The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued a second warrant for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for three counts of genocide. When the first ICC warrant for al-Bashir’s arrest on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes was issued last year, the Khartoum regime retaliated, putting millions of civilians at risk. Take action today to prevent new retaliation, protect Darfuri civilians and support justice for Darfur.

2. Call Secretary of State Clinton through 1-800-GENOCIDE.

Ask Secretary Clinton to ensure that the United States leads the world in preventing the Government of Sudan from retaliating against civilians, peacekeepers, and aid workers in Darfur.

3. Spread the word about this new arrest warrant.

Tweet about it: The ICC issues a 2nd arrest warrant for Omar al-Bashir – for crimes of #genocide http://ow.ly/2aaO0 #Sudan cc: @statedept & @whitehouse

Post a link to the ICC’s press release on your Facebook page: http://blogfordarfur.org/archives/4693 and include this quote from the press release: “there are reasonable grounds to believe [Omar al-Bashir] responsible for three counts of genocide committed against the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups, that include: genocide by killing, genocide by causing serious bodily or mental harm and genocide by deliberately inflicting on each target group conditions of life calculated to bring about the group’s physical destruction.”

4. Support members of the Sudanese Diaspora gathering on Wednesday to protest Bashir’s continued flaunting of international justice.  More about the DC event is available here.

From the Sudanese Embassy:

The Real Threat to Justice Is the Political Tool That Disguises Itself as a Court

WASHINGTON, July 12

The so-called International Criminal Court (ICC) has resurfaced from its rightful place of insignificance to announce charges of genocide against President Omer al-Bashir, adding absurdity to the dubious accusations previously leveled against the president.

Mired in its dazzling hypocrisy and not in the least bit apologetic of this glaring double-standard, the caricature of a court mocks true justice as it has proven to uphold nothing more than a perversion of the universal values it pays lip service to. It wields no credibility, an essential component of any legitimate institution. Its constant cowering from the pursuit and condemnation of those who pose the real threat to justice has gained it nothing but contempt from the world’s majority and Africa, which has so far been the exclusive preying ground for the ICC.

Sudan deeply regrets that such a farce has to compound the more important issues the country is dealing with, especially when one considers the fact that we, like many others, aren’t signatories to the statute and therefore don’t recognize the court.

CONTACT:  Embassy of Sudan Press and Information Office, phone: +1-202-338-8565, or fax: +1-202-667-2406

Column Lynch and Bec Hamilton quote the Sudanese Ambassador to the U.N. in the Washington Post:

Sudan’s U.N. ambassador, Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad, dismissed Monday’s ruling as another politically motivated effort by the court to undercut prospects for peace in Sudan and vowed never to surrender Bashir. “We condemn this in this strongest terms; it will only harden our resolve,” he said in an interview. “This court’s objective is to destroy chances for peace in Sudan; we’re not going to be bothered by it.”

Reed Stevenson has more for Reuters:

Abdalmahmoud Abdalhaleem, Sudan’s ambassador to the United Nations, called the new arrest warrant a “malignant and desperate attempt” to destabilize the country.

“We are confident that the Sudanese people and all peaceloving nations will ensure the demise of this criminal institution,” Abdalhaleem said in a statement, referring to the ICC.

The news broke online when the ICC issued a press release announcing its second arrest warrant against Omar al-Bashir, this time for three counts of genocide:

“[T]here are reasonable grounds to believe [Omar al-Bashir] responsible for three counts of genocide committed against the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups, that include: genocide by killing, genocide by causing serious bodily or mental harm and genocide by deliberately inflicting on each target group conditions of life calculated to bring about the group’s physical destruction.”

Media Coverage:

After the ICC issued its press release, BBC News was among the first of the primary media outlets to report the story online. Traffic from those who took an early interest in the story made it one of the most frequently tweeted and posted internet sources for people looking for the essential information on Monday morning.

The Associated Press was also a frequently referenced information source among tweeters, bloggers, and Facebook users who wanted to spread the word about the warrant. In this article, AP reporter Mike Corder calls the three charges against al-Bashir “a move that will pile further diplomatic pressure on his isolated regime” and noted that this is the first time the ICC has issued charges of genocide.

