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Blog for Darfur

News over the weekend from Darfur and Sudan make my stomach turn and the heat in my body rise, Zaghawa being pulled from their homes and shot in the marketplace in Khartoum suburbs. Opposition leaders arrested and tortured. Janjaweed given new 4x4 vehicles with shiny new weapons mounted on the roof. 

How much longer are we as the international community going to honor a country's sovereignty while they target ethnic minorities for complete destruction?

While violence between rebel forces and military troops heightens, it is the civilians that suffer the most. It is the faces and souls and futures of Mansur, Leila, and Fatma that will be caught in the middle of sprawling camps that lack resources, burning villages, and the harsh trek across the border to the now volatile Chad.

Refugees in Chad and those internally displaced inside Darfur are preparing for the rainy season, and for the drop in humanitarian services. Preparing for water and wind to run through their make shift shelters of sticks and plastic sheeting, and for those who are lucky, canvas tents that leak raindrops. Approximately 15,000 new refugees are being settled in camps Kounoungo and Mile, tipping the total to their maximum - 30,000 - while at least thousands more huddle near bushes at the border. And the ongoing violence impedes both the daily and long term work of humanitarian aid organizations. The World Food Program has dropped its rations to 1,200 calories per person, almost 1/2 or a 1/3 of what you or I would eat in one day.

News agencies might be reporting on recent attacks, and the decrease in services, but the story is eerily similar to what they wrote two years ago, or perhaps what they reported when the Sudanese government launched it's fulltime attack on Black African ethnic minorities more than five years ago.

We need to increase the urgency of our campaigns. We need to connect with the individuals who are most affected. We need to stand in solidarity with the all those we have lost in past atrocities and with those who have been raped, tortured, killed and forced to flee in Darfur.

Stop Genocide Now began a 100 day Tag Team Fast in order for our community to stand in solidarity with Darfurians, but to also commemorate the 16.5 million we lost in Armenia, the Holocaust, Cambodia and Rwanda. It began on April 7th, the beginning of the Rwanda genocide, and honors: April 17th, the day the Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh; April 24th, Armenian Remembrance Day; and May 2nd Yom HoShoah.

Each day, for 100 days there is someone fasting, somewhere in the world in solidarity for the one Darfuri. You can connect with the refugees at our site (www.stopgenocidenow.org/fast). We are asking people who are fasting, or those who are sponsoring a faster, to donate $25 to the World Food Program.

Real actions, from real community members equals real change on the ground.

I invite you to join the community. Engage in a day of fasting to feel what a day without food might feel like, pledge for change on the ground in Darfur, and connect with a refugee that all your work and support has made a difference for.

Together we can change the way the world responds to genocide.

 

KJS

 

My activist roots were formed several decades ago, long before the advent of the internet.  Back in "the day," generating any blip on the radar of public opinion required assembling large numbers of chanting, sign-waving people at an appointed time and place for a "demonstration."  Petitions and snail-mail letter campaigns were the only options for activists who wished to unify their message across great distances.  "Rapid response" was measured in months not minutes.

What a difference a few decades make.

In December, after closely following news reports of Ban Ki Moon's unanswered pleas to the international community to provide the 24 helicopters, deemed necessary to ensure the success of the fledgling UN-African peacekeeping force in Darfur (UNAMID), my concern and frustration was growing.  Email messages I sent to and received in return from leaders at the larger Darfur advocacy organizations assured me that they were advocating strenuously behind closed doors to help resolve the impasse. 

Still it seemed that more could be done within the "troops."  After we had invested years of collective effort in getting peacekeepers authorized, how could we stand by silently while world leaders failed to deliver the necessary equipment and troops?  And if we did, how could we credibly continue to point fingers at al-Bashir for obstructionism when our own governments were similarly obstructing peace by their own inaction?

Then it occurred to me that I could start a "virtual" demonstration right from my own living room.  With a few easy mouse clicks I formed a new Facebook group, "Helicopters for Darfur" (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8280647785).  Within minutes I was joined by a steady stream of fellow activists from around the world. From Boston to Bahrain, Rwanda to Rochester, and Oxford to Ontario, people joined the group and learned of specific actions they could take to make their voices heard.  

Again, these actions were completed with a few more mouse clicks.  Our virtual coalition sent emails to President Bush via the newly launched campaign at the Save Darfur Coalition (http://action.savedarfur.org/campaign/24helicopters/), submitted questions to the upcoming US presidential debates via a link on the GI Net website (http://www.askthecandidates.org/debating-darfur) and welcomed the new US envoy to Darfur and exhorted him to take action at the Africa Action site (http://capwiz.com/africaaction/issues/alert/?alertid=10775436&PROCESS=Take+Action). 

As a social network, Facebook was able to connect activists from around the world with other like-minded individuals as well as with the large advocacy organizations that support our movement. Together we called upon world leaders to live up to their responsibility to protect the people of Darfur and honor their commitment to provide UNAMID with helicopters, troops and other needed support. 

