," said Nursey.
The conflict has driven some 2.5 million from their homes.
Sudan last week agreed to allow a joint U.N.-African Union force of at least 20,000 police and troops, mostly African, deploy to the region. But questions over who will command and control the mission remain.
Ambassadors of the Security Council will arrive in Khartoum on Sunday and meet President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.
"The UN Security Council's urgent priority has to be to get all of the different armed groups to stop targeting civilians and aid workers and adhere to a ceasefire with immediate effect," Oxfam said in a separate statement on Saturday.
Diplomats say the ambassadors are likely to press Bashir to accept overall U.N. command and control of the force before they pass any resolution to fund the mission.
Security Council members have discussed the imposition of a no-fly zone and sanctions on Sudan.
Aid agencies have expressed concern that a no-fly zone could endanger their staff who fly around Darfur, the size of France, because many roads are too dangerous.
Mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003 accusing central government of marginalizing the remote west. Khartoum mobilized militias to quell the revolt. Those militias stand accused of a campaign of rape, killing and looting.
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - British aid agency Oxfam said on Saturday it was withdrawing permanently from Gereida in Sudan's Darfur region, home to the largest population of Darfuris driven from their homes over four years of conflict.
In a coordinated attack on three aid agency bases in Gereida in December, an aid worker was raped, an Oxfam staff member badly beaten and others subjected to mock executions.
Since then most operations have remained suspended in the area controlled by the former rebel faction of Minni Arcua Minnawi, the only leader to sign a May 2006 peace deal with the Khartoum government.
"Despite our repeated requests, none of the perpetrators have been held to account, none of the assets stolen in the attack have been returned, and we have not received credible assurances that similar attacks would not take place if we did return," said Caroline Nursey, Oxfam's Sudan programme manager.
Oxfam provided water and sanitation, healthcare and livelihood education to 130,000 Darfuris encamped around Gereida town. The International Committee for the Red Cross will take over the provision of water.
"As usual in Darfur, the people who will suffer most are the civilians who have already been attacked, forced from their homes and had their lives thrown into turmoil. For the last six months they have not had the level of assistance that they need," said Nursey.
The conflict has driven some 2.5 million from their homes.
Sudan last week agreed to allow a joint U.N.-African Union force of at least 20,000 police and troops, mostly African, deploy to the region. But questions over who will command and control the mission remain.
Ambassadors of the Security Council will arrive in Khartoum on Sunday and meet President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.
"The UN Security Council's urgent priority has to be to get all of the different armed groups to stop targeting civilians and aid workers and adhere to a ceasefire with immediate effect," Oxfam said in a separate statement on Saturday.
Diplomats say the ambassadors are likely to press Bashir to accept overall U.N. command and control of the force before they pass any resolution to fund the mission.
Security Council members have discussed the imposition of a no-fly zone and sanctions on Sudan.
Aid agencies have expressed concern that a no-fly zone could endanger their staff who fly around Darfur, the size of France, because many roads are too dangerous.
Mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003 accusing central government of marginalizing the remote west. Khartoum mobilized militias to quell the revolt. Those militias stand accused of a campaign of rape, killing and looting.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Injustices fuel Chechnya's fires
By Patrick Jackson
BBC News
Russia has recorded no attacks resulting in massive loss of civilian life in the year since pro-Chechen militants seized the school in Beslan.
But in Chechnya itself, civilians continue to suffer as the separatist war grinds on - much of it unpublicised because of Russian media restrictions.
Hardly a night passes without a rebel ambush or a raid by security forces, the latter sometimes only reported by human rights groups.
Chechen refugees may no longer spend the freezing winters in tents. But many remain scattered outside their homeland, dispossessed and often living in atrocious conditions, on former dairy farms, in factories and train carriages.
"There hasn't been a war in Chechnya for three years - the war is over," Russian President Vladimir Putin told foreign reporters late last year.
Yet the violence that has engulfed Chechnya and spread beyond has not receded, and Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, who claimed the Beslan attack, does not rule out further mass hostage-takings.
As Beslan remembers its lost children, bitterness on both sides continues to drive a particularly brutal conflict.
Lonely fight
If the war is over for Vladimir Putin, it has only gone into its sixth year for the new appointed leader of the Chechen rebels, Abdul-Khalim Saydullayev.
In a speech released online last month, he said no political step taken in the West regarding Chechnya was comparable in significance to a single attack on Russian soldiers by Chechen fighters.
The wagons stopped and the soldiers came round and asked: 'Are there any dead in there?'
Zulpa
Deportation survivor
"If anybody really thinks the fate of the Chechen people is decided in Strasbourg, Washington or Moscow, they are deeply mistaken," he added.
Mr Saydullayev's speech suggests the rebels now despair of any meaningful outside intervention in Chechnya.
They argue that events like Beslan must be viewed alongside their own civilian losses and accuse Russia of pursuing "genocide".
That term has particularly painful associations after Stalin's mass deportation of Chechens and their Ingush neighbours in 1944 on suspicion of Nazi sympathies.
Tens of thousands of Chechens are thought to have perished before survivors were allowed to return from Central Asia in 1957. The event was a key Chechen argument for declaring independence in 1991, while other regions like Ingushetia and North Ossetia, where Beslan is located, were choosing to remain as autonomous republics.
Russia's indiscriminate bombing and shelling of Chechen towns and villages, particularly during the 1994-96 war, and "dirty war" tactics such as kidnappings, are widely believed to have radicalised Chechens further.
"It is undeniable that 'disappearances', killings, torture and ill-treatment continue to be a frequent occurrence, with abuses attributed to both federal and the various Chechen security forces, as well as Chechen armed opposition groups," Amnesty International's Victoria Webb told the BBC News website.
Adding fuel to the fire, many rebels view the conflict as a religious struggle, regarding themselves as Muslims pitted against a "godless" secular state.
Search for leadership
The death of Aslan Maskhadov in a Russian attack in March meant the loss of a veteran Chechen leader who had negotiated a peace deal before Vladimir Putin came to power.
He denounced the Beslan attackers as "madmen," while arguing that brutality by Russian troops may have driven them out of their senses.
Diederik Lohman of Human Rights Watch (HRW) says the rebels have long appeared to lack strong, central control.
"My sense has always been that it is a lot of loosely affiliated little groups that have more or less the same ideas about what they want to achieve, and use the same methods, but it is not necessarily coordinated," he told the BBC News website.
In his book Inside Putin's Russia, Andrew Jack contrasts Chechen fortunes to those of the neighbouring Ingush, whose success in peacefully forging a republic of their own within Russia he attributes largely to good political leadership at the right time.
Though ever a critic of Moscow's use of force, Ruslan Aushev earned broad respect as Ingush president.
At Beslan, he helped negotiate the release of 26 people, including babies, when he went into the school during the siege.
Minutes before the explosions began on the last day, he was still talking to the hostage-takers by telephone.
Impunity
An avowed aim of the Kremlin in the North Caucasus - "freedom and justice" - rings hollow for many.
COST OF CHECHEN CONFLICT
At least 40,000 civilians killed in 1994-96 war
At least 10,000 civilians killed since 1999
No clear figures for Russian losses but military deaths thought to at least equal USSR's Afghan toll of 15,000
Data on civilians supplied by Human Rights Watch
Chechnya has become synonymous with a sense of impunity, as Beslan mothers demand prosecutions over the authorities' handling of the school siege, Chechens point to the small number of Russian soldiers prosecuted for human rights abuses and Russians demand justice for Russian civilians targeted under Chechen rebel rule.
At least 400 Beslan residents signed an open letter to the world on the anniversary of the siege declaring: "We do not want to live any longer in a country where human life means nothing."
Amnesty's Victoria Webb says the situation in Chechnya may be "one of the effects of a government policy that only pays lip service to human rights principles".
Russian security forces sent to Chechnya are influenced by two stereotypes: Chechens as criminals and Chechens as terrorists.
Chechens have been seen as playing a disproportionate part in organised crime in Russia's cities, while attacks on airliners and other civilian targets made for a summer of fear in Moscow before Beslan.
