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ICC reopens door on genocide charges for al-Bashir

February 4th, 2010 by Megan Flemming
ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo

ICC ProsecutorLuis Moreno-Ocampo

Yesterday in The Hague, the International Criminal Court’s Appeals Chamber reopened a door that could allow Omar al-Bashir to face charges of genocide.

On March 4, 2009, the judges of the International Criminal Court’s Pre-Trial Chamber 1 issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President al-Bashir on five counts of crimes against humanity and two counts of war crimes. The Pre-Trial Chamber did not include in the warrant the three counts of genocide requested by the court’s Prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo.

Yesterday, the Appeals Chamber unanimously reversed the Pre-Trial Chamber’s decision not to include the crime of genocide in the warrant, on the basis that the Pre-Trial Chamber applied an erroneous standard of proof. The ruling upheld an appeal submitted by the ICC’s Prosecutor in July 2009.

In yesterday’s ruling, the Appeals Chamber held that the Majority (2) of the ICC’s three Pre-Trial Chamber judges applied an incorrect standard of proof when it required that the existence of reasonable grounds to believe that Omar al-Bashir is criminally responsible for genocide must be the only reasonable conclusion from the evidence presented by the Prosecutor. It noted:

In the view of the Appeals Chamber, requiring that the existence of genocidal intent must be the only reasonable conclusion amounts to requiring the Prosecutor to disprove any other reasonable conclusions and to eliminate any reasonable doubt.

The Appeals Chamber noted that such an evidentiary threshold is higher and more demanding than what the ICC’s Rome Statute requires for the issuance of an arrest warrant.  The Rome Statute requires higher evidentiary thresholds for the confirmation of charges (“substantial grounds to believe”) and the threshold for a conviction (“beyond a reasonable doubt”).

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DNI Blair: South Sudan most at risk of new genocide

February 4th, 2010 by Robert Lawrence

Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair

Director of National Intelligence
Dennis C. Blair

On Tuesday, before a rare public hearing of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Admiral Dennis Blair, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), presented the intelligence community’s annual assessment of threats to U.S. national security.  Admiral Blair’s testimony included several references to Sudan and Darfur, highlights the important geopolitical implications of the next year in Sudan.

Perhaps most striking was Admiral Blair’s testimony that “a number of countries in Africa and Asia are at significant risk for a new outbreak of mass killing.  Among these countries, a new mass killing or genocide is most likely to occur in southern Sudan.”

Admiral Blair testified that “many observers warn that the risk of renewed conflict [in Sudan] is rising as we approach 2011, when the south is set to vote in a referendum on southern independence.  Khartoum and Juba are running out of time to resolve disputes over the north-south border — along which most of Sudan’s oil reserves lie — or to formulate a post-2011 wealth-sharing deal, which [the intelligence community] judge are key to preserving the peace.  While a renewed conflict could be limited to proxy fighting or skirmishes focused around individual oilfields, both sides’ arms purchases indicate their anticipation of more widespread conflict.”

Blair continues that “Southern leaders’ rhetoric suggests that they are increasingly determined to secure independence in 2011 — whether be referendum or unilateral decision if they believe Khartoum will thwart a vote — but the south is poorly prepared for the post-2011 period.  The southern government is spending a large amount of its revenues on military force modernization while failing to provide basic services, curb rampant corruption, or curtail escalating tribal clashes.  Some international observers have suggested the south will become a failed state unless the international community assumes a significant role in development, security, and governance.”

In regards to Darfur, Admiral Blair testified that “the conflict in western Sudan’s Darfur region has become less deadly but more complicated since the government began its counterinsurgency campaign against the rebels in 2003.  Overall levels of violence have declined sharply since 2005, but a wide body of reporting points to a proliferation of banditry, ethnic clashes, and inter-rebel fighting.  Darfur almost certainly will continue to experience sporadic bouts of fighting, especially as the government and rebels try to secure stronger negotiations in peace talks.  Some of Darfur’s fractured rebel groups are amenable to reunification efforts led by the US and UN mediators, but the two most important rebel leaders have remained intransigent as they maneuver for advantage.  The number of displaced persons has climbed steadily to nearly 3 million, and any government efforts to resettle them could spark an even greater humanitarian emergency.”

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Idaho activist passionate about Sudan

February 3rd, 2010 by Gbolahan Lawal

A.J FayThe Darfur Heroes program is a way for the Save Darfur Coalition to honor individuals and groups who have done inspiring and important work in an effort to end the violence in Sudan. This January, Save Darfur Coalition is proud to Honor A.J. Fay, the co-founder of the Idaho Darfur Coalition and a member of the Idaho Student Chapter of Amnesty International.

