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)
Friday, June 1, 2007
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)
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
SUDAN: Growing anger over elusive peace dividend in Southern Sudan
Photo: Derk Segaar/IRIN
Celebrating the inaugration of the southern parliament in Juba, September 2005
KUAJOK, 21 May 2007 (IRIN) - Anthony Bol Madut, governor of Warrap state in Southern Sudan, could not hide his frustration when he met representatives of European donors on a visit to the remote poverty-stricken region.
"People are dying of cholera in Gogrial and we do not even have roads to take medicines to them," said Madut, emphasising what he considers the neglect of Southern Sudan since the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). The accord formally ended civil war between the northern-based Sudanese government and former southern rebels of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army.
Donors and the Sudanese government had promised to make available considerable resources to rebuild the south. There is, however, widespread anger in the region as people wait for what appears to be an elusive peace dividend.
To compound the situation, thousands of former refugees and internally displaced people are flocking to the south to join communities ravaged by poverty and lacking basic social services.
People are dying of cholera in Gogrial and we do not even have a road to take medicines to them
"This is potentially one of the biggest repatriation/return movements Africa would have seen in recent years," said Dennis McNamara, special adviser on internal displacement to the United Nations emergency coordinator. "Hundreds of thousands of people have gone back both spontaneously and some with the assistance of agencies like the United Nations, IOM [International Organization for Migration] and other NGOs."
Lack of facilities
Martin Riech, 14, who returned to Tarkwen village in Western Bahr el-Ghazal state from another county in the same state, where his family sought refuge from war in the 1990s, is so frustrated he sees no point in attending school regularly.
"The school is just a shack divided into two rooms," he said. "There is only one teacher and I have to walk two hours to get there." His family moved from Manyang county, where, he says, he and his two sisters went to a proper school.
"These people are voting with their feet," McNamara added. "What we are very concerned about is that hundreds of thousands of people are going back, in most cases to areas of Southern Sudan that have terrible problems and lack services for the existing populations.
Photo: IRIN
Thousands of former refugees and internally displaced people are flocking to the south
"There are often inadequate water points, inadequate schooling and medical support. There is no real plan for economic development and livelihoods being put in place."
Tong Mayien, 48, his wife Achan and their two toddlers looked bewildered after climbing down from one of the lorries hired by IOM to bring them from Marial Ajit internally displaced people’s camp in Wau town to Kuajok from where they would find their way to their village.
"We have not yet built a home, but my sister who returned earlier has promised to accommodate us," Mayien told IRIN in Kuajok. "We have land and we have been promised farming tools. If I don’t receive the tools, I will go and find some work in the town to raise money to buy my own."
'Invest in the follow-up to peace'
Said McNamara: "Our appeal would be to the donors and UN agencies in particular to mobilise as quickly as possible recovery activities – post-humanitarian, pre-development essential services for this very poor population in an area of the country that has potential.
"There is [river] water, there is good soil available, there is no overpopulation in many parts," he added.
"The governor said: ‘You invested a lot in the peace, but you haven’t invested much in the follow-up to the peace’."
Appealing for more support for the government of Southern Sudan, which is struggling to reintegrate former refugees and those who were displaced by war, Britain’s permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Nicholas Thorne, said the international community was "fixated" with the crisis in the Darfur region of western Sudan and paying little attention to Southern Sudan.
Thorne was accompanied on the mission to Southern Sudan by Borsiin Bonnier, Sweden’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, and Claudia Rizzo, counsellor for humanitarian and development affairs at the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
The government has also not been spared criticism for its perceived failure to make available more resources for social amenities, including schools, roads, health facilities and water supplies.
Banking on oil
"When you go to Juba, tell our government you went to Warrap and Warrap is lacking everything," said Madut.
You invested a lot in the peace, but you haven't invested much in the follow-up to the peace
Much of the blame is being laid at the door step of the Government of National Unity in Khartoum for its perceived reluctance to fully disclose what is being earned from oil exports. The CPA had provided for the sharing of oil wealth between the north and south.
"We are not sure about the level of petroleum production. We are not sure how much money they are getting," said Mark Nyapuoch Ubong, governor of Western Bahr el-Ghazal state.
He also criticised the World Bank-administered Multi-donor Trust Fund, created for the reconstruction of Southern Sudan after the war, for failing to release funds quickly.
"If we don’t invest in basic support [for the people of Southern Sudan], the danger is that we go back into a humanitarian emergency cycle and that will cost even more - both in terms of human suffering and financially," said McNamara. "Southern Sudan is a success story waiting to happen."
http://www.irnnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72261
Celebrating the inaugration of the southern parliament in Juba, September 2005
KUAJOK, 21 May 2007 (IRIN) - Anthony Bol Madut, governor of Warrap state in Southern Sudan, could not hide his frustration when he met representatives of European donors on a visit to the remote poverty-stricken region.
"People are dying of cholera in Gogrial and we do not even have roads to take medicines to them," said Madut, emphasising what he considers the neglect of Southern Sudan since the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). The accord formally ended civil war between the northern-based Sudanese government and former southern rebels of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army.
Donors and the Sudanese government had promised to make available considerable resources to rebuild the south. There is, however, widespread anger in the region as people wait for what appears to be an elusive peace dividend.
To compound the situation, thousands of former refugees and internally displaced people are flocking to the south to join communities ravaged by poverty and lacking basic social services.
People are dying of cholera in Gogrial and we do not even have a road to take medicines to them
"This is potentially one of the biggest repatriation/return movements Africa would have seen in recent years," said Dennis McNamara, special adviser on internal displacement to the United Nations emergency coordinator. "Hundreds of thousands of people have gone back both spontaneously and some with the assistance of agencies like the United Nations, IOM [International Organization for Migration] and other NGOs."
Lack of facilities
Martin Riech, 14, who returned to Tarkwen village in Western Bahr el-Ghazal state from another county in the same state, where his family sought refuge from war in the 1990s, is so frustrated he sees no point in attending school regularly.
"The school is just a shack divided into two rooms," he said. "There is only one teacher and I have to walk two hours to get there." His family moved from Manyang county, where, he says, he and his two sisters went to a proper school.
"These people are voting with their feet," McNamara added. "What we are very concerned about is that hundreds of thousands of people are going back, in most cases to areas of Southern Sudan that have terrible problems and lack services for the existing populations.
Photo: IRIN
Thousands of former refugees and internally displaced people are flocking to the south
"There are often inadequate water points, inadequate schooling and medical support. There is no real plan for economic development and livelihoods being put in place."
Tong Mayien, 48, his wife Achan and their two toddlers looked bewildered after climbing down from one of the lorries hired by IOM to bring them from Marial Ajit internally displaced people’s camp in Wau town to Kuajok from where they would find their way to their village.
"We have not yet built a home, but my sister who returned earlier has promised to accommodate us," Mayien told IRIN in Kuajok. "We have land and we have been promised farming tools. If I don’t receive the tools, I will go and find some work in the town to raise money to buy my own."
'Invest in the follow-up to peace'
Said McNamara: "Our appeal would be to the donors and UN agencies in particular to mobilise as quickly as possible recovery activities – post-humanitarian, pre-development essential services for this very poor population in an area of the country that has potential.
"There is [river] water, there is good soil available, there is no overpopulation in many parts," he added.
"The governor said: ‘You invested a lot in the peace, but you haven’t invested much in the follow-up to the peace’."
Appealing for more support for the government of Southern Sudan, which is struggling to reintegrate former refugees and those who were displaced by war, Britain’s permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Nicholas Thorne, said the international community was "fixated" with the crisis in the Darfur region of western Sudan and paying little attention to Southern Sudan.
Thorne was accompanied on the mission to Southern Sudan by Borsiin Bonnier, Sweden’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, and Claudia Rizzo, counsellor for humanitarian and development affairs at the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
The government has also not been spared criticism for its perceived failure to make available more resources for social amenities, including schools, roads, health facilities and water supplies.
Banking on oil
"When you go to Juba, tell our government you went to Warrap and Warrap is lacking everything," said Madut.
You invested a lot in the peace, but you haven't invested much in the follow-up to the peace
Much of the blame is being laid at the door step of the Government of National Unity in Khartoum for its perceived reluctance to fully disclose what is being earned from oil exports. The CPA had provided for the sharing of oil wealth between the north and south.
"We are not sure about the level of petroleum production. We are not sure how much money they are getting," said Mark Nyapuoch Ubong, governor of Western Bahr el-Ghazal state.
He also criticised the World Bank-administered Multi-donor Trust Fund, created for the reconstruction of Southern Sudan after the war, for failing to release funds quickly.
"If we don’t invest in basic support [for the people of Southern Sudan], the danger is that we go back into a humanitarian emergency cycle and that will cost even more - both in terms of human suffering and financially," said McNamara. "Southern Sudan is a success story waiting to happen."
http://www.irnnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72261
Sanctions against Sudan won’t bring peace in Darfur - China
Wednesday 23 May 2007.