Next morning it snowed/After all the firing/The snow killed me/Put out a short life
Yuri Shevchuk
lyric from Dead City
Russians who speak of "genocide" in Chechnya usually mean something very different: the fate of the estimated 270,000 Russians and other non-indigenous residents who made up nearly a quarter of Chechnya's population when the USSR broke up.
Largely abandoned by the Russian state, they quickly became scapegoats when the rebels declared independence.
Attempts to properly document the extent of the violence they suffered have run up against a wall of silence in Moscow.
In Chechnya, a few years after the second war began, there were practically no non-indigenous residents left, according to the Russian human rights group Memorial.
Now scattered across Russia, embittered Russian refugees pass on a message of unavenged wrongs.
Incalculable cost
"Next morning it snowed/After all the firing/The snow killed me/Put out a short life."
Dead City, Russian rock singer Yuri Shevchuk's requiem for Grozny, captures some of the horror of a war in which innocence may look out of place.
According to an HRW estimate, gleaned through field work among Chechen refugees in the absence of reliable figures from Moscow, a total of about 50,000 civilians died in the two wars, about a tenth of them children.
Beslan horrified Chechens too, Diederik Lohman points out, but the question many also ask is: "Where was the world when our children were dying under Russian bombs?"
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/4199146.stm
Published: 2005/09/01 17:31:11 GMT
BBC News
Russia has recorded no attacks resulting in massive loss of civilian life in the year since pro-Chechen militants seized the school in Beslan.
But in Chechnya itself, civilians continue to suffer as the separatist war grinds on - much of it unpublicised because of Russian media restrictions.
Hardly a night passes without a rebel ambush or a raid by security forces, the latter sometimes only reported by human rights groups.
Chechen refugees may no longer spend the freezing winters in tents. But many remain scattered outside their homeland, dispossessed and often living in atrocious conditions, on former dairy farms, in factories and train carriages.
"There hasn't been a war in Chechnya for three years - the war is over," Russian President Vladimir Putin told foreign reporters late last year.
Yet the violence that has engulfed Chechnya and spread beyond has not receded, and Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, who claimed the Beslan attack, does not rule out further mass hostage-takings.
As Beslan remembers its lost children, bitterness on both sides continues to drive a particularly brutal conflict.
Lonely fight
If the war is over for Vladimir Putin, it has only gone into its sixth year for the new appointed leader of the Chechen rebels, Abdul-Khalim Saydullayev.
In a speech released online last month, he said no political step taken in the West regarding Chechnya was comparable in significance to a single attack on Russian soldiers by Chechen fighters.
The wagons stopped and the soldiers came round and asked: 'Are there any dead in there?'
Zulpa
Deportation survivor
"If anybody really thinks the fate of the Chechen people is decided in Strasbourg, Washington or Moscow, they are deeply mistaken," he added.
Mr Saydullayev's speech suggests the rebels now despair of any meaningful outside intervention in Chechnya.
They argue that events like Beslan must be viewed alongside their own civilian losses and accuse Russia of pursuing "genocide".
That term has particularly painful associations after Stalin's mass deportation of Chechens and their Ingush neighbours in 1944 on suspicion of Nazi sympathies.
Tens of thousands of Chechens are thought to have perished before survivors were allowed to return from Central Asia in 1957. The event was a key Chechen argument for declaring independence in 1991, while other regions like Ingushetia and North Ossetia, where Beslan is located, were choosing to remain as autonomous republics.
Russia's indiscriminate bombing and shelling of Chechen towns and villages, particularly during the 1994-96 war, and "dirty war" tactics such as kidnappings, are widely believed to have radicalised Chechens further.
"It is undeniable that 'disappearances', killings, torture and ill-treatment continue to be a frequent occurrence, with abuses attributed to both federal and the various Chechen security forces, as well as Chechen armed opposition groups," Amnesty International's Victoria Webb told the BBC News website.
Adding fuel to the fire, many rebels view the conflict as a religious struggle, regarding themselves as Muslims pitted against a "godless" secular state.
Search for leadership
The death of Aslan Maskhadov in a Russian attack in March meant the loss of a veteran Chechen leader who had negotiated a peace deal before Vladimir Putin came to power.
He denounced the Beslan attackers as "madmen," while arguing that brutality by Russian troops may have driven them out of their senses.
Diederik Lohman of Human Rights Watch (HRW) says the rebels have long appeared to lack strong, central control.
"My sense has always been that it is a lot of loosely affiliated little groups that have more or less the same ideas about what they want to achieve, and use the same methods, but it is not necessarily coordinated," he told the BBC News website.
In his book Inside Putin's Russia, Andrew Jack contrasts Chechen fortunes to those of the neighbouring Ingush, whose success in peacefully forging a republic of their own within Russia he attributes largely to good political leadership at the right time.
Though ever a critic of Moscow's use of force, Ruslan Aushev earned broad respect as Ingush president.
At Beslan, he helped negotiate the release of 26 people, including babies, when he went into the school during the siege.
Minutes before the explosions began on the last day, he was still talking to the hostage-takers by telephone.
Impunity
An avowed aim of the Kremlin in the North Caucasus - "freedom and justice" - rings hollow for many.
COST OF CHECHEN CONFLICT
At least 40,000 civilians killed in 1994-96 war
At least 10,000 civilians killed since 1999
No clear figures for Russian losses but military deaths thought to at least equal USSR's Afghan toll of 15,000
Data on civilians supplied by Human Rights Watch
Chechnya has become synonymous with a sense of impunity, as Beslan mothers demand prosecutions over the authorities' handling of the school siege, Chechens point to the small number of Russian soldiers prosecuted for human rights abuses and Russians demand justice for Russian civilians targeted under Chechen rebel rule.
At least 400 Beslan residents signed an open letter to the world on the anniversary of the siege declaring: "We do not want to live any longer in a country where human life means nothing."
Amnesty's Victoria Webb says the situation in Chechnya may be "one of the effects of a government policy that only pays lip service to human rights principles".
Russian security forces sent to Chechnya are influenced by two stereotypes: Chechens as criminals and Chechens as terrorists.
Chechens have been seen as playing a disproportionate part in organised crime in Russia's cities, while attacks on airliners and other civilian targets made for a summer of fear in Moscow before Beslan.
Next morning it snowed/After all the firing/The snow killed me/Put out a short life
Yuri Shevchuk
lyric from Dead City
Russians who speak of "genocide" in Chechnya usually mean something very different: the fate of the estimated 270,000 Russians and other non-indigenous residents who made up nearly a quarter of Chechnya's population when the USSR broke up.
Largely abandoned by the Russian state, they quickly became scapegoats when the rebels declared independence.
Attempts to properly document the extent of the violence they suffered have run up against a wall of silence in Moscow.
In Chechnya, a few years after the second war began, there were practically no non-indigenous residents left, according to the Russian human rights group Memorial.
Now scattered across Russia, embittered Russian refugees pass on a message of unavenged wrongs.
Incalculable cost
"Next morning it snowed/After all the firing/The snow killed me/Put out a short life."
Dead City, Russian rock singer Yuri Shevchuk's requiem for Grozny, captures some of the horror of a war in which innocence may look out of place.
According to an HRW estimate, gleaned through field work among Chechen refugees in the absence of reliable figures from Moscow, a total of about 50,000 civilians died in the two wars, about a tenth of them children.
Beslan horrified Chechens too, Diederik Lohman points out, but the question many also ask is: "Where was the world when our children were dying under Russian bombs?"
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/4199146.stm
Published: 2005/09/01 17:31:11 GMT
Zimbabwe 'collapse in six months'
Zimbabwe will collapse within six months, possibly leading to a state of emergency, according to a briefing report for aid workers in the country.
Rampant inflation will mean shops and services can no longer function and people would resort to barter, it said.
"The memorandum is talking about a situation where there is no functioning government or a total breakdown," an unnamed aid worker told the UK Times.
Zimbabwe's inflation is already 3,714% - the highest rate in the world.
Business quotes were now valid for just one day or even one hour, said the report written by consultants and sent to workers at the United Nations and other aid agencies.
Some firms were already partly paying their workers in food, rather than money, it said.
