Posts with the tag genocide
Yet another article I've read that really makes me question the notion of "Save Darfur"...which when you think about it does it even make sense? Save Darfur? Save the "Land of the Fur"? Who are we saving and do you really think you can tell a "fur" from an "Arab" I was there, and if you think you can...you're fooling yourself. (Unless you know those trible cuts they do) If you said a Dinka & Northern Sudanese...okay. Anyway...article after the drop...
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"We Saw No Evidence of Genocide"
Women in Darfur
By AFSHIN RATTANSI
George Clooney, Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Cindy Crawford, Bono, Michael Caine, Claudia Schiffer, Bob Geldof, Hugh Grant, Mia Farrow, Mick Jagger and so many others have expressed their solidarity with the people of the oil-rich region of Darfur. A few weeks ago, Democrats John Lewis of Georgia, Keith Ellison of Minnesota, Lynn Woolsey of California, Donna Edwards of Maryland, and Jim McGovern of Massachusetts were all arrested as they demonstrated against the Sudanese government. When Colin Powell used the word genocide in 2004, it kicked off $1 billion-a-year international aid program, much higher than that afforded Somalia or Congo.
But why?
In the past few months, the International Criminal Court has charged Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with crimes against humanity and war crimes. The ICC's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo is appealing the setting aside of genocide charges, claiming that there is "ongoing genocide" in Darfur. The Sudanese government has expelled some foreign aid groups, accusing them of espionage. They include Oxfam, Save the Children and Medecins Sans Frontieres. According to the Save Darfur Campaign, it was the relief organizations that provided clean water, food, and medical attention to roughly 1.5 million people. The Sudanese government claims these aid-agencies deliberately exclude Arab Darfuris in their ranks, exacerbating sectarian tensions.
And at the moment, President Obama's Special Envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration is on a diplomatic tour and Britain is sending $185m in aid and $140m in "peacekeeping" money.
Collette Valentine, a TV producer visiting from the United Kingdom, and Ali Gunn, a British media consultant, last week returned from Darfur where they attended the first "International Conference on the Challenge Facing Women in Darfur" in Al-Fasher in the north. Valentine says that articles about Darfur in the international press make her feel as if she visited a completely different region, a completely different country. It all adds weight to the thesis of Columbia University's Professor Mahmood Mamdani that there is something very murky about Western aid agencies' insistence that there has been genocide in Darfur, that at the heart of campaigns for Darfur is the culmination of a powerful, imperial desire to suppress citizenry from U.S. high school classrooms to right across the developing world.
Afshin Rattansi: Tell me about your visit and how your experience differed to the portrayal in the corporate media. I understand you went at the invitation of Rajaa Hassan Khalifa from the largest women's union in conjunction with Bakri O.Saeed from Sudan International University.
Collette Valentine: Ali Gunn and myself and a group of journalists were lucky enough to be invited to Sudan by the Sudanese Women General Union. The women's union in Sudan has got 27,000 branches all over Sudan, including Darfur. They have representatives in all the rural villages, across all different communities consisting of around 80 tribes and clans. The women of Sudan are a real force. Historically, there have been female leaders. They are wives, mothers, farmers, they build, they grow the vegetables and basically run the communities and are respected by their men folk. A third of families in the camps are headed by women. In recent years, some members of the women's union have been elected as ministers in the Sudanese government and a quarter of the seats in the Sudanese parliament are occupied by women.
They are all members of the union and they have direct links right down from the most educated academic women from the professional classes to grassroots people. This chain of open communication is active and alive from bottom to top and top to bottom. Because the women have such a strong role in the communities, the women themselves have decided to take action for peace and security in Darfur. They have seen the failure of external, international agencies and NGOs and they know that peace can only come from within their own communities via reconciliation talks.
The IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) in the refugee camps are people who have fled trouble in their own areas of Sudan. They didn't want to leave but had no option but to flee. Before the international NGOs got involved, the IDPs were provided with camps by Al-Bashir's government, provided with wells, administrators, bureaucratic structures, materials for shelter and local doctors, clinics, and health services paid for by the Sudanese government.
When women fled their villages, active male rebels from every community that were fighting each other remained. Those conflicts rage on even as there is peace and stability in the camps. We saw no evidence of any genocide. We were not embedded by the government nor with any NGO. We had absolute freedom to talk with whomever we wished. And we randomly talked to as many men, women and children as we could.
One man, a village leader who led 4,000 of his community , separated in two camps, said he had been there six years. His home was 50km away. We asked about genocide and he said that he wouldn't have remained in the Sudanese government camps for six years if he hadn't been looked after. When we asked about the issue of rape, he did not deny there wasn't an issue. The women we spoke to said that unfortunately, rape exists everywhere in the world and some we spoke to quoted statistics about the prevalence of rape in the U.S. and how in developed nations, women are too frightened to press charges. One woman told me that allegations of wide and systematic rape crimes against Darfur women constitute a type of war against Sudan. Historically, in areas of conflict, they maintained, cases of crime and rape are bound to increase. Rape is not a weapon of the government and women are being told to report instances of rape. But the ICC is using the prevalence of rape and giving it undue importance, helping NGOs fill their coffers.
Afshin Rattansi: Were you concerned about safety in Darfur?
Ali Gunn: I understood the situation had settled and that there was quite a lot of fighting down south but that the situation in Darfur was more stable since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. However, I had been warned off by expert security consultants who feared for my safety.
We went to two camps in Darfur and we saw people eeking out a simple existence. No bullet holes, no tanks and no fighting. The only military vehicles belonged to the United Nations. We were given carte blanche to wander around the camps as we pleased and talk to anyone we liked. Many spoke English. I was appalled that so much reporting in our newspapers has no basis in reality. Cheap and lazy journalism at its worst.
Afshin Rattansi: What about the United Nations' presence on the ground?
Collette Valentine: When we were actually in one of the two camps, we looked up and saw an American tank approaching, followed by a patrol of around 15 UN vans and two more tanks. They drove up, parked the cars outside the office of the administrator of the camp. We didn't know what was happening.
We were told that three times day, this happens at the camp and that UN officials come to ask whether everything is alright. Women told us that the camps are peaceful places. While we played football with children in the camp at around 9am, men and women setting out market stalls selling tomatoes and oranges, and as the UN personnel talked to the administrator, the soldiers lined up with guns, five meters apart facing us and the rest of the people in the camps.
It was obvious that the soldiers were protecting UN bosses whilst we kicked a football with the children. It was extraordinary. Women were making yoghurt with goat's milk even as the UN troops pointed their guns at us. I asked one of the women, Maha Feraigon, why guns were being aimed and whether they were scared that we might throw a tomato at them and she just laughed. As Ali says, quite a few people could speak English. Maha was first assistant to the Secretary General of the Sudanese Women General Union, independent of the government. All the people we spoke to were furious about UN personnel arriving in this way and wanted the UN to leave. The UN personnel left their engines running and people resented how much that money for the UN was being wasted in front of their eyes. They asked about what they could be doing with the money. I was disgusted. They asked why these personnel were not in the villages where the fighting continues and their 'dar' or land was. People said that NGOs did not want the fighting to stop so that they can continue to be paid. None had seen any money from the Save Darfur campaign and they resented that money was being raised in their names.
Ali Gunn: At the conference, we spoke to opposition leaders and women at the conference. There was no sense of urgency about any "genocide" in the camps themselves. Our concern for our trip was to look at the living conditions of the people in the camps and look at the future of Darfur and the future for families there. And there was very little evidence of external aid. Darfur is the size of France so we didn't go to all the camps. We have photographic evidence of families and women making their own bricks. You would have to ask the aid agencies about where their money has been sent.
Afshin Rattansi: What about how the Sudanese perceive outside, external forces?
Collette Valentine: I was lucky enough to sit beside Mafa on the flight from Khartoum to Darfur. I emphasize that she has no connection to any NGO or the government. She spoke very good English and explained the anger of the people. Her general feeling, having been all over Darfur, speaking to women at all levels from all communities throughout the region was that they did not want foreign interference because they know that it is all about oil and water - the "oil of tomorrow".
She told me about how Sudan was sitting on the biggest underwater lake in Africa giving rise to the best arable land. Despite the desertification, responsible for so many of the deaths in recent years, the lake holds great promise. She told me about how Chevron was thrown out of the country and how Chevron executives took all their drilling and exploration maps with them. They still believe that the NGOs in concert with the U.S. are only involved because of water and oil. She pointed to Congo, Sierra Leone and other African countries, firmly believing that there were no good intentions when it comes to great power involvement on the continent.
Afshin Rattansi: Not a day goes by without the word genocide being used when Darfur is in the corporate media.
Ali Gunn: The Western media has totally misrepresented the situation subsequent to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. In Darfur, they are desperate for long term measures to alleviate the cycle of non-delivery in Darfur. Some believed that there were a significant number of people who would never return to their homeland areas.
Living conditions in the camps were spartan but clean and people were very aware of their personal space. There was a market with a butcher, vegetable-sellers, a makeshift restaurant many different rows of shops. It was very much like a souk you would see in any country of this type, with domestic goods on sale. The people we saw were not starving and pretty healthy.
