For Darfur, Accountability Before Peace

Accountability for perpetrators and reparations for victims in Sudan's Darfur region are critical components missing from U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's proposed solutions to the crisis ["What I Saw in Darfur; Untangling the Knots of a Complex Crisis," op-ed, Sept. 14].

While atrocities have been committed in the context of scarce resources, including water, these are certainly not the primary cause of the genocidal campaign waged by the Khartoum regime, which Mr. Ban failed to mention. Raed more >>>>>>>

ICC prosecutor urges arrest of Sudan war crimes suspects

[JURIST] International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo [official profile] is pushing world leaders to place the prosecution of war crimes in the Darfur region of Sudan on top of the agenda [press release] at a UN meeting on Darfur taking place Friday. In a press briefing before the meeting, Moreno-Ocampo said that peace in Sudan is impossible if alleged war criminals remain free, including Sudanese Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs Ahmed Muhammad Harun [Trial Watch profile], who faces charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Last month, Moreno-Ocampo criticized Sudan [JURIST report] for allowing Harun to remain the humanitarian minister and failing to arrest Harun after international authorities issued an arrest warrant [arrest warrant, PDF] earlier this year. Sudanese Ambassador to the UN Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad has said that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir refuses to surrender any Sudanese citizens for prosecution in foreign courts, claiming that Sudan must prosecute any criminals if necessary. Moreno-Ocampo has previously threatened to report [JURIST report] Sudan's failure to arrest war crimes suspects to the UN Security Council [official website]. Raed more >>>>>>>>>>>

Globe for Darfur IV: Please sign the petition

Please sign in the following link to demand that the government of Sudan and it's jajaweed militias halt attacks against civilians and humanitarian agencies.


http://www.globefordarfur.org/act_now/index.php

Darfur: Civilians Under Attack in Scramble for Darfur

As the United Nations and African Union prepare to deploy the world's largest-ever peacekeeping mission to Darfur, Sudanese government forces, allied "Janjaweed" militia, rebels and former rebels have free rein to attack civilians and humanitarian workers in Darfur, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

The situation in Darfur has evolved from an armed conflict between rebels and the government into a violent scramble for power and resources involving government forces, Janjaweed militia, rebels and former rebels, and bandits. But these complexities should not deflect attention from Khartoum's responsibility for indiscriminate aerial and ground attacks, complicity in Janjaweed attacks against civilians, failure to hold rights abusers accountable, and its unwillingness to establish a policing force that can protect civilians.

"The new peacekeeping mission in Darfur will need the resources and political support to protect civilians," said Peter Takirambudde, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Targeted sanctions should be imposed on Sudan if it obstructs peacekeepers and allows attacks on civilians." Read more >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

ICC prosecutor presses for arrest of Darfur war crimes suspects

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — The International Criminal Court's prosecutor on Thursday urged the world community to back efforts to arrest two Sudanese officials wanted for alleged war crimes in Darfur.

Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo made the remarks on the eve of a high-level meeting here that will bring together key players in a joint UN-African Union drive to end more than four years of bloodshed in Darfur.

"Justice in Darfur must be on the agenda (of that meeting)," he told reporters here. "The international community has to be consistent in its support of the law".

He said Friday's meeting must be an opportunity to remind Sudan's government of "its responsibility to arrest" war crimes suspect Ahmed Haroun, Sudan's secretary of state for humanitarian affairs.

Last May, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Haroun and pro-government Janjaweed militia leader Ali Kosheib, but Sudan has refused to hand them over.

The two officials face a list of 42 and 50 charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes respectively.

"I'm concerned that silence by ... the international community on the arrest warrants has been understood in Khartoum as a weakening of international resolve in support of the law," Ocampo said. "There can be no political solution as long as Haroun remains free". Read more >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Globe for Darfur IV: Please sign the petition

Please sign the petition in the following link to demand that Sudanese government and janjaweed militias halt attacks on against civilians and humanitarian agencies:

[URL]http://www.globefordarfur.org/act_now/signup.php[/URL

UN: Europe Slow to Contribute to Darfur Peacekeeping Force

The head of U.N. peacekeeping operations says European nations have been slow to offer support for a joint U.N.-African Union police force for Sudan's Darfur region.

