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| March 27, 2009 |
UN Security Council unanimously appeals to Sudan to re-admit expelled aid groups
The statement was signed by all 15 members and was read by the Libya's UN Ambassador who is this month's president of the Security Council. <http://www.reuters.com/An excellent and interesting piece by Steve Paterno re Alex DeWaal's perplexing positions
http://www.sudantribune.com/| March 22, 2009 |
Omar al-Bashir accused of "exterminating" refugees by expelling international aid agencies.
The chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court has accused Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir of "exterminating" refugees by expelling international aid agencies.Luis Moreno-Ocampo said that by blocking aid the president was attacking the civilians in the giant camps that dot Darfur.
He called for President Bashir to be arrested as soon as he leaves Sudan. The president is due to attend this month's Arab League summit in Qatar. Speaking to the BBC's Network Africa, Mr Moreno-Ocampo said that by expelling the international aid agencies the president was "confirming that he is exterminating his people".
Mr Moreno-Ocampo said that he would work for the arrest of President Bashir as soon as he leaves Sudan.
Judges at the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest on war crimes charges earlier this month. Mr Moreno-Ocampo said that entering international airspace would be enough, since UN Security Council resolution 1583 urges all UN members to co-operate with the court.
Qatar, which invited President Bashir to the Arab League summit, has not signed the statute that brought the ICC into being.
Some Sudanese leaders, concerned about the president's safety, have urged him not to visit the annual Arab summit, due to start on 29 March. Earlier this week the Sudanese former president Siwar Al-Dahab urged President Bashir to exercise "patience and wisdom" and not risk travelling to Qatar "for his safety and the safety of Sudanese people".
The United Nations and the Sudanese authorities concluded a joint assessment mission to Darfur to investigate how best to deal with the camps after President Bashir's expulsion of the 13 international aid agencies.
| March 19, 2009 |
My Huffington blog
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/Mbeki a disgrace-again
With his crackpot denial that HIV causes AIDS, his appointment of a health minister who recommended beets and garlic as treatment for South Africa's more than 5 million HIV infected citizens, his corrupt government, his incomprehensible support of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his refusal to use South Africa's leverage to halt the horrors in Zimbabwe, former South African President Thabo Mbeki's legacy is a disgraceful one.In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Mbeki now heads an African Union panel set up in January 2009. It is composed of current and former African officials and it is tasked with helping to bring peace to war ravaged Darfur. It is also charged with investigating the atrocities committed in Darfur and advising the African Union on how to deal with the perpetrators. They will issue a report of their findings in July. Today Mbeki announced that the panel will not consider any of the evidence compiled by the International Criminal Court.
On March 4 the ICC announced an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omer Al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, torture and the forced displacement of millions in the Darfur region of Sudan.
| March 13, 2009 |
Check out this dead-on cartoon on Darfur
http://www.markfiore.com/| March 12, 2009 |
The situation in Darfur is dire. The expulsion has left more than a million displaced people without clean water, food, supplies of any kind or medical assistance. As this kidnapping underlines, the remaining aid workers are not safe.
| March 7, 2009 |
Source: UNHCR
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
Statement on the Humanitarian Situation in Darfur
6 March 2009
The Government of Sudan's order suspending 16 non-governmental organisations(NGOs) will have devastating implications for the citizens of Darfur. Aid operations in North Sudan, the largest humanitarian emergency in the world costing over $2 billion annually, will be irrevocably damaged.
The UN Agencies operating in Sudan [UNICEF, UNHCR, UNJLC, WFP, WHO] and OCHA, are deeply concerned by this situation. The suspended NGOs account for more than half of the capacity for the aid operation in Darfur. If the life-saving assistance these agencies were providing is not restored shortly, it will have immediate, lasting and profound impacts on the well-being of millions of Sudanese citizens. It is not possible, in any reasonable time frame, to replace the capacity and expertise these agencies have provided over an extended period of time.
The decision to expel these sixteen organizations, our main implementing partners, effectively removes some 6,500 staff, or 40% of the humanitarian workforce, from being able to carry out critical humanitarian activities in Darfur. These organizations provide a lifeline to 4.7 million people in Darfur alone, and millions more in other areas of Northern Sudan. While some 85 international NGOs operate in Darfur, without these organisations much of the aid operation literally comes to a halt.
We are also alarmed that the Government has confiscated assets from these organizations, which are critical to the humanitarian operation, including computers, vehicles, and communications equipment.