Afshin Rattansi: Do you see money from oil being used for the benefit of the people?
Collette Valentine: Oil is all-important for Sudan and is vital to the infrastructure-building plans of the country. They are planning schools and health centers. Free medical care is available to everybody but not every village has a clinic so people have to travel to the next village. There is a lot of work to be done in Sudan. This is not a bed of roses, by any means but only oil money is going to be able to change things. I saw in Khartoum how development is beginning. They have big plans for the areas around the Blue Nile in Khartoum and it looks to me like Pudong in Shanghai where I made some documentaries when it was developing, a decade ago.
Maha told me that there was a rail system in Sudan that you could time your watch by but U.S. sanctions starting in the 1990s destroyed it as parts to fix trains and tracks dried up. Sanctions prevented people being able to travel. But, now the Sudanese government has done a deal with the Chinese who they feel are completely different to the Americans. I was told that Chinese involvement was trusted where the U.S. wasn't. The Chinese are not interested in hegemonic power. I could see the development present in Khartoum. When I later met the president, he said that growth should be across Sudan and not just limited to an elite in Khartoum. The work is in progress and the president's popularity has gone through the roof after the ICC indictments.
Afshin Rattansi: What about signs of corruption?
Ali Gunn: People had told us the President was a humble and modest man and he certainly seemed like that in person. I was very wary of signs of corruption and wealth. The palace looked like any municipal building in a developing nation. The furniture was all very normal. We were told that he was a modest man who had come up the ranks of the army and as such was possibly less concerned about the ICC than about rebuilding his nation. He is much more popular after the ICC indictments.
There was a feeling that the country has been picked on in comparison to what has been happening in surrounding nations. I saw that people were being actively encouraged to vote. I mentioned that I work in the British parliament and stressed the need for people to register to vote and there was certainly no problem in people understanding the importance of voting.
Like people in Britain, many of the people we spoke to had a healthy skepticism about politicians per se. But they did believe that the next elections would be free and fair.
Collette Valentine: The president knew that the conference was taking place but he had no knowledge of which camps we were visiting. The women were careful not to tell him because they were aware that we were looking for any signs that we were being embedded in any way.
Afshin Rattansi: And the perception is that the ICC has aided the president of Sudan?
Collette Valentine: On the night before we left, we met with President Al-Bashir and his advisor, Dr Ghazi Salahuddin Atabani. Everything they said backed up what we heard on the ground. He admitted that the ICC has aided his reelection chances. He admitted that rape was present in Darfur but he blamed outside aid agencies for putting petrol on the fire and he highlighted the external supply of arms. He also blamed the classic British divide-and-rule tactics of colonialism for the roots of trouble in Sudan. Attabani said "Sudan is politically isolated and that when the ICC indictment was first raised 4 years ago the president offered to step aside, to abdicate - he said 16 years was too long. Our policy in that the National Congress Party (NCP) is that we don't believe in a' president for life.' The made him look like a villain but internally it boosted his popularity. .. now the NCP can't consider any other candidate."
From my experience of seeing western leaders in London, there is a cavalcade of security. Al Bashir when he goes from his house to local weddings, funerals and the mosque, seems to have no security at all. One of our delegates went to the mosque and was baffled by the lack of security on seeing him there.
Afshin Rattansi: What about what the president of Sudan expects from the change of administration in Washington?
Ali Gunn: We were attacked about international media coverage of Darfur as the people saw the situation very different to how it is portrayed. They saw the West as patronizing the Sudanese people. On Obama, President Al-Bashir said "He's much more pragmatic. The old guard from Clinton's days are still around - in the 90s they were hostile..they've not changed, but they have toned down their rhetoric we believe that the US has been exploited by certain undercurrents ." I would suggest that people go and see for themselves what is happening.
Collette Valentine: Dr. Ghazi said that they are hopeful about Obama but they don't trust the Clinton people, the Susan Rices and Samantha Powers. Continuation of the ICC path would be seen as vindictive and alien and could result in turning Darfur into a real conflict.
The women in the camps are focused on talking to their men and they believe that the only hope for peace and reconciliation lies with their ability to encourage forgiveness. They believe no international organizations can persuade the men to reconcile with each other. Before this conflict happened, tribal elders would meet to settle conflicts between nomadic and peasant communities. Right across Darfur, women are campaigning on the ground for reconciliation talks. This was the first peace conference. All the women from all the communities are coming together to urge reconciliation talks with women from each community given their time to speak. Security was on top of the agenda as well as education and healthcare.
Ali Gunn: After we came back from the camps, we were both shocked about the disparity of what was happening on the ground and what was in the media.
Afshin Rattansi has helped launch and develop television networks and has worked in journalism for more than two decades, at the BBC Today programme, CNN International, Bloomberg News, Al Jazeera Arabic, the Dubai Business Channel, Press TV and The Guardian. His quartet of novels, "The Dream of the Decade" is available on Amazon.com. He can be reached at afshin@afshinrattansi.com
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"We Saw No Evidence of Genocide"
Women in Darfur
By AFSHIN RATTANSI
George Clooney, Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Cindy Crawford, Bono, Michael Caine, Claudia Schiffer, Bob Geldof, Hugh Grant, Mia Farrow, Mick Jagger and so many others have expressed their solidarity with the people of the oil-rich region of Darfur. A few weeks ago, Democrats John Lewis of Georgia, Keith Ellison of Minnesota, Lynn Woolsey of California, Donna Edwards of Maryland, and Jim McGovern of Massachusetts were all arrested as they demonstrated against the Sudanese government. When Colin Powell used the word genocide in 2004, it kicked off $1 billion-a-year international aid program, much higher than that afforded Somalia or Congo.
But why?
In the past few months, the International Criminal Court has charged Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with crimes against humanity and war crimes. The ICC's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo is appealing the setting aside of genocide charges, claiming that there is "ongoing genocide" in Darfur. The Sudanese government has expelled some foreign aid groups, accusing them of espionage. They include Oxfam, Save the Children and Medecins Sans Frontieres. According to the Save Darfur Campaign, it was the relief organizations that provided clean water, food, and medical attention to roughly 1.5 million people. The Sudanese government claims these aid-agencies deliberately exclude Arab Darfuris in their ranks, exacerbating sectarian tensions.
And at the moment, President Obama's Special Envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration is on a diplomatic tour and Britain is sending $185m in aid and $140m in "peacekeeping" money.
Collette Valentine, a TV producer visiting from the United Kingdom, and Ali Gunn, a British media consultant, last week returned from Darfur where they attended the first "International Conference on the Challenge Facing Women in Darfur" in Al-Fasher in the north. Valentine says that articles about Darfur in the international press make her feel as if she visited a completely different region, a completely different country. It all adds weight to the thesis of Columbia University's Professor Mahmood Mamdani that there is something very murky about Western aid agencies' insistence that there has been genocide in Darfur, that at the heart of campaigns for Darfur is the culmination of a powerful, imperial desire to suppress citizenry from U.S. high school classrooms to right across the developing world.
Afshin Rattansi: Tell me about your visit and how your experience differed to the portrayal in the corporate media. I understand you went at the invitation of Rajaa Hassan Khalifa from the largest women's union in conjunction with Bakri O.Saeed from Sudan International University.
Collette Valentine: Ali Gunn and myself and a group of journalists were lucky enough to be invited to Sudan by the Sudanese Women General Union. The women's union in Sudan has got 27,000 branches all over Sudan, including Darfur. They have representatives in all the rural villages, across all different communities consisting of around 80 tribes and clans. The women of Sudan are a real force. Historically, there have been female leaders. They are wives, mothers, farmers, they build, they grow the vegetables and basically run the communities and are respected by their men folk. A third of families in the camps are headed by women. In recent years, some members of the women's union have been elected as ministers in the Sudanese government and a quarter of the seats in the Sudanese parliament are occupied by women.
They are all members of the union and they have direct links right down from the most educated academic women from the professional classes to grassroots people. This chain of open communication is active and alive from bottom to top and top to bottom. Because the women have such a strong role in the communities, the women themselves have decided to take action for peace and security in Darfur. They have seen the failure of external, international agencies and NGOs and they know that peace can only come from within their own communities via reconciliation talks.
The IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) in the refugee camps are people who have fled trouble in their own areas of Sudan. They didn't want to leave but had no option but to flee. Before the international NGOs got involved, the IDPs were provided with camps by Al-Bashir's government, provided with wells, administrators, bureaucratic structures, materials for shelter and local doctors, clinics, and health services paid for by the Sudanese government.
When women fled their villages, active male rebels from every community that were fighting each other remained. Those conflicts rage on even as there is peace and stability in the camps. We saw no evidence of any genocide. We were not embedded by the government nor with any NGO. We had absolute freedom to talk with whomever we wished. And we randomly talked to as many men, women and children as we could.
One man, a village leader who led 4,000 of his community , separated in two camps, said he had been there six years. His home was 50km away. We asked about genocide and he said that he wouldn't have remained in the Sudanese government camps for six years if he hadn't been looked after. When we asked about the issue of rape, he did not deny there wasn't an issue. The women we spoke to said that unfortunately, rape exists everywhere in the world and some we spoke to quoted statistics about the prevalence of rape in the U.S. and how in developed nations, women are too frightened to press charges. One woman told me that allegations of wide and systematic rape crimes against Darfur women constitute a type of war against Sudan. Historically, in areas of conflict, they maintained, cases of crime and rape are bound to increase. Rape is not a weapon of the government and women are being told to report instances of rape. But the ICC is using the prevalence of rape and giving it undue importance, helping NGOs fill their coffers.