May 22, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — A Chinese envoy warned that threats of sanctions against the Sudanese government will not bring peace to Darfur as he toured the war-wracked western region Tuesday, official media reported.
Refugee girls from Darfur at Breidjing camp, eastern Chad. (©UNHCR/H.Caux)
Liu Guijin, the Chinese foreign ministry’s Africa director, said the language of threats would only prolong the suffering of the 2.5 million people who have been displaced by the four-year-old conflict, the official SUNA news agency said.
Liu pledged that Beijing, Khartoum’s major trade partner, would continue to play a constructive and positive role in seeking a settlement to the conflict, as he visited the region’s main city of El Fasher and nearby displaced persons’ camps, SUNA said.
The Chinese envoy announced in the capital of South Darfur, Nyala, that China would construct 120 schools in Darfur in order to enhance the educational process in the region.
China has drawn mounting Western criticism in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics over its failure to do more to rein in its ally, which stands accused of serious abuses in its suppression of the ethnic minority uprising in Darfur.
At least 200,000 people have died since the rebellion erupted in February 2003, drawing a scorched earth response from the military and allied militias, according to UN estimates.
(AFP/ST)
May 22, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — A Chinese envoy warned that threats of sanctions against the Sudanese government will not bring peace to Darfur as he toured the war-wracked western region Tuesday, official media reported.
Refugee girls from Darfur at Breidjing camp, eastern Chad. (©UNHCR/H.Caux)
Liu Guijin, the Chinese foreign ministry’s Africa director, said the language of threats would only prolong the suffering of the 2.5 million people who have been displaced by the four-year-old conflict, the official SUNA news agency said.
Liu pledged that Beijing, Khartoum’s major trade partner, would continue to play a constructive and positive role in seeking a settlement to the conflict, as he visited the region’s main city of El Fasher and nearby displaced persons’ camps, SUNA said.
The Chinese envoy announced in the capital of South Darfur, Nyala, that China would construct 120 schools in Darfur in order to enhance the educational process in the region.
China has drawn mounting Western criticism in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics over its failure to do more to rein in its ally, which stands accused of serious abuses in its suppression of the ethnic minority uprising in Darfur.
At least 200,000 people have died since the rebellion erupted in February 2003, drawing a scorched earth response from the military and allied militias, according to UN estimates.
(AFP/ST)
Sudan bans reports on Darfur rebel groups
Wednesday 23 May 2007.
May 22, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese press body has banned the local newspapers from publishing news reports related to the rebel groups because they undermine the security in the country.
Tarada, one of Darfur’s top rebel field commanders, center-left wearing a camouflage headscarf, and his bodyguards gather for a milestone unity conference at a secret location in Darfur, Sudan Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2007. (AP)
The National Press and Publications Council Tuesday requested daily newspapers not to publish reports and activities of the rebel movements and not to interview its political leaders and as well as its field commanders.
The council urged newspapers not to “give publicity to the rebel movements and not to report on their threats and statements that undermine country’s security, instigate fear, and create instability”, the statement said.
This ban comes after a statement by one of Darfur rebel to the Khartoum based Al-Sahafa accusing the government forces and its backed militia of killing five civilian in North Darfur two days ago.
The council said all should agree not to give publicity to any rebel group, existing or under establishment, and not to give it a chance to issue false and irresponsible statements.
The Sudanese security service has ordered early today to stop the printing of al-Safaha pretexting that the printing workers did not fulfill an application dedicated to the security apparatus.
(ST)
May 22, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese press body has banned the local newspapers from publishing news reports related to the rebel groups because they undermine the security in the country.
Tarada, one of Darfur’s top rebel field commanders, center-left wearing a camouflage headscarf, and his bodyguards gather for a milestone unity conference at a secret location in Darfur, Sudan Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2007. (AP)
The National Press and Publications Council Tuesday requested daily newspapers not to publish reports and activities of the rebel movements and not to interview its political leaders and as well as its field commanders.
The council urged newspapers not to “give publicity to the rebel movements and not to report on their threats and statements that undermine country’s security, instigate fear, and create instability”, the statement said.
This ban comes after a statement by one of Darfur rebel to the Khartoum based Al-Sahafa accusing the government forces and its backed militia of killing five civilian in North Darfur two days ago.
The council said all should agree not to give publicity to any rebel group, existing or under establishment, and not to give it a chance to issue false and irresponsible statements.
The Sudanese security service has ordered early today to stop the printing of al-Safaha pretexting that the printing workers did not fulfill an application dedicated to the security apparatus.
(ST)
Sudan’s envoy : Darfur “an issue for those who have no issue”
Tuesday 22 May 2007.
By wasil Ali
May 22, 2007 (UNITED NATIONS) — Sudan’s envoy to the UN Abdalhaleem Abdalmahmood blasted a visit by a US congressional delegation to the UN headquarters to discuss the Darfur crisis. Abdalmahmood said he was “disappointed” saying he expected US senator Joseph Biden to “come with clean hands and apologize to the UN for the mess that the US has done in Iraq”.
Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem
Sen. Joseph Biden, the aspiring Democratic nominee for US presidency, headed a bipartisan delegation and met yesterday UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to receive an update on efforts made to resolve the Darfur crisis. Biden, who chairs the US Senate foreign relations committee, said in remarks following the meeting that he would commit US troops to end the Darfur crisis if it was his decision.
Abdalmahmood said that Biden’s discussion of the Darfur crisis is “unwarranted and out of context”. He sharply criticized the international focus on the Darfur crisis saying it has “become an issue for those who have no issue”. Sudan’s UN envoy said that the situation in Darfur is improving on the political and humanitarian track.
A three-phase plan floated last year by then UN chief Kofi Annan is supposed to culminate in the deployment of UN peacekeepers to bolster the embattled African force in Darfur, a region the size of France.
But Khartoum has accepted only the first two stages of the plan, accusing the Western powers of plotting to recolonize the country under the guise of the UN mission. The second phase is supposed to set the infrastructure for the UN-AU hybrid forces as part if the final stage of the plan.
Abdalmahmood said that his government “fully agrees to the second phase without reservations”. He called on the UN & US to authorize funding to the African Union troops so that the second phase can be completed saying that the “ball is in their court now”.
The statements by Sudan’s UN envoy contrasted sharply with that of the UN mission in Sudan (UNMIS) spokesperson Radhia Achouri who said last week that the UN “will help the AU by providing support personnel and equipment but not paying up their budget”. Achouri stressed that “the African Union Mission in Sudan will continue to be financed through donations from member States”.
Abdalmahmood denied UN allegations of bombing raids by Sudan on Umrai calling it “rumors by the National Redemption Front [Darfur rebel faction]”. He said these news are spread by those who want to prolong the sufferings of the Darfur people.
The United Nations says 200,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million displaced in the Darfur conflict, which flared in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the government.
(ST)
By wasil Ali
May 22, 2007 (UNITED NATIONS) — Sudan’s envoy to the UN Abdalhaleem Abdalmahmood blasted a visit by a US congressional delegation to the UN headquarters to discuss the Darfur crisis. Abdalmahmood said he was “disappointed” saying he expected US senator Joseph Biden to “come with clean hands and apologize to the UN for the mess that the US has done in Iraq”.
Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem
Sen. Joseph Biden, the aspiring Democratic nominee for US presidency, headed a bipartisan delegation and met yesterday UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to receive an update on efforts made to resolve the Darfur crisis. Biden, who chairs the US Senate foreign relations committee, said in remarks following the meeting that he would commit US troops to end the Darfur crisis if it was his decision.
Abdalmahmood said that Biden’s discussion of the Darfur crisis is “unwarranted and out of context”. He sharply criticized the international focus on the Darfur crisis saying it has “become an issue for those who have no issue”. Sudan’s UN envoy said that the situation in Darfur is improving on the political and humanitarian track.
A three-phase plan floated last year by then UN chief Kofi Annan is supposed to culminate in the deployment of UN peacekeepers to bolster the embattled African force in Darfur, a region the size of France.
But Khartoum has accepted only the first two stages of the plan, accusing the Western powers of plotting to recolonize the country under the guise of the UN mission. The second phase is supposed to set the infrastructure for the UN-AU hybrid forces as part if the final stage of the plan.
Abdalmahmood said that his government “fully agrees to the second phase without reservations”. He called on the UN & US to authorize funding to the African Union troops so that the second phase can be completed saying that the “ball is in their court now”.
The statements by Sudan’s UN envoy contrasted sharply with that of the UN mission in Sudan (UNMIS) spokesperson Radhia Achouri who said last week that the UN “will help the AU by providing support personnel and equipment but not paying up their budget”. Achouri stressed that “the African Union Mission in Sudan will continue to be financed through donations from member States”.
Abdalmahmood denied UN allegations of bombing raids by Sudan on Umrai calling it “rumors by the National Redemption Front [Darfur rebel faction]”. He said these news are spread by those who want to prolong the sufferings of the Darfur people.