While the UN agencies reaffirm their commitment to do everything possible to cover the most pressing and critical gaps caused by this suspension during the coming days, neither this commitment nor remaining capacity on the ground is sufficient to meet the humanitarian needs in the long run. As such, we appeal to the Government of Sudan to urgently reconsider this decision and to restore our ability to assist their most vulnerable citizens.
This statement has been endorsed by the following UN Agencies:
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) United Nations Joint Logistics Centre (UNJLC) World Food Programme (WFP) World Health Organization (WHO) and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
| March 6, 2009 |
| March 5, 2009 |
Other aid organizations received similar orders to suspend their services.
Help us call on the international community to urge the Government of Sudan to reconsider this deplorable decision and ensure the delivery of lifesaving aid to vulnerable men, women and children in Sudan. Please make your voice heard now. <http://ga3.org/ct/o1XI1OS1qEQo/>
| March 4, 2009 |
The Government of Sudan has ordered the expulsion of six to ten humanitarian groups from Darfur, including Oxfam, Solidarities, MSF Holland, CARE, MSF France, ACF and Mercy Corps. Armed soldiers are going door to door seizing assets.
Some are suggesting that Kalma camp will be stripped bare...90,000 people.
2 counts of war crimes: intentional directing attacks against civilians and pillaging. The ICC reserves the right to accuse Al-Bashir of genocide when the full evidence is presented to the Court
Excerpt from the Convention on the Prevention and
of Genocide
"Article II: In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
war crimes: intentional directing attacks against civilians and pillaging.
---
Punishment of Genocide (For full text click here)
"Article II: In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
Punishment of Genocide
"Article II: In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
Punishment of Genocide
"Article II: In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
Punishment of Genocide (For full text click here)
"Article II: In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
Are all states including those who did not sign onto the ICC Rome Statute obligated to arrest and surrender Al-Bashir?
Although any state (party to the Rome Statute or not) can arrest him and all states will be requested to if he is on their territory (see Art 89 RS), non state parties are not obligated to, except in the case of Sudan, which the United Nations Security Council ordered to fully cooperate with the Court and thus under Ch VII they are legally obligated to (note the rest of this para in 1593 urges cooperation of non state parties but does not require it).Article 89
Surrender of persons to the Court
1. The Court may transmit a request for the arrest and surrender of a person, together with the material supporting the request outlined in article 91, to any State on the territory of which that person may be found and shall request the cooperation of that State in the arrest and surrender of such a person. States Parties shall, in accordance with the provisions of this Part and the procedure under their national law, comply with requests for arrest and surrender.
UNSC Res 1593:
Decides that the Government of Sudan and all other parties to the conflict in Darfur shall cooperate fully with and provide any necessary assistance to the Court and the Prosecutor pursuant to this resolution and, while recognizing that States not party to the Rome Statute have no obligation under the Statute, urges all States and concerned regional and other international organizations to cooperate fully.
women Nobel Peace Laureates are encouraged by recent progress in the work of the International
Criminal Court in Sudan.
We remain deeply concerned by ongoing attacks against humanitarian aid workers in
government-controlled towns, continued use of rape as a tactic of war, and obstructions to
international efforts to resolve the conflict. The situation in Darfur is still desperate, after almost
six years of armed conflict.
We are convinced that justice will be a pillar of peace in the Sudan, as it will be globally. The
creation of the International Criminal Court is a critical and significant development in
international law that took more than five decades to establish. With its global reach, it has the
potential to prevent, or drastically reduce, the deaths and devastation caused by violent conflict
and abuses of power.
The people of Darfur deserve—and have clearly vocalized a desire for—justice and
accountability. We urge the friends of Sudan in the international community to let the Court do its
work.
Betty William, Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi, Wangari Maathai
The Court noted: "He is suspected of being criminally responsible as an indirect perpetrator for intentionally directing attacks against an important part of the civilian population of Darfur, Sudan, murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing, and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians and pillaging their property."
In announcing the arrest warrant, an ICC spokesman noted that the fact that Mr. Bashir is a sitting president "does not exclude his criminal responsibility nor does it grant him immunity against prosecution before the International Criminal Court."
John Prendergast founder of the Enough Project issued the following statement in response:
"The International Criminal Court arrest warrant for President Omer al-Bashir provides an unprecedented opening, making Sudan's prospects for peace riper than they have been in memory, How the Obama administration handles this immediate foreign policy challenge will have a major impact on the outcome. It is crucial for the new president's team to clarify to Arab states, China and others that the U.S. policy objective is a just and durable peace for Sudan."
