ME AND OPHELIA
Sunday, June 27, 2004
HERE'S OPHELIA
To say hello
To say hello
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/27/2004
Saturday, June 26, 2004
WHERE'S OPHELIA?
Resting - Mission accomplished
[Updated] This post is especially for Nick with love from little old me and ophelia. It was written into yesterday's post - to go with the "jazzy arm action of the foot tapping squirrel" that I found at Hank's - but pulled it for later because I didn't think life here by the seaside fitted in with the genocide in Darfur.
Over the past several weeks it's been pretty busy here. New balcony's almost installed. Four visitors for lunch Monday - the Longest Day, which means summer is on the wane. We've enjoyed superb weather for three whole weeks. Blue sky. Blue sea. No wind. I'll miss the carpenter when he's finished. Nice chap.
But he keeps running out of nails. And wood. And other bits and bobs. Off he goes for supplies and doesn't return for a week. Maybe he juggles different jobs and tells each customer the same story. Last week his van blew up which delayed things further. Today he returned to secure a temporary gate and a pipe that had fallen during a storm. And left five minutes later, grumbling about his suppliers. It's a good surprise when he turns up. We've had nice chats while eating dark chocolate covered ice cream on sticks, and even witnessed a baby seagull emerging from its egg.
Ophelia is as perfect as ever. She has lost her winter fur. And is all slim, sleek, soft and glossy. Right now she's catching up on sleep. A ginger Tom visits here every night. Heh. As soon as she goes out, he sneaks into the kitchen and sticks his nose into her food bowl. He must be casing the joint to know when she is out. She eats daintily and quietly. He rattles her dried food around making it sound like a bowl of marbles. So I know it is him. I get up to say hello but he hightails out. Ten minutes later Ophelia comes back in, looking happy and fine. It's a ritual, every evening around 10 o'clock.
The big news is that the crucial peace talks, due to open yesterday in Kenya, have been postponed for two days, seemingly to deal with "international community" pressure and find a way round negotiating Darfur into the peace deal. Kofi Annan and Colin Powell (with evidence of ethnic cleansing and an extra $95m in US aid) will be in Darfur and Khartoum on Tuesday and Wednesday. Mission here is accomplished.
Yesterday, I drafted a post "Did we bloggers make a difference?" I believe we did. (Update: I've emailed best British blogger Alistair Coleman and David Sifry, CEO of Technorati, to ask if there is a way to find out - note David's latest post: "Keyword search ads are live").
My draft conveys how grateful I am to my warm hearted readers for linking on the Sudan. Hope I didn't come across too pushy, time was of the essence because the rainy season peaks in July, afterwhich it'd all be too late. The response was amazing. Huge thanks to everyone. Sorry I have been too over tired to post original commentary or finish draft posts, comments and emails. Which is why I've had to resort to linking to reports these past weeks. Now that brilliant help is on its way for the people of Darfur, I need to take a blogging break for a few days. God bless the USA, UN aid, Dr James Moore and all the thousands of others helping the people of Sudan. With love to you all. Bye for now xx
PS In 1270 Marco Polo praised the carpets of Kerman as a marvel to see. Kerman is still one of the great cities for Persian Carpets. The Kerman Carpet has a rich tradition. Here is a great find for anyone interested in Persian carpets and rugs: Barry O'Connell's Kerman Carpet blog and his RugNotes blog out of Washington, DC.
- - -
Update - inserted Saturday morning 10:40: I have updated the above post - tidied text and inserted links into my summary on: UN head meeting Powell in Khartoum over Darfur with evidence of ethnic cleansing, extra $95m from the US, summary of UN aid, two day postponement of peace talks (at the request of both sides to give more time for consultation) - and Barry's RugNotes blog. Further updates may appear here below over the next few days.
In the meantime for those wishing to take action, "Survivors United to Save the Women of Darfur, Sudan from the Genocide" have useful links, addresses and photos [via Jim Moore's Journal today].
Also, the latest major breaking news on the Sudan crisis, posted as and when it occurs, is at Jim's Journal or the Passion weblogs out of Harvard - and at Glenn Reynolds' Instapundit.
Here is the latest full story from the New York Times on June 26: "U.N. Chief to Join Powell in Sudan to Try to Halt Massacres" at
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/26/international/africa/26NATI.html?ex=1403582400&en=eb7b7bae5e8316b2&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND
Note: June 26 via Mathaba: "Sudan - London Conference on Alternatives to Government, Darfur. An important conference being held by Sudanese civil society this evening in London will explore the alternatives to the current Sudan islamist dictatorship regime based in Khartoum."
- - -
And some more great news - via the BBC on June 25: "Deal agreed to avert DR Congo war. The presidents of Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda have agreed to abide by a 2002 peace pact to avoid renewed conflict in the region."
And this too, on Iraq - via BBC June 26: "US and EU have pledged strong support to the new Iraqi government ahead of the June 30 transfer of power. The leaders issued a joint statement at the end of a summit in Ireland saying Baghdad needed the world's backing if Iraq was to become a democratic nation. It is Mr Bush's first official visit to the Irish Republic."
- - -
HISTORIC DAY AND QUOTATION
US hands over sovereignty in Iraq
This post inserted on June 28, 2004: Today, BBCreports that the US has formally handed over power in Iraq, two days ahead of schedule. At a low-key ceremony in Baghdad, US administrator Paul Bremer gave legal documents to an Iraqi judge. He later left the country by plane.
Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, who also took part in the ceremony in the heavily-guarded Green Zone, said it was "a historic day". Hours later, Mr Allawi was officially sworn in along with the other members of his government. After formally taking office, he said the transfer of power was a "massive victory" for the forces of good in Iraq. "This is a historic day, a happy day, a day that all Iraqis have been looking forward to" Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
- - -
Quotation of the day, courtesy of the New York Times:
"We have the forces. We have the judicial system, and he is going to go to court. It's going to be a just trial, unlike the trials that he gave to the Iraqi people."
IYAD ALLAWI, Iraq's interim prime minister, on taking custody of Saddam Hussein.
- - -
PRIVATE SPACE CRAFT FASTER THAN M-16 RIFLE BULLET
63 year-old pilot became an astronaut while floating M&Ms
Had I had not been so busy with visitors and blogging about the Sudan crisis, I would have posted on the historic event that took place at Mohave Airport in America: the flight of the world's first privately funded craft into sub orbital space.
Millions of people around the world watched the finger nail biting event. It took place on Monday and was attended by former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, and Konrad Dannenberg, one of Werner Von Braun's lead scientists on America's original space development.
63 year-old American test pilot Mike Melvill travelled "faster than an M-16 rifle bullet" in SpaceShipOne, at about around 2400 km/h (1500 mph) or mach 3.2, and reached an altitude of 62 miles, which qualified him as an astronaut during the world's first privately funded venture into sub orbital space. When pilots reach 100 km above the Earth, it qualifies them as an astronaut.
Melvill said: "As it reentered the atmosphere, falling like a badminton shuttlecock almost straight down, the rushing air sounded like a hurricane. Coming down is frightening, because of that roaring sound. You can really hear how that vehicle is being pounded." But it was the sublime view that affected him the most. "The sky was jet black, with light blue along the horizon - it was really an awesome sight," he said. "You really do get the feeling that you've touched the face of God."
NASA can take comfort from the number of hair raising glitches that occurred during the flight. Take a read of this New Scientist report at Gavin's Blog - and put yourself in the pilot's shoes.
On TV news I saw Melvill's perfect landing and marvelled at the tiny craft, it's chubby belly of painted stars, dinky wheels and port hole windows. Upon landing, he stuck his arm straight out of the cockpit window and waved excitedly. He jumped out of the craft, bounded up to the waiting journalists, and cheerily explained how, to see weightlessness in action, he'd opened a packet of M&Ms and was thrilled to see them float around him. The TV newscaster remarked it probably wasn't the sort of thing the sponsor Microsoft had in mind for the pilot to say when he landed back on Earth :-)
Blogging pathologist Madhu asks "what would a pathologist do in space?" My favourite Silicon Valley techies James Lee and Don Park posted some neat pictures. Great photo too over at Shelley Powers' Burningbird.
Resting - Mission accomplished
[Updated] This post is especially for Nick with love from little old me and ophelia. It was written into yesterday's post - to go with the "jazzy arm action of the foot tapping squirrel" that I found at Hank's - but pulled it for later because I didn't think life here by the seaside fitted in with the genocide in Darfur.
Over the past several weeks it's been pretty busy here. New balcony's almost installed. Four visitors for lunch Monday - the Longest Day, which means summer is on the wane. We've enjoyed superb weather for three whole weeks. Blue sky. Blue sea. No wind. I'll miss the carpenter when he's finished. Nice chap.
But he keeps running out of nails. And wood. And other bits and bobs. Off he goes for supplies and doesn't return for a week. Maybe he juggles different jobs and tells each customer the same story. Last week his van blew up which delayed things further. Today he returned to secure a temporary gate and a pipe that had fallen during a storm. And left five minutes later, grumbling about his suppliers. It's a good surprise when he turns up. We've had nice chats while eating dark chocolate covered ice cream on sticks, and even witnessed a baby seagull emerging from its egg.
Ophelia is as perfect as ever. She has lost her winter fur. And is all slim, sleek, soft and glossy. Right now she's catching up on sleep. A ginger Tom visits here every night. Heh. As soon as she goes out, he sneaks into the kitchen and sticks his nose into her food bowl. He must be casing the joint to know when she is out. She eats daintily and quietly. He rattles her dried food around making it sound like a bowl of marbles. So I know it is him. I get up to say hello but he hightails out. Ten minutes later Ophelia comes back in, looking happy and fine. It's a ritual, every evening around 10 o'clock.
The big news is that the crucial peace talks, due to open yesterday in Kenya, have been postponed for two days, seemingly to deal with "international community" pressure and find a way round negotiating Darfur into the peace deal. Kofi Annan and Colin Powell (with evidence of ethnic cleansing and an extra $95m in US aid) will be in Darfur and Khartoum on Tuesday and Wednesday. Mission here is accomplished.
Yesterday, I drafted a post "Did we bloggers make a difference?" I believe we did. (Update: I've emailed best British blogger Alistair Coleman and David Sifry, CEO of Technorati, to ask if there is a way to find out - note David's latest post: "Keyword search ads are live").
My draft conveys how grateful I am to my warm hearted readers for linking on the Sudan. Hope I didn't come across too pushy, time was of the essence because the rainy season peaks in July, afterwhich it'd all be too late. The response was amazing. Huge thanks to everyone. Sorry I have been too over tired to post original commentary or finish draft posts, comments and emails. Which is why I've had to resort to linking to reports these past weeks. Now that brilliant help is on its way for the people of Darfur, I need to take a blogging break for a few days. God bless the USA, UN aid, Dr James Moore and all the thousands of others helping the people of Sudan. With love to you all. Bye for now xx
PS In 1270 Marco Polo praised the carpets of Kerman as a marvel to see. Kerman is still one of the great cities for Persian Carpets. The Kerman Carpet has a rich tradition. Here is a great find for anyone interested in Persian carpets and rugs: Barry O'Connell's Kerman Carpet blog and his RugNotes blog out of Washington, DC.
- - -
Update - inserted Saturday morning 10:40: I have updated the above post - tidied text and inserted links into my summary on: UN head meeting Powell in Khartoum over Darfur with evidence of ethnic cleansing, extra $95m from the US, summary of UN aid, two day postponement of peace talks (at the request of both sides to give more time for consultation) - and Barry's RugNotes blog. Further updates may appear here below over the next few days.
In the meantime for those wishing to take action, "Survivors United to Save the Women of Darfur, Sudan from the Genocide" have useful links, addresses and photos [via Jim Moore's Journal today].
Also, the latest major breaking news on the Sudan crisis, posted as and when it occurs, is at Jim's Journal or the Passion weblogs out of Harvard - and at Glenn Reynolds' Instapundit.
Here is the latest full story from the New York Times on June 26: "U.N. Chief to Join Powell in Sudan to Try to Halt Massacres" at
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/26/international/africa/26NATI.html?ex=1403582400&en=eb7b7bae5e8316b2&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND
Note: June 26 via Mathaba: "Sudan - London Conference on Alternatives to Government, Darfur. An important conference being held by Sudanese civil society this evening in London will explore the alternatives to the current Sudan islamist dictatorship regime based in Khartoum."
- - -
And some more great news - via the BBC on June 25: "Deal agreed to avert DR Congo war. The presidents of Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda have agreed to abide by a 2002 peace pact to avoid renewed conflict in the region."
And this too, on Iraq - via BBC June 26: "US and EU have pledged strong support to the new Iraqi government ahead of the June 30 transfer of power. The leaders issued a joint statement at the end of a summit in Ireland saying Baghdad needed the world's backing if Iraq was to become a democratic nation. It is Mr Bush's first official visit to the Irish Republic."
- - -
HISTORIC DAY AND QUOTATION
US hands over sovereignty in Iraq
This post inserted on June 28, 2004: Today, BBCreports that the US has formally handed over power in Iraq, two days ahead of schedule. At a low-key ceremony in Baghdad, US administrator Paul Bremer gave legal documents to an Iraqi judge. He later left the country by plane.
Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, who also took part in the ceremony in the heavily-guarded Green Zone, said it was "a historic day". Hours later, Mr Allawi was officially sworn in along with the other members of his government. After formally taking office, he said the transfer of power was a "massive victory" for the forces of good in Iraq. "This is a historic day, a happy day, a day that all Iraqis have been looking forward to" Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
- - -
Quotation of the day, courtesy of the New York Times:
"We have the forces. We have the judicial system, and he is going to go to court. It's going to be a just trial, unlike the trials that he gave to the Iraqi people."
IYAD ALLAWI, Iraq's interim prime minister, on taking custody of Saddam Hussein.
- - -
PRIVATE SPACE CRAFT FASTER THAN M-16 RIFLE BULLET
63 year-old pilot became an astronaut while floating M&Ms
Had I had not been so busy with visitors and blogging about the Sudan crisis, I would have posted on the historic event that took place at Mohave Airport in America: the flight of the world's first privately funded craft into sub orbital space.
Millions of people around the world watched the finger nail biting event. It took place on Monday and was attended by former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, and Konrad Dannenberg, one of Werner Von Braun's lead scientists on America's original space development.
63 year-old American test pilot Mike Melvill travelled "faster than an M-16 rifle bullet" in SpaceShipOne, at about around 2400 km/h (1500 mph) or mach 3.2, and reached an altitude of 62 miles, which qualified him as an astronaut during the world's first privately funded venture into sub orbital space. When pilots reach 100 km above the Earth, it qualifies them as an astronaut.
Melvill said: "As it reentered the atmosphere, falling like a badminton shuttlecock almost straight down, the rushing air sounded like a hurricane. Coming down is frightening, because of that roaring sound. You can really hear how that vehicle is being pounded." But it was the sublime view that affected him the most. "The sky was jet black, with light blue along the horizon - it was really an awesome sight," he said. "You really do get the feeling that you've touched the face of God."
NASA can take comfort from the number of hair raising glitches that occurred during the flight. Take a read of this New Scientist report at Gavin's Blog - and put yourself in the pilot's shoes.
On TV news I saw Melvill's perfect landing and marvelled at the tiny craft, it's chubby belly of painted stars, dinky wheels and port hole windows. Upon landing, he stuck his arm straight out of the cockpit window and waved excitedly. He jumped out of the craft, bounded up to the waiting journalists, and cheerily explained how, to see weightlessness in action, he'd opened a packet of M&Ms and was thrilled to see them float around him. The TV newscaster remarked it probably wasn't the sort of thing the sponsor Microsoft had in mind for the pilot to say when he landed back on Earth :-)
Blogging pathologist Madhu asks "what would a pathologist do in space?" My favourite Silicon Valley techies James Lee and Don Park posted some neat pictures. Great photo too over at Shelley Powers' Burningbird.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/26/2004
Friday, June 25, 2004
DARFUR AID WORKER'S BLOG STYLE DIARY
'The scale of the need... is overwhelming'
Blog style diary of aid worker Marcus Prior as he travelled with the World Food Programme (WFP) to visit the refugees caught up in what the UN has described as the worst humanitarian situation in the world.
- - -
QUOTATION OF THE DAY
Courtesy New York Times
"We were expecting such an escalation, and we will witness more in the next few weeks. We will deal with it and crush it." - IYAD ALLAWI, Iraq's prime minister.
'The scale of the need... is overwhelming'
Blog style diary of aid worker Marcus Prior as he travelled with the World Food Programme (WFP) to visit the refugees caught up in what the UN has described as the worst humanitarian situation in the world.
- - -
QUOTATION OF THE DAY
Courtesy New York Times
"We were expecting such an escalation, and we will witness more in the next few weeks. We will deal with it and crush it." - IYAD ALLAWI, Iraq's prime minister.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/25/2004
Thursday, June 24, 2004
INSTALANCHED ON THE SUDAN
In England
On Monday, I received acknowledgement of the letter I emailed to my Member of Parliament, Oliver Letwin, re the Sudan crisis. Over the weekend I'd spoken to two friends who said the Sudan was being prayed for in their churches. Currently, I am working on several draft posts for publishing here next week, and catching up on thanks to all who have picked up on my Sudan posts.
A few days ago, I received a lovely surprise email from Madhu saying she had sent my blog URL to the big one. As a result, this blog got instalanched by a whoosh of unidentifiable strangers who rushed in and out of here like a swarm of locusts without a hi or bye :-)
Madhu, who holds the oil-for-food scandal close to her heart, kindly linked to my posts on the Sudan three times. In one, she asked: "Wouldn't it be amazing if millions took to the streets to protest this?" Yes I agree Madhu, it would be amazing - especially since it's like pulling elephants teeth trying to get bloggers interested in linking to the latest news at passionofthepresent.org :-)
Big hugs to Doctors Madhu and Reynolds. Loved the catblogging.
- - -
INSTALANCHED ON THE SUDAN
In Malaysia and Boston
Happily, Rajan Rishyakaran, blogging out of Malaysia, also got Instalanched by Prof Reynolds on his Sudan post. Also it was good to see the big one had picked up on Jim Moore's heartfelt post entitled: "I'm surprised more of the blogosphere is not picking up on the new developments about Sudan and Darfur, and the possibility of US and UK military intervention"
Gentleman Jim praised Rajan for the powerful annotated list of links on the genocide in Darfur and suggested that readers copy it to their friends.
Further reading:
"Pull Together" at passionofthepresent.org.
Blackfive's "Sudan - America Must Act Now".
Gregory Djerejian's Belgravia Despatch from Belgrave Square in London.
Nicholas Kristof, in his recent NYT editorial, says readers keep asking him what they can do about the genocide unfolding in Darfur, so he listed some links for readers. Patrick Hall has thoughtfully "html-ized" the links at links in his blog The Horn of Africa.
- - -
SUDAN: WHAT IS ANNAN WAITING FOR?
By Jihad Watch blog
Thanks to Rajan Rishyakaran for pointing to Jihad Watch's post on the Sudan - "What is Annan waiting for?" - it has attracted many comments that make interesting reading.
Having asked myself the same question two months ago, I've spent every day since looking into an answer. Over the coming weeks and months I hope to complete several draft posts I've worked on since April. The answer to Jihad Watch's question is more complicated than one would imagine. I am working on articulating the answer in a simple way. Easier said than done.
Further reading:
Jim Moore: "Kofi Annan's role in the Sudan genocide".
Kathleen Nelson's Cake Eater Chronicles [via Instapundit]: Annan, the UN (interesting comments), Humanity (note comment) and SPLM/A.
- - -
JAZZY ARM ACTION
By foot tapping squirrel
Check out the jazzy arm action of Hank's foot tapping squirrel. Click into his blog Quadrophenia and wait for the squirrel to show below "about me". Please be patient, it takes less than a minute to load and is worth the wait, I promise.
For some reason I cannot find any archives at Jim Moore's Journal or at passionofthepresent.org. Maybe the squirrel will bring some cheer to Jim (who says his brother plays the harmonica) when his roses in blender fade and disappear into the ether ;-)
- - -
LONDON SKY
Work in progress
Thanks to Madhu at ChaiTeaLatte for finding this little gem containing photo essays from 39 year-old sculptor Richard Saum.
Richard lives and works in King's Cross, London. His studio is in a Victorian freight depot on strategic real estate near the canal, due for development in 2007. He blogs about other small businesses and people such as furniture maker Richard Newnham, who has a beautiful workshop on the Berlin Bank - and Joel Cockrill, a photographer, film-maker, location finder, who has just started blogging at A Sense of Place.
In England
On Monday, I received acknowledgement of the letter I emailed to my Member of Parliament, Oliver Letwin, re the Sudan crisis. Over the weekend I'd spoken to two friends who said the Sudan was being prayed for in their churches. Currently, I am working on several draft posts for publishing here next week, and catching up on thanks to all who have picked up on my Sudan posts.
A few days ago, I received a lovely surprise email from Madhu saying she had sent my blog URL to the big one. As a result, this blog got instalanched by a whoosh of unidentifiable strangers who rushed in and out of here like a swarm of locusts without a hi or bye :-)
Madhu, who holds the oil-for-food scandal close to her heart, kindly linked to my posts on the Sudan three times. In one, she asked: "Wouldn't it be amazing if millions took to the streets to protest this?" Yes I agree Madhu, it would be amazing - especially since it's like pulling elephants teeth trying to get bloggers interested in linking to the latest news at passionofthepresent.org :-)
Big hugs to Doctors Madhu and Reynolds. Loved the catblogging.
- - -
INSTALANCHED ON THE SUDAN
In Malaysia and Boston
Happily, Rajan Rishyakaran, blogging out of Malaysia, also got Instalanched by Prof Reynolds on his Sudan post. Also it was good to see the big one had picked up on Jim Moore's heartfelt post entitled: "I'm surprised more of the blogosphere is not picking up on the new developments about Sudan and Darfur, and the possibility of US and UK military intervention"
Gentleman Jim praised Rajan for the powerful annotated list of links on the genocide in Darfur and suggested that readers copy it to their friends.
Further reading:
"Pull Together" at passionofthepresent.org.
Blackfive's "Sudan - America Must Act Now".
Gregory Djerejian's Belgravia Despatch from Belgrave Square in London.
Nicholas Kristof, in his recent NYT editorial, says readers keep asking him what they can do about the genocide unfolding in Darfur, so he listed some links for readers. Patrick Hall has thoughtfully "html-ized" the links at links in his blog The Horn of Africa.
- - -
SUDAN: WHAT IS ANNAN WAITING FOR?
By Jihad Watch blog
Thanks to Rajan Rishyakaran for pointing to Jihad Watch's post on the Sudan - "What is Annan waiting for?" - it has attracted many comments that make interesting reading.
Having asked myself the same question two months ago, I've spent every day since looking into an answer. Over the coming weeks and months I hope to complete several draft posts I've worked on since April. The answer to Jihad Watch's question is more complicated than one would imagine. I am working on articulating the answer in a simple way. Easier said than done.
Further reading:
Jim Moore: "Kofi Annan's role in the Sudan genocide".
Kathleen Nelson's Cake Eater Chronicles [via Instapundit]: Annan, the UN (interesting comments), Humanity (note comment) and SPLM/A.
- - -
JAZZY ARM ACTION
By foot tapping squirrel
Check out the jazzy arm action of Hank's foot tapping squirrel. Click into his blog Quadrophenia and wait for the squirrel to show below "about me". Please be patient, it takes less than a minute to load and is worth the wait, I promise.
For some reason I cannot find any archives at Jim Moore's Journal or at passionofthepresent.org. Maybe the squirrel will bring some cheer to Jim (who says his brother plays the harmonica) when his roses in blender fade and disappear into the ether ;-)
- - -
LONDON SKY
Work in progress
Thanks to Madhu at ChaiTeaLatte for finding this little gem containing photo essays from 39 year-old sculptor Richard Saum.
Richard lives and works in King's Cross, London. His studio is in a Victorian freight depot on strategic real estate near the canal, due for development in 2007. He blogs about other small businesses and people such as furniture maker Richard Newnham, who has a beautiful workshop on the Berlin Bank - and Joel Cockrill, a photographer, film-maker, location finder, who has just started blogging at A Sense of Place.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/24/2004
- - -
FIRST HAND IMPRESSIONS OF DARFUR -
By blogging political scientist Daniel Geffen
A few minutes ago, Daniel Geffen left a comment at my previous post. He wrote: "I attended a Darfur-themed breakfast this morning with Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times and the Secretary General of CARE International. I've posted a report on what they had to say here, if you're interested."
Thanks for that Daniel. I've not yet had a chance to read it. Thought I would share it here first. And write more later on. Looking forward to reading it right now. Looks great.
Here is an excerpt from Daniel's opening paragraph:
"I just got back from a breakfast hosted by CARE International, where NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, CARE Secretary General Denis Caillaux and Peter Dut (one of the "lost boys" of Sudan) spoke on the crisis in Darfur. It was an emotionally wrenching event.
Dut's description of his flight from the civil war in southern Sudan as an orphaned 5-year-old was particularly affecting to this new father. But beyond the effective plea for support, the speakers also provided some counter-intuitive points that are worth considering. I hope I'm not breaking any rules by offering these notes, so here they are.
- - -
Note: Daniel Geffen of The Bonassus weblog is working on his PhD in political science at Columbia University. Before going to graduate school, he worked as a legislative assistant to a member of the US House of Representatives for three years. He has also been a visiting researcher at the New Zealand Institute for Economic Research.
FIRST HAND IMPRESSIONS OF DARFUR -
By blogging political scientist Daniel Geffen
A few minutes ago, Daniel Geffen left a comment at my previous post. He wrote: "I attended a Darfur-themed breakfast this morning with Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times and the Secretary General of CARE International. I've posted a report on what they had to say here, if you're interested."
Thanks for that Daniel. I've not yet had a chance to read it. Thought I would share it here first. And write more later on. Looking forward to reading it right now. Looks great.
Here is an excerpt from Daniel's opening paragraph:
"I just got back from a breakfast hosted by CARE International, where NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, CARE Secretary General Denis Caillaux and Peter Dut (one of the "lost boys" of Sudan) spoke on the crisis in Darfur. It was an emotionally wrenching event.
Dut's description of his flight from the civil war in southern Sudan as an orphaned 5-year-old was particularly affecting to this new father. But beyond the effective plea for support, the speakers also provided some counter-intuitive points that are worth considering. I hope I'm not breaking any rules by offering these notes, so here they are.
- - -
Note: Daniel Geffen of The Bonassus weblog is working on his PhD in political science at Columbia University. Before going to graduate school, he worked as a legislative assistant to a member of the US House of Representatives for three years. He has also been a visiting researcher at the New Zealand Institute for Economic Research.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/24/2004
- - -
US SECRETARY OF STATE TO VISIT DARFUR
Colin Powell will visit Khartoum Tuesday
Today Reuters reports Secretary of State Colin Powell will visit Sudan's Darfur region next week to pressure Khartoum to stop the humanitarian crisis caused by government-backed militias attacking residents.
Interesting news but not unexpected given that the Peace Accord talks formally open in Kenya tomorrow and Kofi Annan is due to visit Darfur next week. The rebel SPLM/A and JEM launched a revolt in Darfur last year, accusing the government of neglect and of arming Arab units known as Janjaweed militias, who loot and burn ethnic African villages. Khartoum has denied the charges. Sudanese government teams met with the SPLM/A and JEM in Paris (and possibly Germany) early this week as the first round of peace talks and workshops began on Tuesday June 22 before formally starting in Kenya tomorrow June 25.
Report excerpt: "The State Department said Powell will visit the capital, Khartoum, on Tuesday as well as the western region of Darfur, where U.S. officials accuse Khartoum-supported militias of 'ethnic cleansing' against black Africans.
"The secretary will make clear our concern about the people in Darfur (and) will make clear that we believe that much of the hardship has been caused by the activities and the violence perpetrated by the militias," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters.
"The secretary's visit to Sudan is intended to continue to call attention to the dire humanitarian situation in Darfur, to do whatever we can to stop the violence there, and to make sure that the needy people of that region receive supplies," he added.
- - -
Update inserted 21.10 HRS June 24 via Xinhuanet: Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey left Switzerland today for a three-day trip to Sudan where she is expected to witness the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
It is the first visit by a Swiss foreign minister to the African nation, which has been plagued by fighting and civil war for 21 years. According to the foreign ministry, Calmy-Rey will visit camps set up for displaced persons in Darfur.
Calmy-Rey is also expected to discuss the peace process and bilateral relations with Sudanese officials in the capital, Khartoum, during her visit. But the foreign ministry would not confirm whether Calmy-Rey was traveling to Sudan to mediate a peace deal for Darfur.
Switzerland played a key role in brokering a truce between the Muslim-led government in the north and rebels in the Christian south. But despite encouraging steps towards peace in southern Sudan, the separate conflict in the western region of Darfur has continued to rage since early 2003.
- - -
Update 24 June: UN: UN health envoy visits Darfur camps to assess humanitarian needs.
June 24 allAfrica: "Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) and Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) today announced they are leaving Washington on Friday night for Darfur to assess humanitarian crisis.
US SECRETARY OF STATE TO VISIT DARFUR
Colin Powell will visit Khartoum Tuesday
Today Reuters reports Secretary of State Colin Powell will visit Sudan's Darfur region next week to pressure Khartoum to stop the humanitarian crisis caused by government-backed militias attacking residents.
Interesting news but not unexpected given that the Peace Accord talks formally open in Kenya tomorrow and Kofi Annan is due to visit Darfur next week. The rebel SPLM/A and JEM launched a revolt in Darfur last year, accusing the government of neglect and of arming Arab units known as Janjaweed militias, who loot and burn ethnic African villages. Khartoum has denied the charges. Sudanese government teams met with the SPLM/A and JEM in Paris (and possibly Germany) early this week as the first round of peace talks and workshops began on Tuesday June 22 before formally starting in Kenya tomorrow June 25.
Report excerpt: "The State Department said Powell will visit the capital, Khartoum, on Tuesday as well as the western region of Darfur, where U.S. officials accuse Khartoum-supported militias of 'ethnic cleansing' against black Africans.
"The secretary will make clear our concern about the people in Darfur (and) will make clear that we believe that much of the hardship has been caused by the activities and the violence perpetrated by the militias," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters.
"The secretary's visit to Sudan is intended to continue to call attention to the dire humanitarian situation in Darfur, to do whatever we can to stop the violence there, and to make sure that the needy people of that region receive supplies," he added.
- - -
Update inserted 21.10 HRS June 24 via Xinhuanet: Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey left Switzerland today for a three-day trip to Sudan where she is expected to witness the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
It is the first visit by a Swiss foreign minister to the African nation, which has been plagued by fighting and civil war for 21 years. According to the foreign ministry, Calmy-Rey will visit camps set up for displaced persons in Darfur.
Calmy-Rey is also expected to discuss the peace process and bilateral relations with Sudanese officials in the capital, Khartoum, during her visit. But the foreign ministry would not confirm whether Calmy-Rey was traveling to Sudan to mediate a peace deal for Darfur.
Switzerland played a key role in brokering a truce between the Muslim-led government in the north and rebels in the Christian south. But despite encouraging steps towards peace in southern Sudan, the separate conflict in the western region of Darfur has continued to rage since early 2003.
- - -
Update 24 June: UN: UN health envoy visits Darfur camps to assess humanitarian needs.
June 24 allAfrica: "Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) and Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) today announced they are leaving Washington on Friday night for Darfur to assess humanitarian crisis.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/24/2004
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
SOUTH KOREAN HOSTAGE
Kidnapped and beheaded in Iraq
A South Korean hostage threatened with execution in Iraq was killed yesterday by a group of al-Queda linked kidnappers after Seoul rejected demands for South Korea to stop contributing troops to U.S.-led forces in Iraq. The beheaded body of translator Kim Sun-il, 33 was found on the road between Baghdad and Falluja in Iraq. Today ABC reports that an Islamist web site has posted a videotape of the beheading. Condolences to young man's family, friends and colleagues. God Bless and Rest In Peace Kim Sun-il + + +
James Lee asks Where do we go from here? My answer is, we keep on going with even stronger resolve against the evil of terrorism and continue to help protect those who are defenceless in the face of abhorrent cruelty and savagery, and battle for equal human rights.
Don Park's post, detailing an Appeal by 365 Korean organisations to the Iraqi group that were holding the Korean national, has attracted comments that make interesting reading. Recently, a friend of mine advised me to follow what is happening North Korea. I do keep my eye on the news and will blog about North Korea at a later date.
- - -
Update June 24: Don Park commented on this post, quote: "Kim Sun-il had an Iraqi security guard when he was kidnapped. It's sad that nobody cares about his disappearance. So sad." [Note, if anyone hears any further news on this, I would be interested to know. Thanks. Ingrid]
- - -
The following inserts were added here on June 24:
June 24 Rajan Rishyakaran's post: "Kim Sun-il, RIP".
June 23 Instapundit's post in full:
"ANDREW BOLT WRITES THAT WE'RE BEHEADING OURSELVES, and the media are the knife":
"Not only did Saddam house and help terrorists, including Abu Abbas, Abu Nidal, Palestinian suicide bombers and a bomb-maker of the 1993 World Trade Centre attack, but his scientists worked on chemical and biological weapons up until the war, as the Iraq Survey Group now confirms. The day would surely come when Saddam's weapons and the terrorists who wanted them finally met.
This is what Bush, Britain's Tony Blair and our John Howard warned of. But now this history is being shamelessly rewritten in the media.
This week's 9/11 commission reports also said Saddam approached al-Qaida at least three times when it was based in Sudan, and again, it seems, when it was in Afghanistan.
Al-Qaida boss Osama bin Laden asked for training camps and weapons, but, the reports claim, "Iraq apparently never responded", and the talks "do not appear to have resulted in a collaborative relationship", although at least one Iraqi terrorist group did join his "broader Islamic army".
The reports for some reason don't discuss other reported links between Iraq and al-Qaida, but cautiously conclude: "We have no credible evidence that Iraq and al-Qaida co-operated on attacks against the United States."
So there were links between Saddam and al-Qaida, not to mention other terrorists, but no proof (yet) of active collaboration or co-operation in the September 11 attacks.
This is almost word for word what Bush has long said.
"We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with September 11th," he repeated on CNN last year. But there was evidence "that he has been involved with al-Qaida".
Yet ABC TV news said this week's reports prove al-Qaida "had no links with Saddam Hussein, as suggested by the White House", and ABC's The World Today added: "One of the Bush administration's central arguments for going to war with Iraq appears to be in tatters." As if Bush had blamed Iraq for the September 11 attacks. The liar.
More of this and al-Nashami can take it easy. We'll have cut our own throats already.
Ouch."
Kidnapped and beheaded in Iraq
A South Korean hostage threatened with execution in Iraq was killed yesterday by a group of al-Queda linked kidnappers after Seoul rejected demands for South Korea to stop contributing troops to U.S.-led forces in Iraq. The beheaded body of translator Kim Sun-il, 33 was found on the road between Baghdad and Falluja in Iraq. Today ABC reports that an Islamist web site has posted a videotape of the beheading. Condolences to young man's family, friends and colleagues. God Bless and Rest In Peace Kim Sun-il + + +
James Lee asks Where do we go from here? My answer is, we keep on going with even stronger resolve against the evil of terrorism and continue to help protect those who are defenceless in the face of abhorrent cruelty and savagery, and battle for equal human rights.
Don Park's post, detailing an Appeal by 365 Korean organisations to the Iraqi group that were holding the Korean national, has attracted comments that make interesting reading. Recently, a friend of mine advised me to follow what is happening North Korea. I do keep my eye on the news and will blog about North Korea at a later date.
- - -
Update June 24: Don Park commented on this post, quote: "Kim Sun-il had an Iraqi security guard when he was kidnapped. It's sad that nobody cares about his disappearance. So sad." [Note, if anyone hears any further news on this, I would be interested to know. Thanks. Ingrid]
- - -
The following inserts were added here on June 24:
June 24 Rajan Rishyakaran's post: "Kim Sun-il, RIP".
June 23 Instapundit's post in full:
"ANDREW BOLT WRITES THAT WE'RE BEHEADING OURSELVES, and the media are the knife":
"Not only did Saddam house and help terrorists, including Abu Abbas, Abu Nidal, Palestinian suicide bombers and a bomb-maker of the 1993 World Trade Centre attack, but his scientists worked on chemical and biological weapons up until the war, as the Iraq Survey Group now confirms. The day would surely come when Saddam's weapons and the terrorists who wanted them finally met.
This is what Bush, Britain's Tony Blair and our John Howard warned of. But now this history is being shamelessly rewritten in the media.
This week's 9/11 commission reports also said Saddam approached al-Qaida at least three times when it was based in Sudan, and again, it seems, when it was in Afghanistan.
Al-Qaida boss Osama bin Laden asked for training camps and weapons, but, the reports claim, "Iraq apparently never responded", and the talks "do not appear to have resulted in a collaborative relationship", although at least one Iraqi terrorist group did join his "broader Islamic army".
The reports for some reason don't discuss other reported links between Iraq and al-Qaida, but cautiously conclude: "We have no credible evidence that Iraq and al-Qaida co-operated on attacks against the United States."
So there were links between Saddam and al-Qaida, not to mention other terrorists, but no proof (yet) of active collaboration or co-operation in the September 11 attacks.
This is almost word for word what Bush has long said.
"We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with September 11th," he repeated on CNN last year. But there was evidence "that he has been involved with al-Qaida".
Yet ABC TV news said this week's reports prove al-Qaida "had no links with Saddam Hussein, as suggested by the White House", and ABC's The World Today added: "One of the Bush administration's central arguments for going to war with Iraq appears to be in tatters." As if Bush had blamed Iraq for the September 11 attacks. The liar.
More of this and al-Nashami can take it easy. We'll have cut our own throats already.
Ouch."
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/23/2004
- - -
FRESH ATTACKS BY MILITIAS IN DARFUR
Reported by UN field workers
June 23 UN News: "UN field workers report fresh attacks by Janjaweed militias in Darfur. Arab Janjaweed militias continue to attack villages in the south of Sudan's Darfur region, burning and looting homes on Monday and reportedly killing six civilians, United Nations field workers say.
Staff from UN agencies and non-government organizations (NGOs) operating in the region say nearby army and police did nothing to intervene during the attacks, UN spokesman Fred Eckhard told a press briefing today. Mr. Eckhard said there have been reports of banditry and other acts of violence in the north and west of the vast Darfur region, and that concerns are mounting about the safety of aid workers."
FRESH ATTACKS BY MILITIAS IN DARFUR
Reported by UN field workers
June 23 UN News: "UN field workers report fresh attacks by Janjaweed militias in Darfur. Arab Janjaweed militias continue to attack villages in the south of Sudan's Darfur region, burning and looting homes on Monday and reportedly killing six civilians, United Nations field workers say.
Staff from UN agencies and non-government organizations (NGOs) operating in the region say nearby army and police did nothing to intervene during the attacks, UN spokesman Fred Eckhard told a press briefing today. Mr. Eckhard said there have been reports of banditry and other acts of violence in the north and west of the vast Darfur region, and that concerns are mounting about the safety of aid workers."
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/23/2004
- - -
UK AND US HOLOCAUST CENTRES
Close in protest of crisis in Darfur
June 23 LONDON Reuters: Two Holocaust memorial centres, in Britain and the United States, will close for one hour on Thursday to highlight the humanitarian crisis in west Sudan's Darfur region.
"We hope to draw attention to the fact that what we are seeing in Darfur is a serious threat of genocide," a spokesman for the British centre told Reuters by telephone. "As organisations which spend every day of the year dealing with the issue of the Holocaust and carrying the moral authority of the survivors, we feel that ours is an important voice to be heard," he added.
The two centres, one in Washington and one near the central English city of Nottingham, commemorate the murder of millions of European Jews in World War Two. "If our voice was not heard this time when a serious threat of genocide is present, it would be to our shame," the British spokesman said.
UK AND US HOLOCAUST CENTRES
Close in protest of crisis in Darfur
June 23 LONDON Reuters: Two Holocaust memorial centres, in Britain and the United States, will close for one hour on Thursday to highlight the humanitarian crisis in west Sudan's Darfur region.
"We hope to draw attention to the fact that what we are seeing in Darfur is a serious threat of genocide," a spokesman for the British centre told Reuters by telephone. "As organisations which spend every day of the year dealing with the issue of the Holocaust and carrying the moral authority of the survivors, we feel that ours is an important voice to be heard," he added.
The two centres, one in Washington and one near the central English city of Nottingham, commemorate the murder of millions of European Jews in World War Two. "If our voice was not heard this time when a serious threat of genocide is present, it would be to our shame," the British spokesman said.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/23/2004
- - -
KENYA STEPS UP EFFORTS
To resolve crisis in Darfur
23 June Nairobi VOANews.com: Kenyan Foreign Minister Kalonzo Musyoka says Nairobi is prepared to take a leading role in resolving the political crisis in the Darfur region of western Sudan. The 17-month conflict in Darfur has caused more than one million people to flee their homes, creating what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
Foreign Minister Musyoka says that in a recent telephone conversation, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan requested that Kenya lead efforts to bring peace to Darfur. "He specifically requested that if Kenya could play a leadership role in this conflict in western Sudan, the Darfur region, "I'm sure this is a challenge you would want to take," said Mr. Musyoka.
Kenya has hosted peace talks between the Sudanese government and rebels from the Sudan People's Liberation Army, which is based primarily in the south of the country. A final peace agreement is due to be signed in the coming weeks.
But Mr. Musyoka says that peace deal will mean little if the Darfur question is not addressed, and with Kenya's help. "Although we have successfully tried to mediate in the conflict in the south, there cannot be sustainable peace in Sudan without making sure that even the west is comfortable. So we are ready to take up that challenge," he added.
Black African rebels in Darfur started an insurgency against government forces in February 2003, because of what they saw as neglect by the government, which is predominantly ethnic-Arab. Human rights groups charge that Arab janjaweed militias, supported by the government, are attacking Darfur's black civilian population in response. More than one million people have fled their homes for the relative safety of refugee camps in Darfur and over the border in Chad. For more than a year, Sudan allowed little access to international aid groups. The refugees face shortages of food, possible outbreaks of disease and continued attacks by the militias.
Last week, Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir pledged to disarm all the militias. His government has also recently allowed greater access to the refugee camps by aid groups.
- - -
SUDAN AND CHAD
Agree to disarm militias
23 June Khartoum Reuters: Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said Africa's largest country had agreed with neighbouring Chad to disarm militias on both sides of the border, a semi-official news service reported on Wednesday.
Two rebel groups launched an uprising in February 2003 accusing the government of neglect and of arming Arab militias to loot and burn African villages. The Khartoum government denies the charge, saying that the Arab militia groups, known locally as Janjaweed, are outlaws.
"We have completed an agreement with Chad to collect arms in Darfur and the Chadian lands neighbouring Darfur at the same time," Sudanese Media Centre reported Bashir as saying on Tuesday during a meeting with invited journalists. "To disarm the groups in one area without the other would not help in resolving the problem," Bashir said.
Chadian President Idriss Deby's adviser on foreign affairs warned last week that Sudan's inter-tribal violence could spill over the border and said the Janjaweed had been seeking the backing of Chad's Arab tribes. Aid workers say about 158,000 refugees from Darfur have fled into Chad. Humans rights groups, aid agencies and refugees have said that Janjaweed, with government support, have crossed several times into Chad to attack local villagers and refugees.
Bashir ordered "a complete mobilisation" to disarm all illegal armed groups in the Darfur region on Saturday, including the Janjaweed, who have been accused of burning African farming communities to the ground to drive away villagers. The government and the rebel groups signed a truce with the government on April 8, but each side has since accused the other of truce violations.
KENYA STEPS UP EFFORTS
To resolve crisis in Darfur
23 June Nairobi VOANews.com: Kenyan Foreign Minister Kalonzo Musyoka says Nairobi is prepared to take a leading role in resolving the political crisis in the Darfur region of western Sudan. The 17-month conflict in Darfur has caused more than one million people to flee their homes, creating what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
Foreign Minister Musyoka says that in a recent telephone conversation, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan requested that Kenya lead efforts to bring peace to Darfur. "He specifically requested that if Kenya could play a leadership role in this conflict in western Sudan, the Darfur region, "I'm sure this is a challenge you would want to take," said Mr. Musyoka.
Kenya has hosted peace talks between the Sudanese government and rebels from the Sudan People's Liberation Army, which is based primarily in the south of the country. A final peace agreement is due to be signed in the coming weeks.
But Mr. Musyoka says that peace deal will mean little if the Darfur question is not addressed, and with Kenya's help. "Although we have successfully tried to mediate in the conflict in the south, there cannot be sustainable peace in Sudan without making sure that even the west is comfortable. So we are ready to take up that challenge," he added.
Black African rebels in Darfur started an insurgency against government forces in February 2003, because of what they saw as neglect by the government, which is predominantly ethnic-Arab. Human rights groups charge that Arab janjaweed militias, supported by the government, are attacking Darfur's black civilian population in response. More than one million people have fled their homes for the relative safety of refugee camps in Darfur and over the border in Chad. For more than a year, Sudan allowed little access to international aid groups. The refugees face shortages of food, possible outbreaks of disease and continued attacks by the militias.
Last week, Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir pledged to disarm all the militias. His government has also recently allowed greater access to the refugee camps by aid groups.
- - -
SUDAN AND CHAD
Agree to disarm militias
23 June Khartoum Reuters: Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said Africa's largest country had agreed with neighbouring Chad to disarm militias on both sides of the border, a semi-official news service reported on Wednesday.
Two rebel groups launched an uprising in February 2003 accusing the government of neglect and of arming Arab militias to loot and burn African villages. The Khartoum government denies the charge, saying that the Arab militia groups, known locally as Janjaweed, are outlaws.
"We have completed an agreement with Chad to collect arms in Darfur and the Chadian lands neighbouring Darfur at the same time," Sudanese Media Centre reported Bashir as saying on Tuesday during a meeting with invited journalists. "To disarm the groups in one area without the other would not help in resolving the problem," Bashir said.
Chadian President Idriss Deby's adviser on foreign affairs warned last week that Sudan's inter-tribal violence could spill over the border and said the Janjaweed had been seeking the backing of Chad's Arab tribes. Aid workers say about 158,000 refugees from Darfur have fled into Chad. Humans rights groups, aid agencies and refugees have said that Janjaweed, with government support, have crossed several times into Chad to attack local villagers and refugees.
Bashir ordered "a complete mobilisation" to disarm all illegal armed groups in the Darfur region on Saturday, including the Janjaweed, who have been accused of burning African farming communities to the ground to drive away villagers. The government and the rebel groups signed a truce with the government on April 8, but each side has since accused the other of truce violations.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/23/2004
- - -
KHARTOUM NEGOTIATED
With Darfur rebels in Paris Yesterday
June 22 arabicnews.com: A meeting was held in Paris yesterday between a high ranking Sudanese government delegation and officials from the rebel Sudan's liberation movement in Darfur.
The Sudanese news agency said that the talks would start by an open session to be followed by a five day work session to discuss all aspects of the situation in Darfur, west Sudan. The agency said that the French foreign minister Michael Barnieh would play a role in the negotiations.
Officials said that the secretary general of the ruling party in Khartoum province, al-Haj Atta al-Mannan, would preside over the government's delegation and that the talks were a continuity of the talks held with other rebels from the "justice and equality movement" last March.
Both the "Justice and equality" (JEM) and Sudan's Liberation' movements (SLM) rebelled in Darfur in February 2003, saying they want their own just share of the authority and wealth. The two movements signed a truce with the government on April 8th, however, every and each side used to accuse the other of violating the truce.
Meantime, the EU foreign police coordinator Javier Solana announced the arrival of European observers to Sudan to help the African Federation to monitor the cease fire between the Sudanese government and the two rebels in Darfour. The African federation is leading a UN team composed of 120 observers to monitor the truce.
Further reading: June 21 Reuters: Sudan government team left Sudan on Monday to meet Darfur rebels in Paris. Hassan Burgo, a senior official from the ruling National Congress party, said talks with the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) were expected to last about one week and would cover "points of difference".
The JEM and another rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), launched an uprising in Darfur in February 2003, saying they wanted a fairer share of power and resources in Sudan, a poor country which produces oil. Both groups signed a truce with the government on April 8, but since then each side has accused the other of violations. Rebels accuse the government of arming Arab militias, known locally as Janjaweed, to loot and burn African villages in the arid area, where tension between Arab nomads and African farmers has often flared in the past but not into fullscale conflict.
"There is communication between the government and the political leadership of the rebels via mediators to bring us together for these talks," Burgo told Reuters. Burgo said the government would urge the return to Sudan of JEM's leaders, who are based in Europe.
Burgo said he did not expect a lot from the Paris talks. "I don't want people to attach too much importance to what will happen in Paris. It is a continuation of negotiations but the important thing is the ceasefire which was agreed upon and we are committed to," he said. Officials said the ruling party's secretary-general for Khartoum state, Al-Haj Atta al-Manan, was heading the government team and the talks were a continuation of discussions with the JEM first held in March.
- - -
YESTERDAY FRENCH ENVOY TOURED MORNAY REFUGEE CAMP
And said "the situation is as dangerous as we thought"
In Darfur on Tuesday, French envoy Muselier toured the Mornay camp where Sudanese authorities say 100,000 people have taken shelter from the separate conflict there. "The situation is as dangerous as we thought," Muselier said after his visit.
