Darfur: Founding Declaration of the National Redemption Front

Via the SudanTribune

Driven by our deep commitment to end the suffering of the people of Darfur and the tragic conditions in the refugee and displaced camps in particular;

Committed to end political, economic, cultural and social injustices, and all forms of repression in Darfur as well as other marginalized areas of Sudan;

Aware of the unity of purpose and fundamental objectives of the Darfur armed movements and other political forces in opposition to the government of Khartoum;

Determined to end the genocidal war and ethnic cleansing in Darfur by the Khartoum regime and its militias;

Conscious of the values of solidarity, cooperation and coordination between our revolutionary movements and other Sudanese opposition forces in the struggle against the hegemony of repressive minority regimes, the tyranny of internal colonialism; and, to free marginalized peoples from the horrors of war, poverty, exclusion and exploitation.

Cognizant of the after effects of the failed Abuja’s process of May 5th, 2006.

We, leaders of political and military organizations abstaining from signing the Abuja document, who earlier issued a joint statement in Asmara on June 7th 2006; reaffirm our rejection of that faulty process.

Realizing the virtues of combining efforts and resources to end the suffering of our people, we hereby join hands in establishing the National Redemption Front (NRF), as an instrument for coordinating political, military, diplomatic and media initiatives.

Fellow Citizens:

We, the revolutionary movements listed below and signatory to this statement: 1. Sudan Liberation Movement/ Army (SLM/ A); 2. Jusstice& Equality Movement - Sudan (JEM); 3. Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance (SFDA); call upon organizations of marginalized communities and other opposition political forces to join NRF in realizing the following principles:-

1. Uphold Sudan as multicultural, multi-religious and multiethnic country where diversity constitutes the basis of citizenship for individuals, and unity of our nation.

2. Citizenship is the sole basis for all rights and obligations without discrimination on religious, ethnic, cultural or regional background.

3. Guarantee all human nrights, basic freedoms, rule of law, along with the recognition that accountability and transparency are necessary conditions for good governance.

4. Safeguarding democracy, political pluralism, freedom of expression as fundamental for sharing and transferring state power.

5. Ensuring priority of human development programs and capacity building as prerequisites for social and sustainable development. Introducing affirmative action in support of free basic social services; health, and education as well as introducing job creation policies.

6. Realizing harmony and interaction between people in various regions, and thereby consolidate national unity by facilitating travel and communication facilities throughout Sudan.

NRF objectives include:-

a) Bringing together all Darfurians in their various movements, organizations, groups, associations within and outside Sudan.

b) Organizing and unifying political, military, diplomatic, legal, media and various popular initiatives for the realization and protection of the legitimate rights of Darfurians and all Sudanese.

c) Ending the unceasing genocide and prosecuting its perpetrators.

d) Coordination and consolidation .of regional and international efforts to end the suffering of our refugees and displaced; and ensure a fair compensation as well as their repatriation to the original regions and villages.

e) Endorse all legitimate demands of the marginalized areas.

f) Advocate a just system for sharing wealth and power between the various regions of Sudan.

g) Realize the full and unimpeded implementation of a federal system; and, ensure regional self-rule.

h) Guarantee a fair participation in administering national political, economic, military and civil service institutions on the bases of population percentages of various regions.

NRF structure is composed of a leadership council from the leaders of the founding organization with a rotating presidency; and a general-secretariat responsible for the daily executive affairs.

We appeal to all people of Darfur and the marginalized communities of Sudan to join NRF in order to realize justice and lasting peace for all. In conjunction with this declaration, a separate statement on our position regarding the Abuja document will be issued. Victory to our people and glory to our martyrs.

Darfur: Holdout Rebels Form New Alliance

From the Sudan Tribune

Three Darfur rebel groups that have refused to sign up to an African Union-mediated peace deal for the troubled western Sudanese region formed a new alliance to fight Khartoum on Friday.

Officials from the groups created the National Redemption Front (NRF) after talks in the Eritrean capital and reaffirmed their opposition to the Abuja peace agreement, signed by only one rebel army and Khartoum in May.

The front is made up of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), a holdout faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance (SFDA), according to a "founding declaration" released in Asmara.

"We, leaders of political and military organisations abstaining from signing the Abuja document ... reaffirm our rejection of that faulty process," they said in a statement.

"Realising the virtues of combining efforts and resources to end the suffering of our people, we hereby join hands in establishing the National Redemption Front (NRF), as an instrument for coordinating political, military, diplomatic and media initiatives," they said.

The declaration was signed by JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim, Khamis Abdalla Abakar of the dissident SLM faction and Sharif Harir and Ahmed Ibrahim Diraige from the SFDA, all of whom said the peace deal did not go far enough.

Darfur: Gosh Rejects UN Force, Calls for Martyrdom

From the Sudan Tribune

In a way to show the regime’s opposition to the United Nations force into Darfur region, the Chief of the security service said he prefers to die as martyr instead of accepting international troops.

The head of Sudan national security and intelligence organ, Lt General Salah Abdalla Gosh has declared on Wednesday 28 June his out right rejection of deployment of International peace-keepers in Darfur: “If the choice is between recolonialisation of Sudan and incursion into its soil by foreign troops, then interior of earth is better than its surface”, he said.

Gosh received messages of support and allegiance at his headquarters, on behalf of president Omer al-Bashir, from 10 thousand members of the security organ and Popular Defence Forces, the Sudanese al-Ray alAam daily newspaper reported.

The security chief made his statement on the occasion that marked the end of a 3-day long walk from the centre of Gezira State to Khartoum in which thousands of security and land-based forces participated in a security operation that has been described as first of its kind.

He reasserted in his speech that the entire country’s leadership prefers death and martyrdom for the sake of Allah to living in a country whose citizens’ wishes and nation’s sovereignty is not respected.

"We will not allow international troops under the U.N. to deploy in Darfur," Bashir said in an address marking the anniversary of the coup d’Etat that brought him to power in 1989.

The Chief of the Sudanese security service launched threats against political forces which support the UN takeover in Sudan’s troubled region of Darfur.

He said if and when such a battle breaks out, they would begin with “fifth columnists in Khartoum and internal agents of foreign powers who muddle with national and citizens’ security”.

