Sudan: The Passion of the Present

Holocaust Museum Declares Emergency

Using the designation for the first time in its 11 year history, the Holocaust Museum called the situation in Darfur a "genocide emergency" --not merely a description but the strongest language the museum has, in a three-tiered system designed to call attention to atrocities. [New York Times] The message is unmistakable -- every muscle in our culture should act, now, to stop the genocide. Never again.

Knight-Ridder reports that the militia are burning people alive.

Hussein, six classmates, and a teacher hid in the classroom. A gang of janjaweed found them, and dragged them outside. Others started a fire.

They began chanting "Abid, Abid, Abid," Hussein said. It means slave.

Then they shot his teacher and threw his body into the flames. Next they pushed Hussein into the fire. "I felt pain in my legs, but there was no blood," said Hussein, running his thin fingers across his right calf.

In quick succession, the other children were thrown in, too. The janjaweed didn't wait to see them die, and when they left, the children scrambled out of the flames, with minor burns, except Hussein, the first one in. His legs were too swollen, and he fell, unconscious. A relative who had been hiding nearby, waiting for the janjaweed to leave, scooped him up.

"Nobody can believe I survived," said Hussein, whose round face is now scarred with blisters the size of marbles.

The burnings are continuing. A few miles away in the Otash refugee camp, seven villagers, all interviewed separately, described seeing children abducted and set on fire when the janjaweed attacked Adwa two weeks ago.

A failure of will

Forces from across the world are poised to help the people of Darfur, but no nation has the will to move forward.

We are in a tragic and signal moment, a catalytic moment, where the world sees the need, has the means, and yet continues to experience a failure of will. Giving the Sudanese government 30 more days--and then asking Kofi Annan for a report to the UN Security Council--assures 30 more days of death and destruction. Given the nature of the genocidal process being carried out in Sudan--engineered, intentional famine and epidemic disease--30 more days translates into months of additonal famine, and hundreds of thousands of additional lives lost.

Now it is the public's turn. It is our turn. The time is now for our action. We must ask our leaders to act now, not in 30 days.

All key elements are in place, except the will to launch the rescue of Darfur in earnest.

1. High level sources in Washington tell us that the US administration and congress have privately agreed that a military force is needed immediately to halt the genocide in Sudan. Key leaders have agreed to approve whatever is required to enable such a force. This commitment has been communicated to Kofi Annan. We believe that similar commitments have been made by other nations.

Military and logistical preparations have been made by the US, UK, France, Australia, and the Netherlands. The US and France have coordination teams on the ground in neighboring Sudan, and are now in position to provide technical assistance to the rescue mission.

2. Key African Union members are signalling that they have reached the same conclusion, led by the powerful president of Nigeria--Africa's largest nation--who is also the current head of the African Union.

An African Union force, supported by military and humanitarian resources from around the world, is what the African Union leaders are trying to put together.

It seems obvious that we ought to help them in their initiative.

The African Union faces its defining moment. The African Union was founded two years ago this month, in July 2002, out of the wreckage of the defunct Organization of African States. The leaders of the African Union have from the beginning worked to form a continental government that can solve important problems. African leaders recognize that Sudan is a crucial test of the organization's ability to lead.

3. The AU has momentum on its side.

The AU already has placed independent observers in the country who have in recent days reported on new attrocities and the further collapse of the conditions of life for Darfur black citizens.

The AU has permission from Sudan to send into the country a small military protective force, which will land in the next few days.

The AU summit, currently meeting in Ghana, yesterday agreed to add an unspecified number of additional troops to the protective force. Nigeria and Rwanda have committed troops to the current force, and are willing and able to provide more.

The AU protective force can be expanded immediately into a peacekeeping force, and begin to seriously help victims across Darfur.

4. We have the power. A top US congressional aid told me three days ago:

"What you people [all those who have brought attention and care to Darfur, not just this site] are doing on the web has been very very valuable. Thank you all. Your work enables us [in government] to say to our colleagues, 'see, the public cares and wants us to act. The public is with us.' Please keep it up."

We can focus public opinion and help leaders gather the personal strength to act. We can help heal the failure of will. But we need to assert our own will. We need to take two or three acts today and every day for the next week, and ask our friends to do the same:

If you know someone with "influence" in government, ask them to help. This is the time to tap people in our networks of friends and acquaintances.