- - -
SUDAN MILITIAS TERRORISING MORNAY REFUGEE CAMP
Said Doctors without Borders in Darfur - on Monday
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Monday that "Khartoum-backed Sudanese janjawid militias", accused of conducting "ethnic cleansing" in Darfur, were terrorising the Mornay camp.
War broke out in Darfur in February 2003 when black African rebel groups, complaining of economic neglect of their region and a lack of protection for local people, rose up against the Sudanese government. Clashes between the Sudanese army and the rebels in Darfur have left at least 10 000 people dead and forced more than a million from their homes, according to UN estimates.
June 23 Geneva (AFP) Tehran Times: Sudan militias terrorise camp holding Darfur displaced -- Sudanese militias accused of conducting "ethnic cleansing" in the Darfur region are now terrorizing a camp holding tens of thousands who fled their attacks, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) –- Doctors Without Borders -- said Monday.
- - -
FRENCH ENVOY DISCUSSES DEVELOPMENT WITH SUDAN PRESIDENT
French envoy meets Wednesday with SPLA leader John Garang
22 June News 24: Khartoum and rebels from the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA) are soon to sign a peace accord to end 20 years of civil war in southern Sudan that has claimed some 1.5 million lives and displaced four million people.
At yesterday's meeting, French envoy Muselier and Sudan's President Beshir discussed the situation in Darfur, the Sudanese peace process and the cooperation between Paris and Khartoum for development in the postwar period, French and Sudanese sources said.
Commenting on his meeting with Sudan's President Beshir, the French envoy said he had stressed the need to implement agreements signed in Chad to end the conflict in Darfur "and to eliminate all problems related to the practices of the janjawid (militias) and to create conditions that will allow displaced people to return to their homes as soon as possible".
Muselier is to meet SPLA leader John Garang today.
- - -
FRENCH AID TO SUDAN
French envoy donated three million euros for aid to Sudan
Senior French foreign ministry envoy Renaud Muselier signed an agreement to donate €3m in French aid to war-torn Sudan, during a meeting with Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir on Tuesday.
The agreement, signed between the French and Sudanese governments and the UN World Food Programme, will channel €3m to the western region of Darfur, one million to the south and the third to support school feeding.
"France is concerned about the ongoing efforts to bring about peace in Sudan," Muselier said after the meeting.
- - -
SUDANESE GOVERNMENT LEFT FOR GERMANY MONDAY
For peace talks with Darfur rebels JEM and SLM
June 21 SudanTribune report excerpt (note I am unsure about this report - cannot find another report to cross check and verify):
"A Sudanese government delegation left for Germany Monday for peace talks with the representatives of the rebels in the western province of Darfur, a Cabinet minister said. The talks have been arranged by German mediators and should begin Tuesday in Berlin, Agriculture Minister Majzoub al-Khalifa Ahmad told reporters.
Ahmad didn't identify the mediators. In Berlin, the German Foreign Ministry said it had no scheduled meeting with a Sudanese government delegation. Previously the government and Darfur rebels have held talks in Switzerland sponsored by the Henry Dunant Center for Humanitarian Dialogue.
Tuesday's talks aim to "find a final solution to the Darfur crisis, stop the bloodshed and bring peace to the region," Ahmad said. The government delegation will be led by Ibrahim Omar, the secretary general of the ruling Congress Party, Ahmad said. The government and the two main rebel groups signed a cease-fire in April, but each side has accused the other of violating it."
KHARTOUM NEGOTIATED
With Darfur rebels in Paris Yesterday
June 22 arabicnews.com: A meeting was held in Paris yesterday between a high ranking Sudanese government delegation and officials from the rebel Sudan's liberation movement in Darfur.
The Sudanese news agency said that the talks would start by an open session to be followed by a five day work session to discuss all aspects of the situation in Darfur, west Sudan. The agency said that the French foreign minister Michael Barnieh would play a role in the negotiations.
Officials said that the secretary general of the ruling party in Khartoum province, al-Haj Atta al-Mannan, would preside over the government's delegation and that the talks were a continuity of the talks held with other rebels from the "justice and equality movement" last March.
Both the "Justice and equality" (JEM) and Sudan's Liberation' movements (SLM) rebelled in Darfur in February 2003, saying they want their own just share of the authority and wealth. The two movements signed a truce with the government on April 8th, however, every and each side used to accuse the other of violating the truce.
Meantime, the EU foreign police coordinator Javier Solana announced the arrival of European observers to Sudan to help the African Federation to monitor the cease fire between the Sudanese government and the two rebels in Darfour. The African federation is leading a UN team composed of 120 observers to monitor the truce.
Further reading: June 21 Reuters: Sudan government team left Sudan on Monday to meet Darfur rebels in Paris. Hassan Burgo, a senior official from the ruling National Congress party, said talks with the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) were expected to last about one week and would cover "points of difference".
The JEM and another rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), launched an uprising in Darfur in February 2003, saying they wanted a fairer share of power and resources in Sudan, a poor country which produces oil. Both groups signed a truce with the government on April 8, but since then each side has accused the other of violations. Rebels accuse the government of arming Arab militias, known locally as Janjaweed, to loot and burn African villages in the arid area, where tension between Arab nomads and African farmers has often flared in the past but not into fullscale conflict.
"There is communication between the government and the political leadership of the rebels via mediators to bring us together for these talks," Burgo told Reuters. Burgo said the government would urge the return to Sudan of JEM's leaders, who are based in Europe.
Burgo said he did not expect a lot from the Paris talks. "I don't want people to attach too much importance to what will happen in Paris. It is a continuation of negotiations but the important thing is the ceasefire which was agreed upon and we are committed to," he said. Officials said the ruling party's secretary-general for Khartoum state, Al-Haj Atta al-Manan, was heading the government team and the talks were a continuation of discussions with the JEM first held in March.
- - -
YESTERDAY FRENCH ENVOY TOURED MORNAY REFUGEE CAMP
And said "the situation is as dangerous as we thought"
In Darfur on Tuesday, French envoy Muselier toured the Mornay camp where Sudanese authorities say 100,000 people have taken shelter from the separate conflict there. "The situation is as dangerous as we thought," Muselier said after his visit.
- - -
SUDAN MILITIAS TERRORISING MORNAY REFUGEE CAMP
Said Doctors without Borders in Darfur - on Monday
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Monday that "Khartoum-backed Sudanese janjawid militias", accused of conducting "ethnic cleansing" in Darfur, were terrorising the Mornay camp.
War broke out in Darfur in February 2003 when black African rebel groups, complaining of economic neglect of their region and a lack of protection for local people, rose up against the Sudanese government. Clashes between the Sudanese army and the rebels in Darfur have left at least 10 000 people dead and forced more than a million from their homes, according to UN estimates.
June 23 Geneva (AFP) Tehran Times: Sudan militias terrorise camp holding Darfur displaced -- Sudanese militias accused of conducting "ethnic cleansing" in the Darfur region are now terrorizing a camp holding tens of thousands who fled their attacks, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) –- Doctors Without Borders -- said Monday.
- - -
FRENCH ENVOY DISCUSSES DEVELOPMENT WITH SUDAN PRESIDENT
French envoy meets Wednesday with SPLA leader John Garang
22 June News 24: Khartoum and rebels from the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA) are soon to sign a peace accord to end 20 years of civil war in southern Sudan that has claimed some 1.5 million lives and displaced four million people.
At yesterday's meeting, French envoy Muselier and Sudan's President Beshir discussed the situation in Darfur, the Sudanese peace process and the cooperation between Paris and Khartoum for development in the postwar period, French and Sudanese sources said.
Commenting on his meeting with Sudan's President Beshir, the French envoy said he had stressed the need to implement agreements signed in Chad to end the conflict in Darfur "and to eliminate all problems related to the practices of the janjawid (militias) and to create conditions that will allow displaced people to return to their homes as soon as possible".
Muselier is to meet SPLA leader John Garang today.
- - -
FRENCH AID TO SUDAN
French envoy donated three million euros for aid to Sudan
Senior French foreign ministry envoy Renaud Muselier signed an agreement to donate €3m in French aid to war-torn Sudan, during a meeting with Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir on Tuesday.
The agreement, signed between the French and Sudanese governments and the UN World Food Programme, will channel €3m to the western region of Darfur, one million to the south and the third to support school feeding.
"France is concerned about the ongoing efforts to bring about peace in Sudan," Muselier said after the meeting.
- - -
SUDANESE GOVERNMENT LEFT FOR GERMANY MONDAY
For peace talks with Darfur rebels JEM and SLM
June 21 SudanTribune report excerpt (note I am unsure about this report - cannot find another report to cross check and verify):
"A Sudanese government delegation left for Germany Monday for peace talks with the representatives of the rebels in the western province of Darfur, a Cabinet minister said. The talks have been arranged by German mediators and should begin Tuesday in Berlin, Agriculture Minister Majzoub al-Khalifa Ahmad told reporters.
Ahmad didn't identify the mediators. In Berlin, the German Foreign Ministry said it had no scheduled meeting with a Sudanese government delegation. Previously the government and Darfur rebels have held talks in Switzerland sponsored by the Henry Dunant Center for Humanitarian Dialogue.
Tuesday's talks aim to "find a final solution to the Darfur crisis, stop the bloodshed and bring peace to the region," Ahmad said. The government delegation will be led by Ibrahim Omar, the secretary general of the ruling Congress Party, Ahmad said. The government and the two main rebel groups signed a cease-fire in April, but each side has accused the other of violating it."
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/23/2004
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
DONORS FAIL TO DELIVER
For people of Darfur, Sudan
Today, Oxfam today attacked donor governments for failing to deliver enough funding to help an estimated two million people affected by the crisis in Darfur - with this warning: “Humanitarian aid, while not the only solution to this crisis, is the key to preventing tens of thousands of deaths in the coming months. Donors must deliver immediately if lives are to be saved. "
Considering the size and population of the USA (you can fit Great Britain into the State of Texas) it is interesting to note the UK gave $52.1 million, the US gave $89.5 million, and that the governments of France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and rich Arab countries have been some of the least generous:
France has given just $3.45 million, Spain $600,000, Germany $7.14 million, Japan $3.29m, Italy $2.4million, Saudi Arabia $204,000, and United Arab Emirates $82,000.
Report notes for Editors:
·For Darfur and Chad, the UN has appealed for US$349,542,643 since March 2004. So far, the UN has received just 33% of its appeal, $114,085,877.
· In the first three months of the 2003 Iraq appeal, donors mobilized nearly $2 billion.
·Six months after the United Nations announced its $2.95 billion Consolidated Appeal for the world’s emergencies in 2004, only $696.8 million had been received by 16 June 2004, according to OCHA. At just 23.6 % of the amount requested, this level of funding is much lower than at the same time in previous two years, when 33% had been received.
·Oxfam is rapidly scaling up its work in Darfur and Chad and has launched a GB£1 million public appeal to raise funds. It is providing clean drinking water, toilets and bathing facilities as well as hygiene kits in North and South Darfur and refugee camps in neighboring Chad. By the beginning of July 2004, Oxfam will be providing water and sanitation to a total of 200,000 people.
·Oxfam’s emergency work in Darfur is supported by the British Government’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the European Commission’s Humanitarian Office (ECHO).
- - -
June 22 BBC: Polio epidemic warning for Africa
For people of Darfur, Sudan
Today, Oxfam today attacked donor governments for failing to deliver enough funding to help an estimated two million people affected by the crisis in Darfur - with this warning: “Humanitarian aid, while not the only solution to this crisis, is the key to preventing tens of thousands of deaths in the coming months. Donors must deliver immediately if lives are to be saved. "
Considering the size and population of the USA (you can fit Great Britain into the State of Texas) it is interesting to note the UK gave $52.1 million, the US gave $89.5 million, and that the governments of France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and rich Arab countries have been some of the least generous:
France has given just $3.45 million, Spain $600,000, Germany $7.14 million, Japan $3.29m, Italy $2.4million, Saudi Arabia $204,000, and United Arab Emirates $82,000.
Report notes for Editors:
·For Darfur and Chad, the UN has appealed for US$349,542,643 since March 2004. So far, the UN has received just 33% of its appeal, $114,085,877.
· In the first three months of the 2003 Iraq appeal, donors mobilized nearly $2 billion.
·Six months after the United Nations announced its $2.95 billion Consolidated Appeal for the world’s emergencies in 2004, only $696.8 million had been received by 16 June 2004, according to OCHA. At just 23.6 % of the amount requested, this level of funding is much lower than at the same time in previous two years, when 33% had been received.
·Oxfam is rapidly scaling up its work in Darfur and Chad and has launched a GB£1 million public appeal to raise funds. It is providing clean drinking water, toilets and bathing facilities as well as hygiene kits in North and South Darfur and refugee camps in neighboring Chad. By the beginning of July 2004, Oxfam will be providing water and sanitation to a total of 200,000 people.
·Oxfam’s emergency work in Darfur is supported by the British Government’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the European Commission’s Humanitarian Office (ECHO).
- - -
June 22 BBC: Polio epidemic warning for Africa
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/22/2004
Monday, June 21, 2004
EUROPEAN OBSERVERS HAVE BEGUN ARRIVING IN SUDAN
To help African Union monitor ceasefire
21 June Reuters - European observers have begun arriving in Sudan to help the African Union monitor a ceasefire between the Sudanese government and two rebel groups in Darfur, the EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on Monday. The African Union is leading an international mission of up to 120 observers to monitor the ceasefire after more than a year of fighting, which has forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes.
"The consolidation of the ceasefire is crucial to prevent a real humanitarian crisis in Darfur. This is the reason why the EU member states have quickly decided to take part in the ceasefire monitoring mechanism," Solana said in a statement.
The European Union will support the international mission with 12 million euros ($14.50 million) and its member states are expected to send between six and nine observers to Sudan. The bloc's 12-month funding, which will cover roughly half of the observer mission's budget, will be released from its recently established African Peace Facility.
($1=.8275 Euro)
- - -
MOZAMBICAN OBSERVERS FOR DARFUR
To join African Union mission in next few days
June 21 allAfrica: The Mozambican Armed Forces (FADM) are to send five military observers within the next few days to join the African peace-keeping mission in the troubled province of Darfur, in the western Sudan. According to a statement from the Defence Ministry, received by AIM today, the observers will help monitor a ceasefire in the region, under an agreement signed in April in the Chadian capital, N'djamena.
Mozambican forces have been involved in United Nations and African Union peace keeping missions in East Timor, the Comoros, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The largest commitment is a unit of 200 troops currently stationed in Burundi.
To help African Union monitor ceasefire
21 June Reuters - European observers have begun arriving in Sudan to help the African Union monitor a ceasefire between the Sudanese government and two rebel groups in Darfur, the EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on Monday. The African Union is leading an international mission of up to 120 observers to monitor the ceasefire after more than a year of fighting, which has forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes.
"The consolidation of the ceasefire is crucial to prevent a real humanitarian crisis in Darfur. This is the reason why the EU member states have quickly decided to take part in the ceasefire monitoring mechanism," Solana said in a statement.
The European Union will support the international mission with 12 million euros ($14.50 million) and its member states are expected to send between six and nine observers to Sudan. The bloc's 12-month funding, which will cover roughly half of the observer mission's budget, will be released from its recently established African Peace Facility.
($1=.8275 Euro)
- - -
MOZAMBICAN OBSERVERS FOR DARFUR
To join African Union mission in next few days
June 21 allAfrica: The Mozambican Armed Forces (FADM) are to send five military observers within the next few days to join the African peace-keeping mission in the troubled province of Darfur, in the western Sudan. According to a statement from the Defence Ministry, received by AIM today, the observers will help monitor a ceasefire in the region, under an agreement signed in April in the Chadian capital, N'djamena.
Mozambican forces have been involved in United Nations and African Union peace keeping missions in East Timor, the Comoros, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The largest commitment is a unit of 200 troops currently stationed in Burundi.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/21/2004
Sunday, June 20, 2004
UK AID PLANE LEAVES FOR SUDAN
Second plane leaves on Friday
A plane carrying emergency food and equipment took off for Sudan today, says the Scotsman:
Six tonnes of food, tents and plastic sheeting were on the flight bound for Nyala in southern Darfur.
Four Toyota vehicles and temporary warehouses were also on the flight which left Oslo this morning.
The aid plane was jointly organised and funded by the UK-based Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (Cafod) and Norwegian Church Aid.
Cafod staff in Sudan will race to deliver aid to villages in Darfur before the rainy season starts early next month.
A second Cafod-funded aid plane is due to set off for Sudan on Friday.
See details on further aid sent to Sudan, in June 17 post entitled "UK is second biggest bilateral donor in the world to Sudan".
Update June 21: " Two million could starve unless aid gets through. As militia attacks continue, Marcus Prior of the UN World Food Programme in Darfur warns that the rainy season is about to accelerate the disaster.
Statement via U.S. Newswire of John Kerry on World Refugee Day and the Need for Action in Darfur:
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=101-06202004
"The United States must lead the UN Security Council to immediately impose tough and effective sanctions on the government of Sudan, unless it moves without delay to act on its stated commitment to disarm militias and allows full, unimpeded access for humanitarian assistance. The Security Council should also provide authorization, under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, for an international humanitarian intervention. Advance authorization will signal to the Sudanese government that the international community will not acquiesce in continued dying in Darfur and would help accelerate preparations for intervention, should that prove necessary.
"Because of the urgency of the crisis we must also be ready to take additional measures to pressure the Sudanese government: time is not on the side of those displaced by the violence. The coming rains will further limit humanitarian access, and disease could kill hundreds of thousands in crowded camps."
Second plane leaves on Friday
A plane carrying emergency food and equipment took off for Sudan today, says the Scotsman:
Six tonnes of food, tents and plastic sheeting were on the flight bound for Nyala in southern Darfur.
Four Toyota vehicles and temporary warehouses were also on the flight which left Oslo this morning.
The aid plane was jointly organised and funded by the UK-based Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (Cafod) and Norwegian Church Aid.
Cafod staff in Sudan will race to deliver aid to villages in Darfur before the rainy season starts early next month.
A second Cafod-funded aid plane is due to set off for Sudan on Friday.
See details on further aid sent to Sudan, in June 17 post entitled "UK is second biggest bilateral donor in the world to Sudan".
Update June 21: " Two million could starve unless aid gets through. As militia attacks continue, Marcus Prior of the UN World Food Programme in Darfur warns that the rainy season is about to accelerate the disaster.
Statement via U.S. Newswire of John Kerry on World Refugee Day and the Need for Action in Darfur:
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=101-06202004
"The United States must lead the UN Security Council to immediately impose tough and effective sanctions on the government of Sudan, unless it moves without delay to act on its stated commitment to disarm militias and allows full, unimpeded access for humanitarian assistance. The Security Council should also provide authorization, under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, for an international humanitarian intervention. Advance authorization will signal to the Sudanese government that the international community will not acquiesce in continued dying in Darfur and would help accelerate preparations for intervention, should that prove necessary.
"Because of the urgency of the crisis we must also be ready to take additional measures to pressure the Sudanese government: time is not on the side of those displaced by the violence. The coming rains will further limit humanitarian access, and disease could kill hundreds of thousands in crowded camps."
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/20/2004
- - -
CHINA, PAKISTAN AND ALGERIA
Oppose intervention in Sudan
Canada's U.N. ambassador, Allan Rock, singled out one of the UN Security Council's five permanent members, China, along with non-permanent members Pakistan and Algeria, as countries that oppose intervention in Sudan because it would violate national sovereignty.
One expert argues that the United States, one of four other permanent council members, could increase pressure to pass a resolution condemning Sudan, but, "I think we're saving most of our diplomatic equity at this point for Iraq ... it's understandable but unacceptable," says John Prendergast of the non-profit International Crisis Group (ICG).
More than two months ago, on Apr. 7, Annan suggested he would push for an armed intervention by international forces if humanitarian workers and human rights observers were not "given full access to the region, and to the victims, without further delay."
- - -
CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER
Expects permanent peace in Sudan
June 20 Xinhua report via the People's Daily Online:
"Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing talked over phone with Sudan Minister of External Relations Mustafa Ismail on June 19, hoping an early realization of permanent peace in Sudan. During the phone talk, Ismail briefed Li on the latest progress of the peaceful process in Sudan. Li said that he was glad that major progress has been made in Sudan in realizing a reunited, peaceful and stable country.
The two ministers both hoped that the two countries could expand their cooperation in various areas, strengthen communications in international affairs, and maintain close cooperation."
- - -
WORLD REFUGEE DAY
75% of the planet's 12 million refugees are in the developing world
Today is United Nations World Refugee Day. About 75 percent of the planet's roughly 12 million refugees and asylum-seekers are in the developing world. Sudan has the largest number of refugees within its own borders, according to Amnesty International. And no refugees are at greater risk than Darfur's dispossessed, who have fled to other parts of the country or crossed the country's border into neighbouring Chad.
"Nowhere else in the world are so many lives at stake as in Darfur at the moment," said U.N. Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland this week, adding that as many as two million people displaced by the repression may need food aid and other supplies in coming months.
Canada's U.N. ambassador, Allan Rock, who said in a meeting Monday that the world body's top decision-making organ, the Security Council, must "demonstrate greater resolve in addressing even sensitive and politically challenging situations." In an interview Friday, Rock said that Egeland told him Thursday that the situation on the ground had improved.
- - -
Further reading from Why War? Analysis. Note echoes of today in March 15, 2002. Also note July 21, 2003 report and IRC statement "five years of civil war in the Congo have taken the lives of a mind-boggling 3.3 million people". Excerpts and links to reports:
April 7, 2004 US President Condemns Atrocities in Sudan: "The Sudanese Government must immediately stop local militias from committing atrocities against the local population and must provide unrestricted access to humanitarian aid agencies. I condemn these atrocities, which are displacing hundreds of thousands of civilians, and I have expressed my views directly to President Bashir of Sudan."
April 4, 2004 UN Urges Global Action on Darfur: "Fighting in Darfur broke out more than a year ago, when rebels attacked government targets, saying black Africans were being oppressed in favour of Arabs. Mr Egeland described it as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises."
February 26, 2004 Sudan's Darfur War Still Ongoing: "The scale of the humanitarian crisis continues to escalate, with internally displaced persons estimated to be in excess of 700,000 requiring urgent humanitarian assistance, according to EU reports."
July 21, 2003 No Answer: "If the greatest injustice in the world is U.S. imperialism, the world's greatest injustices must be found where U.S. imperialism is strongest. And, here, Africa poses a problem. Africa, after all, has less contact with the United States than any other part of the world ... the United States has avoided acting like an empire in post-cold-war Africa, and, thus, the hard left has found little cause for moral concern.
In Congo alone, according to the International Rescue Committee, five years of civil war have taken the lives of a mind-boggling 3.3 million people. How can the leaders of the global left—men and women ostensibly dedicated to solidarity with the world's oppressed, impoverished masses—not care? The answer, I think, is that the left isn't galvanized by victims; it's galvanized by victimizers. The theme of answer's upcoming protest, after all, is "Occupation and Empire." In a recent essay, Roy explained that "the real and pressing danger, the greatest threat of all, is the locomotive force that drives the political and economic engine of the U.S. government." In other words, imperialism, what she elsewhere calls "a super-power's self-destructive impulse toward supremacy, stranglehold, global hegemony."
September 3, 2002 Al Qaeda, Taliban Shipping Gold to Sudan: "European, Pakistani and US agents told The Washington Post that most of the valuable cargo passed through Iran and the UAE."
June 18, 2002 'Rogue' No More – US Eyes Oil in Libya, Sudan: "With both oil-rich Central Asia and the Middle East riddled by conflict and U.S. voters' continued distaste for new domestic oil exploitation, Washington is getting serious about changing policy toward Africa." Note: PNS Editor Franz Schurmann (fschurmann@pacificnews.org), emeritus professor at UC Berkeley, has written on the politics of oil since the late 1970s.
March 15, 2002 US Expanding Involvement In Sudan: "Since Sept. 11, Washington has tried to re-establish a working relationship with Khartoum in order to gather intelligence on Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network, which once operated out of Sudan. U.S. special envoy and former senator John Danforth has traveled to the country to mediate peace talks, and the Nuba cease-fire is a direct result of these efforts."
March 8, 2002 US Expands Its Presence Across the Globe: "U.S. forces are active in the biggest array of countries since the second world war. Troops, sailors and airmen are now established in countries where they have never before had a presence. The aim is to provide platforms from which to launch attacks on any group perceived by George Bush to be a danger to the U.S."
- - -
June 19, 2004 BBC report: More than 1,000 refugees a day are arriving in Burundi from the Democratic Republic of Congo. So far, 30,000 refugees have crossed from Congo into Burundi.
- - -
PEACE DEAL
To unlock oil wealth in the balance
June 20 report via Scotsman in full:
In the peaceful setting of Kenya’s Lake Naivasha, home to one of the world’s largest flocks of pink flamingos, one of the world’s long running civil wars is being brought to an end. Oil-rich Sudan stands to make a gigantic leap forward if final negotiations between its government and southern rebels this week can produce a comprehensive settlement.
The two sides meet on Tuesday, and have said they will stay at the talks until they agree on a deal to end the devastating 21-year civil war in the south in which more than two million people have perished. They are already a long way down the road, having signed six protocols in which they have agreed how to share power and wealth in Africa’s largest country and what to do with their armed forces during a six-year transition period.
The conflict broke out in 1983 when the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army from the mainly animist and Christian south took up arms against the predominantly Arab and Muslim north. The insurgents say they are fighting for better treatment and for southerners to have the right to choose whether to remain part of Sudan.
Under the proposed peace deal at the end of the six-year transition period, the South will vote in a referendum on whether to secede. Meanwhile, Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir is to remain head of state while rebel leader John Garang will become first vice-president.
Among the issues still not settled are a final, internationally-monitored ceasefire agreement and a timetable for implementing it. This week’s negotiations will focus on power-sharing arrangements, setting up a joint military observation of the ceasefire, and the number and location of observers, according to senior officials in Kenya. The ceasefire calls for the deployment of up to 120 observers in Darfur to be led by the African Union. The European Union has allocated 12 million euros to the mission.
Despite optimism that a comprehensive agreement to end the war will be reached soon, it could be months before it is clear whether the diplomatic solution is being honoured on the ground. Rogue government and rebel militias who prowl rural areas are hardly accountable to higher authorities.
If the deal does come off it will be a triumph for international pressure, especially from the United States. Rebuilding devastated southern Sudan will cost billions of dollars that Sudan cannot afford to pay for itself. But Sudan hopes for substantial debt relief once a southern deal is signed, as well as an ending of US sanctions. Both moves would boost foreign investment in a country which is potentially oil-rich.
Despite the war, the Sudanese economy has grown solidly, helped by rising oil exports which last year were about 300,000 barrels a day, and should reach 600,000 barrels per day next year. However, potential Western donors are expressing mounting concern about the fighting in Darfur in western Sudan, warning that it could derail the southern peace agreement if it is not stopped. The governor of the central bank of Sudan, Sabir Mohammed al-Hassan, said last week that a negotiated peace in the civil war in southern Sudan would not endure if donors used the fighting in the west as a reason to withhold much-needed aid.
"If Darfur is used as an excuse not to support Sudan, then the peace will not be sustainable," he said in Cairo. "You need the support of the international community."
CHINA, PAKISTAN AND ALGERIA
Oppose intervention in Sudan
Canada's U.N. ambassador, Allan Rock, singled out one of the UN Security Council's five permanent members, China, along with non-permanent members Pakistan and Algeria, as countries that oppose intervention in Sudan because it would violate national sovereignty.
One expert argues that the United States, one of four other permanent council members, could increase pressure to pass a resolution condemning Sudan, but, "I think we're saving most of our diplomatic equity at this point for Iraq ... it's understandable but unacceptable," says John Prendergast of the non-profit International Crisis Group (ICG).
More than two months ago, on Apr. 7, Annan suggested he would push for an armed intervention by international forces if humanitarian workers and human rights observers were not "given full access to the region, and to the victims, without further delay."
- - -
CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER
Expects permanent peace in Sudan
June 20 Xinhua report via the People's Daily Online:
"Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing talked over phone with Sudan Minister of External Relations Mustafa Ismail on June 19, hoping an early realization of permanent peace in Sudan. During the phone talk, Ismail briefed Li on the latest progress of the peaceful process in Sudan. Li said that he was glad that major progress has been made in Sudan in realizing a reunited, peaceful and stable country.
The two ministers both hoped that the two countries could expand their cooperation in various areas, strengthen communications in international affairs, and maintain close cooperation."
- - -
WORLD REFUGEE DAY
75% of the planet's 12 million refugees are in the developing world
Today is United Nations World Refugee Day. About 75 percent of the planet's roughly 12 million refugees and asylum-seekers are in the developing world. Sudan has the largest number of refugees within its own borders, according to Amnesty International. And no refugees are at greater risk than Darfur's dispossessed, who have fled to other parts of the country or crossed the country's border into neighbouring Chad.
"Nowhere else in the world are so many lives at stake as in Darfur at the moment," said U.N. Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland this week, adding that as many as two million people displaced by the repression may need food aid and other supplies in coming months.
Canada's U.N. ambassador, Allan Rock, who said in a meeting Monday that the world body's top decision-making organ, the Security Council, must "demonstrate greater resolve in addressing even sensitive and politically challenging situations." In an interview Friday, Rock said that Egeland told him Thursday that the situation on the ground had improved.
- - -
Further reading from Why War? Analysis. Note echoes of today in March 15, 2002. Also note July 21, 2003 report and IRC statement "five years of civil war in the Congo have taken the lives of a mind-boggling 3.3 million people". Excerpts and links to reports:
April 7, 2004 US President Condemns Atrocities in Sudan: "The Sudanese Government must immediately stop local militias from committing atrocities against the local population and must provide unrestricted access to humanitarian aid agencies. I condemn these atrocities, which are displacing hundreds of thousands of civilians, and I have expressed my views directly to President Bashir of Sudan."
April 4, 2004 UN Urges Global Action on Darfur: "Fighting in Darfur broke out more than a year ago, when rebels attacked government targets, saying black Africans were being oppressed in favour of Arabs. Mr Egeland described it as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises."
February 26, 2004 Sudan's Darfur War Still Ongoing: "The scale of the humanitarian crisis continues to escalate, with internally displaced persons estimated to be in excess of 700,000 requiring urgent humanitarian assistance, according to EU reports."
July 21, 2003 No Answer: "If the greatest injustice in the world is U.S. imperialism, the world's greatest injustices must be found where U.S. imperialism is strongest. And, here, Africa poses a problem. Africa, after all, has less contact with the United States than any other part of the world ... the United States has avoided acting like an empire in post-cold-war Africa, and, thus, the hard left has found little cause for moral concern.
In Congo alone, according to the International Rescue Committee, five years of civil war have taken the lives of a mind-boggling 3.3 million people. How can the leaders of the global left—men and women ostensibly dedicated to solidarity with the world's oppressed, impoverished masses—not care? The answer, I think, is that the left isn't galvanized by victims; it's galvanized by victimizers. The theme of answer's upcoming protest, after all, is "Occupation and Empire." In a recent essay, Roy explained that "the real and pressing danger, the greatest threat of all, is the locomotive force that drives the political and economic engine of the U.S. government." In other words, imperialism, what she elsewhere calls "a super-power's self-destructive impulse toward supremacy, stranglehold, global hegemony."
September 3, 2002 Al Qaeda, Taliban Shipping Gold to Sudan: "European, Pakistani and US agents told The Washington Post that most of the valuable cargo passed through Iran and the UAE."
June 18, 2002 'Rogue' No More – US Eyes Oil in Libya, Sudan: "With both oil-rich Central Asia and the Middle East riddled by conflict and U.S. voters' continued distaste for new domestic oil exploitation, Washington is getting serious about changing policy toward Africa." Note: PNS Editor Franz Schurmann (fschurmann@pacificnews.org), emeritus professor at UC Berkeley, has written on the politics of oil since the late 1970s.
March 15, 2002 US Expanding Involvement In Sudan: "Since Sept. 11, Washington has tried to re-establish a working relationship with Khartoum in order to gather intelligence on Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network, which once operated out of Sudan. U.S. special envoy and former senator John Danforth has traveled to the country to mediate peace talks, and the Nuba cease-fire is a direct result of these efforts."
March 8, 2002 US Expands Its Presence Across the Globe: "U.S. forces are active in the biggest array of countries since the second world war. Troops, sailors and airmen are now established in countries where they have never before had a presence. The aim is to provide platforms from which to launch attacks on any group perceived by George Bush to be a danger to the U.S."
- - -
June 19, 2004 BBC report: More than 1,000 refugees a day are arriving in Burundi from the Democratic Republic of Congo. So far, 30,000 refugees have crossed from Congo into Burundi.
- - -
PEACE DEAL
To unlock oil wealth in the balance
June 20 report via Scotsman in full:
In the peaceful setting of Kenya’s Lake Naivasha, home to one of the world’s largest flocks of pink flamingos, one of the world’s long running civil wars is being brought to an end. Oil-rich Sudan stands to make a gigantic leap forward if final negotiations between its government and southern rebels this week can produce a comprehensive settlement.
The two sides meet on Tuesday, and have said they will stay at the talks until they agree on a deal to end the devastating 21-year civil war in the south in which more than two million people have perished. They are already a long way down the road, having signed six protocols in which they have agreed how to share power and wealth in Africa’s largest country and what to do with their armed forces during a six-year transition period.
The conflict broke out in 1983 when the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army from the mainly animist and Christian south took up arms against the predominantly Arab and Muslim north. The insurgents say they are fighting for better treatment and for southerners to have the right to choose whether to remain part of Sudan.
Under the proposed peace deal at the end of the six-year transition period, the South will vote in a referendum on whether to secede. Meanwhile, Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir is to remain head of state while rebel leader John Garang will become first vice-president.
Among the issues still not settled are a final, internationally-monitored ceasefire agreement and a timetable for implementing it. This week’s negotiations will focus on power-sharing arrangements, setting up a joint military observation of the ceasefire, and the number and location of observers, according to senior officials in Kenya. The ceasefire calls for the deployment of up to 120 observers in Darfur to be led by the African Union. The European Union has allocated 12 million euros to the mission.
Despite optimism that a comprehensive agreement to end the war will be reached soon, it could be months before it is clear whether the diplomatic solution is being honoured on the ground. Rogue government and rebel militias who prowl rural areas are hardly accountable to higher authorities.
If the deal does come off it will be a triumph for international pressure, especially from the United States. Rebuilding devastated southern Sudan will cost billions of dollars that Sudan cannot afford to pay for itself. But Sudan hopes for substantial debt relief once a southern deal is signed, as well as an ending of US sanctions. Both moves would boost foreign investment in a country which is potentially oil-rich.
Despite the war, the Sudanese economy has grown solidly, helped by rising oil exports which last year were about 300,000 barrels a day, and should reach 600,000 barrels per day next year. However, potential Western donors are expressing mounting concern about the fighting in Darfur in western Sudan, warning that it could derail the southern peace agreement if it is not stopped. The governor of the central bank of Sudan, Sabir Mohammed al-Hassan, said last week that a negotiated peace in the civil war in southern Sudan would not endure if donors used the fighting in the west as a reason to withhold much-needed aid.
"If Darfur is used as an excuse not to support Sudan, then the peace will not be sustainable," he said in Cairo. "You need the support of the international community."
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/20/2004
- - -
PAUL JOHNSON
US citizen beheaded in Saudi Arabia
British journalist Gavin Sheridan provides a report and links to pictures. Also for the record, here is a report by the BBC.
I have not seen the pictures, nor do I have any wish to do so.
God bless and Rest In Peace Paul Johnson + + +
PAUL JOHNSON
US citizen beheaded in Saudi Arabia
British journalist Gavin Sheridan provides a report and links to pictures. Also for the record, here is a report by the BBC.
I have not seen the pictures, nor do I have any wish to do so.
God bless and Rest In Peace Paul Johnson + + +
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/20/2004
Saturday, June 19, 2004
CRUCIAL ROUND OF PEACE TALKS
Start in Kenya Tuesday June 22
Talks open on Friday June 25 - and continue until July 19
June 17: A key round of peace talks between the Sudanese government and southern rebels is due to open in Kenya on June 25 and continue until July 19, the foreign ministry said Thursday. Negotiations will focus on power-sharing arrangements, setting up a joint military, observation of the ceasefire and the number and location of observers, a senior official told the official Al-Anbaa newspaper.
The discussion points were set out in the ceasefire protocol, signed between both parties in Switzerland in December 2001, added Mutraf Sadik, undersecretary of state to the foreign ministry. The government and Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) are to discuss "the final preparations for the last annex relating to the implementation of the protocols", he said.
From Tuesday June 22 until the talks open on June 25, the SPLA, which is led by John Garang, and the government will organise a workshop in Kenya to clarify the steps needed to implement the ceasefire "with military experts from both sides and the United States", Sadik said.
Khartoum and the SPLA have signed accords paving the way for an end to 21 years of civil war in southern Sudan and providing for a six-year transitional period before a referendum on possible cession for the south. The war in Sudan erupted in 1983 when the mostly Christian and animist south took up arms to end domination and marginalisation by the wealthier, mainly Muslim north. Together with recurrent famine and disease, the war has killed at least 1.5 million people and displaced four million others.
June 19 UN appoints Sudan envoy: Kofi Annan has appointed Jan Pronk of the Netherlands as his special representative for Sudan and head of the peace support operations that the Security Council might authorize for the country later. The appointment of Netherlands' former minister for environment and development cooperation comes as the reports of massacres, looting, raping and burning of villages by militias allegedly supported by government in the Darfur region are pouring in.
On Thursday, Annan urged Sudan to seek international help if it cannot stop the violence on its own but declined to characterize the situation as genocide or ethnic cleansing. Meanwhile, the Office of UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said for security reasons more than 106,000 refugees have moved from the Chad-Sudan border to eight camps inside Chad.
- - -
SUDAN'S PRESIDENT
Orders crackdown on armed groups
June 19: According to this report today Sudan's state run radio said Sudan's President Omar al-Beshir reiterated today his commitment to a Chad-brokered ceasefire deal with Darfur rebels. "What happened in Darfur is bloody and severe for all Sudanese people, not only the Darfurians," the President said in a statement also carried by some newspapers. "We renew once again our commitment to what we agreed in Ndjamena and underline that the security of sister Chad is an indivisible part of Sudanese security. Therefore, we will not allow anybody to disturb stability in Chad from Sudanese territory," he added.
The report explains Sudan's President said today he's ordered:
--all Government departments to reinforce security and clamp down on law-breaking rebels, the pro-Khartoum janjawid militias and other armed groups, disarming them and taking them to court;
--state institutions to strengthen the security and stability of the border with Chad and prevent any illegal access to the neighbouring country;
--police were to be deployed to provide protection in the region and secure the return of people to their villages;
-- legal authorities in Darfur were told to set up prosecution offices and courts to try bandits and other criminals "without delay";
-- ministries to provide seeds for the farming season and to implement development programs and basic service;
-- governmental and non-governmental organisations to launch a humanitarian campaign for the return of displaced people and provide them with shelter, food, clothing and medicine.
June 19 Aljazeera report: "Sudan orders disarming of Darfur militias": Sudanese government officials have previously said it would be difficult to disarm the Arab militias as long as the two main rebel groups - the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement - were active in the region. Analysts say that part of the problem in Darfur is that the central government in Khartoum, 1000km from the Chad border, does not have the resources to control the area. "
June 18 allAfrica: Clerics Seek UN Force - All Africa Council of Churches (AACC) want a United Nations' peace-keeping force set-up to monitor the peace process in Sudan. Yesterday, Sudan criticized the US for threatening sanctions if Sudan did not improve efforts to stop human trafficking, saying such a step would worsen the humanitarian situation. A US State Department report released on Monday claimed that Sudan and nine other countries engaged in human trafficking and held out the possibility of sanctions. Other countries in the trafficking report are Bangladesh, Burma, Cuba, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Guyana, North Korea, Sierra Leone and Venezuela. Other reports say Secretary-General Kofi Annan will visit Sudan in the next few weeks. UN associate spokesman Stephane Dujarric confirmed that Sudan will be one stop on a trip to Africa that Annan is planning later this month or early next month."
June 18 allAfrica: The World Is Obligated to Prevent Genocide in Darfur.
June 18 theage : "This is genocide. And it is happening NOW" by Pulitzer Prize-winner Nicholas Kristof, a columnist with The New York Times: "The United States Government says it is exploring whether to describe the mass murder and rape in the Darfur region of Sudan as "genocide". If she and her people aren't victims of genocide, then the word has no meaning."
June 16 in "Dare We Call It Genocide?" columist Nicholas D Kristof, along the Chad-Sudan border, writes: "The Bush administration says it is exploring whether to describe the mass murder and rape in the Darfur region of Sudan as "genocide." I suggest that President Bush invite to the White House a real expert, Magboula Muhammad Khattar, a 24-year-old widow huddled under a tree here." Read more...
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/16/opinion/16KRIS.html?ex=1402718400&en=489e3a074fa589dc&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND
- - -
Note these two odd reports:
June 18 allAfrica: 'Sudan Govt Not Party to Crimes in West' by Mr Dahab, Charge D'Affairs, Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan, Kampala: It was completely baseless to talk about ethnic cleansing in Darfur region or any other allegations as opposed, to the mere fact of a problem in Darfur which is mainly labelled and characterised by many credible circles as a humanitarian crisis escalated by rivalries between different tribes and groups in the vast and somewhat arid parts of Darfur in search of adequate land, water and pastures. Furthermore, some outside interferences and as a reflection of the hidden agenda especially of the former American administration in which it was designed to destabilise Sudan and topple its regime by the aid of some of its neighbours has mainly contributed to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
That was apparently one of the causes behind the insurgency that erupted in western region of Sudan last year, and which shamelessly invited and encouraged hungry mouths from certain sick and ill-intentioned circles here and there. However, some reports have failed to recognise some of the causes behind the conflict which were mainly derived from the past external economic pressures against the Sudan which entailed evelopmental deficiencies in Darfur and elsewhere.
The Sudanese government has spared no effort to cater for the humanitarian crisis in Darfur region and has indulged in diplomatic and political endeavours to end the insurgency in Darfur with the aid of neighbouring Chad and its President Idris Deby.
June 17 by Chris Ochowun - Kampala via allAfrica: Uganda: Kony Recalls Commanders to Sudan "Ochora said Kony was also disappointed because his commanders failed to carry out his order to attack the displaced people's camps in Gulu".
- - -
CHAD FEARS SPREAD OF DARFUR WAR
A hidden force is trying to export the Sudan conflict into Chad
June 18 afrol excerpt: There is growing evidence that the Darfur conflict is spilling across the Sudanese border into eastern Chad. The government supported Sudanese Janjaweed militia is reported to recruit inside Chad and fighting is increasingly noted on the Chadian side of the border. 69 Janjaweed militiamen were recently killed by Chadian troops.
Authorities in Chad's capital N'djamena are reported to be increasingly concerned that the disastrous Darfur conflict may spread into its territory. Also the UN and humanitarian organisations are worried as they concentrate their Darfur relief work in bases in eastern Chad, which houses over 110,000 Sudanese refugees.
Eastern Chad has the potential of becoming the expansion of the Darfurian killing fields. Ethnic divisions follow the same lines as on the Sudanese side of the border. An "Arab" minority of nomadic herdsmen is opposed to the "black African" majority population of sedentary farmers. The ancient Darfur Kingdom - one of pre-colonial Africa's most long-lasting empires - often included what now is eastern Chad.
The most concerning reports from eastern Chad hold that the "Arab" Janjaweed militia - which is accused of ethnic cleansing in Darfur - is now recruiting "Arabs" in eastern Chad to join their files. Ahmad Allami, a personal advisor of Chadian President Idriss Deby, today told this to the UN media Irin.
N'djamena authorities are convinced that the Sudanese militiamen were not confused about where the Chadian-Sudanese border is located, but indeed had businesses in Chad. "There is a hidden force trying to export the conflict between the Sudanese into Chad," Mr Allami told the press today.
So far, Chadian authorities have addressed the crisis by playing a major part in the peace negotiations between the warring parties in Darfur. Further, Chad has welcomed large numbers of Darfurian refugees and cooperates thoroughly with the UN and humanitarian agencies trying to meet the humanitarian crisis in Darfur and in the refugee camps.
As the conflict is threatening to spread into Chad, however, N'djamena authorities are becoming sceptical towards the Sudanese government. The Chadian government today went far in threatening to stop hosting the Darfur peace talks if there were not made efforts on the Sudanese side to contain the infiltration of Janjaweed militias in Chad.
Chad is slipping into becoming a party to the conflict as armed action on its territory increases. Pressure is also high on President Deby to speak up against the slaughtering of his kinsmen in Darfur by militias armed by the Sudanese government. A recent army uprising in N'djamena is commonly understood to have been a protest against Chad's failure to condemn the Khartoum government, and a tougher line from President Deby is now expected.
- - -
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
Putting Khartoum under increasing pressure
June 18 Brussels: The international community is stepping up pressure on the Sudanese government. On Monday, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan warned that the humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur required immediate attention. Yesterday, the EU heads of government and state at their meeting Brussels, signed a summit statement calling on the government of Sudan to do its utmost to ensure humanitarian access, the protection and security of civilians and humanitarian workers, and to disarm the militias. The 25-member bloc welcomed a ceasefire accord signed in April and urged the parties "to conclude a political agreement as soon as possible. It commended the efforts by the African Union (AU) to implement the ceasefire monitoring mechanism in the Darfur region and confirmed the EU's involvement in, and financial support to this mission.
June 18 VOA: The Africa Union sends two missions to the Darfur region of Sudan.
June 17 VOA: Pentagon US preparing to send team to assess humanitarian situation in Darfur: "should the European Command be ordered to send a humanitarian assessment team, it would be made up of military specialists who would determine requirements for a possible civil-military operations in a humanitarian crisis area. Based on the recommendations of the HAST team, the commander of the European Command could direct the formation of a special task force to conduct operations."
- - -
EUROPEAN UNION MINISTERS
Give green light for battle groups
May 17 2004 EU ministers give green light for battle groups. Excerpt:
"EU defence ministers gave the green light Monday to detailed plans for rapid-reaction "battle groups" to be deployed to international hotspots from 2007, officials said. The plans were originally launched late last year by France and Britain, after the first-ever EU military mission outside Europe, a French-led force that helped quell fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
On Monday defence ministers approved proposals by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana for up to nine such groups, each comprising 1,500 troops, by 2007, with some forces available as early as next year. Under the latest proposals, 1,500-strong contingents would be deployable within 10 days and able to stay on the ground for a few months. A typical scenario in which they would be deployed would be in response to a UN request, said an aide to Solana.
"If the UN Security Council for example asked for support to protect a humanitarian mission in Darfur, Sudan, we would be ready to respond to the request," he said. The plans are due to be finalized in time to be formally approved by EU leaders at a summit in mid-June.
Solana said last month that Europe wants ultimately to have the capacity, if necessary, to deploy several such forces at the same time -- and stressed that they were part of a wider shake-up of Europe's defences. "If you want to deploy rapidly you need rapid decisions and rapid planning," he told reporters, citing the DRC mission as a model of how such relatively small forces would be deployed to secure an area, before larger forces arrive.
The EU, which expanded from 15 to 25 members on May 1, has long pursued ways of increasing cooperation on defence matters, while insisting that there is no question of duplicating capabilities with the US-dominated NATO alliance."
- - -
UK'S MERLIN
Carries out emergency Darfur assessement
June 18 Reuters London - "Merlin carries out emergency Darfur assessment": Merlin, the international medical relief agency, is to carry out an emergency assessment in Dafur, western Sudan with a view to starting a programme in the region, where the humanitarian need is at crisis level. Recent improvements in access have meant that humanitarian agencies are better able to reach the most vulnerable populations.
Next week, Merlin will assess health related needs in the region, to determine how it can best contribute to the current relief effort. The current food crisis is expected to increase further in the coming months – meaning that malnutrition will inevitably worsen - and Merlin is looking to position itself in co-ordination with other humanitarian agencies on the ground.
Since its foundation in 1993, they have worked in over 30 countries including Iraq, Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, East Timor, Georgia, India, Kenya, Russia, Sierra Leone, Tajikistan, Chechnya and Liberia. Patrons include Natasha Kaplinsky, Edward Stourton, Nick Danziger, Martin Bell, Hugh Bonneville and Stephanie Cook.
Merlin is an international humanitarian charity which provides an immediate response to medical emergencies throughout the world. It is the only UK charity that specialises in providing emergency healthcare on an international basis. It always aims to make use of existing health structures, empowering local communities to rebuild and develop their own infrastructures. By training and equipping health workers and local communities in this way, people are better able to help themselves.
- - -
AUSTRALIA BOOSTS AID TO SUDAN
Gives $8M over last month for Darfur
June 18: ABC: Australian is to give an extra $3 million for victims of the Sudanese conflict. This follows $5 million in aid last month to help displaced people in Darfur, in south-west Sudan. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says the latest contribution is for Sudanese in eastern Chad refugee camps. UNICEF activities will receive $1.5 million and $500,000 each is being allocated through World Vision, Care International and Oxfam.
- - -
THE WORLD SEEN FROM ROME
Relief agencies team up in Sudan
June 16 Zenit - Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants Aim to Stave Off Disaster: Caritas Internationalis and Action by Churches Together International have joined forces to respond to the humanitarian emergency in Sudan's Darfur province. Both organizations are faith-based networks representing Catholic and Orthodox churches and Protestant denominations and their related agencies across the world.