The head of the security service promised that his institution would be at the forefront of the official and popular resistance, which has already been declared by the president. He assured his listeners that they would not tolerate amongst their numbers any traitor who betrays the national soil and its call for martyrdom.

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At the end of the gathering, Lt General Salah Gosh received on behalf of the president what was described as “death pledges” from a large number of attendants: “to obey and to be steadfast and confidence in the face of any eminent foreign intervention.”

Uganda: ICC Offers Kony Fee Passage to Hague

From Xinhua

The UN's International Criminal Court (ICC) based in The Hague has offered a safe passage to the most wanted rebel in Africa and leader of a Ugandan rebel group, Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

Luis Moreno Ocampo, the ICC chief prosecutor, was quoted by local press on Friday, summoning Joseph Kony, a self-proclaimed prophet to make a formal response to the war crimes charges hours after the top rebel protested against accusations of killings and abductions in the war ravaged northern Uganda.

"I invite Kony and the other commanders identified in the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court to come forward to the court and respond to the charges," Ocampo said in a statement.

In October 2005, judges of the ICC issued arrest warrants against Kony, Vincent Otti, Okot Odhiambo, Dominic Ongwen and Raska Lukwiya. Each is charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes, committed in the war torn north since July 2002.

Kony's insurgency has left tens of thousands of people killed and over 1.4 million homeless in the last 20 years.

"The court will guarantee their safe passage to The Hague, and they will be given every opportunity and facility to present their case before an independent judicial body with the highest guarantees of the due process," Ocampo said.

CAR: At Least 43 Died in Rebel Raid

From Reuters

More than a dozen government soldiers and foreign peacekeepers as well as some 30 rebels were killed during a raid by Chadian insurgents into Central African Republic this week, the former French colony's government said.

The rebels -- who have vowed to overthrow Chad's President Idriss Deby -- launched an attack on a settlement in the north of Central African Republic, the government said this week, after a similar raid a month ago.

Jean-Francis Bozize, chief of staff for the Central African Republic's defence minister and son of President Francois Bozize, said in a statement late on Wednesday 11 government soldiers had been killed along with two peacekeepers from a Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) force.

He said at least 30 Chadian rebels -- whom Chad's Deby says are in the pay of Sudan -- were killed and one taken prisoner.

Sudan denies the charge.

Darfur: Sudan to Lobby Rwanda on UN

From the New Times

The Sudanese government is planning to send a delegation to Rwanda in its efforts to seek support from African countries in a bid to block a United Nations peacekeeping force from going to Darfur.

Speaking to The New Times, Ismail Dahab Mohamed, the Sudanese Deputy Head of Mission in Kampala said his government is opposed to replacing the African Union troops with those of the United Nations.

"Rwanda and Burundi are good countries and are near us. We shall also go there to seek for their support against the proposal to replace the African Union peacekeeping forces with those of the United Nations. We shall go there like we are doing to other countries so that we can be supported in our efforts to block these troops from coming to Darfur," he said.

Dahab said that the AU peacekeeping forces only need logistical and financial support to bring about stability in the area.

"As Sudan, we do not think that by taking the UN forces there, the problem will be solved, but we think that the AU mandate should be supported because they can contain the situation," he said.

Dahab also revealed that the African leaders are to meet at the end of this month in the Sudan to discuss Darfur problems and also come up with possible solutions.

"We are committed to ending this problem and we want support from our friends in Africa. We hope that we can resolve the problems as Africans under our organisational structures. At the end of this month, we hope to meet many other African leaders and we discuss matters of the Sudan peace processes. We shall also discuss the issue of UN forces coming to Sudan. We want support from Africa so that we can resolve the matter and head toward peace in the region," he said. Efforts to contact the foreign affairs minister Dr. Charles Murigande on phone by press time yesterday, were fruitless.

Darfur: More Progress Needed to Ensure Protection For Civilians in Armed Conflict

From the UN Security Council

Addressing the Security Council this afternoon, the top United Nations humanitarian official said that not enough progress had been made to ensure better protection for civilians in armed conflict, stressing that the numbers of innocent civilians who continued to be killed and lived with the constant threat of violence was unacceptable.

“There are too many times when we still do not come to the defence of civilian populations in need,” Jan Egeland, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said at the outset of the Council’s open debate. “When our response is weak, we appear to wash our hands of our humanitarian responsibilities to protect lives. The world is a safer place for most of us, but it is still a death trap for too many defenceless civilians, men, women and children.”

In Iraq, Sudan, Uganda, Somalia, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he said, civilians continued to bear the full brunt of armed conflict and terror. Despite all efforts, women were still raped and violated as a matter of course; children were still forcibly recruited; and defenceless civilians continued to be killed - in violation of the most basic principles enshrined in centuries of international lawmaking.

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Many delegations expressed concern about the ongoing crisis in Darfur, and especially the impact of conflict on civilians in that area. Continuing insecurity, stated the representative of the United States, had a direct, detrimental impact on the international community’s ability to deliver assistance and provide basic services for the victims of conflict. The situation in Darfur illustrated the urgent role that States must play to safeguard civilians, including those who had been internally displaced.

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In Darfur, he said, the African Union had reported that 69 people had been killed in the month immediately after the signing of the Darfur Peace Agreement. “We know that the real figures are much higher, and that general mortality is once again on the rise among the hundreds and thousands of people in Darfur, to whom there is limited or no humanitarian access.”

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In Darfur and eastern Chad, attacks against civilians continued to be undertaken by the Janjaweed, other militia groups, elements of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and by Government forces. In late May, militia attacks around Mukjar in West Darfur had killed over 25 civilians, displacing scores more. In North Darfur, intra-rebel fighting prior to and after the signing of the Darfur Peace Agreement had displaced thousands, and included horrific acts of violence. Janjaweed incursions moving further into Chad had brought fear and significantly threatened the civilian nature of refugee camps. Between 12 and 14 April, 118 people had been shot or brutally hacked to death in a massacre in Djawara and three other villages, 70 kilometres east of the Sudanese border. Recent analysis from the United Nations Mission indicated that that might have been the beginning of a new phase of violence, in which armed groups, militias, rebel groups and the army were intensifying their targeting of civilian populations.