CNN added commentary on the AU’s reaction to ICC charges against al-Bashir:

“The African Union this year urged the court to delay war crimes proceedings against Sudan’s president, saying a decision allowing genocide charges harms peace efforts. ‘The African Union has always emphasized its commitment to justice and its total rejection of impunity,’ it said in a statement in February. ‘At the same time, the AU reiterates that the search for justice should be pursued in a manner not detrimental to the search for peace. The latest decision by the ICC (International Criminal Court) runs in the opposite direction.’”

Reuters released a piece with statements from Sudanese officials later in the day:

“Bashir says the allegations made by the ICC, the world’s first permanent court for prosecuting war crimes, are part of a Western conspiracy. The ICC warrant was the first issued against a sitting head of state by the court.

Abdalmahmoud Abdalhaleem, Sudan’s ambassador to the United Nations, called the new arrest warrant a ‘malignant and desperate attempt’ to destabilize the country.

‘We condemn this move in strongest terms and we are confident that the Sudanese people and all peaceloving nations will ensure the demise of this criminal institution,’ Abdalhaleem said in a statement, referring to the ICC.”

Information from the UN:

The UN News Centre also covered the story and provided further information on the case against al-Bashir and how the UN Security Council has reacted to it:

“ICC’s pre-trial chamber at that time [of the first arrest warrant] rejected Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo’s application to charge Mr. al-Bashir with genocide, ruling that there was insufficient evidence. In February, the appeals chamber called for adding the charge of genocide to be reconsidered, finding the standard of proof set by the pre-trial chamber to be too demanding at the arrest warrant stage, amounting to an ‘error of law.’…In May, the ICC’s judges referred Sudan’s lack of cooperation in failing to arrest the Mr. al-Bashir and other indictees – including Ahmad Harun, a former national government minister of the interior – to the Security Council.”

Twitter:

Before noon, the following tweet by BreakingNews reached “Top Tweet” status:

“International Criminal Court charges Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with 3 counts of genocide in Darfur http://bit.ly/dC3lpa”

User robcrilly was among the first to offer criticism on Twitter:

“Campaigners will celebrate ICC warrant on genocide charges for Bashir #darfur. But ultimately meaningless. Just more grandstanding”

However, there were also expressions of optimism from users like elctrcityscape, who tweeted,

“Soon the victims of the #genocide in #darfur will have justice!”

Activists have also used this social media platform to  urge the world to refocus on the crisis in Darfur. Many are using tags like #darfur and @statedept in their tweets to join the larger conversation to urge action regarding Darfur. Susan Morgan of Pax Communications tweeted,

“With news of Bashir’s warrant for #genocide, I ask @statedept to do all in its power to prevent retaliation against civilians in #Sudan.”

Others have retweeted statements from noted people involved with the crisis in Sudan. Within three hours, sixty five other users had retweeted the following tweet from Nicholas Kristof:

“Sudanese president Bashir indicted for genocide in Darfur. http://bit.ly/bLihc3 We need global pressure to arrest him.”

Facebook:

Kristof also took the story to Facebook, posting the following on his page:

“The ICC has just indicted Pres. Bashir of Sudan for genocide in Darfur, in addition to previous charges of crimes against humanity. Now the challenge is to see him delegitimized, ousted and brought to trial — a step toward ending impunity for dictators. But in the meantime, I fear he may unleash a new civil war in Sudan between north and south.”

Kristof has 163,522 users following his page, via the “like” feature. His Facebook page also has links to his blog, where he has previously covered Darfur.

There was also some commentary on the Save Darfur Coalition’s page, where users can find a direct link to the ICC Press Release. Comments on the posting included expressions of joy, but also of hesitance. For example, user Bridgette Hanning commented,

“Fantastic news . . . I hope the NGO’s have braced themselves.”

Blogs:

Many bloggers also offered their take on the news. Expressing her support for the latest move by the ICC, activist Mia Farrow wrote on her blog,

“It has long been obvious that his crimes against the people of Darfur meet the definition of genocide.”

On implications for the international community, Opalo’s Weblog noted,

“It is interesting to see how friends of Khartoum, and African states in particular, will react to this new charge. The African Union chose to back Bashir the last time the ICC called for his arrest.”

You can keep updated on reactions to the news of the second arrest warrant issued by the ICC against Omar al-Bashir by:

1. Check for regular updates on the Save Darfur Coalition’s blog
2. Follow discussions on Twitter by searching queries like #darfur or #genocide
3. Checking the latest press coverage on Google News
4. Following what people on Facebook are saying and posting

Does this include the journalists of Sudan, Mr President? Just yesterday the Government of Sudan shut down a newspaper and arrested three journalists after the paper reported an unverified claim that Iran had a weapons-producing plant operating in Sudan.