Afshin Rattansi: Were you concerned about safety in Darfur?
Ali Gunn: I understood the situation had settled and that there was quite a lot of fighting down south but that the situation in Darfur was more stable since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. However, I had been warned off by expert security consultants who feared for my safety.
We went to two camps in Darfur and we saw people eeking out a simple existence. No bullet holes, no tanks and no fighting. The only military vehicles belonged to the United Nations. We were given carte blanche to wander around the camps as we pleased and talk to anyone we liked. Many spoke English. I was appalled that so much reporting in our newspapers has no basis in reality. Cheap and lazy journalism at its worst.
Afshin Rattansi: What about the United Nations' presence on the ground?
Collette Valentine: When we were actually in one of the two camps, we looked up and saw an American tank approaching, followed by a patrol of around 15 UN vans and two more tanks. They drove up, parked the cars outside the office of the administrator of the camp. We didn't know what was happening.
We were told that three times day, this happens at the camp and that UN officials come to ask whether everything is alright. Women told us that the camps are peaceful places. While we played football with children in the camp at around 9am, men and women setting out market stalls selling tomatoes and oranges, and as the UN personnel talked to the administrator, the soldiers lined up with guns, five meters apart facing us and the rest of the people in the camps.
It was obvious that the soldiers were protecting UN bosses whilst we kicked a football with the children. It was extraordinary. Women were making yoghurt with goat's milk even as the UN troops pointed their guns at us. I asked one of the women, Maha Feraigon, why guns were being aimed and whether they were scared that we might throw a tomato at them and she just laughed. As Ali says, quite a few people could speak English. Maha was first assistant to the Secretary General of the Sudanese Women General Union, independent of the government. All the people we spoke to were furious about UN personnel arriving in this way and wanted the UN to leave. The UN personnel left their engines running and people resented how much that money for the UN was being wasted in front of their eyes. They asked about what they could be doing with the money. I was disgusted. They asked why these personnel were not in the villages where the fighting continues and their 'dar' or land was. People said that NGOs did not want the fighting to stop so that they can continue to be paid. None had seen any money from the Save Darfur campaign and they resented that money was being raised in their names.
Ali Gunn: At the conference, we spoke to opposition leaders and women at the conference. There was no sense of urgency about any "genocide" in the camps themselves. Our concern for our trip was to look at the living conditions of the people in the camps and look at the future of Darfur and the future for families there. And there was very little evidence of external aid. Darfur is the size of France so we didn't go to all the camps. We have photographic evidence of families and women making their own bricks. You would have to ask the aid agencies about where their money has been sent.
Afshin Rattansi: What about how the Sudanese perceive outside, external forces?
Collette Valentine: I was lucky enough to sit beside Mafa on the flight from Khartoum to Darfur. I emphasize that she has no connection to any NGO or the government. She spoke very good English and explained the anger of the people. Her general feeling, having been all over Darfur, speaking to women at all levels from all communities throughout the region was that they did not want foreign interference because they know that it is all about oil and water - the "oil of tomorrow".
She told me about how Sudan was sitting on the biggest underwater lake in Africa giving rise to the best arable land. Despite the desertification, responsible for so many of the deaths in recent years, the lake holds great promise. She told me about how Chevron was thrown out of the country and how Chevron executives took all their drilling and exploration maps with them. They still believe that the NGOs in concert with the U.S. are only involved because of water and oil. She pointed to Congo, Sierra Leone and other African countries, firmly believing that there were no good intentions when it comes to great power involvement on the continent.
Afshin Rattansi: Not a day goes by without the word genocide being used when Darfur is in the corporate media.
Ali Gunn: The Western media has totally misrepresented the situation subsequent to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. In Darfur, they are desperate for long term measures to alleviate the cycle of non-delivery in Darfur. Some believed that there were a significant number of people who would never return to their homeland areas.
Living conditions in the camps were spartan but clean and people were very aware of their personal space. There was a market with a butcher, vegetable-sellers, a makeshift restaurant many different rows of shops. It was very much like a souk you would see in any country of this type, with domestic goods on sale. The people we saw were not starving and pretty healthy.
Afshin Rattansi: Do you see money from oil being used for the benefit of the people?
Collette Valentine: Oil is all-important for Sudan and is vital to the infrastructure-building plans of the country. They are planning schools and health centers. Free medical care is available to everybody but not every village has a clinic so people have to travel to the next village. There is a lot of work to be done in Sudan. This is not a bed of roses, by any means but only oil money is going to be able to change things. I saw in Khartoum how development is beginning. They have big plans for the areas around the Blue Nile in Khartoum and it looks to me like Pudong in Shanghai where I made some documentaries when it was developing, a decade ago.
Maha told me that there was a rail system in Sudan that you could time your watch by but U.S. sanctions starting in the 1990s destroyed it as parts to fix trains and tracks dried up. Sanctions prevented people being able to travel. But, now the Sudanese government has done a deal with the Chinese who they feel are completely different to the Americans. I was told that Chinese involvement was trusted where the U.S. wasn't. The Chinese are not interested in hegemonic power. I could see the development present in Khartoum. When I later met the president, he said that growth should be across Sudan and not just limited to an elite in Khartoum. The work is in progress and the president's popularity has gone through the roof after the ICC indictments.
Afshin Rattansi: What about signs of corruption?
Ali Gunn: People had told us the President was a humble and modest man and he certainly seemed like that in person. I was very wary of signs of corruption and wealth. The palace looked like any municipal building in a developing nation. The furniture was all very normal. We were told that he was a modest man who had come up the ranks of the army and as such was possibly less concerned about the ICC than about rebuilding his nation. He is much more popular after the ICC indictments.
There was a feeling that the country has been picked on in comparison to what has been happening in surrounding nations. I saw that people were being actively encouraged to vote. I mentioned that I work in the British parliament and stressed the need for people to register to vote and there was certainly no problem in people understanding the importance of voting.
Like people in Britain, many of the people we spoke to had a healthy skepticism about politicians per se. But they did believe that the next elections would be free and fair.
Collette Valentine: The president knew that the conference was taking place but he had no knowledge of which camps we were visiting. The women were careful not to tell him because they were aware that we were looking for any signs that we were being embedded in any way.
Afshin Rattansi: And the perception is that the ICC has aided the president of Sudan?
Collette Valentine: On the night before we left, we met with President Al-Bashir and his advisor, Dr Ghazi Salahuddin Atabani. Everything they said backed up what we heard on the ground. He admitted that the ICC has aided his reelection chances. He admitted that rape was present in Darfur but he blamed outside aid agencies for putting petrol on the fire and he highlighted the external supply of arms. He also blamed the classic British divide-and-rule tactics of colonialism for the roots of trouble in Sudan. Attabani said "Sudan is politically isolated and that when the ICC indictment was first raised 4 years ago the president offered to step aside, to abdicate - he said 16 years was too long. Our policy in that the National Congress Party (NCP) is that we don't believe in a' president for life.' The made him look like a villain but internally it boosted his popularity. .. now the NCP can't consider any other candidate."
From my experience of seeing western leaders in London, there is a cavalcade of security. Al Bashir when he goes from his house to local weddings, funerals and the mosque, seems to have no security at all. One of our delegates went to the mosque and was baffled by the lack of security on seeing him there.
Afshin Rattansi: What about what the president of Sudan expects from the change of administration in Washington?
Ali Gunn: We were attacked about international media coverage of Darfur as the people saw the situation very different to how it is portrayed. They saw the West as patronizing the Sudanese people. On Obama, President Al-Bashir said "He's much more pragmatic. The old guard from Clinton's days are still around - in the 90s they were hostile..they've not changed, but they have toned down their rhetoric we believe that the US has been exploited by certain undercurrents ." I would suggest that people go and see for themselves what is happening.
Collette Valentine: Dr. Ghazi said that they are hopeful about Obama but they don't trust the Clinton people, the Susan Rices and Samantha Powers. Continuation of the ICC path would be seen as vindictive and alien and could result in turning Darfur into a real conflict.
The women in the camps are focused on talking to their men and they believe that the only hope for peace and reconciliation lies with their ability to encourage forgiveness. They believe no international organizations can persuade the men to reconcile with each other. Before this conflict happened, tribal elders would meet to settle conflicts between nomadic and peasant communities. Right across Darfur, women are campaigning on the ground for reconciliation talks. This was the first peace conference. All the women from all the communities are coming together to urge reconciliation talks with women from each community given their time to speak. Security was on top of the agenda as well as education and healthcare.
Ali Gunn: After we came back from the camps, we were both shocked about the disparity of what was happening on the ground and what was in the media.