The issuance of an arrest warrant for Sudan's sitting head of state for crimes against humanity offers the Obama administration a chance to catalyze multilateral efforts to bring about a solution to Sudan's decades-long cycle of warfare. One of the crucial missing ingredients to conflict resolution efforts has been some form of accountability for the horrific crimes against humanity that have been perpetrated by the warring parties in Sudan, primarily the Khartoum regime.
President Obama should now take a number of key steps, including:
*Working with the U.N. Security Council to support targeted sanctions against those most responsible for violence in Sudan and imposing a comprehensive arms embargo against the Government of Sudan;
*Making UNAMID( the UN/AU peacekeeping mission in Darfur) effective with a robust force on the ground in Darfur with a competent lead nation and a clear command-and-control structure;
*Working closely with interested parties with leverage in Sudan and the region, especially China, the United Kingdom, France, and key African countries, to coordinate efforts on peace efforts, the protection of civilians, and accountability;
*Countering continued violations by Sudan on the UN ban on offensive military flights in Darfur; and
*Appointing a senior Special Envoy to not only address the situation in Darfur, but Sudan's multiple conflicts and their regional dimensions.
5 counts of crimes against humanity: murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture and rape
2 counts of war crimes: intentional directing attacks against civilians and pillaging.
Not included in the warrant is the crime of genocide-if aDditional info is gathered by the prosection the crime of genocide may be included.
| March 2, 2009 |
Two Days until ICC Decision
On March 4th the International Criminal Court will announce its findings in their case against Sudanese President Omer Al-Bashir. It is probable that the Court will issue an arrest warrant charging Al-Bashir with war crimes, crimes against humanity and possibly even genocide. ICC Chief Prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo conducted his investigation under challenging circumstances; he was not permitted to enter Darfur, the region where the crimes took place. Instead he gathered his evidence from many of the 250,000 refugees who fled into Chad after the attacks began in 2003.I have just returned from a four week journey along the Chad/Darfur border. On both sides of the border, civilians, refugees, aid workers, peacekeepers and military are prepared for a variety of retaliation scenarios from Al-Bashir, a man with much blood on his hands, who will have little to lose. Reliable information from Khartoum reports Government military have been instructed to target families of supporters of the ICC. The Director of National Intelligence, Salah Gosh, announced the fate of anyone supporting an ICC indictment, "We will cut off his hand and his head and carve up his joints. This is an issue of no compromise" and "those who misbehave can only blame themselves!"
It is crucial and indeed past time that the Obama administration appoint a top level envoy to be prepared to focus on the consequences of this week's ICC announcement. Washington must make it clear to Khartoum that it will not tolerate violence against humanitarians, international peacekeepers or Darfuri civilians in the aftermath of the decision.
Monday 2 March 2009.
March 1, 2009 (KHARTOUM) — The Joint Special Representative of the African-Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), Rodolphe Adada, met today in Khartoum with Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Mutrif Siddiq, to discuss "rising tensions on the Chadian-Sudanese border."
Sudan-backed rebels and militias have launched attacks on Chad in each of the last three dry seasons, including assaults on the Chadian capital in 2006 and 2008. Currently up to 5,000 rebels are gathering on the Sudan side of the border, an Irish commandant with the Chad-based EUFOR peacekeeping mission disclosed last week. The Irish officer expected the invasion could follow the International Criminal Court announcement this week of an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omer Al-Bashir. Meanwhile, the commander of a Chad-based Darfur rebel group, Khalil Ibrahim, said in an interview from outside N’Djamena, the Chadian capital that his JEM forces would aim to topple Al-Bashir in the wake of the ICC indictment, though a spokesperson downplayed the statement.
Given this context, Siddiq and Adada discussed the current situation in West Darfur, particularly the rising tensions on the Chadian-Sudanese border. "Dr. Siddiq promised to address these issues and to try and find adequate solutions in consultation with UNAMID. He also reiterated the commitment of the Government of Sudan (GoS) to ensure the safety and security of UNAMID personnel and facilities," They also discussed the flight of thousands of civilians from fighting in South Darfur last month. These displaced people have been arriving to the Zam Zam camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) near El Fasher, in North Darfur.
Arms flows through El Geneina are a major supply source for Chadian rebels, according to a report released last November by a UN panel of arms control experts. Sudan has sent up to three daily flights of arms and other equipment to El Geneina, the experts claimed, saying that the town was a liaison point for leaders of the Chadian armed groups and the Sudanese intelligence service (NISS). The report stated, "ground troops receive their allotted military supplies directly from NISS storehouses along with training in and around El Geneina."
Today, Jean Ping the chairman of the African Union Commission said concerned by the tension in the border between the two countries. He said he "continues to follow the evolution of the situation in Chad and on the border between that country and Sudan."