Alrabae Adam Ezaldeen welcomes legal move against those responsible for Darfur atrocities

Alrabae Adam Ezaldeen welcomes legal move against those responsible for Darfur atrocities

"It's always hard to see decent people, families, living in such difficult conditions," said Jolie, who reached the 26,000-person Oure-Cassoni camp after crossing a Saharan sandstorm. "What is most upsetting is how long it is taking the international community to answer this crisis," she said in a statement released Wednesday by the Geneva-based U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
The Oscar-winning actress and U.N. goodwill ambassador completed her trip Tuesday.
Jolie said it is about time that those responsible for crimes against humanity in Darfur face international justice.
"Today, many refugees seemed to have a new sense of hope and they want to see those guilty brought to trial," said Jolie, who welcomed the first accusations by the International Criminal Court's prosecutor against individuals for war crimes in the four-year-old Darfur conflict.
On Tuesday, the ICC's chief prosecutor linked Sudan's government to atrocities in Darfur, naming a junior minister as a war crimes suspect who allegedly helped recruit, arm and bankroll the murderous desert fighters known as the janjaweed. A janjaweed militia leader was also named in the case.
The conflict has claimed more than 200,000 lives and displaced 2.5 million people. Fighting erupted in February 2003 when ethnic African tribesmen took up arms, complaining of decades of neglect and discrimination by the Khartoum government. Sudan's government is accused of unleashing the Arab janjaweed, which is blamed for widespread atrocities against ethnic African civilians in Darfur.
"In order to feel safe enough to return home, these people said they would need to know that the men who attacked them had been stripped of their weapons," Jolie, 31, said. "This is a very important day for international justice. The decisions of the ICC could make a big difference in the lives of these women and their children."
On Tuesday, Mia Farrow told a press conference at the United Nations that she had encountered burned villages and terrified refugees with no help in sight on her recent trip to Central African Republic and Chad.
The 62-year-old actress and U.N. goodwill ambassador recalled impressions from her visits earlier this month to villages and refugee camps along border areas where violence has spilled over from Sudan's Darfur region.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan visits Darfur’s Jabal Marra

UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan visits Darfur’s Jabal Marra
Posted by Alrabae Adam Ezaldeen
General Secretary of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM/A-A)
In United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland’s Chapter
Feb 28, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — The Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sudan and the UN Resident Humanitarian Coordinator, Manuel Aranda da Silva, visited on 25 February Deribat and Rowatta areas in Jabal Marra, North Darfur. Da Silva was accompanied by representatives from UNICEF, WFP and OCHA. He met with rebel groups field commanders in the two areas.
In Deribat, da Silva was informed that health services were limited and education was facing increasing problems. In particular, he was informed that 300 school children will be unable to take their Sudan certificate unless they are able to travel to Nyala to do so. Water was also highlighted as a major concern as a result of the withdrawal of the INGO that used to dig boreholes in the area.
He committed to working with UNICEF to try and improve the health and water situation and to try and facilitate the examinations of the school age children. UNICEF committed to looking into facilitating the movement of school children to Nyala to take their exams, the UNMIS news bulletin reported.
In Rowatta, water and health were deemed to be the most pressing, with no health clinic in the vicinity, and the nearest functioning borehole 7 kms away. Education was also highlighted as a concern. UNICEF confirmed that they had school materials in Al-Fasher and in Nyala which they could bring to the area when security conditions along the road permit.
Aranda da Silva pointed out the increasing insecurity faced by humanitarian workers, in particular the increasing trend of car-jacking and the strain that this was placing on humanitarian operations. He emphasized that the responsibility to ensure the safety and security of humanitarian operations lies with those controlling the areas concerned. The field commanders in both Deribat and Rowatta committed to securing the safety of humanitarian operations.
The Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sudan findings following his visit to Jabal Marra, including the need of a greater UN presence in the area, will be discussed next week with the UN humanitarian agencies.

Did the ICC failed in Darfur test?Did the ICC failed in Darfur test?

