Darfur Awareness - We blog for Darfur

Arab Activists Slam OIC’s Silence Over Darfur Atrocities

Esra'a — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 10:57:00 +0000

It’s about time this happened. We need more of this. A lot more.

June 20, 2008 (KAMPALA) — A coalition of Arab rights activists criticised the Islamic world for its silence on the atrocities and crimes committed in the troubled region of Darfur, Sudan.

In a statement issued on the sideline of the 35th OIC Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting, the Arab Coalition for Darfur blamed the Organisation of the Islamic Conference for focusing their concern on Iraq and Palestine.

“The suffering of Muslims in Darfur is as real as that happening in Iraq and Palestine,” the coalition said.

“The Islamic world’s response to the daily killings and suffering of millions of Muslims in Darfur has been largely silent, from both civil society as well as from institutions and majority of Islamic governments,” it said.

Yesterday the Ugandan President urged the OIC countries to accord some of their efforts and concern to Darfur crisis and southern Sudan peace process. He added that failure to resolve the Darfur issue would undermine the unity of the organisation.

The Arab rights coalition also underlined that negligence of Darfur crisis would not be good for the Islamic world. “The Islamic world must decide to end its wall of silence, before it is too late … More silence could be catastrophic on the Islamic community.”

The coalition is made up of human rights groups in Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Algeria, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Mauritania, Kuwait, Palestine and Saudi Arabia.

The United Nations says up to 300,000 people have died from the combined effects of war, famine and disease and more than 2.2 million have fled their homes since the Darfur conflict broke out in February 2003.

Created by Arab activists last May in Cairo, the coalition urged the Arab heads of states to “use all their potential, relations and resources to stop the conflict.”

Initiated by the Arab Program for Human Rights Activists, the coalition includes rights activists from Sudan, Jordan, Bahrain, Algeria, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Mauritania, Kuwait and Egypt.

EU Ministers to Threaten Sanctions

Esra'a — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:37:40 +0000

The European Union is getting impatient and is planning to take some much needed steps.

June 12, 2008 ( BRUSSELS) — EU foreign ministers are expected to warn Sudan of possible EU sanctions if it fails to cooperate on war crimes but will stop short of the immediate action demanded by rights activists, diplomats said on Thursday.

…In March, the Slovenian EU presidency said the EU would back sanctions if Sudan failed to hand over to the ICC Ahmed Haroun, its former minister for humanitarian affairs, and former Janjaweed militia leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, in connection with suspected crimes against humanity in Darfur.

… Sudanese human rights lawyer Salih Mahmoud Osman told the same briefing the international community had done little more than “gently air complaints” in the face of Sudan’s “clear and explicit defiance of the ICC”.

While welcoming EU moves towards sanctions, Osman, winner of the EU’s top rights prize this year, said: “I am at a loss to explain the lack of decisive response from the European Union, a powerful group of nations that has repeatedly declared its strong support for the ICC.”

The EU should go ahead and walk the talk.

US Presidential Candidates Unite On Darfur

Esra'a — Sat, 31 May 2008 11:08:26 +0000

Here is the statement. This is a very commendable step. The Sudanese government obviously isn’t happy.

To learn more, you may read this article in the New York Times.

You can watch the statement made by all three candidates here.

Darfur: Rebellion from the Margins

Esra'a — Mon, 05 May 2008 21:00:31 +0000

Check out this great short video on Darfur narrated by Darfurians themselves and translated into English with included voice-overs. The narrating Darfurians mention that their home is being marginalized economically and badly ignored.

Khartoum is the most developed place in Sudan. The rest of the country is pretty much undeveloped with little or no infrastructure.

As the situation in Darfur worsens, estimated deaths increases

Esra'a — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:46:35 +0000

In 2006, the World Health Oranization released a study, estimating that the number of deaths in the then 3-year conflict was 200,000. Now John Holmes, the UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, estimates the number of deaths has risen to 300,000.

Queried by reporters, Holmes said the estimate of 300,000 dead ”is not a very scientifically based figure” because there have been no new mortality studies in Darfur, but ”it’s a reasonable extrapolation.”

”What I’m saying is if that figure of 200,000 was anything like right in 2006, then that figure must be much higher now,” he said.

The Sudanese government, however, decried his statements, estimating that the number of deaths is 10,000.

Sudanese Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamed countered that ”in our own calculations, the total number does not exceed 10,000.”

He said his government counts only people killed in fighting, saying there are no dead from malnutrition and starvation ”because in Darfur there is no epidemics, no starvations.”

