In a May 20 editorial we lauded the efforts of actress Mia Farrow to get the world to pay more attention to Darfur, where the Sudanese government is allowing genocide to occur. Since then President Bush, after too many empty threats, has announced increased sanctions against several Sudanese companies and individuals, saying “The United States will not avert our eyes.” And yesterday, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli announced a three-phase program that could result in the state’s common retirement fund divesting in Sudan. The genocide is being committed by a militia that is bombing, murdering and raping innocent civilians, but the Sudanese government is complicit. It provides the militia with arms, and it has continually thwarted peacekeeping and even humanitarian efforts. The government, like the regime in Iran, has proven itself adept at stalling. Whenever it looked like the United Nations would impose serious sanctions, the government would make some minor concession, or agree to a meeting, or start talking about allowing peacekeepers in. Last November it actually agreed to a phased transition from the the beleaguered 7,000-member African Union force to a beefed-up joint force comprising U.N. and African peacekeepers. But then it reneged. In April, under pressure from China, its major trading partner and arms supplier, it agreed to a supplementing of the AU force with 3,000 heavily armed U.N. troops, with the joint force eventually growing to 20,000 (the number most observers agree is necessary to stop the violence). But it will take more months to assemble the troops, and given the government’s history of breaking promises, there’s widespread skepticism that it will ultimately allow the troops in. That’s why it is so important to keep the pressure on. Bush’s increased sanctions may be a case of too little too late, but they are welcome nonetheless. And DiNapoli’s program, which will first identify companies that are behaving badly in Sudan and then get them to try to change their practices before divesting in them, is a measured, responsible approach. Other states have taken similar actions, and other New York comptrollers have used the pension fund to try to influence events in Northern Ireland and South Africa. The fund’s investments in companies that have a connection to Sudan may be small, but it must in no way support genocide.
Re June 11 Matthew Rector letter, “Bush overture in Sudan,” stating that “The U.S. government has not promised to provide adequate financial or troop support for the potential U.N. mission in Darfur”: He goes on to state that “in order for the situation to improve in Darfur, 20,000 or more U.N. troops need to be deployed to the region.” Now, I ask Mr. Rector the following question: Since when is the U.S. government supposed to be the only one to supply an army? What way is it that you expect the United States to support the U.N. and International Criminal Court (ICC) to legitimize them? These two groups are both jokes. What one thing has the ICC done so far, since its inception? As far as the ICC, why do we (the United States and our soldiers) have to legitimize a group that we’re not part of? It’s something that we just don’t believe in. So why would you go about proving something that you don’t believe in as legitimate? In fact, whenever the U.N. seems to want something done, whether it be a home for their offices (based on “international territory” in New York City) or taking care of worldwide issues (the multinational forces that go here, there, and everywhere at the whim of some Third World country leader), we seem to just be the stepchild who has to drop into lock-step. We need to concentrate first on the things that are affecting us and our daily lives before we go about trying to rid the world of all evils. We have issues to combat at home (disease, homelessness, crime) as well as things that we are already into at the moment around the world (stabilization of Iraq, the global war on terror — unless you want to see another 9/11. If “human rights organizations and religions groups are united in the outrage over the catastrophe,” don’t complain about it. These groups seem to bring in enough money every year to do things, so why not change some of your spending and send some of that much needed help directly to Africa? KEVIN MARCH Rotterdam