Did the ICC failed in Darfur test?
Alrabae Adam Ezaldeen
Feb 28, 2007 — The announcement of the ICC’s chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo came at a disappointment to say the least to many people around the world including those from Darfur. Almost 18 months after Ocampo decided to open an investigation into the Darfur situation it was hoped that he would succeed in prosecuting senior officials in the government of Sudan and ending the culture of immunity that prevailed throughout Darfur. Ocampo’s team has collected statements in 17 countries, screened over 600 potential witnesses and conducted five missions to Khartoum interviewing two senior Sudanese officials. The conclusion reached by the prosecutor has is that a former state minister of interior and a militia leader were behind the worst events that occurred in Darfur in the years 2003-2004 that led to the killing of over 200,000 people and displacement of 2 million others.
It is important to note here that the International Criminal Court as a new body is still in a learning process. As such we can understand why the outcome was weaker than anyone has anticipated. It is interesting to point out that the elements under the Rome Statue to establish criminal responsibility includes (a) personally committing the crime (b) soliciting the commission of crimes (c) facilitating the commission of crimes (d) knowledge of the intention of a group to commit a crime. It is clear that Ocampo did not trigger that last element of establishing criminal responsibility. The filing to the judges that was made public shows that the circle of responsibility was limited to Ahmed Harun who was in charge of running the Darfur war and to Ali Koshaib a Jinjaweed leader. The evidence reveals that Harun had substantial resources at his disposal including money, arms and logistical support from the Sudanese army. Ocampo did not go a step further to pin point who empowered Harun to commit the atrocities in Darfur. In a tele-conference with Ocampo following his press conference I raised this issue with him and he said that Harun maintained full control over the army operations and militias in Darfur making him ultimately responsible. In addition to that Harun was seen by eye witnesses on the ground in Darfur which helped to build a case against him. I mentioned to Ocampo that Harun who was the state minister for Interior at the time, was the interior minister’s right hand man (Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein) and reporting directly to him. The chief prosecutor said that he cannot simply prosecute Hussein because Harun reported to him. According to Human Rights Watch report issued in December 2005 ‘Entrenching Impunity’ Hussein was named by eye witnesses visiting Darfur with Harun meeting with governors, commissioners, other local government representatives, military commanders, and security officials. The report goes further to quote Sudanese military officers that Hussein was instrumental in the planning of the Darfur military operations.
One can only sense that establishing criminal responsibility individual under the Rome Statue as interpreted by Ocampo requires a physical presence in the crime scene and eyewitness accounts as such. This is a seriously flawed interpretation as it will only create scapegoats who will face charges of crimes against humanity while leaving the masterminds of the strategy at large. In December of 2003 the Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir said that the Darfur rebels have been “annihilated” and most recently he admitted that his air force did bomb areas in Darfur. Moreover it is yet to be figured out from the prosecutor’s evidence the role of the top military figures at the time such as Abbas Arabi the chief of staff, Defence Minsiter Bakri Hassan Salih in planning and coordinating military support for operations in Darfur. The indictments of two people only in the Darfur war crimes comes in sharp contrast with the prosecutor’s report in June 2006 where he said that determining the individuals who should be prosecuted in the Darfur conflict is a difficult process because it involves “multiple parties, varying over time throughout the different states and localities” and thus he anticipates “investigation and prosecution of a sequence of cases, rather than a single case dealing with the situation in Darfur as a whole”. Ocampo did not provide me with a clear answer of whether he will cease looking into crimes committed in 2003-2004 and instead emphasized that his office is focusing on current crimes. If it is indeed true that Ocampo is no longer looking into crimes committed during 2003-2004 and has decided that ‘multiple parties’ to the crimes committed include only Harun and Koshaib then this is yet another disappointment to the people of Darfur. It will also be a serious setback to the mission of the world court of ending impunity by going after criminals regardless of their official capacity.
The other issue that needs to be examined is why Ocampo has decided to ask the ICC judges to issue summons to appear to the two individuals rather than arrest warrant. Summons to appear gives the suspects gives them the option to remain in their home countries with few restrictions. It does not even require them to be relieved of any official duties. Arrest warrants are issued to ensure that the suspect does not escape or continence committing the crimes. In his press conference Ocampo said that his decision to request summons rather than arrest warrants was deemed the most efficient way to bring suspects to court in this case yet when reporters pressured him further on this issue he threw the decision to judges who will determine whether to issue arrest warrants or summons to appear. Ocampo further added that arrest warrants are not guarantees that they will be handed over to the ICC as in the case of Uganda. It is interesting to note that the Ocampo requested an arrest warrant against the Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo even though he was already in the custody of the Congolese government since 2003. The message sent to the Khartoum government by a summons to appear rather than an arrest warrant is that their crimes are not serious enough to require their immediate arrest. A summons to appear in the case of Harun, a somewhat high profile government minister, makes more sense than the case of Kohsaib, the militia leader whose face is not even known. How can a summons be sufficient to guarantee the appearance of a militia leader whose homeland is an area as big as France and with full tribal backing?
In his press conference yesterday and in other interviews Ocampo has stated that he has pending requests for interviews with Sudanese officials which included Ahmed Harun. Is the ICC Chief’s prosecutor not aware that the UN Security Council’s referral of the Darfur case to the ICC is a Chapter VII resolution and requires full cooperation by the government of Sudan? Why did Ocampo not mention this matter to the UNSC in his December 2006 report that the government of Sudan has not granted him the access to these officials? While it is true that the government of Sudan may not have explicitly rejected his requests it may attempt to slow down the pace of his investigations and/or denying him access to information that may lead him to uncover the ring of perpetrators who were complicit in the Darfur atrocities. Had he been able to interview Harun, the ICC chief prosecutor may have received a wealth of information from him on role of other officials who sanctioned him to lead the military operations in Darfur and who is it that he directly reported to on the progress of operations in Darfur. To make it even more complicated the evidence available to the prosecutor has been severely curtailed by his decision not to go investigate inside Darfur citing witness security concerns. This strategy have been criticized by Antonio Cassese the president of the Yugoslavia war tribunals and the head of UN commission of inquiry in Darfur and by Louise Arbour the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The judges of the ICC, apparently not convinced by Ocampo’s decision not to go into Darfur requested Cassese and Arbor’s opinions on witness protection inside Darfur. Ocampo contended that the Rome Statue granted him full discretion on the determining the prosecutional and investigative strategies to pursue in the cases before him.
The real hope to cure all these obvious deficiencies rests before the judges of the ICC who will evaluate the evidence submitted by the Ocampo and determine if it is convincing enough that only these two people should be brought to trial and whether summons to appear are sufficient to bring the criminals to justice. Actually as I am writing this article the judges of the ICC judges looking into the Darfur case requested to convene a meeting on March 8 with the prosecutor and the Victims and Witnesses Unit in the ICC to discuss the “matters arising from the Prosecution’s Application”. The coming days and months will provide further insight on the direction the ICC taking in the Darfur case.

President George Bush: President George Bush:

President George Bush:
postet by Alrabae Adam EzaldeenEvery day, the 2.5 million people chased from their homes in Darfur face the threat of starvation, disease, and rape, while the few lucky enough to remain in their homes risk displacement, torture and murder. Therefore, we call on you to do the following:
Strengthen the understaffed and overwhelmed African Union peackeeping force already in Darfur.
Push for the deployment of a strong UN peacekeeping force.
Increase humanitarian aid and ensure access for aid delivery.
Establish a no-fly zone.

Leader: U.S. Exaggerating Darfur Woes
postet by Alrabae Adam Ezaldeen
Sudan's president told attendees of the Nation of Islam's national convention Friday that the United States is exaggerating troubles in his country's volatile Darfur region so it can control the country as it has in Iraq. President Omar al-Bashir was invited to speak via satellite at the three-day convention by representatives of longtime Nation leader Louis Farrakhan. Al-Bashir said he was using the address, which was scheduled for live broadcast on Sudanese television, to call on the mass media and American public to learn the truth about his country. "A number of governments, including the U.S., are putting pressure (on Sudan)," he said. "They're imposing solutions that don't respect the dignity of our nation." He reiterated comments he made last week that he would not allow U.N. peacekeepers into his country. He suggested that Sudan could accept more African Union peacekeepers - with U.N. support. He said the AU force is "doing fantastically well" while the Security Council resolution would put "Sudan under the full mandate of foreign countries" and gives U.N. troops "the same position as coalition forces in Iraq." He said Darfur is "quite calm," and said its problems are limited to a small section in the region's north.

AU, UN, Sudan discuss deployment of additional experts in Darfur

AU, UN, Sudan discuss deployment of additional experts in Darfur

postet by Alrabae Adam Ezaldeen
General Secretary of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM/A-A)
In United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland’s Chapter

Feb 25, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan said that negotiations are going on with the African Union and the UN to implement the second phase of the UN support to the African troops in Darfur, the foreign ministry said that this phase includes between 400 to 500 experts and technicians.
The ministry of foreign affairs has announced that work on the first support package provided by the UN to the African Union troops in Darfur is about to be completed and that the members of the tripartite mechanism, including the government of Sudan, are in the process of discussing the second package ahead of its implementation.
The spokesman for the ministry of foreign affairs, Ali al-Sadiq, said in press statements yesterday that the three sides would implement the second package after it was approved. He said the second package would cost 45m dollars which the UN had pledged to provide.
Al-Sadiq said the second package involved between 400 and 500 experts and technicians and would take between two to three months to implement. He further admitted there were difficulties facing the implementation of the first package but described these as minor saying they had mainly been overcome.
The spokesperson further said he hoped the recent Tripoli summit would be a step to reaching a solution in Darfur and said he expected Libya and Chad to play a valuable role in making negotiations successful.
He pointed out that the two remaining AU troop support packages would be dispensed with if an agreement was reached and if those opposed to the Abuja agreement joined the peace process.
The three-phase plan agreed in Addis Ababa on 16 November 2006 between the AU, UN and the Sudan. The third phase is expected to see the deployment of 17,000 troops and 3,000 police officers. Sudan, however, stressed that any U.N. role in Darfur under the plan is limited to technical and logistical support of the African Union forces with no peacekeeping powers.