Darfur: Annan Decries Lack of Will

From Herald Sun

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has decried a lack of "political will" among world leaders to end the Darfur crisis, in an interview with BBC television to be aired later Thursday.

Speaking ahead of an African Union summit in Banjul to discuss Sudan's refusal to accept a UN force in Darfur, Mr Annan said it was "in the interest of Sudan to cooperate with the UN and the international community in Darfur".

"We are not strangers," the secretary general said, recalling that the United Nations has previously deployed troops in southern Sudan, scene of a separate long-running insurgency.

"They are used to cooperating with us, and I think we need to convince them and dissuade them of their suspicions.

Acknowledging "similarities" between Darfur and the Rwanda genocide in 1994, Mr Annan said "everybody" is looking to see if world leaders will make good on their World Summit pledge last September to protect vulnerable communities.

"You need political will," he said. "A certain political will is required for action - and I don't think we have the kind of political will that is required to drive things home."

Such will is lacking "to some extent amongst the powerful nations," he said, adding: "I think the African leaders from north through south, east and west will have to work collectively with the Sudanese government to convince them that it is in their interest to cooperate with the international community".

"Quite frankly, if the Sudanese government had been able to protect the population in Darfur ... we wouldn't be having this conversation."

Darfur: Bashir Again Rules Out UN Force

From Reuters

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir ruled out deploying U.N. troops in Darfur on Thursday, darkening the prospects of gaining consent for such a move at this weekend's African Union (AU) summit in Gambia.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is due to meet Bashir at the summit to try to overcome his rejection of U.N. troops, which Annan has described at "incomprehensible".

In an open-air speech attended by thousands in Khartoum, Bashir said a U.N. force was out of the question.

"We will not allow international troops under the U.N. to deploy in Darfur," Bashir said in an address marking the anniversary of the bloodless coup that brought him to power in 1989.

"Life in Darfur will return to its normal state without the presence of the international community or the participation of international troops in Darfur," he added.

Darfur: Crisis Looming

From United Press International

A government crisis is looming in Sudan where peace partners are divided over the deployment of international peacekeepers in war-torn Darfur.

The conflict sharpened Thursday between the ruling National Congress Party of President Omar al-Bashir and the Sudan People's Movement as party deputy president Nafeh Ali Nafeh addressed harsh criticism against Denk Alor, a government minister and leader of the People's Movement, over the latter's remarks on Darfur.

Alor declared to the press earlier that Bashir's rejection of the deployment of U.N. forces in Darfur reflected his own party and not the stance of Sudan's government of national unity.

Bashir told his party's legislators last week that he will personally lead an armed resistance in case international peacekeepers were dispatched to Darfur.

Speaking after a meeting of the National Congress Party chaired by Bashir, Nafeh said: "it is not proper or correct that such remarks be made by an official (Alor) who knows very well that the president, government and parliament in which his movement is represented have rejected the international intervention."

He charged that Alor's comment "is wrong and unacceptable in addition to lacking employment discipline and it constituted a breach of the spirit of partnership between the Congress party and the Popular Movement, especially that the two partners have agreed to deal with controversial issues away from the media."

Nafeh added, "Alor's conduct was not correct and we hope he will issue a rectification of his comments."

Chad/Darfur: Video Evidence

In conjunction with the release of its new report, Amnesty International also released "video footage graphically revealing evidence of the murder and destruction taking place along Chad's border with Sudan."

A link to the video can be found here.

Uganda: Unforgiveable

From the BBC

Ugandan Ochola John, 25, describes how he was abducted by rebels from the Lord's Resistance Army after his village, Namkora in northern Uganda, was attacked in February 2002. During the attack 50 people were axed to death and he was one of the 35 abductees.

I wish I could be born again. It hurts me to see my reflection because of the way I now look.

The memories of it all are so painful.

It was in the night when I saw a number of torches flash at me. I was commanded to lie down facing the ground. As I did so, the rebels began raiding other houses around me.

They arrested many - tying, and lying the victims on the ground in three lines.

People were screaming from all corners of our village.

Two men were tied and forced onto the ground where their heads were joined together. The rebels tried to force me to pick up a log and hit their heads but I refused so one came for me with a knife and cut off my left ear. He accused me of being a government soldier and said that I would be finished off if I failed to smash their heads.

But then, they started smashing the people's heads themselves. I was put in the middle as they smashed the people's heads.

At about 0700 in the morning, they led 35 of us into the bush. About five kms (approximately three miles) from the scene they began taunting me, saying that I was big-headed, and because I refused to respect them I would be cooked alive.

They kept on beating us and they denied food or water from us. We complained saying we were hungry and thirsty. They stopped raping the women that were in our group and acted as though they were going to let us eat and drink. The ladies were forced to boil water in a big tin.

Shortly after this they announced that we would eat the government soldier - supposedly, me.

For a long time, the rebels took turns at beating us men with hot metal, and raping the girls.

I was already spiritually dead.

They returned to me at some point and re-tied me before chopping off my lips. They then cut off my right ear and my nose.

Chad/Sudan: Sowing the Seeds of Darfur

Here is the new report from Amnesty International

A new human rights tragedy is unfolding today in the eastern part of Chad. It is a direct product of the long-running crisis in Sudan’s neighbouring Darfur region, where the Janjawid, funded by the Sudanese government, have been attacking and systematically displacing those ethnic groups associated with Sudanese armed groups opposed to the Sudanese government. In Darfur, the Janjawid, often assisted by the Sudanese air force, caused the forcible displacement of some 2 million people and many thousands of deaths. These ruthless, mobile fighters have now extended their activities into eastern Chad. There, they have targeted a diverse range of ethnic groups who identify themselves and are identified by others as "African" rather than "Arab." The Janjawid have stolen the cattle that are their main source of wealth, driven them from their homes and villages, and killed or dispersed their inhabitants.