The above story is just one example of many abuses committed against journalists by the Bashir Regime in recent times — especially during the recent fraudulent elections.

Today you commented:

All around the world there are enormously courageous journalists and bloggers who, at great risk to themselves, are trying to shine a light on the critical issues that the people of their country face; who are the frontlines against tyranny and oppression.

Sounds like Sudan.

Additionally, you said:

What this act does is it sends a strong message from the United States government and from the State Department that we are paying attention to how other governments are operating when it comes to the press.

Will you?

Mr. President, I have to ask, will your Special Envoy, Maj. Gen. Scott Gration, heed your call and protect journalists and condemn those that seek to silence and stymie a free press?

On a beautiful spring day, hundreds of people passing through Union Square stopped at rally headquarters under the statue of George Washington, signing postcards to President Obama and making phone calls to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton through the Genocide Intervention hotline, calling on both to lead the international community in denouncing flaws in the elections and in ensuring that the election does not legitimize President Omar al-Bashir.

Individuals who made a call on the GI-Net hotline received a cookie from UBUNTU: Students for a World Without Genocide. A 6′-long letter also was addressed to Hillary Clinton, and signed by bystanders. Volunteers distributed fliers containing actions that anyone can take for Sudan and Darfur:  they spoke with onlookers, explaining how international support for free and fair elections is critical to reducing conflict throughout Sudan and to encouraging an environment of civil and political freedoms imperative to a legitimate 2011 referendum on the future of South Sudan.

This event formed one part of the Sudan365 global campaign, which highlights the need for urgent international attention to Sudan to ensure that international engagement is not “business as usual” during this critical year leading up to the end of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement’s (CPA) interim period, and the 2011 referendum for self-determination for South Sudan.  Events were held in as about 20 countries, including Holland, Mali, Serbia, Senegal, Northern Ireland, Sierra Leone, Israel, South Africa, Togo, the UK, Bahrain, Mauritania, the US, Norway, Burkina Faso, Italy, and Yemen. Coverage of these events can be seen on the Sudan 365 website.

The event in New York was coordinated by the New York City Coalition for Darfur , the Brooklyn Coalition for Darfur, UBUNTU: Students for a World Without Genocide, the Darfur People’s Association of New York , the International Refugee Rights Initiative,  and the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies. Drumming was led by Gary Fritz and Friends and the Brooklyn Drum Circle Meet-up; and a local dance class performed in front of the drummers. Speakers at the event included Sharon Silber of the New York City Coalition to Save Darfur, Olivia Bueno of the International Refugee Rights Initiative,  Neiki Ullah of UBUNTU: Students for a World Without Genocide, and four Darfuri members of the Darfur People’s Association of New York.

Emily Cody of the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies read a statement on behalf of Director Osman Hummaida, calling for elections to be postponed and detailing several electoral violations, including targeting of opposition groups and civil society through restrictions on the freedom of expression and speech.  A leader of the Darfur People’s Association of New York spoke of the unfair nature of the elections, including political marginalization and access to voting in Darfur and the ongoing dire situation of lack of humanitarian access and violence. He reported incidents where food had been withheld to communities in order to influence voting.  All of the speakers commented on the precarious stakes for elections and the end of the interim period, as has been exemplified through the tenuous environment for political opposition members and their supporters, recent attacks on the Jebel Marra region of Darfur, and ongoing insecurity in South Sudan.

The event was spearheaded by the New York Coalition for Darfur a member of the Save Darfur Coalition , and DarfurMetro , which is an umbrella group of advocacy organizations focused on Sudan and Darfur throughout New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The NYC Coalition for Darfur always welcomes new members, and encourages any interested people to attend their monthly meeting. The next meeting of the NYC Coalition for Darfur is Wednesday, May 5, 2010 at 8pm at the Church of St Paul & St Andrew on West 86 Street. Many thanks to all the wonderful New York metro activists who came out and made this day a great success!
Photos from the April 10, 2010 event can be seen at the Sudan365 Flickr site here.

Blogpost authored by Sharon Silber, Laura Limuli, and Eileen Weiss of the New York City Coalition for Darfur

From Reuters:

KHARTOUM (Reuters) – President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has won Sudan’s first open elections in 24 years in a result that confirms in office the only sitting head of state wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.