International Criminal Court to Name Darfur War Crimes Suspects Next Week

International Criminal Court to Name Darfur War Crimes Suspects Next Week
Posted by Alrabae Adam Ezaldeen
The International Criminal Court's (<"http://www.icc-cpi.int/press/pressreleases/225.html">ICC) chief prosecutor will next Tuesday name the first suspects accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region, a United Nations spokesperson said today.
The Security Council referred the Darfur issue, along with the names of 51 suspected perpetrators, to the ICC in March 2005, after a UN inquiry into whether genocide occurred in Darfur found the Government responsible for crimes under international law and strongly recommended referring the dossier to the court.
"The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced earlier today that on...February 27th, Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo will submit evidence to the Court's Pre-Trial Chamber in connection with individuals suspected of having committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur," spokesperson Marie Okabe told reporters in New York.
Speaking in December to the Council, Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said that his first case will focus on a series of incidents in 2003 and 2004, when conflict emerged in Darfur as Government forces and allied militia clashed with rebel groups seeking greater autonomy.
The UN inquiry also found credible evidence that rebel forces were responsible for possible war crimes, including the murder of civilians and pillage.
Today's announcement comes amid increasing international efforts to stop the bloodshed in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have been killed and at least 2 million others forced to flee their homes since 2003. In total, some 4 million civilians need assistance to survive in the region, which is roughly the size of France and situated in the west of Sudan.
Speaking to reporters in Austria earlier today, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon outlined recent UN peace initiatives, including a letter he sent on 24 January to Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al Bashir stressing the importance of more support for the African Union mission and also the need for the rapid deployment of a hybrid UN-African Union force to the region.
Killings are reported everyday throughout Darfur and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today that last month alone violence had forced around 46,000 more people to flee their homes.

AU says Janjaweed massing in SudanAU says Janjaweed massing in Sudan

AU says Janjaweed massing in Sudan

Posted by Alrabae Adam E zaldeen

(Reuters) - Janjaweed militias have been concentrating forces to the north of el-Geneina, the capital of Sudan's West Darfur state, an African Union military source said on Tuesday, corroborating a U.N. report.Janjaweed is the local name for militia forces drawn mainly from the nomadic Arab tribes of the area and blamed for much of the killing in Darfur over the past four years.The AU source, who asked not to be named, said: "They are massing (north of el-Geneina) ... They have vehicles with machineguns on top and they're Janjaweed. We can't say what their intentions are."The source declined to give numbers, but described the forces gathered as a "huge amount of personnel", with pick-up trucks, camels and horses.A U.N. mission spokeswoman said the militia numbered in the hundreds. The AU source said an African Union helicopter was keeping the force under surveillance.A spokesman for the Sudanese military said the assembled tribesmen were preparing to migrate from the area, after having come under attack by non-Arab tribes."There was a clash between Arab and non-Arab tribes ... and because attacks by non-Arab tribes had increased ... they (the Arab tribe) gathered to leave the area, not to fight."A former rebel movement said a separate Janjaweed force had been attacking villages far to the east of the Darfur region for the past two days, killing six civilians.That Janjaweed activity was north of ed-Da'ein, a town about 450 km (300 miles) southeast of el-Geneina.A spokesman for the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), the only rebel faction to sign a May peace accord with the government, said the militia had pillaged food and burnt houses in an attack which began on Monday and continued on Tuesday.Six civilians were killed and two injured, he added.The military spokesman blamed the violence on intertribal disputes between Zaghawa and Maalia ethnic groups, exacerbated by the involvement of militia from the SLM on the Zaghawa side."BLATANT VIOLATION""Nine months after (the signing of the peace agreement), Darfur has not lived with stability. We want to affirm that government officials who say the situation is stable in Darfur ... want to deceive the Sudanese people," SLM spokesman Al-Tayyib Khamis said.Khamis said the Janjaweed militia were using weapons given to them by the government and the attacks were a "blatant violation" of the peace agreement.Rights group and Western governments say the Sudanese government has used the Janjaweed as auxiliaries against Darfur rebels and civilians suspected of rebel sympathies. The government denies this and says the Janjaweed are outlaws.On Monday, a report by the U.N. Mission in Sudan said "armed militia had been mobilising in large numbers over the past five days in the general area of Abou Souroug and Sliea (approximately 50 km north of el-Geneina). The reason behind the massive militia mobilisation is so far not known."Tribal clashes in South Darfur killed up to 100 people last week, the United Nations said.Darfur, an arid area the size of France, has been ravaged by violence since 2003, when rebels took up arms, accusing Khartoum of ignoring the region.Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has resisted pressure to authorise a deployment of thousands of U.N. peacekeepers to support the 7,000-strong African Union mission, saying the AU force was strong enough and the United Nations could give money and logistical help to a hybrid force.Bashir arrived in Libya on Tuesday for talks aimed at advance peace efforts in Darfur. The talks were due to begin late on Tuesday but were delayed until Wednesday morning because Chad's President Idriss Deby had not arrived, an official said.The discussions will also be attended by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki and U.N. and African Union envoys.Gaddafi is expected to try to persuade the National Redemption Front Darfur rebel group to join the peace deal.Experts estimate 2.5 million people have been driven from their homes in four years of conflict in Darfur.