Afshin Rattansi has helped launch and develop television networks and has worked in journalism for more than two decades, at the BBC Today programme, CNN International, Bloomberg News, Al Jazeera Arabic, the Dubai Business Channel, Press TV and The Guardian. His quartet of novels, "The Dream of the Decade" is available on Amazon.com. He can be reached at afshin@afshinrattansi.com
Civilians in eastern Congo, particularly women and girls, are targets of conscience-shocking brutality and sexual violence. Every day, they face a harrowing array of threats from armed militias, the military, and even the police who are supposed to protect them. Understanding the reasons why life has become so dangerous for women in eastern Congo is an essential first step in helping to end the violence and create a more hopeful future.
1. Predatory security forces
"It is more dangerous to be a woman than to be a soldier right now."
Major General Patrick Cammaert, former UN Deputy Force Commander, describing the situation in eastern Congo, May 2008
Any state's most basic responsibility is to provide security for its citizens. However, the Congolese military is notoriously corrupt and undisciplined. Soldiers themselves live in appalling conditions, are frequently unpaid, and often resort to looting or petty theft to "pay themselves." The army is guilty of widespread abuses of the people they are supposed to protect, and soldiers often view attacking women as a 'benefit" of carrying a gun for the state.
2. Lawless militias
"This violence was designed to exterminate the population."
Louise Nzigire, social worker at Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, spring 2005
A complex and confusing assortment of illegal armed militias operate in eastern Congo. Some are purely criminal, some are loosely political in their goals, and many of them have links back to neighboring states. The Rwandan rebel group called the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, or FDLR, has ties to the 1994 Rwanda genocide and now commits atrocities against Congolese civilians, including appalling acts of sexual violence. The vast majority of civilians in eastern Congo fear militias more than anything else. Militia members often forcibly take local "wives," coerce landowners to conduct menial labor, and steal harvests from local farmers. Militias have been all too eager to use rape and other forms of violence as tools to intimidate and suppress the local population.
3. A culture of impunity
"In Congo, if someone starts an armed group or kills people, they have a better chance of becoming a senior minister or a general than being put behind bars."
Anneke Van Woudenberg, Human Rights Watch, January 2008
In Congo, law enforcement as we know it is nonexistent, and access to justice is extremely deficient. For most women in the Congo, going to the police with a complaint about a crime is almost unthinkable, and most women fear that if they go to a police station they will be subjected to rape, other forms of violence, or theft. For the few women and young girls who do get the opportunity to publicly identify their rapists, prosecutions are slow to nonexistent, and reprisal attacks against the victim and/or her family are common. Perpetrators thrown into jail are often able to simply pay guards for their release or, in some cases, break through the prison walls and walk away.
4. The resource curse
"We are cursed because of our gold. All we do is suffer. There is no benefit to us."
Congolese gold miner, June 2005
The scramble to exploit the Democratic Republic of the Congo's vast natural resources has been the principal driver of atrocities and conflict throughout Congo's tortured history. In eastern Congo today, resources are financing multiple armed groups that target the local population. Many of these armed groups use rape as a deliberate tactic to drive the local population away from mines and other areas that they wish to control. The twisted logic: terrorize the women first and everyone else will stay away.
5. Poverty
"My job is to beg."
Congolese woman, November 2003
Instability and grinding poverty in the Congo have created a stagnant economy, and few companies are willing to invest in this central African nation. The international companies who have invested in the Congo are primarily interested in the resource-extraction sector, which at best does little to help local people and at worst fuels competition and conflict between armed groups. Years of economic decline and conflict have acutely affected women, many of whom have become widows and have been forced to find ways--including begging and prostitution-- to support their families. As women are the primary caretakers of the family, they must often venture outside of safe zones to collect water or firewood, which puts them at greater risk of attack. With many men killed or driven away from their families, women not only lose an important source of income and protection for their families--they have to care for children and try to earn money with no social safety net. The ability to rely on extended families for support and comfort has also often been shattered by dislocation, violence, and chaos.
6. A collapsed health care system
"I was not trained as a gynecologist, but I am being trained on the job, because the need at the hospital is so large. The Congolese government does not provide our hospital with any resources."
Dr. Roger Luhiriri, Panzi Hospital, Buvaku, South Kivu, September 2008
Another consequence of the prolonged conflict is an outright collapse of the Congolese health care system. Tens of thousands of women have survived rape and sexual violence, but the Congolese government is unable to provide adequate medical services, rehabilitation programs, or psychological counseling. This means that women have a very difficult time surviving the physical scars of sexual violence, much less addressing the psychological ones. Furthermore, lack of adequate medical care to prevent and treat diseases such as cholera and malaria further add to the insurmountable daily struggles and dangers faced by Congolese women and their children.
7. Internal displacement
"It would be much too dangerous [to return home]. Battles continue to rage there. But we're really not proud of having to stay here."
Josephine, a Congolese woman who has been driven from her home and now lives in a camp for displaced people, June 2008
More than 1.3 million Congolese have been driven from their homes, or "displaced," in eastern Congo. Throughout the conflict, rape has been used as a weapon to force communities to flee their homes. Now, huge populations live in poorly protected camps, where they are vulnerable to attacks by militias and Congolese security forces. Although humanitarian organizations provide life-saving supplies and care to the camps, it is often almost impossible for families to earn a living or properly care for their children in such settings.
8. A failing education system
"Out of more than 4.4 million children who are not in school in the Congo, 2.5 million of these children are girls The violence, the poverty, the culture - there are many reasons why children are not going to school."
UNICEF, 2008
The school system in Congo is extremely weak: School enrollment rates, from primary school through university, have dropped significantly since the onset of the conflict. It is difficult for uneducated women in eastern Congo to know and defend their rights. It also been proven again and again that investments in basic education for girls have some of the very best returns of all development programs. Girls that have at least a basic education are more economically productive, have smaller and better cared for families, and are more likely to be active in their communities.
9. Gender inequality and cultural barriers
"Women had very few rights. They are not perceived as equal citizens. I think what [ ] these atrocities have done is to have, bizarrely, normalized rape. So now it's not just the Congolese army and the factions that are raping the women; now it's becoming normalized. Domestic rape and domestic battery has wildly increased in families."
Eve Ensler, founder of V-Day, September 2007
Ongoing political and economic insecurity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have further eroded the status of women in society. Women in the Congo are often treated as little more than private property, and they are often denied access to health care, property, education, and information.
10. Inaction
"It's shameful that soldiers anywhere are allowed to [commit atrocities such as rape against civilians]. That's why I want to be president. I want to change this. I want to make security one of my first priorities so that these and other acts come to an end once and for all."
President Joseph Kabila, before he won the national elections and became Congo's first democratically elected president since independence, June 2006
The Congolese Government and the international community have failed to act to end the suffering of Congolese women. In spite of the promises President Kabila made over two years ago and the presence of the world's largest United Nations peacekeeping force, armed groups continue to target civilians in eastern Congo. If the next president of the United States makes ending violence against women and girls in eastern Congo a priority at the beginning of the new administration, the Congo could have a real chance at peace. The United States should seize this opportunity to play a leading role in ending this violence and ensuring that Congolese women can once again feel safe in their own communities.
From: Raise Hope for Congo
1. Predatory security forces
"It is more dangerous to be a woman than to be a soldier right now."
Major General Patrick Cammaert, former UN Deputy Force Commander, describing the situation in eastern Congo, May 2008
Any state's most basic responsibility is to provide security for its citizens. However, the Congolese military is notoriously corrupt and undisciplined. Soldiers themselves live in appalling conditions, are frequently unpaid, and often resort to looting or petty theft to "pay themselves." The army is guilty of widespread abuses of the people they are supposed to protect, and soldiers often view attacking women as a 'benefit" of carrying a gun for the state.
2. Lawless militias
"This violence was designed to exterminate the population."
Louise Nzigire, social worker at Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, spring 2005
A complex and confusing assortment of illegal armed militias operate in eastern Congo. Some are purely criminal, some are loosely political in their goals, and many of them have links back to neighboring states. The Rwandan rebel group called the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, or FDLR, has ties to the 1994 Rwanda genocide and now commits atrocities against Congolese civilians, including appalling acts of sexual violence. The vast majority of civilians in eastern Congo fear militias more than anything else. Militia members often forcibly take local "wives," coerce landowners to conduct menial labor, and steal harvests from local farmers. Militias have been all too eager to use rape and other forms of violence as tools to intimidate and suppress the local population.
3. A culture of impunity
"In Congo, if someone starts an armed group or kills people, they have a better chance of becoming a senior minister or a general than being put behind bars."
Anneke Van Woudenberg, Human Rights Watch, January 2008
In Congo, law enforcement as we know it is nonexistent, and access to justice is extremely deficient. For most women in the Congo, going to the police with a complaint about a crime is almost unthinkable, and most women fear that if they go to a police station they will be subjected to rape, other forms of violence, or theft. For the few women and young girls who do get the opportunity to publicly identify their rapists, prosecutions are slow to nonexistent, and reprisal attacks against the victim and/or her family are common. Perpetrators thrown into jail are often able to simply pay guards for their release or, in some cases, break through the prison walls and walk away.
4. The resource curse
"We are cursed because of our gold. All we do is suffer. There is no benefit to us."
