Two Months After Clashes Destroyed Town, Civilians Remain Unable to Return
Tens of thousands of civilians are still unable to return to the contested town of Abyei, two months after half of the town was destroyed in fighting, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today....
I spent yesterday morning collaborating with the tireless John Liebhardt, the multitalented Elia Varela Serra and a handful of other Global Voices authors on a global round-up of bloggers' reactions to the International Criminal Court's recommendation that Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir be indicted on multiple counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Now that I've read through other bloggers' reactions, I'm ready to add my own thoughts.Warning: this is the worst kind of blog post, born of a late-night argument that no one won, the self-serving kind that blames and complains without offering any solutions. It's been one of those days.I have a love-hate relationship with the ICC that's mostly hate (caveat: it's so easy to criticize, sitting here on my couch...
My next piece, co-written with John Liebhardt, is up at Global Voices Online:Bloggers from around the world are reacting to the International Criminal Court's recent decision to charge Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir with multiple counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Many of those bloggers are criticizing the indictments, claiming they are difficult to enforce and that they will bring more unrest to an already unstable nation.Read more»Featured in this round-up are Too Huge World, Sudanese Thinker, Sudan Watch, Emmanuel Abalo, Codrin Arsene, Nairobi Notebook, The Angry African, Victor Ngeny, Chris Blattman, Ugandabeat, Gay Uganda, Making Sense of Darfur, Daniel Sturgis and Ali...
Charges Against al-Bashir a Major Step to Ending Impunity
The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor’s request for an arrest warrant against Sudan’s president is a significant step towards ending impunity for the horrific crimes in Darfur, Human Rights Watch said today. On July 14, 2008, the court’s prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, asked Pre-Trial Chamber I to issue an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir on charges of crimes against humanity and genocide....
Everyone told me Dubrovnik would be the highlight of my trip to the Balkans last week. The Adriatic is what seas should be, they said. The city walls are beautiful. Croatians are so nice. You'll fall in love.In some ways, they were right. The Adriatic is what seas should be, and the walls are beautiful, but Dubrovnik wasn't perfect. The city was overrun with cruise ship crowds and tour buses, and everything was pretty in a postcard way, complete with designated photo opportunities. And I didn't fall in love until I got to Sarajevo.Sarajevo is not pretty, at least not conventionally so. Buildings still bear the scars of the four-year-long siege during the Yugoslav wars, and the pavement is pockmarked with Sarajevo roses, places where mortar shells wiped out concrete and, sometimes,...
Special Trials of Defendants in May 10 Attack Violate International Standards
The Anti-Terrorism Special Courts set up by the government of Sudan to try individuals accused of participating in the May 10, 2008 attack on the capital by a Darfur rebel group do not meet minimum international fair trial standards, Human Rights Watch said today....
Hundreds From Darfur Held Incommunicado Since May Rebel Attack
The Sudanese government should immediately account for the hundreds of men, women, and children arrested in Khartoum since a rebel attack on the capital in May 2008, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. The government should also bring to justice those responsible for the torture and mistreatment of detainees....
EU Ministers Should Follow Through With Action at July Meeting
Brussels, June 16, 2008) – The European Union should follow through with its pledge to impose sanctions on Sudanese officials who continue to defy the International Criminal Court (ICC), Human Rights Watch said today.
“Today, the EU ministers renewed their pledge to the victims of Darfur to push for justice,” said Lotte Leicht, EU director at Human Rights Watch. “But words alone aren’t going to help the victims. The 27 EU member states should follow up with sanctions against Sudanese leaders who snub the international court.”...
Armed Conflict and Schooling: Long-term Evidence from Cambodia and Rwanda (World Bank, May 2008) [text]
Building a Europe of Asylum: UNHCR's Recommendations to France for its European Union Presidency (UNHCR, June 2008) [text]
Critical Review Instead of Complacency: Amnesty International's Ten-Point Human Rights Programme for the French Presidency of the European Union
Iraq - Rhetoric and...
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Tells Khartoum to Cooperate With International Criminal Court
(New York, June 16, 2008) – The UN Security Council’s presidential statement criticizing Sudan’s failure to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) signals international impatience with impunity for Darfur war crimes suspects, Human Rights Watch said today. The presidential statement, issued this morning, is the first time that the Security Council has formally taken action on Sudan’s failure to comply with the ICC arrest warrants for two Sudanese suspects.