Nomads attack Darfur refugeesNomads attack Darfur refugees

Nomads attack Darfur refugees
Posted by Alrabae Adam Ezaldeen
Violence now comes from neighbouring tribes, not janjaweed
Actress, activist and UNICEF ambassador Mia Farrow talks to women in the Central African Republic town of Birao, near the Sudan border. Ms. Farrow is seeking to draw world attention to what aid workers call a 'forgotten crisis.'
Photograph by : Giacomo Pirozzi, Reuters
GAGA, Chad - Fatma Daoud wrapped a plastic bag as a makeshift bandage around her hand, using a corner of her brightly colored robe to wipe the blood from the knife wound that had cut her to the bone.
The 36-year-old woman, a refugee from Sudan's war-torn Darfur, had left her camp in eastern Chad to gather firewood when she was attacked by young Chadian nomads.
"They were three boys, camel herders. They told me to stop collecting wood and then they stabbed me," Ms. Daoud said, calm despite the attack that had happened only minutes before outside the Gaga refugee camp.
At least 230,000 ethnic Africans have fled Darfur to take refuge in camps in neighbouring Chad -- and their numbers are growing. But the refugees crowded into 12 camps are facing increased tensions with Chadians in a competition for scarce resources in the barren border region.
The friction comes despite the fact that both the refugees and the Chadians belong to tribes that straddle the border.
Ms. Daoud, for instance, said she recognized her assailants. They weren't the Arab Sudanese janjaweed militiamen who attacked her home in Darfur, but herders from the ethnic African Zaghawa tribe.
On the Sudanese side of the border, the Zaghawas are among the tribes that have been targeted in Darfur and they form the backbone of some rebel groups battling the janjaweed and government troops. But in Chad, they are affluent camel herders with close ties to power, since President Idriss Deby and most of the top military are Zaghawas.
"Life has been quieter in Chad, but now it's getting hard," said Ms. Daoud as she stood under the fierce afternoon sun waiting for humanitarian workers to treat her wound. A member of the Massalit tribe, she fled Darfur when the janjaweed destroyed her village, about 100 kilometres east of Gaga across the border.
The sudden settlement of large numbers of refugees risks exacerbating what has long been a competition among Chadians for land, grazing areas, wood and other resources in the border region.
"There has been age-old tensions between farmers and herders here," said Serge Male, Chad's country director for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. "But it's becoming a regional situation, and Darfur is the essential worsening factor."
The nomad-refugee tensions, though still small scale, add yet another layer of danger in the region's interwoven conflicts.
- In Darfur, Sudanese government troops and their allies, the janjaweed, are battling ethnic African rebels in a conflict that has killed at least 200,000 people since 2003. The janjaweed are accused of widespread atrocities against ethnic African villagers,.
- In Chad, Chadian rebels based in Sudan and Darfur have launched attacks on Chadian forces and towns. They are often followed by janjaweed fighters, who enter Chad and attack villages, according to aid workers.

Darfur rebel commanders adjourn reunification conference

Darfur rebel commanders adjourn reunification conference

Posted by commander Alrabae Adam Ezaldeen
The conference, which was scheduled to commence Monday in an unspecified northern Darfur town between the field commanders of the SLA, has been adjourned to enable other SLA factions to join the reunification talks.
SLA leading commander of North Darfur, Suleiman Marjan told Sudan Tribune that the conference was delayed because Khamis Abdalla Abakr, and Adam Bakheit — both of the SLA but had rejoined the National Redemption Front (NRF) — and Ahmed Abdelshafei have requested to participate in the reunification conference.
The rebel commander said that the members of the conference welcomed the move because it signifies what he described as "the ultimate objective". Marjan added that the reunification process will continue even after meeting.
The conference will discuss the root causes of the divisions within the movement and also determine the status and role of the rebel commanders in the expected peace talks.
Marjan mentioned that the current phase of the conference will involve field commanders only. In a second phase the commanders and the political leadership will convene to bridge the roles of the two wings in the SLA/SLM.
The rebel commanders say they have no desire to remove the historical leadership of the SLM, but that their main purpose is to put an end to the divisions and rebuild the SLM/A.
Ironically, following the signing of the Darfur peace talks, the field commanders of the non-signatories worked and supported each other to repel attacks by Sudanese army and its militia despite their political differences.
MEETING WITH AU AND UN ENVOYS
Asked about the meeting with AU and UN Special Envoys Salim Ahmed Salim and Jan Eliasson on 14 February, the rebel commander said that they discussed the preparations of the talks with Khartoum.
Marjan said they asked for a strong international presence in the talks so that the mediators are capable of bringing a compromise between the two negotiating sides. The rebel delegation blamed the African Union for the failure of the Abuja talks.
He said that their preference is for a European venue for the expected talks with the Sudanese government. The AU management of the negotiations in Abuja was a disaster, Marajan said. He also said the Sudanese government transported more than 500 people from the relatives of the rebel delegations to pressure them to conclude a peace deal, a move that Marajan described as a government tactic to deploy "emotive and psychological pressures".
Yesterday the Sudanese president indicated — after a meeting with AU and UN envoys for Darfur — his preference to hold the talks inside Sudan or in a neutral place without elaborating.
The Secretary General of the SLM Jarelnabi Abdulkarim Younis and Suleiman Marajan were among what later became known as “G19” an SLA group that split at the end of 2005 from the SLM faction led by Abdelwahid al-Nur, but after the signing of Abuja peace deal by Khartoum and the SLM of Minni Minawi the G19 reintegrated the SLM.
Khamis Abakr , the leader of the G19 and the former Vice president of the SLM, had joined the NRF while the rest of the group remained opposed the move.
Abdelwahid al-Nur and Ahmed Abdelshafi both from the Fur tribe were subjected to huge pressures from their ethnic group to put an end to their divisions.
The participation of Adam Bakheit in the conference is expected to add impetus to the reunification efforts of commanders who were loyal to Minni Minawi, who is currently senior assistant to President al-Bashir.

Darfur rebel commanders adjourn reunification conference

Darfur rebel commanders adjourn reunification conference

Posted by commander Alrabae Adam Ezaldeen
The conference, which was scheduled to commence Monday in an unspecified northern Darfur town between the field commanders of the SLA, has been adjourned to enable other SLA factions to join the reunification talks.
SLA leading commander of North Darfur, Suleiman Marjan told Sudan Tribune that the conference was delayed because Khamis Abdalla Abakr, and Adam Bakheit — both of the SLA but had rejoined the National Redemption Front (NRF) — and Ahmed Abdelshafei have requested to participate in the reunification conference.
The rebel commander said that the members of the conference welcomed the move because it signifies what he described as "the ultimate objective". Marjan added that the reunification process will continue even after meeting.
The conference will discuss the root causes of the divisions within the movement and also determine the status and role of the rebel commanders in the expected peace talks.
Marjan mentioned that the current phase of the conference will involve field commanders only. In a second phase the commanders and the political leadership will convene to bridge the roles of the two wings in the SLA/SLM.
The rebel commanders say they have no desire to remove the historical leadership of the SLM, but that their main purpose is to put an end to the divisions and rebuild the SLM/A.
Ironically, following the signing of the Darfur peace talks, the field commanders of the non-signatories worked and supported each other to repel attacks by Sudanese army and its militia despite their political differences.
MEETING WITH AU AND UN ENVOYS
Asked about the meeting with AU and UN Special Envoys Salim Ahmed Salim and Jan Eliasson on 14 February, the rebel commander said that they discussed the preparations of the talks with Khartoum.
Marjan said they asked for a strong international presence in the talks so that the mediators are capable of bringing a compromise between the two negotiating sides. The rebel delegation blamed the African Union for the failure of the Abuja talks.
He said that their preference is for a European venue for the expected talks with the Sudanese government. The AU management of the negotiations in Abuja was a disaster, Marajan said. He also said the Sudanese government transported more than 500 people from the relatives of the rebel delegations to pressure them to conclude a peace deal, a move that Marajan described as a government tactic to deploy "emotive and psychological pressures".
Yesterday the Sudanese president indicated — after a meeting with AU and UN envoys for Darfur — his preference to hold the talks inside Sudan or in a neutral place without elaborating.
The Secretary General of the SLM Jarelnabi Abdulkarim Younis and Suleiman Marajan were among what later became known as “G19” an SLA group that split at the end of 2005 from the SLM faction led by Abdelwahid al-Nur, but after the signing of Abuja peace deal by Khartoum and the SLM of Minni Minawi the G19 reintegrated the SLM.
Khamis Abakr , the leader of the G19 and the former Vice president of the SLM, had joined the NRF while the rest of the group remained opposed the move.
Abdelwahid al-Nur and Ahmed Abdelshafi both from the Fur tribe were subjected to huge pressures from their ethnic group to put an end to their divisions.
The participation of Adam Bakheit in the conference is expected to add impetus to the reunification efforts of commanders who were loyal to Minni Minawi, who is currently senior assistant to President al-Bashir.