Janjaweed Continue Attacks, Remaining Deployments Discussed

Esra'a — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 03:37:17 +0000

There have already been some peacekeeper deployments to Darfur but violence still rages:

April 7, 2008 (PARIS) — Khartoum backed Janjaweed militia have killed 14 civilians today in attacks and looting in three towns in North Darfur, a rebel military spokesperson said today.

… “The Janjaweed killed 4 persons in El-Fasher and wounded other 15, in Tawila they killed 4 and wounded 7 civilians and in Kabkabiya they killed 6 civilians and wounded other 16.” Nimer said.

He further added that the assailants burnt the market of Kabkabiya, also known as Janjaweed capital in Darfur.

The rebel spokesperson said that the militia looted the markets and killed the population in total impunity

Meanwhile discussions on more troop deployments continue:

April 8, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese Foreign Minister Deng Alor discussed on Tuesday with the head of Darfur joint mission Rodolphe Adada, the status of deployment of United Nations- African Union peacekeeping troops in the war-torn region of Darfur.

Adada attributed the current delay in the deployment to logistical difficulties relating to construction of the necessary infrastructures before the deployment of the troops.

… According to Resolution 1769 adopted by the UN Security Council in July last year, the 26,000-strong UN-AU hybrid peacekeeping forces should have been deployed in Darfur by Dec. 2007.

But until now, only some 10,000 troops have arrived in the western Sudanese region, including some 7,000 African troops who had been sent there in 2004 in accordance with an AU plan to enforce a ceasefire in the region.

Steven Spielberg Quits Artistic Role For the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

Esra'a — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 04:31:15 +0000

This is a great decision taken by Spielberg. Hopefully more will follow in expressing concerns over China’s supportive role in the Darfur conflict.

Obama’s Adviser, Samantha Power On Darfur

Esra'a — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 04:28:59 +0000

Samantha Power is Obama’s Sudan advisor. Four years ago she wrote an exceptional essay about Darfur after visiting it and investigating the mass atrocities that took place.

With the US 2008 elections approaching and Obama displaying a very strong performance, it’s good to see he chose advisers like Samantha Power who has a deep understanding of Darfur.

When a Teddy Bear Gets More Attention Than 200,000 Dead People, Something Is Horribly Wrong

Esra'a — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 17:01:19 +0000

The recent teddy bear crisis in which a British teacher was put through a horrible ordeal received an unbelievable amount of Western media attention that Darfur hasn’t gotten. Within the span of one week, the whole world knew about it. It’s shameful and demonstrates the misplaced priorities of news organizations.

On the other hand the Arab media of course dedicated a lot of time to the Annapolis Conference instead. As usual, the focus is almost always on Iraq and Palestine. 200,000 dead Darfurians matter.

Thank goodness there are activists like Alex De Waal and John Prendergast who are passionately concerned and doing their best to spread awareness and appease Darfur’s situation.

The Talk Still Hasn’t Materialized

Esra'a — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 00:58:36 +0000

A lot has happened during this last month in Darfur but nothing substantial has materialized. This is due to debates regarding the agreed upon conditions.

Firstly, the peacekeeping force is not allowed to seize away or collect arms belonging to the various warring parties. Secondly, it will not be able to pursue and arrest alleged war criminals sought by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Jan Pronk, the UN’s previous envoy to Sudan has commented on the adopted resolution:

Recent decisions of the Security Council concerning Sudan offer a new perspective. The Security Council has decided to send a hybrid peace keeping force, together with the African Union. I have doubts concerning the mandate given to the force. It is weaker than desirable. However, the decision is a new political fact and that in itself may help breaking the stalemate which arose after the signing of the Abuja peace agreement in May 2006. So, all efforts should be made to bring the force to Sudan as soon as possible and to make it possible for the UN and the AU on the ground to interpret the mandate in a pro-active and robust manner. The new political momentum should not be lost.

At the moment, there are so many complexities involved. Long story short, some rebels are refusing to attend peace talks unless peace keepers arrive. Khartoum is reluctant to allow in peace keepers unless, the rebels agree on a peace deal. It’s a deadlock. Mediators are asking for patience.

Rob Crilly, who just returned from Darfur has many good posts on what’s going on. Be sure to see his blog.

Meanwhile, the Bush administration opposes a Sudan divestment bill. Could it really be because of what they claim:

“Such a list seriously risks alienating the very countries whose assistance we need to maintain and increase international pressure on the Bashir regime,” he said.

Or is the issue of Darfur taking a backseat because Sudan is cooperating heavily with the CIA in the War on Terror? After all Bush’s envoy to Sudan, Andrew Natsios did say there was no more genocide in Darfur.