Election official Abel Alier announced at a news conference that Bashir won 68 percent of the presidential vote, while Salva Kiir, the president of Sudan’s semi-autonomous southern region, won re-election with 92.99 percent of the vote in that race.

After a vote outside observers said fell short of global standards, Bashir is expected to form a coalition with Kiir as the country heads toward a 2011 plebiscite that is expected to lead south Sudan to split off and become Africa’s newest state.
Bashir had hoped a win in legitimate polls would help him defy the ICC warrant, in which he is accused of ordering a campaign of murder, torture and rape in Sudan’s Darfur region.

But the polls were marred by widespread charges of fraud, including from Kiir’s Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), suggesting the new ruling coalition will be a fragile one.

Bashir and Kiir’s current coalition government has had a rocky five years since signing a 2005 peace deal that ended more than two decades of civil war between north and south Sudan.

North-south tensions bode poorly for full implementation of the peace deal, including next year’s referendum. Any major delay to that vote would be unacceptable to southerners who many analysts believe overwhelmingly desire secession.

David Rosenberg at the 2010 Sudanese Diaspora Summit in Pittsburgh. Photo Courtesy of PDEC

The 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 April, Save Darfur Coalition is proud to honor David Rosenberg.

David Rosenberg helped organize “The Way Forward in Darfur and South Sudan,” a Sudanese Diaspora Summit held on March 19 – March 21, 2010 in Pittsburgh. The summit focused on promoting dialogue, a unified Diaspora voice and recommendations on advocacy, capacity building, and the elections in Sudan.  David Rosenberg has been a longtime activist in the Sudan movement, and below are his words about his passion for the people of Sudan.

PDEC has supported Save Darfur Coalition initiatives in a number of ways. For the “Million Voices” campaign -an initiative to deliver 1 million signed postcards to President Bush demanding his support for a stronger multilateral force to protect Darfuris;  PDEC collected more than 15,400 postcards with help from student and religious organizations from Pittsburgh, Western Pennsylvania and Ohio.  PDEC collected an additional 15,000 postcards for the “Be a Voice for Darfur” campaign targeting President Obama, which called for the protection of civilians, sustainable peace, justice for victims, and accountability for perpetrators.

The PDEC cards included 4,704 signatures collected at President Obama’s Inauguration by more than 150 Pittsburghers who were part of the Save Darfur Coalition call to service around the Inauguration and Martin Luther King Day. When actor and activist George Clooney delivered PDEC’s postcards and 235,000 others to President Obama, he urged the president to appoint someone to work on Sudan full-time, an initiative which was influential in the appointment of U.S. Special Envoy Gen. Scott Gration.

In 2008, to underline the magnitude of the Darfur genocide, PDEC conceived the idea of creating professionally printed signs each bearing the name of one of the destroyed villages in Darfur.  These signs, representing 610 of more than 3,300 Darfur villages destroyed or severely damaged since 2004, have been carried in marches in Pittsburgh and Washington D.C., displayed on college campuses, and exhibited on Flagstaff Hill in Pittsburgh in sight of the G-20 delegates and world leaders who met in the city in September 2009.

Activists with destroyed villages sign. Photo courtesy of PDEC

David Rosenberg, Ph.D., is the co-founder of the Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition and a scholar of the French Wars of Religion. He previously worked on community campaigns which focused on memorializing the Holocaust, racial and religious discrimination, and the right of workers to organize into unions.

Earlier this week, a student with the Girifna movement was detained and tortured in Khartoum.

Girifna held a press conference in which Mahdi, the detained student, detailed his detention (in Arabic) and the organization has more information on their site (also in Arabic).

The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies released the following statement in response:

ACJPS Condemns the Silencing of Political Activists

On 15 March, Abdallah Mahdi Badawi, an 18 year old accounting student at Ahlei University and member of Girifna was detained and tortured in Khartoum. Girifna is an election and civic education campaign started by Sudanese youth during the registration period, and is colloquial Arabic for “we are fed up”. The movement is calling for free and fair elections, and uses orange as its signature color to signify its commitment to nonviolence and peaceful democratic change.