The joint ecumenical response will be known as the ACT/Caritas Darfur Emergency Response, according to a statement issued today by Caritas Internationalis. Caritas and ACT will issue a joint 18-month appeal in June. A year and a half is considered to be the shortest possible time needed for internally displaced people and refugees to return to their homes and resume their lives. The estimated number of beneficiaries will be in excess of 125,000 people, mainly in Mershing and Ta'asha in South Darfur and Zalingi in West Darfur.
ACT member Norwegian Church Aid is assisting some 45,000 refugees in three camps in Chad. In the Darfur area where ACT members are working, more than 67,000 displaced people are camped in public buildings and open areas.
- - -
KUWAIT SENDS SECOND AID CONVOY TO DARFUR
Kuwaiti Direct Aid Committee (For African Muslims)
June 18 Islam Online - Kuwait has sent its second aid convoy to Darfur. Fifteen tones of tents, 40 tones of corn products and 20 tones of wheat were aired to Al-Fashir city, for distribution among the local inhabitants of the northwestern historical caravan center in Darfur.
The Kuwaiti plane also carried 520,000 Sudanese pounds-worth of medical stuff and oil components for other residents of Darfur, where international aid workers have long complained from failure to reach many victims despite repeated requests for access made to the Sudanese government. The aid convoy by the Kuwaiti Direct Aid Committee (For African Muslims) is the second in less than three months. In March, the relief group sent 60 tones of supplies to the conflict-scarred region.
Further reading: IHT: The developing world needs insurance.
Start in Kenya Tuesday June 22
Talks open on Friday June 25 - and continue until July 19
June 17: A key round of peace talks between the Sudanese government and southern rebels is due to open in Kenya on June 25 and continue until July 19, the foreign ministry said Thursday. Negotiations will focus on power-sharing arrangements, setting up a joint military, observation of the ceasefire and the number and location of observers, a senior official told the official Al-Anbaa newspaper.
The discussion points were set out in the ceasefire protocol, signed between both parties in Switzerland in December 2001, added Mutraf Sadik, undersecretary of state to the foreign ministry. The government and Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) are to discuss "the final preparations for the last annex relating to the implementation of the protocols", he said.
From Tuesday June 22 until the talks open on June 25, the SPLA, which is led by John Garang, and the government will organise a workshop in Kenya to clarify the steps needed to implement the ceasefire "with military experts from both sides and the United States", Sadik said.
Khartoum and the SPLA have signed accords paving the way for an end to 21 years of civil war in southern Sudan and providing for a six-year transitional period before a referendum on possible cession for the south. The war in Sudan erupted in 1983 when the mostly Christian and animist south took up arms to end domination and marginalisation by the wealthier, mainly Muslim north. Together with recurrent famine and disease, the war has killed at least 1.5 million people and displaced four million others.
June 19 UN appoints Sudan envoy: Kofi Annan has appointed Jan Pronk of the Netherlands as his special representative for Sudan and head of the peace support operations that the Security Council might authorize for the country later. The appointment of Netherlands' former minister for environment and development cooperation comes as the reports of massacres, looting, raping and burning of villages by militias allegedly supported by government in the Darfur region are pouring in.
On Thursday, Annan urged Sudan to seek international help if it cannot stop the violence on its own but declined to characterize the situation as genocide or ethnic cleansing. Meanwhile, the Office of UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said for security reasons more than 106,000 refugees have moved from the Chad-Sudan border to eight camps inside Chad.
- - -
SUDAN'S PRESIDENT
Orders crackdown on armed groups
June 19: According to this report today Sudan's state run radio said Sudan's President Omar al-Beshir reiterated today his commitment to a Chad-brokered ceasefire deal with Darfur rebels. "What happened in Darfur is bloody and severe for all Sudanese people, not only the Darfurians," the President said in a statement also carried by some newspapers. "We renew once again our commitment to what we agreed in Ndjamena and underline that the security of sister Chad is an indivisible part of Sudanese security. Therefore, we will not allow anybody to disturb stability in Chad from Sudanese territory," he added.
The report explains Sudan's President said today he's ordered:
--all Government departments to reinforce security and clamp down on law-breaking rebels, the pro-Khartoum janjawid militias and other armed groups, disarming them and taking them to court;
--state institutions to strengthen the security and stability of the border with Chad and prevent any illegal access to the neighbouring country;
--police were to be deployed to provide protection in the region and secure the return of people to their villages;
-- legal authorities in Darfur were told to set up prosecution offices and courts to try bandits and other criminals "without delay";
-- ministries to provide seeds for the farming season and to implement development programs and basic service;
-- governmental and non-governmental organisations to launch a humanitarian campaign for the return of displaced people and provide them with shelter, food, clothing and medicine.
June 19 Aljazeera report: "Sudan orders disarming of Darfur militias": Sudanese government officials have previously said it would be difficult to disarm the Arab militias as long as the two main rebel groups - the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement - were active in the region. Analysts say that part of the problem in Darfur is that the central government in Khartoum, 1000km from the Chad border, does not have the resources to control the area. "
June 18 allAfrica: Clerics Seek UN Force - All Africa Council of Churches (AACC) want a United Nations' peace-keeping force set-up to monitor the peace process in Sudan. Yesterday, Sudan criticized the US for threatening sanctions if Sudan did not improve efforts to stop human trafficking, saying such a step would worsen the humanitarian situation. A US State Department report released on Monday claimed that Sudan and nine other countries engaged in human trafficking and held out the possibility of sanctions. Other countries in the trafficking report are Bangladesh, Burma, Cuba, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Guyana, North Korea, Sierra Leone and Venezuela. Other reports say Secretary-General Kofi Annan will visit Sudan in the next few weeks. UN associate spokesman Stephane Dujarric confirmed that Sudan will be one stop on a trip to Africa that Annan is planning later this month or early next month."
June 18 allAfrica: The World Is Obligated to Prevent Genocide in Darfur.
June 18 theage : "This is genocide. And it is happening NOW" by Pulitzer Prize-winner Nicholas Kristof, a columnist with The New York Times: "The United States Government says it is exploring whether to describe the mass murder and rape in the Darfur region of Sudan as "genocide". If she and her people aren't victims of genocide, then the word has no meaning."
June 16 in "Dare We Call It Genocide?" columist Nicholas D Kristof, along the Chad-Sudan border, writes: "The Bush administration says it is exploring whether to describe the mass murder and rape in the Darfur region of Sudan as "genocide." I suggest that President Bush invite to the White House a real expert, Magboula Muhammad Khattar, a 24-year-old widow huddled under a tree here." Read more...
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/16/opinion/16KRIS.html?ex=1402718400&en=489e3a074fa589dc&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND
- - -
Note these two odd reports:
June 18 allAfrica: 'Sudan Govt Not Party to Crimes in West' by Mr Dahab, Charge D'Affairs, Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan, Kampala: It was completely baseless to talk about ethnic cleansing in Darfur region or any other allegations as opposed, to the mere fact of a problem in Darfur which is mainly labelled and characterised by many credible circles as a humanitarian crisis escalated by rivalries between different tribes and groups in the vast and somewhat arid parts of Darfur in search of adequate land, water and pastures. Furthermore, some outside interferences and as a reflection of the hidden agenda especially of the former American administration in which it was designed to destabilise Sudan and topple its regime by the aid of some of its neighbours has mainly contributed to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
That was apparently one of the causes behind the insurgency that erupted in western region of Sudan last year, and which shamelessly invited and encouraged hungry mouths from certain sick and ill-intentioned circles here and there. However, some reports have failed to recognise some of the causes behind the conflict which were mainly derived from the past external economic pressures against the Sudan which entailed evelopmental deficiencies in Darfur and elsewhere.
The Sudanese government has spared no effort to cater for the humanitarian crisis in Darfur region and has indulged in diplomatic and political endeavours to end the insurgency in Darfur with the aid of neighbouring Chad and its President Idris Deby.
June 17 by Chris Ochowun - Kampala via allAfrica: Uganda: Kony Recalls Commanders to Sudan "Ochora said Kony was also disappointed because his commanders failed to carry out his order to attack the displaced people's camps in Gulu".
- - -
CHAD FEARS SPREAD OF DARFUR WAR
A hidden force is trying to export the Sudan conflict into Chad
June 18 afrol excerpt: There is growing evidence that the Darfur conflict is spilling across the Sudanese border into eastern Chad. The government supported Sudanese Janjaweed militia is reported to recruit inside Chad and fighting is increasingly noted on the Chadian side of the border. 69 Janjaweed militiamen were recently killed by Chadian troops.
Authorities in Chad's capital N'djamena are reported to be increasingly concerned that the disastrous Darfur conflict may spread into its territory. Also the UN and humanitarian organisations are worried as they concentrate their Darfur relief work in bases in eastern Chad, which houses over 110,000 Sudanese refugees.
Eastern Chad has the potential of becoming the expansion of the Darfurian killing fields. Ethnic divisions follow the same lines as on the Sudanese side of the border. An "Arab" minority of nomadic herdsmen is opposed to the "black African" majority population of sedentary farmers. The ancient Darfur Kingdom - one of pre-colonial Africa's most long-lasting empires - often included what now is eastern Chad.
The most concerning reports from eastern Chad hold that the "Arab" Janjaweed militia - which is accused of ethnic cleansing in Darfur - is now recruiting "Arabs" in eastern Chad to join their files. Ahmad Allami, a personal advisor of Chadian President Idriss Deby, today told this to the UN media Irin.
N'djamena authorities are convinced that the Sudanese militiamen were not confused about where the Chadian-Sudanese border is located, but indeed had businesses in Chad. "There is a hidden force trying to export the conflict between the Sudanese into Chad," Mr Allami told the press today.
So far, Chadian authorities have addressed the crisis by playing a major part in the peace negotiations between the warring parties in Darfur. Further, Chad has welcomed large numbers of Darfurian refugees and cooperates thoroughly with the UN and humanitarian agencies trying to meet the humanitarian crisis in Darfur and in the refugee camps.
As the conflict is threatening to spread into Chad, however, N'djamena authorities are becoming sceptical towards the Sudanese government. The Chadian government today went far in threatening to stop hosting the Darfur peace talks if there were not made efforts on the Sudanese side to contain the infiltration of Janjaweed militias in Chad.
Chad is slipping into becoming a party to the conflict as armed action on its territory increases. Pressure is also high on President Deby to speak up against the slaughtering of his kinsmen in Darfur by militias armed by the Sudanese government. A recent army uprising in N'djamena is commonly understood to have been a protest against Chad's failure to condemn the Khartoum government, and a tougher line from President Deby is now expected.
- - -
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
Putting Khartoum under increasing pressure
June 18 Brussels: The international community is stepping up pressure on the Sudanese government. On Monday, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan warned that the humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur required immediate attention. Yesterday, the EU heads of government and state at their meeting Brussels, signed a summit statement calling on the government of Sudan to do its utmost to ensure humanitarian access, the protection and security of civilians and humanitarian workers, and to disarm the militias. The 25-member bloc welcomed a ceasefire accord signed in April and urged the parties "to conclude a political agreement as soon as possible. It commended the efforts by the African Union (AU) to implement the ceasefire monitoring mechanism in the Darfur region and confirmed the EU's involvement in, and financial support to this mission.
June 18 VOA: The Africa Union sends two missions to the Darfur region of Sudan.
June 17 VOA: Pentagon US preparing to send team to assess humanitarian situation in Darfur: "should the European Command be ordered to send a humanitarian assessment team, it would be made up of military specialists who would determine requirements for a possible civil-military operations in a humanitarian crisis area. Based on the recommendations of the HAST team, the commander of the European Command could direct the formation of a special task force to conduct operations."
- - -
EUROPEAN UNION MINISTERS
Give green light for battle groups
May 17 2004 EU ministers give green light for battle groups. Excerpt:
"EU defence ministers gave the green light Monday to detailed plans for rapid-reaction "battle groups" to be deployed to international hotspots from 2007, officials said. The plans were originally launched late last year by France and Britain, after the first-ever EU military mission outside Europe, a French-led force that helped quell fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
On Monday defence ministers approved proposals by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana for up to nine such groups, each comprising 1,500 troops, by 2007, with some forces available as early as next year. Under the latest proposals, 1,500-strong contingents would be deployable within 10 days and able to stay on the ground for a few months. A typical scenario in which they would be deployed would be in response to a UN request, said an aide to Solana.
"If the UN Security Council for example asked for support to protect a humanitarian mission in Darfur, Sudan, we would be ready to respond to the request," he said. The plans are due to be finalized in time to be formally approved by EU leaders at a summit in mid-June.
Solana said last month that Europe wants ultimately to have the capacity, if necessary, to deploy several such forces at the same time -- and stressed that they were part of a wider shake-up of Europe's defences. "If you want to deploy rapidly you need rapid decisions and rapid planning," he told reporters, citing the DRC mission as a model of how such relatively small forces would be deployed to secure an area, before larger forces arrive.
The EU, which expanded from 15 to 25 members on May 1, has long pursued ways of increasing cooperation on defence matters, while insisting that there is no question of duplicating capabilities with the US-dominated NATO alliance."
- - -
UK'S MERLIN
Carries out emergency Darfur assessement
June 18 Reuters London - "Merlin carries out emergency Darfur assessment": Merlin, the international medical relief agency, is to carry out an emergency assessment in Dafur, western Sudan with a view to starting a programme in the region, where the humanitarian need is at crisis level. Recent improvements in access have meant that humanitarian agencies are better able to reach the most vulnerable populations.
Next week, Merlin will assess health related needs in the region, to determine how it can best contribute to the current relief effort. The current food crisis is expected to increase further in the coming months – meaning that malnutrition will inevitably worsen - and Merlin is looking to position itself in co-ordination with other humanitarian agencies on the ground.
Since its foundation in 1993, they have worked in over 30 countries including Iraq, Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, East Timor, Georgia, India, Kenya, Russia, Sierra Leone, Tajikistan, Chechnya and Liberia. Patrons include Natasha Kaplinsky, Edward Stourton, Nick Danziger, Martin Bell, Hugh Bonneville and Stephanie Cook.
Merlin is an international humanitarian charity which provides an immediate response to medical emergencies throughout the world. It is the only UK charity that specialises in providing emergency healthcare on an international basis. It always aims to make use of existing health structures, empowering local communities to rebuild and develop their own infrastructures. By training and equipping health workers and local communities in this way, people are better able to help themselves.
- - -
AUSTRALIA BOOSTS AID TO SUDAN
Gives $8M over last month for Darfur
June 18: ABC: Australian is to give an extra $3 million for victims of the Sudanese conflict. This follows $5 million in aid last month to help displaced people in Darfur, in south-west Sudan. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says the latest contribution is for Sudanese in eastern Chad refugee camps. UNICEF activities will receive $1.5 million and $500,000 each is being allocated through World Vision, Care International and Oxfam.
- - -
THE WORLD SEEN FROM ROME
Relief agencies team up in Sudan
June 16 Zenit - Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants Aim to Stave Off Disaster: Caritas Internationalis and Action by Churches Together International have joined forces to respond to the humanitarian emergency in Sudan's Darfur province. Both organizations are faith-based networks representing Catholic and Orthodox churches and Protestant denominations and their related agencies across the world.
The joint ecumenical response will be known as the ACT/Caritas Darfur Emergency Response, according to a statement issued today by Caritas Internationalis. Caritas and ACT will issue a joint 18-month appeal in June. A year and a half is considered to be the shortest possible time needed for internally displaced people and refugees to return to their homes and resume their lives. The estimated number of beneficiaries will be in excess of 125,000 people, mainly in Mershing and Ta'asha in South Darfur and Zalingi in West Darfur.
ACT member Norwegian Church Aid is assisting some 45,000 refugees in three camps in Chad. In the Darfur area where ACT members are working, more than 67,000 displaced people are camped in public buildings and open areas.
- - -
KUWAIT SENDS SECOND AID CONVOY TO DARFUR
Kuwaiti Direct Aid Committee (For African Muslims)
June 18 Islam Online - Kuwait has sent its second aid convoy to Darfur. Fifteen tones of tents, 40 tones of corn products and 20 tones of wheat were aired to Al-Fashir city, for distribution among the local inhabitants of the northwestern historical caravan center in Darfur.
The Kuwaiti plane also carried 520,000 Sudanese pounds-worth of medical stuff and oil components for other residents of Darfur, where international aid workers have long complained from failure to reach many victims despite repeated requests for access made to the Sudanese government. The aid convoy by the Kuwaiti Direct Aid Committee (For African Muslims) is the second in less than three months. In March, the relief group sent 60 tones of supplies to the conflict-scarred region.
Further reading: IHT: The developing world needs insurance.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/19/2004
- - -
UNRELIABLE WWW.FAXYOURMP.COM
Takes ten days to notify of non delivery
What a drag. I've just received this email. And on a Saturday to boot. So this morning is taken up with trying to find an email address for my MP. No address is given on his website.
How maddening that another two hours are wasted - along with two more whole days - not to mention the past ten. As it's the weekend, I doubt if my email has a chance of even being looked at until next week.
Technology is not reliable. Sorry Clive, I cannot recommend www.FaxYourMP.com. Seems better to email an MP and follow through on it personally. You can spend hours composing emails to people and never get a word back. Grrr.
Imagine communications between the 191 sovereign member states of the U.N. - and the "stuff" criss crossing the African continent between London, the UN, EU Washington and the Sudan - not to mention all the charities and reporters ... the bureaucratic hold ups, entry visas, shipments, discussions, meetings, zillion bits of paper churning out of photocopiers and faxes ...*groan*
From: ingrid.jones@virgin.net
Subject: Email from Ingrid Jones re Sudan Crisis EDMs
Date: 19 June 2004 09:55:33 BST
To: charlesa@parliament.uk
Dear Mrs Charles,
On June 8, 2004, I sent a fax to Dr Letwin via faxyourmp online. Sadly, it has just been returned to me. I am so disappointed it did not get through. Now I regret not sending it by email. For some reason, I thought faxyourmp was an official channel preferred by MPs. Hope this reaches him in time to do something about it. Any help you could give on this would be warmly appreciated. Thank you. Yours sincerely, Ingrid Jones.
From: info@faxyourmp.com
Subject: Sorry, We Couldn't Send Your Fax
Date: 19 June 2004 00:49:05 BST
To: ingrid.jones@virgin.net
Hi Ingrid Jones
Sorry, but we've not managed to fax your message to Mr Oliver Letwin MP. Rest assured that we don't give up easily; our automated system has made 20 attempts to send your fax. Why? Well, sometimes fax machines won't talk to each other, and in other cases the fax number we have might be out of date. Or the MP's fax machine might have been switched off / have run out of paper / have had coffee spilt on it.
It might work if you try again later, or you can post a letter to your MP at the following address: Mr Oliver Letwin, MP for West Dorset, House Of Commons, London SW1A 0AA
We've attached an exact copy of the fax we tried to send to this mail as an Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) file, and also included the text of your fax below as you may fine that better to cut and paste if you do send a letter. You may download Adobe Acrobat Reader for free from http://www.adobe.com
If you feel unnaturally motivated, you might write to your MP asking for their fax number. Then send it to us so that we can keep the service in tip-top shape. Since we're a volunteer-run service separate from Parliament, we're not often informed when MPs change their fax numbers.
Sorry we couldn't be more helpful...
- The FaxYourMP.com Team
http://www.FaxYourMP.com
Here is the text of your fax
---------------------------------------
From: Ingrid Jones [address, tel and email] Dorset, England, UK.
To: Mr Oliver Letwin, MP for West Dorset, House Of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Date: Tuesday 8 June 2004
Dear Dr Letwin,
REF THE SUDAN CRISIS
I have a weblog where I have posted almost daily on the Sudan crisis since April 24, 2004. My weblog can be found at http://www.meandophelia.blogspot.com
Words that are highlighted in the weblog are links that one can click on and open. Posts of mine on the Sudan have been linked to and reproduced by weblogs around the world.
Two in particular are 'Passion of the Present' and 'Jim Moore's Journal' out of Berkman Center at Harvard in Cambridge, Boston where a rally for Sudan is taking place tomorrow, the day before Kofi Annan is due to speak at Harvard. Passion of the Present weblog can be found at http://www.passionofthepresent.org It focuses on the Sudan crisis and is co-authored by three volunteers: Dr James Moore of Berkman at Harvard, Joanne Moore, and Dan O´Huiginn who is studying Indian languages at Cambridge University, England. Yesterday, through an initiative by Joanne Moore, Desmond Tutu sent a message for posting to Passion of the Present weblog and reading at the rally being held tomorrow.
I have checked the EDMs and have not seen your name listed. I would be most grateful if you could please sign EDM1051. And EDM293 as well. I would like the UK to take a high profile leading role in helping to resolve the Sudan crisis. Please do everything you can to help the people of Darfur and treat it as a matter of urgency. Thank you. Yours sincerely, Ingrid Jones.
cde452f7b294ad270e3b7fefff5d53de (Signed with an electronic signature in accordance with subsection 7(3) of the Electronic Communications Act 2000)
_________________________________________________________________
Delivered via www.FaxYourMP.com - if any MP would rather receive emails please drop us a line at mps@faxyourmp.com (We will not publish your email address.) Alternatively, you can send a fax or leave a voicemail on 0703 1150115. Please let us know if we've got your fax number wrong, or if you are receiving abusive faxes. Thanks - The FaxYourMP.com Volunteers.
UNRELIABLE WWW.FAXYOURMP.COM
Takes ten days to notify of non delivery
What a drag. I've just received this email. And on a Saturday to boot. So this morning is taken up with trying to find an email address for my MP. No address is given on his website.
How maddening that another two hours are wasted - along with two more whole days - not to mention the past ten. As it's the weekend, I doubt if my email has a chance of even being looked at until next week.
Technology is not reliable. Sorry Clive, I cannot recommend www.FaxYourMP.com. Seems better to email an MP and follow through on it personally. You can spend hours composing emails to people and never get a word back. Grrr.
Imagine communications between the 191 sovereign member states of the U.N. - and the "stuff" criss crossing the African continent between London, the UN, EU Washington and the Sudan - not to mention all the charities and reporters ... the bureaucratic hold ups, entry visas, shipments, discussions, meetings, zillion bits of paper churning out of photocopiers and faxes ...*groan*
From: ingrid.jones@virgin.net
Subject: Email from Ingrid Jones re Sudan Crisis EDMs
Date: 19 June 2004 09:55:33 BST
To: charlesa@parliament.uk
Dear Mrs Charles,
On June 8, 2004, I sent a fax to Dr Letwin via faxyourmp online. Sadly, it has just been returned to me. I am so disappointed it did not get through. Now I regret not sending it by email. For some reason, I thought faxyourmp was an official channel preferred by MPs. Hope this reaches him in time to do something about it. Any help you could give on this would be warmly appreciated. Thank you. Yours sincerely, Ingrid Jones.
From: info@faxyourmp.com
Subject: Sorry, We Couldn't Send Your Fax
Date: 19 June 2004 00:49:05 BST
To: ingrid.jones@virgin.net
Hi Ingrid Jones
Sorry, but we've not managed to fax your message to Mr Oliver Letwin MP. Rest assured that we don't give up easily; our automated system has made 20 attempts to send your fax. Why? Well, sometimes fax machines won't talk to each other, and in other cases the fax number we have might be out of date. Or the MP's fax machine might have been switched off / have run out of paper / have had coffee spilt on it.
It might work if you try again later, or you can post a letter to your MP at the following address: Mr Oliver Letwin, MP for West Dorset, House Of Commons, London SW1A 0AA
We've attached an exact copy of the fax we tried to send to this mail as an Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) file, and also included the text of your fax below as you may fine that better to cut and paste if you do send a letter. You may download Adobe Acrobat Reader for free from http://www.adobe.com
If you feel unnaturally motivated, you might write to your MP asking for their fax number. Then send it to us so that we can keep the service in tip-top shape. Since we're a volunteer-run service separate from Parliament, we're not often informed when MPs change their fax numbers.
Sorry we couldn't be more helpful...
- The FaxYourMP.com Team
http://www.FaxYourMP.com
Here is the text of your fax
---------------------------------------
From: Ingrid Jones [address, tel and email] Dorset, England, UK.
To: Mr Oliver Letwin, MP for West Dorset, House Of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Date: Tuesday 8 June 2004
Dear Dr Letwin,
REF THE SUDAN CRISIS
I have a weblog where I have posted almost daily on the Sudan crisis since April 24, 2004. My weblog can be found at http://www.meandophelia.blogspot.com
Words that are highlighted in the weblog are links that one can click on and open. Posts of mine on the Sudan have been linked to and reproduced by weblogs around the world.
Two in particular are 'Passion of the Present' and 'Jim Moore's Journal' out of Berkman Center at Harvard in Cambridge, Boston where a rally for Sudan is taking place tomorrow, the day before Kofi Annan is due to speak at Harvard. Passion of the Present weblog can be found at http://www.passionofthepresent.org It focuses on the Sudan crisis and is co-authored by three volunteers: Dr James Moore of Berkman at Harvard, Joanne Moore, and Dan O´Huiginn who is studying Indian languages at Cambridge University, England. Yesterday, through an initiative by Joanne Moore, Desmond Tutu sent a message for posting to Passion of the Present weblog and reading at the rally being held tomorrow.
I have checked the EDMs and have not seen your name listed. I would be most grateful if you could please sign EDM1051. And EDM293 as well. I would like the UK to take a high profile leading role in helping to resolve the Sudan crisis. Please do everything you can to help the people of Darfur and treat it as a matter of urgency. Thank you. Yours sincerely, Ingrid Jones.
cde452f7b294ad270e3b7fefff5d53de (Signed with an electronic signature in accordance with subsection 7(3) of the Electronic Communications Act 2000)
_________________________________________________________________
Delivered via www.FaxYourMP.com - if any MP would rather receive emails please drop us a line at mps@faxyourmp.com (We will not publish your email address.) Alternatively, you can send a fax or leave a voicemail on 0703 1150115. Please let us know if we've got your fax number wrong, or if you are receiving abusive faxes. Thanks - The FaxYourMP.com Volunteers.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/19/2004
- - -
EU HEADS GATHER TO CELEBRATE
The Beginning of United Europe
Another interesting piece from the Scotsman who seem to be more informative than the BBC these days, especially when it comes to daily reporting on the Sudan.
EU HEADS GATHER TO CELEBRATE
The Beginning of United Europe
Another interesting piece from the Scotsman who seem to be more informative than the BBC these days, especially when it comes to daily reporting on the Sudan.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/19/2004
Friday, June 18, 2004
BLAIR HAILS EU CONSTITUTION DEAL -
A success for Britain and a success for Europe
Prime Minister Tony Blair has proclaimed the deal - announced a few hours ago - on the first ever EU constitution as "a success for Britain and a success for Europe".
Mr Blair said the treaty kept the UK veto on "essential" issues such as economic policy, defence and foreign affairs.
The talks showed that in the "new Europe" there were allies ready to back Britain's vision for the EU.
Now every country has to ratify the treaty. In some cases that will be done by a national parliament but Britain is among those countries to have already promised a public referendum.
The next crucial step is election of a President of the European Union. Hopefully, Belgian Prime Minister Verhofstadt aka "Baby Thatcher" (the one France and Germany are pushing for - and who is a friend of Tony Blair) will not get the job.
According to the EU website: Diplomats say that France and Germany, the twin cylinders of the European engine, want Verhofstadt, a likeminded figure, to ensure their interests are not drowned out in a Union of 25 member states. Britain, which still hasn't forgiven Verhofstadt for launching an outspoken campaign against the war in Iraq, says the Flemish liberal is a dangerous federalist bent on creating a European superstate.
Good that one of those nominated for the Presidency is EU External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten, a former British cabinet minister and the last governor of Hong Kong. He won last minute backing from the centre-right European People's Party, the biggest group in the European Parliament. Here's hoping he gets the job as President of the newly expanded European Union. He has a great intellect, is a monster diplomat with great people skills, and a decent chap too. He did a great job on the hand over of Hong Kong. It would be a feather in our cap to have him presiding over the EU and, now that we are operating in a Europe of 25, would give this country a brilliant opportunity to get some great things done.
Note that British officials said they were unhappy that German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder had tried to link the EU presidency with any trade-offs over changes to the constitution. Also, French President Jacques Chirac criticised the UK's position before the talks even began. Yesterday he accused Mr Blair of trying to water down the constitution and during today's talks indicated he was not happy with the direction of the summit.
Last night I watched televsion news and noticed Tony Blair walking up to greet Chirac with a friendly smile and outstretched arm, ready to shake hands. Chirac reacted stupidly and stuck his hands in his pocket. Blair handled it decently, and politely launched into what he wanted to say. It made Chirac look unintelligent and childish. The French ought to get rid of him. He is giving France and its people a reputation for being rude, arrogant and obnoxious. Recently, I'd read somewhere that it's well known fact that the French have a reputation for caring only about themselves. What a shame for all the nice French people.
A success for Britain and a success for Europe
Prime Minister Tony Blair has proclaimed the deal - announced a few hours ago - on the first ever EU constitution as "a success for Britain and a success for Europe".
Mr Blair said the treaty kept the UK veto on "essential" issues such as economic policy, defence and foreign affairs.
The talks showed that in the "new Europe" there were allies ready to back Britain's vision for the EU.
Now every country has to ratify the treaty. In some cases that will be done by a national parliament but Britain is among those countries to have already promised a public referendum.
The next crucial step is election of a President of the European Union. Hopefully, Belgian Prime Minister Verhofstadt aka "Baby Thatcher" (the one France and Germany are pushing for - and who is a friend of Tony Blair) will not get the job.
According to the EU website: Diplomats say that France and Germany, the twin cylinders of the European engine, want Verhofstadt, a likeminded figure, to ensure their interests are not drowned out in a Union of 25 member states. Britain, which still hasn't forgiven Verhofstadt for launching an outspoken campaign against the war in Iraq, says the Flemish liberal is a dangerous federalist bent on creating a European superstate.
Good that one of those nominated for the Presidency is EU External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten, a former British cabinet minister and the last governor of Hong Kong. He won last minute backing from the centre-right European People's Party, the biggest group in the European Parliament. Here's hoping he gets the job as President of the newly expanded European Union. He has a great intellect, is a monster diplomat with great people skills, and a decent chap too. He did a great job on the hand over of Hong Kong. It would be a feather in our cap to have him presiding over the EU and, now that we are operating in a Europe of 25, would give this country a brilliant opportunity to get some great things done.
Note that British officials said they were unhappy that German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder had tried to link the EU presidency with any trade-offs over changes to the constitution. Also, French President Jacques Chirac criticised the UK's position before the talks even began. Yesterday he accused Mr Blair of trying to water down the constitution and during today's talks indicated he was not happy with the direction of the summit.
Last night I watched televsion news and noticed Tony Blair walking up to greet Chirac with a friendly smile and outstretched arm, ready to shake hands. Chirac reacted stupidly and stuck his hands in his pocket. Blair handled it decently, and politely launched into what he wanted to say. It made Chirac look unintelligent and childish. The French ought to get rid of him. He is giving France and its people a reputation for being rude, arrogant and obnoxious. Recently, I'd read somewhere that it's well known fact that the French have a reputation for caring only about themselves. What a shame for all the nice French people.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/18/2004
Thursday, June 17, 2004
BRITAIN MAY INTERVENE MILITARILY IN SUDAN -
UK supporting African Union and UN teams
17 June London VOA excerpt:
"Britain's foreign aid chief says the international community may have to intervene militarily in Sudan's western Darfur region if the security situation does not improve. International Development Secretary Hilary Benn discussed the Darfur crisis in an interview with VOA's Michael Drudge in London.
Mr. Benn says Britain is lending financial and moral support to an African Union mission, which hopes to deploy 120 cease-fire monitors in Darfur by the end of July. He says Britain also will fund a U.N. human rights monitoring team seeking Sudanese government permission to work in Darfur. However, he says if the fighting continues despite those efforts, the international community may have to consider military intervention.
Mr. Benn says the only long-term solution for Darfur will be a political settlement similar to what the Sudanese government has recently negotiated with a southern-based rebel movement to end a war that killed two million people."
Update: allAfrica Sudan Crisis: UK Donates further 15m. "According to a release made available to THISDAY by the Press and Public Affairs Section of the British High Commission in Abuja, the donation of oe15 million from the British Government brings to total oe36.5 million since September 2003."
June 17 Reuters: UN chief Kofi Annan expects to go to Sudan in the next few weeks and said today: 'I think it is the responsibility of the government to protect the population, and we need to encourage it and must insist it does it,' he told reporters at U.N. headquarters. 'And of course, if it is not able to protect them, the international community may have to assist the Sudanese government to do that, and the Sudanese government should be willing to accept that assistance,' he said. In a speech to mark the tenth anniversary of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, Annan warned of the risk of genocide in Darfur and said a military force may be needed to help gain access to those affected by the conflict."
June 18 N'DJAMENA violent clashes in the Chad-Sudan border region, involving Chadian army troops and pro-Khartoum Arab militias, sparked fears the devastating conflict in Sudan's western Darfur region could widen still further. "There is a hidden force trying to export the conflict between the Sudanese into Chad," said Allami Ahmat, diplomatic advisor to Chadian President Idriss Deby.
UK supporting African Union and UN teams
17 June London VOA excerpt:
"Britain's foreign aid chief says the international community may have to intervene militarily in Sudan's western Darfur region if the security situation does not improve. International Development Secretary Hilary Benn discussed the Darfur crisis in an interview with VOA's Michael Drudge in London.
Mr. Benn says Britain is lending financial and moral support to an African Union mission, which hopes to deploy 120 cease-fire monitors in Darfur by the end of July. He says Britain also will fund a U.N. human rights monitoring team seeking Sudanese government permission to work in Darfur. However, he says if the fighting continues despite those efforts, the international community may have to consider military intervention.
Mr. Benn says the only long-term solution for Darfur will be a political settlement similar to what the Sudanese government has recently negotiated with a southern-based rebel movement to end a war that killed two million people."
Update: allAfrica Sudan Crisis: UK Donates further 15m. "According to a release made available to THISDAY by the Press and Public Affairs Section of the British High Commission in Abuja, the donation of oe15 million from the British Government brings to total oe36.5 million since September 2003."
June 17 Reuters: UN chief Kofi Annan expects to go to Sudan in the next few weeks and said today: 'I think it is the responsibility of the government to protect the population, and we need to encourage it and must insist it does it,' he told reporters at U.N. headquarters. 'And of course, if it is not able to protect them, the international community may have to assist the Sudanese government to do that, and the Sudanese government should be willing to accept that assistance,' he said. In a speech to mark the tenth anniversary of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, Annan warned of the risk of genocide in Darfur and said a military force may be needed to help gain access to those affected by the conflict."
June 18 N'DJAMENA violent clashes in the Chad-Sudan border region, involving Chadian army troops and pro-Khartoum Arab militias, sparked fears the devastating conflict in Sudan's western Darfur region could widen still further. "There is a hidden force trying to export the conflict between the Sudanese into Chad," said Allami Ahmat, diplomatic advisor to Chadian President Idriss Deby.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/17/2004
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INTERESTS OF U.S. PUT AHEAD OF AFRICAN LIVES
G8 could have wiped out Africa's debts
Last week, the leaders of the world's most powerful nations met at the annual G8 summit and talked about the challenges facing the poorest people on the planet.
Many African countries grappling with the AIDS crisis now spend twice as much in debt payments as they can afford for their citizens' healthcare.
The G8 turned down a proposal put by British Prime Minister Tony Blair to give 100% debt cancellation to some of the world’s poorest countries. Instead, the G8 promised to extend the debt relief scheme until 2006.
Mr Blair's bold proposal would have canceled these debts and allowed these nations to use their resources to help their own people. The Bush administration had its own debt-cancellation plan, but this one focused on Iraq's debts. Iraq owes about three times more in debt than all of the poorest nations in the world combined. In the end, there was no major breakthrough on any of these debt issues.
With so many lives at stake, it is disappointing that the G-8 didn't step up its support for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The Global Fund is working to treat people living with AIDS and prevent the next big wave of the epidemic in 121 countries. Without new contributions from the G-8, the Global Fund's financial future is in jeopardy. Bush's current budget cuts the U.S. contribution to the fund by nearly two-thirds. The United States should be leading its allies in supporting the fund not cutting its funding.
Bush and the other G-8 leaders should have seized this unique opportunity to end the debt-trap once and for all for the world's poorest people.
[Above extracts courtesy of report "World leaders missed good opportunities on several issues" by David Gartner, policy director of the Global AIDS Alliance published June 17, 2004 Herald.com - free registration]
BLAIR'S BOLD PROPOSAL AT G8 TO CANCEL DEBTS OF THE POOREST NATIONS - Would have ended the debt-trap for the world's poorest people
June 8 On "G8 Failure" CAFOD has condemned the backtracking at the G8 summit on UK plans that would have given Africa a significant boost in efforts to fight poverty. Henry Northover, CAFOD policy analyst, said:
"...G8 could have wiped out Africa’s debts and given more aid, giving the continent a real prospect of achieving the Millennium Development Goals signed up to world leaders in the year 2000. Apparently the lives of Africans are less important than the strategic interests of the US. This week has witnessed G8 policy-making that ranks the worth of human lives according to the self-interest of the most powerful. It devalues us all. It is unjust that the grandiose declarations of this year’s G8 Summit mask a failing debt policy for Africa and a lavishly financed one for Iraq.
When it comes to standing shoulder to shoulder on Africa - "the scar on the world’s conscience" - Bush has dismissed Blair. The G8’s backtracking on debt is shameful - a gross dereliction of previous promises made by the world’s richest countries to the world’s poorest.
The G8 have ignored their commitment made two years ago at their summit in Canada to finance Africa’s poverty reduction efforts to meet the internationally agreed development goals. Naked self-interest has won out at the expense of the life chances of millions of the world’s poorest..."
Further reading: June african oil politics: June 8 Savannah (Guardian) "Bush backs UK plan for debt relief": George Bush will back an ambitious British-designed plan for more generous debt relief for the world's poorest countries this week as the White House seeks backing from the G8 industrial nations for the financial reconstruction of Iraq. http://politics.guardian.co.uk/economics/story/0,11268,1233783,00.html Guardian:
- - -
UK CHAIRS NEXT G8 SUMMIT
Blair's Africa Commission will report to the G8 next year
Next year the G8 summit will be chaired by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The concerns of developing nations have been on the agenda of the G8 summit for the last several years.
Of the annual G8 meetings, Tony Blair has said that Africa was one of his absolutely top priorities. At a Prime Minister's press conference held June 15, 2004, he said:
"We've made very generous additional provision in our aid and we want to carry on doing so -- the Africa Commission that I've established will report to the G8 next year under our chairmanship, so that will be the moment at which we really decide whether we are prepared to give a big impulsion towards a different attitude on Africa and I believe that we will. I hope we will, anyway, and I will certainly be working very hard for that."
INTERESTS OF U.S. PUT AHEAD OF AFRICAN LIVES
G8 could have wiped out Africa's debts
Last week, the leaders of the world's most powerful nations met at the annual G8 summit and talked about the challenges facing the poorest people on the planet.
Many African countries grappling with the AIDS crisis now spend twice as much in debt payments as they can afford for their citizens' healthcare.
The G8 turned down a proposal put by British Prime Minister Tony Blair to give 100% debt cancellation to some of the world’s poorest countries. Instead, the G8 promised to extend the debt relief scheme until 2006.
Mr Blair's bold proposal would have canceled these debts and allowed these nations to use their resources to help their own people. The Bush administration had its own debt-cancellation plan, but this one focused on Iraq's debts. Iraq owes about three times more in debt than all of the poorest nations in the world combined. In the end, there was no major breakthrough on any of these debt issues.
With so many lives at stake, it is disappointing that the G-8 didn't step up its support for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The Global Fund is working to treat people living with AIDS and prevent the next big wave of the epidemic in 121 countries. Without new contributions from the G-8, the Global Fund's financial future is in jeopardy. Bush's current budget cuts the U.S. contribution to the fund by nearly two-thirds. The United States should be leading its allies in supporting the fund not cutting its funding.
Bush and the other G-8 leaders should have seized this unique opportunity to end the debt-trap once and for all for the world's poorest people.
[Above extracts courtesy of report "World leaders missed good opportunities on several issues" by David Gartner, policy director of the Global AIDS Alliance published June 17, 2004 Herald.com - free registration]
BLAIR'S BOLD PROPOSAL AT G8 TO CANCEL DEBTS OF THE POOREST NATIONS - Would have ended the debt-trap for the world's poorest people
June 8 On "G8 Failure" CAFOD has condemned the backtracking at the G8 summit on UK plans that would have given Africa a significant boost in efforts to fight poverty. Henry Northover, CAFOD policy analyst, said:
"...G8 could have wiped out Africa’s debts and given more aid, giving the continent a real prospect of achieving the Millennium Development Goals signed up to world leaders in the year 2000. Apparently the lives of Africans are less important than the strategic interests of the US. This week has witnessed G8 policy-making that ranks the worth of human lives according to the self-interest of the most powerful. It devalues us all. It is unjust that the grandiose declarations of this year’s G8 Summit mask a failing debt policy for Africa and a lavishly financed one for Iraq.
When it comes to standing shoulder to shoulder on Africa - "the scar on the world’s conscience" - Bush has dismissed Blair. The G8’s backtracking on debt is shameful - a gross dereliction of previous promises made by the world’s richest countries to the world’s poorest.
The G8 have ignored their commitment made two years ago at their summit in Canada to finance Africa’s poverty reduction efforts to meet the internationally agreed development goals. Naked self-interest has won out at the expense of the life chances of millions of the world’s poorest..."
Further reading: June african oil politics: June 8 Savannah (Guardian) "Bush backs UK plan for debt relief": George Bush will back an ambitious British-designed plan for more generous debt relief for the world's poorest countries this week as the White House seeks backing from the G8 industrial nations for the financial reconstruction of Iraq. http://politics.guardian.co.uk/economics/story/0,11268,1233783,00.html Guardian:
- - -
UK CHAIRS NEXT G8 SUMMIT
Blair's Africa Commission will report to the G8 next year
Next year the G8 summit will be chaired by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The concerns of developing nations have been on the agenda of the G8 summit for the last several years.
Of the annual G8 meetings, Tony Blair has said that Africa was one of his absolutely top priorities. At a Prime Minister's press conference held June 15, 2004, he said:
"We've made very generous additional provision in our aid and we want to carry on doing so -- the Africa Commission that I've established will report to the G8 next year under our chairmanship, so that will be the moment at which we really decide whether we are prepared to give a big impulsion towards a different attitude on Africa and I believe that we will. I hope we will, anyway, and I will certainly be working very hard for that."
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/17/2004
- - -
UK CALL FOR UN TO REVIEW SUDAN'S SEAT ON ITS HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - And impose no fly zone, oversee negotiations and increase number of observers
Following the call by Opposition leader Michael Howard for a "no-fly" zone to be imposed over Darfur, John Bercow, the Shadow International Development Secretary, has called on Tony Blair to sound a fresh alert in the UN Security Council. He said the UN should review Sudan's seat on its Human Rights Commission; should oversee political negotiations between the Sudanese government and rebels in Darfur; and should increase the deployment of international observers to monitor the ceasefire and protect civilians.
Further reading:
June 17 Scotsman "Sudan: no escape from bloodlust" report by Gethin Chamberlain on the Chad/Sudan border. Sudanese government-backed gunmen have clashed with Chadian army units after crossing the border to kill refugees who have fled the genocide in Darfur and sought sanctuary on land belonging to their western neighbour.
June 16 Scotsman "Sudan - Blair urged to act on Sudan". 200,000 black Africans forced over border into Chad by Arab militias. Sudanese air force bombing civilians. Blair considers UN-imposed no-fly zone. Hilary Benn, the International Development Secretary, visited Sudan last week and became the first UK minister to openly accuse the regime there of complicity in the violence in Darfur. Mr Blair yesterday declined to repeat Mr Benn’s words, simply saying: "I will be keeping in touch with developments there very precisely indeed. It’s an important issue."
UK CALL FOR UN TO REVIEW SUDAN'S SEAT ON ITS HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - And impose no fly zone, oversee negotiations and increase number of observers
Following the call by Opposition leader Michael Howard for a "no-fly" zone to be imposed over Darfur, John Bercow, the Shadow International Development Secretary, has called on Tony Blair to sound a fresh alert in the UN Security Council. He said the UN should review Sudan's seat on its Human Rights Commission; should oversee political negotiations between the Sudanese government and rebels in Darfur; and should increase the deployment of international observers to monitor the ceasefire and protect civilians.
Further reading:
June 17 Scotsman "Sudan: no escape from bloodlust" report by Gethin Chamberlain on the Chad/Sudan border. Sudanese government-backed gunmen have clashed with Chadian army units after crossing the border to kill refugees who have fled the genocide in Darfur and sought sanctuary on land belonging to their western neighbour.
June 16 Scotsman "Sudan - Blair urged to act on Sudan". 200,000 black Africans forced over border into Chad by Arab militias. Sudanese air force bombing civilians. Blair considers UN-imposed no-fly zone. Hilary Benn, the International Development Secretary, visited Sudan last week and became the first UK minister to openly accuse the regime there of complicity in the violence in Darfur. Mr Blair yesterday declined to repeat Mr Benn’s words, simply saying: "I will be keeping in touch with developments there very precisely indeed. It’s an important issue."
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/17/2004
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UK IS SECOND BIGGEST BILATERAL DONOR IN THE WORLD TO SUDAN - Blair says Sudan was a big part of the discussion at the G8
In the past, Prime Minister Tony Blair has said the state of Africa is a scar on the conscience of the world. A few days ago, at a press conference, he was asked: "In terms of your personal conscience, are you comfortable in your own mind that you and your government have done, and are doing, and will do everything you possibly can and could have done for the people of Dafur in western Sudan?"
Mr Blair answered: "Well we are doing our best, but we are looking to see what more we can do. Remember we are I think the second biggest bilateral donor in the world to Sudan. Hilary Benn went there just a few days ago precisely in order to make sure that we are doing everything we can to co-ordinate the humanitarian aid. It was a big part of our discussion at the G8, we issued a statement on it and I will keep in touch with developments there very precisely indeed, and I think it is an important issue. We need the politics moving in the right direction and the humanitarian aid. And so the answer to your question is I believe we are doing all we can, but we constantly re-assess that, and so we should.
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OXFAM PLANE LEFT LONDON ON TUESDAY
Carrying £200,000 of aid for Darfur
On Tuesday Oxfam sent a plane carrying £200,000 of emergency water and sanitation equipment to Chad to help thousands of refugees in the Darfur region of western Sudan. The DC8 plane left London on June 15 carrying almost 40 tonnes of material which will be used to construct emergency water and sanitation facilities for about 20,000 refugees.
“The refugees are struggling to survive in a barren desert region where water is scarce and temperatures can hit 50 degrees,” said Oxfam’s Jane Beesley who has just returned from eastern Chad.
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CHRISTIAN AID UK
Action by UK churches contributes £50,000 for Darfur
Christian Aid is an agency of the churches in the UK and Ireland, that supports local organisations, which are best placed to understand local needs, as well as giving help on the ground through 16 overseas offices
It is responding to the crisis through the ACT network, which is working with partners the Sudan Council of Churches (SCC), Norwegian Church Aid and the Sudan Development Organization to provide blankets, seeds, tools, and basic health care. It has contributed £50,000 through the Action by Churches Together (ACT) appeal.
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BRITISH RED CROSS
Appeals for Darfur
The money from the British Red Cross Appeal will pay for shelter and essential household items such as blankets and kitchen sets for more than 20,000 families in Darfur, western Sudan. These relief goods will form part of a wider response to the crisis led by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Sudanese Red Crescent. Ros Armitage, British Red Cross’ expert on East Africa and Great Lakes, said: 'With the rainy season quickly approaching, it is important that the Red Cross and Red Crescent meet the needs of the affected population before the area becomes more inaccessible.'"
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UK COMMITTEE FOR UNICEF
Millions of children receiving vaccines in Darfur
UK Committee for UNICEF: a new immunisation campaign in Darfur, Sudan is set to vaccinate over two million children in June against the killer disease.
UNICEF is working to improve conditions for the displaced, many of whom have been maimed and traumatised. Tens of thousands of children have been vaccinated against meningitis in northern Darfur and a major measles vaccination campaign aims to protect 2.6 million children against the potentially deadly disease. Clean water is desperately needed and UNICEF is repairing hundreds of hand pumps in Darfur as well as boring holes for new wells.
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SAVE THE CHILDREN UK
Raises £800,000 plus 500,000 euros for Darfur
Save the Children UK, frustrated by delays due to access problems, have secured £500,000 from the Department for International Development, plus 500,000 euros from ECHO and £300,000 from Save the Children Norway for planned work in health, food security, nutrition and protection in Darfur.
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CARE INTERNATIONAL (UK) ON CHAD-SUDAN BORDER
Providing life-saving support to 385,000 people in Sudan
CARE International is a confederacy of different members who focus on different issues, which together form a complimentary whole. CARE International UK has a particular focus on humanitarian and urban development work.
CARE manages three camps along the Chad-Sudan border using funds from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and from individual donors. But with hundreds more people fleeing across the border every week, the three camps, with a total capacity of 22,000 refugees, are being pushed to their limits.