The group now includes an Olympian athlete, an award-winning journalist, a UN employee, genocide survivors and Globe for Darfur members from most every participating organization.  Perhaps more importantly it also includes many who are new to the movement and who may now feel empowered to continue to speak out, take action and invite others to join us.

Several weeks ago, as I read the discouraging news about the world's lack of response to UNAMID's needs, I found my fighting spirit starting to flag.  Now, thanks to the Internet, the actions of each of my virtual comrades have restored my energy and drive to press on.  We are indeed fortunate to be activists in the Internet age where a reservoir of collective power is available to all.

Two important milestones for Sudan came and went in the last two weeks. On December 31, UNAMID, the hybrid United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force for Darfur, assumed command and control of peacekeeping operations in the region. January 9 marked the third anniversary of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between North and South Sudan, an agreement that ended 21 years of brutal civil war that cost 2 million lives.

Yet, peace in Sudan remains elusive.

The continuing violence and instability which still characterize much of Sudan despite these milestones serve as a sad, poignant reminder of the skill with which Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir continues to betray the people of Sudan and deceive the international community.

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement was touted as the foundation for a lasting peace throughout Sudan. It was the result of years of careful diplomacy and established a framework for power- and wealth-sharing, a cessation of hostilities, and the demarcation of borders between the North and the South. The C.P.A. also adopted an interim constitution for the country, gave the South the right of referendum in 2011 and, most importantly, mandated free and fair national elections in 2009.

But al-Bashir and his National Congress Party regime have consistently thwarted the most significant provisions of the C.P.A., delaying or outright rejecting key deadlines for action. He made every effort to slow the overdue withdrawal of his troops from the South and complied only when the semi-independent government of Southern Sudan threatened a complete withdrawal from the shaky (and largely fictional) coalition Government of National Unity. He has rejected recommendations of the C.P.A.-mandated Abyei Boundary Commission report. He has failed to implement the interim constitution. And he has stopped preparations for national elections by delaying a crucial pre-election census.

President al-Bashir has exhibited the same hypocrisy and trickery in Darfur and has racked up a long laundry list of lies and broken promises. Although he agreed to the UNAMID peacekeeping mission in principle, he is doing all he can to block its deployment. He is refusing to approve - or even respond to - the full list of Troop Contributing Countries as submitted by the U.N., and has rejected any non-African troops. He is also refusing to approve the critical Status of Forces Agreement for UNAMID, refusing to provide land and permits for the force, and has tried to dictate when and where the UN can operate.

More troubling still, al-Bashir's official army recently moved past mere obstruction by ambushing a UNAMID convoy, and then had the temerity to blame the UN for the incident. No UNAMID personnel were killed, but the attack highlights the fact that UNAMID is not yet sufficiently equipped to protect itself, let alone the civilian population of Darfur.

Unless the U.N. Security Council and the wider international community provide UNAMID with the resources and air assets it needs, provide the political support necessary to get the C.P.A. back on track, and, perhaps most importantly, hold al-Bashir and his regime accountable for their crimes in Darfur, this environment of impunity will no doubt continue.

AM

 

 

One year and four months ago, the UN Security Council authorized a peacekeeping mission to Darfur to relieve beleaguered African Union peacekeepers, with the caveat that Khartoum consent to the mission.  Three months later, President Omar El Bashir approved a variation of the intervention under a joint United Nations / African Union command in meetings with outgoing UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Four months ago, the Security Council passed another resolution reaffirming the authorization of a joint UN/AU ‘hybrid' force known as UNAMID, slated to be fully operational and deployed by December 31^st of this year. 

Now with the deployment deadline of Resolution 1769 looming, less than 1/3^rd of the approved 26,000 peacekeepers will be in Darfur by year's end, and most will only transfer ranks from the already present AMIS mission.  Furthermore, UNAMID will be without the handful of helicopters it needs to carry out essential duties, the ability to patrol, move and report freely in its activities, and operation bases with adequate road, water and fuel access.

Shamefully, by December 31^st we still won't see peacekeepers on the ground with the capacity to effectively protect vulnerable Darfuri populations and humanitarian operations. 

There is no acceptable excuse - the international community must get behind UNAMID now, or the mission will not succeed.  It has been two years of ‘talking the talk' to get UN peacekeepers into Darfur, and now it's time to dig in our heels and ‘walk the walk.'

This week's joint report issued by 35 international NGOs entitled "UNAMID Deployment on the Brink: The Road to Security in Darfur Blocked by Government Obstructions" (available at: http://hrw.org/pub/2007/africa/unamid1207web.pdf), points to Khartoum's role in delaying and derailing UNAMID's deployment.

Why has the international community failed to condemn Khartoum's actions, or to effectively clear the way for the new peacekeepers? 

International donors are avoiding obligations in Darfur because they are not being welcomed with open arms.  Recently repeating concerns with UNAMID's mandate and chain of command are smokescreens for what is continued international resignation in the face of a challenge.  Resignation has been cast as doubt about the mission's potential, and international donors have held back on essential commitments like helicopters as a result.

Meanwhile, Khartoum continues to call the shots.

