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The Sudanese Army Bombs a Blue Nile Refugee Area

Wednesday, November 9th, 2011

Earlier today, South Sudan President Salva Kiir accused the Government of Sudan of bombing Gaffa, a border town in the Upper Nile state of South Sudan where nearly 400 refugees have fled to avoid violence in Blue Nile. According to the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement- North (SPLM-N), which has been fighting the Government of Sudan in Blue Nile and South Kordofan, the Sudanese army bombarded Gaffa for four hours on Tuesday killing at least eight refugees.

The Sudanese army began attacking Blue Nile on September 1st in order to remove the opposition party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, which is widely supported in both Blue Nile and South Kordofan states. According to the United Nations at least 6,200 civilians from Blue Nile have fled across the border into the South Sudan state of Upper Nile to border towns such as Gaffa. Another 60,000 civilians have been displaced within the state and an estimated 28,500 have fled into refugee camps in Ethiopia.

Over the weekend, the Sudanese military captured the town of Kurmuk, the last major rebel held city in the state of Blue Nile. The capture of Kurmuk does not bode well for the rest of the state which will likely fall to the Sudanese army as the rainy season comes to an end allowing troops to move more freely.

Also over the weekend, the Sudanese government announced that they have submitted a second complaint against South Sudan to the United Nations Security Council, accusing the South of supporting the SPLM-N rebels in South Kordofan and Blue Nile. The complaint to the Security Council and bombing of Gaffa will undoubtedly exacerbate the already high tensions between the Government of South Sudan and Khartoum and could lead to further conflict.

The bombing of the refugee area further demonstrates the critical need for the Obama Administration and international community to ramp up pressure on the Sudanese government to prevent future attacks on civilians.

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UN Says Death Toll in Syria Violence at Least 3,500

Tuesday, November 8th, 2011

Today, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights said that at least 3,500 people have been killed in Syria over the past eight months as government forces have violently cracked down on protesters throughout the country.

City of Homs Faces Brunt of Recent Violence

Over the past several days, the violence has been the worst in Homs, Syria’s third largest city. Activists have said that more than 110 people have been killed this week alone. The amateur video clip below reportedly shows Syrian tanks bombing Homs’ Bab Amro district this past Thursday.

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US Must Increase Sanctions on Sudan

Thursday, November 3rd, 2011

On Tuesday, the Obama Administration announced the continuation of the national emergency with respect to Sudan which maintains sanctions on the country for another year.  The sanctions, which are renewed on an annual basis, were initially placed on Sudan by Presidents Clinton and Bush because of Sudan’s past support for international terrorism and widespread atrocities in Darfur.

While it is positive that President Obama extended these sanctions, it is also discouraging that he has taken few additional steps to stop Bashir’s most recent atrocities, especially the Sudanese government’s greatly intensified and expanded attacks against civilians, which have displaced over 500,000 civilians this year alone.

U.S. sanctions primarily targeted Sudanese officials who have committed atrocities in Darfur and those with ties to international terrorist organizations.  The Obama administration has yet to impose measures on specific perpetrators of violence against civilians in Abyei, South Kordofan, or Blue Nile.  United Nations sanctions on Sudan are similarly lacking, only applying to four individuals and omitting individuals wanted by the International Criminal Court.

In order to prevent further escalation of violence in Sudan, the U.S. should lead a push at the United Nations Security Council to expand sanctions to include individuals responsible for attacks against civilians in Sudan.  Any international push by the United States would likely prompt the European Union to follow suit, increasing the effectiveness of international asset freezes and travel bans.

The Obama Administration has a strong track record of implementing targeted sanctions on perpetrators of severe human rights violations, but has not yet imposed consequences on Sudanese officials who commit violent crimes against their own people. The United States must not ignore the brutal attacks on civilians in Sudan and should lead the international community in enacting targeted asset freezes and travels bans on those responsible.

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Libya Update: Reports of Qaddafi’s Death

Thursday, October 20th, 2011

The Libyan Prime Minister has announced the death of Libya’s former leader, Muammar el-Qaddafi. Qaddafi was wanted for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court and stood accused of directing deadly attacks against civilians in his country stemming back to mid-February of this year.

This news comes following reports that the city of Sirte had been captured from pro-Qaddafi forces marking what many hope will be the end of major fighting. Despite today’s news, many challenges remain including the protection of civilians, ensuring accountability, threats to security and the transition to democratic governance. We will continue to monitor the situation with a particular focus on civilian protection.

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President Obama Sends 100 US Special Forces advisors to assist African countries in actions against the Lord’s Resistance Army

Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

By Krista McCarthy

President Barack Obama sent a letter to the US House of Representatives and Senate on Friday, October 14th, announcing plans to send 100 US Special Forces advisors to Uganda, South Sudan, Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo.  The advisors will advise the militaries of these countries in countering the rebel militia the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), led by Joseph Kony.

Maj. Gen. David Hogg, Commander of US Army Africa, inspects Ugandan troops in April 2011. Photo Courtesy of U.S. Army

The Lord’s Resistance Army has long been a source of instability and violence in the nations of central Africa.  Joseph Kony formed the Lord’s Resistance Army to overthrow the government of Uganda and replace it with a Christian theocracy. The LRA has committed massacres of civilians and often mutilated victims to spread fear. Between 1986 and 2007, the LRA reportedly killed 100,000 people in Uganda.  They have also become infamous for their use of children as soldiers and sex slaves. Over the course of the war in Uganda, over 66,000 children have been abducted by the LRA in Uganda. More than 1,700,000 Ugandan civilians have been displaced by the LRA’s violence.

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UEG Director of Policy Briefs Congress on Crises in South Kordofan and Blue Nile in Sudan.

Friday, October 14th, 2011

Director of Policy & Government Relations at UEG, listens to Chairman Frank R. Wolf (R-VA) speak, after briefing the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on the violent crises in South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

Director of Policy and Government Relations for United to End Genocide, Daniel Sullivan, testified yesterday in a hearing before Members of Congress on the increasingly dire situation in Sudan.  The hearing titled “First Hand Accounts of Violence and IDP/Refugee Problem in South Sudan’s Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile regions”, was held by the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission and included testimony by independent journalist, Ryan Boyette, and Director of Communications for the Enough Project Jonathan Hutson, who spoke on the work the Satellite Sentinel Project is doing in Sudan.

Mr. Sullivan discussed conversations he had with Sudanese displaced by fighting in South Kordofan and testified on the looming food crisis in South Kodofan and Blue Nile. Denial of access to humanitarian aid organizations combined with a failed harvest due to combat and government bombings will put over one million people at risk of famine in the next two to three months.  Mr. Sullivan laid out steps that the US government can take to stop the attacks in Sudan and emphasized that the time to act to avert a major famine is now.

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Impending Food Crisis in South Kordofan and Blue Nile

Friday, October 7th, 2011

Civilians in South Kordofan and Blue Nile are on the verge of a potential food crisis. Next month’s harvest is expected to fail due to the disruption of the major crop season as a result of attacks by the Government of Sudan and fighting between Bashir’s forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army- North (SPLA-N). According to the UN, at least 235,000 people in both South Kordofan and Blue Nile are in need of help.

Displaced civilians in South Kordofan

On Tuesday, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) called for urgent action to prevent a humanitarian and food crisis in the conflict affected regions of Blue Nile and South Kordofan. In South Kordofan, fighting between the SPLM-N and Sudanese government began on June 5th at the beginning of the planting season displacing over 200,000 civilians. Many fled into nearby caves seeking refuge from the Sudanese Armed Forces’ aerial bombardments. Those who did not flee their villages have stayed close to their homes and makeshift bomb shelters they created by digging holes into the ground and have not ventured to their fields fearing the indiscriminate bombing by government planes.

Earlier this week, the UN reported that food stocks that were delivered two months ago have now been depleted and civilians are experiencing food shortages. These shortages are unlikely to be remedied in the near future as the Sudanese government continues to prevent international humanitarian organizations from providing food and other desperately needed supplies. The few Sudanese NGOs permitted in South Kordofan face a multitude of restrictions severely limiting their ability to deliver aid.

President Bashir’s forces have also restricted international aid groups from accessing Blue Nile where the Sudanese government and SPLM-N have clashes repeatedly since September 1st. The people of Blue Nile were able to plan their crops since fighting in the state began several months after clashes broke out in South Kordofan. Unfortunately, many civilians in Blue Nile have been forced to abandon their fields as the Sudanese Armed Forces attacked towns throughout the state and many crops have become overgrown and withered.

The likely crop failures will not only affect the people of South Kordofan and Blue Nile but will also have an impact on civilians elsewhere in Sudan who already face rapidly increasing food prices. Over the past week there have been several series of protests against the rising food prices and high levels of inflation on food which last month topped 27%. The lack of crops to harvest in South Kordofan and Blue Nile and food shortages in South Sudan will likely cause prices to soar even further.

The Government of Sudan’s restriction of aid combined with the looming failure of the upcoming harvest will likely have devastating effects in the near future. The United States and international community must immediately pressure the Sudanese government to allow international humanitarian organizations and UN agencies to provide critically needed aid to the people of Blue Nile and South Kordofan in order to prevent a food crisis.

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US Special Envoy for Sudan, activists bring violence in Sudan to the attention of Congress

Thursday, October 6th, 2011

By Krista McCarthy

On Tuesday, October 4th 2011, US Special Envoy to Sudan Princeton Lyman testified before the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights in a hearing titled “A Comprehensive Assessment of US Policy Toward Sudan”. Ambassador Lyman was joined by John Prendergast of the Enough Project, emancipated slave Ker Aleu Deng, Dr. Gerard Prunier of the Atlantic Council, and Ellen Ratner of Talk Radio News Service in testifying on the ongoing violent conflicts in Sudan.

Ambassador Lyman expressed concern over Sudan’s unwillingness to abide by the June agreement with South Sudan over troop withdrawal from the contested Abyei region. The June agreement established a September 30th deadline by which both Sudan and South Sudan had to withdraw their occupying troops and the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) would deploy to protect civilians. Sudan has missed the deadline and is now refusing to withdraw its forces until UNISFA is fully deployed, a condition that was not part of the agreement. Ambassador Lyman denounced this statement, saying that the agreed upon withdrawal did not have such conditions, and that UNIFSA is already fully deployed and capable of protecting the civilians of Abyei.

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(Watch Ambassador Lyman’s full congressional testimony)

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Letter to Members of the Security Council on Syria Resolution

Thursday, September 29th, 2011

This afternoon, United to End Genocide and seven other human rights organizations sent the below letter to members of the Security Council urging them to take strong formal action on the ongoing atrocities in Syria.

The Security Council is negotiating on a draft resolution on Syria that may be voted as early as the end of the week. A previous version of the resolution included asset freezes and travel bans on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and 22 key Syrian figures, however the section on sanctions was removed due to strong objections from Russia. Despite the lack of sanctions, the current version of the resolution would still be a positive step towards ending violence against the Syrian people and would send a strong signal to the Assad’s regime that attacks against civilians will not be tolerated by the international community.

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September 29, 2011

Dear Ambassador,

Strong and Urgent Security Council Action on Syria

We, the eight human rights and advocacy organizations below, write to urge you to support a strong resolution in the Security Council on the situation in Syria. After months of ongoing human rights violations that very likely amount to crimes against humanity, it is necessary for the Security Council urgently to take formal action.

Since mass protests began in mid-March, the United Nations has estimated at least 2600 civilians have been killed across Syria, the majority of them protesters and local residents shot with live ammunition by the security forces and army. Thousands of others have been arrested or held incommunicado at unknown locations where torture is reported to be rife. Over 100 people have reportedly died in detention in highly suspicious circumstances.

We strongly urge Security Council members to support a resolution that, at the very least:

  • Calls on the Syrian authorities to uphold their responsibility to protect and immediately cease systematic killing, use of torture and unlawful detention of civilians.
  • Demands that Syria abide by its international obligations to respect fundamental human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and association.
  • Demands that Syria cooperate fully with the international  Commission of Inquiry created by the Human Rights Council, and provide it with immediate and unfettered access, especially to places of detention.
  • Demands access for humanitarian missions, foreign independent media and independent human rights organizations and for the release of detained human rights defenders and journalists.
  • Clearly states that those individuals that have committed crimes must be held accountable.
  • Requires states to prevent the delivery of weapons to Syria.
  • Articulates that there will be consequences if the Syrian regime fails to comply with the Security Council measures.

Many bilateral, regional, and multilateral diplomatic efforts have failed to change Syria’s approach: government forces have continued to kill, arbitrarily detain and torture peaceful protesters. It is therefore incumbent upon the Security Council to do more than merely condemn the violence in Syria. At a minimum, in order to be effective, any Security Council resolution should contain the elements outlined above. During the recent UN General Assembly Debate, a wide cross-section of member states expressed concern about Syria. Strong action from the Council will bolster its credibility in the face of ongoing violations.

If we can provide you with any more detailed information please let us know.

Sincerely,

  1. Amnesty International
  2. Avaaz
  3. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)
  4. Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
  5. Human Rights Watch
  6. International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
  7. Reporters without Borders (RSF)
  8. United to End Genocide (formerly the Genocide Intervention Network and Save Darfur)

 

CLICK HERE to learn about what you can do to help end the atrocities being committed in Syria.

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Protests and Violence in Yemen Continue to Escalate

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

The past week has seen the situation in Yemen deteriorate rapidly. The government and opposition paramilitaries are turning to increasingly violent means in their dealings with one another at the same time as the government continues to target unarmed protestors.  The upsurge in violence was precipitated by the return of President Ali Abdullah Saleh to Yemen on September 23rd from Saudi Arabia where he was seeking treatment for his injuries following a failed assassination attempt in June. With President Saleh’s return, crackdowns on protestors have become increasingly brutal.

The toll on civilians from the upsurge in violence was made apparent with reports that atleast 150 people had been killed in the past week, a number that included the deaths of tribesmen and defected soldiers. Civilian deaths have increased as President Saleh’s regime uses mortar bombs, snipers, and anti-aircraft guns to quell protests in city streets. Most recently government forces launched an attack before dawn on “Change Square”, an area of the city where protestors have camped out as they demand the end of President Saleh’s regime, using mortars, rooftop snipers, and heavy guns.

On Sunday, Yemeni tribesmen opposed to President Saleh’s government took control of the military base of the elite Republican Guards in Dahrah. The tribesmen took 30 soldiers hostage. There have been no reports as to the number of causalities among Republican Guards at the base, but it has been reported that four of the tribesmen were killed and another 27 were wounded. The defeat of the elite Republican Guards and loss of the base at Dahrah was another blow to Saleh’s government, which had already lost a military base in Sana’a to defected General Ali Mohsen and his men, which they invaded on September 19th.

In a statement released yesterday, General Ali Mohsen warned Saleh’s government that unless they quit their actions against civilians Yemen would be headed toward a violent civil war.  General Mohsen is currently in control of several areas of the Yemeni capitol of Sana’a but forces loyal to President Saleh continue to shell his positions, killing nearly a dozen of Mohsen’s men and in one earlier instance killing two civilians.

A member of President Saleh’s own party, Mohammed Abu Lahoum, showed support for Ali Mohsen, saying, “I strongly believe Ali Mohsen has put himself in the right side of history where he has taken the side of the people to see a safe transfer of power…Betting against the people, you will always lose”. But whether the people will be protected from violence as the process of transferring power evolves remains to be seen.

Continue to follow the developments in Yemen, here at the United to End Genocide blog. As before, Yemen remains on UEG’s Watch List.

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