The United Nations says 200,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million displaced in the Darfur conflict, which flared in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the government.
(ST)
Saturday, May 12, 2007
When militia commander switches to Darfur rebels side
Saturday 12 May 2007.
By Rob Crilly
May 11, 2007 (JEBEL MARA, South Darfur) — Mohamed Ali Adam comes from one of the most feared tribes in south Darfur, the pro-government Falata. As a Janjaweed fighter he helped his militia to rape, loot and murder its way through village after village. Yet he is among a growing number of Arab gunmen switching sides as they grow disillusioned with the Khartoum Government.
“If I remember the actions which we did, I feel very sorry and sometimes I cry,” he said, sipping sweet, black tea with half a dozen of his new comrades from the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), deep inside Jebel Mara, the mountainous stronghold of the anti-Khartoum rebels.
Once they would have tried to kill each other.
Commander Adam, with his dark tan and Khartoum-issued, Chinese-made Kalashnikov, cuts an unlikely figure as a rebel commander. Yet he now ventures regularly into the hillside town of Gorolang Baje – home to the Fur people that gave Darfur its name – to take orders from his new superiors, who used to be his foes.
His presence here is a sign that the widely accepted view of the Darfur conflict is breaking down. No longer is it a case of rebels drawn from the black, farming tribes pitted against an Arab-dominated Government and their light-skinned Janjaweed allies.
Defections such as that of Commander Adam have eased fighting in some parts of Darfur. But the increasingly complex picture makes prospects of a resolution even more difficult, according to analysts.
Darfur is riddled with tribal tensions. In places, Arab tribes have turned on one another as they compete for land plundered from non-Arab tribes. Several Arab tribes have kept out of the conflict altogether.
And at the end of last year a new rebel grouping emerged from Arab tribes: the Popular Forces Army.
Splits among rebel groups appeared last year after the signing of the Darfur Peace Agreement. One arm of the SLA, which signed up for peace and is now allied to the Government, is spearheading an offensive against its old comrades who are holed up in Jebel Mara.
“The level of complexity has always been there beneath the surface,” one aid official said in the south Darfur capital of Nyala. “What we are seeing though is the divisions come to the surface, and overall security is getting worse.”
Commander Adam, 23, who commands a unit of 70 non-signatory SLA soldiers, is clear about why he split from Khartoum seven months ago. He said that the Government promised his people land amid the fertile slopes of Jebel Mara, where apple orchards and orange groves prosper far from the dusty, desert plains that comprise the rest of Darfur.
But four years on, he said he wondered why he took up arms. He found himself fighting people from the Fur tribe – a people whose language he spoke and had always considered good neighbours. Now, as he listed the villages he helped to burn – Hamada, Durbo, Baliserif, Debenera, Jafaina – he said that he felt only regret.
Hamis Mohamed Adam, the political officer of the SLA in Gorolang Baje, said: “There were so many serious things, sad stories, burning villages, killing people, but if someone is wrong and has discovered that they are wrong, what can we do? We can only forgive them.”
The shifting allegiances make peace an even more pressing priority, said Mohamed Guyo, of the Institute for Security Studies in Nairobi. “If things continue as they are, with rebel groups fragmenting and other militias switching sides, then it becomes more and more difficult to imagine a resolution.”
(The Times)
By Rob Crilly
May 11, 2007 (JEBEL MARA, South Darfur) — Mohamed Ali Adam comes from one of the most feared tribes in south Darfur, the pro-government Falata. As a Janjaweed fighter he helped his militia to rape, loot and murder its way through village after village. Yet he is among a growing number of Arab gunmen switching sides as they grow disillusioned with the Khartoum Government.
“If I remember the actions which we did, I feel very sorry and sometimes I cry,” he said, sipping sweet, black tea with half a dozen of his new comrades from the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), deep inside Jebel Mara, the mountainous stronghold of the anti-Khartoum rebels.
Once they would have tried to kill each other.
Commander Adam, with his dark tan and Khartoum-issued, Chinese-made Kalashnikov, cuts an unlikely figure as a rebel commander. Yet he now ventures regularly into the hillside town of Gorolang Baje – home to the Fur people that gave Darfur its name – to take orders from his new superiors, who used to be his foes.
His presence here is a sign that the widely accepted view of the Darfur conflict is breaking down. No longer is it a case of rebels drawn from the black, farming tribes pitted against an Arab-dominated Government and their light-skinned Janjaweed allies.
Defections such as that of Commander Adam have eased fighting in some parts of Darfur. But the increasingly complex picture makes prospects of a resolution even more difficult, according to analysts.
Darfur is riddled with tribal tensions. In places, Arab tribes have turned on one another as they compete for land plundered from non-Arab tribes. Several Arab tribes have kept out of the conflict altogether.
And at the end of last year a new rebel grouping emerged from Arab tribes: the Popular Forces Army.
Splits among rebel groups appeared last year after the signing of the Darfur Peace Agreement. One arm of the SLA, which signed up for peace and is now allied to the Government, is spearheading an offensive against its old comrades who are holed up in Jebel Mara.
“The level of complexity has always been there beneath the surface,” one aid official said in the south Darfur capital of Nyala. “What we are seeing though is the divisions come to the surface, and overall security is getting worse.”
Commander Adam, 23, who commands a unit of 70 non-signatory SLA soldiers, is clear about why he split from Khartoum seven months ago. He said that the Government promised his people land amid the fertile slopes of Jebel Mara, where apple orchards and orange groves prosper far from the dusty, desert plains that comprise the rest of Darfur.
But four years on, he said he wondered why he took up arms. He found himself fighting people from the Fur tribe – a people whose language he spoke and had always considered good neighbours. Now, as he listed the villages he helped to burn – Hamada, Durbo, Baliserif, Debenera, Jafaina – he said that he felt only regret.
Hamis Mohamed Adam, the political officer of the SLA in Gorolang Baje, said: “There were so many serious things, sad stories, burning villages, killing people, but if someone is wrong and has discovered that they are wrong, what can we do? We can only forgive them.”
The shifting allegiances make peace an even more pressing priority, said Mohamed Guyo, of the Institute for Security Studies in Nairobi. “If things continue as they are, with rebel groups fragmenting and other militias switching sides, then it becomes more and more difficult to imagine a resolution.”
(The Times)
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Two UN vehicles hijacked by unknown gunmen in Darfur
Thursday 10 May 2007.
May 9, 2007 (AL-FASHIR) — Two vehicles of the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) have been hijacked by unknown gunmen in the conflict-torn western Sudanese region of Darfur, well-informed sources said on Wednesday.
The sources told Xinhua that an unidentified number of international and local staff, members of the UNMIS Darfur Office,in the vehicles were believed kidnapped.
The two vehicles were on a routine duty on the outskirts of Fashir, the capital of North Darfur State, when the UNMIS Darfur Office in the city lost contacts with them, according to the sources.
Meanwhile, the sources announced that two Sudanese employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and their driver, who had been kidnapped in Fashir, were released by the abductors on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, three gunmen hijacked the vehicle which the three Sudanese were driving and drove it northward to Katam, an area where rebel National Redemption Front (NRF) are actively launching military actions against the government forces.
The abductions took place at a time when the UN was considering how to implement a plan of sending some 3000 soldiers, policemen and civilian officers to reinforce the African Union (AU) peacekeeping force in Darfur.
The plan, which known as "the Heavy Support Package (HSP)", is the second step of a three-phase deal on the deploying a UN-AU hybrid force in Darfur, was approved by the Sudanese government on April 16.
UNMIS has called for a cessation of hostilities before the HSP could be delivered from the UN to the 7800-strong AU force in Darfur.
"For this operation on the Heavy Support Package to be effectively implemented... Violence and military action in Darfur must cease," UNMIS Spokesperson Radhia Achouri said in Khartoum recently.
She said that Janjaweed, the most famous militia in Darfur, as well as other spoilers must be disarmed, and attacks on humanitarian workers and peacekeepers must be stopped.
(Xinhua)
May 9, 2007 (AL-FASHIR) — Two vehicles of the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) have been hijacked by unknown gunmen in the conflict-torn western Sudanese region of Darfur, well-informed sources said on Wednesday.
The sources told Xinhua that an unidentified number of international and local staff, members of the UNMIS Darfur Office,in the vehicles were believed kidnapped.
The two vehicles were on a routine duty on the outskirts of Fashir, the capital of North Darfur State, when the UNMIS Darfur Office in the city lost contacts with them, according to the sources.
Meanwhile, the sources announced that two Sudanese employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and their driver, who had been kidnapped in Fashir, were released by the abductors on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, three gunmen hijacked the vehicle which the three Sudanese were driving and drove it northward to Katam, an area where rebel National Redemption Front (NRF) are actively launching military actions against the government forces.
The abductions took place at a time when the UN was considering how to implement a plan of sending some 3000 soldiers, policemen and civilian officers to reinforce the African Union (AU) peacekeeping force in Darfur.