“The unanimous Security Council statement sends the message that Khartoum cannot obstruct justice by recycling unkept promises to accept peacekeepers,” said Richard Dicker, director of Human Rights Watch’s International Justice Program....
Press Sudan to Cooperate With the International Criminal Court
The United Nations Security Council should press Sudan to surrender war crimes suspects Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, an international coalition of human rights groups said today....
Government Attacks Show Civilians Need Greater International Protection
The United Nations Security Council should impose targeted sanctions on Sudanese officials responsible for attacks against civilians in West Darfur in February 2008, said Human Rights Watch in a new report released today. Following an attack by Darfur rebels on Khartoum on May 10, 2008, Human Rights Watch also expressed concern about possible government reprisals against civilians in West Darfur....
Government Detains More Than 100 Opponents
Mass arrests in Khartoum of perceived supporters of a Darfur rebel group and other political opponents raise fears of mistreatment, Human Rights Watch said today. The arrests by Sudanese security forces of more than 100 people followed an attack on Sudan’s capital by the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) on May 10, 2008 that left dozens of civilians dead or severely injured....
from Monsters and CriticsDonor countries and international agencies Tuesday met with representatives of the government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) to discuss new aid commitments to shore up a three-year old peace deal on Sudan.Norway, hosting the meeting that ends Wednesday, helped broker the 2005 peace deal that ended a two decade long civil war and Oslo also hosted a donor meeting in April 2005.'A lot has been done but more has to done,' Norway's Environmnent and International Development Minister Erik Solheim said, noting the need to integrate the former SPLA rebel forces with the Sudan army.Citing his experience as mediator in other conflicts, Solheim underlined the need for 'political will' to achieve progress.Solheim said Sudan was heading for a more...
Thousands of people in more than 30 countries across the globe will mark five years of war in Darfur with protests on Sunday, April 13, 2008.
Sunday’s Global Day for Darfur – organized by an international coalition of human rights groups including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Save Darfur Coalition – is highlighting how over 1 million Sudanese children have been caught up in the bloodshed, displacement, and killing in the region....
Violence Deter Returns to Disputed Areas
Militia attacks on travelers in disputed areas dividing northern and southern Sudan may reflect a Sudanese government attempt to skew a crucial census registration, Human Rights Watch said today. The attacks are deterring displaced people from returning to the disputed areas to register for the national census, which is important for future elections, a referendum on independence for the south, and resource distribution between Khartoum and southern Sudan....
from World VisionLong-term funds urgently needed as conflict and coming rains leave many areas accessible only by air Darfur, Sudan, March 28, 2008—Fourteen international aid agencies have warned that vital assistance to millions of people across Sudan will soon be put in jeopardy unless there is renewed commitment to provide long-term funding for humanitarian flights in the country.With violent conflict continuing in Darfur and heavy annual rains due to fall in southern Sudan, which will leave vast areas submerged and impassable, aid agencies now rely more than ever on the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) to help them deliver assistance to many of the most inaccessible, insecure and poverty-stricken areas of Sudan.In Darfur alone, the 14 agencies together assist over 2...
from Reuters Alert NetSource: Oxfam GB - UK14 NGOs in SudanReuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.Long-term funds urgently needed as conflict and coming rains leave many areas accessible only by air14 international aid agencies today warned that vital assistance to millions of people across Sudan will soon be put in jeopardy unless there is renewed commitment to provide long-term funding for humanitarian flights in the country.With violent conflict continuing in Darfur and heavy annual rains due to fall in southern Sudan, which will leave vast areas submerged and impassable, aid agencies now rely more than ever on the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) to help them...
No sooner had I written yesterday’s post about digital security than the New York Times has a piece by Nicholas Kristol on how the Save Darfur campaign website has been under attack recently - from Chinese IP addresses.
As the coalition’s China advocacy campaign has intensified, officials have noticed increasingly sophisticated and subversive attempts to intercept emails and infect computers with malicious programs.
Kristol relies mainly on innuendo to suggest that the Chinese government might be behind the attacks, with very little evidence to support the accusation. From a technology point of view, though, it’s irrelevant who’s responsible - this is a cautionary tale for NGOs and other organisations. We can enjoy the benefits that technology brings - but we also need...