Alrabae Adam Ezaldeen

An Interview with Abdulwahid 2

Abdulwahid Mohamed Alnour calls for NATO intervention to stop the genocide against the civilian population in Darfur.
In an extensive interview, the Chairman and the founder of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) discusses the recent military escalation in Darfur region , his reasons behind sending UN, or NATO, forces to stop the ongoing genocide in Darfur.
Q: Thank you very much Mr. Abdulwahid Mohamed Ahmed Alnour for accepting our second invitation and being with us today.
Mr. Alnour: It is my pleasure.
Q: Mr. Alnour, please tell us about the current situation on the ground in Drafur?
Mr. Alnour: Well, the situation is horrific. The Khartoum regime and its Janjaweed militias are moving toward their final solution which is to kill all our people in Darfur.
Q: What do you mean by final solution Mr. Chairman?
Mr. Alnour: Basically, what I mean is that since 1989, the rulers of National Islamic Front (NIF) and now National Congress Party decided to become dictators, the extermination or what one of my friend calls “The Final Solution” of our people in Darfur already in their mind.
Their racist and genocidal ideas are so strong that they released their hatred by killing all our people through different steps. The first step is to support the Janjaweed militias against our indigenous populations. Here, everything was planned, to kill as much as they can, burn all the villages, terrorize the populations and loot their properties that would cause much physical, psychological harms and chaos. The next solution is the evacuation of the population and put them in concentration camps, either in an internal displaced (IDPs) or refugee camps. The final plan is to kill them all in these camps. This is what I mean by final solution, and what they (Khartoum regime) are planning to implemented now.
Q: what can we do to stop such horrific genocide in Darfur?
Mr. Alnour: the solution is very simple which is the . It is the intervention of UN or NATO forces. As you know, well over 500,000 Darfuris have already killed in a brutal genocide, and more than 3 million have been driven from their homes. Just yesterday, the Sudanese army and its Janjaweed militias launched a new military offensive against civilian population in many areas in Darfur. So, without an immediate intervention of UN, or NATO, forces, the situation will even be worse for our people.
Q: But all ready there is UN resolutions on Darfur.
Mr. Alnour: yes, there are more than ten UN resolutions on Darfur, and last one was in late August, 2006, the UN Security Council authorized deployment of a Chapter VII UN mission to Darfur. While this was a positive decision, the UN has indicated it will only begin deployment after the government of Sudan gives its consent. And so far, Khartoum regime keep resisting all UN Security Council resolutions on Darfur, and contusing its genocide in Darfur. So, what we need is to exert sustained and aggressive diplomatic pressure on Khartoum regime and followed with imposing targeted financial, travel, and diplomatic sanctions against the regime’s leadership. In nutshell, the deployment of UN peacekeepers should be with or without Khartoum’s consent. The refusal to allow the deployment of UN peacekeepers must be denounced strongly by all peace loving countries, nations and societies,
If the UN peacekeepers deployment became difficult, then we should publicly support NATO intervention. Given its current peacekeeping resources and limitations, the UN has said it will take many months for any UN contingent to begin deployment to Darfur, assuming that this deployment happens. With millions of lives at stake, we do not believe that our people in Darfur can wait any longer for protection. We urge all those whom believe in human rights to support our idea to help deploy a NATO rapid-response force in Darfur. NATO would have the ability to establish civilian protection immediately. NATO has the military capabilities and prior troop numbers to ensure security of our people in Darfur. In short, we would like to indicate that the death toll of our people is fast approaching high numbers. We hope all the peace loving countries will take an action as soon as possible to stop the ongoing genocide in Darfur region.
Q: Now, as you know, the western democratic countries applauded your appeal; other countries, said that this smacked of imperialism. How do you answer those critics?
Mr. Alnour: we were not surprised that some countries accepted it and others disagreed with it. But I think what is important is that in today's world, when we have the kinds of genocide such as the one in Darfur that we are talking about, we need to take measures to stop it and then we can debate such idea of colonial and post colonial arguments. What we really need it now is a civilian protection and not the academic or intellectual debates or exercise.
Q: But how do you balance out a nation's desire for its own sovereignty to protect that, its own sovereignty against an international need to intervene in the case of human rights abuses?
Mr. Alnour: I can understand a nation's right to intervene, I mean, to protect its sovereignty. On the other hand, let us look at the world as it exists today, I argued that the traditional concept of sovereignty is being changed by the developments in the world today, from globalization, there are lots of areas governments do not control. They do not control the external factors that affect their economy. They do not control financial flows. They do not control some of the environmental issues. Why the protection of our people from genocide should be the only area that they should insist they should be allowed to control without any interference? Let me put it this way, if the citizens' rights are respected, there will be no need for anyone to want to intervene either through diplomatic means or coercive means. And it is also, I think the Khartoum regime should see it not as a license for people to come in and intervene. We are talking about our people’s situations where there are serious and gross and systematic genocide. I think that if the Khartoum regime able protect its citizens and their rights and do not create such kind of situation have no reason to worry that anyone would intervene.
Q: Yesterday, Feb 3, 2007, UK says “Sudan has to accept UN force or faces coercive measures”, and at the same time Chinese President Hu Jintao told Sudan to give UN bigger role in Darfur resolution, how do you feel about these two statements?
Mr. Alnour: You know, I was pleased with the UK statement. It reinforced hopes in our people's minds that the International community still concern about their plight.
The statement, however, came in an important moment in some ways because our people are going through a terrible situation of genocide. In other words, our people in the concentration camps (refugee and internal displaced camps) saying, well, we have left alone to face the racist and genocidal regime. So, this statement will give them some hopes. But, we express our disappointment to the international community that there are too much talking for almost four years without taking actions against the genociders in Khartoum. What we need is a practical action that will stop the genocide against our people.
In terms of the statement by the Chinese President Mr. Hu Jontao, our response is that we heard his argument on how Khartoum regime to give UN bigger role in Darfur resolution, but, we have not heard from him to tell us how to stop the killing of our people in Darfur. So, our request to Mr. Hu Jontao is that it is better not to help the Khartoum regime to commit genocide against it is own civilian populations. Because otherwise, the violence, in our judgment, and we think in the judgment of others, if we don not help to stop the ongoing genocide in Darfur region, it is going to get a lot worse, believe it or not. In other words, if we do not stop this now, the genocide against our people will continue and will spiral out of control; we mean, it would just really create a very dangerous situation for the China’s investment in Sudan and all over Africa in the longer run.
Negotiations:
Q: are you going to negotiate with Khartoum government soon?
Mr. Alnour: Peaceful settlement is one of our ultimate objectives. In that regard, we would like to take this opportunity to express our strong commitment to the achievement of a just and comprehensive peace agreement in Darfur; we also express our hope for further achievements of peace settlements in all Sudan. Nevertheless, in recognition of the possibilities for achieving a comprehensive peace in Darfur, first we need a positive and conducive environment for any negotiations with the Khartoum regime. This can not be done unless the Khartoum regime’s stop its genocidal campaign against our people. In other words, let us first enhance the security of our people by stopping the genocide against them and protect them from the genociders, return them home and then let us think about any political negotiations. We believe that this is the most effective ways that the international community can support progress in negotiation process with the Khartoum regime. To that end, we can enter the peace process with the understanding that the process would proceed on the basis of international law, UN Security Council Resolutions and the cessation of the hostility.
The Secular State’s Vision:
Q: Mr. Alnour, you are the founder and the chairman of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), what is the vision of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM)?
Mr. Alnour: Well, currently, our main focus is how to stop the genocide against our people, return them home and protect them from the genociders. However, as I mentioned before, our vision is very simple, Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), is an independent liberal political organization that seeks to create secular united democratic Sudan base on equal citizenship rights and aggregate the interests of the all Sudanese people.
Appeal:
Q: What is your message to Darfurians, Sudanese people and the international community?
Mr. Alnour: We would like to re-express our deepest gratitude and respect to our people of Darfur in their concentration camps (IDPs, and refugee camps), towns, cities and Diaspora; as well as to our fellow Sudanese people and the international community for their continuous solidarity and humane support. Also, we would like to extend our appeal to those who believe in humanity to help us to stop the genocide against our people in Darfur and help us to return them to their homes and protect them from the genociders, and then to support us to reach into political settlement that will lead us into our final end with is a secular democratic united Sudan.
Q: Thank you very much Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Alnour: Thank you, sir. It is my pleasure
End