A.J. Fay recently helped organize the Sudan365 program in Boise, where activists from several cities within the United States and 15 other countries stood in solidarity with the people of Sudan and rose awareness of the possible return of all out violence in the country. A.J. has been a longtime activist in the Sudan movement, and below are his own words about his passion for the people of Sudan.

I first became involved in the Darfur campaign when I was in high school. I joined an Amnesty International chapter and worked on various campaigns, realizing I had a strong interest in human rights advocacy. One day, the ongoing crisis in Darfur came up, and it immediately sparked my interest. I thought, “how genocide could still be occurring systematically in the 21st century?”  I yearned to learn more, and Save Darfur Coalition served as a resource for my research. I also visited Amnesty International to strengthen my knowledge base, and I was smitten by the resilience of the Sudanese people, their rich culture, and immediately I knew I wanted to be of part of the movement to act as a voice for the people of Sudan. So, through the Save Darfur Web site I found a few people that wanted to meet and discuss how Idaho could create a movement, and it was clear for us all in our hearts that we couldn’t remain idle.

What fuels my passion to continue working to help bring sustainable peace to Darfur and all of Sudan is the personal and working relationships I enjoy with the Darfuris and Sudanese refugees in my community. Boise is a major refugee resettlement and home to three resettlement agencies in town. Truthfully, the Darfuri and Sudanese people give me hope; their strength is inspiring and their stories gripping. I could never give up on the Sudan movement, because I am vested in the long race. This truly is a part of me, and I will work on their behalf until we bring an end to the genocide, rebuild the country, and restore Sudan to a peaceful state and to its citizens.

I wish every activist could get to enjoy the first hand experience of living and working with Darfuris who experienced the genocidal regime of Al-Bashir and can also tell the stories of their agony and those of Sudanese people. I love this movement, the Sudanese people, and the leaders of the movement. I will follow this through the end.

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Enough, YouTube, And Propelling Sudan To Center Stage

February 2nd, 2010 by Allen Combs

Co-authored by Zack Brisson & Laura Heaton. Cross posted from Enough Said blog.

Four years ago, asking the President of the United States a meaningful question would have required serious power, uncommon access, or a lot of luck combined with being in the right place at the right time. Not anymore.

Thanks to CitizenTube and the connective power of the internet, any one of us can reach the president. Yesterday, we did. Following up on last week’s State of the Union address, YouTube hosted a community driven "Your State of the Union." Steve Grove, YouTube’s head of news & politics, asked President Obama a wide variety of questions, submitted and selected by citizens around the country, if not the world.

At the Enough Project, the challenges in Sudan right now are incredibly important to us. Recognizing that President Obama didn’t address the crisis in Sudan at his State of the Union, we were eager to take advantage of the opportunity YouTube offered to engage directly with the president. Seeing the chance to get our concerns about an issue that we feel is underappreciated, we mobilized to get our question to Mr. Obama.

Late last week, we videotaped our question, eloquently delivered by our intern Alison Grady. Then we asked our supporters, fans, partners, and others who care about the message to vote and pass the word.

Thanks to the support of grassroots activists, partners like Genocide Intervention Network, Save Darfur Coalition, Invisible Children, and Change.org, our question was the most popular in the foreign policy category. In response, President Obama gave his lengthiest remarks on Sudan since announcing his special envoy for Sudan last March. (Granted, we were disappointed with the substance, but for this post at least we’re staying focused on the positive.)

All of us at Enough are deeply thankful to YouTube for increasing access to the president, to Mr. Obama for thoughtfully responding to our question, and to all of the passionate Sudan advocates who took action and made their voices heard. Sudan advocates, let’s keep the momentum going:

Sign Enough’s petition and tell President Obama that we need increased pressures and a full-time field based presence in Sudan.

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Peace and Security in Sudan

February 2nd, 2010 by Natasha Ghent-Rodriguez

Ahead of the 14TH Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Amnesty International called on the African Union to:

  • Call on the government of Sudan to protect the civilian population in Darfur and to call on all parties in the conflict to stop directing attacks against civilians, including humanitarian staff.
  • Continue to support the reinforcement of national and international justice mechanisms in order to end the culture of impunity in Sudan by bringing to justice those suspected of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
  • Call on the government of Sudan, and the authorities of South Sudan, to protect civilians and provide UNMIS with the support it needs.
  • Call on the UN to urgently develop an action plan for UNMIS to strengthen the protection of civilians in Southern Sudan in light of the deteriorating conflict situation. This should include more long range patrols, more stations of peacekeeping troops – including in remote areas, and rapid deployment units that can respond to outbreaks of violence.
  • Call on the Sudanese government to bring the National Security Act in line with international human rights standards and with the Sudanese Bill of Rights. The immunity of NISS agents must be removed and allegations of human rights violations must be investigated and those responsible prosecuted in accordance with standards of fair trial.