Do what you can to extend the reach of our community of concern. Call 50 friends and invite them to check out this site and other resources, such as Human Rights Watch.

Ask other bloggers to share their thoughts and feelings about Sudan daily for the next week. Repetition helps.

Pass helpful op-eds around, such as today's in The Washington Post.

Call your local television station and ask them to cover the story, and/or to cover the story of your activism.

Call your elected officials and thank them for what they are already doing. The US Congress, after all, has been out ahead on this issue.

Write to your friends and relatives and tell them about what you are doing.

Send us your ideas and notes and resources we should link to, by way of comments for all to see, below, or by email. Even if your idea is only half-formed, share it with others in a spirit of creative brainstorming. Time is of the essence--let's use the public power of the web to move rapidly together.

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UPDATE: FRENCH TROOPS have begun to act to enable the relief effort on the Chad border, though they are not entering Sudan itself.

From correspondents in Ndjamena, Chad
August 1, 2004

FRENCH soldiers stationed in Chad began airlifting aid to the border with Sudan's Darfur region today..

French President Jacques Chirac ordered the mobilisation of his forces yesterday to help the 1.2 million people driven from their homes by Sudanese troops and Arab militia known as Janjaweed.

Since then, troops in Chad had begun flying relief supplies to the border town of Abeche and were preparing to send 200 troops to secure Chad's eastern frontier with Darfur, said army colonel Philippe Charles.

However, the French action stopped short of entering Sudanese territory. Sudan's Government has warned it will send its army to repel any foreign military intervention.

Photo courtesy BBC from recent coverage of a refugee camp on the Chad Sudan border.

Heartbreaking Wasington Post Editorial on Darfur this Saturday Morning, July 31

Here is a an editorial from The Washington Post this morning. The entire piece is worth reading, but here are excerpts:

Death and Deception in Darfur

By Daniel Wolf
Saturday, July 31, 2004

SOUTH DARFUR, Sudan -- On the morning of July 12, hell descended on the village of Donki Dereisa. Shortly before sunrise, Fatima Ibrahim, 28, awoke to the deafening sound of exploding ordnance falling from the sky. As she emerged from her mud hut with her 10-year-old daughter, she saw fires blazing all around and scores of heavily armed men on horseback attacking from every direction. With bullets whistling past, Ibrahim and her daughter ran for their lives, ducking into a nearby ravine, where they hid without food or water for the next two days.

From the ditch, Ibrahim witnessed a horrific avalanche of violence that will haunt her for life. With Sudanese foot soldiers at their side, the mounted attackers shot the panicked and unarmed villagers in cold blood. Approximately 150 people, including 10 women, were killed. But the worst was to come.

Ibrahim told Refugees International about a week after the attack that among those captured during the assault were four of her brothers and six young children, including three of her cousins. As Ibrahim watched in horror, several of the attackers began grabbing the screaming children and throwing them one by one into a raging fire. One of the male villagers ran from his hiding place to plead for their lives. It was a fatal error. The raiders subdued the man and later beheaded him and dismembered his body. All six of the children were burned. Ibrahim's four brothers have not been heard from since.

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..On July 3, the United Nations and the Sudanese government issued a joint communiqué in which Khartoum formalized commitments it had made to Powell and Annan to immediately disarm the Janjaweed, prosecute egregious abuses of human rights and honor a cease-fire agreement reached two months earlier.

But recent events suggest that in making these commitments, Khartoum's objective was to stall for time in the hope it might deceive the international community into believing the crisis had been brought under control. This cynical approach is graphically illustrated by the recent arrest and prosecution of a group of alleged Janjaweed militiamen on charges of robbery and murder in southern Darfur's provincial capital of Nyala. According to reliable sources inside the government, the "Janjaweed" were in fact common criminals plucked from a Nyala jail, who were informed that they would be sentenced to death unless they agreed to pose as Janjaweed and confess to the crimes. The true killers remain at large.

Nor is there any indication that Khartoum intends to disarm or otherwise rein in the Janjaweed. To the contrary, the government and the Janjaweed have continued jointly and relentlessly to pursue their terrorist campaign in the few remaining regions of Darfur under government control where African villagers have not yet been driven from their homes.

Sudan Turns Around on U.N. Resolution

Today the Sudanese government announced that it will comply with the U.N. resolution. The resolution, while not using the word "sanctions," allows for U.N. action if Sudan does not comply.

Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said that Sudan has already agreed to all the U.N. demands.

The Sudanese ambassodor to the AU, Osman Al-Said said, "We are not happy with the resolution, but we are going to implement it we have no other option." [ABC News]

In a press conference today Powell said that the U.N.'s vote -- and not what the Sudanese government was saying -- was what mattered:

"I hope the Sudanese government will use the time provided in the resolution to do everything it can to bring the Janjaweed under control," he said. "I hope the African Union will move forward aggressively as they have said they would in order to help these people and help restore a sense of security. We can have polemics about the resolution. But let's not forget the fact that hundreds of thousands of people are in need. They're the ones we need to be trying to help."

[Voice of America]

Keep the pressure on. Call your Congressmembers office and thank them for supporting the genocide resolution, and ask them to keep the pressure on.

Military protection

Many observers have long emphasized the need for military protection for victims and aid workers in Darfur, as well as to protect food and other supplies from being stolen or destroyed. The most attractive plan seems to be to have the African Union lead the initiative, with backup support and funding from nations outside of Africa.

Governments are moving along this line, but not quickly enough, it seems to us.

The African Union is landing about 300 troops in a few days, to protect its monitors--some of whom are already in Darfur. The AU leadership is currently considering sending more.

The Dutch will air transport the AU troops into Darfur.

The French are sending troops into Chad to aid in planning for the protection of humanitarian actions.

The British have said they can put 5000 troops into Sudan very quickly.

The Australians have said that they are prepared to send a few troops immediately.

The US has had a military planning team based in Chad for several weeks.

Button to link to the site, thanks to Rich Marotti

Rich Marotti sent this idea and well-designed icon by email tonight:

I've created a little button so that people can easily and visibly link to "Passion of the Present."

It can be found here: http://liverevolt.com/seldomsober/potpbutton.png

Regards,

Rich Marotti
http://liverevolt.com/seldomsober

Rich's blog post on this subject is http://liverevolt.com/seldomsober/archive/serious_shit/003561.php

Thanks!

Sudan rejects UN resolution

The United Nations Security Council on Friday passed a resolution insisting that Sudan disarm is militias and stop the violence in Darfur, which has been called "genocide" by the United States Congress and a variety of observers.

Full text of the UN Security Council resolution on Sudan.

Supporters of the resolution said it provided for strong measures if Sudan does not comply:

US Ambassador on the United Nations John Danforth said deleting the word "sanctions" did not alter the threat of sanctions against Sudan...

"If you read article 41, it speaks of 'measures,' and it says these may include complete or partial interruptions of economic relations and of rail, sea, air, postal, telegraphic, radio and other means of communication and the severance of diplomatic relations - so this is a sanctions provision," he said before the vote.

Sudan claimed victory in weakening the resolution, and quickly rejected it:

Sudan Foreign Minister:

But Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail had apparently had another interpretation in mind, as he hailed what he called a "weaker text" of the draft resolution.

"We expect an attenuated resolution to be issued by the Security Council today," Ismail told the independent Khartoum daily Akhbar Al-Youm Friday.

He said his ministry had set out a two-pronged plan to counter the draft resolution - "either to block its adoption altogether or to strive, in cooperation with our friends, to remove from it such references as genocide, ethnic cleansing and other extreme points and apparently this is what we have so far succeeded in achieving just hours before the vote." [Islam Online]

Sudan Information Minister:

''Sudan announces its rejection of the Security Council's misguided resolution,'' Information Minister Al-Zahawi Ibrahim Malik said in a statement.

''Sudan expresses its deep regret that the issue of Darfur should reach, with this speed, the Security Council, and that it be snatched from its regional context,'' Malik said.

He said the Security Council had intentionally ignored efforts by Khartoum, the African Union and the Arab League to resolve the crisis.

''Sudan is regretful that the Security Council ... did not address itself to the rebel militias in Darfur whose military operations continue to obstruct humanitarian aid,'' he added.[from The Age]

Sudan UN Ambassador:

Sudan's U.N. Ambassador Elfatih Mohamed Erwa said his government was working to end the violence and such warnings would only harm its efforts. ``The United Nations by adopting this resolution does not serve the humanitarian case,'' he said. [Guardian]

The Sudanese ambassador...said that he was "overwhelmed with sorrow and sadness over the hasty resolution" and that it came at a time when his government "is in a race for time to implement its agreement with the United Nations."