All along Chad’s eastern border with Sudan, Janjawid incursions have been clearing the land of members of communities such as the Dajo, Mobeh, Masalit, Kajaksa and other groups. Although such incursions have occurred at least since 2003, they have become far more intensive, serious and abusive since the last months of 2005 as relations between the Sudan and Chad governments have deteriorated. The Janjawid attacks are also divisive. Certain Chadian communities have been singled out for attack, apparently on account of their wealth and for ethnic and other reasons, while others have been exempted or have become active participants with the Janjawid in attacking their neighbours.

The Sudanese government has taken no action to stop the attacks or to control and disarm the Janjawid, despite the commitments it has made to do so, or to bring to justice those leaders and members of the Janjawid who have committed gross human rights abuses. On the contrary, the Sudanese forces do not effectively patrol the country’s border or make any efforts either to intercept or pursue the Janjawid or to protect the civilian populations on which they prey. They continue to support the Janjawid, whose fighters wear uniforms similar to those of the Sudanese army and have been found to be carrying identity cards showing them to be members of Sudanese paramilitary forces. Their raids often coincide with the attacks made against the government of Chad by Chadian armed groups based in Sudan, when the Janjawid take advantage of the absence of Chadian government troops to attack defenceless civilians.

In face of this threat, the government of Chad has preferred to deploy its troops to defend against the armed opposition groups rather than to protect the civilian population from Janjawid attacks. The government has failed to station troops so as to secure the country’s eastern border, and the communities living within it, against Janjawid incursions. When concerned about possible new attacks by armed opposition groups, it has withdrawn any troops deployed in rural locations, so exposing the local inhabitants to Janjawid attack.

Since September 2005, Janjawid attacks into eastern Chad have caused the forcible displacement of between 50,000 and 75,000 people. Many of these people remain in Chad as internally displaced, but at least 15,000, cut off from safer means of escape, have fled into Darfur, despite the continuing conflict and disruption there. Those displaced have virtually no access to humanitarian assistance and, in Chad at least, people who have been internally displaced have congregated in informal camps where often they remain exposed to the threat of further attack.

Unsurprisingly, some Chadian communities are now seeking to acquire modern weapons with which to defend themselves, opening the prospect of widening violence. Others, including children, are being recruited into the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), an armed group fighting the Sudan government.

Urgent action is required by the UN, the African Union (AU) and particularly the two governments involved if this new, emerging crisis is to be forestalled in eastern Chad. Each of these bodies must take all possible action to secure three key objectives: protection from attacks for civilians; ensuring the provision of humanitarian assistance and access for humanitarian agencies and human rights monitors; and ending impunity for human rights abuses in both Chad and Sudan.

Sudan: U.S. Supports Derided DPA

From United Press International

Even after the signing of a peace agreement between the Sudanese government and one of the largest rebel groups, the United States has said the war-torn country is not stable enough to support the return of displaced persons living in refugee camps.

Michael Ranneberger, senior Sudan representative for the U.S. State Department, told United Press International the United States doesn't support the current return of the refugees to their southern homes.

"Our position is that people should not go home until security is such that it would be safe," Ranneberger said.

The current foreign policy, as outlined by the U.S. State Department, supports a peace agreement to end the Sudan conflict, seeks cooperation against terrorism and "is deeply concerned" about human rights violations. According to current department statistics, the government provides 89 percent of the country's food aid and has sent more than $1.3 billion to fund reconstruction, humanitarian and peacekeeping efforts.

The guiding ideology fueling U.S. policy in Sudan is to establish democracy in the country by ending violence and genocide, Ranneberger said.

Washington is working through humanitarian groups to provide adequate food, clothing and health care to the millions of displaced people. Humanitarian groups have expressed frustration in the two peace agreements' limited power and large failures, as yet, to establish a safe environment.

The International Rescue Committee has many humanitarian officials entrenched throughout Sudan and is working on restoring these people to their homes. Experts assert that returning displaced people is a complex issue and often involves neighboring countries. Currently many refugees are resistant to return home.

J. Stephen Morrison, Africa program director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, offered several explanations for why many displaced Sudanese do not want to return.

"The population may be living a marginalized existence, but are somewhat protected," he said at a recent conference. "The movement of populations is highly political."

Amanya Michael Ebye, a deputy county representative for western Sudan, agreed that the returns process is a difficult road. He said many of the region's citizens are afraid to leave their houses, let alone take dangerous journeys back to their homes. Because traveling is difficult, Ebye said, travelers would need walking security and adequate space for humanitarian efforts.

"Looking at the whole process, the recovery needs to be putting into place basic needs... including the management of facilities so they can own this process," said Anne Mesopir, a member of the IRC's south Sudan program.

The African Union, a recently formed multinational coalition to provide "African solutions for African problems," has deployed nearly 7,000 troops to patrol an area the size of France. The United States and many United Nations' officials support a transfer of patrol power from the understaffed and poorly funded AU to the U.N., but the Sudanese government opposes the transfer.

Ranneberger said it is in the best interest of Sudan to allow the transfer.

"The African Union is doing great job in Darfur, but it is not set up to maintain forces for a sustained amount of time," Ranneberger told UPI. "The African Union could form the core of the force. Sudan will simply need to cooperate."

He said the United States expects the U.N. Security Council's full support in the transfer.

The Darfur Peace Agreement has been subject to criticism, and violence in the area has been on the increase since the agreement was signed in May. But the United States has retained its commitment to the agreement's survival -- Ranneberger said the United States isn't abandoning the agreement and believes that over time, it will aid in ending violence.

"The DPA is the only way for the people to achieve peace and stability," he said. "The U.S. is strongly committed to the DPA and believes it will be successful."

Darfur/Chad: Chadians Look for Refuge

From IRIN

Insecurity in southeastern Chad has become so widespread that more than 11,000 people, fleeing militia attacks, have recently left their villages to seek refuge in the western Sudanese region of Darfur, aid workers say.

Since Chadian rebels based in Darfur started attacking government strongholds late last year, Chad has pulled its cash-strapped army back to protect key towns, leaving vast swathes of the border unprotected.

As the army focuses on fighting back the rebels, Janjawid militia groups from Darfur have been crossing the border to loot and sometimes occupy Chadian villages. The UN estimates that more than 50,000 people have fled their homes, scattering throughout eastern Chad and over the invisible line in the sand that separates Chad from Sudan.