In previous Ordinary Sessions, the AU debated issues related to international justice and peace and security. In December 2009, many African countries pledged to comply with their obligations under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and surrender anyone with an arrest warrant issued for their name. With the ICC decision on al-Bashir being announced tomorrow and today being the last day of the 14th Ordinary Session of the AU, we hope that the Commission honors its commitments to the ICC and that additional African countries join the pledge.

Chairperson Jean Ping, of the African Union Commission, recalled that 2010 was declared to be a year of peace and security. With the help of its neighbors and regional support let’s hope that 2010 is certainly a year of peace in Sudan.

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Beja Civil Society Demonstrates at Sudanese Embassy

February 1st, 2010 by Marissa Glauberman

Protestors outside the Sudanese Embassyin Washington, DC on January 29, 2010

My Friday afternoon interning at the Save Darfur Coalition took an unusual twist when I was asked to attend a demonstration to commemorate the Anniversary of the massacre in Port Sudan of the Sudanese Beja people. After bundling up and trying to brace myself for the freezing cold weather, I arrived at the Sudanese embassy both surprised and impressed by the event taking place. Despite the frigid conditions and the fact that it was a Friday afternoon, there were more than a dozen demonstrators making their voices heard. The protesters spoke eloquently and forcefully through a megaphone, declaring that justice would be served and that the Sudanese regime’s crimes against humanity would not be overlooked.

The demonstrators main objective was to provide a voice for the Beja people – a political group comprised of various ethnic clans in Eastern Sudan – who have been historically marginalized. As they chanted “Long live Beja People, Long live The Sudanese Marginalized People,” I was inspired by their passion and dedication. In a situation as volatile as Sudan’s, it is extremely comforting to meet people who are dedicated to creating a sustainable peace in this war torn nation.

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Basketball for Darfur

February 1st, 2010 by Martha Heinemann Bixby

Darfur Dream Team VideoOn Saturday afternoon President Obama, Vice President Biden and Houston Rockets star Tracy McGrady watched on as the Georgetown Hoyas played (and beat) the Duke Blue Devils at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC*.

Unusual content for this blog? Perhaps, except for the video that played during a timeout early in the game. In the video longtime rivals Duke and Georgetown announced a partnership in support of the Darfur Dream Team, a fundraising project for the Sister Schools Program, an initiative to connect American middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities with sister schools in 12 refugee camps in Chad.

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Messages on the 65th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz

January 28th, 2010 by Martha Heinemann Bixby

Auschwitz-Birkinau

Yesterday marked the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, since 2005 commemorated by the United Nations as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and President Obama both made statements in honor of the day.

President Obama said in a video message:

I want to thank those of you who found the strength to come back again, so many years later, despite the horror you saw here, the suffering you endured here, and the loved ones you lost here.  Those of us who did not live through those dark days will never truly understand what it means to have hate literally etched into your arms.  But we understand the message that you carry in your hearts.

For you know the truth that Elie Wiesel spoke when I stood with him at Buchenwald last spring.  There, where his father and so many innocent souls left this earth, Elie said that “memory has become the sacred duty of all people of goodwill.”

We have a sacred duty to remember the twisted thinking that led here—how a great society of culture and science succumbed to the worst instincts of man and rationalized mass murder and one of the most barbaric acts in history.


Secretary General Ban focused on genocide prevention:

Holocaust survivors will not be with us forever ‑‑ but the legacy of their survival must live on.  We must preserve their stories ‑‑ through memorials, through education, most of all through robust efforts to prevent genocide and other grave crimes.

The United Nations is fully committed to this cause.  Together, let us pledge to carry forward the mission of Holocaust remembrance ‑‑ and uphold human dignity for all.

Photo of Auschwitz-Birkenau by flickr user daneen_vol.

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Deadline Diplomacy for Darfur, again?