That afternoon, Mahdi received a call from “Hassan”, one of the newest members of Girifna. Hassan requested that Mahdi meet him at Khartoum University. When Hassan did not arrive, Mahdi entered the University; however, Hassan called moments later and the two met. Hassan was accompanied by another young man, and the three walked to a local café to discuss Girifna activities and plans. On their way, in an empty alley behind the café, Hassan and the other man pulled out pistols and forced Mahdi to follow them to an office.  He was taken to a small room which had photos of Salah Gosh (the former Director of the National and Intelligence and Security Services, NISS) and tortured. He was beaten by 13 men with sticks, hoses, and electric wires, and interrogated as to the Girifna movements’ activities and sources of funding, and was taunted as to what he was “fed up” about. The agents placed a pistol near his head and pretended to squeeze the trigger, and threatened to make him drink a liquid that they claimed had a virus that would kill him. Mahdi was told that they were the same people who had killed Mohamed Musa, the Darfuri student found murdered in Omdurman in February.

A senior officer identified later as Lieutenant Mohamed Noor Aldaiem forced Mahdi to sign by fingerprint 6 pieces of paper, including an invoice that stated that he owed 100,000 Sudanese pounds to Lieutenant Aldaeim. His captors encouraged him to join the National Security forces.  Other pages included a list of the names of Girifna members and their contact details, and a statement that Girifna receives funding and support from the SPLM. Mahdi was then released in an area unknown to him.

Arbitrary arrest, detention and torture violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the UN Convention against Torture. Information available to the African Centre indicates that Mahdi was targeted for no other reason than his association with Girifna and his involvement in peaceful political activities. The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies calls on the government of Sudan to respect the provisions of Article 39(1) of the Sudan Interim National Constitution, which provides that every “citizen shall have an unrestricted right to the freedom of expression, reception and dissemination of information”.

In the context of the elections, such actions by Sudanese authorities indicate a pattern of silencing civic engagement by its own people, which is demonstrative of severe restrictions on civil and political freedoms. The African Centre is concerned that free and fair elections cannot take place in such an environment. The unflinching resolve of Sudanese security services to infiltrate the Girifna movement, and to cause such serious damage to one of its members, shows an unwillingness to tolerate opposition voices.

Darfur's tumultous Jebel Marra region/ Photo: Matt Powell Humanitarian Photography

At a speech last week in the North Darfur capital of El Fashir President Omar al-Bashir confidently announced that “the crisis in Darfur is finished; the war in Darfur is over. Darfur is now at peace”. Bashir echoed a similarly misguided claim made last August by the outgoing head of UNAMID, shortly before a series of renewed clashes and violent attacks against his own troops.

Bashir appears to have a skewed definition of peace, as certain areas of Darfur have since January been consistently beset by fighting, which seems to be escalating.

Despite progress toward a ceasefire between the Government of Sudan (GoS) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), the areas around Jebel Moun and Jebel Marra remain highly volatile.

This past week, the increasingly violent clashes between SLM-AW and Sudan Armed Forces in Deribat have caused mass displacement and an estimated 140-400 civilian casualties. There has been no international assistance available to the victims in the Jebel Marra region after Médecins du Monde was forced out last week.

The SLM-AW leader Abdel Wahid al-Nur called the Doha framework “ceremonial,” adding that his movement wants “a genuine peace realizing the demands of Darfur people who are suffering in camps since seven years after losing their relatives and homes”. However, al-Nur has refused to be a part of any peace negotiations and the SLM-AW has in some recent cases exacerbated the security and humanitarian situation in parts of Darfur by restricting peacekeeping and aid access.

JEM condemned the escalating hostilities in a statement on February 28^th denouncing:

“the exploitation by Khartoum regime of a ceasefire outlined in the Framework Agreement signed with the Movement on February 23, 2010 to launch a sweeping attack on the positions of resistance in the Jebel Marra and to bomb peaceful villages and kill unarmed civilians.”

The Department of State and UNAMID both issued statements on Tuesday urging the SLA/AW and the Government of Sudan to refrain from further aggression. UNAMID also announced that it will be taking further measures to verify the reports of violence in the region, but an investigative patrol heading to Deribat over the weekend was ambushed. The peacekeeping personnel were held over night and major assets seized by the attackers. It remains to be seen whether the newly arrived tactical helicopters will enhance the mission’s ability to address the insecurity in the mountainous region.