postet or sended by Alrabae Adam Ezaldeen
General Secretary of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM/A-A)
In United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland’s Chapter

Urgent needs to oppose the UN Resolution 1706,

Urgent needs to oppose the UN Resolution 1706,

Urgent needs to oppose the Resolution of UN 1706 to protect people of Darfur
Alrabae Adam Ezaldeen
General Secretary of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM/A-A)
In United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland’s Chapter
. I am writing this article to call for Security Council Resolution 1706, which was decided that blue helmets should be deployed to Darfur and stop no-fly over the whole of Darfur. In addition, and bring for those who have had bear direct responsibility for hundreds of thousands of deaths and millions of displaced people of Darfur. Also needs urgent action to allow civilians access to food and medical aid, end genocide massacres. Refer the perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity to the International Criminal Court. act urgent to save what remains of the peoples of Darfur.

AU, UN enovys say security and aid needed in Darfur before talks

AU, UN enovys say security and aid needed in Darfur before talks

Feb 15, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — The AU and UN envoys for Darfur stressed the need of security and delivery of humanitarian aid to the Darfur displaced. They said de-escalation of the violence must be prior to the engagement of the political process.

AU Salim Ahmed Salim and UN Jan Eliasson (AP)
Below is a near verbatim transcript of the opening remarks of UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy Jan Eliasson for Darfur and African Union Special Envoy for Darfur Salim Ahmed Salim made during the Joint Press Conference they held on 15 February 2007 at UNMIS Press Briefing Room, Ramsis Building - Khartoum.
Spokesperson Radhia: Good evening everyone and thank you very much for coming to this press conference that is held jointly by Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim the Special Envoy of the African Union for Darfur and Mr. Jan Eliasson the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Darfur as well. They are going to be briefing you on the joint mission which they have been undertaking in Sudan – Khartoum and Darfur. They have just arrived from Darfur.
Without further ado, I will give the floor to Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim who will be giving you his introductory remarks and will be followed by Mr. Jan Eliasson with his remarks as well.
Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim …
AU Special Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim: Ladies and gentlemen, our joint mission has come about as a result of a decision originally taken at the meeting in Addis Ababa between the leadership of the UN and the leadership of the African Union, with the full participation of the members of the Security Council, a number of countries and institutions including the League of Arab States, and so on.
In that meeting which was co-chaired by Kofi Annan and Alpha Oumar Konar, a number of things were agreed upon. One of the areas of agreement was the re-energizing of the political process in order to arrive to a political settlement to the conflict in Darfur. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan had appointed a good friend, Mr. Jan Eliasson here, as a Special Envoy [for Dafur]. This appointment was confirmed by the new Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon. I was appointed by Chairman Konare as Special Envoy of the African Union.
This is our first mission together. We came here [to the press conference] after we had very interesting discussions in the last three days. We started here on Monday. We met with government officials here in Khartoum, we met literally with all the signatories of the DPA, and then we went to Darfur and spent the whole of yesterday and part of today in Darfur. We had a meeting with AMIS in Darfur. We also met with the field commanders [of DPA NON-signatories] somewhere under a tree – they call it a “peace tree” - in northern Darfur. We also met with representatives of IDPs and the representatives of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). We met also with the tribal chiefs – some of them at least.
Our message throughout has been: One: we will do our utmost to re-engage the political process for the purpose of ensuring that there is an implementation of the existing agreement.
Secondly; bearing in mind the reservations [about the DPA], sometimes opposition to [the DPA], we will look into how we can take care of these reservations; how to overcome some of those difficulties, in order to propel the peace process forward.
We have come also at a time where there is a serious humanitarian concern as far as the situation of the operations of the humanitarian agencies that are operating in Darfur is concrned.
Throughout our visit, both in our discussions with the government leaders, our discussions with other signatories and in our discussions with the non-signatories, we have made it clear that this issue is oneof the issues of primary concern for us; emphasizing to all stakeholders the importance of creating the necessary conditions for the humanitarian organizations to be able to operate in a manner which will be to the benefit of the people of Darfur but more particularly, to the benefit of people in the IDP camps.
We have stressed the importance of creating an enabling environment for the negotiations to take place. This enabling environment, inter alia, presupposes the de-escalation of the violence – the reduction of violence – and preferably the cessation of hostilities. We have made this point to all concerned, and I would like to say that thus far we have been encouraged by the initial reaction of everybody we met on this issue – the importance of de-escalation of violence - and also by the assurances by all the other parties that they will do the utmost to facilitate the operations of the humanitarian organizations.
But essentially our work is political. Our role is to create conditions for the resumption of dialogue between all the parties. Clearly we have not been able to meet all the parties yet. We have tried to focus on meeting all parties who are in Darfur and who are in Sudan. To that extent, we have succeeded. But there are others who we have not been able to meet and it is our intention, as part of our efforts, to make sure to reach out and meet all the other stakeholders, all the non-signatories.
We have been emphasizing that the most important thing to focus on is: what are those issues which are of particular concern to those who have not been able to come on board the peace process? And you know, when we go back to the history of the Abuja process, we had issues which were centrally discussed: the question of power-sharing, wealth sharing and the question of security arrangements. In our discussions whether with those who are signatories or with those who are opposed to the DPA, they made it very clear that they think that there are shortcomings and they highlighted a number of issues. For example the question of security and stability was highlighted everywhere we went. Another issue highlighted was the question of compensation - especially the measures to be taken to address the legitimate concerns of the IDPs, measures to be taken to deal with the issue of refugees and also the whole question of development and reconstruction was emphasized.