ZIMBABWE CRISIS
Inflation: 3,714%
Unemployment: 80%
4m need food aid
Life expectancy: 37 (men), 34 (women)
Shops were doubling their prices twice a month, so they could purchase replacement goods.
If this continues, "doubling the current inflation for each of the seven remaining months of 2007 gives 512,000% thus the economic collapse is expected before the end of 2007," said the report, according to the AP news agency.
The security forces who have remained loyal to President Robert Mugabe were also feeling the effects.
The report said an ordinary police officer earned less than aid workers paid their domestic staff.
It said power and water suppliers were already near collapse. Electricity was last month rationed to just four hours a day to save power for farmers.
Just one adult in five is believed to have a regular job.
Some 4m Zimbabweans - a third of the population - will need food aid this year, according to the UN World Food Programme.
Mr Mugabe denies responsibility for Zimbabwe's economic problems, blaming a western plot to bring down his government because of his policy of seizing white-owned land.
(BBC)
Rampant inflation will mean shops and services can no longer function and people would resort to barter, it said.
"The memorandum is talking about a situation where there is no functioning government or a total breakdown," an unnamed aid worker told the UK Times.
Zimbabwe's inflation is already 3,714% - the highest rate in the world.
Business quotes were now valid for just one day or even one hour, said the report written by consultants and sent to workers at the United Nations and other aid agencies.
Some firms were already partly paying their workers in food, rather than money, it said.
ZIMBABWE CRISIS
Inflation: 3,714%
Unemployment: 80%
4m need food aid
Life expectancy: 37 (men), 34 (women)
Shops were doubling their prices twice a month, so they could purchase replacement goods.
If this continues, "doubling the current inflation for each of the seven remaining months of 2007 gives 512,000% thus the economic collapse is expected before the end of 2007," said the report, according to the AP news agency.
The security forces who have remained loyal to President Robert Mugabe were also feeling the effects.
The report said an ordinary police officer earned less than aid workers paid their domestic staff.
It said power and water suppliers were already near collapse. Electricity was last month rationed to just four hours a day to save power for farmers.
Just one adult in five is believed to have a regular job.
Some 4m Zimbabweans - a third of the population - will need food aid this year, according to the UN World Food Programme.
Mr Mugabe denies responsibility for Zimbabwe's economic problems, blaming a western plot to bring down his government because of his policy of seizing white-owned land.
(BBC)
Sudanese students flock to learn Chinese
By Lewis Machipisa
BBC News, Khartoum
Products, companies and restaurants from China have flooded into Sudan in recent years and now the Chinese language has become the latest import.
During a recent language competition, Khartoum University resembled a province in China. Everything became Chinese. The students even laughed in Chinese.
The relaxed mood with which the 100 or so students spoke and joked in Chinese at the Chinese Bridge Speech competition suggests that learning Chinese could be the next big thing in Sudan.
First the students had to compete to see who had become the most proficient in the language. In this category the competition was tough.
Then the students had to prove they could even sing in Chinese - most sounded atrocious.
Foreign draw
More than one billion people around the world speak Chinese as their native tongue.
With China's economy rising fast, the country's government believes that 100 million foreigners will soon be speaking their language.
Among those will be Ayat, a student in Khartoum.
"China is now a big country economically. There are lots of Chinese companies in Sudan so there is a big choice for us to work for the Chinese as translators,'' she says, describing Chinese as a "beautiful language''.
Tong Xiaofeng, a Chinese professor at Khartoum University, says most of the Sudanese students in his class are motivated by money.
"Chinese is mostly welcome because nearly 100% of students who graduate from the department get jobs with Chinese companies," he says, specifically in the oil industry, telecommunications and as travel agents.
China's oil interests in Sudan, already substantial, continue to grow.
Sudan sells about 60% of its oil to China, while Sudanese imports currently make up 5% of China's oil and the China National Petroleum Corp owns 40% of the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company - the main player in Sudan.
In addition, another Chinese company is constructing a 1,500km (932 mile) pipeline to Port Sudan on the Red Sea, where they are also building a tanker terminal.
Proven reserves
Sudanese production and export of light, sweet crude oil - the most easily refined, and therefore most desirable, oil - have risen rapidly in the last few years.
When I graduate, I want to go to China and do my masters there
Halid Sulema
Sudan's energy ministry reports production of some 500,000 barrels per day. Sudan has proven reserves of at least 563 million barrels of oil, with the potential for far more in regions of the country made inaccessible by conflict.
It is this projected oil boom, led by Chinese firms, that has caught the eye of many Sudanese students, and there is also a booming telecommunications sector.
The Chinese government is all for using language as a way of spreading its influence around the world.
By 2008, an estimated 120,000 students will travel from abroad to go to college at a Chinese university, up from 8,000 less than a decade before.
It will provide scholarships for good students to go to its universities.
Halid Sulema is one of the students eyeing that chance.
"When I graduate, I want to go to China and do my masters there. I hope to get a good job with a Chinese company in the end."
BBC News, Khartoum
Products, companies and restaurants from China have flooded into Sudan in recent years and now the Chinese language has become the latest import.
During a recent language competition, Khartoum University resembled a province in China. Everything became Chinese. The students even laughed in Chinese.
The relaxed mood with which the 100 or so students spoke and joked in Chinese at the Chinese Bridge Speech competition suggests that learning Chinese could be the next big thing in Sudan.
First the students had to compete to see who had become the most proficient in the language. In this category the competition was tough.
Then the students had to prove they could even sing in Chinese - most sounded atrocious.
Foreign draw
More than one billion people around the world speak Chinese as their native tongue.
With China's economy rising fast, the country's government believes that 100 million foreigners will soon be speaking their language.
Among those will be Ayat, a student in Khartoum.
"China is now a big country economically. There are lots of Chinese companies in Sudan so there is a big choice for us to work for the Chinese as translators,'' she says, describing Chinese as a "beautiful language''.
Tong Xiaofeng, a Chinese professor at Khartoum University, says most of the Sudanese students in his class are motivated by money.
"Chinese is mostly welcome because nearly 100% of students who graduate from the department get jobs with Chinese companies," he says, specifically in the oil industry, telecommunications and as travel agents.
China's oil interests in Sudan, already substantial, continue to grow.
Sudan sells about 60% of its oil to China, while Sudanese imports currently make up 5% of China's oil and the China National Petroleum Corp owns 40% of the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company - the main player in Sudan.
In addition, another Chinese company is constructing a 1,500km (932 mile) pipeline to Port Sudan on the Red Sea, where they are also building a tanker terminal.
Proven reserves
Sudanese production and export of light, sweet crude oil - the most easily refined, and therefore most desirable, oil - have risen rapidly in the last few years.
When I graduate, I want to go to China and do my masters there
Halid Sulema
Sudan's energy ministry reports production of some 500,000 barrels per day. Sudan has proven reserves of at least 563 million barrels of oil, with the potential for far more in regions of the country made inaccessible by conflict.
It is this projected oil boom, led by Chinese firms, that has caught the eye of many Sudanese students, and there is also a booming telecommunications sector.
The Chinese government is all for using language as a way of spreading its influence around the world.
By 2008, an estimated 120,000 students will travel from abroad to go to college at a Chinese university, up from 8,000 less than a decade before.
It will provide scholarships for good students to go to its universities.
Halid Sulema is one of the students eyeing that chance.
"When I graduate, I want to go to China and do my masters there. I hope to get a good job with a Chinese company in the end."
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Aid agencies suspend operations after killing
BANGUI, 12 June 2007 (IRIN) - The killing of a volunteer for Médecins Sans Frontières in northwestern Central African Republic (CAR) has compelled non-governmental organisations in the region to temporarily suspend operations, sources said.
Elsa Serfass, 27, was killed by gunfire during an assessment mission in northwestern CAR on 11 June. She was on her first assignment with MSF-France, working as a logistician in Paoua.
"After a 30 May rebel attack in the town of N'Gaoundal and the government's violent reprisals, MSF learned of the catastrophic health conditions in the area and decided to carry out an assessment," MSF said in a statement. "During that mission, our vehicle was hit by gunfire and Elsa was fatally injured."