"Janjawid incursions further into Chad have brought fear and significantly threatened the civilian nature of refugee camps," UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Jan Egeland told the Security Council on Thursday. "Recent analysis from human rights colleagues of the UN Mission indicates that this may be the beginning of a new phase of violence in which armed groups, militias, rebel groups and the army are intensifying their targeting of the civilian population."

Their resources exhausted, targeted groups find it hard to travel the long distances to the relative safety of the Goz Beida area inside Chad. Many opt instead to flee the 36 km across the border from Tissi to Um Dukhun - despite the prevalence of Janjawid and Chadian armed opposition groups in this area.

In Um Dukhun, a village on the Sudan-Chad border near the Central African Republic, 11,900 people have arrived over the past two months and are living in temporary shelters on the edge of town or are staying with relatives.

"After the Chadian villages were attacked, the people said they fled to the nearest safe spot," explained Vanessa van Schoor, head of mission for Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) Holland in Darfur. "Um Dukhun has Sudanese security forces in place and the new arrivals can get medical assistance. The main thing they are looking for is security and Um Dukhun is stable."

Matthew Conway, spokesman for the UN refugee agency UNHCR in Chad, also mentioned that some people were "profiteering" from the insecurity by charging high prices to move Chadians further inland in Chad. As a result, many ethnic groups - whose populations live on both sides of the frontier and consider the border between Chad/Sudan rather "artificial" - had decided to take their chances in Darfur.

Besides security and shelter, other urgent priorities for the new arrivals include sanitation and food. "We're seeing about 40 percent more patients in our therapeutic feeding programme compared to June last year," van Schoor said. "Latrines are a priority too. There are so many people coming in just ahead of the rainy season, and we are already witnessing an increase in watery diarrhoea in South Darfur."

"The first attack was the worst, there were over a hundred of them," a 25-year-old woman from the Chadian village of Um Ladja - in the Tissi area - told MSF at Um Dukhun. "They scared everyone and rounded us up. They took everything and killed anyone who was in the way. They said that they were going to take all the cows, and that they would kill anyone who went to farm and take his children. We came to Um Dukhun as soon as we could get out, because they kept coming back."

UN Must Police Both Darfur and Chad

From Reuters

The United Nations should immediately deploy troops not only in Sudan's Darfur region but also in eastern Chad to stop ethnic conflict from spilling across the border, Amnesty International said on Thursday.

Tens of thousands of civilians in lawless eastern Chad have already fled increasingly brutal cross-border raids by Darfur's Janjaweed Arab militia, but the problem will only worsen if U.N. troops are sent just to Darfur, Amnesty's head Irene Khan said.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan travels to an African Union summit in Gambia this weekend to lobby Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to relax his opposition to U.N. troops in Darfur. But Khan urged the United Nations not to forget Chad.

"They can't ignore eastern Chad: it is part of the same problem," Khan told Reuters in an interview, coinciding with the launch on Thursday of an Amnesty report on the region.

"If they sent peacekeepers just to Darfur, that would just push the militia across the border into Chad ... We have seen it in many other situations in Africa."

With talk of the United Nations taking over from an ineffective African Union force in Darfur, the Janjaweed have already begun to clear themselves a living space in eastern Chad by permanently seizing land there, Khan said.

"Things are getting worse. The situation in eastern chad is deteriorating rapidly," she said, citing testimony from Chadian refugees who fled Janjaweed raids and returned to find the militia had occupied their territory.

"They are saying the same things we heard in Darfur: 'You are slaves, this is our land'."

Darfur/Chad: International Action Needed to Protect Civilians

From Amnesty International

As the African Union heads of state gather in Banjul, The Gambia, and the UN Security Council discusses the deployment of UN peacekeepers in Darfur, Amnesty International today called for urgent action to be taken by the international community to protect civilians in eastern Chad from cross-border attacks originating in Sudan.

"This is a key opportunity for both the African Union and the United Nations to deliver a coodinated and effective response to the long standing human rights crisis in Darfur -- a crisis which is now spilling across the border into Chad, and could destabilise the region," said Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International.

"The Chadian government must step up to its responsibility to ensure the protection of its civilians and seek the assistance of an international force if necessary."

Amnesty International's call came as it released video footage graphically revealing the murder and destruction taking place alongside Chad's border with Sudan, together with a report analysing the abuses and highlighting the failure of both governments to live up to their responsibilities.

"The Chadian government has virtually abdicated responsibility for protecting its own citizens along the border with Sudan, leaving them vulnerable to attacks by the Janjawid militia and exploitation from the Sudanese armed groups present in eastern Chad."

"The Sudanese government is allowing Janjawid militia to attack Chadian civilians across its border with impunity -- killing, looting and de-populating land along the border."

"The Janjawid are targeting virtually defenceless communities -- unhindered by the governments of either Sudan or Chad. Effective action must be taken now by the international community -- before the situation deteriorates even further."

"The AU Summit meeting this week needs to send a clear signal to Sudan that it cannot continue to block the deployment of a UN peacekeeping operation without consequences. The AU should establish a clear programme of action to pressure the Sudanese government, which could include sanctions as well as suspending the decision to allow Sudan to take the AU Chairmanship in 2007."

Burma: The Longest War

Kevin Sites of The Hot Zone is in Burma

The KNLA and its coordinating political arm, the Karen National Union (KNU), have waged a war of liberation against the Burmese military government since shortly after Burma's independence from Britain in 1948. It is a rebellion against ethnic oppression, according to the Karen people, which they have suffered at the hands of the military regime.

At 58 years and counting, the Karen conflict, one of several ethnic conflicts in Burma, is the oldest civil war in the world. From this exposure, it appears the men who are leading it have not missed much of that struggle.

The first commander is introduced to me as Colonel Pawdoh, 51, the youngest of the bunch. He wears a beret, striped polo shirt, black cargo pants and zip up combat boots. His mouth full of betel nut, he says he has been with the KNLA since he was 20 years old.

The second command is a 63-year-old, named Major Thasu, who claims he has fought with the KNLA for 44 years. The battalion's adjutant is a bespectacled and kindly-looking 65-year-old named Captain Raylo, a veteran of 42 years.

