Mia Farrow's Writings, Photos and Information on the Growing Crisis in Darfur (Sudan), Chad and Central African Republic (CAR)

Associated Press

N'DJAMENA, Chad: Sudan's president, who faced charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, traveled to neighboring, Chad on Wednesday, the first time he has risked arrest by traveling to a member state of the International Criminal Court.

Omar al-Bashir has traveled abroad only to countries that are not ICC members since he was first charged in connection with violence in Sudan's Darfur region in 2009. The ICC has no police force and depends on member states to enforce its orders.

Chadian officials said they would not detain al-Bashir.

"Bashir will not be arrested in Chad," said Chadian Interior Minister Ahmat Mahamat Bachir.

The mayor of N'djamena also gave the president a warm welcome by presenting him with a key to the city upon his arrival.

Sudan's government spokesman, Rabie Abdel Attie, said Sudan-Chad relations were more important than the fact Chad is a party to the ICC."I don't think Chad will do anything to harm the president. There is an agreement to end hostilities," he said.

Human Rights Watch urged Chad to arrest al-Bashir. "Chad risks the shameful distinction of being the first ICC member state to harbor a suspected war criminal from the court," said HRW's Elise Keppler. "Chad should not flout its obligations to arrest al-Bashir if he enters Chad."

Chad is a member state to the Rome Statute that created the ICC in 1998. The ICC has no police force and depends on member states to enforce its orders. Keppler said the political deal between Chad and Sudan was "no justification for shielding alleged war criminals."

Radio Dabanga

Radio Dabangahas become an important source for information from Darfur's camps for the displaced and for refugees.

ICC wording

The International Criminal Court accuses Al Bashir of "genocide by killing, genocide by causing serious bodily or mental harm and genocide by deliberately inflicting on each target group conditions of life calculated to bring about the group's physical destruction".

"This second arrest warrant does not replace or revoke in any respect the first warrant of arrest," The Hague-based court said.

GENOCIDE

Perpetrator, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir

Darfur warrant for Sudan's Bashir: ICC adds genocide

The International Criminal Court has finally issued a second arrest warrant for Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir - this time for charges of genocide. He already faces charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

It has long been obvious that his crimes against the people of Darfur meet the definition of genocide.
Any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, such as:

(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Bombs kill at least 64 in Kampala

Three synchronized explosions tore through two restaurants and a rugby club in Kampala, Uganda's Capitol killing at least 64 people who were watching Sundays soccer match. with about 10 minutes remaining in Sunday night's match. According to the BBC, at both scenes chairs lay overturned, with blood and pieces of flesh on the floor

Many - if not most - of those killed and injured in the restaurants and were foreign nationals. One was an American aid worker from California. The crowd at the rugby club was a mix of Ugandans and foreigners.

There were reports that a severed head was found at one of the scenes, leading investigators to suggest that the attacks could have been the work of suicide bombers. Somalia's militant group al-Shabab could be behind Sunday evening's attacks. In particular, the attack on the Ethiopian-owned restaurant raised suspicions of al-Shabab involvement: Addis Ababa backs Somalia's government against the rebels.

Somali militants have been involved in terror attacks across East Africa in the past, but - if proven - this would be the first time the current group has struck outside Somalia.

In Mogadishu, a militant commander Sheik Yusuf Sheik Issa reported he was "happy" with the attacks in Uganda. While he would not confirm or deny that al-Shabab was responsible he told the Associated Press "Uganda is one of our enemies. Whatever makes them cry, makes us happy. May Allah's anger be upon those who are against us."

My UNICEF trip to Uganda has long been scheduled for tomorrow. We have not canceled it. From Kampala I will be flying to northern Uganda to visit villagers who have been attacked by the Lords Resistance Army. I will try to blog from there

Message from the refugees

Darfuri refugees in the Chadian camps say "security" continues to be the major concern. They say they cannot feel safe because of daily harassment by the Sudanese government's spies, Janjaweed and other groups wearing army uniforms. Chadian authorities are incapable or unwilling to provide security. The UN peace keepers, Minurcat, cannot cover all the camps and in any case, Chadian president Deby has ordered them to leave in the fall. This is a result of the recent reconciliation between Deby and Sudanese president Omer Al-Bashir. Sudanese Army Forces, Chadian rebels ( supported by the Sudanese government) and marauders of all kinds can easily enter the camps and they do so on a daily basis.

Now enduring their eighth year in the camps, the refugees are deeply upset that there are no schools beyond fourth or seventh grades for their children.

The refugees express their ongoing distress that the women are being raped when they leave the camps to gather fire wood.

They express concern that the meager rations of food distributed by the UN are insufficient to meet daily needs, particularly those of the children.

Medical treatment remains a real challenge for the refugees. A few organizations including MSF are there but in very limited areas.

Investors against genocide

A new market research study has revealed that 88% of Americans would like their mutual funds to be genocide-free. For those earning $50,000 or more, that percentage climbs to 95%.

This confirmation of overwhelming support for genocide-free investing should be very significant to financial advisers well as to consumers of financial products. Click http://investorsagainstgenocide.net/IAGRequestWhitepaper.htm to check out Investor Against Genocide's "white paper". It highlights the high level of consumer interest in genocide-free investing and the genocide-free options that are now available.