CARE is providing food, supplies, sanitation, health services and shelter to more than 385,000 still within Sudan, but the attacks continue, and more people are in need. Many farmers have already missed planting season, which means they won't have enough food to last them after the crisis is over.
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CHURCH OF ENGLAND
Bishop calls on Britons to get behind race to help W Sudan
June 17 Church of England bishop is calling on Britons to get behind the race against time in delivering relief efforts in Western Sudan. The Bishop of Salisbury backed an Oxfam's plea for increased aid to the war-ravaged region ahead of the rainy season’s risk of epidemic.
The Bishop, the Rt Rev David Stancliffe’s appeal for support of humanitarian efforts in Darfur came as G8 leaders met in America to discuss, amongst other things, aid to the estimated million Sudanese left homeless by conflict with Arab militia.
But, the bishop also echoed doubts over the Sudanese Government’s political resolve to guard the peace in the country on Tuesday. “I welcome our Government’s pledge of substantial aid for Darfur, but if a lasting peace for the whole of the Sudan is to be achieved, then the G8 promise of assistance must become a reality and must be accepted and acted upon by the Sudanese government,” he said.
Further reading: On the edge: Photostory from Chad: "'Every drop of water is precious' - and Photo-diary from Oxfam's Communications Officer, Jane Beesley, from the Sudanese border in Eastern Chad. Here is her entry for Friday 28 May, 2004: "Back in a hotel in the capital, N’Djamena, I’m going through my photos and transcribing the stories of the people I’ve met. Eastern Chad feels like a place on the brink of disaster. I fly home tomorrow but will be haunted by the desperation I’ve seen. I think about the words of one refugee who called out to us as we left: “Please don’t let the UN forget us.”
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UN REFUGEE AGENCY UNHCR
Assisting 101.218 refugees in eastern Chad
June 16 Geneva UNHCR - More than 100,000 Sudanese refugees are now in UNHCR's eight camps in eastern Chad, less than five months after the refugee agency started relocating them from the insecure Chad-Sudan border.
The UN refugee agency reported that as of Tuesday, a total of 101,218 refugees were being assisted in its camps. Most of them had been transferred on UNHCR convoys from the border in a logistically difficult operation that started on January 19. Several thousands arrived in the camps on their own, bringing livestock and other belongings.
UNHCR is still rushing to transfer an estimated 50,000 to 90,000 refugees remaining along a 600-km stretch of the border, where they will be cut off from assistance once the seasonal rains make roads impassable for trucks. Hundreds more refugees are still arriving weekly in Chad after fleeing militia attacks in western Sudan's Darfur region, but it has been hard for aid agencies to monitor these arrivals because of the sheer vastness and remoteness of the region.
UNHCR now has seven offices in Chad – one in the capital N'djamena and six in eastern Chad, including a newly opened office in Bahai, north-eastern Chad. The agency's work in the vast, semi-arid region includes distributing emergency aid to refugees at the border, relocating and assisting them in the camps, finding alternative sites with sufficient water to support more refugees, as well as the airlift of emergency relief aid to last 150,000 refugees through the rainy season.
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WORLD VISION
Airlifted supplies into Chad last weekend
World Vision is an independent private Christian organization and is not formally affiliated with any government, denomination, foundation or corporation. It was founded in 1950 by Dr Bob Pierce in response to the needs of Korean War orphans. Since then it has grown to include fund raising offices in 12 countries in Europe, North America and the Far East.
Last weekend World Vision airlifted emergency supplies into Chad, to assist thousands of refugees living along the border with Sudan.
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FORMER RWANDAN MAYOR
Gets 30 years for genocide
Let this be a reminder to those in the Sudanese government.
Former Rwandan mayor Sylvestre Gacumbitsi has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for organising the slaughter of 20,000 people during the 1994 genocide. He led the notorious massacre of thousands of people sheltering in Nyarubuye Church - and distributed weapons and urged Hutu men to rape their Tutsi neighbours.
Gacumbitsi has pleaded not guilty to the charges of genocide, complicity in genocide, murder, rape and extermination at the UN tribunal. One girl told the court in the Tanzanian town of Arusha that Gacumbitsi had personally raped her. He told Tutsis they would be safe in Nyarubuye church but then led militias there to kill those inside. After the genocide, he fled to a refugee camp in Tanzania, where he was found by a BBC television crew.
Some 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered in just 100 days in 1994. The genocide ended when the then rebel Rwanda Patriotic Front came to power. Eight years after being set up, the ICTR has convicted 20 people of genocide - six of whom are serving their sentences in Mali. Twenty suspects are on trial, while another 22 are in detention, waiting for their trials to start.
Good on the BBC television crew for finding him. Good on the UN and 8 year old ICTR for getting him convicted. God bless the souls of all the victims.
UK IS SECOND BIGGEST BILATERAL DONOR IN THE WORLD TO SUDAN - Blair says Sudan was a big part of the discussion at the G8
In the past, Prime Minister Tony Blair has said the state of Africa is a scar on the conscience of the world. A few days ago, at a press conference, he was asked: "In terms of your personal conscience, are you comfortable in your own mind that you and your government have done, and are doing, and will do everything you possibly can and could have done for the people of Dafur in western Sudan?"
Mr Blair answered: "Well we are doing our best, but we are looking to see what more we can do. Remember we are I think the second biggest bilateral donor in the world to Sudan. Hilary Benn went there just a few days ago precisely in order to make sure that we are doing everything we can to co-ordinate the humanitarian aid. It was a big part of our discussion at the G8, we issued a statement on it and I will keep in touch with developments there very precisely indeed, and I think it is an important issue. We need the politics moving in the right direction and the humanitarian aid. And so the answer to your question is I believe we are doing all we can, but we constantly re-assess that, and so we should.
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OXFAM PLANE LEFT LONDON ON TUESDAY
Carrying £200,000 of aid for Darfur
On Tuesday Oxfam sent a plane carrying £200,000 of emergency water and sanitation equipment to Chad to help thousands of refugees in the Darfur region of western Sudan. The DC8 plane left London on June 15 carrying almost 40 tonnes of material which will be used to construct emergency water and sanitation facilities for about 20,000 refugees.
“The refugees are struggling to survive in a barren desert region where water is scarce and temperatures can hit 50 degrees,” said Oxfam’s Jane Beesley who has just returned from eastern Chad.
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CHRISTIAN AID UK
Action by UK churches contributes £50,000 for Darfur
Christian Aid is an agency of the churches in the UK and Ireland, that supports local organisations, which are best placed to understand local needs, as well as giving help on the ground through 16 overseas offices
It is responding to the crisis through the ACT network, which is working with partners the Sudan Council of Churches (SCC), Norwegian Church Aid and the Sudan Development Organization to provide blankets, seeds, tools, and basic health care. It has contributed £50,000 through the Action by Churches Together (ACT) appeal.
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BRITISH RED CROSS
Appeals for Darfur
The money from the British Red Cross Appeal will pay for shelter and essential household items such as blankets and kitchen sets for more than 20,000 families in Darfur, western Sudan. These relief goods will form part of a wider response to the crisis led by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Sudanese Red Crescent. Ros Armitage, British Red Cross’ expert on East Africa and Great Lakes, said: 'With the rainy season quickly approaching, it is important that the Red Cross and Red Crescent meet the needs of the affected population before the area becomes more inaccessible.'"
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UK COMMITTEE FOR UNICEF
Millions of children receiving vaccines in Darfur
UK Committee for UNICEF: a new immunisation campaign in Darfur, Sudan is set to vaccinate over two million children in June against the killer disease.
UNICEF is working to improve conditions for the displaced, many of whom have been maimed and traumatised. Tens of thousands of children have been vaccinated against meningitis in northern Darfur and a major measles vaccination campaign aims to protect 2.6 million children against the potentially deadly disease. Clean water is desperately needed and UNICEF is repairing hundreds of hand pumps in Darfur as well as boring holes for new wells.
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SAVE THE CHILDREN UK
Raises £800,000 plus 500,000 euros for Darfur
Save the Children UK, frustrated by delays due to access problems, have secured £500,000 from the Department for International Development, plus 500,000 euros from ECHO and £300,000 from Save the Children Norway for planned work in health, food security, nutrition and protection in Darfur.
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CARE INTERNATIONAL (UK) ON CHAD-SUDAN BORDER
Providing life-saving support to 385,000 people in Sudan
CARE International is a confederacy of different members who focus on different issues, which together form a complimentary whole. CARE International UK has a particular focus on humanitarian and urban development work.
CARE manages three camps along the Chad-Sudan border using funds from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and from individual donors. But with hundreds more people fleeing across the border every week, the three camps, with a total capacity of 22,000 refugees, are being pushed to their limits.
CARE is providing food, supplies, sanitation, health services and shelter to more than 385,000 still within Sudan, but the attacks continue, and more people are in need. Many farmers have already missed planting season, which means they won't have enough food to last them after the crisis is over.
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CHURCH OF ENGLAND
Bishop calls on Britons to get behind race to help W Sudan
June 17 Church of England bishop is calling on Britons to get behind the race against time in delivering relief efforts in Western Sudan. The Bishop of Salisbury backed an Oxfam's plea for increased aid to the war-ravaged region ahead of the rainy season’s risk of epidemic.
The Bishop, the Rt Rev David Stancliffe’s appeal for support of humanitarian efforts in Darfur came as G8 leaders met in America to discuss, amongst other things, aid to the estimated million Sudanese left homeless by conflict with Arab militia.
But, the bishop also echoed doubts over the Sudanese Government’s political resolve to guard the peace in the country on Tuesday. “I welcome our Government’s pledge of substantial aid for Darfur, but if a lasting peace for the whole of the Sudan is to be achieved, then the G8 promise of assistance must become a reality and must be accepted and acted upon by the Sudanese government,” he said.
Further reading: On the edge: Photostory from Chad: "'Every drop of water is precious' - and Photo-diary from Oxfam's Communications Officer, Jane Beesley, from the Sudanese border in Eastern Chad. Here is her entry for Friday 28 May, 2004: "Back in a hotel in the capital, N’Djamena, I’m going through my photos and transcribing the stories of the people I’ve met. Eastern Chad feels like a place on the brink of disaster. I fly home tomorrow but will be haunted by the desperation I’ve seen. I think about the words of one refugee who called out to us as we left: “Please don’t let the UN forget us.”
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UN REFUGEE AGENCY UNHCR
Assisting 101.218 refugees in eastern Chad
June 16 Geneva UNHCR - More than 100,000 Sudanese refugees are now in UNHCR's eight camps in eastern Chad, less than five months after the refugee agency started relocating them from the insecure Chad-Sudan border.
The UN refugee agency reported that as of Tuesday, a total of 101,218 refugees were being assisted in its camps. Most of them had been transferred on UNHCR convoys from the border in a logistically difficult operation that started on January 19. Several thousands arrived in the camps on their own, bringing livestock and other belongings.
UNHCR is still rushing to transfer an estimated 50,000 to 90,000 refugees remaining along a 600-km stretch of the border, where they will be cut off from assistance once the seasonal rains make roads impassable for trucks. Hundreds more refugees are still arriving weekly in Chad after fleeing militia attacks in western Sudan's Darfur region, but it has been hard for aid agencies to monitor these arrivals because of the sheer vastness and remoteness of the region.
UNHCR now has seven offices in Chad – one in the capital N'djamena and six in eastern Chad, including a newly opened office in Bahai, north-eastern Chad. The agency's work in the vast, semi-arid region includes distributing emergency aid to refugees at the border, relocating and assisting them in the camps, finding alternative sites with sufficient water to support more refugees, as well as the airlift of emergency relief aid to last 150,000 refugees through the rainy season.
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WORLD VISION
Airlifted supplies into Chad last weekend
World Vision is an independent private Christian organization and is not formally affiliated with any government, denomination, foundation or corporation. It was founded in 1950 by Dr Bob Pierce in response to the needs of Korean War orphans. Since then it has grown to include fund raising offices in 12 countries in Europe, North America and the Far East.
Last weekend World Vision airlifted emergency supplies into Chad, to assist thousands of refugees living along the border with Sudan.
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FORMER RWANDAN MAYOR
Gets 30 years for genocide
Let this be a reminder to those in the Sudanese government.
Former Rwandan mayor Sylvestre Gacumbitsi has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for organising the slaughter of 20,000 people during the 1994 genocide. He led the notorious massacre of thousands of people sheltering in Nyarubuye Church - and distributed weapons and urged Hutu men to rape their Tutsi neighbours.
Gacumbitsi has pleaded not guilty to the charges of genocide, complicity in genocide, murder, rape and extermination at the UN tribunal. One girl told the court in the Tanzanian town of Arusha that Gacumbitsi had personally raped her. He told Tutsis they would be safe in Nyarubuye church but then led militias there to kill those inside. After the genocide, he fled to a refugee camp in Tanzania, where he was found by a BBC television crew.
Some 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered in just 100 days in 1994. The genocide ended when the then rebel Rwanda Patriotic Front came to power. Eight years after being set up, the ICTR has convicted 20 people of genocide - six of whom are serving their sentences in Mali. Twenty suspects are on trial, while another 22 are in detention, waiting for their trials to start.
Good on the BBC television crew for finding him. Good on the UN and 8 year old ICTR for getting him convicted. God bless the souls of all the victims.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/17/2004
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ANNAN ON SUDAN: "MILITARY FORCE MAY BE NEEDED
To help gain access to those affected by the conflict"
June 17 Reuters: "In a speech to mark the tenth anniversay of the Rwandan genocide, Annan warned of the risk of genocide in Darfur and said a military force may be needed to help gain access to those affected by the conflict.
U.N. and U.S. officials said on Monday Sudan was still hindering aid groups from accessing those in need in Darfur, despite government assurances to the contrary."
Note: Read Jim Moore's June 17 post "Discussion of US military intervention in Sudan". And Passion of the Present's post on Africa Action's online petition campaign that aims to obtain 10,000 signatures to help Stop Genocide in Sudan. Please add your name today to help provide protection and a safe corridor for relief workers and supplies to reach those affected by the conflict.
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ANNAN TO VISIT SUDAN IN JULY
To assess the situation in Darfur
June 17 Reuters: U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is to visit Sudan soon to assess a conflict in the western Darfur region, which has been described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, officials said Thursday. "We understand yes he will be visiting Sudan in the near future. The date and the itinerary remain to be confirmed but we look forward to his visit," Kevin Kennedy, acting resident humanitarian coordinator for Sudan, told Reuters. He did not give a date for the visit.
Sudan's state minister for humanitarian affairs Mohamed Yousif Abdalla earlier said Annan would visit Sudan in July to assess the humanitarian and security situation in Darfur.
ANNAN ON SUDAN: "MILITARY FORCE MAY BE NEEDED
To help gain access to those affected by the conflict"
June 17 Reuters: "In a speech to mark the tenth anniversay of the Rwandan genocide, Annan warned of the risk of genocide in Darfur and said a military force may be needed to help gain access to those affected by the conflict.
U.N. and U.S. officials said on Monday Sudan was still hindering aid groups from accessing those in need in Darfur, despite government assurances to the contrary."
Note: Read Jim Moore's June 17 post "Discussion of US military intervention in Sudan". And Passion of the Present's post on Africa Action's online petition campaign that aims to obtain 10,000 signatures to help Stop Genocide in Sudan. Please add your name today to help provide protection and a safe corridor for relief workers and supplies to reach those affected by the conflict.
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ANNAN TO VISIT SUDAN IN JULY
To assess the situation in Darfur
June 17 Reuters: U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is to visit Sudan soon to assess a conflict in the western Darfur region, which has been described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, officials said Thursday. "We understand yes he will be visiting Sudan in the near future. The date and the itinerary remain to be confirmed but we look forward to his visit," Kevin Kennedy, acting resident humanitarian coordinator for Sudan, told Reuters. He did not give a date for the visit.
Sudan's state minister for humanitarian affairs Mohamed Yousif Abdalla earlier said Annan would visit Sudan in July to assess the humanitarian and security situation in Darfur.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/17/2004
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A WORD OF ADVICE ON DARFUR
For the Arab body politic
June 17 Daily Star report extract in full:
"There are a number of festering wounds marking the collective body of the Arab world, and not all of them can conveniently be attributed to the aggression of outsiders. Thus, while the ongoing tragedy and disgrace of Palestine and the humiliation of Iraq are well-known international issues and do indeed owe much to foreign interference, there are other sores that are at least as bad and that are entirely homegrown. One of these sores is Darfur in western Sudan.
Mass displacements and killings have been carried out there against the indigenous African population by proxy tribal militias allied to Khartoum. At least 200,000 people have fled to neighboring Chad, and around 30,000 have been killed in what amounts to an unofficial but systematic program of ethnic cleansing.
International neglect led to near-genocide a decade ago in Rwanda, while NATO went to war in Kosovo in 1999 for the sake of a few hundred thousand refugees. While the United States is considering formally labeling the Darfur crisis as a genocide in progress, the world - the world beyond the Arab world that is - is justified in asking the following question: "What are the Arabs doing about this atrocity in their own back yard?"
The answer, of course - as usual - is nothing. At the conclusion of this year's annual Arab League summit just a few short weeks ago, a statement was issued. On Sudan, the statement "reaffirm(ed) ... the Arab states' solidarity with the sisterly Republic of Sudan and their keenness to preserve its territorial integrity and sovereignty and reinforce all peace initiatives started by the Sudanese government with the international and regional parties." Many fine words on "human rights" were also committed to paper in the summit statement.
It is time for a word of advice for the Arab League: We are sick of vacuous statements - the time for action is now. In fact, the time for action was yesterday, last week, last month, last year, last decade.
It is also time for the wealthy Arab oil-producing states to contribute to a solution to Darfur in the interests of regional stability.
While Arab leaders and governments do nothing, Israel will remain in Palestine, predatory super-states will always seize an opportunity to further their interests at Arab expense, and there will always be tyrants like Saddam Hussein terrorizing their own people.
A WORD OF ADVICE ON DARFUR
For the Arab body politic
June 17 Daily Star report extract in full:
"There are a number of festering wounds marking the collective body of the Arab world, and not all of them can conveniently be attributed to the aggression of outsiders. Thus, while the ongoing tragedy and disgrace of Palestine and the humiliation of Iraq are well-known international issues and do indeed owe much to foreign interference, there are other sores that are at least as bad and that are entirely homegrown. One of these sores is Darfur in western Sudan.
Mass displacements and killings have been carried out there against the indigenous African population by proxy tribal militias allied to Khartoum. At least 200,000 people have fled to neighboring Chad, and around 30,000 have been killed in what amounts to an unofficial but systematic program of ethnic cleansing.
International neglect led to near-genocide a decade ago in Rwanda, while NATO went to war in Kosovo in 1999 for the sake of a few hundred thousand refugees. While the United States is considering formally labeling the Darfur crisis as a genocide in progress, the world - the world beyond the Arab world that is - is justified in asking the following question: "What are the Arabs doing about this atrocity in their own back yard?"
The answer, of course - as usual - is nothing. At the conclusion of this year's annual Arab League summit just a few short weeks ago, a statement was issued. On Sudan, the statement "reaffirm(ed) ... the Arab states' solidarity with the sisterly Republic of Sudan and their keenness to preserve its territorial integrity and sovereignty and reinforce all peace initiatives started by the Sudanese government with the international and regional parties." Many fine words on "human rights" were also committed to paper in the summit statement.
It is time for a word of advice for the Arab League: We are sick of vacuous statements - the time for action is now. In fact, the time for action was yesterday, last week, last month, last year, last decade.
It is also time for the wealthy Arab oil-producing states to contribute to a solution to Darfur in the interests of regional stability.
While Arab leaders and governments do nothing, Israel will remain in Palestine, predatory super-states will always seize an opportunity to further their interests at Arab expense, and there will always be tyrants like Saddam Hussein terrorizing their own people.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/17/2004
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THE ANSWER TO AFRICA IS STARING US IN THE FACE:
Abolish the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)
Extracts from "Why the waiting must end for Africa" by Fraser Nelson Scotsman June 16, 2004:
"When government gives taxpayers’ cash to dictators, it invariably goes astray. History has repeatedly shown there is only one sure-fire answer to these problems: trade.
This is the rope which the people of China and India are using to pulling themselves out of poverty - yet this rope is denied to Africa by the European Union.
The solution staring European leaders in the face for years has been to abolish the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) which has become a new Iron Curtain, cutting African farmers off from rich markets.
The CAP slaps tariffs on food which Africa could sell to the EU - denying its farming industry the chance to grow, and denying millions the chance to earn a living. Not content with this, the CAP dumps subsidised European surplus in Africa, undermining local markets.
The CAP is supposed to protect farming jobs in Britain and keep incomes high - an objective which, as any Scottish farmer will confirm, is by no means an outright success. The CAP is a big part of reason why Africa remains so poor.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development has shown that the policy to help European farmers denies Africa £400 billion in lost export income each year. This is a staggering 14 times all the amount of aid by every country in the world.
The United States is equally as guilty of farm subsidies. It has been calculated that world protectionism costs about £1 billion a year - enough not just to feed the world’s 60 million cows, but fly them business class around the world and give them £2,000 spending money at each stop.
The answer to Africa is staring us in the face - and it doesn’t take a commission or a five-year plan to work it out. To treat the scar on the world’s conscience which is Africa, abolish the CAP.
But this is politically unacceptable across Europe - so instead, leaders talk about international aid. By 2010. Or later. They promise, Africa starves, the cows absorb subsidy, we pay too much for food - and all for the sake of farmers who are struggling anyway.
Whoever breaks this cycle of misery can lay genuine claim to helping Africa. Perhaps Mr Blair will be the one who pulls the sword from this stone."
THE ANSWER TO AFRICA IS STARING US IN THE FACE:
Abolish the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)
Extracts from "Why the waiting must end for Africa" by Fraser Nelson Scotsman June 16, 2004:
"When government gives taxpayers’ cash to dictators, it invariably goes astray. History has repeatedly shown there is only one sure-fire answer to these problems: trade.
This is the rope which the people of China and India are using to pulling themselves out of poverty - yet this rope is denied to Africa by the European Union.
The solution staring European leaders in the face for years has been to abolish the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) which has become a new Iron Curtain, cutting African farmers off from rich markets.
The CAP slaps tariffs on food which Africa could sell to the EU - denying its farming industry the chance to grow, and denying millions the chance to earn a living. Not content with this, the CAP dumps subsidised European surplus in Africa, undermining local markets.
The CAP is supposed to protect farming jobs in Britain and keep incomes high - an objective which, as any Scottish farmer will confirm, is by no means an outright success. The CAP is a big part of reason why Africa remains so poor.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development has shown that the policy to help European farmers denies Africa £400 billion in lost export income each year. This is a staggering 14 times all the amount of aid by every country in the world.
The United States is equally as guilty of farm subsidies. It has been calculated that world protectionism costs about £1 billion a year - enough not just to feed the world’s 60 million cows, but fly them business class around the world and give them £2,000 spending money at each stop.
The answer to Africa is staring us in the face - and it doesn’t take a commission or a five-year plan to work it out. To treat the scar on the world’s conscience which is Africa, abolish the CAP.
But this is politically unacceptable across Europe - so instead, leaders talk about international aid. By 2010. Or later. They promise, Africa starves, the cows absorb subsidy, we pay too much for food - and all for the sake of farmers who are struggling anyway.
Whoever breaks this cycle of misery can lay genuine claim to helping Africa. Perhaps Mr Blair will be the one who pulls the sword from this stone."
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/17/2004
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FIDEL CASTRO'S MESSAGE
On trade and development
Extracts from Fidel Castro's message on trade and development to the 11th UNCTAG Conference June 13, 2004:
- If 25 years ago five hundred million people were going hungry, today over 800 million are starving.
- In the poor countries, 150 million children are born underweight, which raises their risks of death as well as of mental and physical underdevelopment.
- 325 million children do not attend school.
- Infant mortality rate under one year is 12 times higher than it is in the rich countries.
- 33 thousand children die every day in the Third World of curable illnesses.
- Two million girls are forced into prostitution.
- 85 percent of the world population made up by poor countries consumes only 30 percent of the energy, 25 percent of the metals and 15 percent of the timber.
- There are billions of full illiterates or functional illiterates on the planet.
85% of the world population lives in the poor countries but their share of international trade is only 25%.
- These countries' external debt was close to 50 billion USD in 1964, the year this United Nations agency was born, while today it is 2.6 trillion.
- Between 1982 and 2003, that is, in 21 years the poor world paid 5.4 trillion USD in debt service, which means that its present sum has been paid to the rich countries more than twice.
The poor countries were promised development aid and the steady reduction of the gap between the rich and the poor; they were even promised that it would reach 0.7% of the so-called GDP of those economically developed, a figure that if true would amount today to no less than 175 billion USD annually.
What the Third World received as official development aid in 2003 was only 54 billion USD. That same year, the poor paid to the rich 436 billion in debt service and the richest of them all, the United States of America, was the one farther from meeting the set goal, as it allocated only 0.1% of its GDP to that aid. And this leaves out the enormous amounts taken away as a result of the unequal terms of trade.
In addition, the rich countries spend every year 300 billion USD on subsidies that prevent the poor countries' access to their markets.
[Source of link courtesy Bob Piper]
FIDEL CASTRO'S MESSAGE
On trade and development
Extracts from Fidel Castro's message on trade and development to the 11th UNCTAG Conference June 13, 2004:
- If 25 years ago five hundred million people were going hungry, today over 800 million are starving.
- In the poor countries, 150 million children are born underweight, which raises their risks of death as well as of mental and physical underdevelopment.
- 325 million children do not attend school.
- Infant mortality rate under one year is 12 times higher than it is in the rich countries.
- 33 thousand children die every day in the Third World of curable illnesses.
- Two million girls are forced into prostitution.
- 85 percent of the world population made up by poor countries consumes only 30 percent of the energy, 25 percent of the metals and 15 percent of the timber.
- There are billions of full illiterates or functional illiterates on the planet.
85% of the world population lives in the poor countries but their share of international trade is only 25%.
- These countries' external debt was close to 50 billion USD in 1964, the year this United Nations agency was born, while today it is 2.6 trillion.
- Between 1982 and 2003, that is, in 21 years the poor world paid 5.4 trillion USD in debt service, which means that its present sum has been paid to the rich countries more than twice.
The poor countries were promised development aid and the steady reduction of the gap between the rich and the poor; they were even promised that it would reach 0.7% of the so-called GDP of those economically developed, a figure that if true would amount today to no less than 175 billion USD annually.
What the Third World received as official development aid in 2003 was only 54 billion USD. That same year, the poor paid to the rich 436 billion in debt service and the richest of them all, the United States of America, was the one farther from meeting the set goal, as it allocated only 0.1% of its GDP to that aid. And this leaves out the enormous amounts taken away as a result of the unequal terms of trade.
In addition, the rich countries spend every year 300 billion USD on subsidies that prevent the poor countries' access to their markets.
[Source of link courtesy Bob Piper]
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/17/2004
- - -
WATCHING THE UN'S WATCHDOG
Oil for food probe looks at UN staff involvement
June 16 foxnews: The United Nation's anti-corruption department has been rocked by accusations that the office itself is corrupt.
Further reading [source via Instapundit]:
June 13 UNSCAM UPDATE: It looks as if U.N. staff may have been involved: MENAFN Washington --- An independent investigation of the United Nations' controversial Iraq oil-for-food program is close to releasing an interim report this summer that is expected to focus on U.N. staff involvement in the program. But critics and supporters of the United Nations will likely have to wait about a year before the three-member committee releases its findings to the public on a wide array of allegations of corruption and mismanagement in the massive program.
June 14, 2004 NY Times : Tear Down This U.N. Stonewall.
WATCHING THE UN'S WATCHDOG
Oil for food probe looks at UN staff involvement
June 16 foxnews: The United Nation's anti-corruption department has been rocked by accusations that the office itself is corrupt.
Further reading [source via Instapundit]:
June 13 UNSCAM UPDATE: It looks as if U.N. staff may have been involved: MENAFN Washington --- An independent investigation of the United Nations' controversial Iraq oil-for-food program is close to releasing an interim report this summer that is expected to focus on U.N. staff involvement in the program. But critics and supporters of the United Nations will likely have to wait about a year before the three-member committee releases its findings to the public on a wide array of allegations of corruption and mismanagement in the massive program.
June 14, 2004 NY Times : Tear Down This U.N. Stonewall.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/17/2004
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
ANNAN:
To visit Darfur
June 16 KHARTOUM Middle East Online - United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan will pay a visit to Sudan in the coming days to see for himself the humanitarian and security situation in Darfur region, a newspaper reported Wednesday.
- - -
BBC NEWS HAVE YOUR SAY
How can we help Darfur's refugees?
The director of Unicef has warned that a humanitarian disaster is looming in Sudan's Darfur region. BBC asks: How can we help Sudan's refugees? Has the world community been too slow to react? How should multinational charities respond? Read the comments - and send them yours.
Note: BBC will be discussing the plight of refugees around the world with UNHCR goodwill ambassador Angelina Jolie on their global phone-in programme, Talking Point on Sunday 20 June at 1400 GMT. Put your questions to Angelina Jolie.
- - -
US PRESSURES KHARTOUM
Over Darfur
June 16 Nairobi: Extracts - "The United States government is threatening to take action against Sudan over what it said were ongoing human rights atrocities in the western region of Darfur.
"We do not intend to stand by while violence and atrocities continue in Darfur," said Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Charles Snyder in a statement before the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Tuesday. "Our message to the government of Sudan is clear: Do what is necessary now, and we will work with you. If you do not, there will be consequences. Time is of the essence. Do not doubt our determination."
Further reading:
June 15: allAfrica: United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Hearing, 'Sudan: Peace, but at What Price?', Testimony of Julie Flint on Behalf of Human Rights Watch
June 15 allAfrica: Statement of Roger Winter, Assistant Administrator USAID, Before the Committee on Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa.
To visit Darfur
June 16 KHARTOUM Middle East Online - United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan will pay a visit to Sudan in the coming days to see for himself the humanitarian and security situation in Darfur region, a newspaper reported Wednesday.
- - -
BBC NEWS HAVE YOUR SAY
How can we help Darfur's refugees?
The director of Unicef has warned that a humanitarian disaster is looming in Sudan's Darfur region. BBC asks: How can we help Sudan's refugees? Has the world community been too slow to react? How should multinational charities respond? Read the comments - and send them yours.
Note: BBC will be discussing the plight of refugees around the world with UNHCR goodwill ambassador Angelina Jolie on their global phone-in programme, Talking Point on Sunday 20 June at 1400 GMT. Put your questions to Angelina Jolie.
- - -
US PRESSURES KHARTOUM
Over Darfur
June 16 Nairobi: Extracts - "The United States government is threatening to take action against Sudan over what it said were ongoing human rights atrocities in the western region of Darfur.
"We do not intend to stand by while violence and atrocities continue in Darfur," said Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Charles Snyder in a statement before the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Tuesday. "Our message to the government of Sudan is clear: Do what is necessary now, and we will work with you. If you do not, there will be consequences. Time is of the essence. Do not doubt our determination."
Further reading:
June 15: allAfrica: United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Hearing, 'Sudan: Peace, but at What Price?', Testimony of Julie Flint on Behalf of Human Rights Watch
June 15 allAfrica: Statement of Roger Winter, Assistant Administrator USAID, Before the Committee on Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/16/2004
- - -
EUROPEAN UNION TO RELEASE 60M EUROS IN AID FOR DARFUR
European Commission has given 13.2m euros
16 June The European Union (EU) reports that it will release 60 million euros (72 million dollars) in humanitarian aid to Sudan's war-torn western region of Darfur, the Sudanese minister of international cooperation was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
Thirty million euros will go towards combating famine and the other 30 million to help supply water, education and sanitary services in Darfur, Yusuf Sulayman Takanah told the daily newspaper Al Anbaa.
The European Commission has given 13.2 million euros in aid to Darfur where, according to the United Nations, at least 10,000 people have been killed since rebels rose up in February 2003, prompting an all-out assault by government forces and their Arab militia allies.
EUROPEAN UNION TO RELEASE 60M EUROS IN AID FOR DARFUR
European Commission has given 13.2m euros
16 June The European Union (EU) reports that it will release 60 million euros (72 million dollars) in humanitarian aid to Sudan's war-torn western region of Darfur, the Sudanese minister of international cooperation was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
Thirty million euros will go towards combating famine and the other 30 million to help supply water, education and sanitary services in Darfur, Yusuf Sulayman Takanah told the daily newspaper Al Anbaa.
The European Commission has given 13.2 million euros in aid to Darfur where, according to the United Nations, at least 10,000 people have been killed since rebels rose up in February 2003, prompting an all-out assault by government forces and their Arab militia allies.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/16/2004
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
UK CALL FOR A "NO FLY" ZONE OVER DARFUR
To prevent civilian bombings in region
June 15 Scotsman report by Gethin Chamberlain - on the Sudan-Chad border:
"Refugees claim hundreds killed by Sudanese government attacks in Darfur. Survivors claim men, women and children have been slaughtered.
Reports from people coming out of Sudan suggest that those who have taken refuge in camps inside Darfur are dying in their hundreds.
Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, yesterday told MPs he would weigh up the merits of international patrols above Darfur, modelled on the air-exclusion zones once imposed on northern and southern Iraq.
The suggestion was raised by Michael Howard, the Conservative Party leader, in a Commons debate over last week’s G8 leaders’ summit in the US.
"Should not the UN Security Council enforce a no-fly zone and consult with those states with the capability to do so?" Mr Howard asked.
"I’ll certainly look into the issue," Mr Blair replied.
The British government is now considering pressing for a United Nations-imposed "no-fly" zone over Darfur, to stop the Sudanese government bombing civilians in the shattered province."
Post updated with this insert on 16 June:
Yesterday I left a comment at the blogs of two Labour Members of Parliament: Clive Soley and Tom Watson, asking them to please to do everything they can to see that our government follows through on the brilliant suggestion by Michael Howard - as a matter of the utmost urgency. Tom kindly replied with a comment to me saying he'll do everything he can to get this done.
- - -
HOW DID POOR SUDAN
Come by helicopter gunships?
Patrick Hall, in his blog The Horn of Africa, writes:
"The Scotsman has been producing consistently excellent coverage of the Sudan crisis. (They have a correspondent, Gethin Chamberlain, at the border of Sudan with Chad.)
There have also been some insightful letters to the editor, including this one:
It is my understanding that the Saudi government has bank-rolled the Islamic Sudanese government for nearly 20 years. (how did Sudan, one of poorest countries in the world, come by helicopter gunships?)
I'm not pretending to know anything about how money flows in that part of the world, or who is bankrolling the air strikes, but it it certainly seems like a good question."
To prevent civilian bombings in region
June 15 Scotsman report by Gethin Chamberlain - on the Sudan-Chad border:
"Refugees claim hundreds killed by Sudanese government attacks in Darfur. Survivors claim men, women and children have been slaughtered.
Reports from people coming out of Sudan suggest that those who have taken refuge in camps inside Darfur are dying in their hundreds.
Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, yesterday told MPs he would weigh up the merits of international patrols above Darfur, modelled on the air-exclusion zones once imposed on northern and southern Iraq.
The suggestion was raised by Michael Howard, the Conservative Party leader, in a Commons debate over last week’s G8 leaders’ summit in the US.
"Should not the UN Security Council enforce a no-fly zone and consult with those states with the capability to do so?" Mr Howard asked.
"I’ll certainly look into the issue," Mr Blair replied.
The British government is now considering pressing for a United Nations-imposed "no-fly" zone over Darfur, to stop the Sudanese government bombing civilians in the shattered province."
Post updated with this insert on 16 June:
Yesterday I left a comment at the blogs of two Labour Members of Parliament: Clive Soley and Tom Watson, asking them to please to do everything they can to see that our government follows through on the brilliant suggestion by Michael Howard - as a matter of the utmost urgency. Tom kindly replied with a comment to me saying he'll do everything he can to get this done.
- - -
HOW DID POOR SUDAN
Come by helicopter gunships?
Patrick Hall, in his blog The Horn of Africa, writes:
"The Scotsman has been producing consistently excellent coverage of the Sudan crisis. (They have a correspondent, Gethin Chamberlain, at the border of Sudan with Chad.)
There have also been some insightful letters to the editor, including this one:
It is my understanding that the Saudi government has bank-rolled the Islamic Sudanese government for nearly 20 years. (how did Sudan, one of poorest countries in the world, come by helicopter gunships?)
I'm not pretending to know anything about how money flows in that part of the world, or who is bankrolling the air strikes, but it it certainly seems like a good question."
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/15/2004
- - -
ANNAN:
Darfur 'catastrophic'
June 15 (SA) Sao Paulo: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Monday warned the humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region required immediate attention.
"This is a humanitarian emergency of catastrophic proportions that must be addressed, not tomorrow, but now," Annan said on the sidelines of the 11th UN Conference on Trade and Development.
"The world must insist that the Sudanese authorities neutralise and disarm the militia, who continue to terrorise the population. They must also allow humanitarian supplies."
Further reading:
June 15 Nairobi: Garang hints at final Sudan peace date. Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) chairman John Garang said the deal could be sealed in August or early September.
June 14 Arabic: Taha - Sudan's final peace agreement to be signed next August. Sudanese First Vice President Ali Othman Taha said that the peace deal between the Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) would be finally signed in August in Nairobi, Kenya. [Note: this does not include Darfur and eastern Sudan].
- - -
UN IS FAILING TO PROTECT CIVILIANS
Aid for ten million people is sabotaged
June 15 Australia: "A senior United Nations (UN) official says more than 10 million civilians in war zones are being denied help because aid workers cannot reach them.
Jan Egeland, the overall coordinator for UN emergency relief, says aid workers are unable to provide basic food, shelter and medical care to civilians in 20 countries.
He has told a meeting of the UN Security Council that in some cases humanitarian workers are being killed to prevent them carrying out their work.
Mr Egeland says many of the worst affected areas are in Africa, but he also says Afghanistan, the northern Caucuses, the Palestinian territories and Latin America are problematic." -- BBC
- - -
Further reading:
June 5 N Ireland: UN must to more to protect 10m people in global war zones.
June 15 Canada: UN Security Council failing to protect civilians, Canadian ambassador says.
June 15 Canada: UN failing victims of war, Canada says. Rock urges action.
June 15 Africa: UN Official urges greater efforts to protect civilians.
June 15 Swiss: Sudan hinders aid groups - UN says.
June 14 BBC: 'Massive abuses' in DR Congo. The UN has 10,800 troops in DR Congo although those sent to Bukavu did not stop the town falling to the rebels.
June UN: MONUC, UN Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
June 15-16 New Zealand: Sudanese government blocking food and medical help, UN says.
June 15 23:30 UK Indep: "Yesterday UN admitted that it is powerless to help. UN and aid agencies were unable to deliver 'the basic means of survival' to those that needed it most as a result of obstacles ranging from petty bureaucracy to callous obstructionism, to the outright menace of violence. 'For every politician, aid is something to be twisted to their advantage,' one aid worker said yesterday."
June 15 22:33 BBC: UN pleads for new Darfur funding. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has described the situation in Darfur as a "humanitarian emergency of catastrophic proportions".
ANNAN:
Darfur 'catastrophic'
June 15 (SA) Sao Paulo: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Monday warned the humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region required immediate attention.
"This is a humanitarian emergency of catastrophic proportions that must be addressed, not tomorrow, but now," Annan said on the sidelines of the 11th UN Conference on Trade and Development.
"The world must insist that the Sudanese authorities neutralise and disarm the militia, who continue to terrorise the population. They must also allow humanitarian supplies."
Further reading:
June 15 Nairobi: Garang hints at final Sudan peace date. Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) chairman John Garang said the deal could be sealed in August or early September.
June 14 Arabic: Taha - Sudan's final peace agreement to be signed next August. Sudanese First Vice President Ali Othman Taha said that the peace deal between the Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) would be finally signed in August in Nairobi, Kenya. [Note: this does not include Darfur and eastern Sudan].
- - -
UN IS FAILING TO PROTECT CIVILIANS
Aid for ten million people is sabotaged
June 15 Australia: "A senior United Nations (UN) official says more than 10 million civilians in war zones are being denied help because aid workers cannot reach them.
Jan Egeland, the overall coordinator for UN emergency relief, says aid workers are unable to provide basic food, shelter and medical care to civilians in 20 countries.
He has told a meeting of the UN Security Council that in some cases humanitarian workers are being killed to prevent them carrying out their work.
Mr Egeland says many of the worst affected areas are in Africa, but he also says Afghanistan, the northern Caucuses, the Palestinian territories and Latin America are problematic." -- BBC
- - -
Further reading:
June 5 N Ireland: UN must to more to protect 10m people in global war zones.
June 15 Canada: UN Security Council failing to protect civilians, Canadian ambassador says.
June 15 Canada: UN failing victims of war, Canada says. Rock urges action.
June 15 Africa: UN Official urges greater efforts to protect civilians.
June 15 Swiss: Sudan hinders aid groups - UN says.
June 14 BBC: 'Massive abuses' in DR Congo. The UN has 10,800 troops in DR Congo although those sent to Bukavu did not stop the town falling to the rebels.
June UN: MONUC, UN Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
June 15-16 New Zealand: Sudanese government blocking food and medical help, UN says.
June 15 23:30 UK Indep: "Yesterday UN admitted that it is powerless to help. UN and aid agencies were unable to deliver 'the basic means of survival' to those that needed it most as a result of obstacles ranging from petty bureaucracy to callous obstructionism, to the outright menace of violence. 'For every politician, aid is something to be twisted to their advantage,' one aid worker said yesterday."
June 15 22:33 BBC: UN pleads for new Darfur funding. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has described the situation in Darfur as a "humanitarian emergency of catastrophic proportions".
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/15/2004
- - -
ME AND OPHELIA
Brought to you by NewsMob
Today I googled my blog's name with the search words Sudan and Darfur but did not find much. Has Google done something about weblogs appearing in searches? Curiously, I did find this page at NewsMob. Note the Ads by Google.
I have no idea how the page came about. But it has given me an idea. Maybe I could use this as a "category" folder for my posts on the Sudan, so each topic is conveniently listed in a separate page. This BlogSpot does not have categories, but NewsMob makes it simple to refer back and click into previous posts on a subject. This blog does have a Google search in the sidebar that brings up a list of posts on any given subject, but NewsMobs seems to be more accurate. NewsMob is owned by ToGoSolo. Here is their description and an interesting paragraph on mobile web sites that can be read even without a mobile internet connection.
- - -
NEWSMOB
The Mobile Web Site
NewsMob is a Web-based RSS & Atom News Aggregator. RSS & Atom are increasing popular formats for syndicating news and the content of news-like web sites, and personal weblogs. It works with your existing Palm or Pocket PC web browser, sync or live, to provide you access to your favorite RSS & Atom Newsfeeds, anytime, anywhere.
If you have your own web-site, you can have their latest Topics appear on your site, for free, using their Topics Anywhere feature. Use Topics Anywhere to quickly and easily build the code to customize our Topics with your own preferred look and feel. Use the Public Forum to contribute or browse, and to interact with other members of the community.
Use the Mobile Web Site, to carry info.togosolo.com with you. The Mobile Web Site allows you to read info.togosolo.com content anytime/anywhere - even without a mobile internet connection. If you have a Palm or other portable device capable of browsing the Internet, or reading off-line content, you can access their Mobile Web Site at http://info.togosolo.com/mobile. You may browse NewsMob, but to take full advantage of NewsMob, including the ability to create your own list of favorite Channels, you need to Register (for Free) or Login.
ME AND OPHELIA
Brought to you by NewsMob
Today I googled my blog's name with the search words Sudan and Darfur but did not find much. Has Google done something about weblogs appearing in searches? Curiously, I did find this page at NewsMob. Note the Ads by Google.
I have no idea how the page came about. But it has given me an idea. Maybe I could use this as a "category" folder for my posts on the Sudan, so each topic is conveniently listed in a separate page. This BlogSpot does not have categories, but NewsMob makes it simple to refer back and click into previous posts on a subject. This blog does have a Google search in the sidebar that brings up a list of posts on any given subject, but NewsMobs seems to be more accurate. NewsMob is owned by ToGoSolo. Here is their description and an interesting paragraph on mobile web sites that can be read even without a mobile internet connection.
- - -
NEWSMOB
The Mobile Web Site
NewsMob is a Web-based RSS & Atom News Aggregator. RSS & Atom are increasing popular formats for syndicating news and the content of news-like web sites, and personal weblogs. It works with your existing Palm or Pocket PC web browser, sync or live, to provide you access to your favorite RSS & Atom Newsfeeds, anytime, anywhere.
If you have your own web-site, you can have their latest Topics appear on your site, for free, using their Topics Anywhere feature. Use Topics Anywhere to quickly and easily build the code to customize our Topics with your own preferred look and feel. Use the Public Forum to contribute or browse, and to interact with other members of the community.
Use the Mobile Web Site, to carry info.togosolo.com with you. The Mobile Web Site allows you to read info.togosolo.com content anytime/anywhere - even without a mobile internet connection. If you have a Palm or other portable device capable of browsing the Internet, or reading off-line content, you can access their Mobile Web Site at http://info.togosolo.com/mobile. You may browse NewsMob, but to take full advantage of NewsMob, including the ability to create your own list of favorite Channels, you need to Register (for Free) or Login.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/15/2004
- - -
THIS OLD BLOG
How to make your blog more linkable and search engine friendly
Biz Stone works at Google on Blogger projects and in his spare time writes books about blogging. Eric Case is a Blogger guru and helps make sure Blogger works for us.
Eric collaborated with Biz to write neat (and this is why I love Blogger!) easy to follow instructions on how to make your blog more linkable and search engine friendly. Phillip E. Pascuzzo, a designer and illustrator living in New York, did the illustration work.
- - -
FEEDBURNER
The spark for syndication success
Warm thanks to Biz Stone for the pointer to FeedBurner. For a year I have tried to get such a feed sorted for my blog. And now, for the first time ever, I have managed to do it all by myself. It's real easy. Look at the top of my sidebar.
They say the next step is to make sure existing subscribers know I've made a change - and be sure to include my new feed URL. So here's letting my blogmates know, My new feed URL is http://feeds.feedburner.com/MeAndOphelia Here is a summary of the FeedBurner services I have activated:
· This feed will be optimized for mobile feed readers
· The feed will be converted to the RSS 2.0 format
· Feed will be readable in all clients with Format SmartFeed
· The feed is browser-friendly
· Item-level statistics are gathered for this feed.
FeedBurner's HQ is in Chicago, Illinois and the team is: Dick Costolo, Eric Lunt, Steve Olechowski, and Matt Shobe, in alphabetical order. In 1999, they built Spyonit.com. Spyonit was chosen as one of Yahoo!'s Top 50 Most Useful Websites back in the day, and the company was sold in September of 2000. Good luck chaps.
THIS OLD BLOG
How to make your blog more linkable and search engine friendly
Biz Stone works at Google on Blogger projects and in his spare time writes books about blogging. Eric Case is a Blogger guru and helps make sure Blogger works for us.
Eric collaborated with Biz to write neat (and this is why I love Blogger!) easy to follow instructions on how to make your blog more linkable and search engine friendly. Phillip E. Pascuzzo, a designer and illustrator living in New York, did the illustration work.
- - -
FEEDBURNER
The spark for syndication success
Warm thanks to Biz Stone for the pointer to FeedBurner. For a year I have tried to get such a feed sorted for my blog. And now, for the first time ever, I have managed to do it all by myself. It's real easy. Look at the top of my sidebar.
They say the next step is to make sure existing subscribers know I've made a change - and be sure to include my new feed URL. So here's letting my blogmates know, My new feed URL is http://feeds.feedburner.com/MeAndOphelia Here is a summary of the FeedBurner services I have activated:
· This feed will be optimized for mobile feed readers
· The feed will be converted to the RSS 2.0 format
· Feed will be readable in all clients with Format SmartFeed
· The feed is browser-friendly
· Item-level statistics are gathered for this feed.
FeedBurner's HQ is in Chicago, Illinois and the team is: Dick Costolo, Eric Lunt, Steve Olechowski, and Matt Shobe, in alphabetical order. In 1999, they built Spyonit.com. Spyonit was chosen as one of Yahoo!'s Top 50 Most Useful Websites back in the day, and the company was sold in September of 2000. Good luck chaps.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/15/2004
Monday, June 14, 2004
OIL: NEW MOTIVE
New Means for Genocide
Excerpt from Genocide Warning: Sudan:
"A new factor worsens the threat of genocide: oil. In late 1999, the Sudanese government began earning hundreds of millions of dollars from oil exports, made possible in part by Western oil companies like Talisman Energy. This hard currency gives the government both greater means and greater motive to accelerate its assault on disfavored groups.
Greater means, because the oil revenues finance the purchase of new weapons. As one Sudanese cabinet minister said, "What prevents us from fighting while we possess the oil that supports us in this battle even if it lasts for a century?"
Greater motive, because the government can tap the country's estimated reserves of some 8 billion barrels only if it cleanses ethnic groups like the Dinka and Nuer from the land under which it sits. The need to secure oil fields has fueled a vicious scorched earth campaign, laying waste to a broad swath of territory. Amnesty International has documented what it calls "the human price of oil" in Sudan: "a pattern of extrajudicial and indiscriminate killings, torture and rape - committed against people not taking active part in the hostilities."