Rice: World must stop violence in Darfur region PARIS — The world has fallen down on the job of ending the violence in Sudan’s Darfur region, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday as she welcomed the fresh energy that France’s new conservative-led government has put to the cause. She called the four-year-old conflict “one of the true humanitarian disasters that we face in international politics, and one the international community has simply got to act more quickly and more responsibly to stop.” The chief U.S. diplomat was in Paris for two days of get-to-knowyou meetings with the new French government and a strategy session on Darfur. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner organized today’s conference to speed deployment of about 20,000 new peacekeeping troops to Darfur, the vast, arid region where an estimated 200,000 have died in fighting between African rebels and militias backed by the Arab-led Sudanese government. The confl ict has driven about 2.5 million from their homes. “I have seen firsthand the devastation and the difficult circumstances in which people live in Darfur, and I will be very frank,” Rice said. “I do not think that the international community has really lived up to its responsibilities there
Sudan president not to be trusted when it comes to Darfur
Though news reports of Sudan’s latest agreement to allow a United Nations-African Union hybrid peacekeeping force into Darfur seem like a positive development, there is considerable reason to be skeptical. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has failed to live up to his past commitments to the international community, including stonewalling after agreeing to this same hybrid peacekeeping force in 2006. Any regime that would bomb its own villages and kill as many as 400,000 of its own people, does not deserve the benefi t of the doubt. The violence is far from over Sudan’s air force continues to bomb villages and the government-sponsored Janjaweed militia have not relented in their horrific attacks. Just as this “positive” news came out of Sudan last week, one of the largest humanitarian aid groups in the world announced it was permanently leaving Darfur — due to continued attacks and concern for aid workers’ safety. World leaders, and especially the United States, China and France — each which have unique influence over Sudan — must increase their pressure on Sudan to make sure that this latest “promise” is fulfilled. Even if this commitment leads to the deployment of an effective peacekeeping force, the effort to save the people of Darfur will still be far from over. Still needed are: a true peace process that leads to a full peace agreement, and unhindered access for the delivery of humanitarian aid to the millions of Darfurians who rely on it to live. MARGARITA WOELFERSHEIM Ballston Lake
Sudanese gov’t to meet with rebels TRIPOLI, Libya — In an international summit Sunday to push peace in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region, the Sudanese government agreed to soon meet rebel groups who thus far have refused to join peace talks. If the agreement holds, it will be an important step in relaunching a peace process that has stalled since those key rebel factions rejected the widely unpopular Darfur peace agreement struck last year. The socalled “non-signatories” will meet during the first week of August to prepare a unified position for talks with the government in late August or September. “We’ve made a serious step forward,” said Jan Eliasson, the United Nations’ special envoy for Sudan.
EU eyes mission to aid Darfur refugees BRUSSELS, Belgium — European Union nations agreed Monday to start planning for a possible 3,000-member peacekeeping mission to Chad to help provide security and aid to tens of thousands of refugees fleeing the conflict in neighboring Darfur. A meeting of EU foreign ministers said any mission had to be backed by the United Nations “with a clearly defined exit strategy” and in cooperation with the African Union, neighboring countries and humanitarian aid groups. Monday’s green light will allow EU experts to gather information and data on what countries could provide forces for the mission and allow the United Nations in New York to start drafting a resolution for it.
Softened measure rejected by Sudan UNITED NATIONS — Britain and France dropped a threat of sanctions against Sudan in a proposed U.N. Security Council resolution that would authorize an expanded peacekeeping force in Darfur, according to a revised draft circulated Tuesday. Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said the co-sponsors toned down the language in the document to try to mollify African countries that had strongly opposed a previous draft. But Sudan still rejected the softened resolution, saying it was “awful” and “ugly.” The draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, calls for the deployment of a joint U.N.-African Union force of up to 26,000 to try to stop the fighting between ethnic African rebels and pro-government janjaweed militia that has killed more than 200,000 people since 2003.