Following the incident, MSF-France and other organisations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, temporarily suspended work around Paoua, sources in the CAR capital of Bangui said.
"The tragic death of Elsa Serfass is a terrible shock for MSF and we mourn her loss," the French charity noted. "Our thoughts are with her family and friends."
Sources in Bangui blamed the attack on the Armée populaire pour la restauration de la république et de la démocratie (APRD) rebels who are fighting government forces in the region. The rebels, opponents of President François Bozize, claim he overthrew a legitimate government in March 2003, has mismanaged public funds and divided the nation.
The insurgency has brought suffering to civilians in the region and illustrates the escalating insecurity over the five past years because of armed rebellion and the proliferation of armed bandits, called Zaraguinas.
According to MSF, the local population has been targeted by systematic violence, with many villages along the roadways attacked, pillaged and burned, forcing inhabitants to flee to survive in the bush.
In May, the Italian charity, Cooperazione Internazionale (COOPI), suspended activities in Bozoum, Ouham Pendé prefecture, after the abduction of two health workers. The NGO works in Bozoum, Bocaranga and Ngaoundai, which together have a population of 150,000-200,000.
According to the UN, nearly 300,000 people have fled their homes in the CAR over the past year because of violence.
Elsa Serfass, 27, was killed by gunfire during an assessment mission in northwestern CAR on 11 June. She was on her first assignment with MSF-France, working as a logistician in Paoua.
"After a 30 May rebel attack in the town of N'Gaoundal and the government's violent reprisals, MSF learned of the catastrophic health conditions in the area and decided to carry out an assessment," MSF said in a statement. "During that mission, our vehicle was hit by gunfire and Elsa was fatally injured."
Following the incident, MSF-France and other organisations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, temporarily suspended work around Paoua, sources in the CAR capital of Bangui said.
"The tragic death of Elsa Serfass is a terrible shock for MSF and we mourn her loss," the French charity noted. "Our thoughts are with her family and friends."
Sources in Bangui blamed the attack on the Armée populaire pour la restauration de la république et de la démocratie (APRD) rebels who are fighting government forces in the region. The rebels, opponents of President François Bozize, claim he overthrew a legitimate government in March 2003, has mismanaged public funds and divided the nation.
The insurgency has brought suffering to civilians in the region and illustrates the escalating insecurity over the five past years because of armed rebellion and the proliferation of armed bandits, called Zaraguinas.
According to MSF, the local population has been targeted by systematic violence, with many villages along the roadways attacked, pillaged and burned, forcing inhabitants to flee to survive in the bush.
In May, the Italian charity, Cooperazione Internazionale (COOPI), suspended activities in Bozoum, Ouham Pendé prefecture, after the abduction of two health workers. The NGO works in Bozoum, Bocaranga and Ngaoundai, which together have a population of 150,000-200,000.
According to the UN, nearly 300,000 people have fled their homes in the CAR over the past year because of violence.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Olympic firm admits child labour
By Michael Bristow
BBC News, Beijing
A Chinese company making products related to the Beijing Olympics has admitted it used child workers, despite initially denying the allegation.
Lekit Stationery said children aged 12 and 13 were employed by one of its sub-contractors, although they did not work on Olympic-related products.
The news follows an investigation in Dongguan city, where Lekit is based.
It was launched after an advocacy group claimed four firms making Olympic products were exploiting workers.
Lekit manager Michael Lee told the BBC that a sub-contractor called Leter Stationery had hired a number of children in the school holidays last winter.
They were each paid 20 yuan (about $2.50) a day.
'Unaware'
Because it had a large number of orders, Lekit was forced to hire Leter Stationary to make packaging products, such as labels.
Mr Lee insisted these products were not related to the contract it won last year to produce stationery emblazoned with Olympic symbols.
"We didn't know that they would hire children," Mr Lee said, although the sub-contractor's factory is directly opposite Lekit Stationary.
He added: "We will not use them again, and in future we will make sure that all sub-contractors are qualified."
Mr Lee, from Taiwan, said when he was initially interviewed about the allegation by the BBC at his factory he was unaware Leter Stationery had hired children.
He found out only when Dongguan officials released the findings of an initial investigation into the issue.
A Dongguan official said the children had gone to work at Leter Stationery because their parents had no time to look after them during the holidays.
He said they were only involved in "light work" such as wrapping up products.
"The Dongguan government (will) start a campaign to fight child labour in the city soon," said a report published by Chinese state-run Xinhua News Agency.
The report that made the initial allegation, issued by an alliance called PlayFair 2008, said Lekit had hired children who often had to work from 0730 to 2230.
"Some of them were brought to the factory to earn money to pay their school fees," the report says.
It also accused three other factories based in southern Guangdong Province of exploiting workers.
They were charged with ignoring local labour laws, disregarding health and safety and forcing employees to work long hours.
The speed with which Dongguan officials published the results of the initial investigation suggests China is keen to avoid bad publicity in the run up to next year's Olympic Games.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/6747449.stm
Published: 2007/06/13 07:27:01 GMT
BBC News, Beijing
A Chinese company making products related to the Beijing Olympics has admitted it used child workers, despite initially denying the allegation.
Lekit Stationery said children aged 12 and 13 were employed by one of its sub-contractors, although they did not work on Olympic-related products.
The news follows an investigation in Dongguan city, where Lekit is based.
It was launched after an advocacy group claimed four firms making Olympic products were exploiting workers.
Lekit manager Michael Lee told the BBC that a sub-contractor called Leter Stationery had hired a number of children in the school holidays last winter.
They were each paid 20 yuan (about $2.50) a day.
'Unaware'
Because it had a large number of orders, Lekit was forced to hire Leter Stationary to make packaging products, such as labels.
Mr Lee insisted these products were not related to the contract it won last year to produce stationery emblazoned with Olympic symbols.
"We didn't know that they would hire children," Mr Lee said, although the sub-contractor's factory is directly opposite Lekit Stationary.
He added: "We will not use them again, and in future we will make sure that all sub-contractors are qualified."
Mr Lee, from Taiwan, said when he was initially interviewed about the allegation by the BBC at his factory he was unaware Leter Stationery had hired children.
He found out only when Dongguan officials released the findings of an initial investigation into the issue.
A Dongguan official said the children had gone to work at Leter Stationery because their parents had no time to look after them during the holidays.
He said they were only involved in "light work" such as wrapping up products.
"The Dongguan government (will) start a campaign to fight child labour in the city soon," said a report published by Chinese state-run Xinhua News Agency.
The report that made the initial allegation, issued by an alliance called PlayFair 2008, said Lekit had hired children who often had to work from 0730 to 2230.
"Some of them were brought to the factory to earn money to pay their school fees," the report says.
It also accused three other factories based in southern Guangdong Province of exploiting workers.
They were charged with ignoring local labour laws, disregarding health and safety and forcing employees to work long hours.
The speed with which Dongguan officials published the results of the initial investigation suggests China is keen to avoid bad publicity in the run up to next year's Olympic Games.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/6747449.stm
Published: 2007/06/13 07:27:01 GMT
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Surprising?
Olympic firms 'abusing workers'
Some official merchandise for the 2008 Olympics in China has been made using child labour, forced overtime and low wages to boost profits, a report says.
Playfair - an alliance of world trade unions - has condemned "severe workers' rights violations" in four Chinese factories ahead of the Beijing games.
The group said it found abuses at the factories - licensed to make official Olympic caps, bags and stationery.
Companies cited in the report have denied the allegations.
International Olympic Committee said it supported ethical practices.
The IOC is committed to being a socially responsible leader of the Olympic Movement that takes care of the Olympic brand in the best way possible
IOC
But in Britain, where the IOC is due to meet on Tuesday, trade unionists said tougher action was needed to make sure that the 2012 Games in London were not tarnished by similar accusations.
Investigators' report - entitled "No medal for the Olympics on labour rights" - cites "gross violations of basic labour standards... including adult wages at half the legal minimum, employment of workers as young as 12 years old".
It also highlights alleged labour rights violations, such as forced overtime, workers being instructed to lie about wages and conditions to outside inspectors and poor health and safety conditions.