The plan, which known as "the Heavy Support Package (HSP)", is the second step of a three-phase deal on the deploying a UN-AU hybrid force in Darfur, was approved by the Sudanese government on April 16.
UNMIS has called for a cessation of hostilities before the HSP could be delivered from the UN to the 7800-strong AU force in Darfur.
"For this operation on the Heavy Support Package to be effectively implemented... Violence and military action in Darfur must cease," UNMIS Spokesperson Radhia Achouri said in Khartoum recently.
She said that Janjaweed, the most famous militia in Darfur, as well as other spoilers must be disarmed, and attacks on humanitarian workers and peacekeepers must be stopped.
(Xinhua)
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
China, Russia Deny Weapons Breach
8 May 2007.
bbc.co.uk
China and Russia have denied claims by Amnesty International that they are supplying arms to Sudan for use in Darfur, in breach of a UN arms embargo.
A report by the rights group says the weapons end up in the hands of the government-backed Janjaweed militia.
It also includes apparent photographic evidence of Sudan using military aircraft camouflaged white in Darfur.
China said its exports to Sudan were legal, limited and on a small scale. Russia also denied any embargo breach.
A Russian foreign ministry official said Moscow "unswervingly" observes the UN restrictions.
The use of all-white aircraft and helicopters... in Darfur is in violation of applicable norms of international humanitarian law
Amnesty International
Under the terms of a UN Security Council resolution passed in March 2005, an embargo is in place on the supply of arms to all parties in the conflict in Darfur.
The Sudanese ambassador to the UN, Abdel Mahmood Abdel Haleem, said the Amnesty allegations were "baseless and unfounded".
More than 200,000 people have died during a four-year conflict in Darfur, and the Janjaweed militia are accused of displacing and killing tens of thousands of people.
Photographs
In its report, Amnesty calls on the UN Security Council to strengthen the arms embargo on Darfur, which was extended in March 2005 to cover all parties.
Amnesty says it is "dismayed" that two permanent members of the UN Security Council are "allowing ongoing flows of arms to parties in Sudan".
UN ARMS EMBARGO
Imposed by Resolution 1591, 29 March 2005
Cuts the supply of arms to all parties to the conflict in Darfur
Some nations regard arms exports to Sudan's government as allowed under the embargo
Sudan is permitted to run humanitarian flights into Darfur, but only with UN permission - never requested
Source: Amnesty
The report provides photographs of what it says were a Russian Mi-24 attack helicopter at Nyala in Darfur and Chinese Fanfan fighters at Nyala earlier this year.
It also pictures an all-white, Russian-built Antonov 26 military plane, with the registration code ST-ZZZ.
It says it appears there are "three planes with this registration number" and said it was "highly likely" they were used in bombing raids.
The Amnesty report backs up a UN study, leaked to the New York Times last month, which said Sudan was painting aircraft white to make them look like UN planes - a practice banned by the Geneva Convention.
"The use of all-white aircraft and helicopters... in Darfur is in violation of applicable norms of international humanitarian law," the new report says.
Sudan denies using any white aircraft for military purposes, but says it has some white helicopters to transfer officials.
Amnesty says its report is based on eyewitness accounts from Darfur and "confidential sources".
'Lies'
The Amnesty report backs the UN findings suggesting that Sudan is flying weapons into Darfur in breach of UN Security Council resolutions, a claim denied by Sudan.
But Amnesty says Sudan is "routinely failing to seek [UN] approval to move weapons... into Darfur", it says, and is importing weapons it knows will be used to target civilians.
The human rights group says Russia and China are aware of the eventual uses of arms exported to Sudan.
It cites 2005 trade figures as showing China sold $24m and Russia $21m of military material to Sudan.
Amnesty has also accused Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Belarus of supplying arms.
China has a close relationship with Sudan, increasing its military co-operation with Khartoum earlier this year.
The relationship is based around Khartoum's plentiful supply of oil, which China needs to fuel its booming economy, says the BBC's Daniel Griffiths in Beijing.
We are not using these aircraft for any military function in Darfur
Abdel Mahmood Abdel Haleem
Sudanese UN ambassador
However, Amnesty now says it wants a list made of all items prohibited for transfer and for UN personnel to be stationed at all ports of entry in Sudan.
Amnesty also wants all UN states to suspend the transfer of any arms and ammunitions likely to be used by the parties in Darfur.
But Mr Haleem said military assets were simply being moved around the country.
Mr Haleem told the BBC: "We are moving these military assets to their respective places. We are not using these aircraft for any military function in Darfur."
bbc.co.uk
China and Russia have denied claims by Amnesty International that they are supplying arms to Sudan for use in Darfur, in breach of a UN arms embargo.
A report by the rights group says the weapons end up in the hands of the government-backed Janjaweed militia.
It also includes apparent photographic evidence of Sudan using military aircraft camouflaged white in Darfur.
China said its exports to Sudan were legal, limited and on a small scale. Russia also denied any embargo breach.
A Russian foreign ministry official said Moscow "unswervingly" observes the UN restrictions.
The use of all-white aircraft and helicopters... in Darfur is in violation of applicable norms of international humanitarian law
Amnesty International
Under the terms of a UN Security Council resolution passed in March 2005, an embargo is in place on the supply of arms to all parties in the conflict in Darfur.
The Sudanese ambassador to the UN, Abdel Mahmood Abdel Haleem, said the Amnesty allegations were "baseless and unfounded".
More than 200,000 people have died during a four-year conflict in Darfur, and the Janjaweed militia are accused of displacing and killing tens of thousands of people.
Photographs
In its report, Amnesty calls on the UN Security Council to strengthen the arms embargo on Darfur, which was extended in March 2005 to cover all parties.
Amnesty says it is "dismayed" that two permanent members of the UN Security Council are "allowing ongoing flows of arms to parties in Sudan".
UN ARMS EMBARGO
Imposed by Resolution 1591, 29 March 2005
Cuts the supply of arms to all parties to the conflict in Darfur
Some nations regard arms exports to Sudan's government as allowed under the embargo
Sudan is permitted to run humanitarian flights into Darfur, but only with UN permission - never requested
Source: Amnesty
The report provides photographs of what it says were a Russian Mi-24 attack helicopter at Nyala in Darfur and Chinese Fanfan fighters at Nyala earlier this year.
It also pictures an all-white, Russian-built Antonov 26 military plane, with the registration code ST-ZZZ.
It says it appears there are "three planes with this registration number" and said it was "highly likely" they were used in bombing raids.
The Amnesty report backs up a UN study, leaked to the New York Times last month, which said Sudan was painting aircraft white to make them look like UN planes - a practice banned by the Geneva Convention.
"The use of all-white aircraft and helicopters... in Darfur is in violation of applicable norms of international humanitarian law," the new report says.
Sudan denies using any white aircraft for military purposes, but says it has some white helicopters to transfer officials.
Amnesty says its report is based on eyewitness accounts from Darfur and "confidential sources".
'Lies'
The Amnesty report backs the UN findings suggesting that Sudan is flying weapons into Darfur in breach of UN Security Council resolutions, a claim denied by Sudan.
But Amnesty says Sudan is "routinely failing to seek [UN] approval to move weapons... into Darfur", it says, and is importing weapons it knows will be used to target civilians.
The human rights group says Russia and China are aware of the eventual uses of arms exported to Sudan.
It cites 2005 trade figures as showing China sold $24m and Russia $21m of military material to Sudan.
Amnesty has also accused Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Belarus of supplying arms.
China has a close relationship with Sudan, increasing its military co-operation with Khartoum earlier this year.
The relationship is based around Khartoum's plentiful supply of oil, which China needs to fuel its booming economy, says the BBC's Daniel Griffiths in Beijing.
We are not using these aircraft for any military function in Darfur
Abdel Mahmood Abdel Haleem
Sudanese UN ambassador
However, Amnesty now says it wants a list made of all items prohibited for transfer and for UN personnel to be stationed at all ports of entry in Sudan.
Amnesty also wants all UN states to suspend the transfer of any arms and ammunitions likely to be used by the parties in Darfur.
But Mr Haleem said military assets were simply being moved around the country.
Mr Haleem told the BBC: "We are moving these military assets to their respective places. We are not using these aircraft for any military function in Darfur."
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Darfur deal generates violence hindering humanitarian efforts - UN
Monday 7 May 2007.
May 6, 2007 (KHARTOUM) – United Nations said the Darfur Peace Agreement signed one year ago has lead to more violence, which has crippled the world’s largest humanitarian operation.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Darfur said relief work in Darfur has been jeopardized by the very agreement that was supposed to bring peace to the region.
The U.N. organization pointed out the splintering of rebel factions, which followed the signing of the accord has lead to anarchy in Darfur.
Antoine Gerard, manager of the Darfur section at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, says aid access has dwindled.
"We have seen a progressive deterioration of the situation in Darfur since May 2006. For the humanitarian community it’s a nightmare. It’s a nightmare in terms of security. It’s a nightmare in terms of designing your humanitarian response," said Gerard.