There is more to come: the government does not yet control the richest oil deposits. According to the Washington Post, "the government is bent on ethnic cleansing of territory surrounding other, as yet unexploited, oil fields."
New Means for Genocide
Excerpt from Genocide Warning: Sudan:
"A new factor worsens the threat of genocide: oil. In late 1999, the Sudanese government began earning hundreds of millions of dollars from oil exports, made possible in part by Western oil companies like Talisman Energy. This hard currency gives the government both greater means and greater motive to accelerate its assault on disfavored groups.
Greater means, because the oil revenues finance the purchase of new weapons. As one Sudanese cabinet minister said, "What prevents us from fighting while we possess the oil that supports us in this battle even if it lasts for a century?"
Greater motive, because the government can tap the country's estimated reserves of some 8 billion barrels only if it cleanses ethnic groups like the Dinka and Nuer from the land under which it sits. The need to secure oil fields has fueled a vicious scorched earth campaign, laying waste to a broad swath of territory. Amnesty International has documented what it calls "the human price of oil" in Sudan: "a pattern of extrajudicial and indiscriminate killings, torture and rape - committed against people not taking active part in the hostilities."
There is more to come: the government does not yet control the richest oil deposits. According to the Washington Post, "the government is bent on ethnic cleansing of territory surrounding other, as yet unexploited, oil fields."
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/14/2004
- - -
LIBYA AND AMERICA
To help Darfur refugees
Excerpt (undated) from Libyan Jamahiriya Broadcasting Corporation report:
"The assistant secretary of the General Peoples Committee for Foreign Liaison and the International Co-operation has met in Tripoli with Richard Owens, the Director of Programmes at the Bureau for External Disastrous of the American Agency for International Development.
During the meeting, they discussed the ways and means to provide a passage for the humanitarian assistance for the displaced people in Darfur region in Sudan.
Present at the meeting were the Director of the General Department for Economic Affairs, the Director of the General Department of the Americas Affairs at the Foreign Liaison Bureau, as well as members of the Libyan Committee entrusted with the follow up of Darfur 's refugees and the deputy head of the American Interests Bureau in the Libya."
LIBYA AND AMERICA
To help Darfur refugees
Excerpt (undated) from Libyan Jamahiriya Broadcasting Corporation report:
"The assistant secretary of the General Peoples Committee for Foreign Liaison and the International Co-operation has met in Tripoli with Richard Owens, the Director of Programmes at the Bureau for External Disastrous of the American Agency for International Development.
During the meeting, they discussed the ways and means to provide a passage for the humanitarian assistance for the displaced people in Darfur region in Sudan.
Present at the meeting were the Director of the General Department for Economic Affairs, the Director of the General Department of the Americas Affairs at the Foreign Liaison Bureau, as well as members of the Libyan Committee entrusted with the follow up of Darfur 's refugees and the deputy head of the American Interests Bureau in the Libya."
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/14/2004
- - -
WORLD REFUGEE DAY JUNE 20
CWS calls for Peacekeeping Force, Safe Corridor
June 10 report on UN website from Church World Service states: "Humanitarian aid security desperately needed in Western Sudan, time running out. Father's Day and World Refugee Day both fall on June 20, prompting Church World Service to activate its grassroots and congregational constituency in advocating for international action on Sudan in commemoration of the children and families affected. Peace accords currently being finalized in Sudan do not cover the region of Darfur.
Note: The rains peak in July. One news report today states the Sudan government do not expect the peace accord for southern Sudan to be signed until August - excerpt:
"The Sudanese government expects to sign a definitive peace deal with southern rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) by August, Vice President Ali Osman Taha said in comments published on Monday. "The agreement will be signed at a major ceremony in Nairobi attended by Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Beshir and Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki as well as a large number of officials from neighbouring countries and other concerned states," Taha told the Egyptian government-owned daily Al-Ahram. Taha, who is also the government's chief negotiator in the talks, signed a framework deal with SPLA leader John Garang in Nairobi on June 5. Talks on the final outstanding issue - a permanent ceasefire - are due to start on June 22."
Update: UNITED NATIONS, June 14 (Reuters) - Sudan is blocking aid groups from getting food and medicine to hundreds of thousands of people in its western Darfur region, despite promises to the contrary, a senior U.N. official said on Monday.
- - -
Further reading:
June 14 Scoop: World Vision New Zealand Commits NZ$100k For Darfur Victims.
June 14 IRIN The US government is considering whether the mass displacements and killings in western Sudan's Darfur region constitute genocide, according to US Secretary of State Colin Powell.
WORLD REFUGEE DAY JUNE 20
CWS calls for Peacekeeping Force, Safe Corridor
June 10 report on UN website from Church World Service states: "Humanitarian aid security desperately needed in Western Sudan, time running out. Father's Day and World Refugee Day both fall on June 20, prompting Church World Service to activate its grassroots and congregational constituency in advocating for international action on Sudan in commemoration of the children and families affected. Peace accords currently being finalized in Sudan do not cover the region of Darfur.
Note: The rains peak in July. One news report today states the Sudan government do not expect the peace accord for southern Sudan to be signed until August - excerpt:
"The Sudanese government expects to sign a definitive peace deal with southern rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) by August, Vice President Ali Osman Taha said in comments published on Monday. "The agreement will be signed at a major ceremony in Nairobi attended by Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Beshir and Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki as well as a large number of officials from neighbouring countries and other concerned states," Taha told the Egyptian government-owned daily Al-Ahram. Taha, who is also the government's chief negotiator in the talks, signed a framework deal with SPLA leader John Garang in Nairobi on June 5. Talks on the final outstanding issue - a permanent ceasefire - are due to start on June 22."
Update: UNITED NATIONS, June 14 (Reuters) - Sudan is blocking aid groups from getting food and medicine to hundreds of thousands of people in its western Darfur region, despite promises to the contrary, a senior U.N. official said on Monday.
- - -
Further reading:
June 14 Scoop: World Vision New Zealand Commits NZ$100k For Darfur Victims.
June 14 IRIN The US government is considering whether the mass displacements and killings in western Sudan's Darfur region constitute genocide, according to US Secretary of State Colin Powell.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/14/2004
- - -
MEET JOE BLOG
In Time Magazine
"More and more people are getting their news from amateur websites called blogs, because they're fast, funny and totally biased" write Lev Grossman and Anita Hamilton in their report on the world of weblogs in Time Magazine, June 13: "Meet Joe Blog". [via Gavin Sheridan]
- - -
BLOGOSPHERE
The emerging Media Ecosystem
John Hiler is interested in understanding the complex relationship between bloggers and journalists.
In "Blogosphere: The Emerging Media Ecosystem" he writes about how weblogs and journalists work together to report, filter and break news, and explains how weblogs combine to form the Blogosphere.
- - -
THE TIPPING BLOG
How weblogs can turn an idea into an epidemic
Another must read by John Hiler is The Tipping Blog where he explains viral activity and how weblogs can turn an idea into an epidemic.
John's weblog, Microcontent News, is a Corante weblog that covers the microcontent sector of weblogs, webzines, email digests, personal publishing - and the business side of microcontent, including text-based microads and corporate blogging.
[via Jim Moore]
- - -
Further reading:
Audioblogger - be on the road and leave a voice mail on your blog as a sound file that people can play - at anytime - right from your web site.
Weblogg-ed - Using Weblogs and RSS in Education. The seven-year-old bloggers - "Ideally, I'd like to see every child with a weblog of their own". As well as using a weblog as a platform for an individual voice, you can use it for a collaboration of many voices. Connect together the weblogs of a whole class, or even a whole school, and it's possible to create a virtual community where students can read, and make comments upon, one another's work.
MEET JOE BLOG
In Time Magazine
"More and more people are getting their news from amateur websites called blogs, because they're fast, funny and totally biased" write Lev Grossman and Anita Hamilton in their report on the world of weblogs in Time Magazine, June 13: "Meet Joe Blog". [via Gavin Sheridan]
- - -
BLOGOSPHERE
The emerging Media Ecosystem
John Hiler is interested in understanding the complex relationship between bloggers and journalists.
In "Blogosphere: The Emerging Media Ecosystem" he writes about how weblogs and journalists work together to report, filter and break news, and explains how weblogs combine to form the Blogosphere.
- - -
THE TIPPING BLOG
How weblogs can turn an idea into an epidemic
Another must read by John Hiler is The Tipping Blog where he explains viral activity and how weblogs can turn an idea into an epidemic.
John's weblog, Microcontent News, is a Corante weblog that covers the microcontent sector of weblogs, webzines, email digests, personal publishing - and the business side of microcontent, including text-based microads and corporate blogging.
[via Jim Moore]
- - -
Further reading:
Audioblogger - be on the road and leave a voice mail on your blog as a sound file that people can play - at anytime - right from your web site.
Weblogg-ed - Using Weblogs and RSS in Education. The seven-year-old bloggers - "Ideally, I'd like to see every child with a weblog of their own". As well as using a weblog as a platform for an individual voice, you can use it for a collaboration of many voices. Connect together the weblogs of a whole class, or even a whole school, and it's possible to create a virtual community where students can read, and make comments upon, one another's work.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/14/2004
Sunday, June 13, 2004
PEACEKEEPERS ARE NEEDED
To protect refugee camps and allow food aid to be delivered
Harvard's Ethan Zuckerman, who is in Berlin right now, summarises various news, "almost all of it bad", from Central Africa. Here is an excerpt from his post dated June 12:
"...The UN (as well as the UK, US, and the EU) still haven't found the political will to put peacekeepers in the region to protect refugee camps and allow food aid to be delivered.
Nor have governments met the UN's challenge to provide aid to the region - donor commitments are almost $100m short.
It seems likely that the wider world will be in the position of those refugee parents, watching a million people die. If the media bothers to watch..."
- - -
THINKPIECE: WHAT FUTURE IS IN STORE
For the children of Sudan?
Readers of this weblog may recall my previous posts on Bosnia where genocide took place ten years ago along with the mass rape, of tens of thousands, as a weapon of war.
Last year, I posted a moving report about the children of Bosnia's rape victims and the terrible difficulties faced by them, their mothers and those who care for them. The report "A cradle of inhumanity" was published by the Sunday Times in 2003, and tells the story of two little girls who believed their fathers were good men.
The following is an excerpt from yesterday's report, "Sudan militias use rape to attack tribes", that tells the story of a woman and her baby in Sudan. It makes one wonder what future is in store for such mothers and children.
"Hawa Hussein's eighth child has been growing in her belly for three months, but it's hard for her to love this child. The baby brings flashbacks. Of four horsemen from an Arab militia called the Janjaweed. Of the March evening when they swept into her quiet village, and dragged her down a red dirt path into the wilderness. Of the gang rape, again and again, for 10 days. "They tortured me because I was a Fur,'' said Hawa, 35, referring to her black African tribe, her soft voice falling to a whisper. "This baby doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the Janjaweed.''
In six months, Hawa will have another mouth to feed. She will keep the baby out of tradition, because in Fur culture a baby can't be refused. But she knows it will be an outcast. It won't have a Fur name, and it won't go through any of the rituals to welcome a newborn child, she said. And there will come a day, she knows, that she'll have to choose between her child and her tribe. If you ask her today, she'll choose her tribe. "I know this baby will not benefit the Fur,'' she said without emotion. She paused, then added: "I really don't know what will happen to this baby.''
- - -
SUCCESSIVE ISLAMIC GOVERNMENTS IN SUDAN
Have armed Arab tribes and encouraged a policy of "Arabization"
Following on from the post above, here are excerpts from yesterday's report "Sudan militias use rape to attack tribes":
"In Africa's war zones, rape is a weapon used to intimidate and control civilian populations. But in the vast, sand-blown province of Darfur, human rights activists and Western aid workers say, it has another far-reaching effect: diluting a tribe's bloodlines.
Despite a cease-fire between black African rebels and the Arab Sudanese government, in village after village, women and girls as young as 12 are being abducted, whipped and raped. Some become sex slaves, while others are impregnated and discarded on roadsides. There are no laws, no police and no courts to protect the violated. And rape is a source of shame in a community where children are valued for carrying forward traditions and bloodlines, ensuring the tribe's survival.
"This is an awfully efficient way of erasing someone's identity,'' said Nils Carstensen, a senior researcher for Danish Church Aid, a relief group, who visited Darfur recently. For decades, Arab herders have tussled with black African farmers for precious water and land. The tensions have risen sharply in recent years as successive Islamic governments have armed Arab tribes and encouraged a policy of "Arabization.''
In the most recent 15-month-old conflict, the Janjaweed, have targeted the Fur, Zaghawa and Masalit tribes, which have ties to the rebels.
No one knows how many women and girls have been raped or how widespread the campaign is. But in crowded refugee camps and remote aid-worker outposts, horrific stories swirl like dust devils. They tell of armed men who burst into huts at night to grab women sleeping in the arms of their husbands. They tell of girls robbed of their virginity, then branded with hot irons to forever remind them of their humiliation. They tell of parents being forced to watch.
"Rape often appears to have taken place while victims were restrained, often at gunpoint, and at times in front of family members,'' said a U.N. human rights report on Darfur that was published last month.
- - -
Updated - Sunday June 13 19:00PM - with the following inserts:
June 9 UN - "G8 leaders need to do more in Sudan" statement to UN from SAVE THE CHILDREN, one of the leading aid agencies working in Sudan for more than 30 years. They say "to date operations in Darfur have been difficult because of access restrictions and security problems but these appear to be easing. Save the Children will now seek to provide health care, water and food to 200,000 displaced people in Northern and Southern Darfur."
June 10 BBC - June 10 BBC Sudan: Big country, big problems: "Part of the reason why the Darfur rebels took up arms last year - apart from a long-standing resentment at perceived Arab domination of their region - was the limited nature of the SPLA-government talks in Naivasha, Kenya. The Darfur rebels felt excluded from these talks which have now agreed detailed power and wealth-sharing arrangements between the SPLA and the government right down, for example, to the percentage of government jobs each side will be allocated. In particular, the Naivasha agreement hammered out power-sharing deals for three oil-producing central regions claimed by the two sides as being in 'their' areas. These are Abyei, Blue Nile and the Nuba Mountains. The Darfur region, ominously, also straddles the north and the south.
Kofi Annan said in his report to the UN Security Council that "the catastrophic situation in Darfur is a problem that will make a Sudanese peace agreement much harder to implement." The secretary-general concluded, in a formula which sums up the positive and negative signals coming from Sudan: "To conduct a consent-based [UN] monitoring and verification operation in one part of the country while there is an ongoing conflict in another part would prove politically unsustainable inside the Sudan and internationally."
Note, BBC's report states: "But before the international community is asked formally to commit to a UN mission, the so-far elusive comprehensive peace settlement would have to be agreed".
June 12 AFP - UNICEF: "The UN children's fund UNICEF has warned that half a million children are in danger in Darfur, as its director Carol Bellamy prepared to visit the war-ravaged region of western Sudan on Sunday and Monday. Bellamy was due to arrive in Khartoum late Saturday and travel to Nyala in southern Darfur the next day, according to a UNICEF spokesperson in the Sudanese capital.
On Monday, the UNICEF head was to visit Geneina in western Darfur and return to Khartoum for talks with government officials. Bellamy will 'see first-hand the life-threatening situation facing hundreds of thousands of children caught in one of the world's most rapidly developing humanitarian crises', UNICEF said on the eve of her visit.
The agency was 'deeply concerned about the growing vulnerability of the vast displaced population in Darfur, now estimated at some one million people, half of them children.' Nearly all now face food shortages, outbreaks of disease, exploitation, and the rainy season, which has just started. Bellamy's visit comes after UNICEF revised upwards an initial appeal for some 33 million dollars in relief funds for its activities in Darfur. The new figure now stands at 46 millions dollars."
June 13 Reuters - U.N. pushes for peace in south Sudan: "The Security Council on Friday authorized a U.N. advance team to quickly assess peacekeeping needs in southern Sudan, where recent agreements have paved the way for an end to Africa's longest civil war.
A resolution adopted unanimously by the 15-nation council at the same time called for urgent efforts to resolve a separate conflict in western Sudan's remote Darfur region, where Arab militias are waging a campaign of looting, burning and rape targeting black African villages. The resolution specifically endorsed a finding by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan that ending the crisis in Darfur was crucial to the success of a future U.N. peacekeeping role in the south of the vast, oil-rich northeast African nation.
The United States, Britain, France, Germany and Spain had pushed for rapid council approval of a measure stressing the need for quick action in both Darfur and the south. A second, smaller group, led by Muslim Pakistan, had fought to keep a reference to Darfur out of the text. Sudan's Islamic government in Khartoum has been working behind the scenes to keep Darfur off the Security Council agenda, diplomats said. But a last-minute compromise on the wording made the text acceptable, Pakistani Ambassador Munir Akram said. If the resolution had to mention Darfur at all, Pakistan had wanted it to focus mainly on the humanitarian crisis there rather than the political situation, he told Reuters. Without mentioning any names, Akram accused governments of hypocrisy for seeking a stronger statement on Darfur. "They make good statements about it, but when it comes to money, they fall short," he said."
June 13 Reuters - UN says Sudan Forces, Militias Executed Civilians: "A senior U.N. official said on Sunday she had 'credible information' that Sudanese forces and government-backed militias had carried out summary executions of civilians in west Sudan."
Further reading: See list of who is who in Sudan at IRIN Web Special on the prospects of peace in 'Sudan: A future without War?
- - -
THE GEOGRAPHICAL AND ETHNIC DIFFICULTIES
Facing any international force deployed in western Sudan
June 13 Sunday Herald - Crisis would be the ultimate test of G8’s proposed pan-African army:
Trevor Royle examines the geographical and ethnic difficulties that would face any international force deployed in western Sudan.
To protect refugee camps and allow food aid to be delivered
Harvard's Ethan Zuckerman, who is in Berlin right now, summarises various news, "almost all of it bad", from Central Africa. Here is an excerpt from his post dated June 12:
"...The UN (as well as the UK, US, and the EU) still haven't found the political will to put peacekeepers in the region to protect refugee camps and allow food aid to be delivered.
Nor have governments met the UN's challenge to provide aid to the region - donor commitments are almost $100m short.
It seems likely that the wider world will be in the position of those refugee parents, watching a million people die. If the media bothers to watch..."
- - -
THINKPIECE: WHAT FUTURE IS IN STORE
For the children of Sudan?
Readers of this weblog may recall my previous posts on Bosnia where genocide took place ten years ago along with the mass rape, of tens of thousands, as a weapon of war.
Last year, I posted a moving report about the children of Bosnia's rape victims and the terrible difficulties faced by them, their mothers and those who care for them. The report "A cradle of inhumanity" was published by the Sunday Times in 2003, and tells the story of two little girls who believed their fathers were good men.
The following is an excerpt from yesterday's report, "Sudan militias use rape to attack tribes", that tells the story of a woman and her baby in Sudan. It makes one wonder what future is in store for such mothers and children.
"Hawa Hussein's eighth child has been growing in her belly for three months, but it's hard for her to love this child. The baby brings flashbacks. Of four horsemen from an Arab militia called the Janjaweed. Of the March evening when they swept into her quiet village, and dragged her down a red dirt path into the wilderness. Of the gang rape, again and again, for 10 days. "They tortured me because I was a Fur,'' said Hawa, 35, referring to her black African tribe, her soft voice falling to a whisper. "This baby doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the Janjaweed.''
In six months, Hawa will have another mouth to feed. She will keep the baby out of tradition, because in Fur culture a baby can't be refused. But she knows it will be an outcast. It won't have a Fur name, and it won't go through any of the rituals to welcome a newborn child, she said. And there will come a day, she knows, that she'll have to choose between her child and her tribe. If you ask her today, she'll choose her tribe. "I know this baby will not benefit the Fur,'' she said without emotion. She paused, then added: "I really don't know what will happen to this baby.''
- - -
SUCCESSIVE ISLAMIC GOVERNMENTS IN SUDAN
Have armed Arab tribes and encouraged a policy of "Arabization"
Following on from the post above, here are excerpts from yesterday's report "Sudan militias use rape to attack tribes":
"In Africa's war zones, rape is a weapon used to intimidate and control civilian populations. But in the vast, sand-blown province of Darfur, human rights activists and Western aid workers say, it has another far-reaching effect: diluting a tribe's bloodlines.
Despite a cease-fire between black African rebels and the Arab Sudanese government, in village after village, women and girls as young as 12 are being abducted, whipped and raped. Some become sex slaves, while others are impregnated and discarded on roadsides. There are no laws, no police and no courts to protect the violated. And rape is a source of shame in a community where children are valued for carrying forward traditions and bloodlines, ensuring the tribe's survival.
"This is an awfully efficient way of erasing someone's identity,'' said Nils Carstensen, a senior researcher for Danish Church Aid, a relief group, who visited Darfur recently. For decades, Arab herders have tussled with black African farmers for precious water and land. The tensions have risen sharply in recent years as successive Islamic governments have armed Arab tribes and encouraged a policy of "Arabization.''
In the most recent 15-month-old conflict, the Janjaweed, have targeted the Fur, Zaghawa and Masalit tribes, which have ties to the rebels.
No one knows how many women and girls have been raped or how widespread the campaign is. But in crowded refugee camps and remote aid-worker outposts, horrific stories swirl like dust devils. They tell of armed men who burst into huts at night to grab women sleeping in the arms of their husbands. They tell of girls robbed of their virginity, then branded with hot irons to forever remind them of their humiliation. They tell of parents being forced to watch.
"Rape often appears to have taken place while victims were restrained, often at gunpoint, and at times in front of family members,'' said a U.N. human rights report on Darfur that was published last month.
- - -
Updated - Sunday June 13 19:00PM - with the following inserts:
June 9 UN - "G8 leaders need to do more in Sudan" statement to UN from SAVE THE CHILDREN, one of the leading aid agencies working in Sudan for more than 30 years. They say "to date operations in Darfur have been difficult because of access restrictions and security problems but these appear to be easing. Save the Children will now seek to provide health care, water and food to 200,000 displaced people in Northern and Southern Darfur."
June 10 BBC - June 10 BBC Sudan: Big country, big problems: "Part of the reason why the Darfur rebels took up arms last year - apart from a long-standing resentment at perceived Arab domination of their region - was the limited nature of the SPLA-government talks in Naivasha, Kenya. The Darfur rebels felt excluded from these talks which have now agreed detailed power and wealth-sharing arrangements between the SPLA and the government right down, for example, to the percentage of government jobs each side will be allocated. In particular, the Naivasha agreement hammered out power-sharing deals for three oil-producing central regions claimed by the two sides as being in 'their' areas. These are Abyei, Blue Nile and the Nuba Mountains. The Darfur region, ominously, also straddles the north and the south.
Kofi Annan said in his report to the UN Security Council that "the catastrophic situation in Darfur is a problem that will make a Sudanese peace agreement much harder to implement." The secretary-general concluded, in a formula which sums up the positive and negative signals coming from Sudan: "To conduct a consent-based [UN] monitoring and verification operation in one part of the country while there is an ongoing conflict in another part would prove politically unsustainable inside the Sudan and internationally."
Note, BBC's report states: "But before the international community is asked formally to commit to a UN mission, the so-far elusive comprehensive peace settlement would have to be agreed".
June 12 AFP - UNICEF: "The UN children's fund UNICEF has warned that half a million children are in danger in Darfur, as its director Carol Bellamy prepared to visit the war-ravaged region of western Sudan on Sunday and Monday. Bellamy was due to arrive in Khartoum late Saturday and travel to Nyala in southern Darfur the next day, according to a UNICEF spokesperson in the Sudanese capital.
On Monday, the UNICEF head was to visit Geneina in western Darfur and return to Khartoum for talks with government officials. Bellamy will 'see first-hand the life-threatening situation facing hundreds of thousands of children caught in one of the world's most rapidly developing humanitarian crises', UNICEF said on the eve of her visit.
The agency was 'deeply concerned about the growing vulnerability of the vast displaced population in Darfur, now estimated at some one million people, half of them children.' Nearly all now face food shortages, outbreaks of disease, exploitation, and the rainy season, which has just started. Bellamy's visit comes after UNICEF revised upwards an initial appeal for some 33 million dollars in relief funds for its activities in Darfur. The new figure now stands at 46 millions dollars."
June 13 Reuters - U.N. pushes for peace in south Sudan: "The Security Council on Friday authorized a U.N. advance team to quickly assess peacekeeping needs in southern Sudan, where recent agreements have paved the way for an end to Africa's longest civil war.
A resolution adopted unanimously by the 15-nation council at the same time called for urgent efforts to resolve a separate conflict in western Sudan's remote Darfur region, where Arab militias are waging a campaign of looting, burning and rape targeting black African villages. The resolution specifically endorsed a finding by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan that ending the crisis in Darfur was crucial to the success of a future U.N. peacekeeping role in the south of the vast, oil-rich northeast African nation.
The United States, Britain, France, Germany and Spain had pushed for rapid council approval of a measure stressing the need for quick action in both Darfur and the south. A second, smaller group, led by Muslim Pakistan, had fought to keep a reference to Darfur out of the text. Sudan's Islamic government in Khartoum has been working behind the scenes to keep Darfur off the Security Council agenda, diplomats said. But a last-minute compromise on the wording made the text acceptable, Pakistani Ambassador Munir Akram said. If the resolution had to mention Darfur at all, Pakistan had wanted it to focus mainly on the humanitarian crisis there rather than the political situation, he told Reuters. Without mentioning any names, Akram accused governments of hypocrisy for seeking a stronger statement on Darfur. "They make good statements about it, but when it comes to money, they fall short," he said."
June 13 Reuters - UN says Sudan Forces, Militias Executed Civilians: "A senior U.N. official said on Sunday she had 'credible information' that Sudanese forces and government-backed militias had carried out summary executions of civilians in west Sudan."
Further reading: See list of who is who in Sudan at IRIN Web Special on the prospects of peace in 'Sudan: A future without War?
- - -
THE GEOGRAPHICAL AND ETHNIC DIFFICULTIES
Facing any international force deployed in western Sudan
June 13 Sunday Herald - Crisis would be the ultimate test of G8’s proposed pan-African army:
Trevor Royle examines the geographical and ethnic difficulties that would face any international force deployed in western Sudan.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/13/2004
Saturday, June 12, 2004
UN VOTES ON PEACEKEEPING MISSION IN SUDAN
But can't afford to, so are sending a "political mission" instead - not funded by UN
June 12 IOL:AFP New York - UN votes on Sudan peacekeeping mission:
The United Nations Security Council on Friday voted unanimously to consider a peacekeeping mission in Sudan after the government and rebels moved closer to ending 21 years of civil war.
But rather than giving the green light for an advance peacekeeping team, the council instead voted to send an initial "political mission," which could therefore not be funded by the UN's peacekeeping budget. "It's now a technical problem for us because we don't know how to fund everything we had envisaged doing," said a UN official who asked not to be named.
- - -
UN DISGRACES ITSELF
'Never again,' said secretary general Kofi Annan after Rwanda
Excerpt from UN Disgraces Itself by Nat Hentoff:
"No one can say they didn't know. [The government of Sudan is] committing repeated war crimes and crimes against humanity.
- Bertran Ramcharan, acting U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, addressing U.N. Security Council, The New York Times, May 8
If we turn away simply because the victims are African tribespeople who have the misfortune to speak no English, have no phones and live in one of the remotest parts of the globe, then shame on us.
- Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times, March 24
(That means shame on each of us, not just the media).
[via nikita in comments at Passion of the Present]
- - -
Further reading:
Jim Moore's report on Kofi Annan's addresss at Harvard June 10, 2004: Kofi Annan Disappoints.
Tina Wang, Crimson Staff Writer, on Kofi Annan's Commencement Address, published June 10, 2004: Annan Urges Global Cooperation.
Svea Herbst-Bayliss, Reuters, June 10, 2004 Iraq Shows U.S. Best Within Global Framework - Annan.
Theo Emery, Associated Press, June 10, 2004: In address at Harvard, Kofi Annan urges application of international law to Iraq.
- - -
IS THE UN GOOD VALUE FOR MONEY?
How much does it cost and spend each year?
Mr Hilary Benn, the UK secretary for international development, recently said "the United Nations systems, with few exceptions, had been much too slow in facing up to the Darfur crisis". Last week, the UN said it was the international community and donors that had been too slow.
Here are some excerpts from the UN's website:
- - -
"The UN and its agencies protect vulnerable groups, like children, refugees, displaced persons, minorities, indigenous people and the disabled."
"ALL HUMAN BEINGS ARE BORN FREE AND
EQUAL IN DIGNITY AND RIGHTS." -
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948
UN Statement on Human Rights
- - -
THE UNITED NATIONS is a unique international organization of 191 sovereign States, representing virtually every country in the world.* It was founded after the Second World War to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations and promote social progress, better living standards and human rights. The Member States are bound together by the principles of the UN Charter, an international treaty that spells out their rights and duties as members of the world community.
In September 2000, some 150 presidents, prime ministers and other world leaders met at UN headquarters to lay out a vision for the future. The resulting "Millennium Declaration" applies the purposes and principles of the UN Charter to a new world. To realize that vision, Member States have agreed on specific, obtainable targets aimed at overcoming hunger and poverty, ending conflict, meeting the needs of Africa, promoting democracy and the rule of law and protecting our environment – and to meet those goals within a specified time-frame.
How much does the UN cost?
The regular budget of the UN is some $1.3 billion per year. It pays for UN activities, staff and basic infrastructure but not peacekeeping operations, which have a separate budget. All States of the UN are obligated by the Charter – an international treaty – to pay a portion of the budget. Each State's contribution is calculated on the basis of its share of the world economy.
How much does the entire UN system spend each year?
The UN system spends some $12 billion a year, taking into account the United Nations, UN peacekeeping operations, the programmes and funds, and the specialized agencies, but excluding the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Just over half of this amount comes from voluntary contributions from the Member States; the rest is received from mandatory assessments on those States.
The United Nations and its agencies, funds and programmes – mainly the UN Development Programme, the World Food Programme, the UN Children’s Fund and the UN Population Fund – spend nearly $6.5 billion a year on operational activities for development, mostly for economic, social and humanitarian programmes to help the world’s poorest countries. In addition, the World Bank, the IMF and IFAD provide billions more annually in loans that help to eradicate poverty, foster development and stabilize the world economy.
Further reading:
UN in brief
What is the United Nations?
Member States
UN Main Bodies
UN Image & Reality
Is the UN good value for money?
Q & A about the UN
But can't afford to, so are sending a "political mission" instead - not funded by UN
June 12 IOL:AFP New York - UN votes on Sudan peacekeeping mission:
The United Nations Security Council on Friday voted unanimously to consider a peacekeeping mission in Sudan after the government and rebels moved closer to ending 21 years of civil war.
But rather than giving the green light for an advance peacekeeping team, the council instead voted to send an initial "political mission," which could therefore not be funded by the UN's peacekeeping budget. "It's now a technical problem for us because we don't know how to fund everything we had envisaged doing," said a UN official who asked not to be named.
- - -
UN DISGRACES ITSELF
'Never again,' said secretary general Kofi Annan after Rwanda
Excerpt from UN Disgraces Itself by Nat Hentoff:
"No one can say they didn't know. [The government of Sudan is] committing repeated war crimes and crimes against humanity.
- Bertran Ramcharan, acting U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, addressing U.N. Security Council, The New York Times, May 8
If we turn away simply because the victims are African tribespeople who have the misfortune to speak no English, have no phones and live in one of the remotest parts of the globe, then shame on us.
- Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times, March 24
(That means shame on each of us, not just the media).
[via nikita in comments at Passion of the Present]
- - -
Further reading:
Jim Moore's report on Kofi Annan's addresss at Harvard June 10, 2004: Kofi Annan Disappoints.
Tina Wang, Crimson Staff Writer, on Kofi Annan's Commencement Address, published June 10, 2004: Annan Urges Global Cooperation.
Svea Herbst-Bayliss, Reuters, June 10, 2004 Iraq Shows U.S. Best Within Global Framework - Annan.
Theo Emery, Associated Press, June 10, 2004: In address at Harvard, Kofi Annan urges application of international law to Iraq.
- - -
IS THE UN GOOD VALUE FOR MONEY?
How much does it cost and spend each year?
Mr Hilary Benn, the UK secretary for international development, recently said "the United Nations systems, with few exceptions, had been much too slow in facing up to the Darfur crisis". Last week, the UN said it was the international community and donors that had been too slow.
Here are some excerpts from the UN's website:
- - -
"The UN and its agencies protect vulnerable groups, like children, refugees, displaced persons, minorities, indigenous people and the disabled."
"ALL HUMAN BEINGS ARE BORN FREE AND
EQUAL IN DIGNITY AND RIGHTS." -
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948
UN Statement on Human Rights
- - -
THE UNITED NATIONS is a unique international organization of 191 sovereign States, representing virtually every country in the world.* It was founded after the Second World War to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations and promote social progress, better living standards and human rights. The Member States are bound together by the principles of the UN Charter, an international treaty that spells out their rights and duties as members of the world community.
In September 2000, some 150 presidents, prime ministers and other world leaders met at UN headquarters to lay out a vision for the future. The resulting "Millennium Declaration" applies the purposes and principles of the UN Charter to a new world. To realize that vision, Member States have agreed on specific, obtainable targets aimed at overcoming hunger and poverty, ending conflict, meeting the needs of Africa, promoting democracy and the rule of law and protecting our environment – and to meet those goals within a specified time-frame.
How much does the UN cost?
The regular budget of the UN is some $1.3 billion per year. It pays for UN activities, staff and basic infrastructure but not peacekeeping operations, which have a separate budget. All States of the UN are obligated by the Charter – an international treaty – to pay a portion of the budget. Each State's contribution is calculated on the basis of its share of the world economy.
How much does the entire UN system spend each year?
The UN system spends some $12 billion a year, taking into account the United Nations, UN peacekeeping operations, the programmes and funds, and the specialized agencies, but excluding the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Just over half of this amount comes from voluntary contributions from the Member States; the rest is received from mandatory assessments on those States.
The United Nations and its agencies, funds and programmes – mainly the UN Development Programme, the World Food Programme, the UN Children’s Fund and the UN Population Fund – spend nearly $6.5 billion a year on operational activities for development, mostly for economic, social and humanitarian programmes to help the world’s poorest countries. In addition, the World Bank, the IMF and IFAD provide billions more annually in loans that help to eradicate poverty, foster development and stabilize the world economy.
Further reading:
UN in brief
What is the United Nations?
Member States
UN Main Bodies
UN Image & Reality
Is the UN good value for money?
Q & A about the UN
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/12/2004
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THIS WEEK UK MINISTER VISITED SUDAN GOVERNMENT
Witnessed crisis first hand - and spoke with Kofi Annan
In the race against time to save Darfur the Scotsman reports today that Hilary Benn MP met this week with the Sudan government and reiterated "the urgent need to rein in the Janjaweed, condemn the acts of violence and provide adequate protection for people: equally, rebel groups must observe the ceasefire."
The report also quoted Mr Benn, UK Secretary of State for International Development, as saying the following:
"The government assured me that they will speed up the registration of new aid agencies, from the up to nine months it can take now, to giving a clear answer within ten days. The government also recognised the need to grant visas quickly and relax travel restrictions on aid personnel and speed up the clearance of relief goods."
"This week, I witnessed first hand the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding in Darfur. I saw the devastating impact of the conflict on men, women and children already living in desperate poverty. This is the most serious humanitarian emergency in the world today."
"The United Nations estimates that more than a million people have had to flee their homes and a further 130,000 refugees have fled the country. I visited camps that are housing tens of thousands of people facing a precarious existence."
"The attacks on villages are still going on - one woman who had just arrived at the camp we visited in Southern Darfur told me her village had been attacked two weeks ago. A woman from another area had walked for three months from her home to get to the camp."
"I have spoken to Kofi Annan personally since arriving back from my visit and he is committed to doing more through the UN. In the end this is a crisis that must have a political solution. Important steps have been taken towards a comprehensive agreement to end the North/South conflict in Sudan - the scene of Africa’s longest running civil war - and this can also offer a way forward for areas such as Darfur."
"The resolution of this crisis requires a political solution so we are urging all parties to engage in discussions to find a peaceful way forward. As well as diplomatic pressure, the UK has helped to fund the 120 Africa Union ceasefire monitors who will deploy as quickly as possible. The UK will also provide one of the six requested monitors from the EU. In addition, we are funding UN human rights monitors. But we are in a race against time in Darfur. We must help people now. We need more humanitarian capacity on the ground."
"The UK has been supporting the people of Darfur since the autumn of last year. This week I announced a further £15 million, bringing the UK’s total contribution to £36.5 million." "Other countries must now also play their part. The UK, US and EC have so far provided three-quarters of the international response and there is an urgent need to do more."
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Note: First hand accounts in the Scotsman's recent report Sudan: the persecution of a people. Extract: "We came here because there was peace here and they could not find us here in Chad," she says. "We are doing what the white people [the aid workers] are telling us to do. If the white people tell us to stay here for 100 years, we are ready to do it because the white people give us peace and food and in Sudan there is a war."
THIS WEEK UK MINISTER VISITED SUDAN GOVERNMENT
Witnessed crisis first hand - and spoke with Kofi Annan
In the race against time to save Darfur the Scotsman reports today that Hilary Benn MP met this week with the Sudan government and reiterated "the urgent need to rein in the Janjaweed, condemn the acts of violence and provide adequate protection for people: equally, rebel groups must observe the ceasefire."
The report also quoted Mr Benn, UK Secretary of State for International Development, as saying the following:
"The government assured me that they will speed up the registration of new aid agencies, from the up to nine months it can take now, to giving a clear answer within ten days. The government also recognised the need to grant visas quickly and relax travel restrictions on aid personnel and speed up the clearance of relief goods."
"This week, I witnessed first hand the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding in Darfur. I saw the devastating impact of the conflict on men, women and children already living in desperate poverty. This is the most serious humanitarian emergency in the world today."
"The United Nations estimates that more than a million people have had to flee their homes and a further 130,000 refugees have fled the country. I visited camps that are housing tens of thousands of people facing a precarious existence."
"The attacks on villages are still going on - one woman who had just arrived at the camp we visited in Southern Darfur told me her village had been attacked two weeks ago. A woman from another area had walked for three months from her home to get to the camp."
"I have spoken to Kofi Annan personally since arriving back from my visit and he is committed to doing more through the UN. In the end this is a crisis that must have a political solution. Important steps have been taken towards a comprehensive agreement to end the North/South conflict in Sudan - the scene of Africa’s longest running civil war - and this can also offer a way forward for areas such as Darfur."
"The resolution of this crisis requires a political solution so we are urging all parties to engage in discussions to find a peaceful way forward. As well as diplomatic pressure, the UK has helped to fund the 120 Africa Union ceasefire monitors who will deploy as quickly as possible. The UK will also provide one of the six requested monitors from the EU. In addition, we are funding UN human rights monitors. But we are in a race against time in Darfur. We must help people now. We need more humanitarian capacity on the ground."
"The UK has been supporting the people of Darfur since the autumn of last year. This week I announced a further £15 million, bringing the UK’s total contribution to £36.5 million." "Other countries must now also play their part. The UK, US and EC have so far provided three-quarters of the international response and there is an urgent need to do more."
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Note: First hand accounts in the Scotsman's recent report Sudan: the persecution of a people. Extract: "We came here because there was peace here and they could not find us here in Chad," she says. "We are doing what the white people [the aid workers] are telling us to do. If the white people tell us to stay here for 100 years, we are ready to do it because the white people give us peace and food and in Sudan there is a war."
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/12/2004
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WHITE HOUSE
Reconsiders its policy on crisis in Sudan
June 11 Nairobi, Kenya NY Times: White House reconsiders its policy on crisis in Sudan.
Further reading via All Africa article on Sudan "45 Members Of Congress Call On Kofi Annan To Travel To Darfur".
Blog updated here on Monday June 14, 17.00 PM with these two links:
June 14 OCHA IRIN - The US government is considering whether the mass displacements and killings in western Sudan's Darfur region constitute genocide, according to US Secretary of State Colin Powell.
June 11 US Department of State - Interview by Marc Lacey of the New York Times.
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Blog updated here on Saturday June 11, 21.50 PM to insert this post by Jim Moore:
Jim Moore has a direct link to the NY Times report in his latest post. Below is an extract from Jim's post. I hope you can help by mentioning the Sudan or linking to http://passionofthepresent.org so your "voice" will show up on feeds such as Technorati, Feedster, Google etc:
Tipping point opportunity to make a breakthrough on Sudan!! Can RSS stop a genocide? Please help!
"There is a major, must-read story in the New York Times today about George Bush considering tougher action on Sudan. The administration is considering declaring the Sudan situation a "genocide," which will trigger an international responsibility to intervene under the genocide treaty that most nations have signed--incluing the United States. There is also discussion within the US administration of taking action against individual Sudanese leaders who are supporting the genocide. Overall, these are important moves that the US is considering, with very good consequences for Sudan, and also for human rights in general.
The story in the Times appears to be a trial balloon being floated by United States Secretary of State Colin Powell and others in the administration, to test public support for such action. Needless to say, this is the moment for supporters of Sudan to act.
We may well be at a tipping point in terms of the US government's willingness to call genocide for what it is, and the US willingness to act in support of human rights.
This is a critical moment--this weekend and the early part of next week, to express your support for action! Anything you can do will help!
One thing you might consider, if you are involved in a church or temple or mosque is to announce this possible turning point this weekend at services, and ask congregation members to each find ways to spread the word and give voice to our desire for action."
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June 12, 2004 Alert from Passion of the present: "White House Reconsiders Its Policy on Crisis in Sudan" (from New York Times Saturday June 12, 2004): "A breakthrough may be near in the White House policy on Sudan. As reported today in the New York Times, the US government is "weighing whether conditions have risen to the level of genocide."
Bush officials say they are considering whether what is happening in Darfur amounts to genocide. So far, the administration has only used the term ethnic cleansing. The officials say the are also considering sanctions on individual Sudanese officials tied to the displacement.
The story in the Times this morning includes a telephone interview with Colin Powell on yesterday (Friday). If you are reading this you can help by circulating this story, and by emailing or calling your government representatives or anyone else who can help fan this flame now. Thanks so very much!"
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Blog update June 12 10.09 AM with this insert: (IOL:AFP) SA to send military observers to Sudan - "South Africa has received a formal request to send 10 high-ranking officers to the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan as part of an African mission to monitor a ceasefire, a defence spokesperson said yesterday.
"I can confirm that the Department of Defence has received a request from the African Union to send 10 military observers to Sudan," Defence Ministry spokesperson Sam Mkhwanzai said. "It is envisaged that if they are deployed, they will perform their duties at the AU headquarters, for example being sector commanders, team leaders and people in the information technology (IT) environment," he told AFP.
The AU this week set up mission headquarters in al-Fashir, in the northern part of Darfur, to monitor a ceasefire between rebels and the Khartoum government with its allied militia. President Thabo Mbeki announced the mission to Sudan in Washington on Thursday after talks with American Secretary of State Colin Powell."
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Note re sanctions: June 12 SA report mainly on G8 meeting - "Addressing about 300 Sudanese and Egyptian intellectuals in Egypt’s capital, Cairo, on Thursday, First Vice-President Ali Osman Taha said millions of dollars had been kept from Sudan by economic sanctions. This block on funding, he added, had prevented the development of Darfur, thereby disposing the region to conflict. The sanctions were imposed after President Omar Bashir, who seized power from the elected government of prime minister Sadiq al Mahdi in 1989, allowed Sudan to become a haven for Islamic terrorists such as Osama bin Laden."
Note also, In same report, new vaccine that boosts immune system: "In addition, they called on scientists to hasten the development of an Aids vaccine. Australian researchers are currently testing a vaccine that controls the amount of HIV in people living with the virus, by boosting their immune systems. Washington has promised to give $500-million to fund this research. That’s good news for a continent where an estimated 26,6-million people have contracted HIV -- and where about 3,2-million new infections occurred last year alone, according to the Joint UN Programme on HIV/Aids."
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ONE MAP TELLS THE WHOLE STORY
US Department of State Sudan maps
One map tells the whole story: see example of Destroyed Village near Shataya (206 structures destroyed) - the red areas indicate remaining healthy vegetation, the black dots were homes.
[Courtesy US Department of State Sudan maps hosted at ReliefWeb - posted by Patrick Hall]
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Note: Ref my post yesterday on report from Cairo "Sudan Blames West for Darfur Conflict". Here is a similar report, slightly more detailed, dated June 11, via aljazeerah: "Sudan Blames West for Darfur Conflict".
WHITE HOUSE
Reconsiders its policy on crisis in Sudan
June 11 Nairobi, Kenya NY Times: White House reconsiders its policy on crisis in Sudan.
Further reading via All Africa article on Sudan "45 Members Of Congress Call On Kofi Annan To Travel To Darfur".
Blog updated here on Monday June 14, 17.00 PM with these two links:
June 14 OCHA IRIN - The US government is considering whether the mass displacements and killings in western Sudan's Darfur region constitute genocide, according to US Secretary of State Colin Powell.
June 11 US Department of State - Interview by Marc Lacey of the New York Times.
- - -
Blog updated here on Saturday June 11, 21.50 PM to insert this post by Jim Moore:
Jim Moore has a direct link to the NY Times report in his latest post. Below is an extract from Jim's post. I hope you can help by mentioning the Sudan or linking to http://passionofthepresent.org so your "voice" will show up on feeds such as Technorati, Feedster, Google etc:
Tipping point opportunity to make a breakthrough on Sudan!! Can RSS stop a genocide? Please help!
"There is a major, must-read story in the New York Times today about George Bush considering tougher action on Sudan. The administration is considering declaring the Sudan situation a "genocide," which will trigger an international responsibility to intervene under the genocide treaty that most nations have signed--incluing the United States. There is also discussion within the US administration of taking action against individual Sudanese leaders who are supporting the genocide. Overall, these are important moves that the US is considering, with very good consequences for Sudan, and also for human rights in general.
The story in the Times appears to be a trial balloon being floated by United States Secretary of State Colin Powell and others in the administration, to test public support for such action. Needless to say, this is the moment for supporters of Sudan to act.
We may well be at a tipping point in terms of the US government's willingness to call genocide for what it is, and the US willingness to act in support of human rights.
This is a critical moment--this weekend and the early part of next week, to express your support for action! Anything you can do will help!
One thing you might consider, if you are involved in a church or temple or mosque is to announce this possible turning point this weekend at services, and ask congregation members to each find ways to spread the word and give voice to our desire for action."
- - -
June 12, 2004 Alert from Passion of the present: "White House Reconsiders Its Policy on Crisis in Sudan" (from New York Times Saturday June 12, 2004): "A breakthrough may be near in the White House policy on Sudan. As reported today in the New York Times, the US government is "weighing whether conditions have risen to the level of genocide."
Bush officials say they are considering whether what is happening in Darfur amounts to genocide. So far, the administration has only used the term ethnic cleansing. The officials say the are also considering sanctions on individual Sudanese officials tied to the displacement.
The story in the Times this morning includes a telephone interview with Colin Powell on yesterday (Friday). If you are reading this you can help by circulating this story, and by emailing or calling your government representatives or anyone else who can help fan this flame now. Thanks so very much!"
- - -
Blog update June 12 10.09 AM with this insert: (IOL:AFP) SA to send military observers to Sudan - "South Africa has received a formal request to send 10 high-ranking officers to the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan as part of an African mission to monitor a ceasefire, a defence spokesperson said yesterday.
"I can confirm that the Department of Defence has received a request from the African Union to send 10 military observers to Sudan," Defence Ministry spokesperson Sam Mkhwanzai said. "It is envisaged that if they are deployed, they will perform their duties at the AU headquarters, for example being sector commanders, team leaders and people in the information technology (IT) environment," he told AFP.
The AU this week set up mission headquarters in al-Fashir, in the northern part of Darfur, to monitor a ceasefire between rebels and the Khartoum government with its allied militia. President Thabo Mbeki announced the mission to Sudan in Washington on Thursday after talks with American Secretary of State Colin Powell."
- - -
Note re sanctions: June 12 SA report mainly on G8 meeting - "Addressing about 300 Sudanese and Egyptian intellectuals in Egypt’s capital, Cairo, on Thursday, First Vice-President Ali Osman Taha said millions of dollars had been kept from Sudan by economic sanctions. This block on funding, he added, had prevented the development of Darfur, thereby disposing the region to conflict. The sanctions were imposed after President Omar Bashir, who seized power from the elected government of prime minister Sadiq al Mahdi in 1989, allowed Sudan to become a haven for Islamic terrorists such as Osama bin Laden."
Note also, In same report, new vaccine that boosts immune system: "In addition, they called on scientists to hasten the development of an Aids vaccine. Australian researchers are currently testing a vaccine that controls the amount of HIV in people living with the virus, by boosting their immune systems. Washington has promised to give $500-million to fund this research. That’s good news for a continent where an estimated 26,6-million people have contracted HIV -- and where about 3,2-million new infections occurred last year alone, according to the Joint UN Programme on HIV/Aids."
- - -
ONE MAP TELLS THE WHOLE STORY
US Department of State Sudan maps
One map tells the whole story: see example of Destroyed Village near Shataya (206 structures destroyed) - the red areas indicate remaining healthy vegetation, the black dots were homes.
[Courtesy US Department of State Sudan maps hosted at ReliefWeb - posted by Patrick Hall]
- - -
Note: Ref my post yesterday on report from Cairo "Sudan Blames West for Darfur Conflict". Here is a similar report, slightly more detailed, dated June 11, via aljazeerah: "Sudan Blames West for Darfur Conflict".