This whitepaper on genocide-free investing includes sections on:
- The growing interest in genocide-free investing
- The market opportunity
- How investments are tied to the genocide in Darfur
- Problem mutual fund companies vs. genocide-free alternatives
- Suggestions for financial advisors

Some highlights of public opinion surveys demonstrate:

84% of respondents say they will withdraw their investments from American companies that do business with companies that directly or indirectly support genocide.
88% would like their mutual funds to be genocide-free.
95% of those earning $50,000 or more would like their mutual funds to be genocide-free.
82% say they would advise friends, family and co-workers against buying products or services, or investing in American companies that invest in a foreign company that directly or indirectly provides revenue to a government that perpetrates genocide.

The white paper details how the investment landscape changed dramatically during the last year as leading mutual fund companies, after engagement with IAG, decided to offer clear, mainstream alternatives for Americans who wish to keep their savings genocide-free. The positive steps taken by American Funds and TIAA-CREF stand in stark contrast to Vanguard, Fidelity, and Franklin Templeton for making no commitment to genocide-free investing and continuing to hold large investments in companies, such as PetroChina, linked to genocide.

TAKE ACTION
There are new ways to support the movement toward genocide-free investing:
If you have a financial adviser, please tell them about the white paper. Consider setting up a meeting to discuss whether genocide-free investment options may be right for you.
Help spread the word via your social media profiles.
If you haven't volunteered to submit a shareholder proposal and you own at least $2,000 worth of a mutual fund that has not yet committed to genocide-free investing, you can now help to force the companies to address this issue.

Alarming news from Kalma Camp. At 90,000, Kalma is one of the most populous camps in Darfur

Displaced persons in Kalma camp suffer from a water problem and say that there is no gasoline to run the water pumps in the camp. Witnesses told Radio Dabanga that crowds of camp residents gather in long lines around the water pumps in the camp. The displaced said that that the expulsion of foreign organizations is what led to this problem.The humanitarian community had provided the gas for the water system of the camp.

Darfur aid workers now being directly targeted

Yesterday, the UN issued a statement, in the name of the humanitarian community in Darfur, declaring that security has been steadily worsening over the last 2 months, with aid workers now being directly targeted.
The statement referred to the repeated kidnapping of aid workers, killing of peacekeepers, vehicle hijackings and banditry. It said that "the steady deterioration of security conditions is not only affecting the population but directly targets the humanitarian community". The statement added that the insecurity has reduced aid activities or completely cut it off in certain cases.

Darfur camps Mershing and Abu Shouk lack food, supplies

Date: 17 Jun 2010
The displaced persons in Mershing camp in South Darfur are suffering from a humanitarian crisis, the residents say. They face an acute food shortage, since food was not distributed for them for a period of sixty days. One of the residents in the camp said they are struggling to get food after the humanitarian organizations halted disbursements of food.

People living in Abu Shouk displaced camp spoke about the deteriorating nutritional situation and poor security. Refugees have gone without food from humanitarian organizations for a period of three months, according to one displaced person who spoke with Radio Dabanga from the camp. He added that there is malnutrition in the camp along with water shortages and a deteriorating health situation. The displaced person speaking with the radio station accused the government of using policies of oppression and starvation in order to break up the camps.
Reporters from Radio Dabanga, based in Chad, provide an outstanding service, transmittiing information to and from Darfur’s refugees and displaced persons. http://www.radiodabanga.org

We will not react

Carnegie Council: The Voice for Ethics in International Affairs, March 4, 2004

KISHORE MAHBUBANI (former UN representative of Singapore):

If you want to look at the future of the Security Council, remember the accountability point, because the Council is in a very peculiar situation today. As its role and importance grow significantly, it is affecting more and more lives on the ground in Asia, Africa, Haiti and Latin America.

Who owns the Council? Who provides its legitimacy? Maybe the best way of understanding this is to understand the core function of the Council.

The work of the Council has been compared to a fire department. The Security Council is supposed to come out and put out the conflicts no matter where they happen. But in practice, the Council’s record is mixed. If it affects Park Avenue, the Security Council reacts. If it doesn’t affect Park Avenue, in some parts of Africa, the Security Council doesn’t react. And these double standards are beginning to be perceived.

The 1994 Rwandan genocide was the lowest point for the Council. We all assume that after the mistake of Rwanda, the Security Council will not fail again.

Unfortunately, I learned one big lesson after visiting Burundi in the Great Lakes region. When we returned to New York, the 15 Security Council members met with Gareth Evans, who asked us a simple question: “You’ve been to Burundi, you’ve seen how fragile the situation is. This time around, if a genocide breaks out in Burundi, what will the Council do?”

There was an awkward silence before one P5 member said, “My country has no vital national interest in Burundi, and we will not react.” A second P5 member said, “My country has no vital national interest in Burundi, so we will not react.” And this went around....

Nick Kristof asks

Has Obama Forgotten Darfur?
By NICHOLAS KRISTOF
Read the entire piece at http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/11/has-obama-forgotten-darfur/
Darfur seems to have been forgotten, but the killings continue. After a lull, the pace of killings has increased lately, with some 600 people killed violently last month alone. As Newsweek notes, that's more than in any month since U.N. peacekeepers arrived.

The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, addressed the Security Council today, giving a blunt report about Darfur:

The entire Darfur region is still a crime scene. The attacks against civilians not participating in the conflict continue.Thousands of civilians were attacked immediately after the signing of a peace agreement and public commitments to peace earlier this year. Rapes continue. The process of extermination against millions displaced in the camps continues. And why not, since the criminals enjoy impunity?