UN, African Union envoys arrive in Sudan in bid to revive Darfur peace process

UN, African Union envoys arrive in Sudan in bid to revive Darfur peace process

12 February 2007 -- The Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Darfur andhis African Union (AU) counterpart have arrived in the Sudanese capitalKhartoum on their joint five-day mission to try to re-energize the stalledpeace process in the war-torn region. Jan Eliasson and the AU's Salim Ahmed Salim are scheduled to hold meetingsin Khartoum -- and then later in Darfur itself -- with both signatoriesand non-signatories to last year's Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA), accordingto a joint statement released today. During their talks Mr. Eliasson andDr. Salim will stress the urgent need for an end to the political andhumanitarian crisis engulfing Darfur, where at least 200,000 people havebeen killed and 2 million others displaced from their homes since 2003. The envoys "will be delivering a strong message," their statement said,including on the need for a cessation of hostilities so that humanitarianoperations can take place and the suffering of civilians can bealleviated. An estimated 4 million people across the vast and impoverishedregion now depend on aid for survival. Mr. Eliasson and Dr. Salim have repeatedly emphasized that a tangiblereduction in violence is vital to create the conditions necessary forserious and all-inclusive political dialogue to take place that includesboth signatories and non-signatories to the DPA. Many of the rebel groups that have fought Government forces and alliedmilitias in Darfur since 2003 did not sign the DPA last May, and fightinghas raged on since then, with widespread fears that the conflict couldspill over into neighbouring Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR). Last month Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described the situation in Darfuras "the largest humanitarian crisis in the world." As the envoys are visiting Sudan, the Secretary-General's Acting SpecialRepresentative to the country, Tayé-Brook Zerihoun, is travellingto Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, to participate in the AU meeting onSudan and Chad. A separate UN Human Rights Council fact-finding team is also in theregion, travelling to Addis Ababa, Khartoum and Darfur to evaluate thesituation. The high-level mission has been tasked with assessing human rights inDarfur, which has witnessed countless instances of abuses, among them massrape, abduction and forced relocation since fighting began in 2003. Meanwhile, the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) reported today that freshviolence in South Darfur since December has displaced at least 110,000people from the area around Deribat. In North Darfur, the Mission called for the resumption of humanitarianoperations around Tawila, which had been vacated by UN agencies and
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) because of recent instability.

Sudanese rights group condemns ruling party over university unrest

Sudanese rights group condemns ruling party over university unrest

SHRO condemns the Congress Party violence in the Neelain University
Febr 10, 2007 — SHRO-Cairo is gravely concerned about the acts of violence that took place at the Neelain University in Khartoum on Thursday, February 8, 2007. Causing the death of a student and grievous hurt to others, the violence erupted between students supporting the National Congress ruling party and students opposing the party.
The Congress supporters, who controlled the Students Union, prevented the opponents not to perform political activity in the university campus. The latter were accused of “insulting Muslim religious beliefs and sentiments.” The Congress supporters further said they would not allow the opponents to conduct student activities unless they would apologize to the Islamic Movement “for all insults of the Jihadists and the martyrs who lost their lives in civil war in South Sudan.”
The students in dispute resorted to the use of fire arms and other weaponry that caused the death of student al-Mouiz Hassan Mohamed Ahmed (freshman, faculty of law) and the hurting of ‘Abd al-Wahab Khamis, Fadl Khamis Hamad, Omer ‘Abd-Allah, ‘Abd al-Mouiz Idris, ‘Abd al-Rahman ‘Abd al-Latif, and Khalid ‘Abd al-Wahab Mustafa.
The Organization is particularly concerned for the spreading of fire arms amongst civilians and university students, in particular, as well as curtailment of the freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly in the institutes of education that should provide, in principle, for the full enjoyment of the freedoms of thought, expression and assembly for all students, indiscriminately.
SHRO-Cairo believes that the regrettable events of the Neelain University were not isolated or casual: These acts of violence must be closely related with the serious lacking in public and academic freedoms, the biased intervention of the Congress Party in student affairs, the deteriorating political climates in the country, the absence of public tranquility, the persistent police brutalities, and the abuses of state powers by the security organs of the State.
Recalling the violence of government supporters at the Ahliya University campus in Omdurman, the Organization condemns the authoritative attitude of government supporters at university campuses, including the recent violence in the Neelain University.
The Organization asks the GONU parliamentary committees to conduct a socio-academic and judicial investigation in close collaboration with the ministry of high education, opposition parties, and civil society groups on these regrettable events to unfold the correlations that explain the situation with a view to provide for a sound plan and effective measures to end campus violence in our universities for good.

