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| June 25, 2010 |
The statement referred to the repeated kidnapping of aid workers, killing of peacekeepers, vehicle hijackings and banditry. It said that "the steady deterioration of security conditions is not only affecting the population but directly targets the humanitarian community". The statement added that the insecurity has reduced aid activities or completely cut it off in certain cases.
| June 18, 2010 |
The displaced persons in Mershing camp in South Darfur are suffering from a humanitarian crisis, the residents say. They face an acute food shortage, since food was not distributed for them for a period of sixty days. One of the residents in the camp said they are struggling to get food after the humanitarian organizations halted disbursements of food.
People living in Abu Shouk displaced camp spoke about the deteriorating nutritional situation and poor security. Refugees have gone without food from humanitarian organizations for a period of three months, according to one displaced person who spoke with Radio Dabanga from the camp. He added that there is malnutrition in the camp along with water shortages and a deteriorating health situation. The displaced person speaking with the radio station accused the government of using policies of oppression and starvation in order to break up the camps.
Reporters from Radio Dabanga, based in Chad, provide an outstanding service, transmittiing information to and from Darfur’s refugees and displaced persons. http://www.radiodabanga.org
| June 17, 2010 |
KISHORE MAHBUBANI (former UN representative of Singapore):
If you want to look at the future of the Security Council, remember the accountability point, because the Council is in a very peculiar situation today. As its role and importance grow significantly, it is affecting more and more lives on the ground in Asia, Africa, Haiti and Latin America.
Who owns the Council? Who provides its legitimacy? Maybe the best way of understanding this is to understand the core function of the Council.
The work of the Council has been compared to a fire department. The Security Council is supposed to come out and put out the conflicts no matter where they happen. But in practice, the Council’s record is mixed. If it affects Park Avenue, the Security Council reacts. If it doesn’t affect Park Avenue, in some parts of Africa, the Security Council doesn’t react. And these double standards are beginning to be perceived.
The 1994 Rwandan genocide was the lowest point for the Council. We all assume that after the mistake of Rwanda, the Security Council will not fail again.
Unfortunately, I learned one big lesson after visiting Burundi in the Great Lakes region. When we returned to New York, the 15 Security Council members met with Gareth Evans, who asked us a simple question: “You’ve been to Burundi, you’ve seen how fragile the situation is. This time around, if a genocide breaks out in Burundi, what will the Council do?”
There was an awkward silence before one P5 member said, “My country has no vital national interest in Burundi, and we will not react.” A second P5 member said, “My country has no vital national interest in Burundi, so we will not react.” And this went around....
| June 16, 2010 |
By NICHOLAS KRISTOF
Read the entire piece at http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/11/has-obama-forgotten-darfur/
Darfur seems to have been forgotten, but the killings continue. After a lull, the pace of killings has increased lately, with some 600 people killed violently last month alone. As Newsweek notes, that's more than in any month since U.N. peacekeepers arrived.
The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, addressed the Security Council today, giving a blunt report about Darfur:
But the Security Council seems mum, frozen, passive, paralyzed. Instead of insisting that Sudan take further action, it shrugs and looks the other way. It used to be that the problem countries on the U.N. Security Council, in terms of getting action on the slaughter in Darfur, were China and Russia. But now the U.S. and Britain seem equally complicit. President Obama, who was one of the leaders on the Darfur issue when he was in the Senate, seems to have forgotten about it as president.
The entire Darfur region is still a crime scene. The attacks against civilians not participating in the conflict continue.Thousands of civilians were attacked immediately after the signing of a peace agreement and public commitments to peace earlier this year. Rapes continue. The process of extermination against millions displaced in the camps continues. And why not, since the criminals enjoy impunity?