On the wall behind a lectern is a painting of Saw Ba U Gyi, the founder and first chairman of the Karen National Union (KNU). Flanking the painting on either side are the KNU's four principles, written in English on the left and in curvy Karen script on the right.

While we speak, I write them in my notebook:

1) For us, surrender is out of the question.
2) We shall retain our arms.
3) The recognition of the Karen State must be complete.
4) We shall decide our own political destiny.

They seem, as I look at them, to be ready-made demands, both reaffirmation of the struggle's purpose (probably necessary in one this protracted) as well as clear signposts of deal-breaking points in any negotiations with the Burmese government, known by its latest Big Brother-esque acronym, the SPDC, or State Peace and Development Council.

And at this point in its existence, both the political wing, the KNU, and the military arm, the KNLA, need all the reaffirmation they can muster. They are plagued by division, aging leadership and shortages of manpower and materials.

"At the present," says Pawdoh, "we have no operations going on. We are working on peaceful negotiations."

And in fact there is a kind of "gentlemen's agreement," as Pawdoh calls it, between the KNLA and the Burmese military — the result of a meeting with the military junta in Yangon two years ago.

But it seems to be, at best, a loose agreement. Regular violence is reported, with a flood of Karen and other Burmese refugees crossing the border into Thailand any time there is fresh fighting between the KNLA and government troops.

"The Burmese military constantly violates the cease-fire," says Mahn Sha, the general secretary of the Karen National Union, from a location in Mae Sot on the Thai side of the border. "If they don't stop their military offensive against the Karen people, we will be forced to defend ourselves."

But the threat seems to lack teeth. Quietly, many in the Karen leadership concede that the lengthy struggle has sapped the will of many of the Karen people to continue the fight.

His first post is here

Darfur: The Meaning of Khartoum’s Suspension of Humanitarian Access

Another new piece from Eric Reeves

Khartoum’s decision to suspend for two days most UN humanitarian operations in Darfur---including the World Health Organization, the UN High Commission for Refugees, the UN Mission in Sudan, and others---had little to do with the reason offered by the regime, viz., UN transporting of Suliman Jamous, the recently rescued Sudan Liberation Movement humanitarian official. Jamous had been imprisoned by the increasingly brutal and tyrannical Minni Minawi, and on securing his release the UN was understandably eager to afford him shelter from re-capture. To be sure, Khartoum’s vicious Military Intelligence was angry that the UN moved Jamous without permission. But the real purpose of suspending UN humanitarian aid had little to do directly with the rescue of a man who has been indispensable to humanitarian operations throughout Darfur. Rather, Khartoum’s action was, in effect, a pointed threat:

“We have the power to shut down humanitarian operations overnight---and completely. The present suspension was simply a warning, a reminder. But if we are pressed, if our most consequential claims of national sovereignty are ignored, if the UN should demand that we accept a force capable of protecting civilians and humanitarians, then we will respond much more severely the next time.”

There should be no doubt about the deadly seriousness of Khartoum’s threat, or about the ghastly history that stands as its guarantor. The National Islamic Front regime, which came to power by military coup 17 years ago this month, has a long and lethal record of humanitarian aid obstruction, harassment, and denial---and has on many occasions directly attacked humanitarian operations and workers (see below). Though we have over the past three years seen much of this barbarous denial of humanitarian aid as a weapon of war in Darfur, it is imperative to recall what the NIF has done previously in southern Sudan, the Nuba Mountains, and is currently undertaking in eastern Sudan.

Uganda: Disbelief at Kony's Denial

From the BBC

Uganda's government has dismissed as "ridiculous" rebel leader Joseph Kony's claims that his Lord's Resistance Army was not involved in atrocities.

International rights group Human Rights Watch expressed surprise at Mr Kony's claim but said he must defend himself at the International Criminal Court.

Thousands have died in a conflict in which the LRA targetted children.

Mr Kony told the BBC the LRA was not responsible for killings, maimings and abductions in northern Uganda.

Ugandan government spokesman Robert Kabushenga said Mr Kony's denial was "ridiculous".

"A lot of information, a lot of evidence has been given by people abducted into the LRA," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.

"Young children, people who were their commanders have all admitted publicly [to atrocities], and of course there are reports by journalists who have gone to areas where the LRA has been in and massacred."

HRW East Africa co-ordinator Jemera Rone said Mr Kony's insistence on his innocence was "amazing".

"We have testimony of extensive atrocities by the LRA," Ms Rone told the BBC News website.

She emphasised however that Mr Kony must be presumed innocent until proven guilty by the ICC, which has indicted him for war crimes.

"I think it is a good thing that Joseph Kony has come out of the woodwork and tried to engage with the international community, and I hope he will avail himself of the opportunity to clear his name," Ms Rone said.

Uganda: Gov't Considers Participating in LRA Talks

From IRIN

Uganda has been formally invited by the government of southern Sudan to attend peace talks with the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group whose brutal attacks, mostly directed at civilians, have wreaked havoc in northern Uganda over the last two decades.

"The invitation has been sent to us and we are preparing to send a technical team to meet with [southern Sudan's] President Salva Kiir and also sort out issues to do with the format of the talks, the agenda, the composition of delegations, and other procedural issues," said James Mugume, the permanent secretary in the Ugandan foreign ministry.

The southern Sudanese administration is trying to broker a peace deal between the Ugandan government and the LRA.

Mugume said that the technical team would try to establish whether the LRA was genuine in its latest peace overtures. Kampala, he added, was still emphatic that Ugandan government representatives would not talk to LRA officials already indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC). LRA leader Joseph Kony and four of his is top commanders have been indicted by the ICC.

Denying reports that Kampala was not keen on reaching a peaceful settlement with the LRA, he added: "Nobody here is reluctant to go for talks, but it is a question of interest. We have interests that we follow. We are looking at many issues. For example, we must make sure that we are not taken for a ride."

Darfur: AU Mulls Sanctions

From Reuters

The African Union is ready to impose sanctions on any group undermining a peace agreement for Sudan's violent western Darfur region, the chairwoman of the AU's Peace and Security Council said on Wednesday.