But the Security Council seems mum, frozen, passive, paralyzed. Instead of insisting that Sudan take further action, it shrugs and looks the other way. It used to be that the problem countries on the U.N. Security Council, in terms of getting action on the slaughter in Darfur, were China and Russia. But now the U.S. and Britain seem equally complicit. President Obama, who was one of the leaders on the Darfur issue when he was in the Senate, seems to have forgotten about it as president.

The Security Council on Monday will hear from a range of leaders about South Sudan. But I hope the Council remembers that while the focus must be on preventing war in the south, turning a blind eye to Darfur is not a way to achieve that. Let's hope I'm wrong, but I fear that myopic policies by the Obama administration and its allies may lay the groundwork for a catastrophe in Sudan

Genocide continues in Darfur

The crime of extermination against millions of displaced persons in the camps continues. Last week John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, told the UN Security Council that many areas in Darfur are difficult to access and no one in the Khartoum regime is interested in addressing such issues. "Those are not technical issues resulting from disorganization," he said. "The decision to expel humanitarian organizations and the accumulation of obstacles is a policy of identified Sudanese officials with the aim of committing the crime of extermination."

A fresh wave of attacks in Darfur has resulted in the death of some 600 and sent 100,000 civilians fleeing. Does anyone care?

The U.N. reports nearly 600 people have died in rebel and tribal fighting in Sudan’s Darfur region in May, the bloodiest month in more than two years.

This week, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court told the United Nations Security Council that Sudanese Government-sponsored attacks against civilians continue in Darfur, with thousands of people freshly displaced from their villages and sexual violence against women also widespread, today as he called for tougher action to improve the situation in the war-wracked region.

War crimes are still taking place in Darfur, seven years after fighting between Government forces, allied militiamen known as the Janjaweed and rebel groups first flared.

“In February, immediately after the signing of a peace agreement and public commitments to peace, 100,000 civilians were forcibly displaced by Sudanese armed forces in the Jebel Marra,” he said, referring to a mountainous area of central Darfur. Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said the modus operandi was the same as that used earlier in the conflict – “air bombardments followed by attacks of Sudanese armed forces integrating militia/Janjaweed.” He added that gender crimes “remain unabated.”

Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said that “there is a need for an updated, comprehensive report of the UN Secretariat on the current situations in the camps and the villages. The fragmented information on the rapes and on the obstacles to humanitarian assistance must be put together to allow the international community to consider the current extent of the suffering of the civilians.”

My friend Mairead McGuire approaching Gaza

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHd4uPk-e1c&feature=player_embedded

36,000 people have no clean water

36,000 PEOPLE IN DARFUR CAMP HAVE NO CLEAN WATER

Radio Dabanga <http://www.radiodabanga.org/>
31 May 2010
People in Shamal IDP Camp north of Nertiti in West Darfur suffer from a lack of clean drinking water. According to a source in the camp, which is home to more than 35.000 displaced Darfuris, the camp has only two hand pumps and two gas pumps for drinking water. Hundreds of people stand in long queues at each pump to get drinking water.

This is an outrage

I visited Gaza last year. The imprisonment of a million and a half men women and children is unacceptable. The attack of the flotilla attempting to deliver humanitarian supplies is deplorable

It was evident everywhere I went in Gaza that ‘Operation Cast Lead” the December 2008 Israeli attacks by air, land and sea upon the civilian population, in addition to the three-year blockade of essential supplies has devastated the livelihoods of Gaza's 1.5 million Palestinians. Hospitals, homes and schools were bombed. The children are traumatized.
Three quarters of the people are food insecure

Gaza's agricultural and fishing industries are decimated. Nearly half of agricultural land in Gaza is inaccessible because of the bombing or because the fields are now within the no-go area along the borders with Israel.
Restricted access to fishing grounds has depleted catches and revenues.
The waste treatment facility was bombed and the water is not drinkable. As waste pours into the sea, the odor is overwhelming. Still the fishermen go out in chains of small boats, one pulling the rest because fuel supplies are rationed by Israel. Israeli gun boats are highly visible and audible along the shores, firing off the fishermen’s bows if they go out too far.
Restrictions on imports of building supplies have made reconstructing of most bombed building impossible.
Gaza's population experiences rolling blackouts of up to 12 hours every day.
Complex treatments such as for complex heart surgery and certain types of cancer, are not available in Gaza. Many patients have had their applications for exit permits denied or delayed by Israeli authorities and have have died while waiting for referral. Hospitals and primary care facilities, damaged during operation 'Cast Lead', have not been rebuilt because construction materials are not allowed into Gaza.
Medical staff frequently lack the medical equipment they need and cannot obtain spare parts. The hospital I visited did not have enough incubators and doctors told me they are cut off from the outside word and cannot receive essential training to maintain and update their skills.

300,000 Palestine refugee families are living in conditions of abject poverty, unable to secure access to food and lacking basic items such as soap, school stationary and safe drinking water. This situation is sure to have long term effects on the physical and mental health of the population, especially the children.

U.N. Security Council Statement on Gaza Flotilla
June 1, 2001

The Security Council deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries resulting from the use of force during the Israeli military operation in international waters against the convoy sailing to Gaza. The Council, in this context, condemns those acts which resulted in the loss of at least ten civilians and many wounded, and expresses its condolences to their families.