Okay...enough now...just go in using force and help those poor people. Enough already! We are talking about a third world country here. Clearly not a national security threat!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Horrors of Sudan inspire campaign Organization battles torture in Africa BY SARA FOSS Gazette Reporter
When Schenectady resident Karen Shields first met Zainelabdin Eltayib Osman, at a meeting of human rights organizations, she was like most Americans: She knew little about Sudan. “Zain said, ‘I’m from the Sudan,’ and I said, ‘Where is Sudan?’” recalled Shields. “I had no idea.” Shields began researching Sudan — the war-torn country, which borders Egypt and the Red Sea, is located in northwest Africa — and what she learned shocked her. “I would call Zain up and he would say, ‘What did you find out today?’” Shields recalled. She learned about the Darfur region of the country, where ethnic warfare has killed some 200,000 people and displaced about 2.5 million more since 2003. She learned more about Osman, who was tortured so badly in Sudan while working as a human rights defender that his right side was paralyzed; he has since regained his speech and mobility on his right side at Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital in Schenectady. Shields now works to raise awareness about Sudan; she manages the Schenectady-based American African Foundation Against Torture, an organization founded by Osman in 1996. They help the hundreds of Sudanese families who have quietly resettled in the Capital Region, assisting with immigration paperwork and writing to politicians. When the refugees arrive in the area, “They contact Zain,” Shields said. “He’s very well known. We talk about the different avenues they should pursue, whether they should call a lawyer. People are waiting for their papers to be finalized. Many of them have had babies and are raising their children here. … There’s a lot of talking and talking, and figuring out where people can find the answers.” The American African Foundation Against Torture will team with the local branch of Amnesty International to host a benefit dinner on Oct. 20 at Friendship House on State Street in Schenectady. The food will be prepared by Sudanese women. The idea, Shields said, is to celebrate Sudanese culture and raise money for AAFAT. The group also is collecting money that will be used to purchase school supplies for Sudanese children living in refugee camps in countries such as Chad and Egypt. The group has also collected about 35 paintings by Sudanese torture victims; they will be displayed at a local gallery at some point this fall. The paintings are colorful, graphic and disturbing; they have a powerful impact when viewed as a collection, Shields said. Some of them are pictured on AAFAT postcards labeled “Forms of Torture in Sudan,” with titles such as “rape by sharp tool,” “suspension with flogging,” and “suspension from ladder.” “The government denies any of these things happened,” said Matthew Rector, an event organizer with Amnesty International who has worked closely with Osman and Shields. “By showing the paintings, we’re raising awareness of what happened.” LOCAL CONNECTION “Not many people are aware that there are hundreds of Sudanese in the Capital Region,” Rector continued. “There’s a big connection between Sudan and this area.” One of the group’s challenges is making people care about an impoverished country located on a poor continent where the news is seldom good. “It’s very disheartening when I explain to people what I’m doing, and they say, ‘But it’s Africa,’ ” Shields said. “Just as people in the U.S. are coming to understand what happened in Darfur, what happened in Darfur is now happening in other parts of Sudan,” Rector said. “It’s not always easy to get people to turn out for this stuff. But I think if people were aware there was such a strong local connection, they would step up.” Earlier this month, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to authorize the deployment of up to 26,000 peacekeepers to try to stop the violence in Darfur, in western Sudan. The United Nations also announced that eight rebel groups from Darfur had agreed on a common platform for peace talks with the government. Osman, 40, is in contact with Sudanese refugees all over the world, and recently returned from a trip to China, where he met with Sudanese refugees who had relocated there. “I’m trying to help refugees here and throughout the world,” he said. In Sudan, Osman spent several years in prison as a teenager, where he was tortured multiple times for protesting the repressive Islamic government that took power in 1989. He later studied at the University of Baghdad in Iraq, but was tortured so badly when he returned home to Sudan “that he was left for dead,” Shields said. He fled Sudan in 1992, spent some time in Cairo and England, where he formed the Sudanese Victims of Torture Group. Eventually he moved to Schenectady, and became a U.S. citizen. Last year Osman received a bit of a scare while volunteering at a Sudanese refugee camp in Egypt; he was swept up with thousands of refugees who were violently evicted from the camp by Egyptian security forces who had ordered them to return to Sudan. “I was trapped between the water cannons that were turned on full force from every corner of the camp,” Osman told The Gazette in 2006. “I watched children torn from their mothers’ arms, elderly [people] knocked down by the sheer force of the spray, men desperately trying to protect their families.” Although a peace agreement ending the country’s 21-year civil war, which pit Christians in the south against Muslims in the north, had just been announced, the refugees said they would be killed if they went home, and were protesting the order to return to Sudan. Shields was on the phone with Osman when the attack started; she called the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, and Osman was quickly released. Twenty-eight people were trampled or beaten to death, according to reports.
Oh come on there BK....the only thing that ever came out of France was French fries and french kissing! Well, I guess they could go over to the Sudan and feed them french fries and kiss the living hell out em'!!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
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