Days after the Darfur Peace Agreement was signed, there were indicators the accord was in trouble.
Only one rebel faction of the Sudan Liberation Army signed on to the deal. Others claimed it did not meet their demands of wealth and power sharing.
Within weeks, full-scale infighting among rebels had displaced tens of thousands of people.
Aids groups say the obstacles to relief work are now immense.
Humanitarian workers no longer know which rebel groups they should contact when traveling in relief convoys to provide aid.
When convoys come under attack, it is almost impossible to identify the culprits.
Gerard said attacks on aid workers, which increased late last year, caused the withdrawal of humanitarian staff across the region.
"Since May we’ve seen this as well: an increase in violence against humanitarian workers," added Gerard. "It is another area of concern that the violence has extended also against those who are providing humanitarian assistance."
Aid workers in areas held by former rebels have been raped and beaten. In government controlled areas, Sudanese police have beaten and sexually assaulted both Sudanese and international humanitarian staff.
The international community has launched intense diplomatic efforts to get holdout rebels to sign on to the peace deal, still considered the best way to bring peace to Darfur.
The conflict began in 2003 when rebels rose against Sudan’s powerful Islamist regime, complaining that remote Darfur was undeveloped due to neglect.
Sudan is charged with arming Arab militias known as janjaweed to crush the rebellion.
An estimated 200,000 people have died since the start of the conflict, with 2.5 million others displaced by fighting and wholly dependent upon humanitarian aid.
(VOA)
May 6, 2007 (KHARTOUM) – United Nations said the Darfur Peace Agreement signed one year ago has lead to more violence, which has crippled the world’s largest humanitarian operation.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Darfur said relief work in Darfur has been jeopardized by the very agreement that was supposed to bring peace to the region.
The U.N. organization pointed out the splintering of rebel factions, which followed the signing of the accord has lead to anarchy in Darfur.
Antoine Gerard, manager of the Darfur section at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, says aid access has dwindled.
"We have seen a progressive deterioration of the situation in Darfur since May 2006. For the humanitarian community it’s a nightmare. It’s a nightmare in terms of security. It’s a nightmare in terms of designing your humanitarian response," said Gerard.
Days after the Darfur Peace Agreement was signed, there were indicators the accord was in trouble.
Only one rebel faction of the Sudan Liberation Army signed on to the deal. Others claimed it did not meet their demands of wealth and power sharing.
Within weeks, full-scale infighting among rebels had displaced tens of thousands of people.
Aids groups say the obstacles to relief work are now immense.
Humanitarian workers no longer know which rebel groups they should contact when traveling in relief convoys to provide aid.
When convoys come under attack, it is almost impossible to identify the culprits.
Gerard said attacks on aid workers, which increased late last year, caused the withdrawal of humanitarian staff across the region.
"Since May we’ve seen this as well: an increase in violence against humanitarian workers," added Gerard. "It is another area of concern that the violence has extended also against those who are providing humanitarian assistance."
Aid workers in areas held by former rebels have been raped and beaten. In government controlled areas, Sudanese police have beaten and sexually assaulted both Sudanese and international humanitarian staff.
The international community has launched intense diplomatic efforts to get holdout rebels to sign on to the peace deal, still considered the best way to bring peace to Darfur.
The conflict began in 2003 when rebels rose against Sudan’s powerful Islamist regime, complaining that remote Darfur was undeveloped due to neglect.
Sudan is charged with arming Arab militias known as janjaweed to crush the rebellion.
An estimated 200,000 people have died since the start of the conflict, with 2.5 million others displaced by fighting and wholly dependent upon humanitarian aid.
(VOA)
Saturday, May 5, 2007
One of The Most Ridiculous Headlines You Will Ever Read: UN APOLOGIZES TO SUDAN OVER REPORT LEAKING - NEWSPAPER
UN APOLOGIZES TO SUDAN OVER REPORT LEAKING - NEWSPAPER
Saturday 5 May 2007.
May 4, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — The United Nations apologized officially to Sudan for leaking the report published last month in the New York Times, which accused Khartoum of flying weapons into conflict-ridden Darfur in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, a news report said yesterday .
A plane in Darfur, painted like a United Nations craft, in a photo from a confidential report on Sudan’s involvement in the regional conflict.
Sudan’s permanent representative to the UN, Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem told Alray Alaam newspaper on Thursday May 3 that Sudan’s mission to the UN had received an official letter from the UN Security Council Sanctions committee in which it expressed its apology and regret for the leaking of the report .
He added that the committee has pledged not to repeat leaking confidential reports.
The committee said in its apology that it had submitted the whole issue to the committee of documents and procedures to avoid repetition of what happened, besides setting new principles to prevent leaking of information; hailing at the same time the existing cooperation with Sudan.
The Sudanese envoy told Alray Alaam that the apology represents a clear condemnation to those who leaked the report.
The report, compiled by a panel of experts charged with assisting the Security Council’s Sudan Sanctions Committee in monitoring compliance with resolutions on Darfur, was leaked to the media on April 17 by a diplomat on the committee.
The panel, which includes all 15 members of the Security Council, has decided not to make the report public after objections were raised by three member states.
The experts, in their report, accused the Sudanese government of transporting weapons, ammunition, and other military equipment into Darfur without prior authorization from the sanctions committee. The report also alleged that the Sudanese government has painted military aircraft white to disguise them as UN planes.
Sudan had rejected the panel’s allegations and described it as "fabrications" and "a cowardly attempt" to overshadow the government’s approval on Monday of the first significant U.N. peacekeeping force for Darfur.
The Sudanese ambassador Abdalhaleem told the press that Sudan had requested an urgent investigation of the panel allegations.
(Sudan Tribune)
Saturday 5 May 2007.
May 4, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — The United Nations apologized officially to Sudan for leaking the report published last month in the New York Times, which accused Khartoum of flying weapons into conflict-ridden Darfur in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, a news report said yesterday .
A plane in Darfur, painted like a United Nations craft, in a photo from a confidential report on Sudan’s involvement in the regional conflict.
Sudan’s permanent representative to the UN, Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem told Alray Alaam newspaper on Thursday May 3 that Sudan’s mission to the UN had received an official letter from the UN Security Council Sanctions committee in which it expressed its apology and regret for the leaking of the report .
He added that the committee has pledged not to repeat leaking confidential reports.
The committee said in its apology that it had submitted the whole issue to the committee of documents and procedures to avoid repetition of what happened, besides setting new principles to prevent leaking of information; hailing at the same time the existing cooperation with Sudan.
The Sudanese envoy told Alray Alaam that the apology represents a clear condemnation to those who leaked the report.
The report, compiled by a panel of experts charged with assisting the Security Council’s Sudan Sanctions Committee in monitoring compliance with resolutions on Darfur, was leaked to the media on April 17 by a diplomat on the committee.
The panel, which includes all 15 members of the Security Council, has decided not to make the report public after objections were raised by three member states.
The experts, in their report, accused the Sudanese government of transporting weapons, ammunition, and other military equipment into Darfur without prior authorization from the sanctions committee. The report also alleged that the Sudanese government has painted military aircraft white to disguise them as UN planes.
Sudan had rejected the panel’s allegations and described it as "fabrications" and "a cowardly attempt" to overshadow the government’s approval on Monday of the first significant U.N. peacekeeping force for Darfur.
The Sudanese ambassador Abdalhaleem told the press that Sudan had requested an urgent investigation of the panel allegations.
(Sudan Tribune)
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Humanitarian Groups in Rebel Areas of Darfur
In the press statement shown below, the SLM/A rebel faction in Darfur demands that the movement be notified of the entrance of any humanitarian or journalist endeavors into the region. While this may be a relatively benign request, especially seeing as concern for the safety of international workers is cited, it is also a very dangerous request. Khartoum will likely jump at the opportunity to continue to deny entrance into (and force the exit from) Darfur to international humanitarian workers: the notification of the SLM/A of humanitarian movements will grant Khartoum a reason, however benign this particular circumstance may be, to claim (once again) that the international community is aiding the rebels and is only interested in violating Sudan's sovereignty with food and medical care.
Sudan Liberation Movement/Army
Press Statement
Regarding entering in to Liberated Areas
May 3, 2007 — The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) is highly concerned about the safety and security of all the stakeholders, NGO’s and the individual members working in Darfur to provide humanitarian assistance and relief or those seeking to get information from reliable sources about the situation on the ground, accordingly, we would like to kindly bring into attention issue and regulations of interning our liberated areas as follows:-
1. Any organization or member individual seeking to enter our liberated areas must first notify the political leadership of the Movement about the nature of his/her mission, to enable the Movement to fully facilitate it, through its appropriate channels.
2. The Movement will not be responsible about the safety of the member individuals or organizations entering the liberated areas without it’s pre-knowledge.
The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army appreciates the co-operation of the organizations and member individuals in adhering to the above regulation for the common good of all.