January 27th, 2010 by Sean Brooks

The Darfur peace talks have resumed this week in Doha, Qatar. Under the guidance of the United Nations/African Union Chief Mediator Djibril Bassole and the host Qatari government, the Government of Sudan and a myriad of Darfuri rebel movements are expected to begin a dialogue on a  final political resolution to the crisis in Darfur. While the meetings began on January 24, there have yet to be direct talks between the Sudanese government delegation and any of the rebel movements.

This inconvenient fact, however, has not stopped the Sudanese government from already proposing a deadline for the negotiations. Yesterday, a leader of the Sudanese delegation stated:

“Some groups are demanding more time. We have told mediators that time is running out and that negotiations must not exceed the third week of March.

Talks do not require a month or two as outstanding issues are simple. If parties have the political resolve it won’t take more than two weeks as we have discussed everything and what remains is to take decisions.”

While a peace agreement is desperately needed for the people of Darfur, the international community must not fall into the trap of accepting this hard deadline proposed by the Sudanese government – which has previously used this deft negotiating tactic to its great benefit. For instance, this sort of deadline diplomacy led to the failure of the last serious Darfur peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria in the spring of 2006.

As I have written, the chief lesson to learn from the Abuja experience concerns the credibility of imposed deadlines.

After two long years, all the parties ignored the AU and UN deadline of April 30 [2006] when it was first announced. Based on the blatant disregard shown to earlier deadlines, [UN Special Representative Jan] Pronk argued at the time that setting a deadline “would not make much sense . . . in particular if the parties and the mediators would not aim at complete, unambiguous texts.” His counsel dismissed, the non-urgent response by the movements to the deadline meant that the real negotiations and dialogue – the objectives of the imposed “turning point” – did not begin until April 28, when the movements finally realized the full dynamics of the situation.

At that point, the international community swooped down on the negotiations and attempted to force the movements to sign the text of the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) – which they had only been handed two days before. Ambassador Robert Zoellick, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, represented the United States and orchestrated the final days of negotiations with Nigerian President Olesegun Obasanjo. One of the AU mediators at the time revealed that the most important element of the DPA was the signature page and not the solutions within the agreement that could set the foundation for long-term peace and security. Read the rest of this entry »

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Clashes in Darfur

January 17th, 2010 by C.R.

In late December, Lt. Gen. Patrick Nyamvumba, the force commander of the United Nations-African Union mission in Darfur (UNAMID), warned against over-optimism in assessing security in the troubled region. While acknowledging a near absence of clashes between the government and armed groups, he cautioned that “there is absolutely no guarantee that the situation will not get worse.” According to Nyamvumba, “the factors that caused the conflict…still exist.”

The first few weeks of 2010 have largely justified his concerns. Amid reports of civilian deaths and mass displacement, recent events illustrate the complex reality of a place far from peace. SLA commanders accused this week the government of launching an assault near the heavily populated market area of Furung in North Darfur. On Wednesday, the SLA-AW attacked the government-held town of Gulu [Golo], allegedly in response to operations by the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) targeting rebel assets in Jebel Moun as well as in Jebel Marra. The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) also claims government warplanes are engaged in sustained aerial bombardment of their positions in West Darfur, causing civilians to flee across the Chadian border.

Highly troubling is UNAMID’s limited access to the sites of these attacks as well as its critical lack of force enablers to enhance its military presence in the vast region. The mission’s peacekeepers were unable to prevent the incidents or provide immediate protection to the local population and humanitarian organizations caught in the clashes. They have been urging both the rebels and the government to allow a UNAMID investigation into the events; however, a force spokesperson could not confirm details from the latest events, indicating that many sectors under both government and SLA-AW control are “no-go” areas for the mission.

Unfortunately, these latest incidents highlight a severe shortcoming in the mission’s ability to implement its mandate of protecting civilians in Darfur. It shows, once again, that the peacekeepers continue to face careful and systematic obstruction by the conflict’s belligerent parties. The international community must recognize that the victims of such obstructionism are Darfuri civilians and the NGOs attempting to provide assistance to those affected by the ongoing crisis. Without resolute political and logistical support to the mission – including the immediate fulfillment of its materiel requirements – UNAMID’s ability to intervene on their behalf is severely limited. United Nations and African Union member states, as well as other key members of the international community, must make clear their condemnation of actions that directly threaten or limit the ability of UNAMID to implement its mandate, and should strongly urge all armed groups in Darfur to both facilitate the mission’s freedom of movement and cooperate fully with its inquiries.

The failure of the international community to more vigorously promote UN-AU access to all areas of Darfur and to investigate without restriction all incidents involving armed clashes will continue to put civilians at further risk of death, displacement, and human rights abuse.

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