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/12/2004
Friday, June 11, 2004
UK SHADOW DEVELOPMENT SECRETARY
Calls for UN to intervene militarily in Darfur
June 11 Scotsman: "Hilary Benn, the UK International Development Secretary, has blamed the Sudanese government alone for the catastrophe which had, until this week, threatened to become the world’s forgotten genocide.
He confirmed Britain was to increase its aid package for Darfur by £15 million, and hinted that more money could be available for development work."
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TIME THE UN PROVED ITSELF
In its role as "the world's policeman"
June 11 Scotsman: "John Bercow, the shadow international development secretary, repeated his call for the United Nations to intervene militarily in Darfur, where attacks by Arab militias known as the Janjaweed continue daily on the dispossessed black African population.
The shadow secretary added that it was time the United Nations proved itself in its role as "the world’s policeman".
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G8 URGE THE UN
To lead the international effort
June 11 Scotsman: "A statement issued yesterday by the G8 urged the UN to lead the international effort to avert "a major disaster" in Darfur.
In yesterday’s edition of The Scotsman, a senior UN official warned that every Sudanese refugee under the age of five would be dead in six months unless there was immediate international intervention. Hundreds of thousands of refugees have struggled across the border between Sudan and Chad.
Aid experts have warned that there will also be many deaths in Chad before the end of the year, unless aid can be put in place before the rains begin in earnest."
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STATEMENT BY G8
Yesterday, on the closing day of the G8 leaders' three-day summit in Georgia, USA, the leaders of the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United Kingdom issued a statement.
Following is the text of the G8 statement as released by the White House and posted to the web June 10, 2004:
"We, the Leaders of the G8, warmly welcome the May 26 signing by the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) of protocols on Power Sharing, Abyei, and on the Two Areas (of Southern Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains). We urge the parties to reach a final and comprehensive agreement which includes a timetable and security arrangements as quickly as possible. We hope that this agreement and its faithful implementation will end one of the world's most painful conflicts and begin a new era of Sudanese peace and prosperity.
We also wish to express our grave concern over the humanitarian, human rights, and political crisis in Darfur. We welcome the N'djamena ceasefire agreement of April 8, and the announcement on May 20 by the Government of Sudan that restrictions on humanitarian access will be eased. However, there are continuing reports of gross violations of human rights, many with an ethnic dimension. We call on all parties to the conflict to immediately and fully respect the ceasefire, allow unimpeded humanitarian access to all those in need, and create the conditions for the displaced to return safely to their homes. We call especially on the Sudanese government to disarm immediately the "Janjaweed" and other armed groups which are responsible for massive human rights violations in Darfur. We call on the conflict parties to address the roots of the Darfur conflict and to seek a political solution.
We support the African Union as it assumes the leading role in the monitoring mission which is now being sent to the Darfur region to supervise the cease-fire agreement.
We pledge our countries' assistance in ending the conflicts in Sudan and in providing humanitarian aid to those in need. We call on all parties to the conflicts in Sudan to commit themselves to respecting the right of all Sudanese to live in peace and dignity.
We look to the United Nations to lead the international effort to avert a major disaster and will work together to achieve this end."
Copyright © 2004 The White House. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com)
Further reading:
Sudan: Darfur: Humanitarian Emergency Fact Sheet #9 (FY 2004) updates the last fact sheet dated June 4, 2004.
The Center for International Disaster Information: CIDI
InterAction "How You Can Help"
Information on relief activities of the humanitarian community can be found at ReliefWeb
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AFRICAN LEADERS
Seek G8 Follow-Through
African Leaders Seek G8 Follow-Through.
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UN REFUGEE AGENCY
Sending emergency supplies to Chad
June 10 Reuters: "The UNs refugee agency UNHCR said on Thursday it was sending more than 1,700 tonnes of aid including blankets, jerry cans, plastic sheeting and tents to Chad. It said the emergency supplies are expected to last 150,000 refugees through the rainy season when aid delivery will become almost impossible because of poor roads and flooding."
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WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME
Emergency airlift of biscuits today for Sudan
June 11 (Rome) allafrica.com: "TPG's TNT Airways has made available one of its largest aircraft - an Airbus 300 - to fly from the UN Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD) in Brindisi, Italy, to Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, carrying 33.6 metric tons high energy, vitamin and mineral fortified biscuits. The airlift is scheduled for Saturday, 12 June. The biscuits are a donation by the Danish Government to the UNHRD's strategic stocks.
"For many children, these biscuits could well mean the difference between life and death," said Ramiro Lopes de Silva, WFP's Country Director in Sudan. "These are crucial supplies. We are racing against time and circumstances to reach at least one million people in desperate need of help."
In the last few weeks, increased access to displaced populations in Darfur has revealed a grim reality. Recent nutrition surveys among the displaced population have indicated alarming levels of malnutrition, particularly among children under the age of five. When malnutrition levels reach 15 percent, a nutritional emergency is declared; current surveys show rates of between 21 and 33 percent.
"WFP greatly appreciates TPG's assistance in responding to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Western Sudan," said "With malnutrition setting in amongst the displaced population, and the rainy season upon us, we must get more emergency food into the region now if we are to stave off starvation, especially among the very young," said da Silva.
With the rainy season expected to peak in July, WFP is racing to pre-position food stocks in key areas. High energy biscuits are easy to distribute and require no cooking preparation.
WFP currently has access to 94 of 124 camps in Darfur, and plans to assist over one million people each month until October, when the agency will increase its food assistance to reach a total of two million people until December.
During May, WFP distributed food rations to more than half a million people in Darfur, reaching nearly two-thirds of the beneficiary target. Limited access and insecurity have been major obstacles to providing humanitarian assistance to those displaced by the on-going conflict between the Sudanese Government and rebel forces over the last 15 months."
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SUDAN EXPECTS FINAL SOUTH PEACE DEAL
In 4-5 weeks but does not include Darfur and eastern Sudan
June 10 Reuters: "Sudan expects to sign the final peace agreement to end more than two decades of civil war in the south of Africa's largest country in four to five weeks, First Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha said on Thursday.
He told reporters during a visit to Cairo that all the major issues were resolved and only technicalities needed to be agreed before the signing ceremony due to take place in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. "We expect that these finishing touches will take about four to five weeks after which, God willing, there will be the final signing," he said.
The southern rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) signed a number of protocols with the government last month, paving the way for a final peace accord.
The southern conflict pits the Islamist government in Khartoum against the mainly Christian, animist south, complicated by oil, ethnicity and ideology. It has claimed two million victims.
Taha said a donor conference to help rebuild the lawless south, devastated by wars that have raged for all but 11 years since Sudan gained independence from Britain in 1956, was expected to take place in Norway in November.
He added the peace agreement would provide an opportunity for oil-rich Sudan to improve its relations with the United States, which has played a key role in the peace talks and lists Sudan as a "state sponsor of terrorism".
"The state of war in the south was one of the main things that stopped relations between Sudan and the United States developing in the past," he said.
But the United States has voiced increasing concern over a separate conflict in Sudan's remote west, which the United Nations says has caused one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with more than one million displaced.
Rebels in western Sudan took up arms against Khartoum last year accusing the government of arming Arab militias in Darfur to loot and burn African villages, a charge Khartoum denies.
Taha said a recent humanitarian ceasefire signed with the Darfur rebels was a step towards peace but added it would not be easy to achieve peace in the poor region bordering Chad."
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SUDAN BLAMES WEST FOR DARFUR
US National Security Adviser blames Khartoum
June 10 Reuters: Sudan envoy denies any link to Darfur militias.
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CAIRO - AFP (undated) Oman Observer: "Senior Sudanese officials yesterday accused the West of stirring the armed conflict in the Darfur region and exaggerating the crisis to pressure Khartoum amid final negotiations for peace in southern Sudan. Vice-President Ali Osman Taha and Foreign Minister Mostafa Osman Ismail made their remarks during a visit to Cairo while, at the G8 summit in Georgia, US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice largely blamed Khartoum for the trouble.
Taha told a gathering of Egyptian and Sudanese intellectuals and politicians in the Egyptian capital that the conflict in Sudan’s western Darfur was “fabricated” by the international community, and in particular, by the West. The same parties that were responsible for creating war in the southern Sudan decades ago, are the ones responsible for the conflict in Darfur, said the Sudanese vice-president. He did not provide any evidence to support his claims.
At a news conference with his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Maher, Sudanese Foreign Minister Ismail pointed an accusing finger at unnamed groups for instigating the conflict in Darfur. “There are pressure groups, some of them used to operate in the south and now they are becoming active in Darfur,” Ismail told reporters. “These groups want trouble,” he charged, adding that they wanted to create a similar situation in Darfur as in the south.
He appeared to be referring to western non-government organisations and evangelical groups which Sudan has in the past accused of siding with the southern Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA). “We are not saying that there is no problem in Darfur,” Ismail went on, insisting that the problem was not of the same magnitude presented by the international media. Taha called the media reports an “unjustified” campaign against his country, and his foreign minister denied that what was happening in Darfur amounted to “genocide or ethnic cleansing”, as some have described the crisis."
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SUDAN MUST WOO SOUTH WITH OIL SPENDING
A new central government needs to spend oil riches on the lives of its people
June 10 Reuters: "Impoverished South Sudanese may not want to stay part of Africa's biggest country unless a new central government spends oil riches on improving their lives, rebel leader John Garang said.
John Garang, leader of the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) told Reuters on Wednesday it would be up to the central government to make sure southerners would want to remain in a united Sudan and not vote for secession after a six-year transition period.
The SPLA has been fighting the Islamist government in the north for more autonomy for the largely Christian and animist south for 21 years. The war, in which two million people have been killed mainly by hunger and disease, is complicated by factors such as ethnicity, religion, ideology and economics.
Under a series of peace accords signed over the past two years, the mainly African south of the oil-exporting nation of 32 million will have the right to independence from the Arab and Muslim north after a transition period of six years.
Mediators expect the two sides to nail down the remaining issues -- ceasefire arrangements and how to implement a final peace deal -- within two months of resuming talks on June 22."
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SUDAN'S OIL REVENUES OF $3 BILLION ANNUALLY
Currently go to the Islamist government in Khartoum
June 10 Reuters: "Many Sudanese in the south, where most of Sudan's oil is produced, believe the revenues from the petroleum produced from their soil should be theirs alone. At present revenues running at more than $3 billion annually go to the Islamist government in Khartoum, little of which is spent in the impoverished south.
A wealth-sharing agreement signed in January by Garang and Khartoum gives a new interim central government 50 percent of oil revenues and 50 percent to a new southern local authority.
The southern authority is expected to spend its share of the revenue on southern development, but Garang suggested that without big spending in the south by the new central government as well, the deal would be insufficiently attractive to southerners to persuade them to vote to stay in a united Sudan.
"When the central government is getting 50 percent of southern oil, and (also) getting 50 per cent of southern non-oil (revenues), this is going to be difficult for southern Sudanese to identify with unity, unless we do something so that southern Sudanese see tangible benefits in a united Sudan".
"So the responsibility of the central government is even increased as a result of wealth sharing agreements we have reached."
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INFRASTRUCTURE KEY
There must be peace in Darfur and eastern Sudan
June 10 Reuters: "Garang said southerners wanted roads, development of navigable waterways and the installation of a telephone system. At present the south, twice the size of France, has few roads.
The peace accords will not cover a separate conflict in the western Darfur region, where the rights groups says Arab militias have been carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against black Africans, displacing more than one million.
Garang reiterated that for peace to be meaningful, it would have to prevail over all the country -- especially in Darfur, eastern Sudan, and in the Upper Nile's Shilluk kingdom, where rights groups says Arab militias have been carrying out attacks on black Africans in a manner very similar to Darfur.
"Shillukland is part of Southern Sudan and we will ensure that there is peace and stability in Shillukland as well as in all parts of southern Sudan," he said.
"With respect to principally Darfur and eastern Sudan it is absolutely vital that there is peace in these areas. You cannot make peace in the south, while you fight war in Darfur and eastern Sudan -- that does not make any sense.".
"Darfur is of vital importance and there must be peace there. We are willing and ready in bringing about a just settlement in Darfur and in eastern Sudan."
- - -
Further reading: June 11 2004 IRIN news org (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs): SUDAN: Peace unsustainable without democratisation - think-tank.
Calls for UN to intervene militarily in Darfur
June 11 Scotsman: "Hilary Benn, the UK International Development Secretary, has blamed the Sudanese government alone for the catastrophe which had, until this week, threatened to become the world’s forgotten genocide.
He confirmed Britain was to increase its aid package for Darfur by £15 million, and hinted that more money could be available for development work."
- - -
TIME THE UN PROVED ITSELF
In its role as "the world's policeman"
June 11 Scotsman: "John Bercow, the shadow international development secretary, repeated his call for the United Nations to intervene militarily in Darfur, where attacks by Arab militias known as the Janjaweed continue daily on the dispossessed black African population.
The shadow secretary added that it was time the United Nations proved itself in its role as "the world’s policeman".
- - -
G8 URGE THE UN
To lead the international effort
June 11 Scotsman: "A statement issued yesterday by the G8 urged the UN to lead the international effort to avert "a major disaster" in Darfur.
In yesterday’s edition of The Scotsman, a senior UN official warned that every Sudanese refugee under the age of five would be dead in six months unless there was immediate international intervention. Hundreds of thousands of refugees have struggled across the border between Sudan and Chad.
Aid experts have warned that there will also be many deaths in Chad before the end of the year, unless aid can be put in place before the rains begin in earnest."
- - -
STATEMENT BY G8
Yesterday, on the closing day of the G8 leaders' three-day summit in Georgia, USA, the leaders of the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United Kingdom issued a statement.
Following is the text of the G8 statement as released by the White House and posted to the web June 10, 2004:
"We, the Leaders of the G8, warmly welcome the May 26 signing by the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) of protocols on Power Sharing, Abyei, and on the Two Areas (of Southern Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains). We urge the parties to reach a final and comprehensive agreement which includes a timetable and security arrangements as quickly as possible. We hope that this agreement and its faithful implementation will end one of the world's most painful conflicts and begin a new era of Sudanese peace and prosperity.
We also wish to express our grave concern over the humanitarian, human rights, and political crisis in Darfur. We welcome the N'djamena ceasefire agreement of April 8, and the announcement on May 20 by the Government of Sudan that restrictions on humanitarian access will be eased. However, there are continuing reports of gross violations of human rights, many with an ethnic dimension. We call on all parties to the conflict to immediately and fully respect the ceasefire, allow unimpeded humanitarian access to all those in need, and create the conditions for the displaced to return safely to their homes. We call especially on the Sudanese government to disarm immediately the "Janjaweed" and other armed groups which are responsible for massive human rights violations in Darfur. We call on the conflict parties to address the roots of the Darfur conflict and to seek a political solution.
We support the African Union as it assumes the leading role in the monitoring mission which is now being sent to the Darfur region to supervise the cease-fire agreement.
We pledge our countries' assistance in ending the conflicts in Sudan and in providing humanitarian aid to those in need. We call on all parties to the conflicts in Sudan to commit themselves to respecting the right of all Sudanese to live in peace and dignity.
We look to the United Nations to lead the international effort to avert a major disaster and will work together to achieve this end."
Copyright © 2004 The White House. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com)
Further reading:
Sudan: Darfur: Humanitarian Emergency Fact Sheet #9 (FY 2004) updates the last fact sheet dated June 4, 2004.
The Center for International Disaster Information: CIDI
InterAction "How You Can Help"
Information on relief activities of the humanitarian community can be found at ReliefWeb
- - -
AFRICAN LEADERS
Seek G8 Follow-Through
African Leaders Seek G8 Follow-Through.
- - -
UN REFUGEE AGENCY
Sending emergency supplies to Chad
June 10 Reuters: "The UNs refugee agency UNHCR said on Thursday it was sending more than 1,700 tonnes of aid including blankets, jerry cans, plastic sheeting and tents to Chad. It said the emergency supplies are expected to last 150,000 refugees through the rainy season when aid delivery will become almost impossible because of poor roads and flooding."
- - -
WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME
Emergency airlift of biscuits today for Sudan
June 11 (Rome) allafrica.com: "TPG's TNT Airways has made available one of its largest aircraft - an Airbus 300 - to fly from the UN Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD) in Brindisi, Italy, to Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, carrying 33.6 metric tons high energy, vitamin and mineral fortified biscuits. The airlift is scheduled for Saturday, 12 June. The biscuits are a donation by the Danish Government to the UNHRD's strategic stocks.
"For many children, these biscuits could well mean the difference between life and death," said Ramiro Lopes de Silva, WFP's Country Director in Sudan. "These are crucial supplies. We are racing against time and circumstances to reach at least one million people in desperate need of help."
In the last few weeks, increased access to displaced populations in Darfur has revealed a grim reality. Recent nutrition surveys among the displaced population have indicated alarming levels of malnutrition, particularly among children under the age of five. When malnutrition levels reach 15 percent, a nutritional emergency is declared; current surveys show rates of between 21 and 33 percent.
"WFP greatly appreciates TPG's assistance in responding to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Western Sudan," said "With malnutrition setting in amongst the displaced population, and the rainy season upon us, we must get more emergency food into the region now if we are to stave off starvation, especially among the very young," said da Silva.
With the rainy season expected to peak in July, WFP is racing to pre-position food stocks in key areas. High energy biscuits are easy to distribute and require no cooking preparation.
WFP currently has access to 94 of 124 camps in Darfur, and plans to assist over one million people each month until October, when the agency will increase its food assistance to reach a total of two million people until December.
During May, WFP distributed food rations to more than half a million people in Darfur, reaching nearly two-thirds of the beneficiary target. Limited access and insecurity have been major obstacles to providing humanitarian assistance to those displaced by the on-going conflict between the Sudanese Government and rebel forces over the last 15 months."
- - -
SUDAN EXPECTS FINAL SOUTH PEACE DEAL
In 4-5 weeks but does not include Darfur and eastern Sudan
June 10 Reuters: "Sudan expects to sign the final peace agreement to end more than two decades of civil war in the south of Africa's largest country in four to five weeks, First Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha said on Thursday.
He told reporters during a visit to Cairo that all the major issues were resolved and only technicalities needed to be agreed before the signing ceremony due to take place in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. "We expect that these finishing touches will take about four to five weeks after which, God willing, there will be the final signing," he said.
The southern rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) signed a number of protocols with the government last month, paving the way for a final peace accord.
The southern conflict pits the Islamist government in Khartoum against the mainly Christian, animist south, complicated by oil, ethnicity and ideology. It has claimed two million victims.
Taha said a donor conference to help rebuild the lawless south, devastated by wars that have raged for all but 11 years since Sudan gained independence from Britain in 1956, was expected to take place in Norway in November.
He added the peace agreement would provide an opportunity for oil-rich Sudan to improve its relations with the United States, which has played a key role in the peace talks and lists Sudan as a "state sponsor of terrorism".
"The state of war in the south was one of the main things that stopped relations between Sudan and the United States developing in the past," he said.
But the United States has voiced increasing concern over a separate conflict in Sudan's remote west, which the United Nations says has caused one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with more than one million displaced.
Rebels in western Sudan took up arms against Khartoum last year accusing the government of arming Arab militias in Darfur to loot and burn African villages, a charge Khartoum denies.
Taha said a recent humanitarian ceasefire signed with the Darfur rebels was a step towards peace but added it would not be easy to achieve peace in the poor region bordering Chad."
- - -
SUDAN BLAMES WEST FOR DARFUR
US National Security Adviser blames Khartoum
June 10 Reuters: Sudan envoy denies any link to Darfur militias.
- - -
CAIRO - AFP (undated) Oman Observer: "Senior Sudanese officials yesterday accused the West of stirring the armed conflict in the Darfur region and exaggerating the crisis to pressure Khartoum amid final negotiations for peace in southern Sudan. Vice-President Ali Osman Taha and Foreign Minister Mostafa Osman Ismail made their remarks during a visit to Cairo while, at the G8 summit in Georgia, US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice largely blamed Khartoum for the trouble.
Taha told a gathering of Egyptian and Sudanese intellectuals and politicians in the Egyptian capital that the conflict in Sudan’s western Darfur was “fabricated” by the international community, and in particular, by the West. The same parties that were responsible for creating war in the southern Sudan decades ago, are the ones responsible for the conflict in Darfur, said the Sudanese vice-president. He did not provide any evidence to support his claims.
At a news conference with his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Maher, Sudanese Foreign Minister Ismail pointed an accusing finger at unnamed groups for instigating the conflict in Darfur. “There are pressure groups, some of them used to operate in the south and now they are becoming active in Darfur,” Ismail told reporters. “These groups want trouble,” he charged, adding that they wanted to create a similar situation in Darfur as in the south.
He appeared to be referring to western non-government organisations and evangelical groups which Sudan has in the past accused of siding with the southern Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA). “We are not saying that there is no problem in Darfur,” Ismail went on, insisting that the problem was not of the same magnitude presented by the international media. Taha called the media reports an “unjustified” campaign against his country, and his foreign minister denied that what was happening in Darfur amounted to “genocide or ethnic cleansing”, as some have described the crisis."
- - -
SUDAN MUST WOO SOUTH WITH OIL SPENDING
A new central government needs to spend oil riches on the lives of its people
June 10 Reuters: "Impoverished South Sudanese may not want to stay part of Africa's biggest country unless a new central government spends oil riches on improving their lives, rebel leader John Garang said.
John Garang, leader of the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) told Reuters on Wednesday it would be up to the central government to make sure southerners would want to remain in a united Sudan and not vote for secession after a six-year transition period.
The SPLA has been fighting the Islamist government in the north for more autonomy for the largely Christian and animist south for 21 years. The war, in which two million people have been killed mainly by hunger and disease, is complicated by factors such as ethnicity, religion, ideology and economics.
Under a series of peace accords signed over the past two years, the mainly African south of the oil-exporting nation of 32 million will have the right to independence from the Arab and Muslim north after a transition period of six years.
Mediators expect the two sides to nail down the remaining issues -- ceasefire arrangements and how to implement a final peace deal -- within two months of resuming talks on June 22."
- - -
SUDAN'S OIL REVENUES OF $3 BILLION ANNUALLY
Currently go to the Islamist government in Khartoum
June 10 Reuters: "Many Sudanese in the south, where most of Sudan's oil is produced, believe the revenues from the petroleum produced from their soil should be theirs alone. At present revenues running at more than $3 billion annually go to the Islamist government in Khartoum, little of which is spent in the impoverished south.
A wealth-sharing agreement signed in January by Garang and Khartoum gives a new interim central government 50 percent of oil revenues and 50 percent to a new southern local authority.
The southern authority is expected to spend its share of the revenue on southern development, but Garang suggested that without big spending in the south by the new central government as well, the deal would be insufficiently attractive to southerners to persuade them to vote to stay in a united Sudan.
"When the central government is getting 50 percent of southern oil, and (also) getting 50 per cent of southern non-oil (revenues), this is going to be difficult for southern Sudanese to identify with unity, unless we do something so that southern Sudanese see tangible benefits in a united Sudan".
"So the responsibility of the central government is even increased as a result of wealth sharing agreements we have reached."
- - -
INFRASTRUCTURE KEY
There must be peace in Darfur and eastern Sudan
June 10 Reuters: "Garang said southerners wanted roads, development of navigable waterways and the installation of a telephone system. At present the south, twice the size of France, has few roads.
The peace accords will not cover a separate conflict in the western Darfur region, where the rights groups says Arab militias have been carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against black Africans, displacing more than one million.
Garang reiterated that for peace to be meaningful, it would have to prevail over all the country -- especially in Darfur, eastern Sudan, and in the Upper Nile's Shilluk kingdom, where rights groups says Arab militias have been carrying out attacks on black Africans in a manner very similar to Darfur.
"Shillukland is part of Southern Sudan and we will ensure that there is peace and stability in Shillukland as well as in all parts of southern Sudan," he said.
"With respect to principally Darfur and eastern Sudan it is absolutely vital that there is peace in these areas. You cannot make peace in the south, while you fight war in Darfur and eastern Sudan -- that does not make any sense.".
"Darfur is of vital importance and there must be peace there. We are willing and ready in bringing about a just settlement in Darfur and in eastern Sudan."
- - -
Further reading: June 11 2004 IRIN news org (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs): SUDAN: Peace unsustainable without democratisation - think-tank.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/11/2004
Thursday, June 10, 2004
PROTEST
Against Annan's inaction
Today, Harvard students Hana Alberts and Timothy McGinn published a report on yesterday's rally for Sudan at Harvard in Boston, MA.
Placards, waved by dozens of protestors, read: “Kofi, go to Sudan, not to Harvard" - (my favourite). Two other placards read: “Kofi’s choice: silence or genocide” and “400,000 will die unless the U.N. acts now.”
- - -
KOFI ANNAN'S SPEECH TO HARVARD COMMENCEMENT
Video and audio webcast after 9:00 PM GMT
Details of today's post at Passion of the Present on tonight's webcasts of Kofi Annan's speech. [sorry the site's permalinks are not working right now]:
"Kofi Annan will speak today to the Harvard audience at sometime after 4:00 PM US Eastern Standard Time. There are two sources of webcasts. A video webcast can be found at http://www.commencementoffice.harvard.edu/ which requires a RealOne player, and an audiocast can be found at http://www.whrb.org/ which requires a live365.com (iTunes-compatible) player. Kofi Annan will speak after Harvard President Larry Summers. Sorry about the lack of precision in the schedule, my sense is that Kofi Annan will start around 4:30 EST, but only time will tell :)
The Kofi Annan videocast will be almost immediately archived at http://www.commencementoffice.harvard.edu
- - -
A SILENCE SO DEAFENING IT KILLS
By Ronaldo Rauseo-Ricupero
Wow. Read this. It's a masterpiece. Published today at the Harvard Crimson online. I am copying it here in full for future reference:
"This afternoon, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi A. Annan will address the Harvard community as part of the annual meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association. Moments after receiving an honorary degree from the University, Annan will step up to a podium that affords him international attention—a stage from which General George C. Marshall famously announced his plan for the reconstruction of Europe 57 years ago; a stage to which hundreds of Harvard alumni, leaders in society, industry and arts will be turned; a stage on which Annan will be silent.
Annan will be speaking many words, but what he doesn’t say will be more important than what he does. This afternoon, Harvard will witness a textbook example of the all too common rhetorical obfuscations that have allowed the 20th century to become one of the most bloody known to man: the twin policies of denial and appeasement.
Genocide is happening on a massive scale in the Darfur region of Sudan, and the world is pretending not to notice. By accounts updated last week, over 30,000 Darfurians, mainly from the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa ethnic groups, have been massacred by the Janjaweed Arab militias, which, thanks to the financial support of the central government in Khartoum, have been ravaging the western region of the country since November. Stirred by President Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir’s incitements of ethnic and racial hatred, Janjaweed fighters were given $100 each, supplied with heavy arms and told that whatever they pillaged would be theirs to keep. They have raped, massacred and destroyed at will. They have stolen international food aid and used it as horse feed, forced nearly 2 million Darfurians to flee their homes and farms (their only source of livelihoods) and caused a destabilizing refugee crisis—so far, nearly 170,000 Darfurians have poured into neighboring Chad.
The Janjaweed militias have also established concentration camps in places like Kialek. That torture camps are sprouting up on Sudanese soil is not surprising given President al-Bashir’s long-established record of inciting hate. This is the same man who oversaw the literal enslavement of Christian Sudanese in the southern part of his country. The progression from hate to slavery to genocide has been quite natural for this regime. In fact, as Suliman Giddo of the Darfur Peace and Development Organization reports, the Janjaweed have of late been surpassing their own record in cruelty: as of April, instead of simply raping and killing the women in Darfurian villages, the Janjaweed now slice the skin off the faces of the women’s corpses so that they are unrecognizable to their families.
And the work of the government-sponsored Janjaweed has been made even easier by the endless delays of the international community—because any kind of intervention has been so long in coming and so easily thwarted, aid organizations must now contend with a rainy season that started last week and has knocked out nearly all transportation access to the most desperate regions. Furthermore, because unchecked looting and ethnic violence prevented any real planting, this aid-hungry area will have no crops this year. This forced starvation will bring about the eradication of the Darfurians with remarkable speed. According to the projections by the United States Agency for International Development, the crude death rate in Sudan by December 2004 will be 6 times the rate considered “catastrophic” by Doctors Without Borders.
These projections can change, but only if we take action now to help the Darfurians. Last night’s rally and protest was the first step. More than a hundred students rallied on Cambridge Common with leaders from prominent human rights groups, Boston’s black churches, the Ten Point Coalition, the American Anti-Slavery Group and others to remind us that the Darfur genocide cannot be ignored. Many fellow graduates will join me in wearing green ribbons today as a visible symbol of our commitment to stopping the genocide.
However, with nearly 600 people dying per day, the person with the greatest opportunity to end the suffering is Kofi Annan. Today, Annan could unveil plans to increase aid to the Darfur region; to internationalize rail lines to Darfur’s main city and prevent the blockade of humanitarian relief by Janjaweed fighters, as Prof. Eric Reeves of Smith College has proposed; to use U.N. expertise to double or triple the anemically small monitoring team responsible for reporting on “human rights violations” in a region the size of France, as Kennedy School of Government Professor Samantha Power has advocated; even to remove Sudan from its seat on the United Nations Human Rights Commission, as common sense would dictate. But Annan will do none of these, nor will he recognize the genocide by its proper name: to do so would obligate him to take action. Indeed the fear of confronting “genocide” in Rwanda was so high in 1994 that we allowed 800,000 people to die before recognizing the situation for what it was. Apparently, the value of not offending the Khartoum government is greater than the moral obligation to stop the massacre of more innocent Darfurians.
This is not to say that the blame rests solely on the U.N. Even though the United States recognized the genocide in the 2002 Sudan Peace Act, aid that Congress promised to Sudan on condition of the resolution of its North-South conflict has not been forthcoming. And despite Bush’s strong statements on the issue during the anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide, two months have passed with no new U.S. action.
Absent committed leadership, we as citizens and as graduates must also take up the banner of preventing another genocide from escalating on our watch. Today, the excuse that we cannot act because we are “just students” melts away. Our challenge, sadly, is not unique—many classes of Harvard graduates have faced the spectre of mass killings. It is indeed ironic that in his Baccalaureate Address in the Memorial Church on Tuesday, University President Lawrence H. Summers cited the Vietnam War as an example of what can happen “when people fail to think things through.” In his watershed book The Best and the Brightest, David L. Halberstam ’55 showed that it was precisely a group of Harvard affiliates who were the cause of that folly, “a certain breed of men…in their minds they become responsible for the country, but not responsive to it.”
This kind of arrogance is not the only example we could follow. In attendance at this afternoon’s exercises will be the 25th Reunion Class of 1979, the class which displayed such mettle over the issue of South African Divestment. On April 23, 1979, a 700-person demonstration rocked Harvard Yard to protest the University’s investment policy, an action that captured attention around the world and gave hope to South Africans that the world was indeed listening to their plight.
The challenge for the Class of 1979 was apartheid. The challenge for the Class of 2004 is genocide. The body counts are higher, the need for action even more urgent, but the cause never more morally simple: genocide in Darfur must be stopped.
As Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who gave so much hope and support to the Class of 1979, wrote in an e-mail on Monday regarding Secretary-General Annan’s address today, “Let us not say we did not know. We know and we must do something. Let us speak up and speak out against the atrocities in Darfur. Those dying are God’s children. They are our sisters and brothers.”
Ronaldo Rauseo-Ricupero ’04, a Classics concentrator in Leverett House, was editorial chair of The Crimson in 2003.
Against Annan's inaction
Today, Harvard students Hana Alberts and Timothy McGinn published a report on yesterday's rally for Sudan at Harvard in Boston, MA.
Placards, waved by dozens of protestors, read: “Kofi, go to Sudan, not to Harvard" - (my favourite). Two other placards read: “Kofi’s choice: silence or genocide” and “400,000 will die unless the U.N. acts now.”
- - -
KOFI ANNAN'S SPEECH TO HARVARD COMMENCEMENT
Video and audio webcast after 9:00 PM GMT
Details of today's post at Passion of the Present on tonight's webcasts of Kofi Annan's speech. [sorry the site's permalinks are not working right now]:
"Kofi Annan will speak today to the Harvard audience at sometime after 4:00 PM US Eastern Standard Time. There are two sources of webcasts. A video webcast can be found at http://www.commencementoffice.harvard.edu/ which requires a RealOne player, and an audiocast can be found at http://www.whrb.org/ which requires a live365.com (iTunes-compatible) player. Kofi Annan will speak after Harvard President Larry Summers. Sorry about the lack of precision in the schedule, my sense is that Kofi Annan will start around 4:30 EST, but only time will tell :)
The Kofi Annan videocast will be almost immediately archived at http://www.commencementoffice.harvard.edu
- - -
A SILENCE SO DEAFENING IT KILLS
By Ronaldo Rauseo-Ricupero
Wow. Read this. It's a masterpiece. Published today at the Harvard Crimson online. I am copying it here in full for future reference:
"This afternoon, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi A. Annan will address the Harvard community as part of the annual meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association. Moments after receiving an honorary degree from the University, Annan will step up to a podium that affords him international attention—a stage from which General George C. Marshall famously announced his plan for the reconstruction of Europe 57 years ago; a stage to which hundreds of Harvard alumni, leaders in society, industry and arts will be turned; a stage on which Annan will be silent.
Annan will be speaking many words, but what he doesn’t say will be more important than what he does. This afternoon, Harvard will witness a textbook example of the all too common rhetorical obfuscations that have allowed the 20th century to become one of the most bloody known to man: the twin policies of denial and appeasement.
Genocide is happening on a massive scale in the Darfur region of Sudan, and the world is pretending not to notice. By accounts updated last week, over 30,000 Darfurians, mainly from the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa ethnic groups, have been massacred by the Janjaweed Arab militias, which, thanks to the financial support of the central government in Khartoum, have been ravaging the western region of the country since November. Stirred by President Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir’s incitements of ethnic and racial hatred, Janjaweed fighters were given $100 each, supplied with heavy arms and told that whatever they pillaged would be theirs to keep. They have raped, massacred and destroyed at will. They have stolen international food aid and used it as horse feed, forced nearly 2 million Darfurians to flee their homes and farms (their only source of livelihoods) and caused a destabilizing refugee crisis—so far, nearly 170,000 Darfurians have poured into neighboring Chad.
The Janjaweed militias have also established concentration camps in places like Kialek. That torture camps are sprouting up on Sudanese soil is not surprising given President al-Bashir’s long-established record of inciting hate. This is the same man who oversaw the literal enslavement of Christian Sudanese in the southern part of his country. The progression from hate to slavery to genocide has been quite natural for this regime. In fact, as Suliman Giddo of the Darfur Peace and Development Organization reports, the Janjaweed have of late been surpassing their own record in cruelty: as of April, instead of simply raping and killing the women in Darfurian villages, the Janjaweed now slice the skin off the faces of the women’s corpses so that they are unrecognizable to their families.
And the work of the government-sponsored Janjaweed has been made even easier by the endless delays of the international community—because any kind of intervention has been so long in coming and so easily thwarted, aid organizations must now contend with a rainy season that started last week and has knocked out nearly all transportation access to the most desperate regions. Furthermore, because unchecked looting and ethnic violence prevented any real planting, this aid-hungry area will have no crops this year. This forced starvation will bring about the eradication of the Darfurians with remarkable speed. According to the projections by the United States Agency for International Development, the crude death rate in Sudan by December 2004 will be 6 times the rate considered “catastrophic” by Doctors Without Borders.
These projections can change, but only if we take action now to help the Darfurians. Last night’s rally and protest was the first step. More than a hundred students rallied on Cambridge Common with leaders from prominent human rights groups, Boston’s black churches, the Ten Point Coalition, the American Anti-Slavery Group and others to remind us that the Darfur genocide cannot be ignored. Many fellow graduates will join me in wearing green ribbons today as a visible symbol of our commitment to stopping the genocide.
However, with nearly 600 people dying per day, the person with the greatest opportunity to end the suffering is Kofi Annan. Today, Annan could unveil plans to increase aid to the Darfur region; to internationalize rail lines to Darfur’s main city and prevent the blockade of humanitarian relief by Janjaweed fighters, as Prof. Eric Reeves of Smith College has proposed; to use U.N. expertise to double or triple the anemically small monitoring team responsible for reporting on “human rights violations” in a region the size of France, as Kennedy School of Government Professor Samantha Power has advocated; even to remove Sudan from its seat on the United Nations Human Rights Commission, as common sense would dictate. But Annan will do none of these, nor will he recognize the genocide by its proper name: to do so would obligate him to take action. Indeed the fear of confronting “genocide” in Rwanda was so high in 1994 that we allowed 800,000 people to die before recognizing the situation for what it was. Apparently, the value of not offending the Khartoum government is greater than the moral obligation to stop the massacre of more innocent Darfurians.
This is not to say that the blame rests solely on the U.N. Even though the United States recognized the genocide in the 2002 Sudan Peace Act, aid that Congress promised to Sudan on condition of the resolution of its North-South conflict has not been forthcoming. And despite Bush’s strong statements on the issue during the anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide, two months have passed with no new U.S. action.
Absent committed leadership, we as citizens and as graduates must also take up the banner of preventing another genocide from escalating on our watch. Today, the excuse that we cannot act because we are “just students” melts away. Our challenge, sadly, is not unique—many classes of Harvard graduates have faced the spectre of mass killings. It is indeed ironic that in his Baccalaureate Address in the Memorial Church on Tuesday, University President Lawrence H. Summers cited the Vietnam War as an example of what can happen “when people fail to think things through.” In his watershed book The Best and the Brightest, David L. Halberstam ’55 showed that it was precisely a group of Harvard affiliates who were the cause of that folly, “a certain breed of men…in their minds they become responsible for the country, but not responsive to it.”
This kind of arrogance is not the only example we could follow. In attendance at this afternoon’s exercises will be the 25th Reunion Class of 1979, the class which displayed such mettle over the issue of South African Divestment. On April 23, 1979, a 700-person demonstration rocked Harvard Yard to protest the University’s investment policy, an action that captured attention around the world and gave hope to South Africans that the world was indeed listening to their plight.
The challenge for the Class of 1979 was apartheid. The challenge for the Class of 2004 is genocide. The body counts are higher, the need for action even more urgent, but the cause never more morally simple: genocide in Darfur must be stopped.
As Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who gave so much hope and support to the Class of 1979, wrote in an e-mail on Monday regarding Secretary-General Annan’s address today, “Let us not say we did not know. We know and we must do something. Let us speak up and speak out against the atrocities in Darfur. Those dying are God’s children. They are our sisters and brothers.”
Ronaldo Rauseo-Ricupero ’04, a Classics concentrator in Leverett House, was editorial chair of The Crimson in 2003.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/10/2004
- - -
G8 LOOKS TO THE UN TO END DARFUR KILLINGS
And EU funds the African Union in its efforts to solve the crisis
BBC News reports today, on the last day of their US Summit, G8 leaders have called on Sudan to disarm militias in its western Darfur region.
The G8 statement on Sudan said the group looked to the United Nations (UN) to lead the international effort to avert "a major disaster" in Darfur - described as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. "There are continuing reports of gross violations of human rights, many with an ethnic dimension," the statement said.
"We call especially on the Sudanese government to disarm immediately the Janjaweed and other armed groups which are responsible for massive human rights violations in Darfur," said the statement.
- - -
EUROPEAN UNION ANNOUNCED $14.5 SUPPORT
For the African Union in its efforts to solve the crisis
In a separate development at the G8 meeting, the European Union (EU) announced a 12-million euro package ($14.5m) to "support the rapid deployment and operations of an African Union-led observer mission that will monitor the implementation of the recent ceasefire agreement in Darfur".
EU development commissioner Poul Nielson said in a statement that the money showed the EU was "a credible partner" for the African Union in its efforts to solve the crisis.
"We believe that the success of this mission is crucial," said EU spokesman Jean Charles Ellerman-Kingombe. "It is very much needed at this time in Darfur."
- - -
AFRICA NO BETTER OFF THAN IT WAS 25 YEARS AGO
G8 to look at plans for 50,000+ peacekeepers over next 5 years
This is despite many initiatives in past decades - from the Brandt Commission and Live Aid in the 1980s to more recent efforts such as Washington's Aids fund and Africa's own NEPAD partnership. Growth rates and life expectancy are falling and poverty is growing amid the Aids epidemic and continuing war, corruption and bad governance. Per capita income in sub-Saharan Africa is now estimated to be $200 lower than in 1974.
The G8 leaders are expected to look at plans to train and equip more than 50,000 peacekeepers over the next five years, particularly for deployment in Africa. US officials said the initiative had grown out of African requests for assistance in ending the civil wars plaguing the continent.
G8 LOOKS TO THE UN TO END DARFUR KILLINGS
And EU funds the African Union in its efforts to solve the crisis
BBC News reports today, on the last day of their US Summit, G8 leaders have called on Sudan to disarm militias in its western Darfur region.
The G8 statement on Sudan said the group looked to the United Nations (UN) to lead the international effort to avert "a major disaster" in Darfur - described as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. "There are continuing reports of gross violations of human rights, many with an ethnic dimension," the statement said.
"We call especially on the Sudanese government to disarm immediately the Janjaweed and other armed groups which are responsible for massive human rights violations in Darfur," said the statement.
- - -
EUROPEAN UNION ANNOUNCED $14.5 SUPPORT
For the African Union in its efforts to solve the crisis
In a separate development at the G8 meeting, the European Union (EU) announced a 12-million euro package ($14.5m) to "support the rapid deployment and operations of an African Union-led observer mission that will monitor the implementation of the recent ceasefire agreement in Darfur".
EU development commissioner Poul Nielson said in a statement that the money showed the EU was "a credible partner" for the African Union in its efforts to solve the crisis.
"We believe that the success of this mission is crucial," said EU spokesman Jean Charles Ellerman-Kingombe. "It is very much needed at this time in Darfur."
- - -
AFRICA NO BETTER OFF THAN IT WAS 25 YEARS AGO
G8 to look at plans for 50,000+ peacekeepers over next 5 years
This is despite many initiatives in past decades - from the Brandt Commission and Live Aid in the 1980s to more recent efforts such as Washington's Aids fund and Africa's own NEPAD partnership. Growth rates and life expectancy are falling and poverty is growing amid the Aids epidemic and continuing war, corruption and bad governance. Per capita income in sub-Saharan Africa is now estimated to be $200 lower than in 1974.
The G8 leaders are expected to look at plans to train and equip more than 50,000 peacekeepers over the next five years, particularly for deployment in Africa. US officials said the initiative had grown out of African requests for assistance in ending the civil wars plaguing the continent.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/10/2004
- - -
DOWNING STREET CALLS FOR ACTION IN SUDAN
UK gives extra £15m to help humanitarian emergency in Sudan
News statement from 10 Downing Street today at 15.20: UK calls for action in Sudan - extract:
"The government has announced an extra £15m to help address the humanitarian emergency in Sudan.
The United Nations estimates that 2m people have been affected by the ongoing conflict in Darfur in western Sudan. Around 130,000 refugees have fled into neighbouring Chad.
The crisis results from fighting between Darfur-based opposition groups and the government of Sudan and its supported militia groups - known more widely as the Janjaweed. Following negotiations brokered by Chad, the two main opposition groups and Sudan's government signed a 45-day ceasefire agreement on 8 April but attacks by the Janjaweed have continued.
Announcing the extra funding, International Development Secretary Hilary Benn said that the situation in Sudan was the most serious humanitarian emergency in the world today.
"We need urgent and decisive action to stop the situation deteriorating," he said.
The Sudanese government has given a firm commitment to fast-track the delivery of assistance, to allow international agencies to set up and bring in food, medicine and vital equipments immediately.
"We will be following up on their effective implementation. Action must also now be taken to bring irregular forces and militias under control."
Hilary Benn has visited three camps for displaced people in Sudan this week and seen some of the humanitarian projects. He has also met UN agencies and non-governmental organisations to hear about the work they are doing."
- - -
OLIVER LETWIN MP
On the Sudan crisis
Yesterday, in response to Clive's suggestion at The UK Today, I faxed a letter to my Member of Parliament, Oliver Letwin, asking him to sign EDM1051 and EDM293.
I gave details about our blogging on the Sudan and where to find my blog, Jim Moore's and that of Passion of the Present (co-authored by three volunteers: Dr James Moore of Berkman at Harvard, Joanne Moore, and Dan O´Huiginn who is studying Indian languages at Cambridge University); and explained how, through an initiative by Joanne, Bishop Tutu sent a message for the Internet and rally to be held, the day before Kofi Annan's speech at Harvard.
Currently, Dr Letwin is Shadow Secretary of State for Economic Affairs & Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. I closed my letter by saying I would like the UK to take a high profile leading role in helping to resolve the Sudan crisis. And I asked him to please do everything that he can to help the people of Darfur and treat it as a matter of urgency.
- - -
WEB PASTOR ALYSON
On the Sudan Crisis
Also, yesterday taking a leaf out of Clive's book (he spoke with his vicar and got Darfur prayed for by their bishop during a sermon - and he's been trying to get the message across to the diocese that awareness needs raising), I emailed Web Pastor Alyson at the Church of England's newly launched virtual church, i-church that I've joined and sent her a copy of my letter to Oliver Letwin MP (see post above) requesting help for the people of Darfur as a matter of urgency.
Note: BBC News 24 wish to do a feature on i-church. They would like to interview two-three people who have signed up to find out what they hope to get from i-church. The will conduct interviews in person or by webcam. Can you help? Offers to volunteer@webtrader.org
- - -
SUDANESE CHILDREN DYING OF HUNGER
Blogging pictures that speak louder than words
If bloggers are lost for words on what to say about the Sudan - and can post pictures - please see this photo half way down the page of the BBC news report.
Look at the face and eyes of the mother of nine-month-old Adam who says that she walked without food for 10 days to reach a camp...
And you will see why one feels compelled to raise awareness about the people in Sudan who are suffering so badly.
- - -
FOR BLOGGERS IN THE UK:
How to find and contact your MP online, by phone or letter
Here is how you can contact your MP:
Go to fax or email your mp. Type in your name, address and postcode. It then brings up the name of you MP and produces a ready made letterhead with the current date. Type in the body of your letter.
It's as easy as typing a comment. You can preview and edit, just like in a comments box. Then press "submit" - they send you an email right away - click into their email to verify your email address - and your letter zooms off, just like any email. Seems they follow up with an email in two weeks to check if your MP has replied.
Dan O'Huiginn at Passion of the Present writes: "In the UK, the best route is to aim for some kind of personal contact with your MP. If you write directly to Tony Blair or Jack Straw, you'll get a form letter in reply and basically be ignored. A large part of an MPs job is to pass your concerns up the chain of power, and bug ministers until they do something about it.
You can write to your MP via the excellent faxyourmp, which converts entries in a web form into free lobbying faxes. Or you can call the parliamentary switchboard on 020 7219 3000 and ask to talk to your MP. Since MPs have far less constituents and work than US senators or congress(wo)men, you stand a decent chance of being able to talk to your MP in person. Finally, you can try good old-fashioned post to: [your MP´s name], House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA.
Then you need to decide what they can do about Sudan. The UK Today suggests asking them to sign Early Day Motions 1051 and 293. These are basically parliamentary petitions, calling for the British government to step up its action on Darfur. Or you could send them a list of government action points (like those from the International Crisis Group - see Passion's May 30 post*), and request that they forward them to Jack Straw with a covering letter of their own. Ministers often give personal attention to letters from MPs, so this is a good way of getting high-level attention." [*sorry direct linking to their May 30 post is not working right now]
Note: Passion of the Present are asking if you have ideas for lobbying in other countries outside the UK and US, please do share them in the comments at their blog. In the meantime, I am still trying to find their archives for the post that gives instructions to bloggers in the USA on what to do, i.e., how to find and contact their congressional leader online, by phone or letter.
DOWNING STREET CALLS FOR ACTION IN SUDAN
UK gives extra £15m to help humanitarian emergency in Sudan
News statement from 10 Downing Street today at 15.20: UK calls for action in Sudan - extract:
"The government has announced an extra £15m to help address the humanitarian emergency in Sudan.
The United Nations estimates that 2m people have been affected by the ongoing conflict in Darfur in western Sudan. Around 130,000 refugees have fled into neighbouring Chad.
The crisis results from fighting between Darfur-based opposition groups and the government of Sudan and its supported militia groups - known more widely as the Janjaweed. Following negotiations brokered by Chad, the two main opposition groups and Sudan's government signed a 45-day ceasefire agreement on 8 April but attacks by the Janjaweed have continued.
Announcing the extra funding, International Development Secretary Hilary Benn said that the situation in Sudan was the most serious humanitarian emergency in the world today.
"We need urgent and decisive action to stop the situation deteriorating," he said.
The Sudanese government has given a firm commitment to fast-track the delivery of assistance, to allow international agencies to set up and bring in food, medicine and vital equipments immediately.
"We will be following up on their effective implementation. Action must also now be taken to bring irregular forces and militias under control."
Hilary Benn has visited three camps for displaced people in Sudan this week and seen some of the humanitarian projects. He has also met UN agencies and non-governmental organisations to hear about the work they are doing."