The office the Chairman of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army Contacts for any coordination: +8821655583149/+8821666601790
Email:kazansky95@gmail.com
Ahmed Ibrahim Yousif The Office Manager
Sudan Liberation Movement/Army
Press Statement
Regarding entering in to Liberated Areas
May 3, 2007 — The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) is highly concerned about the safety and security of all the stakeholders, NGO’s and the individual members working in Darfur to provide humanitarian assistance and relief or those seeking to get information from reliable sources about the situation on the ground, accordingly, we would like to kindly bring into attention issue and regulations of interning our liberated areas as follows:-
1. Any organization or member individual seeking to enter our liberated areas must first notify the political leadership of the Movement about the nature of his/her mission, to enable the Movement to fully facilitate it, through its appropriate channels.
2. The Movement will not be responsible about the safety of the member individuals or organizations entering the liberated areas without it’s pre-knowledge.
The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army appreciates the co-operation of the organizations and member individuals in adhering to the above regulation for the common good of all.
The office the Chairman of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army Contacts for any coordination: +8821655583149/+8821666601790
Email:kazansky95@gmail.com
Ahmed Ibrahim Yousif The Office Manager
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
ICC ISSUES ARREST WARRANTS FOR DARFUR SUSPECTS
Wednesday 2 May 2007.
May 2, 2007 (AMSTERDAM) — International Criminal Court judges issued their first arrest warrants for suspects accused of war crimes in Sudan’s Darfur region, the ICC said on Wednesday, but Sudan refused to hand over the men.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo
The warrants were issued for Ahmed Haroun, former state minister of interior, and militia commander Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-al-Rahman, also know as Ali Kushayb.
ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo had found "reasonable grounds to believe" the two were responsible for murder, rape, and torture, as well as the forced displacement of villages, and other war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, the court said in a statement.
"The government of the Sudan has a legal duty to arrest Ahmed Haroun and Ali Kushayb," the court said.
But Sudan’s Justice Minister Mohamed Ali Al-Mardi told Reuters on Wednesday Khartoum would not hand over the suspects.
"We do not recognise the International Criminal Court ... and we will not hand over any Sudanese even from the rebel groups who take up weapons against the government," he said.
Prosecutors named the men in February as the first suspects in their investigations into the conflict, in which 200,000 people have been killed since it began in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the government.
Sudan countered the rebellion by arming militias, who have been accused of atrocities in the conflict. Khartoum denies arming so-called Janjaweed militia, calling them outlaws.
Richard Dicker of Human Rights Watch welcomed the arrest warrants.
"These warrants put the burden on the Khartoum leadership to co-operate and any failure to do so will only increase their isolation on the international stage," he said.
WAR CRIMES
In a 94-page filing in February, ICC prosecutors accused Haroun and Kushayb of criminal responsibility for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in 2003 and 2004.
The warrant for Haroun lists 42 counts including murder, torture and persecution, while the warrant for Kushayb lists 50 counts including murder and intentionally attacking civilians.
Haroun is currently Sudan’s state humanitarian affairs minister, a post below the full ministerial level. Prosecutors said he conspired with Kushayb, allegedly a Janjaweed commander who led attacks on towns and villages where dozens were killed.
Sudan says the ICC has no jurisdiction to try its citizens for crimes in Darfur, and in February announced it would try Kushayb itself on unspecified charges related to Darfur. His case was delayed in March.
"Haroun and Kushayb will be in the dock — maybe in two months or in two years — but they will be there," Moreno-Ocampo told Reuters.
Earlier this year U.N. human rights commissioner Louise Arbour said she hoped the ICC’s action would be a "strong deterrent" against more bloodshed.
The Darfur special court was formed after a U.N. Security Council resolution referred Darfur’s conflict to the ICC in early 2005, the first such referral.
Sudan has signed but not ratified the treaty which formed the ICC. The ICC cannot indict nationals who have been given free and fair trials in their own countries.
The ICC, the world’s first permanent war crimes court, started work in 2002 and is now supported by 104 nations, although still not by Russia, China and the United States.
It has one suspect in its custody, Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga, who is accused of recruiting child soldiers.
But a further five warrants issued in 2005 for leaders of Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army have failed to yield arrests.
(Reuters)
May 2, 2007 (AMSTERDAM) — International Criminal Court judges issued their first arrest warrants for suspects accused of war crimes in Sudan’s Darfur region, the ICC said on Wednesday, but Sudan refused to hand over the men.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo
The warrants were issued for Ahmed Haroun, former state minister of interior, and militia commander Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-al-Rahman, also know as Ali Kushayb.
ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo had found "reasonable grounds to believe" the two were responsible for murder, rape, and torture, as well as the forced displacement of villages, and other war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, the court said in a statement.
"The government of the Sudan has a legal duty to arrest Ahmed Haroun and Ali Kushayb," the court said.
But Sudan’s Justice Minister Mohamed Ali Al-Mardi told Reuters on Wednesday Khartoum would not hand over the suspects.
"We do not recognise the International Criminal Court ... and we will not hand over any Sudanese even from the rebel groups who take up weapons against the government," he said.
Prosecutors named the men in February as the first suspects in their investigations into the conflict, in which 200,000 people have been killed since it began in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the government.
Sudan countered the rebellion by arming militias, who have been accused of atrocities in the conflict. Khartoum denies arming so-called Janjaweed militia, calling them outlaws.
Richard Dicker of Human Rights Watch welcomed the arrest warrants.
"These warrants put the burden on the Khartoum leadership to co-operate and any failure to do so will only increase their isolation on the international stage," he said.
WAR CRIMES
In a 94-page filing in February, ICC prosecutors accused Haroun and Kushayb of criminal responsibility for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in 2003 and 2004.
The warrant for Haroun lists 42 counts including murder, torture and persecution, while the warrant for Kushayb lists 50 counts including murder and intentionally attacking civilians.
Haroun is currently Sudan’s state humanitarian affairs minister, a post below the full ministerial level. Prosecutors said he conspired with Kushayb, allegedly a Janjaweed commander who led attacks on towns and villages where dozens were killed.
Sudan says the ICC has no jurisdiction to try its citizens for crimes in Darfur, and in February announced it would try Kushayb itself on unspecified charges related to Darfur. His case was delayed in March.
"Haroun and Kushayb will be in the dock — maybe in two months or in two years — but they will be there," Moreno-Ocampo told Reuters.
Earlier this year U.N. human rights commissioner Louise Arbour said she hoped the ICC’s action would be a "strong deterrent" against more bloodshed.
The Darfur special court was formed after a U.N. Security Council resolution referred Darfur’s conflict to the ICC in early 2005, the first such referral.
Sudan has signed but not ratified the treaty which formed the ICC. The ICC cannot indict nationals who have been given free and fair trials in their own countries.
The ICC, the world’s first permanent war crimes court, started work in 2002 and is now supported by 104 nations, although still not by Russia, China and the United States.
It has one suspect in its custody, Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga, who is accused of recruiting child soldiers.
But a further five warrants issued in 2005 for leaders of Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army have failed to yield arrests.
(Reuters)
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
UN condemns detention of Darfur staff
News Article by AFP posted on May 01, 2007 at 21:24:18: EST (-5 GMT)
KHARTOUM, May 1, 2007 (AFP) - The United Nations on Tuesday condemned the detention of six of its aid workers in the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan and warned that such acts endangered its humanitarian operations.
UN humanitarian coordinator Manuel Aranda da Silva said he "strongly condemns the temporary abduction of six staff members" of the UNHCR relief agency and seizure of its vehicles on Monday in Um Shalaya area of West Darfur.
The unidentified gunmen who kidnapped the UN workers, whose nationalities were not given, abandoned them in the desert. They were located after a search operation led by African Union peacekeepers, the UN mission in Sudan said.
The staffers, who were on a routine mission to a refugee camp at the time of their kidnapping, were located unharmed in Saraf Omra, east of Geneina, near the border between West Darfur and North Darfur states.
Da Silva, in a statement, expressed "grave concern over the repeated attacks on humanitarian personnel and assets that put at risk the ongoing humanitarian efforts to assist millions of people in Darfur."
Attacks on aid workers are common in Darfur, a vast region of western Sudan where international organisations say at least 200,000 people have been killed and two million displaced by four years of civil war.
Khartoum disputes the figures as exaggerated.
KHARTOUM, May 1, 2007 (AFP) - The United Nations on Tuesday condemned the detention of six of its aid workers in the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan and warned that such acts endangered its humanitarian operations.
UN humanitarian coordinator Manuel Aranda da Silva said he "strongly condemns the temporary abduction of six staff members" of the UNHCR relief agency and seizure of its vehicles on Monday in Um Shalaya area of West Darfur.
The unidentified gunmen who kidnapped the UN workers, whose nationalities were not given, abandoned them in the desert. They were located after a search operation led by African Union peacekeepers, the UN mission in Sudan said.