The Economist article Of internet cafés and power cuts was passably interesting on the subject of technology in developing countries, although it takes the usual optimistic approach that the Economist favours. The Economist picked up on this issue was the publication of this year’s Global Economic Prospects by the World Bank, with a focus on technology adoption and a barrel full of blindingly obvious conclusions.
More interesting is the research that both of those draw on quite heavily, building a Historical Cross-Country Technology Adoption Database. You can download the database itself from that page, but the overview article Cross-Country Technology Adoption: Making the Theories Face the Facts by Diego Comin and Bart Hobijn is much more manageable. I haven’t dug into the...
Foreign Minister Should Call on Sudan to End Civilian Attacks
The Japanese government should make ending the suffering and violence in Sudan a top priority in meetings this week with the Sudanese presidential assistant, Nafi Ali Nafi, Human Rights Watch said today....
Security Council Should Take Decisive Action Against Sudan for Recent Attacks
The UN Security Council should strongly denounce the Sudanese government’s recent bombardment of civilian villages in West Darfur and impose targeted sanctions on those responsible, Human Rights Watch said in a letter today....
Climate Change and its Implications for Human Migration and Health (International Centre for Migration and Health, Feb. 2008) [text]
Living on the edge of despair: destitution amongst asylum seeking and refugee children (The Children's Society, Feb. 2008) [text]
OI Policy Compendium Note on Gender Issues in Conflict and Humanitarian Crises (Oxfam International, Dec. 2007) [text]
Protecting...
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Fighting in West Darfur Shows Urgent Need for Protection Force
Recent attacks on villages in West Darfur that have left more than 150 people dead highlight the urgent need for all sides to respect the rules of war and protect civilians, Human Rights Watch said today....
"The Changing Manifestations of Forced Migration: Africa in Denial of its Migrant History?," Part 1, Refugee Insights, no. 12, pp. 18-20 (Refugee Consortium of Kenya , 2007) [access]
Displaced in Darfur: A generation of anger (Amnesty International, Jan. 2008) [access]
Freedom in the World 2008 (Freedom House, Jan. 2008) [access]
- Report findings, tables, and map currently available.
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Appointment of Musa Hilal an Affront to Darfur Victims
The reported appointment of notorious “Janjaweed” leader Musa Hilal as special advisor to President Omar El Bashir of Sudan is a stunning affront to victims of Janjaweed atrocities in Darfur, Human Rights Watch said today....
When Sudanese President Omar El Bashir arrives in Ankara on January 21 for a state visit, the Turkish government should publicly urge him to end the ongoing atrocities in Darfur, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the Turkish government....
1st COI Master Class, 19 – 21 June, Vienna: Final Report (Austrian Red Cross & ACCORD, Nov. 2007) [text]
Current Challenges for Returns in the Western Balkans: An NGO Perspective (ECRE, Oct. 2007) [text; launched at Nov. conference in Dubrovnik]
Displacement and Dispossession: Forced Migration and Land Rights in Burma (COHRE, Dec. 2007) [access]
Ending Sexual Violence in Darfur: An Advocacy...
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from The Kansas City StarBy EDITH M. LEDERERAssociated Press WriterThe U.N. humanitarian chief warned that terrible atrocities and urban warfare were engulfing Somalia's capital and called for a large increase in aid to handle a burgeoning population of refugees fleeing Mogadishu.Undersecretary-General John Holmes also painted a grim picture of conditions for millions of people uprooted across the Somali border in Ethiopia's Ogaden province - which faces possible famine - and in Sudan's Darfur region, where violence continues.In Somalia, he said, the U.N. estimates that more than half of the population of the capital, Mogadishu, - about 600,000 people - have fled an upsurge in violence and intimidation.Holmes said 230,000 are now living along a 9-mile stretch of road between the capital,...
from In The NewsThe deepening crisis in Darfur has moved thousands to protest on the streets of western countries.But at long last, the international community is gearing up to a substantial intervention in Darfur through a UN peacekeeping force. How effective will it prove to be? Will it help aid agencies reach those who most need help?Cause of the crisisThe conflicts within Darfur set Sudan's pro-Arab central government against shifting alliances of rebel militias who oppose control from Khartoum. Ever since Sudan became independent from Britain in 1956 the ethnic south has pushed for as much autonomy as possible, frequently resorting to armed insurrection. Peace deals have come and gone, but the belief in Darfur that Sudanese leaders do not prioritise those living in the poorest...