- - -
OLIVER LETWIN MP
On the Sudan crisis
Yesterday, in response to Clive's suggestion at The UK Today, I faxed a letter to my Member of Parliament, Oliver Letwin, asking him to sign EDM1051 and EDM293.
I gave details about our blogging on the Sudan and where to find my blog, Jim Moore's and that of Passion of the Present (co-authored by three volunteers: Dr James Moore of Berkman at Harvard, Joanne Moore, and Dan O´Huiginn who is studying Indian languages at Cambridge University); and explained how, through an initiative by Joanne, Bishop Tutu sent a message for the Internet and rally to be held, the day before Kofi Annan's speech at Harvard.
Currently, Dr Letwin is Shadow Secretary of State for Economic Affairs & Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. I closed my letter by saying I would like the UK to take a high profile leading role in helping to resolve the Sudan crisis. And I asked him to please do everything that he can to help the people of Darfur and treat it as a matter of urgency.
- - -
WEB PASTOR ALYSON
On the Sudan Crisis
Also, yesterday taking a leaf out of Clive's book (he spoke with his vicar and got Darfur prayed for by their bishop during a sermon - and he's been trying to get the message across to the diocese that awareness needs raising), I emailed Web Pastor Alyson at the Church of England's newly launched virtual church, i-church that I've joined and sent her a copy of my letter to Oliver Letwin MP (see post above) requesting help for the people of Darfur as a matter of urgency.
Note: BBC News 24 wish to do a feature on i-church. They would like to interview two-three people who have signed up to find out what they hope to get from i-church. The will conduct interviews in person or by webcam. Can you help? Offers to volunteer@webtrader.org
- - -
SUDANESE CHILDREN DYING OF HUNGER
Blogging pictures that speak louder than words
If bloggers are lost for words on what to say about the Sudan - and can post pictures - please see this photo half way down the page of the BBC news report.
Look at the face and eyes of the mother of nine-month-old Adam who says that she walked without food for 10 days to reach a camp...
And you will see why one feels compelled to raise awareness about the people in Sudan who are suffering so badly.
- - -
FOR BLOGGERS IN THE UK:
How to find and contact your MP online, by phone or letter
Here is how you can contact your MP:
Go to fax or email your mp. Type in your name, address and postcode. It then brings up the name of you MP and produces a ready made letterhead with the current date. Type in the body of your letter.
It's as easy as typing a comment. You can preview and edit, just like in a comments box. Then press "submit" - they send you an email right away - click into their email to verify your email address - and your letter zooms off, just like any email. Seems they follow up with an email in two weeks to check if your MP has replied.
Dan O'Huiginn at Passion of the Present writes: "In the UK, the best route is to aim for some kind of personal contact with your MP. If you write directly to Tony Blair or Jack Straw, you'll get a form letter in reply and basically be ignored. A large part of an MPs job is to pass your concerns up the chain of power, and bug ministers until they do something about it.
You can write to your MP via the excellent faxyourmp, which converts entries in a web form into free lobbying faxes. Or you can call the parliamentary switchboard on 020 7219 3000 and ask to talk to your MP. Since MPs have far less constituents and work than US senators or congress(wo)men, you stand a decent chance of being able to talk to your MP in person. Finally, you can try good old-fashioned post to: [your MP´s name], House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA.
Then you need to decide what they can do about Sudan. The UK Today suggests asking them to sign Early Day Motions 1051 and 293. These are basically parliamentary petitions, calling for the British government to step up its action on Darfur. Or you could send them a list of government action points (like those from the International Crisis Group - see Passion's May 30 post*), and request that they forward them to Jack Straw with a covering letter of their own. Ministers often give personal attention to letters from MPs, so this is a good way of getting high-level attention." [*sorry direct linking to their May 30 post is not working right now]
Note: Passion of the Present are asking if you have ideas for lobbying in other countries outside the UK and US, please do share them in the comments at their blog. In the meantime, I am still trying to find their archives for the post that gives instructions to bloggers in the USA on what to do, i.e., how to find and contact their congressional leader online, by phone or letter.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/10/2004
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
FATHERS OF THE INTERNET
And World Wide Web
Following my post here yesterday on Desmond Tutu's message to the Internet and today's rally for the Sudan at Harvard in Boston, I emailed Vinton Cerf at Cerf's Up and sent him a copy of the post. Several hours later I was thrilled to receive this reply:
Ingrid, your email reached me easily.
Sir Tim did receive a handsome 1 million euro prize earlier this year so fortune has followed fame at least in some measure. However
neither Tim nor Bob Kahn nor I nor the others working on the Internet protocols patented or made intellectual property claims on the
technology so as to stimulate its uptake without obstacles. It seems to have worked :-)
vint
- - -
Surely this proves the Internet is owned by *us* the people of the world, and that nobody can control it or take it away from us - it will be *ours* forever.
Or will it? What if bodies like Microsoft or Google could control it? If such a thing was possible, what could we do about it?
Hopefully, the Internet is like an amoeba or some sort of living organism that if cut in two could regroup, and replicate itself in cyberspace, to escape greedy predators trying to dominate us and take control.
Vinton Cerf, Bob Kahn and Tim Berners-Lee will go down in history. What a shame all three did not receive the same handsome prize earlier this year.
We need our three heroes to leave us a cyber manual on what to do if anyone tried to muscle in and take ownership of the Internet. And we Internet users ought to get up an online petition to nominate all three for a Nobel award. Here is the list of Nobel Laureates in Physics 1901 - Present. If anyone knows how to do such a thing, please let me know and I'll do all that I can to help.
- - -
THE NEW WORLD
Of Internet-connected television
Today the NY Times reports on how viewers will soon not have to worry about when a show is scheduled or from where it comes. They'll be able to download and store video for conventional television viewing.
Because most Internet connections do not yet reliably support data speeds needed to view television-quality video as it is streamed, a number of the Internet video services require that programs first be downloaded and stored on a hard drive before viewing.
Now, as broadband Internet becomes widely available in homes and new wireless video networks make it simpler to move video data and streams inside the home, bigger players are starting to emerge.
For example, Microsoft demonstrated a service called IPTV at the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas this year. The company believes that it is possible to deliver television to rival today's cable programming by using commonly available standard telephone lines, as part of what are called digital subscriber line, or D.S.L., services. It is running two small trials of the technology in Canada and Switzerland, and sees a broad potential.
"We sort of expect that TV will shift to where everyone will watch what they want when they want," said Peter T. Barrett, chief technology officer for Microsoft TV.
- - -
OODLES OF DOODLES
Google's historic online art
"We're the luckiest kids in the world. :)" writes Eric Case, of the Blogger team at Google, in his post on Danah Boyd's internship at Blogger.
Today, Eric posts this little gem:
"If any of y'all have ever been curious about Google's holiday & event logos, check out Dennis's latest post to the GoogleBlog:
"My name is Dennis, and I'm the guy who draws the Google doodles. But the doodle tradition started here before I did. The first doodle was produced by (who else?) Larry and Sergey, who, when they attended the Burning Man festival in summer 1999, put a little stick figure on the home page logo in case the site crashed and someone wanted to know why nobody was answering the phone."
And World Wide Web
Following my post here yesterday on Desmond Tutu's message to the Internet and today's rally for the Sudan at Harvard in Boston, I emailed Vinton Cerf at Cerf's Up and sent him a copy of the post. Several hours later I was thrilled to receive this reply:
Ingrid, your email reached me easily.
Sir Tim did receive a handsome 1 million euro prize earlier this year so fortune has followed fame at least in some measure. However
neither Tim nor Bob Kahn nor I nor the others working on the Internet protocols patented or made intellectual property claims on the
technology so as to stimulate its uptake without obstacles. It seems to have worked :-)
vint
- - -
Surely this proves the Internet is owned by *us* the people of the world, and that nobody can control it or take it away from us - it will be *ours* forever.
Or will it? What if bodies like Microsoft or Google could control it? If such a thing was possible, what could we do about it?
Hopefully, the Internet is like an amoeba or some sort of living organism that if cut in two could regroup, and replicate itself in cyberspace, to escape greedy predators trying to dominate us and take control.
Vinton Cerf, Bob Kahn and Tim Berners-Lee will go down in history. What a shame all three did not receive the same handsome prize earlier this year.
We need our three heroes to leave us a cyber manual on what to do if anyone tried to muscle in and take ownership of the Internet. And we Internet users ought to get up an online petition to nominate all three for a Nobel award. Here is the list of Nobel Laureates in Physics 1901 - Present. If anyone knows how to do such a thing, please let me know and I'll do all that I can to help.
- - -
THE NEW WORLD
Of Internet-connected television
Today the NY Times reports on how viewers will soon not have to worry about when a show is scheduled or from where it comes. They'll be able to download and store video for conventional television viewing.
Because most Internet connections do not yet reliably support data speeds needed to view television-quality video as it is streamed, a number of the Internet video services require that programs first be downloaded and stored on a hard drive before viewing.
Now, as broadband Internet becomes widely available in homes and new wireless video networks make it simpler to move video data and streams inside the home, bigger players are starting to emerge.
For example, Microsoft demonstrated a service called IPTV at the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas this year. The company believes that it is possible to deliver television to rival today's cable programming by using commonly available standard telephone lines, as part of what are called digital subscriber line, or D.S.L., services. It is running two small trials of the technology in Canada and Switzerland, and sees a broad potential.
"We sort of expect that TV will shift to where everyone will watch what they want when they want," said Peter T. Barrett, chief technology officer for Microsoft TV.
- - -
OODLES OF DOODLES
Google's historic online art
"We're the luckiest kids in the world. :)" writes Eric Case, of the Blogger team at Google, in his post on Danah Boyd's internship at Blogger.
Today, Eric posts this little gem:
"If any of y'all have ever been curious about Google's holiday & event logos, check out Dennis's latest post to the GoogleBlog:
"My name is Dennis, and I'm the guy who draws the Google doodles. But the doodle tradition started here before I did. The first doodle was produced by (who else?) Larry and Sergey, who, when they attended the Burning Man festival in summer 1999, put a little stick figure on the home page logo in case the site crashed and someone wanted to know why nobody was answering the phone."
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/09/2004
Tuesday, June 08, 2004
NOBEL PEACE PRIZE RECIPIENT DESMOND TUTU
Sends a message to us all
The following excerpt brought tears to my eyes as I thought of our top man, the great British physicist Sir Tim Berners-Lee, and how he voluntarily gave up a fortune so that the World Wide Web could freely belong to us, the people.
He would be pleased to see here how it is being used. I shall email a copy of this post to the Father of the Internet, Vinton G Cerf.
Desmond Tutu, former Archbishop of South Africa and Nobel Peace Prize recipient sent the following message to be posted on the Internet at the Passion of the Present blog and read at the rally in support of Sudan tomorrow at Harvard in Cambridge, MA:
Let us not say we did not know.
We know and we must do something.
Let us speak up and speak out against the atrocities in Darfur.
Those dying are God’s children.
They are our sisters and brothers. Let us act now before it is too late.
God bless you for caring.
We defeated apartheid because the world cared and acted.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu,
June 7, 2004
- - -
Excerpt from the Passion of the Present blog, June 7, 2004:
The story behind this message speaks to both the speed of the web and the importance of face-to-face and voice meetings. Archbishop Tutu and Joanne are both involved in another project on peace in the Middle East and North Africa. Joanne has been trying to contact him by email for some days to help out on the Sudan crisis. She has been unsuccessful due to a problem in the email address. This morning at 5:00 AM she remembered she had dinner with the current archbishop of South Africa a couple of years ago. This stimulated an early morning dig for his card followed by a phone call to South Africa. The upshot is that his assistant answered and was wonderfully gracious and helpful (“of course we can help, but isn’t it late for you there in the US? “). She linked Joanne immediately with Archbishop Tutu’s assistant—and a few hours later Archbishop Tutu offered the message above.
Sends a message to us all
The following excerpt brought tears to my eyes as I thought of our top man, the great British physicist Sir Tim Berners-Lee, and how he voluntarily gave up a fortune so that the World Wide Web could freely belong to us, the people.
He would be pleased to see here how it is being used. I shall email a copy of this post to the Father of the Internet, Vinton G Cerf.
Desmond Tutu, former Archbishop of South Africa and Nobel Peace Prize recipient sent the following message to be posted on the Internet at the Passion of the Present blog and read at the rally in support of Sudan tomorrow at Harvard in Cambridge, MA:
Let us not say we did not know.
We know and we must do something.
Let us speak up and speak out against the atrocities in Darfur.
Those dying are God’s children.
They are our sisters and brothers. Let us act now before it is too late.
God bless you for caring.
We defeated apartheid because the world cared and acted.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu,
June 7, 2004
- - -
Excerpt from the Passion of the Present blog, June 7, 2004:
The story behind this message speaks to both the speed of the web and the importance of face-to-face and voice meetings. Archbishop Tutu and Joanne are both involved in another project on peace in the Middle East and North Africa. Joanne has been trying to contact him by email for some days to help out on the Sudan crisis. She has been unsuccessful due to a problem in the email address. This morning at 5:00 AM she remembered she had dinner with the current archbishop of South Africa a couple of years ago. This stimulated an early morning dig for his card followed by a phone call to South Africa. The upshot is that his assistant answered and was wonderfully gracious and helpful (“of course we can help, but isn’t it late for you there in the US? “). She linked Joanne immediately with Archbishop Tutu’s assistant—and a few hours later Archbishop Tutu offered the message above.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/08/2004
Monday, June 07, 2004
PUTTING THE SPOTLIGHT ON THE EU, UN AND CHARITIES
Live Aid's 20th Anniversary in 2005
Given that a top UN official states the tragedy in Darfur is "entirely man made", this is a continuation of my post that questions who is responsible - and puts the spotlight on the Heads of Sudan, EU, UN and charities that funds in the name of Africa.
A few days ago, Passion of the Present posted this little gem:
"A letter in today's Guardian: In the mid-1980s Bob Geldof and the world's media descended on Darfur with Live Aid during the Sahel famine. After meeting us aid workers, he left his jacket behind, so with his secretary's permission, I kept it as a memento. Can readers suggest how this relic of St Bob can best be used to draw attention to the fact that 350,000 people will die in Darfur in the absence of firmer and more urgent international action? Do I burn it in protest, auction it or send shreds of it to politicians? - Peter Verney, Hebden Bridge, Yorks."
- - -
Here is my suggestion, in response to their question "What to do with a celebrity jacket?" -
A shred of Bob Geldof's jacket could be sent with letters addressed to each of those responsible for the tragedy in Darfur. One could:
(1) Obtain the jacket, left by Bob Geldof during his Live Aid visit to Darfur 20 years ago, and cut it into as many pieces possible.
(2) Identify names and addresses of those responsible for the tragedy in Darfur, ie Heads of Sudan, EU, UN and main charities raising funds in the name of Africa.
(3) Draft a letter*
(4) Personalise and print out one letter to each addressee.
(5) On each letter, affix a shred of the jacket.
(6) Fold each letter into a window envelope.
(7) Affix postage and mail letters by recorded post/registered delivery (requiring acceptance signature) well before Live Aid's 20th Anniversary (July 15, 2005) to maximise publicity.
(8) If necessary, set up a PayPal account that will accept donations as low as $1 to cover printing and mailing (surplus could be donated to the Band Aid Charitable Trust).
Note: Irish blogger Gavin Sheridan wrote a superb post on the Sudan crisis saying that the "blogging community should be behind the action - 100%". Gavin is a professional journalist (and a darling) with connections in England and Ireland who may be willing to help by contacting Bono and Bob Geldof for an endorsement of the jacket/letter. If not, I can try contacting someone I know. I'd be happy to help in any way that I can. Any feedback to Passion of the Present on what to do with the celebrity jacket, or any other ideas, suggestions or comments would be gratefully received.
*Letter could help address issues raised by Bono last Tuesday at a conference on EU development (details posted here last week) where he spoke, quote: "...most EU states had reneged on a long-standing promise to commit 0.7 percent of their gross domestic product to overseas aid. EU-run aid programs had dragged their heels. There's about $14 billion that people have pledged to the EU, but the EU haven't found a way of spending it."
- - -
WE CAN SOLVE AFRICA'S PROBLEMS
But do we have the will?
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters): On Monday Irish rock star and political activist Bono urged Western governments to fight poverty, AIDS and debt in Africa because that was cheaper than combating terrorism that may breed in such conditions.
In a speech to new graduates of the University of Pennsylvania, the U2 singer said developed countries have the financial and technological ability to alleviate conditions that lead to the deaths of 7,000 people a day in Africa from preventable diseases.
The singer's support for Africa and other developing-world causes ranges from the Live Aid rock concert in 1985 to a World AIDS Day 2003 concert in South Africa. He has lobbied Congress and appealed to world leaders to back humanitarian efforts.
After being presented with an honorary doctorate of laws from the university for his work on African issues, he called on graduates to use their Ivy League educations to help.
The failure of rich nations to help solve Africa's problems has historical parallels with slavery and racial segregation, Bono said on the 50th anniversary of the U.S. court case that officially ended segregation in schools.
Those conventions were accepted norms until overthrown by those with the courage to challenge them, he said.
"If you want to save the age, betray it," he said, quoting the Irish poet Brendan Keneally. "Expose its conceits, foibles and phony moral certitudes."
"For the first time in history we have the cash and the technological know-how" to solve Africa's problems, he said. "But do we have the will?"
Further reading: The One Campaign.org and news on The One Campaign.
- - -
DON'T LET SUDAN BECOME THE NEXT RWANDA
Open letter to the Prime Minister of Canada
Note this copy of an Open Letter dated May 11, 2004, to Mr Paul Martin, the Prime Minister of Canada: "Don't let Sudan become the next Rwanda"
[Source courtesy of The Horn of Africa]
- - -
PUTTING THE SPOTLIGHT ON THE EU, UN AND CHARITIES
Live Aid - the greatest show on earth: July 13, 1985
Live Aid , the greatest show on earth, was the biggest benefit concert in history. On July 15, 1985, it took place simultaneously in two separate stadiums in the USA and the UK: Wembley Stadium, London and JFK Stadium, Philadelphia.
70,000 people packed Wembley Stadium in London for a concert that was watched on screens by 1.4 billion people in over 170 countries worldwide. Many of the top contemporary rock music acts played some of their most popular songs to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia.
Tens of millions of pounds (figures are unclear, I am still googling for accurate info) were raised for famine relief. It was the most cash raised for charity by a single event and was used to fund projects in Mozambique, Chad, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, the Sudan and Ethiopia. Apparently the people of Bermuda were the most generous of all, giving the equivalent of £1.50 per person.
According to an unofficial Live Aid website: "Band Aid and Live Aid were never intended to become permanent institutions; once the money was spent, the offices were closed and any further donations were handled by The Band Aid Charitable Trust.
People felt they could do something - they were empowered by Geldof's crusade for justice for those stricken by drought and civil war in Ethiopia. Nobody was so naive as to suggest that this money would solve the problem, but at least, by giving money, people took an interest in what was happening in the rest of the world."
Further reading: Live Aid F.A.Q. and Donor Fatigue - Ethiopia plans 'Live Aid'
- - -
PUTTING THE SPOTLIGHT ON THE EU, UN AND CHARITIES
Looking back at Live Aid's 10th Anniversary in 1995
In April 1995, on the 10th anniversary of Live Aid, Bob Geldof was quoted as saying:
"Live Aid became the focus of everyone's frustration and anger and shame. Very quickly, it became a sort of phenomenon."
"It had to be the biggest show ever, I was aware of that. It was entertainment but it was for an almost Biblical Disaster. Maybe for the first time since Man left the African Rift Valley we began to talk in a common language, and that language, bizarrely, turned out to be pop music."
- - -
In 1995, to mark the 10th anniversary of Live Aid, the following charities gave these reactions and updates:
OXFAM - "Ten years on we have peace and a fledgling democracy in Ethiopia. These are great assets. But desperate poverty remains. The population continues to increase by more than 1.5 million a year. The gap between food needs and food production is still growing. The rate of deforestation exceeds all planting efforts. If these issues are to be addressed, Ethiopia will need: the efforts of all its people; sound government policies; and continuing international support."
CAFOD - "Ethiopia's greatest natural resource is its people. They are creative, ingenious, hard-working and keen to build a secure future for themselves. Over the past ten years CAFOD has invested in this resource with skills training programmes, making people more self-sufficent. In Tigray, one of the areas worst affected by the famine, CAFOD has funded the training of 'barefoot vets', health workers and mechanics, and helped develop new skills with women and street children. We are helping to build a training school at Adwa, a remote area of Tigray that was neglected during 17 years of war."
UNICEF - "The people of Ethiopia have been living under emergency conditions for close to twenty years. Life is especially harsh for people in the countryside - the majority of the population. Children and women are particularly affected. For every 1000 babies born, 120 will die before the age of five. Women struggle to cope with sporadic food shortages and the lack of proper health care."
Save the Children Fund - "Ten years on from Live Aid, much has been achieved. Since 1991, Ethiopia has been at peace for the first time in two decades. Better early warning systems have been developed by Save the Children and other agencies - to forecast famine, and more roads have been built to distribute aid. The Ethiopian government has itself taken measures to avert famine. Yet, despite these gains, donors have been reluctant to commit themselves to Ethiopia's future development. As a result, the lives of millions of Ethiopians continue to rest precariously on the thin line between survival and catastrophe."
ACTIONAID - "Poor communities in Ethiopia continue to face hungry seasons. Erratic rainfall and environmental degradation challenge agricultural production while the majority of farmers cannot afford materials for the next planting season. Yet a small loan, for fertiliser or an ox, could make a difference. ACTIONAID's saving and credit schemes provide loans to Ethiopian farmers while other long-term programmes are improving clean water, education and health care."
Christian Aid - "Ten years on from Live Aid, Christian Aid is still there, supporting the efforts of Ethiopians in their struggle for better lives. Thousands of hectares have been terraced to catch rainfall, new dams and wells are providing clean water and simple technologies - such as grinding mills - are making a huge difference to the lives of many families. In ten years time, Ethiopians may be able to be self-sufficent. Until then they need all the help we can give."
[Note, apologies for not crediting source of above information - trying to find website - for now, I'm guessing it is F.A.Q or Live Aid]
Live Aid's 20th Anniversary in 2005
Given that a top UN official states the tragedy in Darfur is "entirely man made", this is a continuation of my post that questions who is responsible - and puts the spotlight on the Heads of Sudan, EU, UN and charities that funds in the name of Africa.
A few days ago, Passion of the Present posted this little gem:
"A letter in today's Guardian: In the mid-1980s Bob Geldof and the world's media descended on Darfur with Live Aid during the Sahel famine. After meeting us aid workers, he left his jacket behind, so with his secretary's permission, I kept it as a memento. Can readers suggest how this relic of St Bob can best be used to draw attention to the fact that 350,000 people will die in Darfur in the absence of firmer and more urgent international action? Do I burn it in protest, auction it or send shreds of it to politicians? - Peter Verney, Hebden Bridge, Yorks."
- - -
Here is my suggestion, in response to their question "What to do with a celebrity jacket?" -
A shred of Bob Geldof's jacket could be sent with letters addressed to each of those responsible for the tragedy in Darfur. One could:
(1) Obtain the jacket, left by Bob Geldof during his Live Aid visit to Darfur 20 years ago, and cut it into as many pieces possible.
(2) Identify names and addresses of those responsible for the tragedy in Darfur, ie Heads of Sudan, EU, UN and main charities raising funds in the name of Africa.
(3) Draft a letter*
(4) Personalise and print out one letter to each addressee.
(5) On each letter, affix a shred of the jacket.
(6) Fold each letter into a window envelope.
(7) Affix postage and mail letters by recorded post/registered delivery (requiring acceptance signature) well before Live Aid's 20th Anniversary (July 15, 2005) to maximise publicity.
(8) If necessary, set up a PayPal account that will accept donations as low as $1 to cover printing and mailing (surplus could be donated to the Band Aid Charitable Trust).
Note: Irish blogger Gavin Sheridan wrote a superb post on the Sudan crisis saying that the "blogging community should be behind the action - 100%". Gavin is a professional journalist (and a darling) with connections in England and Ireland who may be willing to help by contacting Bono and Bob Geldof for an endorsement of the jacket/letter. If not, I can try contacting someone I know. I'd be happy to help in any way that I can. Any feedback to Passion of the Present on what to do with the celebrity jacket, or any other ideas, suggestions or comments would be gratefully received.
*Letter could help address issues raised by Bono last Tuesday at a conference on EU development (details posted here last week) where he spoke, quote: "...most EU states had reneged on a long-standing promise to commit 0.7 percent of their gross domestic product to overseas aid. EU-run aid programs had dragged their heels. There's about $14 billion that people have pledged to the EU, but the EU haven't found a way of spending it."
- - -
WE CAN SOLVE AFRICA'S PROBLEMS
But do we have the will?
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters): On Monday Irish rock star and political activist Bono urged Western governments to fight poverty, AIDS and debt in Africa because that was cheaper than combating terrorism that may breed in such conditions.
In a speech to new graduates of the University of Pennsylvania, the U2 singer said developed countries have the financial and technological ability to alleviate conditions that lead to the deaths of 7,000 people a day in Africa from preventable diseases.
The singer's support for Africa and other developing-world causes ranges from the Live Aid rock concert in 1985 to a World AIDS Day 2003 concert in South Africa. He has lobbied Congress and appealed to world leaders to back humanitarian efforts.
After being presented with an honorary doctorate of laws from the university for his work on African issues, he called on graduates to use their Ivy League educations to help.
The failure of rich nations to help solve Africa's problems has historical parallels with slavery and racial segregation, Bono said on the 50th anniversary of the U.S. court case that officially ended segregation in schools.
Those conventions were accepted norms until overthrown by those with the courage to challenge them, he said.
"If you want to save the age, betray it," he said, quoting the Irish poet Brendan Keneally. "Expose its conceits, foibles and phony moral certitudes."
"For the first time in history we have the cash and the technological know-how" to solve Africa's problems, he said. "But do we have the will?"
Further reading: The One Campaign.org and news on The One Campaign.
- - -
DON'T LET SUDAN BECOME THE NEXT RWANDA
Open letter to the Prime Minister of Canada
Note this copy of an Open Letter dated May 11, 2004, to Mr Paul Martin, the Prime Minister of Canada: "Don't let Sudan become the next Rwanda"
[Source courtesy of The Horn of Africa]
- - -
PUTTING THE SPOTLIGHT ON THE EU, UN AND CHARITIES
Live Aid - the greatest show on earth: July 13, 1985
Live Aid , the greatest show on earth, was the biggest benefit concert in history. On July 15, 1985, it took place simultaneously in two separate stadiums in the USA and the UK: Wembley Stadium, London and JFK Stadium, Philadelphia.
70,000 people packed Wembley Stadium in London for a concert that was watched on screens by 1.4 billion people in over 170 countries worldwide. Many of the top contemporary rock music acts played some of their most popular songs to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia.
Tens of millions of pounds (figures are unclear, I am still googling for accurate info) were raised for famine relief. It was the most cash raised for charity by a single event and was used to fund projects in Mozambique, Chad, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, the Sudan and Ethiopia. Apparently the people of Bermuda were the most generous of all, giving the equivalent of £1.50 per person.
According to an unofficial Live Aid website: "Band Aid and Live Aid were never intended to become permanent institutions; once the money was spent, the offices were closed and any further donations were handled by The Band Aid Charitable Trust.
People felt they could do something - they were empowered by Geldof's crusade for justice for those stricken by drought and civil war in Ethiopia. Nobody was so naive as to suggest that this money would solve the problem, but at least, by giving money, people took an interest in what was happening in the rest of the world."
Further reading: Live Aid F.A.Q. and Donor Fatigue - Ethiopia plans 'Live Aid'
- - -
PUTTING THE SPOTLIGHT ON THE EU, UN AND CHARITIES
Looking back at Live Aid's 10th Anniversary in 1995
In April 1995, on the 10th anniversary of Live Aid, Bob Geldof was quoted as saying:
"Live Aid became the focus of everyone's frustration and anger and shame. Very quickly, it became a sort of phenomenon."
"It had to be the biggest show ever, I was aware of that. It was entertainment but it was for an almost Biblical Disaster. Maybe for the first time since Man left the African Rift Valley we began to talk in a common language, and that language, bizarrely, turned out to be pop music."
- - -
In 1995, to mark the 10th anniversary of Live Aid, the following charities gave these reactions and updates:
OXFAM - "Ten years on we have peace and a fledgling democracy in Ethiopia. These are great assets. But desperate poverty remains. The population continues to increase by more than 1.5 million a year. The gap between food needs and food production is still growing. The rate of deforestation exceeds all planting efforts. If these issues are to be addressed, Ethiopia will need: the efforts of all its people; sound government policies; and continuing international support."
CAFOD - "Ethiopia's greatest natural resource is its people. They are creative, ingenious, hard-working and keen to build a secure future for themselves. Over the past ten years CAFOD has invested in this resource with skills training programmes, making people more self-sufficent. In Tigray, one of the areas worst affected by the famine, CAFOD has funded the training of 'barefoot vets', health workers and mechanics, and helped develop new skills with women and street children. We are helping to build a training school at Adwa, a remote area of Tigray that was neglected during 17 years of war."
UNICEF - "The people of Ethiopia have been living under emergency conditions for close to twenty years. Life is especially harsh for people in the countryside - the majority of the population. Children and women are particularly affected. For every 1000 babies born, 120 will die before the age of five. Women struggle to cope with sporadic food shortages and the lack of proper health care."
Save the Children Fund - "Ten years on from Live Aid, much has been achieved. Since 1991, Ethiopia has been at peace for the first time in two decades. Better early warning systems have been developed by Save the Children and other agencies - to forecast famine, and more roads have been built to distribute aid. The Ethiopian government has itself taken measures to avert famine. Yet, despite these gains, donors have been reluctant to commit themselves to Ethiopia's future development. As a result, the lives of millions of Ethiopians continue to rest precariously on the thin line between survival and catastrophe."
ACTIONAID - "Poor communities in Ethiopia continue to face hungry seasons. Erratic rainfall and environmental degradation challenge agricultural production while the majority of farmers cannot afford materials for the next planting season. Yet a small loan, for fertiliser or an ox, could make a difference. ACTIONAID's saving and credit schemes provide loans to Ethiopian farmers while other long-term programmes are improving clean water, education and health care."
Christian Aid - "Ten years on from Live Aid, Christian Aid is still there, supporting the efforts of Ethiopians in their struggle for better lives. Thousands of hectares have been terraced to catch rainfall, new dams and wells are providing clean water and simple technologies - such as grinding mills - are making a huge difference to the lives of many families. In ten years time, Ethiopians may be able to be self-sufficent. Until then they need all the help we can give."
[Note, apologies for not crediting source of above information - trying to find website - for now, I'm guessing it is F.A.Q or Live Aid]
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/07/2004
- - -
BRITAIN'S INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT SECRETARY
Mr Hilary Benn went to Khartoum yesterday
According to a report in the Guardian on June 5, 2004, pointed to by Bob Piper: Britain's international development secretary, Mr Hilary Benn, went to Khartoum yesterday to (1) press the Sudanese to end a system of permits required for internal travel for humanitarian agencies (2) he will also ask Customs to lift blocks on aid.
I wonder what has taken Mr Benn so long?
Update: see The Horn of Africa: "Here, Have some Bad News"
- - -
WHO IS TO BLAME FOR THE MESS NOW?
"If we get relief in, we could lose a third of a million -
If we do not, it could be a million"
Warm thanks to Jim Moore, Dan O'Huiginn and Joanne Moore on their voluntary work at Passion of the Present on Sudan. It must feel emotionally draining at times. Most of the posts here on genocide and the Sudan are met by stoney silence. But I don't take it personally. I've noticed the same elsewhere. Not many bloggers seem interested in discussing such matters. Blogging about it may seem hopeless but it feels so empowering because getting help to people who are suffering so badly may be (if there were enough of us bloggers helping) just a few keyboard strokes away...
One can empathise with Patrick Hall when he writes:
"I've spent the last several hours reading about a crisis that appears to be an unavoidable catastrophe in the Sudan. I started at about midnight, my time, with a plan to read a few articles and then write a short post. But the magnitude of what is happening there is overwhelming. It's quite impossible to convey, even after 9 hours of reading article after article, one impassioned plea after another. It's very disheartening, and the only way to describe what I feel right now is nauseous. The comparisons to Rwanda are unavoidable."
- - -
It was great to see Patrick writing about Bono, the 44-year-old Irish rock star and political activist who for the past two decades has worked hard at urging Western governments to fight poverty, AIDS and debt in Africa. (Patrick please email me whenever you post on Bono so I can share it here).
- - -
Thanks to Jim Moore for this:
"Who is responsible for the tragedy in Darfur? Ingrid Jones asks the right questions. On her very insightful blog Me and Ophelia, Ingrid Jones has been writing diligently about the Sudan crisis. Today she wrote an extraordinary post--with (seemingly) some of the white anger of outrage that is appropriate to what is happening in Sudan. In reference to a BBC report following the UN donors' meeting for Sudan that "A catastrophe is now unavoidable in Sudan's Darfur region, the United Nations and aid workers say. Some 300,000 people will starve, even if emergency aid is delivered immediately, according to the head of the United States aid agency."
Also, thanks to the Passion for this:
"Ingrid Jones asks tough questions: If we get relief in, we could lose a third of a million. If we do not, it could be a million, said Andrew Natsios, head of USAid. (source: BBC report). Ingrid Jones writes a must-read piece today asking who is to blame for the mess now. She writes in what feels like the white heat of anger--appropriate, I must say, to the situation."
- - -
THE HORROR
Microsoft has $60 billion cash in the bank
In response to Jim's post, Eric Case of the Blogger team at Google writes this - in The Horror:
"If I were Microsoft, I'd withdraw 0.4% of the cash from my bank account and give it to the UN to sort this out, just because I could. Then I'd do the rest of what Ingrid is saying: "After Bosnia and Rwanda, they can't be allowed to get away with it. They've had enough years. Let's shake them up. Monitor them. Make them work better. Put the heat on them. Name and shame them. If their jobs and reputations are put under real pressure, they will put real pressure on politicians. And perhaps the whole business of providing timely help and protection to people in times of crisis - such as genocide in Darfur - could be made to run much more efficiently and effectively."
- - -
BETTER THAN BELLA DU JOUR
Says cutie pie Bob Piper
Although Counciller Bob Piper and I support the same political party, I back its leader Tony Blair but sadly Bob does not - so we don't seem to agree on most things. However, I must thank him for his latest post on the Sudan where he says this blog is better than Bella du Jour. Thanks Bob. I had no idea genocide was that riveting. Heh. Maybe he needs to get out more ;-)
- - -
KATHRYN CRAMER AND FEMALE WEBLOGS
On mercenaries, private military, oil - and Sudan
American writer Kathryn Cramer lives in Pleasantville, New York. This morning I found her weblog via Technorati links to Passion of the Present. It's encouraging to see a female blogger writing about the Sudan. Seems to me it's mostly male bloggers covering serious issues such as genocide, ethnic cleansing, the politics of oil, and the tragedy in Darfur.
I have left a comment at Kathryn's post, in the hope that she can get more female bloggers interested. I've tried here before, in a post last April, where a few female bloggers responded - there was a much more decent reaction from male bloggers who kindly took the time and trouble to spread the word and link to Passion of the Present. Kathryn is a skilled writer on a whole range of deep subjects, so it would be interesting to read her views on why she thinks female bloggers are in a tiny minority when it comes to writing on serious matters such as genocide and mass rape being used as a weapon of war.
Update: Kathryn, responded with this comment: "The issue of subject matter and gender is an interesting one. I have written a lot about mercenaries and private military firms, which elicited similar remarks. That is also how I came to read about Sudan in the Drohan book."
Note, Kathryn stated in her post on the Sudan: "Madeline Drohan has a fine chapter on the role of oil in Sudan's political violence in her book 'Making a Killing: How and Why Corporations Use Armed Force to Do Business'. (Buy the book from Amazon Canada; it's not out in the US yet.) Talisman, the Canadian oil company she discusses was forced by public pressure to pull out of Sudan and a scandanavian company followed. Their interests were bought up by Chinese and Malaysian state companies, which I suspect continue or expand upon the same lethal practices."
BRITAIN'S INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT SECRETARY
Mr Hilary Benn went to Khartoum yesterday
According to a report in the Guardian on June 5, 2004, pointed to by Bob Piper: Britain's international development secretary, Mr Hilary Benn, went to Khartoum yesterday to (1) press the Sudanese to end a system of permits required for internal travel for humanitarian agencies (2) he will also ask Customs to lift blocks on aid.
I wonder what has taken Mr Benn so long?
Update: see The Horn of Africa: "Here, Have some Bad News"
- - -
WHO IS TO BLAME FOR THE MESS NOW?
"If we get relief in, we could lose a third of a million -
If we do not, it could be a million"
Warm thanks to Jim Moore, Dan O'Huiginn and Joanne Moore on their voluntary work at Passion of the Present on Sudan. It must feel emotionally draining at times. Most of the posts here on genocide and the Sudan are met by stoney silence. But I don't take it personally. I've noticed the same elsewhere. Not many bloggers seem interested in discussing such matters. Blogging about it may seem hopeless but it feels so empowering because getting help to people who are suffering so badly may be (if there were enough of us bloggers helping) just a few keyboard strokes away...
One can empathise with Patrick Hall when he writes:
"I've spent the last several hours reading about a crisis that appears to be an unavoidable catastrophe in the Sudan. I started at about midnight, my time, with a plan to read a few articles and then write a short post. But the magnitude of what is happening there is overwhelming. It's quite impossible to convey, even after 9 hours of reading article after article, one impassioned plea after another. It's very disheartening, and the only way to describe what I feel right now is nauseous. The comparisons to Rwanda are unavoidable."
- - -
It was great to see Patrick writing about Bono, the 44-year-old Irish rock star and political activist who for the past two decades has worked hard at urging Western governments to fight poverty, AIDS and debt in Africa. (Patrick please email me whenever you post on Bono so I can share it here).
- - -
Thanks to Jim Moore for this:
"Who is responsible for the tragedy in Darfur? Ingrid Jones asks the right questions. On her very insightful blog Me and Ophelia, Ingrid Jones has been writing diligently about the Sudan crisis. Today she wrote an extraordinary post--with (seemingly) some of the white anger of outrage that is appropriate to what is happening in Sudan. In reference to a BBC report following the UN donors' meeting for Sudan that "A catastrophe is now unavoidable in Sudan's Darfur region, the United Nations and aid workers say. Some 300,000 people will starve, even if emergency aid is delivered immediately, according to the head of the United States aid agency."
Also, thanks to the Passion for this:
"Ingrid Jones asks tough questions: If we get relief in, we could lose a third of a million. If we do not, it could be a million, said Andrew Natsios, head of USAid. (source: BBC report). Ingrid Jones writes a must-read piece today asking who is to blame for the mess now. She writes in what feels like the white heat of anger--appropriate, I must say, to the situation."
- - -
THE HORROR
Microsoft has $60 billion cash in the bank
In response to Jim's post, Eric Case of the Blogger team at Google writes this - in The Horror:
"If I were Microsoft, I'd withdraw 0.4% of the cash from my bank account and give it to the UN to sort this out, just because I could. Then I'd do the rest of what Ingrid is saying: "After Bosnia and Rwanda, they can't be allowed to get away with it. They've had enough years. Let's shake them up. Monitor them. Make them work better. Put the heat on them. Name and shame them. If their jobs and reputations are put under real pressure, they will put real pressure on politicians. And perhaps the whole business of providing timely help and protection to people in times of crisis - such as genocide in Darfur - could be made to run much more efficiently and effectively."
- - -
BETTER THAN BELLA DU JOUR
Says cutie pie Bob Piper
Although Counciller Bob Piper and I support the same political party, I back its leader Tony Blair but sadly Bob does not - so we don't seem to agree on most things. However, I must thank him for his latest post on the Sudan where he says this blog is better than Bella du Jour. Thanks Bob. I had no idea genocide was that riveting. Heh. Maybe he needs to get out more ;-)
- - -
KATHRYN CRAMER AND FEMALE WEBLOGS
On mercenaries, private military, oil - and Sudan
American writer Kathryn Cramer lives in Pleasantville, New York. This morning I found her weblog via Technorati links to Passion of the Present. It's encouraging to see a female blogger writing about the Sudan. Seems to me it's mostly male bloggers covering serious issues such as genocide, ethnic cleansing, the politics of oil, and the tragedy in Darfur.
I have left a comment at Kathryn's post, in the hope that she can get more female bloggers interested. I've tried here before, in a post last April, where a few female bloggers responded - there was a much more decent reaction from male bloggers who kindly took the time and trouble to spread the word and link to Passion of the Present. Kathryn is a skilled writer on a whole range of deep subjects, so it would be interesting to read her views on why she thinks female bloggers are in a tiny minority when it comes to writing on serious matters such as genocide and mass rape being used as a weapon of war.
Update: Kathryn, responded with this comment: "The issue of subject matter and gender is an interesting one. I have written a lot about mercenaries and private military firms, which elicited similar remarks. That is also how I came to read about Sudan in the Drohan book."
Note, Kathryn stated in her post on the Sudan: "Madeline Drohan has a fine chapter on the role of oil in Sudan's political violence in her book 'Making a Killing: How and Why Corporations Use Armed Force to Do Business'. (Buy the book from Amazon Canada; it's not out in the US yet.) Talisman, the Canadian oil company she discusses was forced by public pressure to pull out of Sudan and a scandanavian company followed. Their interests were bought up by Chinese and Malaysian state companies, which I suspect continue or expand upon the same lethal practices."
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/07/2004
Sunday, June 06, 2004
D-DAY
Lesson for today
Every week, for the past 25 years, the British Sunday Times newspaper has been delivered to my door. Unfortunately Times Online does not enable deep linking. So, instead of taking a hard copy clipping for future reference, I am copying here in full today's excellent leading article "D-day lesson for today":
"This weekend we commemorate the extraordinary heroism and sacrifice of the D-Day landings. It comes as the free world also mourns the death of one of its greatest leaders, Ronald Reagan, who died last night. Sixty years after the invasion of France, D-Day remains as powerful as ever in its symbolism of freedom vanquishing tyranny. Nor must we forget the devastating cost in human life. Shortly before 7am on June 6, soldiers of America’s 1st Infantry Division, many of them young National Guardsmen from Virginia, suffered 99% casualties in 15 bloody minutes on Omaha Beach. British, Canadian and other allied troops also lost huge numbers. The individual stories of bravery and comradeship are, to a generation that has grown up in an era of European peace, quite astonishing.
On D-Day alone, an estimated 3,000 men were killed and 9,000 injured. In the ensuing Battle of Normandy the carnage reached the proportions of the Somme, with huge casualties on both sides. Veterans recollect the fields of northern France being turned into a hell-hole, the bodies of soldiers, civilians and animals littered across the landscape. It is small comfort that it could have been worse. On D-Day itself Field Marshal Rommel, commander of German forces, had gone to Germany to celebrate his wife’s 50th birthday, believing the weather too bad for any invasion. The allies had surprise on their side.
If D-Day had failed, the course of history would have changed. Hitler, having repulsed the allies in France, would have been given a chance of victory. Martin Gilbert, the historian, argues that Germany would have developed new and more deadly flying bombs, diverted its forces to fighting the Soviet Union and eliminated the remaining Jews in Europe. Had the “Longest Day” ended in disaster for the allies, the setback would have been crushing.
In another, barely less awful, “what if?” version of history, Soviet military might could have prevailed against Germany and, while British, American and Canadian forces were kicking their heels in Britain, ensured the spread of communism across the whole of Europe beyond the Channel. D-Day had to succeed and we can be eternally grateful that it did.
Nor should we forget that D-Day and the liberation of Europe could not have happened without the United States. Churchill, while gung-ho enough in the end to want to be part of the invasion fleet, was nervous because of his two failed military adventures in the Dardanelles in 1915 and at Narvik in 1940. General Eisenhower kept the momentum going for invasion.
Neither would the end of the cold war have happened without the presence of Reagan who came to power in 1980 and famously branded the Soviet Union “the evil empire”. But it was his determination, allied to that of Margaret Thatcher, that brought about the end of the stand-off between the two nuclear blocs. The West had won.
Nevertheless, the passage of time should not disguise the fact that America could be a difficult ally and had only grudgingly used her burgeoning power in the second world war. Military support came late after Pearl Harbor made US entry into the war inevitable. Even after 1941, America combined its support for the allied cause with a determination to dismantle Britain’s empire and its pretensions to be a post-war superpower. Nor was Europe’s transition from war to peace without trauma. Democracy and the rule of law did not flower instantly when the guns fell quiet. Even Reagan and Thatcher had their disagreements, notably over conflicts in the Falklands and Granada.
We should remember those lessons amid the wave of anti-Americanism directed at George W Bush. The Iraq invasion was no D-Day but there were parallels. A totalitarian leader was deposed, thanks to American, British and other allied forces. The rule of law has taken time to establish but the signs are positive. We and the rest of Europe should remember that we are always stronger when standing alongside America. Tony Blair understands that. It was the lesson in 1944 and it is true in the war against terrorism today."
Lesson for today
Every week, for the past 25 years, the British Sunday Times newspaper has been delivered to my door. Unfortunately Times Online does not enable deep linking. So, instead of taking a hard copy clipping for future reference, I am copying here in full today's excellent leading article "D-day lesson for today":
"This weekend we commemorate the extraordinary heroism and sacrifice of the D-Day landings. It comes as the free world also mourns the death of one of its greatest leaders, Ronald Reagan, who died last night. Sixty years after the invasion of France, D-Day remains as powerful as ever in its symbolism of freedom vanquishing tyranny. Nor must we forget the devastating cost in human life. Shortly before 7am on June 6, soldiers of America’s 1st Infantry Division, many of them young National Guardsmen from Virginia, suffered 99% casualties in 15 bloody minutes on Omaha Beach. British, Canadian and other allied troops also lost huge numbers. The individual stories of bravery and comradeship are, to a generation that has grown up in an era of European peace, quite astonishing.
On D-Day alone, an estimated 3,000 men were killed and 9,000 injured. In the ensuing Battle of Normandy the carnage reached the proportions of the Somme, with huge casualties on both sides. Veterans recollect the fields of northern France being turned into a hell-hole, the bodies of soldiers, civilians and animals littered across the landscape. It is small comfort that it could have been worse. On D-Day itself Field Marshal Rommel, commander of German forces, had gone to Germany to celebrate his wife’s 50th birthday, believing the weather too bad for any invasion. The allies had surprise on their side.
If D-Day had failed, the course of history would have changed. Hitler, having repulsed the allies in France, would have been given a chance of victory. Martin Gilbert, the historian, argues that Germany would have developed new and more deadly flying bombs, diverted its forces to fighting the Soviet Union and eliminated the remaining Jews in Europe. Had the “Longest Day” ended in disaster for the allies, the setback would have been crushing.
In another, barely less awful, “what if?” version of history, Soviet military might could have prevailed against Germany and, while British, American and Canadian forces were kicking their heels in Britain, ensured the spread of communism across the whole of Europe beyond the Channel. D-Day had to succeed and we can be eternally grateful that it did.
Nor should we forget that D-Day and the liberation of Europe could not have happened without the United States. Churchill, while gung-ho enough in the end to want to be part of the invasion fleet, was nervous because of his two failed military adventures in the Dardanelles in 1915 and at Narvik in 1940. General Eisenhower kept the momentum going for invasion.
Neither would the end of the cold war have happened without the presence of Reagan who came to power in 1980 and famously branded the Soviet Union “the evil empire”. But it was his determination, allied to that of Margaret Thatcher, that brought about the end of the stand-off between the two nuclear blocs. The West had won.
Nevertheless, the passage of time should not disguise the fact that America could be a difficult ally and had only grudgingly used her burgeoning power in the second world war. Military support came late after Pearl Harbor made US entry into the war inevitable. Even after 1941, America combined its support for the allied cause with a determination to dismantle Britain’s empire and its pretensions to be a post-war superpower. Nor was Europe’s transition from war to peace without trauma. Democracy and the rule of law did not flower instantly when the guns fell quiet. Even Reagan and Thatcher had their disagreements, notably over conflicts in the Falklands and Granada.
We should remember those lessons amid the wave of anti-Americanism directed at George W Bush. The Iraq invasion was no D-Day but there were parallels. A totalitarian leader was deposed, thanks to American, British and other allied forces. The rule of law has taken time to establish but the signs are positive. We and the rest of Europe should remember that we are always stronger when standing alongside America. Tony Blair understands that. It was the lesson in 1944 and it is true in the war against terrorism today."
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/06/2004
- - -
THANK YOU - WE SHALL ALWAYS REMEMBER
A salute to all the soldiers who had helped liberate Europe
This weekend Queen Elizabeth II is in Normandy along with at least 16 other leaders. Heads of state and thousands of war veterans have begun ceremonies on the French coast to mark 60 years since the D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe.
Events include memorial services and visits to graves of some of the 250,000 killed in the battle for Normandy. Wreaths have been laid at the vast war cemetery at Colleville, near Omaha Beach, at a ceremony attended by US President George W Bush among others.
The Queen visited Juno Beach to remember the sacrifices of British and Canadian troops and the Royal British Legion held a remembrance service at Bayeux Cathedral. Addressing the assembly on the beach in both English and French, she described the Juno landing as "one of the most dramatic military operations in history", saying she saluted all the soldiers who had helped liberate Europe.