The staffers, who were on a routine mission to a refugee camp at the time of their kidnapping, were located unharmed in Saraf Omra, east of Geneina, near the border between West Darfur and North Darfur states.
Da Silva, in a statement, expressed "grave concern over the repeated attacks on humanitarian personnel and assets that put at risk the ongoing humanitarian efforts to assist millions of people in Darfur."
Attacks on aid workers are common in Darfur, a vast region of western Sudan where international organisations say at least 200,000 people have been killed and two million displaced by four years of civil war.
Khartoum disputes the figures as exaggerated.
S.Sudan government says Darfur talks unlikely before July
News Article by REUTERS posted on May 01, 2007 at 21:26:24: EST (-5 GMT)
JUBA, Sudan, May 1 (Reuters) - Efforts to bring Darfur rebel
groups to southern Sudan for peace talks with the Khartoum
government could take up to three months, an official in charge
of organising the possible negotiations said on Tuesday.
The semi-autonomous Government of Southern Sudan, which
emerged after a 2005 peace deal that ended 21 years of civil war
with the north, has set up a "task force" to contact the rebel
groups and bring them to talks in the south.
Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol told the BBC on Monday
the government hoped to meet the rebels in May in Juba, where
the southern government, headed by Salva Kiir, is based.
But the secretary of the "task force" Achier Deng Akol said
his commission has yet to contact any group, adding it may take
until July to bring them all together.
"The president (Kiir) expects us to implement our mission in
a space of two to three months, so in July if all goes well," he
told Reuters about the conference. He said funding was the
biggest challenge facing his committee.
Only one main rebel group, a faction of the Sudan Liberation
Movement, signed a 2006 peace deal with the government. The
agreement, however, has failed to stop the violence in Darfur.
The United Nations says some 200,000 people have died and
more than 2 million people displaced in Darfur since the
conflict flared in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the
government, charging it with neglect.
Analysts say the fragmentations and divisions among the many
Darfur rebel groups, along with the attacks of government forces
have hindered the prospects of peace talks despite multiple
initiatives by several parties, including neighbouring Eritrea.
The Sudanese armed forces vowed on Monday to "crush" an
alliance of Darfur rebels for killing a pilot whose helicopter
gunship, according to the army, had landed in north Darfur after
a technical failure.
The rebels say they brought down the government aircraft
while it was attacking their site during unity talks. The rebels
said they have also captured another officer.
A delegation from one rebel group, a faction of the Sudan
Liberation Movement, arrived in Juba without an invitation and
discussed the new initiative with the southern government.
The SLM delegation said on Tuesday the initiative was
positive but did not confirm the group would attend the talks.
The United States and Britain have threatened to bring
unspecified United Nations sanctions against the central
Sudanese government for rejecting the deployment of a large U.N.
force to stop the violence in Sudan's remote western region.
But southern Sudanese government, dominated by the former
rebel group Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), said on
Tuesday mechanisms should be found to exempt the south and its
booming oil industry from any possible sanctions.
"We only hope that the Government of Southern Sudan be
exempted from sanctions ... we are not directly involved in what
is happening (in Darfur)," said Martin Yak, the director of the
office of the president of southern Sudan.
The economy of southern Sudan is dependent on oil revenues
administered by the Khartoum-based government of national unity.
The oil is exported through Port Sudan in the north.
"If it is blocked it affects the Government of Southern
Sudan, so there must be a mechanism by which these sanctions are
formed," Yak added.
JUBA, Sudan, May 1 (Reuters) - Efforts to bring Darfur rebel
groups to southern Sudan for peace talks with the Khartoum
government could take up to three months, an official in charge
of organising the possible negotiations said on Tuesday.
The semi-autonomous Government of Southern Sudan, which
emerged after a 2005 peace deal that ended 21 years of civil war
with the north, has set up a "task force" to contact the rebel
groups and bring them to talks in the south.
Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol told the BBC on Monday
the government hoped to meet the rebels in May in Juba, where
the southern government, headed by Salva Kiir, is based.
But the secretary of the "task force" Achier Deng Akol said
his commission has yet to contact any group, adding it may take
until July to bring them all together.
"The president (Kiir) expects us to implement our mission in
a space of two to three months, so in July if all goes well," he
told Reuters about the conference. He said funding was the
biggest challenge facing his committee.
Only one main rebel group, a faction of the Sudan Liberation
Movement, signed a 2006 peace deal with the government. The
agreement, however, has failed to stop the violence in Darfur.
The United Nations says some 200,000 people have died and
more than 2 million people displaced in Darfur since the
conflict flared in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the
government, charging it with neglect.
Analysts say the fragmentations and divisions among the many
Darfur rebel groups, along with the attacks of government forces
have hindered the prospects of peace talks despite multiple
initiatives by several parties, including neighbouring Eritrea.
The Sudanese armed forces vowed on Monday to "crush" an
alliance of Darfur rebels for killing a pilot whose helicopter
gunship, according to the army, had landed in north Darfur after
a technical failure.
The rebels say they brought down the government aircraft
while it was attacking their site during unity talks. The rebels
said they have also captured another officer.
A delegation from one rebel group, a faction of the Sudan
Liberation Movement, arrived in Juba without an invitation and
discussed the new initiative with the southern government.
The SLM delegation said on Tuesday the initiative was
positive but did not confirm the group would attend the talks.
The United States and Britain have threatened to bring
unspecified United Nations sanctions against the central
Sudanese government for rejecting the deployment of a large U.N.
force to stop the violence in Sudan's remote western region.
But southern Sudanese government, dominated by the former
rebel group Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), said on
Tuesday mechanisms should be found to exempt the south and its
booming oil industry from any possible sanctions.
"We only hope that the Government of Southern Sudan be
exempted from sanctions ... we are not directly involved in what
is happening (in Darfur)," said Martin Yak, the director of the
office of the president of southern Sudan.
The economy of southern Sudan is dependent on oil revenues
administered by the Khartoum-based government of national unity.
The oil is exported through Port Sudan in the north.
"If it is blocked it affects the Government of Southern
Sudan, so there must be a mechanism by which these sanctions are
formed," Yak added.
Media blitz to force Sudan divestment launched in USA
News Article by AFP posted on May 01, 2007 at 21:27:42: EST (-5 GMT)
WASHINGTON, May 1, 2007 (AFP) - Activists including US actress Mia Farrow launched on Tuesday a campaign to force Fidelity and Berkshire Hathaway to withdraw investments from Sudan over a humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
Farrow said she urged Fidelity Investments to divest, but the company took no responsibility for the mass killings in Darfur.
"I take responsibility as to what happens to my money," she said in a telephone conference call and added that she, like many people, had a retirement fund with Fidelity.
"I would beg everybody to do as I did: move your money out of Fidelity."
The campaign was launched by the Save Darfur Coalition, the Sudan Divestment Task force, by Fidelity out of Sudan and by the NAACP, the oldest and largest African-American civil rights group.
They plan a media blitz to sway shareholders as they gather for their annual meetings in Boston, Massachusetts, where Fidelity is located, and Omaha, Nebraska, home of Berkshire Hathaway.
The divestment coalition released what it said was part of Fidelity Investment's response to the groups' request to divest.
"Fidelity portfolio managers make their investment decisions based on business and financial considerations," the statement said.
Farrow, a UN goodwill ambassador, and several hundred others on Monday picketed outside the White House as part of a global day of action in 35 world capitals for the troubled Sudanese region on the fourth anniversary of the civil war there.
The conflict has cost 200,000 lives and forced two million people from their homes, according to the United Nations, though Khartoum contests those estimates, saying 9,000 people have died.
The coalition said it got a better reception from Berkshire Hathaway, whose chief officer, Warren Buffet, is a philanthropist. He sent tickets to members of the coalitions to attend the upcoming annual stockholders' meeting and discuss the issue there.
David Rubenstein, of the Save Darfur Coalition, said that Sudan has in the past been susceptible to foreign investment pressures.
He said the success of the divestment "really depends on what Fidelity and Berkshire Hathaway choose to do."
The campaign's pressure point is a Chinese oil company, PetroChina, because 70 to 80 percent of Sudan government oil receipts go to arming the Janjaweed militias, said the groups.
The militias are responsible for the mass killings, according to foreign governments and the United Nations.
Fidelity is the largest single investor in PetroChina, when counting only its shares on the New York Stock Exchange, the coalition said.
WASHINGTON, May 1, 2007 (AFP) - Activists including US actress Mia Farrow launched on Tuesday a campaign to force Fidelity and Berkshire Hathaway to withdraw investments from Sudan over a humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
Farrow said she urged Fidelity Investments to divest, but the company took no responsibility for the mass killings in Darfur.
"I take responsibility as to what happens to my money," she said in a telephone conference call and added that she, like many people, had a retirement fund with Fidelity.
"I would beg everybody to do as I did: move your money out of Fidelity."
The campaign was launched by the Save Darfur Coalition, the Sudan Divestment Task force, by Fidelity out of Sudan and by the NAACP, the oldest and largest African-American civil rights group.