BBC visits factories
Guy Ryder, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, said: "It brings shame on the whole Olympics movement that such severe violations of international labour standards are taking place in Olympics-licensed factories."
The IOC said it did not have direct control over merchandise companies - but that host cities were expected to follow guidelines on fair labour standards.
An IOC statement said: "The IOC is committed to being a socially responsible leader of the Olympic Movement that takes care of the Olympic brand in the best way possible.
"It matters to us is that sourcing is done ethically."
The BBC visited two of the factories named in the report, and managers denied the claims.
Lekit Stationery, is a Taiwanese company which has been operating in the city of Dongguan, in Guangdong Province, for the last 20 years. It is making paper cups, notebooks and stickers adorned with Olympic motifs.
The report accused the company of employing children and forcing them to work up to 13 hours a day.
"It's not true," company manager Michael Lee told the BBC. "We work for some of the best brand names in the world and they check our company every month."
He said the factory's 420 workers earned a basic monthly salary of about 700 yuan ($91; £46) and overtime was paid at time and a half.
'Good living environment'
Mainland Headwear Holdings, on the outskirts of the city of Shenzhen, also denied any wrongdoing.
Production director Samuel Wai told the BBC: "We follow all the government regulations here so I'm not sure where these complaints have come from.
"Employees here enjoy a very good living environment and working conditions."
The BBC spoke to some of the employees who live in the apartment buildings outside the factory, who agreed with Mr Wai's assessment.
Another company named in the report was Eagle Leather Products in Guangdong, which makes Olympics-branded bags.
Most workers were obliged to work 30 days per month, the report said, with forced overtime.
The Associated Press news agency reached the factory, speaking to a woman who identified herself only as Ms Chang.
"I cannot agree with the report," she said.
"Our plant is making bags for the Olympics. Our working hours are 8am to 6pm - no extended hours, no child labour."
Sun Weide, a spokesman for the Beijing Olympic Games Organising Committee said he had not read the report, but added: "When we sign an agreement with a firm they have to make a commitment that they will completely honour China's Labour laws and regulations."
China does not allow child labour, he added.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/6739159.stm
Published: 2007/06/10 21:48:10 GMT
Some official merchandise for the 2008 Olympics in China has been made using child labour, forced overtime and low wages to boost profits, a report says.
Playfair - an alliance of world trade unions - has condemned "severe workers' rights violations" in four Chinese factories ahead of the Beijing games.
The group said it found abuses at the factories - licensed to make official Olympic caps, bags and stationery.
Companies cited in the report have denied the allegations.
International Olympic Committee said it supported ethical practices.
The IOC is committed to being a socially responsible leader of the Olympic Movement that takes care of the Olympic brand in the best way possible
IOC
But in Britain, where the IOC is due to meet on Tuesday, trade unionists said tougher action was needed to make sure that the 2012 Games in London were not tarnished by similar accusations.
Investigators' report - entitled "No medal for the Olympics on labour rights" - cites "gross violations of basic labour standards... including adult wages at half the legal minimum, employment of workers as young as 12 years old".
It also highlights alleged labour rights violations, such as forced overtime, workers being instructed to lie about wages and conditions to outside inspectors and poor health and safety conditions.
BBC visits factories
Guy Ryder, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, said: "It brings shame on the whole Olympics movement that such severe violations of international labour standards are taking place in Olympics-licensed factories."
The IOC said it did not have direct control over merchandise companies - but that host cities were expected to follow guidelines on fair labour standards.
An IOC statement said: "The IOC is committed to being a socially responsible leader of the Olympic Movement that takes care of the Olympic brand in the best way possible.
"It matters to us is that sourcing is done ethically."
The BBC visited two of the factories named in the report, and managers denied the claims.
Lekit Stationery, is a Taiwanese company which has been operating in the city of Dongguan, in Guangdong Province, for the last 20 years. It is making paper cups, notebooks and stickers adorned with Olympic motifs.
The report accused the company of employing children and forcing them to work up to 13 hours a day.
"It's not true," company manager Michael Lee told the BBC. "We work for some of the best brand names in the world and they check our company every month."
He said the factory's 420 workers earned a basic monthly salary of about 700 yuan ($91; £46) and overtime was paid at time and a half.
'Good living environment'
Mainland Headwear Holdings, on the outskirts of the city of Shenzhen, also denied any wrongdoing.
Production director Samuel Wai told the BBC: "We follow all the government regulations here so I'm not sure where these complaints have come from.
"Employees here enjoy a very good living environment and working conditions."
The BBC spoke to some of the employees who live in the apartment buildings outside the factory, who agreed with Mr Wai's assessment.
Another company named in the report was Eagle Leather Products in Guangdong, which makes Olympics-branded bags.
Most workers were obliged to work 30 days per month, the report said, with forced overtime.
The Associated Press news agency reached the factory, speaking to a woman who identified herself only as Ms Chang.
"I cannot agree with the report," she said.
"Our plant is making bags for the Olympics. Our working hours are 8am to 6pm - no extended hours, no child labour."
Sun Weide, a spokesman for the Beijing Olympic Games Organising Committee said he had not read the report, but added: "When we sign an agreement with a firm they have to make a commitment that they will completely honour China's Labour laws and regulations."
China does not allow child labour, he added.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/6739159.stm
Published: 2007/06/10 21:48:10 GMT
Friday, June 1, 2007
UN chief rebuff threats of linking Beijing’s Olympics to Darfur crisis
Saturday 2 June 2007.
June 1, 2007 (UNITED NATIONS) — UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday highly praised China’s role in improving situation in Darfur, and rebuffed threats of linking Beijing’s Olympics to the Darfur crisis.
Ban Ki-moon
Ban told reporters at the UN Headquarters in New York that "this is separate issue" regarding to attempts of politicizing Beijing Olympic Games by some Western politicians.
The UN chief also expressed his appreciation towards the Chinese government for its continuous efforts to improve the situation in the African country.
"The Chinese government has been always exerting their utmost efforts," he said. "As I understand, I appreciate it."
Meanwhile, Ban noted that he has been discussing this matter with the Chinese government.
China recently appointed a special envoy to work on Darfur situation, and President Hu Jintao paid a visit last February, he said, adding that China has also sent high-level officials to discuss this matter with the Sudanese government.
He finally clearly confirmed China’s positive and helpful role in Darfur, saying he appreciates such a role played by the Chinese government.
Ban expressed his optimism towards the future of Darfur issue, stressing he has made some progress even though slow.
"There was an agreement to the second phase, heavy support package," he said, adding that "now we are almost at the final stage of presenting our common and joint proposal to the Sudanese government."
The secretary-general said he had a telephone talk with Sudanese President Bashir, and the president was committed to see early resolution of this issue.
He pointed out that the international community’s effort should be made in a reinforcing manner, and the whole international community should cooperate fully in addressing these issues so as to find early resolution on this matter.
(Xinhua)
June 1, 2007 (UNITED NATIONS) — UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday highly praised China’s role in improving situation in Darfur, and rebuffed threats of linking Beijing’s Olympics to the Darfur crisis.
Ban Ki-moon
Ban told reporters at the UN Headquarters in New York that "this is separate issue" regarding to attempts of politicizing Beijing Olympic Games by some Western politicians.
The UN chief also expressed his appreciation towards the Chinese government for its continuous efforts to improve the situation in the African country.
"The Chinese government has been always exerting their utmost efforts," he said. "As I understand, I appreciate it."
Meanwhile, Ban noted that he has been discussing this matter with the Chinese government.
China recently appointed a special envoy to work on Darfur situation, and President Hu Jintao paid a visit last February, he said, adding that China has also sent high-level officials to discuss this matter with the Sudanese government.
He finally clearly confirmed China’s positive and helpful role in Darfur, saying he appreciates such a role played by the Chinese government.
Ban expressed his optimism towards the future of Darfur issue, stressing he has made some progress even though slow.
"There was an agreement to the second phase, heavy support package," he said, adding that "now we are almost at the final stage of presenting our common and joint proposal to the Sudanese government."
The secretary-general said he had a telephone talk with Sudanese President Bashir, and the president was committed to see early resolution of this issue.