The Security Council requests the immediate release of the ships as well as the civilians held by Israel. The Council urges Israel to permit full consular access, to allow the countries concerned to retrieve their deceased and wounded immediately, and to ensure the delivery of humanitarian assistance from the convoy to its destination.

The Security Council takes note of the statement of the UN Secretary-General on the need to have a full investigation into the matter and it calls for a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation conforming to international standards.

The Security Council stresses that the situation in Gaza is not sustainable. The Council re-emphasizes the importance of the full implementation of Resolutions 1850 and 1860. In that context, it reiterates its grave concern at the humanitarian situation in Gaza and stresses the need for sustained and regular flow of goods and people to Gaza as well as unimpeded provision and distribution of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza.

This video smuggled out of Umsauna, South Darfur, shows government soldiers beating and torturing children

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zybNoI27nJI&feature=player_embedded#!

Piece I wrote which appears in today's WSJ

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Obama Ignores Sudan's Genocide
African hopes are fading as the U.S. lets President Omar al-Bashir escape justice.

BY MIA FARROW

Last week U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that although he remains supportive of "international efforts" to bring Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to justice, the Obama administration is also pursuing "locally owned accountability and reconciliation mechanisms in light of the recommendations made by the African Union's high-level panel on Darfur."

Mr. Bashir is indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity, but the African Union Panel on Darfur has clearly aligned itself with Khartoum. One panel member, former Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Al Sayed, said in an interview with an Egyptian newspaper, "The prosecution of an African head of state before an international tribunal is totally unacceptable. Our goal was to find a way out."

The African Union panel is led by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, who in 2008 dismissed the ICC indictment, saying that it is "the responsibility of the Sudanese state to act on those matters." Then, late last year his panel proposed a counter initiative to the ICC in the form of a hybrid Sudan-based court with both Arab and African judges to be selected by the African Union.

But all this is moot since Mr. Bashir swiftly rejected Mr. Mbeki's proposal. Perversely, Mr. Gration has now thrown U.S. government support to a tribunal that does not and probably will never exist. Even if it did, the "locally owned accountability" he refers to is not feasible under prevailing political conditions, as any Sudan-based court will be controlled by the perpetrators themselves.

For seven years, the people of Darfur have been pleading for protection and for justice. They do not believe either peace or justice can come while Mr. Bashir-orchestrator of their suffering- remains president of Sudan. Nor do they believe "locally owned accountability" is remotely possible under the current regime.

When Barack Obama was elected president of the United States, hope abounded, even in Darfur's bleak refugee camps. Darfuris believed this son of Africa could understand their suffering, would end the violence that has taken so much from them, and bring Mr. Bashir to justice. The refugees hoped that "Yes we can" was meant for them too. They believed President Obama would bring peace and protection to Darfur and would settle for nothing less than true justice.

I have held new babies named Obama and watched as Darfuris began to dream again. Fatima Haroun, a 24-year-old widow and mother told me the day was surely near when the refugees could leave the filth and hunger of the camps and safely return to the ashes of their villages. First, she said, they would honor their lost loved ones; they would search the ashes for bones, wrap them in best cloths, and bury them with respect. They would gather wood and tall grasses to rebuild their homes, they would sing new songs and prepare their fields for planting. Hunger and terror would go away. Omar al-Bashir would rot in jail.

Such hopes did not last long.
Nearly three million souls are still waiting in wretched camps across Darfur and eastern Chad. Sudanese government bombs are still falling, murderers and rapists still roam free, and the refugees have not felt safe for a very long time. The Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon has expressed concern over increasing levels of violence in Darfur.

In their darkest hours and through losses too grievous to fathom, the world has repeatedly abandoned the people of Darfur. Over more than seven years, two American presidents have used the word "genocide" to describe what was has unfolded there, but they have done little to end it.

It is past time for us to step up and accept our moral obligation to protect a defenseless people. The American people should urge Mr. Gration and the Obama administration to lead a diplomatic offensive to convince the world to isolate Omar alBashir as a fugitive from justice, and to whole-heartedly support the only body offering Darfur's people a measure of authentic justice: the International Criminal Court.

Ms. Farrow has visited Darfur and eastern Chad 13 times since 2004.

United Nations will be rubbing salt in their wounds

May 27 is the inauguration of mass murderer Omar Al Bashir and the UN announced that the head of the UN Mission in Sudan, Haile Menkerios will attend the ceremony. This is an ill-conceived idea which appears to confer legitimacy on a mass murderer and, worse, it is rubbing salt in the wounds of the three million survivors of unimaginable atrocities who are languishing in miserable camps across Darfur and eastern Chad.

It is not surprising that the head of the African Union/UN Mission, Ibrahim Gambari, also plans to be there. The Arab League and African Union have expressed complete solidarity with Al Bashir and given him a warm welcome in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Doha, Libya, Eritrea and Ethiopia. But we expect better of the UN.

Call the UN. Ask to speak to the US Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice. Ask to speak to Ban Ki Moon. Leave messages--on behalf of the people of Darfur.

PRESS CONFERNCE CALLING FOR CHANGE OF COURSE IN SUDAN -Wed, May 5, 10;30 HVC 114 Studio A

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) will call for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice to retake the lead on implementing U.S. policy on Sudan. In addition, he will make several other recommendations, including that the U.S. not recognize the outcome of the recent presidential elections in Sudan.