"You will be honoured ever and always," Mr Bush told veterans, adding that America's alliance with Europe remained "strong". "America would do it again for our friends," he said. France, said French President Jacques Chirac, would "never forget" the sacrifices of US troops. Russian President Vladimir Putin is the first Russian, or Soviet, head of state to attend a D-Day commemoration. Mr Putin said the Russian people were grateful to the veterans of the landings for what he called their historic feat. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has described his own invitation to attend the ceremony as a sign that the shadow of war has been lifted from Germany.
- - -
WITH THE PASSAGE OF TIME -
Nothing on this scale is likely to happen again
Around 12,000 of those who took part in the seaborne invasion are in France to commemorate the event, with hundreds arriving by boat in Normandy. The Arromanches parade by old soldiers, many of whom are in their eighties, is being referred to as the Normandy veterans' "farewell march-past".
"I'm getting near death," Harry Hudec, a "Red Devil" US paratrooper who landed inland from Utah Beach, told AP news agency. "I'm 82, son, and I'm not getting any younger!"
For UK veterans unable to go to France, the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas in Staffordshire is also holding a memorial today.
- - -
EX-PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN DIES
He was 93 and had suffered from Alzheimer's disease
"He was truly a great politician who eventually brought down the Iron Curtain - may he rest in peace and always be thought of as the great liberator of Eastern Europe" - Christian A. Hehn, Hanover, Germany.
THANK YOU - WE SHALL ALWAYS REMEMBER
A salute to all the soldiers who had helped liberate Europe
This weekend Queen Elizabeth II is in Normandy along with at least 16 other leaders. Heads of state and thousands of war veterans have begun ceremonies on the French coast to mark 60 years since the D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe.
Events include memorial services and visits to graves of some of the 250,000 killed in the battle for Normandy. Wreaths have been laid at the vast war cemetery at Colleville, near Omaha Beach, at a ceremony attended by US President George W Bush among others.
The Queen visited Juno Beach to remember the sacrifices of British and Canadian troops and the Royal British Legion held a remembrance service at Bayeux Cathedral. Addressing the assembly on the beach in both English and French, she described the Juno landing as "one of the most dramatic military operations in history", saying she saluted all the soldiers who had helped liberate Europe.
"You will be honoured ever and always," Mr Bush told veterans, adding that America's alliance with Europe remained "strong". "America would do it again for our friends," he said. France, said French President Jacques Chirac, would "never forget" the sacrifices of US troops. Russian President Vladimir Putin is the first Russian, or Soviet, head of state to attend a D-Day commemoration. Mr Putin said the Russian people were grateful to the veterans of the landings for what he called their historic feat. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has described his own invitation to attend the ceremony as a sign that the shadow of war has been lifted from Germany.
- - -
WITH THE PASSAGE OF TIME -
Nothing on this scale is likely to happen again
Around 12,000 of those who took part in the seaborne invasion are in France to commemorate the event, with hundreds arriving by boat in Normandy. The Arromanches parade by old soldiers, many of whom are in their eighties, is being referred to as the Normandy veterans' "farewell march-past".
"I'm getting near death," Harry Hudec, a "Red Devil" US paratrooper who landed inland from Utah Beach, told AP news agency. "I'm 82, son, and I'm not getting any younger!"
For UK veterans unable to go to France, the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas in Staffordshire is also holding a memorial today.
- - -
EX-PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN DIES
He was 93 and had suffered from Alzheimer's disease
"He was truly a great politician who eventually brought down the Iron Curtain - may he rest in peace and always be thought of as the great liberator of Eastern Europe" - Christian A. Hehn, Hanover, Germany.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/06/2004
Saturday, June 05, 2004
STAND WITH KOFI ANNAN
Stop genocide in Sudan
The Darfur region of Sudan totters on the brink of a human rights crisis that rivals Rwanda ten years ago. If the UN does not intervene, millions could die.
Here is a neat new flyer - "Stand with Kofi Annan: Stop Genocide in Sudan" - to publicise the peace rally near Harvard on Wednesday, June 9 at 6:00 PM. Note the flyer contains this beautiful line:
"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me...He has sent me to bind the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners...Isaiah 61:1"
On Thursday, June 10th, Kofi Annan will deliver the keynote address at the Harvard Commencement. Because of Secretary General Annan's presence, the community and the press will be focused on the world's response to his comments regarding Sudan.
Stop genocide in Sudan
The Darfur region of Sudan totters on the brink of a human rights crisis that rivals Rwanda ten years ago. If the UN does not intervene, millions could die.
Here is a neat new flyer - "Stand with Kofi Annan: Stop Genocide in Sudan" - to publicise the peace rally near Harvard on Wednesday, June 9 at 6:00 PM. Note the flyer contains this beautiful line:
"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me...He has sent me to bind the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners...Isaiah 61:1"
On Thursday, June 10th, Kofi Annan will deliver the keynote address at the Harvard Commencement. Because of Secretary General Annan's presence, the community and the press will be focused on the world's response to his comments regarding Sudan.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/05/2004
- - -
UN WORKERS 'KIDNAPPED' IN DARFUR
Negotiations are under way
BBC NEWS World Africa 15:09 GMT 16.09 UK: About 16 UN aid workers have been kidnapped in Darfur, the state minister for foreign affairs has said. Nejib al-Khari Abdel Wahab said contact had been made with their abductors and negotiations were under way. There has been no confirmation by the UN, which was beginning an operation to try to avert a humanitarian crisis.
- - -
Updated 12.05 PM Sunday June 6, 2004: BBC NEWS World Africa report Sudan aid workers freed by rebels.
UN WORKERS 'KIDNAPPED' IN DARFUR
Negotiations are under way
BBC NEWS World Africa 15:09 GMT 16.09 UK: About 16 UN aid workers have been kidnapped in Darfur, the state minister for foreign affairs has said. Nejib al-Khari Abdel Wahab said contact had been made with their abductors and negotiations were under way. There has been no confirmation by the UN, which was beginning an operation to try to avert a humanitarian crisis.
- - -
Updated 12.05 PM Sunday June 6, 2004: BBC NEWS World Africa report Sudan aid workers freed by rebels.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/05/2004
Friday, June 04, 2004
UN SAYS 300,000 PEOPLE WILL DIE
EVEN IF THE AID OPERATION BEGINS NOW
Is this an outrageous scandal or what? Here are extracts from yesterday's BBC report on the 'thousands starving in Darfur:
"...At an emergency donors' meeting today, the UN is appealing for $236m it says is vital to avert a humanitarian disaster in western Sudan. The UN also said many thousands more could die even if aid was sent immediately. The US pledged $188m over 18 months and the EU 10m euros. But UN officials believe 300,000 people will die even if the aid operation begins now.
Jan Egeland, UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, said that the international community had been too slow to react to the crisis. "We admit we are late," he said. "Constraints have been so great, some agencies have been so slow, some donors have been so slow, the government restrictions have been so many." UN officials blame Sudan's government, which they say supports the militias as they rape and kill Darfur's people.
The rainy season is about to start in Darfur, and roads will turn to quagmire. Aid agencies say they will have to resort to air drops to get supplies through - a desperate measure which is rarely very successful..."
- - -
PUTTING THE SPOTLIGHT ON THE EU, UN AND CHARITIES
Who are these people? Why are they getting away with it?
My questions on the above post are: Which agencies have been so slow? Who are they? What exactly is the "international community"? Why is there no accountability?
It's almost 20 years since Live Aid's "Feed the World" concert. Sir Bob Geldof was loud and clear in publicising the impossible task of transporting aid to the needy. Since that time, millions of people around the world have continued to donate mountains of hard earned cash to Oxfam, Red Cross, Christian Aid, to name a few. What is the point of these donations and the public funds distributed on our behalf by governments?
People donate in the belief that those who are suffering, particularly in Africa, will be helped and that crises will be anticipated and responded to. Many friends of mine have raised funds over decades for charities, particularly Oxfam, Red Cross, Mother's Union and Christian Aid. I, along with them - and millions of others - have donated annually for the past 35 years.
Now, all of a sudden yesterday, an "emergency" donors meeting takes place in Geneva where the UN is asking for $236m to help the people of Darfur - even though it admits "they are a bit late" and that 300,000 people will die even if the aid operation begins now?
The UN asks for $236m like it is a drop in the ocean and puts the blame for today's situation on donors and the Sudanese government. Who's blaming the EU, UN and the charities funded by the public? After all that's been said and done about the Holocaust, Bosnia and Rwanda: what is going on with these cash mountains of aid in this day and age?
Who is accountable for this outrageous scandal? For a start, the EU, UN and all charities fundraising in the name of Africa ought to be made accountable. They should be sorted out once and for all. Even if it takes years. A great big shake up. Ineffective bureaucrats and charities spending tax payers' hard earned cash on cushy jobs, fat salaries, expense accounts, travel and meetings in exotic locations, swish premises, glossy marketing campaigns and wasteful bureaucracy to justify their positions.
After Bosnia and Rwanda, they can't be allowed to get away with it. They've had enough years. Let's shake them up. Monitor them. Make them work better. Put the heat on them. Name and shame them. If their jobs and reputations are put under real pressure, they will put real pressure on politicians. And perhaps the whole business of providing timely help and protection to people in times of crisis - such as genocide in Darfur - could be made to run much more efficiently and effectively.
How can the EU and UN allow this happen? Or is it just a fact of life. Like we are all ants. Squish. There goes another 300,000. Who cares? America and Europe sure cared about 3,000 of their own on 9/11. Is an American or European life of more value than an Sudanese life? And if it seems so, who says it has to continue that way?
Note the contrast of information in the next three posts, below - especially from Bono. And the "odd' sentence by the UN top dog on human rights: does it mean the Darfurians have refused to accept aid (on a hunger strike for military intervention?) for fear of being looted - and slaughtered? Oh God, I hope not.
EVEN IF THE AID OPERATION BEGINS NOW
Is this an outrageous scandal or what? Here are extracts from yesterday's BBC report on the 'thousands starving in Darfur:
"...At an emergency donors' meeting today, the UN is appealing for $236m it says is vital to avert a humanitarian disaster in western Sudan. The UN also said many thousands more could die even if aid was sent immediately. The US pledged $188m over 18 months and the EU 10m euros. But UN officials believe 300,000 people will die even if the aid operation begins now.
Jan Egeland, UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, said that the international community had been too slow to react to the crisis. "We admit we are late," he said. "Constraints have been so great, some agencies have been so slow, some donors have been so slow, the government restrictions have been so many." UN officials blame Sudan's government, which they say supports the militias as they rape and kill Darfur's people.
The rainy season is about to start in Darfur, and roads will turn to quagmire. Aid agencies say they will have to resort to air drops to get supplies through - a desperate measure which is rarely very successful..."
- - -
PUTTING THE SPOTLIGHT ON THE EU, UN AND CHARITIES
Who are these people? Why are they getting away with it?
My questions on the above post are: Which agencies have been so slow? Who are they? What exactly is the "international community"? Why is there no accountability?
It's almost 20 years since Live Aid's "Feed the World" concert. Sir Bob Geldof was loud and clear in publicising the impossible task of transporting aid to the needy. Since that time, millions of people around the world have continued to donate mountains of hard earned cash to Oxfam, Red Cross, Christian Aid, to name a few. What is the point of these donations and the public funds distributed on our behalf by governments?
People donate in the belief that those who are suffering, particularly in Africa, will be helped and that crises will be anticipated and responded to. Many friends of mine have raised funds over decades for charities, particularly Oxfam, Red Cross, Mother's Union and Christian Aid. I, along with them - and millions of others - have donated annually for the past 35 years.
Now, all of a sudden yesterday, an "emergency" donors meeting takes place in Geneva where the UN is asking for $236m to help the people of Darfur - even though it admits "they are a bit late" and that 300,000 people will die even if the aid operation begins now?
The UN asks for $236m like it is a drop in the ocean and puts the blame for today's situation on donors and the Sudanese government. Who's blaming the EU, UN and the charities funded by the public? After all that's been said and done about the Holocaust, Bosnia and Rwanda: what is going on with these cash mountains of aid in this day and age?
Who is accountable for this outrageous scandal? For a start, the EU, UN and all charities fundraising in the name of Africa ought to be made accountable. They should be sorted out once and for all. Even if it takes years. A great big shake up. Ineffective bureaucrats and charities spending tax payers' hard earned cash on cushy jobs, fat salaries, expense accounts, travel and meetings in exotic locations, swish premises, glossy marketing campaigns and wasteful bureaucracy to justify their positions.
After Bosnia and Rwanda, they can't be allowed to get away with it. They've had enough years. Let's shake them up. Monitor them. Make them work better. Put the heat on them. Name and shame them. If their jobs and reputations are put under real pressure, they will put real pressure on politicians. And perhaps the whole business of providing timely help and protection to people in times of crisis - such as genocide in Darfur - could be made to run much more efficiently and effectively.
How can the EU and UN allow this happen? Or is it just a fact of life. Like we are all ants. Squish. There goes another 300,000. Who cares? America and Europe sure cared about 3,000 of their own on 9/11. Is an American or European life of more value than an Sudanese life? And if it seems so, who says it has to continue that way?
Note the contrast of information in the next three posts, below - especially from Bono. And the "odd' sentence by the UN top dog on human rights: does it mean the Darfurians have refused to accept aid (on a hunger strike for military intervention?) for fear of being looted - and slaughtered? Oh God, I hope not.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/04/2004
- - -
YESTERDAY'S STATEMENT BY UN:
"This crisis is eminently soluble. It can be stopped and its impact can be reversed. I repeat to you again: This crisis can end and can end quickly."
Yesterday, at an emergency donor meeting in the wonderful surroundings of Geneva, the UN appealed for $236m to help the people of Darfur. The US pledged $188 million, 10 million euros from the EU, and US $4.4m from Canada.
In return, here's what the UN came up with: a 90-day action plan; despatch of an eight human rights officers (6 to Darfur and 2 to Khartoum); and an offer to work closely with the African Union to ensure that a human rights observer component is included in their ceasefire monitoring mission to Darfur.
For the record, these two excerpts are from the UN Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights' Statement presented at yesterday's donor meeting on Darfur (the wording of the second I find most odd), quote:
(1) "the crisis is eminently soluble. It can be stopped and its impact - for the refugees and other displaced - can be reversed. I repeat to you again: this crisis can end and can end quickly. Now is the time and here is the place when our collective commitment to bring it to an end must be realised through practical and constructive means."
(2) "While it is common sense to us all that humanitarian assistance and adequate protection are two sides of the same coin, we need to put this common sense fully into action. No more can we countenance hearing stories of the displaced appealing for the non-delivery of assistance as a means to ensure their greater security from further pillage and violence."
- - -
STATEMENT BY HEAD OF USAID AT
UN DONOR MEETING ON DARFUR:
Best case scenario: 330,000 dead
Excerpt from Passion of the Present's June 4, 2004 : Sudan
"We estimate right now if we get relief in, we'll lose a third of a million people, and if we don't the death rates could be dramatically higher, approaching a million people," - Andrew Natsios, the head of USAID, speaking at yesterday's UN donor meeting on Darfur.
YESTERDAY'S STATEMENT BY UN:
"This crisis is eminently soluble. It can be stopped and its impact can be reversed. I repeat to you again: This crisis can end and can end quickly."
Yesterday, at an emergency donor meeting in the wonderful surroundings of Geneva, the UN appealed for $236m to help the people of Darfur. The US pledged $188 million, 10 million euros from the EU, and US $4.4m from Canada.
In return, here's what the UN came up with: a 90-day action plan; despatch of an eight human rights officers (6 to Darfur and 2 to Khartoum); and an offer to work closely with the African Union to ensure that a human rights observer component is included in their ceasefire monitoring mission to Darfur.
For the record, these two excerpts are from the UN Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights' Statement presented at yesterday's donor meeting on Darfur (the wording of the second I find most odd), quote:
(1) "the crisis is eminently soluble. It can be stopped and its impact - for the refugees and other displaced - can be reversed. I repeat to you again: this crisis can end and can end quickly. Now is the time and here is the place when our collective commitment to bring it to an end must be realised through practical and constructive means."
(2) "While it is common sense to us all that humanitarian assistance and adequate protection are two sides of the same coin, we need to put this common sense fully into action. No more can we countenance hearing stories of the displaced appealing for the non-delivery of assistance as a means to ensure their greater security from further pillage and violence."
- - -
STATEMENT BY HEAD OF USAID AT
UN DONOR MEETING ON DARFUR:
Best case scenario: 330,000 dead
Excerpt from Passion of the Present's June 4, 2004 : Sudan
"We estimate right now if we get relief in, we'll lose a third of a million people, and if we don't the death rates could be dramatically higher, approaching a million people," - Andrew Natsios, the head of USAID, speaking at yesterday's UN donor meeting on Darfur.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/04/2004
- - -
BONO SAYS LIVE AID II WOULDN'T FIX THINGS IN AFRICA
$14 billion is pledged to the EU, but the EU haven't found a way of spending it
Associated Press June 3, 2004, DUBLIN, Ireland -- Bono urged European Union governments to spend more on forgiving debts and combating the spread of AIDS in Africa, causes the frontman for Irish band U2 has championed for the past decade.
Bono, the lunchtime speaker Tuesday at a conference of EU development ministers at Dublin Castle, said most EU states had reneged on a long-standing promise to commit 0.7 percent of their gross domestic product to overseas aid. He called that "renegotiating your deal with God downwards."
He also said EU-run aid programs had dragged their heels.
"There's about $14 billion that people have pledged to the EU, but the EU haven't found a way of spending it. That's not the Europe I want to be in," the 44-year-old singer said.
Bono, responding to a reporter's question, said he didn't expect popular singers to band together soon to mount another Live Aid-style concert. The 1985 concerts led by Bob Geldof raised $22 million for famine relief in Ethiopia and the Sudan.
"At this point there are no plans for a Live Aid II," Bono said. "It's always there in the background but right now, no. Right now we're after billions, not millions. A Live Aid II would help, but it wouldn't fix the problem."
BONO SAYS LIVE AID II WOULDN'T FIX THINGS IN AFRICA
$14 billion is pledged to the EU, but the EU haven't found a way of spending it
Associated Press June 3, 2004, DUBLIN, Ireland -- Bono urged European Union governments to spend more on forgiving debts and combating the spread of AIDS in Africa, causes the frontman for Irish band U2 has championed for the past decade.
Bono, the lunchtime speaker Tuesday at a conference of EU development ministers at Dublin Castle, said most EU states had reneged on a long-standing promise to commit 0.7 percent of their gross domestic product to overseas aid. He called that "renegotiating your deal with God downwards."
He also said EU-run aid programs had dragged their heels.
"There's about $14 billion that people have pledged to the EU, but the EU haven't found a way of spending it. That's not the Europe I want to be in," the 44-year-old singer said.
Bono, responding to a reporter's question, said he didn't expect popular singers to band together soon to mount another Live Aid-style concert. The 1985 concerts led by Bob Geldof raised $22 million for famine relief in Ethiopia and the Sudan.
"At this point there are no plans for a Live Aid II," Bono said. "It's always there in the background but right now, no. Right now we're after billions, not millions. A Live Aid II would help, but it wouldn't fix the problem."
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/04/2004
Thursday, June 03, 2004
BRITAIN HAS DRAFTED A UN RESOLUTION
But has left Darfur out of it
Today's news from Passion of the Present: "Britain has drafted a UN resolution welcoming last week's peace deal in southern Sudan (AP, Reuters). Judging from these reports, Security Council members are missing another opportunity to act by leaving Darfur out of the resolution. A few paragraphs could make a real difference here - anyone have some tips on lobbying the Security Council?"
- - -
Warm thanks to British blogger Clive at The UK Today for reminding bloggers what they can do to help and how to contact MPs direct by email and fax. Also, thank you to Doctor's Orders for commenting at Sudan - Again with this suggestion:
"...organise a youth group session on Darfur using this resource as a starting point and get your minister/vicar/CU to incorporate the issue in a sermon; write to the social studies department of your children's high school as a concerned parent - this is a geographical, historical and religious issue - and ask them to discuss the issue in lessons. Encourage all these "reached" people to write to their MP..."
- - -
What a great idea to get teachers involved in this. I am pinging - via technorati - Neil of Teacher's Tales (who is a Religious Education teacher at a Catholic school in London, England) in the hope that he might float the suggestion to his teaching colleagues and fellow bloggers.
- - -
Note, all of my previous posts on the Sudan continue to be listed under post dated May 30, 2004.
But has left Darfur out of it
Today's news from Passion of the Present: "Britain has drafted a UN resolution welcoming last week's peace deal in southern Sudan (AP, Reuters). Judging from these reports, Security Council members are missing another opportunity to act by leaving Darfur out of the resolution. A few paragraphs could make a real difference here - anyone have some tips on lobbying the Security Council?"
- - -
Warm thanks to British blogger Clive at The UK Today for reminding bloggers what they can do to help and how to contact MPs direct by email and fax. Also, thank you to Doctor's Orders for commenting at Sudan - Again with this suggestion:
"...organise a youth group session on Darfur using this resource as a starting point and get your minister/vicar/CU to incorporate the issue in a sermon; write to the social studies department of your children's high school as a concerned parent - this is a geographical, historical and religious issue - and ask them to discuss the issue in lessons. Encourage all these "reached" people to write to their MP..."
- - -
What a great idea to get teachers involved in this. I am pinging - via technorati - Neil of Teacher's Tales (who is a Religious Education teacher at a Catholic school in London, England) in the hope that he might float the suggestion to his teaching colleagues and fellow bloggers.
- - -
Note, all of my previous posts on the Sudan continue to be listed under post dated May 30, 2004.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/03/2004
- - -
HOW OIL IS FUELLING WAR IN SUDAN
Civilian suffering continues in the oil regions
In June 2003, Christian Aid produced a report entitled How oil is fuelling war in Sudan. Here is a copy - in full:
As part of the trade justice campaign, Christian Aid is calling for effective regulation of transnational companies. This example shows how the presence of international oil companies continues to fuel war in Sudan.
In the south of Sudan, government troops and militias are terrorising, raping, killing and displacing thousands of people to make way for oil production by foreign oil companies. Christian Aid’s 2001 report, The Scorched Earth, described how the northern most oilfields in southern Sudan had been virtually cleared of villages. The report predicted that this would also be the fate of the oil-rich areas further south and, sure enough, thousands of people across the oil regions of Western Upper Nile have been killed or forced to leave their homes over the last year. The rights of foreign corporations are still taking precedence over those of Sudanese civilians.
Companies from Asia and Europe, including the UK, have helped build Sudan’s oil industry. Their very presence enables the government to secure revenues to help pay for the war. Oil industry infrastructure – the same roads and airstrips which serve the companies – is used by the army to conduct the conflict.
‘Oil is right on the frontline of our war. But if there’s peace, then money from oil must put right the damage that’s being done to people living around the oil fields, rather than being the reason for their suffering,’ says Acuil Banggol of SUPRAID, a Christian Aid partner organisation in southern Sudan.
Eyewitness accounts from 2002 revealed that Sudanese armed forces are deliberately attacking civilians in the oil regions of Western Upper Nile. Maria Nyaluak Gadet walked for ten days after government troops attacked her village near Pultuni, Western Upper Nile. ‘Antonovs came and gunships came,’ she says, cradling a dying child. ‘They burned our houses and chased us away.’
A consortium of oil companies, including the Austrian company OMV and Swedish company Lundin Petroleum, exploit the oil in Western Upper Nile. Both Lundin and OMV suspended their operations in January 2002, because of a ‘deteriorating security situation’. But, both before and during the suspension, the government of Sudan has continued to attack civilians and clear the area in preparation for a resumption of oil activities.
In September 2002, Christian Aid visited Ti-ir in Western Upper Nile, where people forced from their homes in the oil regions have found temporary shelter. ‘First the Bagara Arabs attacked us with horses, then the other militias,’ says Ruothkei, one of those forced to flee. ‘The helicopter gunships came, and we were running, then the Antonovs attacked us. Many people died, so many you couldn’t count them.’
In October 2002, the government of Sudan and the rebel movement – the Sudan People’s Liberation Army/Movement – signed an agreement to stop attacking civilians. However, the government has continued to attack communities around a road built to access the oil-producing areas.
Despite claims that it would not go back until there was a comprehensive and sustainable peace, OMV announced in March 2003 that it was taking the first steps to re-commence work. At the time, government and militia attacks around the oil fields were continuing and – crucially – in the peace negotiations, the issue of oil was proving to be a major sticking point.
‘The fighting is related to protecting the oil concessions. This [is] a serious undermining of the peace process,’ commented John Duku, SPLM representative to the European Union, in April 2003.
Sudan’s oil exports have paid for a home-grown Sudanese arms industry, as well as financing arms imports. ‘Sudan will be capable of producing all the weapons it needs thanks to the growing oil industry,’ General Mohamed Yassin claimed in April 2000.
Expansion of oil production goes hand in hand with attacks on civilians. Unless a just and lasting peace is achieved, these bloody attacks will continue.
Global, effective regulation of transnational companies is essential to prevent oil companies from operating in the midst of civil war. The rights of civilians must take precedence over the right of companies to drill for oil.
[Source of link to report via The UK Today and Doctor's Orders]
- - -
Further reading:
May 27, 2004: Christian Aid warns Sudan peace deal is not end to conflict
May 27, 2004: Christian Aid recommendations on peace in Sudan
May 2004: Christian Aid in Sudan.
HOW OIL IS FUELLING WAR IN SUDAN
Civilian suffering continues in the oil regions
In June 2003, Christian Aid produced a report entitled How oil is fuelling war in Sudan. Here is a copy - in full:
As part of the trade justice campaign, Christian Aid is calling for effective regulation of transnational companies. This example shows how the presence of international oil companies continues to fuel war in Sudan.
In the south of Sudan, government troops and militias are terrorising, raping, killing and displacing thousands of people to make way for oil production by foreign oil companies. Christian Aid’s 2001 report, The Scorched Earth, described how the northern most oilfields in southern Sudan had been virtually cleared of villages. The report predicted that this would also be the fate of the oil-rich areas further south and, sure enough, thousands of people across the oil regions of Western Upper Nile have been killed or forced to leave their homes over the last year. The rights of foreign corporations are still taking precedence over those of Sudanese civilians.
Companies from Asia and Europe, including the UK, have helped build Sudan’s oil industry. Their very presence enables the government to secure revenues to help pay for the war. Oil industry infrastructure – the same roads and airstrips which serve the companies – is used by the army to conduct the conflict.
‘Oil is right on the frontline of our war. But if there’s peace, then money from oil must put right the damage that’s being done to people living around the oil fields, rather than being the reason for their suffering,’ says Acuil Banggol of SUPRAID, a Christian Aid partner organisation in southern Sudan.
Eyewitness accounts from 2002 revealed that Sudanese armed forces are deliberately attacking civilians in the oil regions of Western Upper Nile. Maria Nyaluak Gadet walked for ten days after government troops attacked her village near Pultuni, Western Upper Nile. ‘Antonovs came and gunships came,’ she says, cradling a dying child. ‘They burned our houses and chased us away.’
A consortium of oil companies, including the Austrian company OMV and Swedish company Lundin Petroleum, exploit the oil in Western Upper Nile. Both Lundin and OMV suspended their operations in January 2002, because of a ‘deteriorating security situation’. But, both before and during the suspension, the government of Sudan has continued to attack civilians and clear the area in preparation for a resumption of oil activities.
In September 2002, Christian Aid visited Ti-ir in Western Upper Nile, where people forced from their homes in the oil regions have found temporary shelter. ‘First the Bagara Arabs attacked us with horses, then the other militias,’ says Ruothkei, one of those forced to flee. ‘The helicopter gunships came, and we were running, then the Antonovs attacked us. Many people died, so many you couldn’t count them.’
In October 2002, the government of Sudan and the rebel movement – the Sudan People’s Liberation Army/Movement – signed an agreement to stop attacking civilians. However, the government has continued to attack communities around a road built to access the oil-producing areas.
Despite claims that it would not go back until there was a comprehensive and sustainable peace, OMV announced in March 2003 that it was taking the first steps to re-commence work. At the time, government and militia attacks around the oil fields were continuing and – crucially – in the peace negotiations, the issue of oil was proving to be a major sticking point.
‘The fighting is related to protecting the oil concessions. This [is] a serious undermining of the peace process,’ commented John Duku, SPLM representative to the European Union, in April 2003.
Sudan’s oil exports have paid for a home-grown Sudanese arms industry, as well as financing arms imports. ‘Sudan will be capable of producing all the weapons it needs thanks to the growing oil industry,’ General Mohamed Yassin claimed in April 2000.
Expansion of oil production goes hand in hand with attacks on civilians. Unless a just and lasting peace is achieved, these bloody attacks will continue.
Global, effective regulation of transnational companies is essential to prevent oil companies from operating in the midst of civil war. The rights of civilians must take precedence over the right of companies to drill for oil.
[Source of link to report via The UK Today and Doctor's Orders]
- - -
Further reading:
May 27, 2004: Christian Aid warns Sudan peace deal is not end to conflict
May 27, 2004: Christian Aid recommendations on peace in Sudan
May 2004: Christian Aid in Sudan.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/03/2004
Wednesday, June 02, 2004
RALLY FOR PEACE IN THE SUDAN
At Harvard on Wednesday June 9, 6 PM
Yesterday, Passion of the Present announced details of the Rally for Peace in Sudan taking place near Harvard in Cambridge, MA on Wednesday June 9, 6 PM. Excerpt:
"...Wednesday is the evening before Kofi Annan delivers the major address at the Harvard Commencement. Because of Secretary General Annan's presence, the community and the press will be focused on the world's response to Sudan. This event provides people a special opportunity to add their voices to those of others, and spread the message of Sudan now.
Leading the event is Gloria White Hammond, the noted activist minister and pediatrician. Rev. Dr. Hammond has made two trips to Sudan to free slaves, with the second trip freeing 6700 individuals. She will be joined by prize-winning television journalist Liz Walker, who travelled to Sudan in 2001 and is returning this summer. Also invited is former United States Ambassador to Tanzania Charles Stith, an expert on African leadership..."
- - -
Further reading: Report in NYT by Nicholas D. Kristof: The West stands by while genocide unfolds. Series of Letters from Nuba Mountain by Lawrence Peter describing his experiences in Sudan as a cease-fire monitor with the Joint Military Commission, Nuba Mountains between April-July 2002. [via comments in Joi Ito's Sudan post]
Note: Jim says, "Daniel O'Huiggin is responsible for many of the posts on http://passionofthepresent.org. Dan is a natural-born blogger. Like Joanne, the other writer on the blog besides me, Dan has been quiet about himself. Dan is passionate about the situation in Sudan, and got involved by emailing us and offering to help. Dan's day job is as an undergraduate at Cambridge University in England where he studies Indian languages. It is a wonderful thing to wake up here in Boston and find that during the U.S. night Dan has been sifting away at news and comment from the ground in north Africa and from European political capitals, and has put it all together to provide a daily update with his own insightful perspective."
PS Bloggers can help by continuing to google bomb "Sudan". Here's sending warm thanks to journalist Gavin Sheridan and SEO engineer Tim Ireland for their links and posts on the Sudan.
At Harvard on Wednesday June 9, 6 PM
Yesterday, Passion of the Present announced details of the Rally for Peace in Sudan taking place near Harvard in Cambridge, MA on Wednesday June 9, 6 PM. Excerpt:
"...Wednesday is the evening before Kofi Annan delivers the major address at the Harvard Commencement. Because of Secretary General Annan's presence, the community and the press will be focused on the world's response to Sudan. This event provides people a special opportunity to add their voices to those of others, and spread the message of Sudan now.
Leading the event is Gloria White Hammond, the noted activist minister and pediatrician. Rev. Dr. Hammond has made two trips to Sudan to free slaves, with the second trip freeing 6700 individuals. She will be joined by prize-winning television journalist Liz Walker, who travelled to Sudan in 2001 and is returning this summer. Also invited is former United States Ambassador to Tanzania Charles Stith, an expert on African leadership..."
- - -
Further reading: Report in NYT by Nicholas D. Kristof: The West stands by while genocide unfolds. Series of Letters from Nuba Mountain by Lawrence Peter describing his experiences in Sudan as a cease-fire monitor with the Joint Military Commission, Nuba Mountains between April-July 2002. [via comments in Joi Ito's Sudan post]
Note: Jim says, "Daniel O'Huiggin is responsible for many of the posts on http://passionofthepresent.org. Dan is a natural-born blogger. Like Joanne, the other writer on the blog besides me, Dan has been quiet about himself. Dan is passionate about the situation in Sudan, and got involved by emailing us and offering to help. Dan's day job is as an undergraduate at Cambridge University in England where he studies Indian languages. It is a wonderful thing to wake up here in Boston and find that during the U.S. night Dan has been sifting away at news and comment from the ground in north Africa and from European political capitals, and has put it all together to provide a daily update with his own insightful perspective."
PS Bloggers can help by continuing to google bomb "Sudan". Here's sending warm thanks to journalist Gavin Sheridan and SEO engineer Tim Ireland for their links and posts on the Sudan.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/02/2004
Tuesday, June 01, 2004
BRITAIN REJECTS MILITARY INTERVENTION AND
SANCTIONS AGAINST KHARTOUM
Time to stop dragging our feet. Time to act
For well over a month now the mighty Scaryduck has been reading my posts on ethnic cleansing in Sudan. Today he writes a great post on the Sudan, copied here in full:
"A population of over a million black Africans are being displaced by Arab militias in Darfur, while the Muslim-dominated government looks on. Refugees escaping over the border into Chad speak of wholesale murder, rape, destruction of livestock and villages, while the world has been nicely diverted by the continuing unpleasantness in Iraq and the less-than-effective War on Terrorism. Even in Chad, these refugees are not safe, with Janjaweed militias following them over the border to continue their harrassment.
A recent peace deal has ended the twenty-one year civil war between government forces and the Sudan People's Liberation Army, who were fighting for a Christian state in the south. However, this deal does nothing to address the situation in Darfur in the West, described by the UN as "the world's worst humanitarian crisis", and little or nothing is being done to rectify the situation.
It is in the West's interests to see a stable Sudan. It is a country, after all, blessed with rich deposits of oil, which any government worth their salt would be clamouring to exploit in the current uncertain market. Secondly, Sudan has strong links to Al-Qaeda, with Osama bin Laden being based in Khartoum during the 1990s. If the West is at all interested in winning their War on Terrorism, then a peaceful solution to Sudan's problems should be fostered at the earliest convenience.
Call me Mr Cynical if you like, but the West's reluctance to get involved is absolutely nothing to do with the fact that they are pandering to Gulf oil-producing states who have them by the short and curlies with those all-important fuel reserves. At all. And you can quote me on that. While other humanitarian disasters have brought gasps of disbelief and floods of aid, Sudan has kept this genocide under wraps and away from the prying lenses of Western media. Time to stop dragging our feet, then. Time to act."
- - -
BRITISH-US RIFT ON HOW TO DEAL WITH SUDAN 'CLEANSING'
Britain rejects intervention despite warnings of 350,000 deaths in the next few months
Currently, direct links to posts within the Passion of the Present are not working on my Safari browser. I am therefore copying here in full the Telegraph report they are pointing to in their post dated June 01, 2004. The report, written by Adrian Blomfield in Nairobi, was filed on May 31, 2004:
"Britain has said it will not support calls for military intervention in Sudan despite warnings that a government campaign of ethnic cleansing against black Muslims in Darfur could cause 350,000 deaths in the next few months. Alan Goulty, Tony Blair's special envoy to Sudan, said he also opposed sanctions against Khartoum.
The comments are likely to widen a foreign policy rift between Britain and America, the two most important western players in Sudan.
United States officials are convinced that sanctions are the only way of exerting meaningful pressure on Khartoum to avert a catastrophe that is already being compared with the genocide in Rwanda 10 years ago. But Mr Goulty does not agree. "In the long term, threats of sanctions don't seem likely to produce immediate action and immediate action is what we need," he said. "The more time we spend dithering, the more people will die."
The West has tried to ignore Darfur's war, described by the United Nations as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, since it began a year ago. It is now too late to stop the ethnic cleansing. Darfur, an area the size of France, is largely empty. Arab militiamen on horses and camels, armed and funded by kinsmen in Khartoum, have ridden across Darfur, burning villages, raping women and executing men of fighting age.
About 30,000 people have been killed. More than a million black Muslim civilians accused by Khartoum of supporting rebels fighting its political and economic marginalisation of Darfur have fled. Most of them languish in camps in Darfur's desert and Khartoum has done its best to ensure aid organisations cannot get there to feed them. With seasonal rains expected any day, their plight can only worsen.
The only roads in Darfur and neighbouring Chad, to where at least 200,000 refugees have fled, cross dry river beds which fill up with water when the rain begins. Aid convoys will not be able to reach the overcrowded camps, where festering disease will be worsened by the rain, for at least two months.
Last week, the International Crisis Group, a respected think tank, called on the UN Security Council to consider authorising the use of force to disarm the militias as the only way to ensure the delivery of emergency food and medicine. Mr Goulty insists that military intervention would be a drastic and ineffective response to the crisis. "It would be very expensive, fraught with difficulties and hard to set up in a hurry," he said.
Britain has long preferred a policy of "quiet diplomacy" with Khartoum. British diplomats say their patience, as much as American bullying, led to a peace deal signed last week that could end a separate war, waged intermittently for half a century, between the government and non-Muslim rebels in the south."
Note: Telegraph report dated 30 May 2004: Arab militia use 'rape camps' for ethnic cleansing of Sudan.
- - -
ON MAY 30, 2004
Oxfam launched a new appeal for Western Sudan
Here is a copy of Passion of the Present's post dated May 31, 2004: "Oxfam yesterday launched a new appeal for Western Sudan. You can donate online. If you want to check where your money would go, their Sudan page includes a summary of current Oxfam activities in the area."
- - -
Note: All of my previous posts on the Sudan are now combined in May 30, 2004 post re Kofi Annan's visit to Harvard in Boston on June 10, 2004 and planning of a peace rally for the Sudan by Jim Moore and several others living in the Cambridge/Boston area.
SANCTIONS AGAINST KHARTOUM
Time to stop dragging our feet. Time to act
For well over a month now the mighty Scaryduck has been reading my posts on ethnic cleansing in Sudan. Today he writes a great post on the Sudan, copied here in full:
"A population of over a million black Africans are being displaced by Arab militias in Darfur, while the Muslim-dominated government looks on. Refugees escaping over the border into Chad speak of wholesale murder, rape, destruction of livestock and villages, while the world has been nicely diverted by the continuing unpleasantness in Iraq and the less-than-effective War on Terrorism. Even in Chad, these refugees are not safe, with Janjaweed militias following them over the border to continue their harrassment.
A recent peace deal has ended the twenty-one year civil war between government forces and the Sudan People's Liberation Army, who were fighting for a Christian state in the south. However, this deal does nothing to address the situation in Darfur in the West, described by the UN as "the world's worst humanitarian crisis", and little or nothing is being done to rectify the situation.
It is in the West's interests to see a stable Sudan. It is a country, after all, blessed with rich deposits of oil, which any government worth their salt would be clamouring to exploit in the current uncertain market. Secondly, Sudan has strong links to Al-Qaeda, with Osama bin Laden being based in Khartoum during the 1990s. If the West is at all interested in winning their War on Terrorism, then a peaceful solution to Sudan's problems should be fostered at the earliest convenience.
Call me Mr Cynical if you like, but the West's reluctance to get involved is absolutely nothing to do with the fact that they are pandering to Gulf oil-producing states who have them by the short and curlies with those all-important fuel reserves. At all. And you can quote me on that. While other humanitarian disasters have brought gasps of disbelief and floods of aid, Sudan has kept this genocide under wraps and away from the prying lenses of Western media. Time to stop dragging our feet, then. Time to act."
- - -
BRITISH-US RIFT ON HOW TO DEAL WITH SUDAN 'CLEANSING'
Britain rejects intervention despite warnings of 350,000 deaths in the next few months
Currently, direct links to posts within the Passion of the Present are not working on my Safari browser. I am therefore copying here in full the Telegraph report they are pointing to in their post dated June 01, 2004. The report, written by Adrian Blomfield in Nairobi, was filed on May 31, 2004:
"Britain has said it will not support calls for military intervention in Sudan despite warnings that a government campaign of ethnic cleansing against black Muslims in Darfur could cause 350,000 deaths in the next few months. Alan Goulty, Tony Blair's special envoy to Sudan, said he also opposed sanctions against Khartoum.
The comments are likely to widen a foreign policy rift between Britain and America, the two most important western players in Sudan.
United States officials are convinced that sanctions are the only way of exerting meaningful pressure on Khartoum to avert a catastrophe that is already being compared with the genocide in Rwanda 10 years ago. But Mr Goulty does not agree. "In the long term, threats of sanctions don't seem likely to produce immediate action and immediate action is what we need," he said. "The more time we spend dithering, the more people will die."
The West has tried to ignore Darfur's war, described by the United Nations as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, since it began a year ago. It is now too late to stop the ethnic cleansing. Darfur, an area the size of France, is largely empty. Arab militiamen on horses and camels, armed and funded by kinsmen in Khartoum, have ridden across Darfur, burning villages, raping women and executing men of fighting age.
About 30,000 people have been killed. More than a million black Muslim civilians accused by Khartoum of supporting rebels fighting its political and economic marginalisation of Darfur have fled. Most of them languish in camps in Darfur's desert and Khartoum has done its best to ensure aid organisations cannot get there to feed them. With seasonal rains expected any day, their plight can only worsen.
The only roads in Darfur and neighbouring Chad, to where at least 200,000 refugees have fled, cross dry river beds which fill up with water when the rain begins. Aid convoys will not be able to reach the overcrowded camps, where festering disease will be worsened by the rain, for at least two months.
Last week, the International Crisis Group, a respected think tank, called on the UN Security Council to consider authorising the use of force to disarm the militias as the only way to ensure the delivery of emergency food and medicine. Mr Goulty insists that military intervention would be a drastic and ineffective response to the crisis. "It would be very expensive, fraught with difficulties and hard to set up in a hurry," he said.
Britain has long preferred a policy of "quiet diplomacy" with Khartoum. British diplomats say their patience, as much as American bullying, led to a peace deal signed last week that could end a separate war, waged intermittently for half a century, between the government and non-Muslim rebels in the south."
Note: Telegraph report dated 30 May 2004: Arab militia use 'rape camps' for ethnic cleansing of Sudan.
- - -
ON MAY 30, 2004
Oxfam launched a new appeal for Western Sudan
Here is a copy of Passion of the Present's post dated May 31, 2004: "Oxfam yesterday launched a new appeal for Western Sudan. You can donate online. If you want to check where your money would go, their Sudan page includes a summary of current Oxfam activities in the area."
- - -
Note: All of my previous posts on the Sudan are now combined in May 30, 2004 post re Kofi Annan's visit to Harvard in Boston on June 10, 2004 and planning of a peace rally for the Sudan by Jim Moore and several others living in the Cambridge/Boston area.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/01/2004
- - -
THE CASE FOR ONCE-A-WEEK BLOGGING:
Tom Mangan retires from frequent blogging
Super blogger Tom Mangan of the San Jose Mercury News writes "so long and thanks for all the links". After retiring from frequent blogging at Prints the Chaff, Tom's written a neat piece on the case for once-a-week blogging.
Recently, I've thought about reducing the frequency of my posts to every few days, or even once a week if necessary, in order to spend the time and energy on some special posts and learn how to post pictures. June 1st seems like a good date to start. So I'll post again in a few days. Bye for now. Thanks Tom and Steve.
THE CASE FOR ONCE-A-WEEK BLOGGING:
Tom Mangan retires from frequent blogging
Super blogger Tom Mangan of the San Jose Mercury News writes "so long and thanks for all the links". After retiring from frequent blogging at Prints the Chaff, Tom's written a neat piece on the case for once-a-week blogging.
Recently, I've thought about reducing the frequency of my posts to every few days, or even once a week if necessary, in order to spend the time and energy on some special posts and learn how to post pictures. June 1st seems like a good date to start. So I'll post again in a few days. Bye for now. Thanks Tom and Steve.
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/01/2004
- - -
SEVEN DAY ALL-BLOG MEDIA DIET:
Steve Rubel's experiment
Steve Rubel authors the Micro Persuasion weblog, which tracks how blogs and participatory journalism are changing the public relations practice. He describes himself as a PR strategist and expert in integrating weblogs into traditional PR campaigns. Currently, he's VP of a mid-size PR firm in midtown New York City.
For seven days he is giving up his daily diet of news from mainstream sources and will attempt to keep up with news only via what he reads on blogs. At the end of the week - to test how well informed he managed to stay - he'll be quizzed by members of the Poynter Institute, a school for journalists. He says his all-blog media diet experiment is not a stunt. It's simply to see if he can know what he needs to know by reading blogs only.
Although his blog is full of useful links such as Blognews, memeorandum and Blogpulse, he is still looking for some good general U.S. news and global news blogs - ideally ones that roll up/comment on important news from multiple countries. He'd like to find a weblog that features the Dow Jones and Nasdaq closing bell prices and/or intraday charts - and identify some more general business news blogs. If you have ideas, please send them his way.
My suggestion of Jim Moore's News Aggregator is probably bending Steve's rules but Jim's Journal - along with the Sudan blog, Joi Ito's Web, Marginal Revolution, Gavin's, BonoboLand, and Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish - have plenty of sidebar links leading to the latest news (some ahead of mainstream media) covering world politics, economics, business, technology and the environment. Note RSS feed for the Sudan blog: http://platform.blogs.com/passionofthepresent/index.rdf
SEVEN DAY ALL-BLOG MEDIA DIET:
Steve Rubel's experiment
Steve Rubel authors the Micro Persuasion weblog, which tracks how blogs and participatory journalism are changing the public relations practice. He describes himself as a PR strategist and expert in integrating weblogs into traditional PR campaigns. Currently, he's VP of a mid-size PR firm in midtown New York City.
For seven days he is giving up his daily diet of news from mainstream sources and will attempt to keep up with news only via what he reads on blogs. At the end of the week - to test how well informed he managed to stay - he'll be quizzed by members of the Poynter Institute, a school for journalists. He says his all-blog media diet experiment is not a stunt. It's simply to see if he can know what he needs to know by reading blogs only.
Although his blog is full of useful links such as Blognews, memeorandum and Blogpulse, he is still looking for some good general U.S. news and global news blogs - ideally ones that roll up/comment on important news from multiple countries. He'd like to find a weblog that features the Dow Jones and Nasdaq closing bell prices and/or intraday charts - and identify some more general business news blogs. If you have ideas, please send them his way.
My suggestion of Jim Moore's News Aggregator is probably bending Steve's rules but Jim's Journal - along with the Sudan blog, Joi Ito's Web, Marginal Revolution, Gavin's, BonoboLand, and Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish - have plenty of sidebar links leading to the latest news (some ahead of mainstream media) covering world politics, economics, business, technology and the environment. Note RSS feed for the Sudan blog: http://platform.blogs.com/passionofthepresent/index.rdf
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/01/2004
- - -
DAVE WINER'S NEW BLOG
On not really simple syndication
Dave Winer has started a new blog: Everything a non-tech user needs to know about RSS 2.0. [via Micro Persuasion]
DAVE WINER'S NEW BLOG
On not really simple syndication
Dave Winer has started a new blog: Everything a non-tech user needs to know about RSS 2.0. [via Micro Persuasion]
# posted by Ingrid @ 6/01/2004
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BLOGS CAN'T BE DEFINED:
There are too many kinds
Here, in post by Steve Rubel, Tom Mangan defines bloggers:
"Bloggers are just people using the Web to spread their voice to an audience. Some do journalism, but some do poetry and pictures of their housecats. Lots of lines of work have had volunteer and professional components -- firefighters come to mind. Desktop publishing made it possible for anybody to become a journalist, but you had to figure out a lot of cranky, difficult software, so few people exploited the opportunity. Blogging software has made it possible to be a volunteer journalist with far fewer technological hurdles.
You can't say bloggers aren't journalists or editors or anything else. There are too many kinds of blogs to say what they are definitively. The key distinction is that so long as they are volunteers with no financial stake in their blogs, they can quit at any time -- and many of them do. But then again, volunteer firefighters often stay with it for decades and pass it along to their kids, so there's more than money at work here."
BLOGS CAN'T BE DEFINED:
There are too many kinds
Here, in post by Steve Rubel, Tom Mangan defines bloggers:
"Bloggers are just people using the Web to spread their voice to an audience. Some do journalism, but some do poetry and pictures of their housecats. Lots of lines of work have had volunteer and professional components -- firefighters come to mind. Desktop publishing made it possible for anybody to become a journalist, but you had to figure out a lot of cranky, difficult software, so few people exploited the opportunity. Blogging software has made it possible to be a volunteer journalist with far fewer technological hurdles.
You can't say bloggers aren't journalists or editors or anything else. There are too many kinds of blogs to say what they are definitively. The key distinction is that so long as they are volunteers with no financial stake in their blogs, they can quit at any time -- and many of them do. But then again, volunteer firefighters often stay with it for decades and pass it along to their kids, so there's more than money at work here."
ME AND OPHELIA
This is the personal blog of Ingrid Jones.
I live by the sea in Dorset, England, United Kingdom.
Here on my PowerBook G4 I communicate to my friends.
About things in general and my life with M.E. and cat Ophelia.
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