He pointed out that the international community’s effort should be made in a reinforcing manner, and the whole international community should cooperate fully in addressing these issues so as to find early resolution on this matter.
(Xinhua)
China urges patience on Sudan, opposes sanctions
Friday 1 June 2007.
May 31, 2007 (BEIJING) — China urged the international community on Thursday to show patience with Sudan and said new sanctions would only complicate efforts to implement a U.N. peace plan for strife-torn Darfur.
The United States imposed unilateral sanctions on Sudan earlier this week and sought support for an international arms embargo out of frustration at Sudan’s refusal to end what President George W. Bush called genocide in Darfur.
"New sanctions against Sudan would only complicate the issue," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular news briefing. "China appeals to all parties to maintain restraint and patience."
Beijing, which holds veto power on the U.N. Security Council, is a major investor in Sudan’s oil industry, sells Khartoum weapons and has invested heavily in its infrastructure.
It also opposes sending U.N. peacekeepers to Darfur, where the United Nations estimates that fighting by government-linked militias and rebel groups has killed 200,000 people and forced 2 million more to flee their homes, without Khartoum’s consent.
But Chinese officials reject criticism from human rights groups that its ties with Sudan are abetting the bloodshed. Beijing says it has been engaging the government on Darfur and encouraging it to be more flexible about accepting a U.N. force.
"Relevant parties are making joint efforts to win positive achievements on the Darfur issue," Jiang said.
Sudan has agreed in principle to the "Annan peace plan", which proposes sending in U.N. troops to bolster an African Union peacekeeping force, but has delayed implementing the package.
(Reuters)
May 31, 2007 (BEIJING) — China urged the international community on Thursday to show patience with Sudan and said new sanctions would only complicate efforts to implement a U.N. peace plan for strife-torn Darfur.
The United States imposed unilateral sanctions on Sudan earlier this week and sought support for an international arms embargo out of frustration at Sudan’s refusal to end what President George W. Bush called genocide in Darfur.
"New sanctions against Sudan would only complicate the issue," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular news briefing. "China appeals to all parties to maintain restraint and patience."
Beijing, which holds veto power on the U.N. Security Council, is a major investor in Sudan’s oil industry, sells Khartoum weapons and has invested heavily in its infrastructure.
It also opposes sending U.N. peacekeepers to Darfur, where the United Nations estimates that fighting by government-linked militias and rebel groups has killed 200,000 people and forced 2 million more to flee their homes, without Khartoum’s consent.
But Chinese officials reject criticism from human rights groups that its ties with Sudan are abetting the bloodshed. Beijing says it has been engaging the government on Darfur and encouraging it to be more flexible about accepting a U.N. force.
"Relevant parties are making joint efforts to win positive achievements on the Darfur issue," Jiang said.
Sudan has agreed in principle to the "Annan peace plan", which proposes sending in U.N. troops to bolster an African Union peacekeeping force, but has delayed implementing the package.
(Reuters)
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Sudan: U.S. sanctions to have little fiscal impact
Thursday 31 May 2007.
May 30, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Fresh U.S. economic sanctions on Sudan will have minimal impact in Khartoum because it has no direct trade ties with the United States, a senior Sudanese Finance Ministry official said on Wednesday.
U.S. President George W. Bush imposed new unilateral sanctions on Sudan on Tuesday and sought support for an international arms embargo out of frustration at Sudan’s refusal to end what he called a genocide in war-ravaged Darfur.
"It doesn’t have that much effect on the economy. We don’t have direct economic or trade relations with the United States," the Finance Ministry official told Reuters, asking not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the press.
"Our economy is shifting from the USA and Europe to the East. We have almost 70 percent of our foreign trade with the East," he said, adding that the government conducts most of its financial transactions in euros.
Despite sanctions that have blocked much Western investment, Sudan’s economy has benefited from Chinese and Asian funds with an expected growth rate of up to 13 percent this year. China buys much of Sudan’s 330,000 barrels per day of crude, sells Khartoum weapons and invests heavily in construction projects.
Accusing the Sudanese government of obstructing U.N. efforts to bring peace to Darfur, Bush announced new sanctions that would bar 31 companies controlled by Sudan from doing business in the U.S. financial system.
The companies targeted include firms in Sudan’s booming oil business and one accused of transporting weapons to government and militia forces in Darfur. Bush also imposed fiscal sanctions on four Sudanese individuals, including two senior officials and a rebel leader suspected of involvement in Darfur violence.
MORE A POLITICAL STATEMENT
Analysts said they saw the sanctions as more a political statement than a measure likely to push Khartoum to act against perpetrators of violence in Darfur, where the United Nations says 200,000 people have died since conflict flared in 2003.
Sudan is already an almost entirely cash economy, even for very large transactions. Credit cards are not accepted even at the country’s most expensive hotels and shops.
"The sanctions are more a political statement of U.S. displeasure. ... It is a tool the U.S. has used in many places in the world," said Alex Vines, Africa analyst at Chatham House in London.
"In the short-term, the Sudanese are going to be very frustrated. They may dig their heels in," he said, adding that might translate into a slowdown in talks for a "hybrid" Darfur peacekeeping force, although Sudan may ultimately still agree.
Sudan says it hopes to reach a compromise with the United Nations over the proposed hybrid force, which envisions more than 23,000 African Union and U.N. troops and police to protect civilians in Darfur and use force to deter violence.
The United States and Britain are considering also expanding U.N. Security Council sanctions on Sudan, but China, Russia and South Africa are wary such action would stop violence in Darfur.
Although penalties, such as an international arms embargo, would have more impact than the expanded U.S. sanctions, U.N. bans against Sudan have been hard to enforce.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has been talking to Sudanese leaders, refused to comment directly on U.S. or U.N. sanctions but indicated they may interfere with his consultations.
(Reuters)
May 30, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Fresh U.S. economic sanctions on Sudan will have minimal impact in Khartoum because it has no direct trade ties with the United States, a senior Sudanese Finance Ministry official said on Wednesday.
U.S. President George W. Bush imposed new unilateral sanctions on Sudan on Tuesday and sought support for an international arms embargo out of frustration at Sudan’s refusal to end what he called a genocide in war-ravaged Darfur.
"It doesn’t have that much effect on the economy. We don’t have direct economic or trade relations with the United States," the Finance Ministry official told Reuters, asking not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the press.
"Our economy is shifting from the USA and Europe to the East. We have almost 70 percent of our foreign trade with the East," he said, adding that the government conducts most of its financial transactions in euros.
Despite sanctions that have blocked much Western investment, Sudan’s economy has benefited from Chinese and Asian funds with an expected growth rate of up to 13 percent this year. China buys much of Sudan’s 330,000 barrels per day of crude, sells Khartoum weapons and invests heavily in construction projects.
Accusing the Sudanese government of obstructing U.N. efforts to bring peace to Darfur, Bush announced new sanctions that would bar 31 companies controlled by Sudan from doing business in the U.S. financial system.
The companies targeted include firms in Sudan’s booming oil business and one accused of transporting weapons to government and militia forces in Darfur. Bush also imposed fiscal sanctions on four Sudanese individuals, including two senior officials and a rebel leader suspected of involvement in Darfur violence.
MORE A POLITICAL STATEMENT
Analysts said they saw the sanctions as more a political statement than a measure likely to push Khartoum to act against perpetrators of violence in Darfur, where the United Nations says 200,000 people have died since conflict flared in 2003.
Sudan is already an almost entirely cash economy, even for very large transactions. Credit cards are not accepted even at the country’s most expensive hotels and shops.
"The sanctions are more a political statement of U.S. displeasure. ... It is a tool the U.S. has used in many places in the world," said Alex Vines, Africa analyst at Chatham House in London.
"In the short-term, the Sudanese are going to be very frustrated. They may dig their heels in," he said, adding that might translate into a slowdown in talks for a "hybrid" Darfur peacekeeping force, although Sudan may ultimately still agree.
Sudan says it hopes to reach a compromise with the United Nations over the proposed hybrid force, which envisions more than 23,000 African Union and U.N. troops and police to protect civilians in Darfur and use force to deter violence.