Wolf, the co-chairman of the bipartisan Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, is widely recognized for his leadership on issues involving Sudan over the last 20 years.

Another LRA massacre. This time 100 villagers slaughtered , more mutilated in Congo

By MICHELLE FAUL (AP) The young woman with the hacked-off lips and stitches where one ear used to be shakes her head when asked why rebels did this to her, then whispers that the attackers who came from across the river were angry because she kept crying for mercy and calling on God for help. Cornelia Yekpalile, a 23-year-old mother of four children, was mutilated 18 days ago when she went to the fields near her village of Kpizimbi, set in dense forest in northeast Congo, to collect spinach-like pondu leaves to cook for lunch.

It's an area so difficult to reach that U.N. officials on Saturday announced a previously unreported massacre that occurred two months ago: up to 100 people were killed when the rebel Lord's Resistance Army attacked a village.
It comes two months after one of the worst massacres recently committed by the LRA, the killings of more than 300 civilians in the area in the second week of December. Rebels also kidnapped more than 250 people including 80 children, according to the U.N.

"In this district, the Lord's Resistance Army has continued to commit horrific atrocities against civilians, who are now displaced with no prospect of going back home any time soon", Holmes said Saturday, on the third day of a four-day tour from his New York headquarters.

The latest attacks highlight the need for the continued presence in Congo of the U.N. military mission, Holmes said. Congo's government wants MONUC — the largest U.N. peacekeeping mission with some 20,000 troops — to leave before September 2011.

"We are worried by the prospect of a premature withdrawal because MONUC is very important to our humanitarian activities," Holmes said in an interview with The Associated Press on Saturday. "If you withdraw that element of stability that is MONUC then other conflicts contained by the presence of MONUC may get out of control and you could find yourself in a much more dangerous situation."
Rwandan rebels who helped perpetrate their countries 1994 genocide, fled across the border continue to attack civilians, killing, burning homes and driving some 1.4 million from their homes.

Carter Center's wimpy comments on Sudan's sham election

Sudanese war criminal Omar al-Bashir in Khartoum is celebrating his presidential 'win'. As the entire world knows, he has retained his seat of power though an election process that was completely fraudulent, with rampant intimidation, vote rigging, manipulation of the census, bribing of tribal leaders and ultimately the boycotting of Al-Bashir's chief opposition parties. The 2.7 million displaced Darfuris living in refugee camps were unable or unwilling to vote at all.
Mr. Bashir threatened to oust the international election observers, saying, "if they interfere in our affairs, we will cut their fingers off, put them under our shoes and throw them out".

Could the image of a pile of bloody fingers be the reason both the European Union and Carter Center observers declared that the elections "fall short of meeting international standards" , but did not openly condemn the sham election? The observers had the opportunity and moral obligation to speak out on behalf of those in Darfur and other parts of Sudan whose voices are not being heard.The Carter Center should go spine shopping.

Al-Bashir is an international pariah, but disgracefully, Egypt,Turkey,Saudi Arabia, Eritrea and Qatar have rolled out the red carpet for this mass murderer

The best way to clear a room in most diplomatic circles is to announce that Omar al-Bashir is arriving.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/world/africa/02sudan.html

Mass Murderer 'wins' election. The killing continues.

Surprising no one, Omar Al Bashir whose election was the opposite of free and fair, is now the first head-of-state to be re-elected while facing an international arrest warrant for war crimes.
Meanwhile, on April 27th 2010 it was business as usual. Al-Bashir's forces bombed Khazzan Wergeniga, a major water reservoir where many civilians had gathered with their livestock. Phone contacts report at least 25 civilians were killed, and many more were wounded. The dead were 8 shepherds, 9 women, and 8 children.

How Sudan Is Backsliding on Benchmarks Crucial to Peace

Why the U.S. Must Bring Pressure to Head Off Full-Scale War
Now, almost six months after the Obama administration’s initial Sudan policy review, which promised an assessment of certain leading indicators of progress – or lack thereof – the Obama administration has yet to deliver its evaluation and recommendations. To that end, an eight-member coalition of Sudan advocacy organizations has released an independent accounting and action plan, entitled "Grading the Benchmarks" <http://www.enoughproject.org/publications/grading-benchmarks>

The Darfur Archives-

If you would like a glimpse into the project I have been working on, click on this link and download my 10 minute film about the Darfur Archives. The download takes about 8 minutes but you will meet the most courageous, generous, beautiful people imaginable. And you will easily understand why this project continues to be such an immense honor and privilege for me. A permanent link to a smaller version will be under videos in the right column of the homepage. The stills and pictures of the artifacts are displayed on the flikr stream
http://rcpt.yousendit.com/857704867/cd617e0498bbc8d1fcf46b7a9834db3f

Will the Obama administration refuse to legitimize the election results and take a firm stance to ensure peace and justice in Sudan

. While the White House acknowledged yesterday that the elections did not meet international standards, it failed to demonstrate that it plans to implement a policy of pressures and consequences to avoid a return to full-scale war and prevent manipulation of the upcoming referendum on southern independence by Khartoum.

hoping it isn't true

As reported by AFP, Khartoum is preparing to launch a major attack on Darfur.
"According to reports from our commanders on ground, an offensive is being prepared against our forces in the north and east of Darfur," JEM (rebel) spokesman Ahmed Hussein Adam told AFP. "Armoured tanks and government troops are moving towards JEM strongholds right at this moment," he added.