They plan a media blitz to sway shareholders as they gather for their annual meetings in Boston, Massachusetts, where Fidelity is located, and Omaha, Nebraska, home of Berkshire Hathaway.
The divestment coalition released what it said was part of Fidelity Investment's response to the groups' request to divest.
"Fidelity portfolio managers make their investment decisions based on business and financial considerations," the statement said.
Farrow, a UN goodwill ambassador, and several hundred others on Monday picketed outside the White House as part of a global day of action in 35 world capitals for the troubled Sudanese region on the fourth anniversary of the civil war there.
The conflict has cost 200,000 lives and forced two million people from their homes, according to the United Nations, though Khartoum contests those estimates, saying 9,000 people have died.
The coalition said it got a better reception from Berkshire Hathaway, whose chief officer, Warren Buffet, is a philanthropist. He sent tickets to members of the coalitions to attend the upcoming annual stockholders' meeting and discuss the issue there.
David Rubenstein, of the Save Darfur Coalition, said that Sudan has in the past been susceptible to foreign investment pressures.
He said the success of the divestment "really depends on what Fidelity and Berkshire Hathaway choose to do."
The campaign's pressure point is a Chinese oil company, PetroChina, because 70 to 80 percent of Sudan government oil receipts go to arming the Janjaweed militias, said the groups.
The militias are responsible for the mass killings, according to foreign governments and the United Nations.
Fidelity is the largest single investor in PetroChina, when counting only its shares on the New York Stock Exchange, the coalition said.
Ford halts Land Rover sales in Sudan after SEC probes reports of use by military organizations
News Article by AP posted on May 01, 2007 at 21:28:42: EST (-5 GMT)
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) -- Ford Motor Co.'s Land Rover vehicles are
no longer being sold in Sudan after the Securities and Exchange
Commission asked the company about reports that some Land Rovers
may have been used by military or paramilitary organizations the
African nation.
The SEC on Tuesday released a letter dated Jan. 5 from Don
Leclair, Ford's chief financial officer, who was responding to a
Dec. 15 letter of inquiry from Cecilia D. Blye, chief of the SEC's
Office of Global Security Risk.
An SEC spokesman said such correspondences are not released to
the public for at least 45 days, following the completion of their
review by the agency.
Leclair's letter says the company's Land Rover subsidiary had
reached an agreement "in recent months" with its United
Kingdom-based distributor that handles all sales to Sudan "that no
further sales of Land Rover vehicles will be made into Sudan for
any purpose."
"Any such sales were lawful," he wrote, and the distributor
advised Ford "that the bulk of the small sales volume in Sudan had
been directed to the Ministry of the Interior for humanitarian
purposes and that other governmental sales had been largely for
agricultural development purposes."
Leclair's letter was in response to the letter from Blye that
says, in part, the SEC is "aware of published reports alleging
links between Sudan's Ministry of Interior and activities of the
Janjaweed militia in Darfur. We also are aware of published reports
that the Janjaweed and Sudanese military forces use machine
gun-mounted Land Rovers" during incursions against civilians in
Darfur, a region in western Sudan.
Blye asked Leclair to address the potential affect that such
reports could have on Ford's reputation and share value.
"These reports have not had a material impact on our reputation
or share value," he replied, noting that despite news reports and
public SEC filings on the matter, "we did not receive any
significant inquiries from our investors or the general public."
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) -- Ford Motor Co.'s Land Rover vehicles are
no longer being sold in Sudan after the Securities and Exchange
Commission asked the company about reports that some Land Rovers
may have been used by military or paramilitary organizations the
African nation.
The SEC on Tuesday released a letter dated Jan. 5 from Don
Leclair, Ford's chief financial officer, who was responding to a
Dec. 15 letter of inquiry from Cecilia D. Blye, chief of the SEC's
Office of Global Security Risk.
An SEC spokesman said such correspondences are not released to
the public for at least 45 days, following the completion of their
review by the agency.
Leclair's letter says the company's Land Rover subsidiary had
reached an agreement "in recent months" with its United
Kingdom-based distributor that handles all sales to Sudan "that no
further sales of Land Rover vehicles will be made into Sudan for
any purpose."
"Any such sales were lawful," he wrote, and the distributor
advised Ford "that the bulk of the small sales volume in Sudan had
been directed to the Ministry of the Interior for humanitarian
purposes and that other governmental sales had been largely for
agricultural development purposes."
Leclair's letter was in response to the letter from Blye that
says, in part, the SEC is "aware of published reports alleging
links between Sudan's Ministry of Interior and activities of the
Janjaweed militia in Darfur. We also are aware of published reports
that the Janjaweed and Sudanese military forces use machine
gun-mounted Land Rovers" during incursions against civilians in
Darfur, a region in western Sudan.
Blye asked Leclair to address the potential affect that such
reports could have on Ford's reputation and share value.
"These reports have not had a material impact on our reputation
or share value," he replied, noting that despite news reports and
public SEC filings on the matter, "we did not receive any
significant inquiries from our investors or the general public."
"If a man in Darfur is killed, he is just as dead as an Englishman who is murdered"
Thousands call for end to Darfur bloodshed
VICKY SHAW - The Scotsman
ABOUT 3,500 campaigners gathered around a huge "blood-filled" hourglass opposite Downing Street yesterday to mark the fourth anniversary of the Darfur conflict.
Politicians and celebrities also backed calls for civilian protection, in what organisers of the London protest said was their largest and most successful Global Day for Darfur.
A letter to Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, pleading for action was handed in to Gareth Thomas, the international development minister, as part of the day of action.
More than 200,000 people are estimated to have died in the bloodshed. Campaigners held aloft red egg-timers during a minute's silence and chanted, cheered and clapped during speeches.
The letter read: "Time is running out for the people of Darfur, and we urge you to keep the pressure on the government of Sudan until there is an effective peace-keeping force on the ground protecting civilians."
Celebrity pleas to governments to take action came from Hugh Grant, George Clooney, Sir Elton John and Mick Jagger, Sir Bob Geldof,
Mark Knopfler, the actresses Thandie Newton and Mia Farrow, the broadcaster Mariella Frostrup and Blur star Alex James.
Ismael Jarbo, a Darfur survivor, told the gathering: "Genocide is going on today, so we need to do something now." He called for the international community to act, possibly with military intervention.
Campaigners had placards bearing phrases such as "No more excuses" and "Protect the people of Darfur". Martin Stern, 68, a survivor of the Holocaust, took part in a march from the Cambridge area to London, to speak at yesterday's event. He walked the first and last legs of the journey, which began last Thursday, with Darfur survivors and students.
Mr Stern, of Leicester, told the gathering: "If a man in Darfur is killed, he is just as dead as an Englishman who is murdered; his family is just as bereaved."
The Darfur conflict has led to 16 unenforced United Nations resolutions, and provoked 60 statements of concern from the European Union but, according to campaigners, "zero action".
Kate Allen, the Amnesty International UK director, said: "It's vital that the UK government takes a much stronger lead in securing an effective peacekeeping force."
VICKY SHAW - The Scotsman
ABOUT 3,500 campaigners gathered around a huge "blood-filled" hourglass opposite Downing Street yesterday to mark the fourth anniversary of the Darfur conflict.
Politicians and celebrities also backed calls for civilian protection, in what organisers of the London protest said was their largest and most successful Global Day for Darfur.
A letter to Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, pleading for action was handed in to Gareth Thomas, the international development minister, as part of the day of action.
More than 200,000 people are estimated to have died in the bloodshed. Campaigners held aloft red egg-timers during a minute's silence and chanted, cheered and clapped during speeches.
The letter read: "Time is running out for the people of Darfur, and we urge you to keep the pressure on the government of Sudan until there is an effective peace-keeping force on the ground protecting civilians."
Celebrity pleas to governments to take action came from Hugh Grant, George Clooney, Sir Elton John and Mick Jagger, Sir Bob Geldof,
Mark Knopfler, the actresses Thandie Newton and Mia Farrow, the broadcaster Mariella Frostrup and Blur star Alex James.
Ismael Jarbo, a Darfur survivor, told the gathering: "Genocide is going on today, so we need to do something now." He called for the international community to act, possibly with military intervention.
Campaigners had placards bearing phrases such as "No more excuses" and "Protect the people of Darfur". Martin Stern, 68, a survivor of the Holocaust, took part in a march from the Cambridge area to London, to speak at yesterday's event. He walked the first and last legs of the journey, which began last Thursday, with Darfur survivors and students.
Mr Stern, of Leicester, told the gathering: "If a man in Darfur is killed, he is just as dead as an Englishman who is murdered; his family is just as bereaved."
The Darfur conflict has led to 16 unenforced United Nations resolutions, and provoked 60 statements of concern from the European Union but, according to campaigners, "zero action".
Kate Allen, the Amnesty International UK director, said: "It's vital that the UK government takes a much stronger lead in securing an effective peacekeeping force."
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