Congolese gold miner, June 2005
The scramble to exploit the Democratic Republic of the Congo's vast natural resources has been the principal driver of atrocities and conflict throughout Congo's tortured history. In eastern Congo today, resources are financing multiple armed groups that target the local population. Many of these armed groups use rape as a deliberate tactic to drive the local population away from mines and other areas that they wish to control. The twisted logic: terrorize the women first and everyone else will stay away.
5. Poverty
"My job is to beg."
Congolese woman, November 2003
Instability and grinding poverty in the Congo have created a stagnant economy, and few companies are willing to invest in this central African nation. The international companies who have invested in the Congo are primarily interested in the resource-extraction sector, which at best does little to help local people and at worst fuels competition and conflict between armed groups. Years of economic decline and conflict have acutely affected women, many of whom have become widows and have been forced to find ways--including begging and prostitution-- to support their families. As women are the primary caretakers of the family, they must often venture outside of safe zones to collect water or firewood, which puts them at greater risk of attack. With many men killed or driven away from their families, women not only lose an important source of income and protection for their families--they have to care for children and try to earn money with no social safety net. The ability to rely on extended families for support and comfort has also often been shattered by dislocation, violence, and chaos.
6. A collapsed health care system
"I was not trained as a gynecologist, but I am being trained on the job, because the need at the hospital is so large. The Congolese government does not provide our hospital with any resources."
Dr. Roger Luhiriri, Panzi Hospital, Buvaku, South Kivu, September 2008
Another consequence of the prolonged conflict is an outright collapse of the Congolese health care system. Tens of thousands of women have survived rape and sexual violence, but the Congolese government is unable to provide adequate medical services, rehabilitation programs, or psychological counseling. This means that women have a very difficult time surviving the physical scars of sexual violence, much less addressing the psychological ones. Furthermore, lack of adequate medical care to prevent and treat diseases such as cholera and malaria further add to the insurmountable daily struggles and dangers faced by Congolese women and their children.
7. Internal displacement
"It would be much too dangerous [to return home]. Battles continue to rage there. But we're really not proud of having to stay here."
Josephine, a Congolese woman who has been driven from her home and now lives in a camp for displaced people, June 2008
More than 1.3 million Congolese have been driven from their homes, or "displaced," in eastern Congo. Throughout the conflict, rape has been used as a weapon to force communities to flee their homes. Now, huge populations live in poorly protected camps, where they are vulnerable to attacks by militias and Congolese security forces. Although humanitarian organizations provide life-saving supplies and care to the camps, it is often almost impossible for families to earn a living or properly care for their children in such settings.
8. A failing education system
"Out of more than 4.4 million children who are not in school in the Congo, 2.5 million of these children are girls The violence, the poverty, the culture - there are many reasons why children are not going to school."
UNICEF, 2008
The school system in Congo is extremely weak: School enrollment rates, from primary school through university, have dropped significantly since the onset of the conflict. It is difficult for uneducated women in eastern Congo to know and defend their rights. It also been proven again and again that investments in basic education for girls have some of the very best returns of all development programs. Girls that have at least a basic education are more economically productive, have smaller and better cared for families, and are more likely to be active in their communities.
9. Gender inequality and cultural barriers
"Women had very few rights. They are not perceived as equal citizens. I think what [ ] these atrocities have done is to have, bizarrely, normalized rape. So now it's not just the Congolese army and the factions that are raping the women; now it's becoming normalized. Domestic rape and domestic battery has wildly increased in families."
Eve Ensler, founder of V-Day, September 2007
Ongoing political and economic insecurity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have further eroded the status of women in society. Women in the Congo are often treated as little more than private property, and they are often denied access to health care, property, education, and information.
10. Inaction
"It's shameful that soldiers anywhere are allowed to [commit atrocities such as rape against civilians]. That's why I want to be president. I want to change this. I want to make security one of my first priorities so that these and other acts come to an end once and for all."
President Joseph Kabila, before he won the national elections and became Congo's first democratically elected president since independence, June 2006
The Congolese Government and the international community have failed to act to end the suffering of Congolese women. In spite of the promises President Kabila made over two years ago and the presence of the world's largest United Nations peacekeeping force, armed groups continue to target civilians in eastern Congo. If the next president of the United States makes ending violence against women and girls in eastern Congo a priority at the beginning of the new administration, the Congo could have a real chance at peace. The United States should seize this opportunity to play a leading role in ending this violence and ensuring that Congolese women can once again feel safe in their own communities.
From: Raise Hope for Congo
I am happy to say that a new class has been created in my high school--Global Studies, taught by an awesome woman. It is a genocide class. So far I have not taken it but through my older sister, who is currently enrolled in the class, I met the teacher and learned about genocide. Mostly Darfur. Yesterday, we had Awareness Day in honor of Awareness Month. We posted Save Darfur signs around the school and chalked the sidewalk with such slogans as Never Again..and again..and again; we presented a powerpoint slideshow with music (I Will Possess Your Heart, Death Cab for Cutie; the first 4 minutes 10 seconds of it) in the cafeteria at lunch and handed out pamphlets to questioning students. We got a great reaction and, as expected, discovered that very few students knew anything about Darfur, or any genocide other than the holocaust. After Awareness Day, they knew. They could not say they didn't and they could not say they were powerless to help. If you are a student, encourage your school board to try the same thing. Being aware is, at least, a start.
The crisis in Darfur, in western Sudan, has led to some of the worst human rights abuses imaginable, including systematic and widespread murder, rape, abduction and forced displacement. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have died as a result of both deliberate and indiscriminate attacks, and more than 2 million civilians have been forced to flee from their homes. The situation on the ground has been plagued with renewed violence, Janjawid attacks, and aerial bombing by the Government of Sudan's military. Currently, the Government of Sudan is resisting the UN Security Council-mandated peacekeeping operation that is desperately needed.
The international society must, at long last, put a stop to these atrocities and bring relief to those who have survived but continue to suffer. Join the growing movement of citizens worldwide who are taking action for Darfur. Read More »
The international society must, at long last, put a stop to these atrocities and bring relief to those who have survived but continue to suffer. Join the growing movement of citizens worldwide who are taking action for Darfur. Read More »
Hello all,
I am sure you are wondering what this is all about. Either I or another member have given you an invite to make a difference in the world. We will be working to stop the violence and genocide in Darfur. I am in the initial stages of this opportunity and I would like you to join me. I hope you will be willing to take a few minutes out of your day to help the cause.
Thank you
Bryan
I am sure you are wondering what this is all about. Either I or another member have given you an invite to make a difference in the world. We will be working to stop the violence and genocide in Darfur. I am in the initial stages of this opportunity and I would like you to join me. I hope you will be willing to take a few minutes out of your day to help the cause.
Thank you
Bryan
So, in school this past week, our chapter of Students Against Genocide group decided to show the senior ethics classes the documentary, " Facing Sudan" which is absolutely terrific, by the way. When I first watched this movie, the pictures alone got to me. I nearly cried after witnessing the terrible malnutrition that is taking place, and the beatings, rapings, and killings. I think that we should try to find a site that has this movie available and stream it to make others aware of the tragedies of genocide going on in Sudan today. Any thoughts on this... please post back or message.
-Will
-Will
This innovative project hopes to help bring an end to the atrocities of the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. Students are trying to raise awareness by presenting the project to the general public, the government, and the media. This project is completely student driven, run by student volunteers. Please participate, and help spread the word about this project.
"We, Elm Place Middle School students, have created a project called "Reach for Change." The purpose of Reach for Change is to raise awareness about the Darfur genocide. We are asking you to color paper dolls which will be used as a visual aid to show the impact of the loss of so many lives. Our goal is to collect 400,000 paper dolls, representing the estimated 400,000 people who have died in the genocide so far. Please share this project with family, friends, and co-workers so that Darfur can be saved! . . . Also, as of right now, there is no deadline!"
Get your dolls!
Please download and print the doll template from this link:
http://www.nssd112.org/elmplace/teachers/Levi/PaperDolls.pdf
Once you have decorated your dolls, please send them to:
Elm Place Middle School
2031 N. Sheridan Rd.
Highland Park, IL 60035
To contact us with questions or comments:
Phone #: (847) 432-9217
Fax #: (847) 432-9213
E-mail: reachforchange@msn.com
Website: http://reachforchange.com/index.html
"We, Elm Place Middle School students, have created a project called "Reach for Change." The purpose of Reach for Change is to raise awareness about the Darfur genocide. We are asking you to color paper dolls which will be used as a visual aid to show the impact of the loss of so many lives. Our goal is to collect 400,000 paper dolls, representing the estimated 400,000 people who have died in the genocide so far. Please share this project with family, friends, and co-workers so that Darfur can be saved! . . . Also, as of right now, there is no deadline!"
Get your dolls!
Please download and print the doll template from this link:
http://www.nssd112.org/elmplace/teachers/Levi/PaperDolls.pdf
Once you have decorated your dolls, please send them to:
Elm Place Middle School
2031 N. Sheridan Rd.
Highland Park, IL 60035
To contact us with questions or comments:
Phone #: (847) 432-9217
Fax #: (847) 432-9213
E-mail: reachforchange@msn.com
Website: http://reachforchange.com/index.html
IT'S APPARENT IN TIMES OF GENOCIDE
WE MUST LEAD
OUR LEADERS
NOTE: my main blog is Link
where you can read my other posts and see pictures.