Obama Backs Down on Sudan

Nicholas Kristof op-ed http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/opinion/22kristof.html?th&emc=th

NYTIMES U.S. Slams Irregularities In Sudan Election

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House charged on Tuesday that Sudan's national elections were plagued by "serious irregularities" and said it was committed to helping ensure a 2011 referendum on southern Sudanese independence was conducted fairly.

Early results from the election, the oil-producing nation's first in 24 years, suggest President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and his party are headed for a strong win in presidential and parliamentary polls marred by boycotts and alleged fraud. Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague to face charges of war crimes in the Darfur region.

Much of the opposition boycotted the proceedings before voting started, citing irregularities, and observers have already said the elections did not meet international standards.
"Political rights and freedoms were circumscribed throughout the electoral process, there were reports of intimidation and threats of violence in South Sudan, ongoing conflict in Darfur did not permit an environment conducive to acceptable elections, and inadequacies in technical preparations for the vote resulted in serious irregularities," the White House said in a statement.
"The United States regrets that Sudan's National Elections Commission did not do more to prevent and address such problems prior to voting," it said.
Link to article:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/04/20/us/politics/politics-us-sudan-elections-usa.html?_r=1

The people of south Sudan are looking ahead-at their independence. But can it come without further bloodshed?

Decades of civil war waged by Omer al-Bashir and his forces in the north against the people of the south, resulted in the deaths of millions of southerners. There are some 200 tribes in south Sudan, they are Christian and Animist. Peace finally came in 2005. The deal known as the CPA provided for a referendum to take place early next year, at which time the south can vote for their independence. Most of the oil is in the south so no one believes the north, still ruled by Omer al-Bashir will allow the southerners to succeed. I have not spoken to anyone in south Sudan who does not want independence from this brutal and oppressive regime.

There are sorrows that do not fade

Ntarama church where 5000 people were killed

David Mugiraneza age 10
Enjoyed Making people laugh
Dream: Becoming a doctor
Last word "UNAMIR (United Nations Mission in Rwanda) will come for us"
Cause of death: Tortured to death

Yvonne and Yves Mugisha
Yvonne age 3, Daddy's girl
Yves age 5 Mummy's boy
Cause of death: Hacked by machete at Grandma's house

I took the photograph of human skulls at the Ntarama church, the others at the Kigali Memorial. One of the patrons of the Memorial is William Jefferson Clinton who was US president during the 100 day genocide in which as many as a million people were butchered. He did not try to halt the slaughter.

This spare account is displayed on the walls of the Memorial:
There was a lot of talk about "something very big" happening in both the intelligence community and in the national press.
Then on April 6 1994 the Presidents of Rwanda and Burundi were flying into Kigali when at 20:23 the plane was shot down on its approach to Kigali airport.
By 21:15 road blocks had been constructed throughout Kigali and houses were being searched.
Shooting began to be heard within one hour. The death lists had been prepared in advance
Genocide was instant. Roadblocks sprang up right across the city with militia armed with one intent- to identify and kill Tutsis. At the same time Interahamwe (Hutu militia) began house to house searches. The people on the death lists were the first to be visited and slaughtered in their own homes.
The perpetrators had promised an apocalypse and the operation which emerged was a devastating frenzy of violence, bloodshed and merciless killing. The murders used machetes, clubs and any blunt tool they could find to inflict as much pain on their victims as possible.
It was genocide from the first day. No Tutsi was exempt.

Shortly after the plane was shot down, Commander of the UN Peacekeeeping force in Rwanda General Romeo Dallaire's faxed plea to "give me the means and I can do more" was denied.

Then under secretary general for peacekeeping operations, Kofi Annan replied, "No reconnaissance or other action including response to request for protection should be taken by UNAMIR until clear guidance is received from HQ".

Many families were totally wiped out with no one to remember or document their deaths. The streets were littered with corpses. Dogs were eating the rotting flesh of their owners.

The genocidaires had been more successful in their evil aims than anyone would have dared to believe.

Rwanda was dead.

the challenging, complex, and compelling realities of South Sudan

Dr John Garangs grave site

US Congressman Donald Payne, one of our finest, speaking with a group of elders in remote South Sudan

child in south Sudan

President of South Sudan, Salva Kir with me in his office in Juba

Jan 9, 2011 is the date for the referendum at which time South Sudan- under the terms of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the deal between north and south that ended their second civil war in 2005- can vote to succeed from the tyrannical north. Everyone I spoke with in South Sudan wants independence from Khartoum. But what will that look like? And is South Sudan 'a pre-failed state'?

'Barring war, famine or genocide - and all are possible - in 10 months this sweltering, malarial shantytown will become the world's newest capital city in the world's newest country, South Sudan."

'The CPA correctly identified the key issue at the heart of both the Darfur conflict and many of Sudan's other internal divisions. Darfur is not, as Western campaigners often have it, a war by Arabs on Africans - or not exactly. There is a racial dimension to the conflict, but Sudan's mixed mosaic of ethnicities and tribes makes a nonsense of a clear-cut partition. Rather, the war in Darfur is symptomatic of a fundamental division that has plagued Sudan since independence: center versus periphery. For more than half a century, a dominant Khartoum elite has marginalized and repressed all others - Kordofanis and Darfuris, Christians and followers of traditional beliefs, the uneducated and poor, western, eastern and southern Sudanese alike. The CPA's authors understood that the way to a united, peaceful Sudan was to remake it as a place where all Sudanese had a say. They planned to achieve this through a national election on April 11, which, if free and fair and inclusive, would weaken Khartoum's grip. The south, which suffered most from Khartoum's discrimination, would also be granted a referendum on secession.