The United States and Britain are considering also expanding U.N. Security Council sanctions on Sudan, but China, Russia and South Africa are wary such action would stop violence in Darfur.
Although penalties, such as an international arms embargo, would have more impact than the expanded U.S. sanctions, U.N. bans against Sudan have been hard to enforce.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has been talking to Sudanese leaders, refused to comment directly on U.S. or U.N. sanctions but indicated they may interfere with his consultations.
(Reuters)
Monday, May 28, 2007
Darfur women describe gang-rape horror
Monday 28 May 2007.
May 27, 2007 (KALMA, South Darfur) — The seven women pooled money to rent a donkey and cart, then ventured out of the refugee camp to gather firewood, hoping to sell it for cash to feed their families. Instead, they say, in a wooded area just a few hours walk away, they were gang-raped, beaten and robbed.
Five of seven women gang-raped while collecting firewood outside their refugee camp in July 2006, Aisha Hamid, center holding her son Osman, Zahya Yahyah, 30, right, holding her daughter Fatmya, 18 months, are seen in south Darfur refugee camp of Kalma Wednesday April 11, 2007. (AP)
Naked and devastated, they fled back to Kalma.
"All the time it lasted, I kept thinking: They’re killing my baby, they’re killing my baby," wailed Aisha, who was seven months pregnant at the time.
The women have no doubt who attacked them. They say the men’s camels and their uniforms marked them as janjaweed — the Arab militiamen accused of terrorizing the mostly black African villagers of Sudan’s Darfur region.
Their story, told to an Associated Press reporter and confirmed by other women and aid workers in the camp, provides a glimpse into the hell that Darfur has become as the Arab-dominated government battles a rebellion stoked by a history of discrimination and neglect.
Now in its fourth year, the conflict has become the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, and rape is its regular byproduct, U.N. and other human rights activists say.
Sudan’s government denies arming and unleashing the janjaweed, and bristles at the charges of rape, saying its conservative Islamic society would never tolerate it.
It has agreed to let in 3,000 U.N. peacekeepers, but not the 22,000 mandated by the U.N. Security Council. It claims the force would be a spearhead for anti-Arab powers bent on plundering Sudan’s oil.
Meanwhile, more than 200,000 civilians have died and 2.5 million are homeless out of Darfur’s population of 6 million, the U.N. says, and a February report by the International Criminal Court alleges "mass rape of civilians who were known not to be participants in any armed conflict."
Kalma is a microcosm of the misery — a sprawling camp of mud huts and scrap-plastic tents where 100,000 people have taken refuge. It is so full of guns that overwhelmed African Union peacekeepers long ago fled, unable to protect it. It is so crowded that the government has tried to limit newcomers — forbidding the building of new latrines, so a stench pervades the air.
Anyone venturing outside must reckon with the janjaweed, as Aisha and her friends found out.
In Sudan, as in many Islamic countries, society views a sexual assault as a dishonor upon the woman’s entire family. "Victims can face terrible ostracism," says Maha Muna, the U.N. coordinator on this issue in Sudan.
Some aid workers believe the janjaweed use rape to intimidate the rebels, and their supporters and families. "It’s a strategy of war," Muna said in an interview earlier this year in Khartoum, the capital.
Sudan’s government is especially sensitive about such accusations and denies rape is widespread.
Sudanese public opinion would view mass rape much more severely than other crimes alleged in Darfur, said a senior Sudanese government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation from his superiors.
He acknowledged the janjaweed had initially received weapons from the government — something the government officially denies — and said authorities now are struggling to rein in the militias.
Nasser Kambal, a prominent human rights activist and co-founder of the Amel center, a Sudanese group helping victims of rape and other abuse, offers a similar view.
"I don’t think raping was planned by the government. Killing and looting and torture, yes, but not rape," he said.
Kalma isn’t the only place where multiple accounts of rape have surfaced. Some 120 miles away, in the town of Mukjar, two men separately described women being brought into a prison where they were being held and raped for hours by janjaweed.
They said the assailants shouted that they were "planting tomatoes" — a reference to skin color: Darfur Arabs describe themselves as "red" because they are slightly lighter-skinned than ethnic Africans.
According to Muna, U.N. agencies are working closely with Sudanese authorities to improve the government’s response to rape allegations. In 2005, the government created a task force on rape in Darfur, headed by Attayet Mustapha, a pediatrician, government official and women’s rights activist.
In an interview this year, Mustapha said social workers were being deployed to address the problem and a special female police unit was being assembled in Darfur.
"We tell officials that the government has decided to enforce a zero tolerance policy toward rape in Darfur," she said.
U.N. workers say they registered 2,500 rapes in Darfur in 2006, but believe far more went unreported. The real figure is probably thousands a month, said a U.N. official. Like other U.N. personnel and aid workers interviewed, the official insisted on speaking anonymously for fear of being expelled by the government.
Victims usually can’t identify their aggressors, which makes prosecutions impossible. Only eight offenders were tried and sentenced for rape crimes in Darfur by Sudanese courts in 2006, said Mustapha, the task force leader. "They received three to five years prison, and 100 lashes" in accordance with Islamic law, she said.
In May, after the top U.N. human rights official charged that Sudanese soldiers had raped at least 15 Darfur women during one recent incident, Justice Minister Mohammed Ali al-Mardi asked where the evidence was.
"We always seem to get sweeping generalizations, without naming the injured, without naming the offenders," he told reporters.
In Kalma, collecting firewood needed to cook meals is becoming more perilous as the trees around the camp dwindle and women are forced to scavenge ever farther afield. It is strictly a woman’s task, dictated both by tradition and the fear that any male escorts would be killed if the janjaweed found them.
Agreeing to tell the AP their story earlier this month through a translator, the seven women’s voices wavered and hesitated, broken by embarrassed silences. All gave their names and agreed to be identified in full, but the AP is withholding their surnames because they are rape victims and vulnerable to retaliation.
The women said they set out on a Monday morning last July and had barely begun collecting the wood when 10 Arabs on camels surrounded them, shouting insults and shooting their rifles in the air.
The women first attempted to flee. "But I didn’t even try, because I couldn’t run," being seven months pregnant, said Aisha, a petite 18-year-old whose raspy voice sounds more like that of an old woman.
She said four men stayed behind to flay her with sticks, while the other janjaweed chased down the rest of her group.
"We didn’t get very far," said Maryam, displaying the scar of a bullet that hit her on the right knee.
Once rounded up, the women said, they were beaten and their rented donkey killed. Zahya, 30, had brought her 18-year-old daughter, Fatmya, and her baby. The baby was thrown to the ground and both women were raped. The baby survived.
Zahya said the women were lined up and assaulted side by side, and she saw four men taking turns raping Aisha.
The women said the attackers then stripped them naked and jeered at them as they fled. On their way back, men from the refugee camp unraveled their cotton turbans for the women to partly cover up, but the victims said they were laughed at when they entered the refugee camp.
"Ever since, I’ve made sure that women living on the outskirts of the camp have spare sets of clothes to give out," said Khadidja Abdallah, a sheika, an informal camp leader, who took the women to the international aid compound at the camp to be treated.
They were given anti-pregnancy and anti-HIV pills, thanks to which their families haven’t entirely ostracized them, the women said. The baby Aisha was expecting at the time is doing well. His name is Osman.
Sheikas in Kalma said they report over a dozen rapes each week. Human rights activists in South Darfur who monitor violence in the refugee camps estimate more than 100 women are raped each month in and around Kalma alone.
The workers warn of an alarming new trend of rapes within the refugee population amid the boredom and slow social decay of the camps. But for the most part, they added, it all depends on whether janjaweed are present in the area.
The sheikas say they are making some headway toward persuading families to accept raped women back into their embrace and let them report attacks to aid workers. One advantage is that they get a certificate confirming they were raped.
"We tell husbands they might be compensated one day," said Ajaba Zubeir, a sheika. "But I don’t think that’s going to happen."
The seven women say they haven’t left the camp since they were attacked. They have started their own small workshop and make water jugs out of clay and donkey dung to sell to other refugees.
As they worked on their large pile of jugs and bowls, they said they are even poorer than before, because they now have to buy their firewood from other women.