What do these locations have in common?
* Darfur, Sudan
* Rwanda
* Yerevan, Armenia
* Sarajevo, Bosnia
* Germany and surrounding countries
* Phenom Penh, Cambodia
* Nanking, China http://nankingthefilm.com/
* The land the United States of America was created upon
Human inhumanity is a legacy and a stain on all of us. All of these places have this word in common: GENOCIDE. Do you know what genocide is? It was defined December 9, 1948 at the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide Link
And do you know the date that the United States of America ratified it? Not until November 25, 1988.
A Summary of United Nations Agreements on Human Rights: Link
I was on a nationwide, worldwide really, hour conference call today with approximately 75 others via the Save Darfur Coalition offices in Washington, D.C. I consider myself a human rights activist and Darfur community leader in the state of Rhode Island. It was a privilege today to participate in this call. We listened to the worldwide coordinator of the Olympics Torch Relay for Darfur, Jill Savett, explain the progress and plans of this huge endeavor. There will be a Torch Relay for Darfur going through countries that have had genocides: Starting at the Chad/Darfur border, where the current genocide is, continuing in Rwanda, Armenia, Bosnia, Germany, Cambodia ending in China or in a symbolic location of China (if China won't allow us in China). The Torch Relay will link the Darfur genocide to China, where the 2008 Olympics will take place. The Dream for Darfur Olympic Torch Relay will begin August 8, 2007, one year in advance of the opening ceremonies in Beijing, China of the 2008 Olympics. By the way, Steven Spielberg is producing the opening and closing ceremonies in Beijing, China, land of the Darfur genocide funding.
Link
But also, there will be a symbolic Torch Relay for Darfur in the United States of America. This United States of America Olympic Symbolic Torch Relay will begin September 9, 2007 which is the anniversary date that Secretary of State Colin Powell initially identified and acknowledged the actions as genocide in Darfur. The USA Darfur Relay will culminate on December 10, 2007, Global Day of Action for Darfur, which is also the date of World Human Rights Day.
Link
Link
SaveDarfur.org has a post called "Unity Statement" that's worth checking out...
The emergency in Sudan's western region of Darfur presents the starkest challenge to the world since the Rwanda genocide in 1994. A government-backed Arab militia known as Janjaweed has been engaging in campaigns to displace and wipe out communities of African tribal farmers (notes
Why Focus on China
China has two large oil companies in Sudan, which makes money for the Sudanese government. Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir uses 70 % of the nation's budget for his military who works in coordination with the Janjaweed to commit the genocide on the Darfuri families. This is proven by human rights organizations, independent films, such as Darfur Diaries, as well as the African Union troops who have for years been documenting the stories and actions, in addition to taking pictures of the carnage. China sits on the Security Council of the United Nations and is in a position to put an end to this four and half year genocide, however it has done not only nothing to alleviate or stop the genocide, but it has done the opposite by making supportive statements repeatedly for Omar al-Bashir, the mastermind behind the genocide.
Email the National Olympic Committee to state your position on the Darfur genocide:
Link
...................................................
Please . . . please, Sign the Petition.
Tell the Olympic Committee to Bring the Olympic Dream to the People of Darfur.
Sign the Petition to the International Olympic Committee:
Link
The organizers of the Dream for Darfur's sponsored International Olympic Torch Relay for Darfur met the China Ambassador to the United States last Friday. China proved to be cognizant of this endeavor. We have their attention. It is important that we have their attention. And more.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Gabriel Starring, who is and has been on the Chad/Darfur border for two weeks, was also on the conference call today and told us that the people in the "refugee" camps just "want to go home" and that they are in "survivor mode" in these camps. He said:
there is "no rule of law", life is "unpredictable", there is "no security", "humanitarian aid is hit and miss"
that when he was there in 2005, camps were relatively stable and things have deteriorated drastically
the people want to find hope and that they want to connect with us
the people are resilient, beautiful and strong and that he feels at one with them.
Gabriel stated that the people are no different than us and that we would want them to do for us if it was us.
Gabriel told us that videos that they have been taking there are uploaded daily and can be seen at www.stopgenocidenow.org Gabriel's group is going to leave video equipment with the people when they leave, so that the people can feel a connection to the rest of the world, which they so desperately need.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Then, Mia Farrow spoke to us about her trip there. She said that more than the needed water and food, the people's plea is for protection, safety . . . that the UN is hopelessly paralyzed, that China sits on the Security Council and has rendered the UN toothless regarding Darfur, that Beijing pours billions of dollars into the Sudanese government's coffers and in effect are underwriting the first genocide of the 21st century, that China's oil companies' air strips in Sudan are being used for planes bombing the Darfuri families and communities, that 76% of China in a poll stated that they believe that China has the responsibility to step up and do the right thing.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Scott Warren, for Brown University, in Providence, Rhode Island, who is the new executive director of www.standnow.org that the United States Olympic Torch Relays goals are to:
1. Influence China regarding their responsibility to use their leverage to end the Sudanese government's perpetrating the genocide on their own people
1. That the 2008 Chinese Olympics are China's "Coming Out Party" and that by shaming
them - they will do the correct thing
b. To gain media coverage of this issue of our complicity and living out our stated values of
human rights is something we also must be pressured to do as a nation
2. Make an impact on the world, the USA populace and the Presidential candidates
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
I plan to organize an Olympic Torch Relay for Darfur in the state of Rhode Island
Once my plans materialize, I will post it on Link
I also will post here about the plans as we go along.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
I CALLED PRESIDENT BUSH TODAY AT
202 - 456 - 1111, as I ask you to do every day.
I was only asked what state that I am from.
Today, my message was:
"I am calling about the Darfur genocide. I believe we are standing idly by and I'd like us to stop that and take action."
When the automated message came on I just waited as if I have a rotary dial phone in order to talk to the person live. This is the President's Comment Line and she says that she will pass on the message to the President. If you and I call every day until this genocide is over, it is a small step for humankind and toward peace. It's really up to us to shine a light on our responsibility to stop genocide. Evidentally, our leaders need us to lead them in times of genocide.
The President's Comment Phone Line is open Monday through Friday
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
202 - 456 - 1111
email: president@whitehouse.gov
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Call your US Senators & Representatives at
1 - 800 - GENOCIDE
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Genocide flourishes when there is no accountability.
WE CAN'T SAY THAT WE CARE ABOUT JUSTICE
WHEN WE DO NOTHING TO STOP THE INJUSTICE
We each have a voice.
We each have a presence.
We have been called to be human
in the most basic way
on this subject.
Where there is a will - there is always a way.
And where there is no will - there is no way.
Silence is necessary for genocide to go on.
Our collective silence is a weapon used by the genocidaires.
Silence kills.
And we are responsible for our personal silence.
Let us not be silent.
If Peace never begins, Genocide will never end.
One World.
One humanity.
One Human Race.
One.
http://www.Savedarfur.org
http://www.ajws.org/
www.sudandivestment.org/
Link
http://www.standnow.org/
What Legacy Will You Leave?
WE MUST LEAD
OUR LEADERS
NOTE: my main blog is Link
where you can read my other posts and see pictures.
What do these locations have in common?
* Darfur, Sudan
* Rwanda
* Yerevan, Armenia
* Sarajevo, Bosnia
* Germany and surrounding countries
* Phenom Penh, Cambodia
* Nanking, China http://nankingthefilm.com/
* The land the United States of America was created upon
Human inhumanity is a legacy and a stain on all of us. All of these places have this word in common: GENOCIDE. Do you know what genocide is? It was defined December 9, 1948 at the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide Link
And do you know the date that the United States of America ratified it? Not until November 25, 1988.
A Summary of United Nations Agreements on Human Rights: Link
I was on a nationwide, worldwide really, hour conference call today with approximately 75 others via the Save Darfur Coalition offices in Washington, D.C. I consider myself a human rights activist and Darfur community leader in the state of Rhode Island. It was a privilege today to participate in this call. We listened to the worldwide coordinator of the Olympics Torch Relay for Darfur, Jill Savett, explain the progress and plans of this huge endeavor. There will be a Torch Relay for Darfur going through countries that have had genocides: Starting at the Chad/Darfur border, where the current genocide is, continuing in Rwanda, Armenia, Bosnia, Germany, Cambodia ending in China or in a symbolic location of China (if China won't allow us in China). The Torch Relay will link the Darfur genocide to China, where the 2008 Olympics will take place. The Dream for Darfur Olympic Torch Relay will begin August 8, 2007, one year in advance of the opening ceremonies in Beijing, China of the 2008 Olympics. By the way, Steven Spielberg is producing the opening and closing ceremonies in Beijing, China, land of the Darfur genocide funding.
Link
But also, there will be a symbolic Torch Relay for Darfur in the United States of America. This United States of America Olympic Symbolic Torch Relay will begin September 9, 2007 which is the anniversary date that Secretary of State Colin Powell initially identified and acknowledged the actions as genocide in Darfur. The USA Darfur Relay will culminate on December 10, 2007, Global Day of Action for Darfur, which is also the date of World Human Rights Day.