In an interview published Wednesday in the French newspaper Le Monde, Jean-Marie Guehenno says the United Nations will have trouble meeting targets for an estimated 6,000-strong police force.

He says the Nordic countries are ready to commit, but he says he still does not have concrete proposals from other nations for high-level engineering units to dig wells or provide transportation systems.

Guehenno says he is most worried that the joint force will not have enough trucks, helicopters and transport equipment to police the region. Read more >>>>>>

Thousands more flee violence in Darfur

Violence in Sudan's remote western region of Darfur has forced nearly a quarter of a million people to flee their homes this year, increasing the pressure on the humanitarian effort, the United Nations said in a report.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also expressed concern over worsening security conditions in Darfur.

"Over 240,000 people have been newly displaced or re-displaced during 2007," according to the report prepared by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in collaboration with partner UN agencies and NGOs. Thousands of people were fleeing their homes each week, the report added.

It came as the Sudanese government and Darfur rebels prepare for peace talks next month aimed at ending more than four years of conflict that has claimed an estimated 200,000 lives and displaced some two million people from their homes. Follow the story >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Recent Surge in Darfur Violence Threatens Peace Talks, Says Sec-General

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today expressed deep concern at the recent surge in fighting across the war-torn Darfur region in Sudan, warning that it jeopardizes the chances of success of the peace talks being held next month to try to end the conflict.

"The Secretary-General strongly urges all parties to show restraint and cease all military action in order to create a positive atmosphere for the envisaged political negotiations," his spokesperson said in a statement. Read more >>>>>

Hundreds Join Darfur Protest

By: Justin Cohen,

Hundreds of Jewish community members of all ages joined other demonstrators opposite Downing Street last weekend to call for action to end the four-year long conflict in Darfur.

With more than 200,000 having already died and millions more displaced in the crisis, activists marched from the Sudanese Embassy to Number 10 as part of a Global Day for Darfur which saw events in more than 30 countries. Read more >>>>>>>>>>>>>

Civilians still abused with impunity in Darfur, says UN

Civilians are still murdered and women sexually violated in Darfur, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said Monday accusing the Sudanese Government of inaction.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said: "Human rights violations seemed to be continuing of the same nature and practically on the same scale," Louise Arbour.

Darfur was still a matter of "grave preoccupation." After four-and a-half-years of conflict in the west of Sudan, she said there had seemed to have been "very little progress on national efforts on the ground to combat the culture of impunity." Read more >>>>

Be prepared for betrayal, UN Darfur force warned

The former commander of the failed UN peacekeeping force in Rwanda yesterday warned the newly appointed head of a similar force in Darfur that he faced "long odds" against success and predicted he would be betrayed by the very officials and governments meant to be backing the mission.
In an open letter Roméo Dallaire, now a Canadian senator, advised Martin Agwai, the Nigerian general given the task of stopping the bloodshed in Darfur, to demand a clear chain of command, a broad mandate, proper resources and a rapid deployment. He also cautioned him to watch his back. Read more >>>>>>>>>>>>>

U.N. says violence increasing in Darfur camps

By Simon Apiku

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Violence is increasing in camps for displaced people in Darfur, where nearly a quarter million people have been displaced so far this year, a U.N. report said on Monday.

The United Nations said rising violence in the overcrowded camps of the remote region of western Sudan was making it harder to carry out humanitarian aid work to help the thousands of newcomers arriving each week.

"Over 240,000 people have been newly displaced or re-displaced during 2007," the U.N. report said. "In many IDP (internally displaced people) camps, armed elements are present, and violent incidents are increasing."

"During August, humanitarian activities had to be suspended in several camps due to insecurity," the report added.

More than four years of ethnic and political conflict in Darfur has left 200,000 dead and driven another 2.5 million from their homes, international experts say. Khartoum says that is an exaggeration, and puts the death toll at 9,000. Read more >>>>

Desmond Tutu to head peace mission by world leaders to Sudan

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) - A council of peacemaking world leaders and Nobel laureates launched by former president Nelson Mandela is taking up Darfur as its first mission, with a trip to Sudan planned later this month, the organization said Monday.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who chairs the group known as The Elders, will lead a delegation that will include former U.S. president Jimmy Carter; Mandela's wife Graca Machel, a long time campaigner for children's rights; and Lakhdar Brahimi, a former United Nations envoy to Iraq. Mandela will not be part of the mission.