The Government of Sudan will never welcome UNAMID with open arms, but to millions of Darfuris, this mission is the lifeline they have been so desperately awaiting.  UNAMID has a strong enough mandate and a chain of command removed enough from Khartoum to get the job done. 

Both the challenge and the key to UNAMID's success is securing the necessary status of forces, mobility, communications, operations, land use and troop donor agreements with Khartoum.  The international community has so far dropped the ball.  Sudanese obstructions in these areas must be condemned and penalized at every turn.  Clear benchmarks and timelines must be set to secure what UNAMID needs, with targeted sanctions and meaningful penalties in place for non-compliance.

Khartoum needs real reasons to step out of UNAMID's way.

UNAMID peacekeepers have the potentially to be more effective than their AMIS predecessors, but they need the tools and means to do their jobs.  However, if the international community doesn't clear the way for them, the mission will inevitably fail.

And for the people of Darfur, failure is not an option.

TT

 

 

This may be the first greeting from the Japanese to the international activists who have been working to save Darfur, and it comes at a difficult time for the people of Sudan. The deployment of the "hybrid" peacekeeping force for Darfur and the EU force for Chad and CAR have been delayed for several months. Despite the Sudanese government's claim to abide by a ceasefire at the end of October, the government continues attacks, humanitarian workers are under fire, and internally displaced persons face violence and forced removal.  As activists, we feel unable to address these egregious atrocities.

While the peace talks have begun, at the moment there is little hope for substantial progress from the talks. Despite strong declarations from the international community, governments have failed to support of the deployment of the UNAMID and EU forces.

All this means is that we all need to pull together to help save Darfur, and each activist and organization has a role to play as we move forward.

So far the Japanese have not been so active to in the Darfur advocacy movement, and the level of awareness in Japan about the atrocities remains quite low. The major news media rarely cover Darfur, but it is not clear why they stay away from the issue. Bloggers frequently draw on English language news about Darfur because of the lack of reporting in Japanese. Recently, NGOs and UN agencies in Japan have called on Japanese citizens to help Darfur.

The Japanese government has contributed to Darfur with small financial donations and logistical support to UNAMID and the humanitarian organizations, but this support is meager compared to the needs at hand. Our ex-prime minister didn't even know anything about Darfur at the G8 summit. At that time he pledged to donate money only because his colleagues at the G8 did the same. As Japanese we were disappointed by this ignorance but were inspired to take action.

Changes began when the Japanese cameraman Kenji Nagai was shot down amid the protests in Burma. An article reported some Japanese corporation's activity in Burma. A spokesmen for Nippon Oil Co. Ltd said they would continue to operate despite the political situation in Burma. After doing some research, we learned that Nippon Oil also ships Sudanese crude oil and had had contracted to import Sudanese oil for Tokyo Electric Power, TEPCO. Then we engaged in a series of protests against Nippon Oil.

As a result of our activism, the Japanese trade ministry had consultations with several oil companies and electric power companies to consider prohibiting the import of Sudan Nile Blend Oil which is good for burning and sells at below market rates. Before those hearings took place, two power companies, Kansai Power and Kyushu Power, declared that they would stop using Sudanese oil because of concern that the revenues from the oil sales fueled the atrocities in Darfur. Nippon Oil said they would respond to the request to stop importing Sudanese crude if utilities would agree with it. But Tokyo Power refused this request because they had lost power from a nuclear power generator in Niigata after a recent earthquake. Sudanese oil occupies 30 percent in the oil that Tokyo Power imports. Japan is the largest importer of Sudanese crude oil.  Some blends of Sudanese crude are difficult to refine and Japan is one of a few countries that can do it.  In return, they get to buy crude at discounted rates because it is more difficult to refine than most global crude supplies.  Nippon Oil and Tokyo Power are public names in Japan, and if made a target of a campaign this could raise more awareness about Darfur. Ironically, Nippon Oil is also the official sponsor for the Japanese baseball team for the Beijing Olympics.

We are now building the first Darfur campaign in Japan, Japanese for Darfur, with Globe for Darfur, the Aegis Trust and Amnesty International Japan. Our goal is to join the Day for Darfur campaign and to raise awareness for Darfur. At our first event we had an announcement of the Amnesty International Japan event for International Human Rights Day which will appeal for Darfur crisis. The event, called "Get in bed for Darfur", was the first event for Darfur in Tokyo. More than hundred people participated in the bed-in performance for two days. As we continue to move forward with our campaign, we need your support, ideas, and experience to help increase the pressure on the government of Japan and Japanese corporations to address the genocide in Darfur.

Whilst the Japanese campaign for Darfur is late in starting, we know that its never too late to help the people who are still in need. Next year we have G8 summit in Hokkaido Japan in early July and the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV) in Yokohama Japan in early May. We can also continue to put pressure on the Japanese government to support the deployment of UNAMID, impose targeted sanctions, ban the importation of Sudanese crude, and divest pension funds from targeted companies operating in Sudan .  We look forward to working with activists around the world as we move forward with our campaign.

KN