When the CPA was signed, few took seriously the possibility of southern separation. That was partly because the south's leader, John Garang, was a committed unionist. But six months after negotiating the deal, Garang died in a helicopter crash , and his vision for autonomy within Sudan died with him. With the West preoccupied with a high-volume campaign over Darfur, Khartoum was able to drag its feet on the implementation of a deal with the south that offered it only loss of territory and oil. That bad faith reinforced enthusiasm for separation in the south. "People felt they would remain second-class citizens inside Sudan forever", says Ann Itto, deputy general secretary of the southern Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM). Independence became the official southern goal. Under the CPA, it was also an option. Which is how, by backing a peace deal, the world now finds itself also supporting the breakup of Sudan by default.'

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1978708,00.html

Wall Street Journal

APRIL 7, 2010

WALL STREET JOURNAL
Sudan's Sham Election Has U.S. Support
Barack Obama once called Darfur's genocide a 'stain on our souls.' Has he changed his mind?

By MIA FARROW
In Khartoum this past weekend, U.S. Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration expressed his confidence that the April 11 elections in that country-the first since 1986-will be as "free and fair as possible."

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir should be plastering "We Love Gration" posters all over the capital. No one in Sudan believes the elections will be anything approaching free or fair.

Intimidation, vote rigging, manipulation of the census, and bribing of tribal leaders are rampant. Most of the 2.7 million displaced Darfuris are living in refugee camps. They are unable or unwilling to be counted at all. All of this, plus the ongoing violence in Darfur, have caused key opposition candidates including Yassir Arman of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement to withdraw from the election.

The Carter Center, the only international observer mission in Sudan, announced that the election process is "at risk on multiple fronts" and requested a modest delay of the election. Mr. Bashir threatened to oust the observers, saying on state TV last month: "if they interfere in our affairs, we will cut their fingers off, put them under our shoes and throw them out."

Taking an unusually edgy stance, the Save Darfur Coalition -an alliance of more than 190 faith-based, advocacy and human-rights organizations-is urging the U.S. and the international community not to legitimize Sudan's presidential election. "We believe the election is not going to be free and fair, and it's not even going to be credible," said Robert Lawrence, the Coalition's director of policy. "The last thing we want is for the results to legitimize the dictatorial rule of President al-Bashir."

Hope is rare in Darfur, but when Barack Obama became president the refugees had reason to be hopeful. As a junior senator in 2006, Mr. Obama made his feelings about the evils in Darfur quite clear. "Today we know what is right, and today we know what is wrong. The slaughter of innocents is wrong. Two million people driven from their homes is wrong. Women gang raped while gathering firewood is wrong. And silence, acquiescence and paralysis in the face of genocide is wrong."

A year later, then-candidate Barack Obama said: "When you see a genocide, whether it's in Rwanda or Bosnia or in Darfur, that's a stain on all of us. That's a stain on our souls."

Darfuris were listening, and they hoped anew when President Obama said the Sudanese regime "offended the standards of our common humanity." They believed he would appoint an envoy who would take their plight seriously and serve as an honest broker between warring rebel groups and the Sudanese regime.

And how is his appointed envoy dealing with the perpetrators of those atrocities that have stained our souls? "We've got to think about giving out cookies," Mr. Gration told the Washington Post last fall. "Kids, countries-they react to gold stars, smiley faces . . ."

Cookies for a regime that is as savvy as it is cruel? Smiley faces for a thug who seized power by coup in 1989 and has retained it only through iron-fisted brutality? Gold stars for an indicted war criminal responsible for the murder, rape and displacement of millions?

This spectacularly naive perspective-and accompanying policy of appeasement-has further terrified Darfur's refugees, who feel increasingly abandoned by the U.S. and marginalized within their country.

With the support of Mr. Gration and the U.S., the bogus Sudanese elections will move forward with what the International Crisis Group has labeled "catastrophic consequences."

"Since the April vote will impose illegitimate officials through rigged polls, Darfuris will be left with little or no hope of a peaceful change in the status quo," warns EJ Hogendoorn, the Crisis Group's Horn of Africa project director. "Instead many will look to rebel groups to fight and win back their lost rights and lands."

Following this Sunday's election, there is little doubt as to who will be the president of Sudan. So it is crucial that international observers, world governments, the African Union and the U.N. Security Council acknowledge the deeply corrupt voting process that will reinstate President Omar al-Bashir. They should declare publicly that Mr. Bashir, a man indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity, will rule without a genuine democratic mandate.

His regime must not be granted the legitimacy he craves.

Ms. Farrow has visited Darfur and Eastern Chad 13 times since 2004.

Quote: Omer Al-Bashir on the rape of Darfuri women by Arab tribesmen. "Is this an honor or a rape?