The Security Council on Monday will hear from a range of leaders about South Sudan. But I hope the Council remembers that while the focus must be on preventing war in the south, turning a blind eye to Darfur is not a way to achieve that. Let's hope I'm wrong, but I fear that myopic policies by the Obama administration and its allies may lay the groundwork for a catastrophe in Sudan
| June 15, 2010 |
This week, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court told the United Nations Security Council that Sudanese Government-sponsored attacks against civilians continue in Darfur, with thousands of people freshly displaced from their villages and sexual violence against women also widespread, today as he called for tougher action to improve the situation in the war-wracked region.
War crimes are still taking place in Darfur, seven years after fighting between Government forces, allied militiamen known as the Janjaweed and rebel groups first flared.
“In February, immediately after the signing of a peace agreement and public commitments to peace, 100,000 civilians were forcibly displaced by Sudanese armed forces in the Jebel Marra,” he said, referring to a mountainous area of central Darfur. Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said the modus operandi was the same as that used earlier in the conflict – “air bombardments followed by attacks of Sudanese armed forces integrating militia/Janjaweed.” He added that gender crimes “remain unabated.”
Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said that “there is a need for an updated, comprehensive report of the UN Secretariat on the current situations in the camps and the villages. The fragmented information on the rapes and on the obstacles to humanitarian assistance must be put together to allow the international community to consider the current extent of the suffering of the civilians.”
| June 5, 2010 |
| June 1, 2010 |
31 May 2010
People in Shamal IDP Camp north of Nertiti in West Darfur suffer from a lack of clean drinking water. According to a source in the camp, which is home to more than 35.000 displaced Darfuris, the camp has only two hand pumps and two gas pumps for drinking water. Hundreds of people stand in long queues at each pump to get drinking water.
This is an outrage
Three quarters of the people are food insecure
Gaza's agricultural and fishing industries are decimated. Nearly half of agricultural land in Gaza is inaccessible because of the bombing or because the fields are now within the no-go area along the borders with Israel.
Restricted access to fishing grounds has depleted catches and revenues.
The waste treatment facility was bombed and the water is not drinkable. As waste pours into the sea, the odor is overwhelming. Still the fishermen go out in chains of small boats, one pulling the rest because fuel supplies are rationed by Israel. Israeli gun boats are highly visible and audible along the shores, firing off the fishermen’s bows if they go out too far.
Restrictions on imports of building supplies have made reconstructing of most bombed building impossible.
Gaza's population experiences rolling blackouts of up to 12 hours every day.
Complex treatments such as for complex heart surgery and certain types of cancer, are not available in Gaza. Many patients have had their applications for exit permits denied or delayed by Israeli authorities and have have died while waiting for referral. Hospitals and primary care facilities, damaged during operation 'Cast Lead', have not been rebuilt because construction materials are not allowed into Gaza.
Medical staff frequently lack the medical equipment they need and cannot obtain spare parts. The hospital I visited did not have enough incubators and doctors told me they are cut off from the outside word and cannot receive essential training to maintain and update their skills.
300,000 Palestine refugee families are living in conditions of abject poverty, unable to secure access to food and lacking basic items such as soap, school stationary and safe drinking water. This situation is sure to have long term effects on the physical and mental health of the population, especially the children.
U.N. Security Council Statement on Gaza Flotilla
June 1, 2001
The Security Council deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries resulting from the use of force during the Israeli military operation in international waters against the convoy sailing to Gaza. The Council, in this context, condemns those acts which resulted in the loss of at least ten civilians and many wounded, and expresses its condolences to their families.
The Security Council requests the immediate release of the ships as well as the civilians held by Israel. The Council urges Israel to permit full consular access, to allow the countries concerned to retrieve their deceased and wounded immediately, and to ensure the delivery of humanitarian assistance from the convoy to its destination.
The Security Council takes note of the statement of the UN Secretary-General on the need to have a full investigation into the matter and it calls for a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation conforming to international standards.
The Security Council stresses that the situation in Gaza is not sustainable. The Council re-emphasizes the importance of the full implementation of Resolutions 1850 and 1860. In that context, it reiterates its grave concern at the humanitarian situation in Gaza and stresses the need for sustained and regular flow of goods and people to Gaza as well as unimpeded provision and distribution of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza.