The international coalition Sudan365 released a new video this morning to mark the start of the referendum on Southern Sudanese independence.
Watch the first Sudan365 video: “A Beat for Peace”:
And watch “A Beat for Peace – Keep the Promise” released around the United Nations General Assembly:
Last night, the PBS NewsHour reported on the upcoming referendum in South Sudan. If you are not up to speed on all the issues surrounding the referendum, this quick segment is a great overview of the opportunities and challenges presented by the January 9th vote.
South Sudanese musician and former child soldier Emmanuell Jal just released a new music video for his song We Want Peace. The song is a call for “peace, protection and justice for all in Sudan and also for an end to conflicts affecting innocent people all around the world.” You can watch the video below and see behind-the-scenes photos on Emmanuel’s We Want Peace website:
If you didn’t catch Stop Genocide Now’s live Darfuri townhall yesterday morning you can now watch it in full on vimeo. Take a look:
Photographer and multimedia reporter Pete Muller recently put together an excellent video report, Drawing New Lines: Border Issues in South Sudan, exploring “the social and political dynamics in southern Sudan’s emerging border region.” It’s definitely worth a quick watch:
You can read more about the border issues in this Al Jazeera story from by Muller and reporter Maggie Fick.
Today, the international coalition Sudan365 launched their latest “Beat for Peace” video drawing attention to the need for action during this crucial year for Sudan.
Check out the video, and join the beat at an event today in Washington DC, Los Angeles or New York City.
After looking around through various Sudanese artists’ websites we came across Mary Boyoi a talented signer/songwriter from Southern Sudan. Mary, who unsuccessfully campaigned in the recent elections for a seat in the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly, wrote the following song “Let Us Go” about the referendum and the desire of many in Southern Sudan to secede from the North.
As an organization, we at Save Darfur do not have a preference for unity or secession. Instead, we believe that the referendum must be conducted in a free and fair environment to allow for all Southern Sudanese to express their choice without fear of intimidation. This is the clearest way to implement the spirit and letter of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and to prevent a return to war. But, check out her entertaining video and the lyrics below:
While many in the South are pushing for independence, several Sudanese throughout the country also are striving for unity, you can find an Al Jazeera video report on artists who campaign for Sudan unity here.
Lyrics to “Let Us Go”:
When this war started
South Sudan was so young
North look at us as children
They didn’t even bother to listen
to what we have to say
When we grown up a few years ago
We saw Unity not attractive
That is why we say let us go
Let us go, go, go, go
We will make it
Leave us a..a…a…alone
We will make it
(x2)
Oh my God come and help
South Sudan akoon dahla (to become country)
Horia ma balgo saakid (freedom you can not get free)
balgo fi dam gabil kide kan dafick (through the blood which was poured before)
achan kide taal sowit, sowit, sowit (that is why you should vote vote vote)
Let us go, go, go, go
We will make it
Leave us a..a…a…alone
We will make it
(x2)
Can you hear you the trumpet calling?
Everyone march on
steadfastly determination closer to the mount top
it is not time to guess and wonder… ah hah
you vote your voice you need your future … ah hah
Put an end to sorrow that have clouded our lives now
Sudan my home I give my vote my help to be much stronger
I can see referendum coming ah hah
My vote my voice and I will give it ah hah
Let us go, go, go, go
We will make it
Leave us a..a…a…alone
We will make it
** UPDATE **
Video from the event is available above and on the Cato Institute’s website.
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Sean Brooks, Save Darfur’s Senior Policy Analyst, will be speaking at a Cato Institute policy forum tomorrow afternoon to discuss Sudan in the post-election period. You can register to attend the event (at Cato’s headquarters in Washington, DC) or watch it live on their website.
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Yesterday, U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The hearing, Sudan: A Critical Moment for the CPA, Darfur and the Region, focused on the United States’ Sudan strategy and the challenges facing Africa’s largest country as it prepares for a referendum on southern succession . Several Senators aggressively questioned General Gration about ongoing violence in Jebel Marra, the recently concluded national elections, implementation of the CPA, continued instability in Darfur, and preparations for next year’s referendum.
The Save Darfur Coalition and several of it’s core partners – American Jewish World Service, the Enough Project and Genocide Intervention Network – released a statement responding to the hearing.
You can watch Special Envoy Gration’s opening remarks above or read his entire prepared statement below (he was not able to deliver them in full at the hearing because of time constraints). You can also read the opening statements from Committee Chairman John Kerry and Ranking Member Richard Lugar.