"But at least we never have to go out again," said Aisha.
None of the women has any faith that Sudanese or international courts will ever give them justice. All Zahya asks is that one day she can return to her village.
"If people could at least help end the fighting, that would be enough," she said.
(AP)
May 27, 2007 (KALMA, South Darfur) — The seven women pooled money to rent a donkey and cart, then ventured out of the refugee camp to gather firewood, hoping to sell it for cash to feed their families. Instead, they say, in a wooded area just a few hours walk away, they were gang-raped, beaten and robbed.
Five of seven women gang-raped while collecting firewood outside their refugee camp in July 2006, Aisha Hamid, center holding her son Osman, Zahya Yahyah, 30, right, holding her daughter Fatmya, 18 months, are seen in south Darfur refugee camp of Kalma Wednesday April 11, 2007. (AP)
Naked and devastated, they fled back to Kalma.
"All the time it lasted, I kept thinking: They’re killing my baby, they’re killing my baby," wailed Aisha, who was seven months pregnant at the time.
The women have no doubt who attacked them. They say the men’s camels and their uniforms marked them as janjaweed — the Arab militiamen accused of terrorizing the mostly black African villagers of Sudan’s Darfur region.
Their story, told to an Associated Press reporter and confirmed by other women and aid workers in the camp, provides a glimpse into the hell that Darfur has become as the Arab-dominated government battles a rebellion stoked by a history of discrimination and neglect.
Now in its fourth year, the conflict has become the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, and rape is its regular byproduct, U.N. and other human rights activists say.
Sudan’s government denies arming and unleashing the janjaweed, and bristles at the charges of rape, saying its conservative Islamic society would never tolerate it.
It has agreed to let in 3,000 U.N. peacekeepers, but not the 22,000 mandated by the U.N. Security Council. It claims the force would be a spearhead for anti-Arab powers bent on plundering Sudan’s oil.
Meanwhile, more than 200,000 civilians have died and 2.5 million are homeless out of Darfur’s population of 6 million, the U.N. says, and a February report by the International Criminal Court alleges "mass rape of civilians who were known not to be participants in any armed conflict."
Kalma is a microcosm of the misery — a sprawling camp of mud huts and scrap-plastic tents where 100,000 people have taken refuge. It is so full of guns that overwhelmed African Union peacekeepers long ago fled, unable to protect it. It is so crowded that the government has tried to limit newcomers — forbidding the building of new latrines, so a stench pervades the air.
Anyone venturing outside must reckon with the janjaweed, as Aisha and her friends found out.
In Sudan, as in many Islamic countries, society views a sexual assault as a dishonor upon the woman’s entire family. "Victims can face terrible ostracism," says Maha Muna, the U.N. coordinator on this issue in Sudan.
Some aid workers believe the janjaweed use rape to intimidate the rebels, and their supporters and families. "It’s a strategy of war," Muna said in an interview earlier this year in Khartoum, the capital.
Sudan’s government is especially sensitive about such accusations and denies rape is widespread.
Sudanese public opinion would view mass rape much more severely than other crimes alleged in Darfur, said a senior Sudanese government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation from his superiors.
He acknowledged the janjaweed had initially received weapons from the government — something the government officially denies — and said authorities now are struggling to rein in the militias.
Nasser Kambal, a prominent human rights activist and co-founder of the Amel center, a Sudanese group helping victims of rape and other abuse, offers a similar view.
"I don’t think raping was planned by the government. Killing and looting and torture, yes, but not rape," he said.
Kalma isn’t the only place where multiple accounts of rape have surfaced. Some 120 miles away, in the town of Mukjar, two men separately described women being brought into a prison where they were being held and raped for hours by janjaweed.
They said the assailants shouted that they were "planting tomatoes" — a reference to skin color: Darfur Arabs describe themselves as "red" because they are slightly lighter-skinned than ethnic Africans.
According to Muna, U.N. agencies are working closely with Sudanese authorities to improve the government’s response to rape allegations. In 2005, the government created a task force on rape in Darfur, headed by Attayet Mustapha, a pediatrician, government official and women’s rights activist.
In an interview this year, Mustapha said social workers were being deployed to address the problem and a special female police unit was being assembled in Darfur.
"We tell officials that the government has decided to enforce a zero tolerance policy toward rape in Darfur," she said.
U.N. workers say they registered 2,500 rapes in Darfur in 2006, but believe far more went unreported. The real figure is probably thousands a month, said a U.N. official. Like other U.N. personnel and aid workers interviewed, the official insisted on speaking anonymously for fear of being expelled by the government.
Victims usually can’t identify their aggressors, which makes prosecutions impossible. Only eight offenders were tried and sentenced for rape crimes in Darfur by Sudanese courts in 2006, said Mustapha, the task force leader. "They received three to five years prison, and 100 lashes" in accordance with Islamic law, she said.
In May, after the top U.N. human rights official charged that Sudanese soldiers had raped at least 15 Darfur women during one recent incident, Justice Minister Mohammed Ali al-Mardi asked where the evidence was.
"We always seem to get sweeping generalizations, without naming the injured, without naming the offenders," he told reporters.
In Kalma, collecting firewood needed to cook meals is becoming more perilous as the trees around the camp dwindle and women are forced to scavenge ever farther afield. It is strictly a woman’s task, dictated both by tradition and the fear that any male escorts would be killed if the janjaweed found them.
Agreeing to tell the AP their story earlier this month through a translator, the seven women’s voices wavered and hesitated, broken by embarrassed silences. All gave their names and agreed to be identified in full, but the AP is withholding their surnames because they are rape victims and vulnerable to retaliation.
The women said they set out on a Monday morning last July and had barely begun collecting the wood when 10 Arabs on camels surrounded them, shouting insults and shooting their rifles in the air.
The women first attempted to flee. "But I didn’t even try, because I couldn’t run," being seven months pregnant, said Aisha, a petite 18-year-old whose raspy voice sounds more like that of an old woman.
She said four men stayed behind to flay her with sticks, while the other janjaweed chased down the rest of her group.
"We didn’t get very far," said Maryam, displaying the scar of a bullet that hit her on the right knee.
Once rounded up, the women said, they were beaten and their rented donkey killed. Zahya, 30, had brought her 18-year-old daughter, Fatmya, and her baby. The baby was thrown to the ground and both women were raped. The baby survived.
Zahya said the women were lined up and assaulted side by side, and she saw four men taking turns raping Aisha.
The women said the attackers then stripped them naked and jeered at them as they fled. On their way back, men from the refugee camp unraveled their cotton turbans for the women to partly cover up, but the victims said they were laughed at when they entered the refugee camp.
"Ever since, I’ve made sure that women living on the outskirts of the camp have spare sets of clothes to give out," said Khadidja Abdallah, a sheika, an informal camp leader, who took the women to the international aid compound at the camp to be treated.
They were given anti-pregnancy and anti-HIV pills, thanks to which their families haven’t entirely ostracized them, the women said. The baby Aisha was expecting at the time is doing well. His name is Osman.
Sheikas in Kalma said they report over a dozen rapes each week. Human rights activists in South Darfur who monitor violence in the refugee camps estimate more than 100 women are raped each month in and around Kalma alone.
The workers warn of an alarming new trend of rapes within the refugee population amid the boredom and slow social decay of the camps. But for the most part, they added, it all depends on whether janjaweed are present in the area.
The sheikas say they are making some headway toward persuading families to accept raped women back into their embrace and let them report attacks to aid workers. One advantage is that they get a certificate confirming they were raped.
"We tell husbands they might be compensated one day," said Ajaba Zubeir, a sheika. "But I don’t think that’s going to happen."
The seven women say they haven’t left the camp since they were attacked. They have started their own small workshop and make water jugs out of clay and donkey dung to sell to other refugees.
As they worked on their large pile of jugs and bowls, they said they are even poorer than before, because they now have to buy their firewood from other women.
"But at least we never have to go out again," said Aisha.
None of the women has any faith that Sudanese or international courts will ever give them justice. All Zahya asks is that one day she can return to her village.
"If people could at least help end the fighting, that would be enough," she said.
(AP)
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