Link
Link
SaveDarfur.org has a post called "Unity Statement" that's worth checking out...
The emergency in Sudan's western region of Darfur presents the starkest challenge to the world since the Rwanda genocide in 1994. A government-backed Arab militia known as Janjaweed has been engaging in campaigns to displace and wipe out communities of African tribal farmers (notes
Why Focus on China
China has two large oil companies in Sudan, which makes money for the Sudanese government. Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir uses 70 % of the nation's budget for his military who works in coordination with the Janjaweed to commit the genocide on the Darfuri families. This is proven by human rights organizations, independent films, such as Darfur Diaries, as well as the African Union troops who have for years been documenting the stories and actions, in addition to taking pictures of the carnage. China sits on the Security Council of the United Nations and is in a position to put an end to this four and half year genocide, however it has done not only nothing to alleviate or stop the genocide, but it has done the opposite by making supportive statements repeatedly for Omar al-Bashir, the mastermind behind the genocide.
Email the National Olympic Committee to state your position on the Darfur genocide:
Link
...................................................
Please . . . please, Sign the Petition.
Tell the Olympic Committee to Bring the Olympic Dream to the People of Darfur.
Sign the Petition to the International Olympic Committee:
Link
The organizers of the Dream for Darfur's sponsored International Olympic Torch Relay for Darfur met the China Ambassador to the United States last Friday. China proved to be cognizant of this endeavor. We have their attention. It is important that we have their attention. And more.
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Gabriel Starring, who is and has been on the Chad/Darfur border for two weeks, was also on the conference call today and told us that the people in the "refugee" camps just "want to go home" and that they are in "survivor mode" in these camps. He said:
there is "no rule of law", life is "unpredictable", there is "no security", "humanitarian aid is hit and miss"
that when he was there in 2005, camps were relatively stable and things have deteriorated drastically
the people want to find hope and that they want to connect with us
the people are resilient, beautiful and strong and that he feels at one with them.
Gabriel stated that the people are no different than us and that we would want them to do for us if it was us.
Gabriel told us that videos that they have been taking there are uploaded daily and can be seen at www.stopgenocidenow.org Gabriel's group is going to leave video equipment with the people when they leave, so that the people can feel a connection to the rest of the world, which they so desperately need.
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Then, Mia Farrow spoke to us about her trip there. She said that more than the needed water and food, the people's plea is for protection, safety . . . that the UN is hopelessly paralyzed, that China sits on the Security Council and has rendered the UN toothless regarding Darfur, that Beijing pours billions of dollars into the Sudanese government's coffers and in effect are underwriting the first genocide of the 21st century, that China's oil companies' air strips in Sudan are being used for planes bombing the Darfuri families and communities, that 76% of China in a poll stated that they believe that China has the responsibility to step up and do the right thing.
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Scott Warren, for Brown University, in Providence, Rhode Island, who is the new executive director of www.standnow.org that the United States Olympic Torch Relays goals are to:
1. Influence China regarding their responsibility to use their leverage to end the Sudanese government's perpetrating the genocide on their own people
1. That the 2008 Chinese Olympics are China's "Coming Out Party" and that by shaming
them - they will do the correct thing
b. To gain media coverage of this issue of our complicity and living out our stated values of
human rights is something we also must be pressured to do as a nation
2. Make an impact on the world, the USA populace and the Presidential candidates
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I plan to organize an Olympic Torch Relay for Darfur in the state of Rhode Island
Once my plans materialize, I will post it on Link
I also will post here about the plans as we go along.
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I CALLED PRESIDENT BUSH TODAY AT
202 - 456 - 1111, as I ask you to do every day.
I was only asked what state that I am from.
Today, my message was:
"I am calling about the Darfur genocide. I believe we are standing idly by and I'd like us to stop that and take action."
When the automated message came on I just waited as if I have a rotary dial phone in order to talk to the person live. This is the President's Comment Line and she says that she will pass on the message to the President. If you and I call every day until this genocide is over, it is a small step for humankind and toward peace. It's really up to us to shine a light on our responsibility to stop genocide. Evidentally, our leaders need us to lead them in times of genocide.
The President's Comment Phone Line is open Monday through Friday
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
202 - 456 - 1111
email: president@whitehouse.gov
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Call your US Senators & Representatives at
1 - 800 - GENOCIDE
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Genocide flourishes when there is no accountability.
WE CAN'T SAY THAT WE CARE ABOUT JUSTICE
WHEN WE DO NOTHING TO STOP THE INJUSTICE
We each have a voice.
We each have a presence.
We have been called to be human
in the most basic way
on this subject.
Where there is a will - there is always a way.
And where there is no will - there is no way.
Silence is necessary for genocide to go on.
Our collective silence is a weapon used by the genocidaires.
Silence kills.
And we are responsible for our personal silence.
Let us not be silent.
If Peace never begins, Genocide will never end.
One World.
One humanity.
One Human Race.
One.
http://www.Savedarfur.org
http://www.ajws.org/
www.sudandivestment.org/
Link
http://www.standnow.org/
What Legacy Will You Leave?
To find out the what we have done in the past, what is going to happen in the future, or to get involved visit out Google Groups page at Link
Call-In Day for Sen Jack Reed 1-800-GENOCIDE Wednesday May 2
Wednesday, May 2nd is Call-In Day for Senator Jack Reed. Call 1-800-GENOCIDE and tell him to move the legislative bill out of committee for Darfur and divestment and also to sponsor the bill. We would like his Darfur support grade to be better than “C”. The phone call will ask you who you want to talk to (this is a nation wide number) and ask you to press in your zip code. Talking points will be provided before you speak with anyone. Remember to thank Senator Reed for signing the Biden-Lugar letter to President Hu of China regarding Darfur.
May 2, 2007
Dear Person of Conscience,
We had a successful Newport Darfur Walk & Gathering Saturday, April 28. As disappointed as I was that all three network news stations said we were either too far away from their Providence office, that they were typically under-staffed on weekends or…. to come to our event, we did get great coverage from The Newport Daily News in Monday’s paper on two pages, complete with two colored pictures. I loved the picture with all of the signs. Incidentally the posters that were readable were so well-placed. And last Friday, they published my Darfur Letter to the Editor.
I have retyped the entire Newport Daily News article, it can be found by clicking the title of this blog post.
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I know this is a request for darfurawareness.com webpage but you can help too by sharing the following information.
Hey There!
Our school, Atlantic County Institute of Technology is hosting "Dining for Darfur". This is an event where from April 24-26Th our school cafe` will donate 5% of the revenue to the International Rescue Committee. We are asking if you could please post our flyer with all the information concerning this event on your web page. This will be a big help in getting awareness out there and also raising money for those in Darfur suffering from this genocide. Seeing that you are a big support in putting an end to this crisis we though this might interest you. We hope in hearing back from you and maybe you could join us for one of the days to help support the genocide in Darfur. If you would like to contact by phone you may by:
Dr. Elizabeth Klem
(609) 625 -2249 Ext:1109
Thank you for taking your time in considering this event and enclosed is our flyer for you with all information concerning this event.
Hey There!
Our school, Atlantic County Institute of Technology is hosting "Dining for Darfur". This is an event where from April 24-26Th our school cafe` will donate 5% of the revenue to the International Rescue Committee. We are asking if you could please post our flyer with all the information concerning this event on your web page. This will be a big help in getting awareness out there and also raising money for those in Darfur suffering from this genocide. Seeing that you are a big support in putting an end to this crisis we though this might interest you. We hope in hearing back from you and maybe you could join us for one of the days to help support the genocide in Darfur. If you would like to contact by phone you may by:
Dr. Elizabeth Klem
(609) 625 -2249 Ext:1109
Thank you for taking your time in considering this event and enclosed is our flyer for you with all information concerning this event.
Link
Doing It
One State at A Time
March 20, Tuesday, the Rhode Island Senate passed Senate Bill 87 - "Engagement and Targeted Divestment from Sudan", 33 to 0 with 35 Senators present. Senator Rhoda Perry, the bill's primary sponsor, spoke about the need to understand the genocide in Darfur, Sudan and take responsible action with the RI Pension Funds and divest from Sudan. Senator Perry thanked Brown University student Scott Warren, who is an activist with standnow.org and sudandivestment.org in regards to the four year old Darfur genocide, for his part in educating herself and other Senate members on this human dignity and human rights issue of genocide. Rhode Island General Treasurer Frank Caprio and the Senate Finance Committee were recognized as important supporters of this bill. Senator Gallo thanked the Brown University students for their concerted and diligent efforts in conjunction with bringing this needed action to the Senate members' attention and helping move this bill forward in their capacity as human rights champions.
Twenty Brown Universtiy students, plus three www.savedarfur.org RI constituents (I was one of the constituents) gathered at the State Capitol building at 3:00 p.m to prepare for lobbying the senators on Senate Bill 87, then sat in the gallery to watch the vote. The students meet weekly to discuss and plan their actions to end the Darfur genocide. April 23-29 are the dates of "Global Days for Darfur" with events to take place throughout the United States as well as around the world to keep Darfur front and center in our conscience and move our governments' actions and the international community into a more proactive gear. Amnesty International (www.amnestyusa.org) is asking citizens to lobby U.S. Senators and Representatives regarding the Darfur genocide during the week of April 9 - 13.