South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said the AU Peace and Security Council which she chairs had decided to impose sanctions on "anyone who undermines the peace process" although she declined to say who may be targeted.

One of three Darfur rebel groups and Sudan's Khartoum-based central government signed a peace deal in the Nigerian capital Abuja on May 5. The African Union has around 7,000 peacekeepers in Darfur to help promote peace.

Since the deal, the AU has come under attack in the camps which house 2.5 million displaced Darfuris, and their patrols have been obstructed by hostile armed factions who did not sign the deal or were not present at negotiations.

Key deadlines, including receiving Khartoum's crucial plan to disarm pro-government militias by June 22, have been missed with no repercussions.

Dlamini-Zuma was expanding on comments made after a Peace and Security Council meeting on Tuesday in the Gambian capital Banjul.

"We discussed how to deal with those who undermine the implementation of the Abuja agreement on Darfur, and said that (with) those who actually undermine the agreement, we must take certain measures. Measures like a ban on travel and (seizing) their assets and so forth," she told reporters late on Tuesday.

Speaking to Reuters on Wednesday, Dlamini-Zuma declined to say whether the sanctions were more likely to be targeted at Darfur rebel groups, the pro-Sudanese government Janjaweed militia, or even governments.

"I do not want to speculate. It's enough to say 'anyone who undermines the implementation of the peace process.' The act of not signing in itself does not constitute anything wrong," she said.

The African Union wants to transfer its peacekeeping force in Darfur to the United Nations, but so far the Khartoum government has refused to allow a U.N. force to deploy.

After Tuesday's meeting, Dlamini-Zuma insisted that unless something changed, the African Union would allow its force's mandate to expire as scheduled at the end of September.

"The mandate should finish by September 30 with a view to transferring to the United Nations," she said.

"We are willing to review that decision if there are new developments in the discussions between Sudan and the United Nations. For instance, if in their discussions they agree it can be transferred to the U.N. but maybe the U.N. says it needs a little bit more time to come in, then we can review it in that light," she said.

"We don't have the finances to continue beyond the date we have set ourselves, September 30, unless there are new developments," she said.

Uganda: Africa's Most Wanted Man

Here is the interview with Kony that served as the source for the other articles - from the Times Online [via POTP]

AS WE walk into the dark, airless jungle clearing after 12 days of increasingly arduous travel I understand how Stanley must have felt when he finally tracked down Livingstone.

My quarry is rather less benign. Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), is the most wanted man in Africa. He and his followers are accused of slaughtering 10,000 civilians during a 20-year campaign of terror in northern Uganda, abducting 25,000 children and turning them into killers, and driving as many as two million villagers into filthy refugee camps.

For two decades Kony has thwarted every effort to capture him, but now he is in front of me, in green Ugandan army uniform, surrounded by a ragtag group of heavily armed guards who regard him with manifest awe. He wears a blue beret, a sash over his shoulder, and green Wellington boots.

He is tall — perhaps 6ft 1in (1.8m) — and looks younger than his 46 years. He grins, exposing two chipped and blackened front teeth, then shakes my hand. “I’m a freedom fighter who is fighting for freedom in Uganda,” he tells me. “I am not a terrorist.”

This is the first interview Kony has given to a journalist, and the timing is no accident. He has offered the Ugandan Government peace talks. He has a negotiating team waiting in Juba, capital of southern Sudan. But President Museveni of Uganda is sceptical and reluctant to engage. “Peace talks are good for me,” Kony says. “If Museveni can agree to talk with me it is only a very good thing, which I know will bring peace to the people of Uganda.”

He does not explain why he is suddenly suing for peace. His enemies in Kampala claim the LRA is a broken force; he says he has 3,000 fighters.

But he insists that he is not the monster his reputation suggests, that the atrocities of which he is accused are trumped up by Museveni to blacken his name, and that all he has ever sought to do is to protect the Acholi people of northern Uganda from government repression. He also claims that he is guided by spirits.

Darfur: AU Mission to "End Soon"

From SAPA-AFP

The poorly equipped African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur is set to quit the troubled western Sudanese region by end of September due to a lack of funds, the AU's security organ said on Tuesday.

"Whatever happens, our mandate ends on September 31 unless there are new developments," South Africa's Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said after chairing an AU Peace and Security Council meeting ahead of a weekend summit of heads of state.

"Even if we wanted to continue, we don't have the finances to continue beyond the date we have set ... unless [there is] a new development, which would mean there would be support for that [extension] from the United Nations," she told reporters.

Sudan has consistently opposed a handover of peacekeeping duties in Darfur to an international force, but has of late shown readiness to discuss the issue since reaching a peace agreement with the main rebel group last month.

However, President Omar al-Beshir was quoted as saying on Sunday that Sudanese troops were ready to take over from the AU force, in what was seen as a fresh rebuff to UN plans to deploy its own force.

Al-Beshir has repeatedly warned he will turn Darfur into "a graveyard" for Western troops, accusing the West of seeking to "recolonise Sudan".

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan this month said that Darfur needed UN peacekeepers despite al-Beshir's opposition.

Dlamini-Zuma said the AU would be "willing to review" its departure date from Darfur if there were new developments in Sudanese-UN discussions for a transfer of the operation to the world body.

"Maybe if the UN says it would need a little bit more time to come in, then we can review that," she said.

[edit]

Dlamini-Zuma said the AU's Security Council also discussed how to deal with individuals who seek to undermine the Abuja peace agreement signed in May by Sudan and Darfur's biggest rebel group, the main faction of the Sudanese Liberation Movement.

"Those who actually undermine the agreement, we must take certain measures such as a ban on travel and look at assets," she said.

From the BBC

The African Union has insisted its peacekeeping mission in Sudan's Darfur region will end in three months' time.

The peacekeepers will leave by the end of September even if there is no agreement on replacing it with a United Nations force, an AU meeting agreed.

Sudan is vehemently against this move, but UN boss Kofi Annan hopes to change their mind at this weekend's AU summit.

South Africa's foreign minister said the AU did not have the money to continue even if it wanted to.

But the UN head of peacekeeping, Jean-Marie Guehenno, says the UN is committed to bolstering the AU mission.