"We want the suffering to end - and we hope to contribute to that," Tutu said in a statement.

More than 200,000 people have died in Darfur and 2.5 million have been displaced in four years of fighting between rebel groups and government-backed militias. Read more >>>>>>>>>>>

First picture of Darfur war crime suspect wanted by ICC

By Wasil Ali

(KHARTOUM) — The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) issued “Red Notice” for the arrest of a Sudanese militia leader accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of war crimes.

Ali KushaybThe Interpol issued the notice requesting the arrest Ali Mohamed Ali Abdel-Rahman, also know as Ali Kushayb on its website yesterday.

The judges of the ICC issued their first arrest warrants for suspects accused of war crimes in Sudan’s Darfur region in early May.

The warrants were issued for Ahmed Haroun, state minister for humanitarian affairs, and militia commander Ali Kushayb. Sudan has so far rejected handing over the two suspects. Read more >>>>>>>>>>>

DARFUR CRISIS

Hundreds of thousands of people have died and millions more have been displaced since the start of the conflict in Darfur in 2003.

A man weeps on returning to find his home in the village of Nami, north Darfur, burned down. Adam Saleh said janjaweed militia rode in and shot dead 10 villagers, forcing the ret to flee.

Campaigners demand action on Darfur

Hundreds of demonstrators marched through London to call for immediate action to end the conflict in Darfur.
The rally was part of a Global Day for Darfur, which saw events taking place in more than 30 countries around the world, as campaigners called for their governments to step up to their responsibilities in the war-torn region.
In London, protesters marched from the Sudanese embassy near St James's Park to Downing Street, waving placards bearing the slogans: "Darfur: Don't Look Away" and "Protest Darfur".
More than two million people have been displaced since Janjaweed militias - allegedly backed by the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum - started reprisals against ethnic African rebels in Darfur.
According to the UN, up to 200,000 people have died from starvation, disease and killings since 2003. Read more >>>>>>>>>>

Global Day for Darfur IV

Please join milions around the globe to tell the UN General Assembly that it should not look away now and demand for swift deployment of AU-UN hybrid peacekeeping force for civilian protection. Please do not forget to sign in the follwoing link:

http://www.globefordarfur.org/act_now/index.php

The Genocide Games

An international outcry over Beijing's hosting of the 2008 Olympic Games has grown steadily louder in recent months. How, it is being asked, can the premier event in international sports be hosted by a nation complicit in the most heinous international crimes? The Chinese regime is guilty of perpetrating the ongoing destruction of Tibet, supporting the vicious Myanmar junta, engaging in gross domestic human rights abuses, and, perhaps worst of all, facilitating genocide in Darfur.

Despite the controversy, President Bush announced last week that he will attend the Games. It's an unprecedented move--apparently no American president has ever attended an Olympic Games held abroad--and China's human rights violations make Bush's decision seem all the more unwarranted. But perhaps he'll be able to shield himself from criticism next summer by sharing a view of the Games with Steven Spielberg, who agreed in March to serve as an artistic consultant for the opening and closing ceremonies. Read more >>>>>>>>>

Justice for Darfur

Those of you who know me know I’m much of a believer. I think I’ve even been called a self-hating Jew on this very forum. But I must say that the time between Rosh Hashanah and Kippur serves a purpose of quiet contemplation in my life. It’s a time for me to come to an understanding with my conscience. This does not only mean introspection, but also a deep reassessment of my place in the grand scheme of things in the universe.

This year, again, I find that I live in a world I sometimes don’t like or understand. The mass killing in Darfur is a stain on the conscience of the world, a world that has turned its head for too long.

I write to you today full of rage but also of hope.

This Sunday, as part of the project 24 hours for Darfur, we will be screening video messages across from the UN headquarters in New York. Please check out the video project and sign the petition. Read more >>>>>>>>>>>>