The next step in Rhode Island in regards to RI state pension funds and Sudan divestment is for the sister bill, House Bill 5142 to be voted upon. Following the potential passage of RI H 5142, Governor Donald L. Carcieri would have the option to sign the bill and have Rhode Island join the other states that have already moved on Sudanese targeted divestment in their states. States that have passed Sudan divestment bills are California, New Jersey, Oregon, Maine, Connecticutt and Vermont. The "targeted" model of divestment from Sudan, recently passed by California, is the model being considered in over 20 states, as well as dozens of universities and cities in the U.S. and abroad.
Of the 400+ international companies operating in Sudan, about two dozen are currently considered the "worst offending". Mainly these companies deal in oil, telecommunications or weapons industries. Seventy per cent of the Sudanese government's oil revenues are spent on defense. Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch report that these funds have been used to purchase expensive military equipment like the bombers and helicopters used against the civilians in Darfur over the last four years.
Many U.S. corporations, mutual funds and individuals are invested in foreign companies that operate in Sudan. The website Link will email you a list of the "worst offending" companies and help those who don't want to aid the genocide by unknowingly fund the very crime against humanity that we have continually said these two words about: "Never Again".
Doing It
One State at A Time
March 20, Tuesday, the Rhode Island Senate passed Senate Bill 87 - "Engagement and Targeted Divestment from Sudan", 33 to 0 with 35 Senators present. Senator Rhoda Perry, the bill's primary sponsor, spoke about the need to understand the genocide in Darfur, Sudan and take responsible action with the RI Pension Funds and divest from Sudan. Senator Perry thanked Brown University student Scott Warren, who is an activist with standnow.org and sudandivestment.org in regards to the four year old Darfur genocide, for his part in educating herself and other Senate members on this human dignity and human rights issue of genocide. Rhode Island General Treasurer Frank Caprio and the Senate Finance Committee were recognized as important supporters of this bill. Senator Gallo thanked the Brown University students for their concerted and diligent efforts in conjunction with bringing this needed action to the Senate members' attention and helping move this bill forward in their capacity as human rights champions.
Twenty Brown Universtiy students, plus three www.savedarfur.org RI constituents (I was one of the constituents) gathered at the State Capitol building at 3:00 p.m to prepare for lobbying the senators on Senate Bill 87, then sat in the gallery to watch the vote. The students meet weekly to discuss and plan their actions to end the Darfur genocide. April 23-29 are the dates of "Global Days for Darfur" with events to take place throughout the United States as well as around the world to keep Darfur front and center in our conscience and move our governments' actions and the international community into a more proactive gear. Amnesty International (www.amnestyusa.org) is asking citizens to lobby U.S. Senators and Representatives regarding the Darfur genocide during the week of April 9 - 13.
The next step in Rhode Island in regards to RI state pension funds and Sudan divestment is for the sister bill, House Bill 5142 to be voted upon. Following the potential passage of RI H 5142, Governor Donald L. Carcieri would have the option to sign the bill and have Rhode Island join the other states that have already moved on Sudanese targeted divestment in their states. States that have passed Sudan divestment bills are California, New Jersey, Oregon, Maine, Connecticutt and Vermont. The "targeted" model of divestment from Sudan, recently passed by California, is the model being considered in over 20 states, as well as dozens of universities and cities in the U.S. and abroad.
Of the 400+ international companies operating in Sudan, about two dozen are currently considered the "worst offending". Mainly these companies deal in oil, telecommunications or weapons industries. Seventy per cent of the Sudanese government's oil revenues are spent on defense. Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch report that these funds have been used to purchase expensive military equipment like the bombers and helicopters used against the civilians in Darfur over the last four years.
Many U.S. corporations, mutual funds and individuals are invested in foreign companies that operate in Sudan. The website Link will email you a list of the "worst offending" companies and help those who don't want to aid the genocide by unknowingly fund the very crime against humanity that we have continually said these two words about: "Never Again".
Your walking down the sidewalk near your street like you always do, everyday, when all of a sudden you hear a blood curdling scream “HELP!!!! SOMEONE HELP ME!!!!” What do you do? Most people go into auto pilot, adrenaline takes over, and they rush to go help. That’s what any of us would do. Right?
So why is it that when thousands of our human brothers and sisters are screaming bloody murder for someone to help, even when we do finally hear it, it does not cause this same reaction? If you are reading this blog, it’s because you did have that reaction when you learned about the genocide of the people of Darfur. You would not be reading this if you didn’t. Like me, you have come over to the Darfur house to look in and see why they are screaming. You have discovered that there are murderers in power in their government, and when you found that out, you realized that it’s not that easy to help them. You can’t just call 911 or the police. You have also, like me, discovered that those who do have the power to do something (like the UN and America) have been ineffective so far, and the terror continues. As the saying goes, when good men do nothing, evil prevails.
So what have we all resorted to doing? Two things mainly: Telling other people about the nightmare in hope that someone else will finally do something, and raising money for the refugees who have fled from their homeland. I think we should always help the poor and oppressed with our money, but don’t think that is a replacement for the fact that we are, in fact, doing nothing about the real problem which remains, the evil government leaders who sanction the killing of the Darfur.
“Oh boy, is this guy going to try to start his own vigilantly militia and run over to Africa?” you might be thinking. Of course that is out of the question (well, that is, unless you happen to be the godfather of a mafia and want to take this idea and run with it…just don’t forget to give me the credit for thinking of it). On the other hand, there have always been tactical and strategic ways to fight a war. Many of the greatest victories on the battlefield of history have been one without a single drop of blood being shed. This is what my blog is focused on. I would like to invite any and all to do a kind of self-educating-and-then-brainstorming blog in which we discover together the great strategies of the greatest war minds of history, and then come up together with a strategic master plan to corner our enemy, the governments in charge of the genocide, and pressure them into submission without even a fight. This is true victory. I would like to suggest starting with one of the greatest manuals on war tactics of all time, The Art of War by Sun Tzu, and ancient Chinese general in the 6th century BC, and a contemporary of Confucius. His book is still popular today among business people, as his tactics are timeless and work for both war and business (is there a difference?) You can read his extremely influential work at Link
Let’s start the united creation of REAL action through REAL strategy and wisdom now!
Social Network to Stop Genocide Jan 3 2007
Say to People,
"May I get your opinion on social networking?
If "Yes", then say:
"Would you network your social network to stop the genocide in Darfur?
It is easy to sign a petition at www.SaveDarfur.org -- a Web Site that's recommended by George Clooney. You can sign their petition or write your own that will be immediately sent to President Bush and to UN Head Ban Ki Moon.
SaveDarfur.org (made up of a 175 Top Non-Profits Organizations) --in their Petition-- wants the already UN authorized troops approved in August 2006 to be sent into Darfur. Now it's January 3, 2007 and still no action yet.
Since the UN continues to DILLY-DALLY, I recommend that we add to the SaveDarfur.org Petition that the U.S. lead NATO, Muslim and other countries to send in troops to Darfur immediately--if necessary, without UN or Sudan approval--to stop the Genocide in Darfur, if the current road-blocks continue.
So please have fun by awakening the people about you by asking them:
"May I get your opinion on stopping genocide in Darfur?"
Or
"May I get your opinion on social networking? On Genocide?"
Remember the Power of 10 to swiftly transform this world to a place of peace and joy. That is, If we each get 10 new people to social network for the common good in a 1 week (or 1 day)--who do likewise--then in 2 weeks (or 2 days) over 100 people would be mobilized, and in 9 weeks (or 9 days or any 9 same time cycles) over a billion people--or the entire world--would be united for the Common Good.
So let's unite the world Now for Darfur's sake, and more importantly for the world's sake.
Say to People,
"May I get your opinion on social networking?
If "Yes", then say:
"Would you network your social network to stop the genocide in Darfur?
It is easy to sign a petition at www.SaveDarfur.org -- a Web Site that's recommended by George Clooney. You can sign their petition or write your own that will be immediately sent to President Bush and to UN Head Ban Ki Moon.
SaveDarfur.org (made up of a 175 Top Non-Profits Organizations) --in their Petition-- wants the already UN authorized troops approved in August 2006 to be sent into Darfur. Now it's January 3, 2007 and still no action yet.
Since the UN continues to DILLY-DALLY, I recommend that we add to the SaveDarfur.org Petition that the U.S. lead NATO, Muslim and other countries to send in troops to Darfur immediately--if necessary, without UN or Sudan approval--to stop the Genocide in Darfur, if the current road-blocks continue.
So please have fun by awakening the people about you by asking them:
"May I get your opinion on stopping genocide in Darfur?"
Or
"May I get your opinion on social networking? On Genocide?"
Remember the Power of 10 to swiftly transform this world to a place of peace and joy. That is, If we each get 10 new people to social network for the common good in a 1 week (or 1 day)--who do likewise--then in 2 weeks (or 2 days) over 100 people would be mobilized, and in 9 weeks (or 9 days or any 9 same time cycles) over a billion people--or the entire world--would be united for the Common Good.
So let's unite the world Now for Darfur's sake, and more importantly for the world's sake.
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