An article in the Sudan Tribune reports that Sudanese President Omer Al-Bashir made the following remark to a group in Khartoum .
Al-Bashir refers to “ the Gharbawia’ [a Darfuri woman]. When a Ja’ali [ Al-Bashirs tribe-which is the dominant Arab tribe] man humps her, is this an honor or rape?”
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article34594

North Kivu, Congo

Anything will grow in the Congo. Yet people in North Kivu, eastern Congo are hungry. In the years before 1994, everyone had a home and a garden which could produce enough to feed their family with a surplus to sell at the market. People had neighbors, a school, a church, a medical clinic. No one could ever have imagined these days would come.
People told me how they were raped and tortured in their own homes, they have seen family members and neighbors butchered, precious possessions were stolen. And so, throughout the region people are in flight. But nowhere is safe. A mother in a refugee camp told me she has moved 10 or 15 times, she has lost count. As we stood in the camp, many hundreds or thousands of refugees were gathered, eager to get onto the UN busses and trucks who would take them to yet another location. The camp was now on a new front line of warfare between Rwandan militia groups and the Congolese army. Armed men in uniforms had come to this camp around 5 PM on three consecutive evenings to rape women and girls. They even raped a one year old baby.

Congolese mother and her child "THEY ONLY SCREAMED ONCE"

On Monday of this week the Lord's Resistance Army struck the village of Mbomou in eastern Congo. They butchered 10 villagers and abducted 50.

Human Rights Watch sent a team to investigate the previous massacre in February which left at least 320 dead . Witnesses say the number of dead could be twice that.

The NY Times reported that, according to witnesses, "most victims had been taken from their village, tied at the waist and forced into the jungle, often with enormous loads of looted food balanced on their heads. Along the way, fighters randomly selected captives to kill, usually by an ax blow to the back of the head."
"They only screamed once" said Jean Claude Singbatile, a high school student who spent 2 weeks in captivity and witnessed the killings.
The last time Cecelia Nendu saw her 3 sons they were bound with rope and being marched toward the brush.
"I think they are dead" she said.

Another LRA attack discovered only now

Last December, in Makombo, a remote area of northeastern Congo, the Lord's Resistance Army went on another bloody rampage, killing about 321 people. It was discovered now, because of the remoteness of the village. Over a period of four days they killed and tortured their victims, then abducted 250 others including at least 80 children . When is someone going to stop this group? I swear I would do it myself.

Refugee families with nowhere to go

Last march, when the ICC indicted Sudanese President Omer Al Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity, he expelled sixteen humanitarian agencies from the Darfur region. The UN called the expulsions 'catastrophic' saying mant times that it would be impossible to cover the gap left by such key humanitarian organizations as Save the Children, Oxfam and Doctors without Borders, who had provided half of the humanitarian assistance to Darfur's four million displaced people. Long accustomed to deprivation, many refugees from camps in South Darfur now say that the lack of food, water and basic medical care has left them no choice but to leave the camps and try to survive on the outskirts of towns.

UN says more people now die from contaminated and polluted water than from all forms of violence including wars

Human beings are flushing millions of tons of solid waste into rivers and oceans every day, spreading diseases that kill millions of children annually.
"The sheer scale of dirty water means more people now die from contaminated
and polluted water than from all forms of violence including wars," the United Nations Environment Programme said.

Quote of the day: Omer al-Bashir

Refering to the Carter election monitoring organization.
" We wanted them to see the free and fair elections but if they interfere in our affairs, we will cut their fingers off, put them under our shoes and throw them out."

Bol

We left Mao by car and bumped along over hills of sand for about 4 hours. Occasionally we stopped to push the car. I saw nothing but sand, shrub and an occasional trader with a band of camels until we reached Bol on the shores of Lake Chad.
There we were received in the traditional way: men on horses were waiting, wearing ancient costumes and there was singing and musicians. After some songs, enactments and words of welcome, the Governor himself showed me around Bol. With the parched lands of Mao still in my mind, it was a joy to see lush, well tended fields and chest high crops. All of the work here is done by hand, no machinery or even cattle plows.
I was raving about the beauty of Bol and over lunch the governor confirmed that it is indeed a near perfect place- except for one thing. The water in Bol has become salty and polluted. It is making people sick, especially the children.

In fact something has happened to the water in Lake Chad. After Lake Tanzania and Lake Victoria, the grand lake is the third largest in all of Africa. It touches 4 countries: Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon. But it is only 40% of the size it was in 1956. Not only that, green algae is covering most of the lake's surface. There are islands on the lake. No one was sure exactly how many but more than 50. And at least 280,000 people are living on those islands. They farm and they have animals. They speak many different languages on the various islands and they are without phones, radios, medicines, schools or doctors. They are, I imagined, living as they have for centuries. I was and I remain, absolutely fascinated, and while the governor spoke all I could think of was how can I get myself out to those islands. But he said there was no boat deemed to be safe enough and we had to accept that we would not be visiting any islands. This time.

I kept asking questions and I learned that although the island people live in the most remote places imaginable, the worst of civilization has found them. Traders from Nigeria, Cameroon, and Niger come through the lake, stopping on the islands and they have brought HIV/Aids to the lake people. The people have not heard of AIDS. They have no information, no medicines and no way to protect themselves. The governor estimated that at least 20% of the island people are now infected.

Then he did something astonishing. The Governor of the Lac region of Chad presented me with a sealed document that officially grants me ownership of a piece of land on the shores of Lake Chad. He explained that if I came to live there, then people would surely know they exist.

So,I now have land in a remote and beautiful part of Chad. I love the people and I love the land. I would like to use my property to build something for the people of Bol, either a school, a women's center or a desalinization plant, and I will keep a little section where I can sleep when I come to Bol.

Dirty water