Recent background

Renewed fighting between SLM-AW and SAF troops flared up last July after their forces clashed in Nertiti and re-emerged from September 2-17^th primarily in Korma where 18 civilians were killed and over 31,000 were displaced. For the remainder of the year the situation in Jebel Marra relatively stabilized with conflict on a smaller scale, until January 13^th when the SLM-AW attacked Gulu the capital of Jebel Marra in response to earlier bombings on rebel positions. Intense clashes have continued throughout January and February, and on February 13^th and 14^th government troops attempted to re-take Aradyeb Al-Asharah. The SLM-AW was able to maintain control but SAF forces made a second offense attempt on the town on February 24-25^th which according to rebel commander Nourredine Janga, “40 people were killed and 28 young girls and 8 women were raped”. Since January fighting has occurred elsewhere in Jebel Marra region including Kadmir, Lidy, Fugly, Dogo and Kotor.

Increasing amounts of civilians have been displaced due to intense fighting this past week with additional 40,000 civilians displaced from Deribat without any support from international aid organizations who have also fled the region. Another 5,400 civilians from Jebel Marra have been displaced to Nierteti and UNAMID estimated that 1,500 civilians have been displaced to Thur.

Shannon Orcutt is a policy intern at the Save Darfur Coalition.

President al-Bashir at a rally in 2009/Photo: Reuters

My colleagues Jerry Fowler and Mark Lotwis left Sudan last Friday heading back to Washington.  In order to set up a few more meetings in the South, I stayed on in Juba. Little did we know, President Omar al-Bashir and his entourage of advisors and security agents would be coming to town—and staying in the same modest hotel as the Save Darfur delegation, in the very wing where Jerry had been sleeping.

Over the weekend, I had heard that Bashir would be traveling to Juba and a few other towns in the South to campaign.  In my mind, I imagined a quick dash by motorcade from the airport to a rally in Juba and then a few darts by plane to some other choice locations in the Greater Equatoria states.

So I was quite surprised when early Monday afternoon, I was confronted by a newly erected roadblock in front of my hotel.  Initially, the mix of police and security officials told me that I could not pass. When I explained that I was staying at the hotel beyond their checkpoint, they quickly scanned my backpack and then gave me strict instructions on how to walk to the next crowd of security personnel suddenly stationed in front of hotel gate.  After another round of negotiations that involved coaxing hotel staff out to verify my claims, I was finally permitted to enter the foyer—where I was promptly urged by a security guard to take my room key and, like a misbehaving child, go straight to my room.

About an hour later, I returned to reception to ask about the “protocol” and restrictions in place due to the arrival of the special guest from Khartoum.  The staff assured me that the security had overreacted in the first few hours and gave me a stamped pass that would allow me to go and come as I please. Thus far, I have not faced any further issues – other than that inescapable locked-down feeling of any setting where men with guns sit and stand around every entrance and exit, looking all-too-bored for any by-stander’s comfort.

Ironically enough, I did not have to leave the hotel to watch Bashir’s political rally. My window afforded a partial view of the stadium.  I could not make out the words of his speech, but at times I could hear the crowd break out with a chant of “Salaam, Oyay” (Peace, Yes!).

Maggie Fick of the ENOUGH Project was inside the stadium and reported on the climate.

Papers the next day quoted Bashir as making an economic case for unity. He argued that Sudan’s economy could expand by a higher percent if all efforts are exerted to end political tensions:

“that have encouraged nothing than regional wars and displacement of inhabitants…To experience real growth and success in the war against poverty, we must get our act together on two fronts…[O]ur politics must promote political stability and public confidence in the future of our country.”

Bashir, dressed down in a short sleeve shirt, treated the crowd to some interesting campaign rhetoric, such as “We will cut off every hand attempting to disrupt peace.” He also promised to celebrate with the people of the South after the referendum, whether they chose unity or secession.

In my conversations though in Juba thus far, it’s clear that Bashir’s last stab to make unity attractive will fall mostly on deaf ears. People are gearing up for the elections to contest leadership within the Government of South Sudan, but with a keen eye on the referendum. As for those in Darfur, very few trust these most recent promises from Bashir and his National Congress Party (NCP) – and, thus, confidence in a durable political resolution emerging from the Doha negotiations remains low.

With my flight out of Juba soon to depart, I hope to have more time to write about the many interesting conversations that we have had in Sudan over the last four weeks.  For now, I can say that having visited Khartoum, the three capitals of Darfur and Juba, one cannot help but be struck by the depth of complexity to the immediate crises and issues at hand.  Peace, prosperity and development for all Sudanese – the slogans of Bashir’s campaign – can be realized over time, but first a profound and dramatic shift in the mentality of those in power and those who dominate politics through fear and violence must occur.