Archive for November 2008
Voice of Witness: Out of Exile
Coming soon, from Voice of Witness, the a non-profit oral history book series which brought you Underground America, Voices From the Storm, and Surviving Justice.
Forward by Valentino Achak Deng and Dave Eggers of the VAD Foundation.
Press Release: ENOUGH Project
November 20, 2008
ENOUGH PROJECT RESPONDS TO ICC PROSECUTOR’S RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DARFUR WAR CRIMES PROSECUTION
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Enough Project today issued the following statement in response to an announcement by the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. The statement, which follows, is from John Prendergast, Co-chair, John Norris, Executive Director, and Omer Ismail, Policy Advisor:
Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court – Luis Moreno-Ocampo Today the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, or I.C.C., Luis Moreno-Ocampo, applied for an arrest warrant for war crimes against several members of a splinter rebel faction in Darfur related to the September 29, 2007, attack on African Union peacekeepers in Haskanita. The Chief Prosecutor’s actions are a powerful reminder that the Court will pursue justice with an even hand and follow the chain of evidence with regard to crimes against humanity wherever it leads.
Today’s move by the prosecutor makes clear that repeated claims by the Sudanese government that it is being unfairly targeted by the Court are without merit. Now that government officials, rebels, and militia leaders all have been subject to I.C.C. actions, it is clear that the Court is pursuing its work in a professional and impartial manner. Further, this balanced pursuit of accountability underscores the importance of all sides in the conflict partaking in credible peace talks and forging a lasting solution. While the United Nations Security Council can invoke Article 16 to defer specific cases on a rolling one-year basis, it only should do so in the overwhelming interest of peace. Efforts by parties, including the Sudanese Government, to build support for invoking Article 16 will not be taken seriously until there is a peace to keep in Darfur.
To read the I.C.C. Chief Prosecutor’s statement, click here.
Separately, the Court is still waiting to determine if it will issue an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir for charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. We believe these charges to have merit, and the issuance of an arrest warrant coupled with a change of administration in Washington can combine to create a transformative opportunity for Darfur. Many governments that had earlier expressed unqualified support for Bashir are backing away quietly, making it increasingly plausible that it will be politically feasible for Bashir to be replaced as president of Sudan if his fellow party members follow the letter of the law in Sudan, hold him accountable for his actions, and push him to the side. An arrest warrant would also present a golden opportunity to use the regime’s desire to suspend these judicial proceedings as leverage not only in forging a peace agreement in Darfur but in getting implementation of the existing North-South peace deal back on track.
The Enough Project, Save Darfur, and the Genocide Intervention Network jointly have called on President-elect Obama and his transition team to develop a new strategy for Sudan, or a peace surge, built around strong diplomacy, improved civilian protection, escalating pressure on the parties to the conflict, and justice. President Obama can help lead an international effort to construct a viable, sustained, high-level peace process that addresses the fundamental issues in Darfur and Sudan more broadly. The time is right also for a concerted multilateral effort to see an indicted Bashir resign the presidency and face extradition to The Hague, which would have a profound effect on the domestic political situation in Sudan. Peace remains possible in Sudan, and today the Chief Prosecutor took an important step in helping the international community fulfill that goal.
###
Enough is a project of the Center for American Progress to end genocide and crimes against humanity. Founded in 2007, Enough focuses on crises in Sudan, Chad, eastern Congo, northern Uganda, Somalia, and Zimbabwe. Enough’s strategy papers and briefings provide sharp field analysis and targeted policy recommendations based on a “3P” crisis response strategy: promoting durable peace, providing civilian protection, and punishing perpetrators of atrocities. Enough works with concerned citizens, advocates, and policy makers to prevent, mitigate, and resolve these crises. To learn more about Enough and what you can do to help, go to www.enoughproject.org.
Mohamed Yahya at Boston University
Join us for this rare opportunity to hear a firsthand account of genocide. We are honored to welcome Mohamed Yahya to Boston University.
Yahya was born in a small village in Darfur. In 1993 his village was destroyed by government-backed militias in some of the first attacks that led to the current conflict. Yahya came to the United States in 2002 and founded Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy, an organization to promote the human rights of the Darfur victims.
Speaker(s): Mohamed Yahya
When
Wednesday, Nov 19, 2008 at 7:00pm until 8:00pm on Wednesday, Nov 19, 2008
Where
Sargent College, 635 Commonwealth Avenue (SAR 101)
Who
Open to General Public
Admission is free
More Info http://www.damanga.org
Contact
BU Darfur Coalition
darfur@bu.edu
Can there be Peace Without Justice?
Refugees say no.
KALMA CAMP, Sudan — Refugees in this crowded camp _ where mass graves hold the victims of one of the bloodiest Sudanese government attacks against them _ see little hope in a new drive for peace aimed at ending the nearly six-year war in Darfur. What they want is justice.
Washington Post, Darfur refugees seek justice over peace
Congo
Goma, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo 14 Nov 2008 – The International Rescue Committee’s water and sanitation team has been carrying out cholera prevention and response in war-affected North Kivu, seeking to limit the spread of the disease in high population centers.
“Cholera is endemic, or cyclical, in certain areas of North Kivu; but the most recent fighting and population displacement increased risk,” said Leon Tizie, IRC environmental health program manager.
The IRC has been responding to cyclical cholera since January; these activities were expanded in the first week of November, after widespread displacement in and around Goma.
VIA: IRC Responds to Cholera in Conflict-Affected North Kivu
—
Johannesburg, South Africa – Gen. Laurent Nkunda, the man laying siege to the eastern Congolese city of Goma, is full of contradictions. He’s a successful military commander, almost unbeatable on the battlefield, but he has almost no political future. He’s an ordained Adventist preacher, who court-martials soldiers who engage in rape; yet his military chief of staff is a wanted war criminal.
via CSM:
What does Congo’s Gen. Nkunda want?
The Christian Science Monitor : In Pictures The Congo’s Displaced
—
Eastern Congo is a place of vast wealth in land and minerals, and all sides have their hands in the pot—or in the mines or forests or in the slaughterhouses. Rarely does any side negotiate in good faith, which is perhaps understandable after 14 years of war. But in the past, the parties involved have proved responsive to diplomatic and military pressure—if it’s credible.
Via Slate:
Five Million Dead and Counting
—
via Huffington Post, Bukeni Waruzi
The Democratic Republic of Congo: “We’re on the Run Again
—
“With its bounty of natural resources, it could have been one of the world’s wealthiest countries. Instead, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been plundered and wracked with fighting. And if one rebel leader has his way, the government will be overthrown in this latest outbreak of violence.”
Via Foreign Policy:
Photo Essay: Cholera in a Time of Warr