[edit]

"Whatever happens our mandate ends on 30 September unless there are new developments in the discussions between the Sudan and the UN," said South Africa's Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlaminini Zuma, who chaired an AU Peace and Security Council meeting on the subject.

"For us that mandate should end and the UN should be the one who takes over."

Uganda: Kony Breaks Silence

From the BBC

In his first major interview with a journalist, the leader of Ugandan rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army, has dismissed accusations he is responsible for atrocities.

Joseph Kony has been blamed for thousands of deaths and abductions - many of children - and for maiming civilians in his twenty year campaign of terror. The latter he blames on the forces of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

"That is not true. It's just propaganda," he says. "Let me tell you clearly what happened in Uganda. Museveni went into the villages and cut off the ears of the people, telling the people that it was the work of the LRA. I cannot cut the ear of my brother; I cannot kill the eye of my brother."

Along with four of his most senior commanders, Kony is now top of the International Criminal Courts warrant list. Kony alone is wanted for 33 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Speaking in the jungle of the Democratic Republic of Congo, surrounded by some of what he estimates as 3,000 heavily-armed fighters, he insists he is not the monster he is portrayed to be.

[edit]

"I am a human being like you," he declares. "I have eyes, a brain and wear clothes but they are saying we don't talk with people, we eat people. We are killers. That is not true. Why do you meet me if I am a killer?"

The scarcely-educated spiritual leader who launched an uprising in the northern Uganda region of Acholi after Museveni seized power in 1986, claims his forces have only targeted government troops.

"It is Museveni who is oppressing the Acholi people and driving the villagers into camps. Our wealth, our property, was destroyed by Museveni. He want to destroy all Acholi so that the land of Acholi will be his land... I did not kill the civilian of Uganda. I kill the soldier of Museveni."

Youths joined the LRA voluntarily but were never abducted, he claimed, "I don't have acres of maize, of onion, of cabbages. I don't have food. If I abducted children like that, here in the bush, what do they eat?"

Asked about the ICC charges, he insisted: "I am not guilty. I am not guilty. I am not guilty. But we want

He says he is guided by spirits, "I don't know the number but they speak to me. They load through me. They will tell us what is going to happen. They say 'you, Mr Joseph, tell your people that the enemy is planning to come and attack'."

From Reuters

Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony says in a rare interview that he is a freedom fighter, not a terrorist, and declares he is innocent of war crimes, a British newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Kony, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, denies being responsible for killings, abductions and mutilations perpetrated in his name, The Times said.

The interview with Sam Farmar, which The Times said was his first with a journalist, is to be screened on the BBC's Newsnight programme on Wednesday evening.

"I'm a freedom fighter who is fighting for freedom in Uganda," Kony said. "I am not a terrorist."

Kony has recently called for an end to his two-decade-old war with President Yoweri Museveni's government.

"Peace talks are good for me," Kony was quoted as saying. "If Museveni can agree to talk with me it is only a very good thing, which I know will bring peace to the people of Uganda."

Kony does not explain why he is seeking peace, The Times said. He says he has 3,000 fighters but the Uganda government says the LRA is a broken force, it added.

"I am not guilty," he said when asked about the international court's charges against him and four of his commanders. The prosecutors "just hear from what Museveni stated to them," he said.

Asked what he was fighting for, Kony replied: "We want the people of Uganda to be free. We are fighting for democracy. We want our leader to be elected -- but not a movement like the one of Museveni."

Darfur: Annan Hopes Pressure Sways Sudan on UN

From the AP

Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed hope that pressure at an African Union summit will persuade Sudan's president to drop his opposition to a U.N. peacekeeping force in conflict-wracked Darfur.

Annan said he plans to meet with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir at the summit this weekend in the Gambian capital, Banjul. He said other African leaders were also anxious to talk to al-Bashir about a U.N. takeover of AU-led peacekeeping in the vast western region.

"I hope the collective pressure will make a difference," the secretary-general told reporters Tuesday.

Al-Bashir has said the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers will "never take place" while he is president, insisting that U.N. troops want to use Sudan to start "colonizing Africa" again. He blamed "Jewish organizations" for pushing for a U.N. force.

Despite al-Bashir's opposition, Annan said he is not giving up, especially since the African Union has said it cannot handle long-term peacekeeping in Darfur and wants its 7,000-strong force replaced by better-equipped and better-funded U.N. peacekeepers.

"In politics, words like 'never' and 'forever' do not exist," Annan told reporters. "We have seen leaders say lots of things, but they also find reasons and ways to adapt, to shift, to change direction, and often forget that they have used the word 'never.'"

The secretary-general also appealed to members of the U.N. Security Council "to bring their collective and individual pressure to bear ... not just on the Sudanese government to cooperate and support the deployment" but also on all rebel factions to sign the Darfur Peace agreement.

The government and one faction of the Sudan Liberation Army signed the May 5 agreement, but another faction and the separate Justice and Equality Movement have refused to sign.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said African Union members should pressure al-Bashir to comply with the peace agreement and support a U.N. force. He said the United States would decide on its next steps after the AU summit.

Annan and Bolton spoke to reporters after a closed-door briefing to the council by Undersecretary-General for Peacekeeping Jean-Marie Guehenno, who just returned from a two-week assessment mission to Darfur with the African Union's peace commissioner, Said Djinnit.

Guehenno said the AU mission — which won't be replaced until early 2007 even if the Sudanese government gives its approval — must be strengthened immediately because the situation in Darfur remains "very fragile."

The U.N. and the AU agree that three brigades should be deployed in Darfur "so the situation doesn't deteriorate," he said, adding that the Sudanese government has not objected to beefing up the AU force. That would mean adding about 3,500 new troops, bringing the AU force to about 10,500.

Sudan/Uganda/DRC: Beyond Victimhood

A new report from the International Crisis Group

Peacebuilding cannot succeed if half the population is excluded from the process. Crisis Group’s research in Sudan, Congo (DRC) and Uganda suggests that peace agreements, post-conflict reconstruction, and governance do better when women are involved. Women make a difference, in part because they adopt a more inclusive approach toward security and address key social and economic issues that would otherwise be ignored. But in all three countries, as different as each is, they remain marginalised i