Sudan signed a joint communiqué in Khartoum with Secretary General Kofi Annan on July 3 pledging to rein in the violence in Darfur, and Mr. Erwa complained Friday that the accord was now being used as a "Trojan horse" by "some activists within the U.S. administration" to bring military pressure on the Islamic government in Khartoum.

He said that his government had responded immediately to the terms of the communiqué, deploying police officers and arresting militia members, but that the United States and its allies on the Security Council had acted in a "colonial" fashion.

"Aren't these the very same states that we see daily on TV monitors and their massive military machine while they are practicing the occupation of nations, pouring their fire on innocent civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan?" he asked. [The New York Times]

Sudan's U.N. ambassador...accused the Bush administration of using the Darfur crisis to its political advantage in the election campaign. He condemned council members for the resolution and pointed a finger at the U.S. Congress for branding the crisis as genocide.

"The U.S. Congress should be the very last party to speak about genocide, ethnic cleansing and slavery. Let them go back to their history," Erwa said in a 25-minute speech. [Reuters]

China, who with Pakistan obstained, voiced support for the Sudanese government:

China, which abstained, said it believed the Sudanese government has been cooperating with efforts to end the violence. China ``hopes and believes that the government of Sudan will continue to actively honor its commitments,'' Deputy Ambassador Zhang Yishan said. [Guardian]

Comment from Sudan

HELLO SUDAN GOVERNMENT, I AM SO SORRY. WHY ARE YOU KILLING YOURSELF? THE GOVERMENT SHOULD SIT DOWN AND MAKE SOME TALKS CONCERNING WHAT IS GOING ON. PLEASE WE ARE BECOMING ASH, WE ARE LOSING GOOD GENERATION TO COME AFTER US, THE MORE YOU CONTINUE TO FIGHT, THEN WE WILL BE TOO PRIMITIVE. THE WORLD IS GROWING, BUT WE ARE LETTING OUR COUNTRY DOWN. WE HAVE TO THINK OF TO OVER COME OUR SEPARATION. SUDAN IS A GREAT COUNTRY IN AFRICA AND SO RICH IN HUMAN RESOURCES AND KNOWLEDGE IN THE WORLD. THANK YOU ALL GOD BLESS SUDAN.

African Union discusses Darfur

The African Union is holding a summit meeting in Ghana. Led by Nigerian President Obasanjo, who is also the rotating president of the African Union, the AU is discussing the "deteriorating" situation in Darfur.

The heads of state of 13 African nations and United Nations Secretary- General Kofi Annan veered away from the intended topic of Ivory Coast at their summit in Accra, Ghana, Friday to discuss the deteriorating situation in Sudan..

.."On Darfur, I sent a fact-finding mission to Darfur, which came back only three days ago," he said. "I got that mission to report to us here today, and what they found is that some form of deterioration from where things were when we met at Addis Ababa at the beginning of the month."

The delegation sent by President Obasanjo was headed by former Nigerian President Abdulsalam Abubakar.

..President Obasanjo says the African Union has already agreed to send troops to the region, but that even more are needed. "So, we are calling on the government of Sudan to play its role, its role of protecting all the people in Sudan."

President Obasanjo says he is appealing to the international community to assist in providing humanitarian aid to Darfur.

Update: The AFP has more:

"We also agreed that if the number of the protection force that we agreed in Addis Ababa at the beginning of the month was not enough, we will ask for additions," said the Nigerian president, whose country will be sending troops.

"With what we have on the ground now it appears we must have additional forces of protection," he added.

Obasanjo called on development partners and the international community to assist in the area of logistics and supply of humanitarian aid to the devastated region.

Asked about the Khartoum government's likely response to the deployment of further foreign forces to Darfur, Obasanjo replied: "Sudan is not rejecting the deployment of African troops."
Officials in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital and headquarters city of the AU, said Netherlands will provide planes to transport the protection force to Darfur region, which was planned for end of July, but delayed due to logistical problems

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UN Security Council passes resolution on Sudan

The UN Security Council has passed a resolution on Sudan insisting that it disarm the militias that have been destroying villages and helping carry out the genocide in Darfur.

The resolution does not include "sanctions" but it does provide for penalties if Sudan does not act.

The vote was unanimous with China and Pakistan obstaining.