General Gration’s prepared testimony:
Chairman Kerry, Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: I am honored by the opportunity to discuss with you today the situation in Sudan and the important challenges that lie ahead. As you noted in your invitation to testify, the coming months clearly bring a series of critical decision points for policymakers in Khartoum, Juba, neighboring capitals, and here in Washington as well. I will focus my remarks today primarily on the road to the referenda in January 2011, the post-2011 planning and capacity-building that need to continue at an accelerated pace, and issues of peace, accountability, and security for Darfur.
Prior to January 2011 there are a number of tasks to be undertaken in a short time period. The United States and the international community in general must be prepared to assist the parties in this endeavor to help maintain peace and stability in Sudan and the region. Before we look ahead, though, it’s important to take a moment to take stock of some of the most important recent developments.
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State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley fielded several questions about Sudan’s ongoing election at today’s press briefing.
Both the video and the transcript are below. The discussion about Sudan begin right around the 19:00 mark.
QUESTION: On Sudan, there are many indications that President Bashir is on his way to a strong victory. How does the U.S. view recent developments in the elections?
MR. CROWLEY: Well, I think we’ll wait for later this week, where we actually see the actual results. I think we released a statement by the United States, Britain, and Norway reflecting the initial analysis by the many international observers. As they indicated, and I think as we indicated before the elections took place, we’ve had longstanding concerns about the environment leading up to the election.
This was not a free and fair election. It did not, broadly speaking, meet international standards. That’s been clear in the comments that have been done by the Carter Center, the EU, and the AU over the past couple of days. That said, I think we recognize that the election is a very important step in terms of implementation of the CPA. And at this point, we will be focused on, now that this election has happened – and I should emphasize that everyone is focused on the presidency and the likely reelection of President Bashir, but there have been many, many election races for state governor, for state assemblies. These are the very institutions that are going to be vitally important from this point until early in 2010 in overseeing the upcoming referenda, further steps that have to be taken with respect to Abyei, with respect to Darfur, so that we have the – a credible referenda process that, quite honestly, is likely to yield the emergence of a new country.
So while we understand that there were flaws and failures in terms of this electoral process, we still recognize that there’s a lot of work to be done. And the people who have been elected, broadly speaking, to a number of positions will now play critical roles going forward. And we, the United States, will continue to work with the government in the north, the government in the south, as we move forward with full implementation of the CPA and the vitally important referenda that’ll happen in January of next year.
QUESTION: How important is that referendum? How important is its success in voicing your concerns over the elections?
MR. CROWLEY: Well, again, as we said last week, we do recognize that this was the first national election in Sudan in, what, 24 years. We anticipated there would be problems and there were in fact problems. That said, we recognize the value of having millions of people in Sudan exercise their right to vote, and we will see what the actual results are. But we do expect that authorities in the north, authorities in the south – they have very specific tasks in front of them. We are going to work with them and with the international community because there’s a lot of work to do that’ll have a fundamental impact on the future of Sudan.
QUESTION: It took –
QUESTION: So you’re predicting that the referendum in January is going to – they’re going to vote – the south is going to vote to secede?
MR. CROWLEY: That is a very possible, if not likely, outcome.
QUESTION: And what do you think of that?
MR. CROWLEY: It’s not what we think of it. It’s a question of from –
QUESTION: Well –
MR. CROWLEY: If that is ultimately the decision by the people of South Sudan, then we’ve got a lot of work to do, because laid out in the CPA is the referenda, and if the referenda results in a decision to form a new country, then that timetable then ticks off from there. I think six months after that, there is a new country in what used to be Sudan. So there’s a lot of work to do. And that’s where, notwithstanding our concerns about the election, we are, in fact, focused on this very aggressive and difficult timetable.
What are – coming from this, what are – what can we do to resolve remaining issues in terms of borders, in terms of sharing of energy resources, how do we begin the process of building out institutions that will be important if Sudan decides to stay together and will be critical if Sudan decides to divide in two.
QUESTION: In the international community, how would you characterize the role that China is playing in Sudan?
MR. CROWLEY: Well, China is pledged to devote considerable infrastructure to Sudan, North and South. I mean, Sudan has a great many needs and there is significant international cooperation underway. We would hope that these projects are done for the benefit of Sudan and – as opposed to being for the benefit of the employment rate of another country. So we will work with the international community, those who want to invest in Sudan, and try to do that collaboratively so that you have better integration, better cooperation, better collaboration, and that ends up benefitting more and more people in the country.
Yeah.