One killed during NCP-SPLM clashes in Sudanese university

One killed during NCP-SPLM clashes in Sudanese university

Feb 12, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — One Islamist student was killed and ten injured during clashes between students from the ruling party and the SPLM; the two groups traded accusations over the responsibility of the unrest.
A student was knifed to death yesterday and 10 other colleagues were wounded in bloody acts of violence which occurred between student members of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and others belonging to Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) at Al-Nilayn University in Khartoum. Leaders of both parties exchanged accusations over responsibility for the incident.
The National Movement of Islamic Students (NMIS), pro-ruling NCP, accused students loyal to the African National Front (ANF), pro-SPLM, of killing the student Abdelmuiz Hassan Mohamed Ahmad Kunnah. Kunnah was a student at the Faculty of Law and was an NCP activist. However, SPLM students denied responsibility for the incident.
At a joint press conference yesterday held between the ANF and the Independent Student’s Conference (ISC) at the SPLM HQ in Al-Mugran, NCP students were blamed for violence erupting at the university.
The ISC secretary, Bakri Yousif, pointed out that tensions began last Monday 5 February when NCP students announced a ban on ISC student activities at the university "in a clear breach of the law and with not the least consideration for student practices at Sudanese universities," he added. Yousif reiterated that the acts of violence yesterday began when NCP students attacked an ISC students’ group at the Faculty of Arts. He said the violence spread to the Faculty of Law where the same group of NC students attacked an ANF group.
A statement issued by the NIMS yesterday said they considered the killing of the student in cold blood would only lead the country to dissent and destructive war. The statement further pointed out that the authorities had to take responsibility for fighting the phenomenon of unlicensed weapons by putting the murders on fair trial.
In this regard, the head of Al-Nilayn University’s student union, Musab al-Nur has said that he condemned the student’s killing. He further pointed out that some students who were carrying firearms and riding on the backs of pickups had attacked the union’s offices which led to the injuring of six students.
Al-Sahafah has learnt that the authorities arrested six students in relation to the incidents and that the ANF has confirmed that police arrested three of its student members.

Unearthing a wide-scale conspiracy masterminded by the national conference regime against the people of Darfur

Unearthing a wide-scale conspiracy masterminded by the national conference regime against the people of Darfur

In the aftermath of the detention of Engr. Abu Al-Gassim Ahmed Abu Al-gassim on 9/26/2006 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and extraditing him to the Sudanese regime in a blatant violation of the minimum human rights and international covenants that prohibit and prevent the extradition of political opponents of any dictatorial regimes. This act has sharpened the government appetite to practice more crimes and piratical acts against the people of Darfur who reside overseas and advocate the just cause of the Darfur region and to cripple their heroic role on the Darfur’s just issues.

The Human Rights Defenders Organization in Darfur has unveiled a precedent which is the most dangerous of its kind masterminded by the Khartoum ethnic cleansing regime since the national conference government and its militias have decided to crack down and liquidate the elites of the Darfur region within Darfur and abroad .

Namely:-
1) Jar Alnabi Younis
2) Mohammed Abdullah
3) Saif Altijani Adam
4) Alrabae Ezaldeen
5) Bahar Alnour Bahaar
6) Ismail Idris Ahmaed
7) Adam Bakhit
8) Khamis Abubaker
9) Elhadi Abudafair
10) Nourain Jamous
11) Dldoum Adam
12) Abdulgadir Yagoub
13) Ibrahim Ahmed
14) Ahmed Abaker

who have firmly stood against the crimes committed by the rogue regime and disclosed those crimes before the international community which led to their incrimination by the international war crimes tribunal. Still there are more criminal plots which will be disclosed soon.

We, the Human Rights Defenders in Darfur, urge the international community to live up to its responsibilities and act aggressively against the brutality of the rogue regime in Khartoum. Also we urge our colleagues, the Darfurian activists to remain vigilant. Furthermore, we will closely monitor the course of the events in the region and report more crimes of the collapsing regime.


Human Rights Defenders in Darfur
Egypt Cairo

E-mail: darfurpoepleright@ yahoo.com

To the United States, European Union and Canada

To the United States, European Union and Canada

· Exert maximum political pressure on the Sudanese government to: suspend from duty, investigate and prosecute government officials, military and militia commanders, soldiers, police officers, and PDF members responsible for serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law; establish an internationally monitored compensation fund for victims of crimes; fully cooperate with the ICC; cease obstructing AMIS operations and support pro-active patrolling and the use of deadly force by AMIS troops to protect civilians.
· Provide increased financial and technical resources to AMIS to strengthen its capacity to protect civilians.
· Cooperate fully with the ICC in its criminal investigations.
· Restore the $50 million dollars in funding for AMIS that was removed in October 2005 from the 2006 Foreign Operations Appropriations bill.


Alrabae Adam EzaldeenSupervisor of foreign Affairs & General Secretary of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM/A-A)In United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland’s Chapter

To the Government of SudanTo the Government of Sudan

To the Government of Sudan

Suspend from official duty, investigate, and fully prosecute all civilian and military personnel -- including government officials, military and militia commanders, soldiers, police officers, and PDF members -- implicated for individual or command responsibility for serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in Darfur.
Fully cooperate with and facilitate the International Criminal Court's investigation in Darfur, and permit investigators full and unimpeded access throughout Sudan which should include access to all potential and actual witnesses and material.
Establish an internationally monitored compensation fund for victims of human rights violations and war crimes in Darfur.
Remove all obstacles to the deployment of the A.U. Mission in Sudan (AMIS) including by: expediting clearance and full movement and access throughout Darfur of armored personnel carriers and other equipment, supplies and, personnel requested by AMIS; supporting enhanced protection of civilians including proactive patrolling; and, cease obstructing AMIS protection efforts.
Include in any peace agreement with the rebel groups provisions reiterating the obligation of all parties to the conflict to respect human rights and abide by international humanitarian law; ensure that there is no amnesty from prosecution for persons implicated in serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.

Alrabae Adam EzaldeenSupervisor of foreign Affairs & General Secretary of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM/A-A)In United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland’s Chapter

Darfur: SLM/A Press Release on the Accusations of AU

Darfur: SLM/A Press Release on the Accusations of AU
From the Sudan Liberation Movement
The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) read with surprise and utter disbelieve a statement credited to the head of the African Mission in Sudan (AMIS), Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe, and aired by the international media, in which the Ambassador vehemently launched a tirade of accusations and condemnations against the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A).Mr. Kingibe leveled accusations to the effect that SLA attacked Arab nomads and abducted a number of them and 3100 camels (three thousands and one hundred), and undiplomatically described the SLM/A as engaging in"provocative banditry......refusal to cooperate with AMIS intermediaries...etc"The SLM would like to take the ambassador on his baseless tirades which contradicts the Ceasefire Commission) CFC) report on the incident referred above.


Alrabae Adam Ezaldeen
Supervisor of foreign Affairs & General Secretary of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM/A-A)
In United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland’s Chapter

As the genocide in the Darfur region of western Sudan continues unabated -- the United Nations conservatively estimates more than 200,000 dead and 2 million displaced in the conflict between the government-backed janjaweed militias and the mainly Muslim African tribespeople[1] -- the reaction of Western powers has been shamefully timid. But it seems downright heroic next to the disgraceful response of many self-proclaimed Muslim civil rights groups.
Although foreign military intervention seems highly unlikely given the current political climate, many individuals and governments are taking steps to pressure Khartoum to end the slaughter. One such step, taken by the Virginia State General Assembly, is the introduction of legislation to divest the state’s pension fund from companies conducting business with Sudan – a courageous, if only symbolic step that sends a clear signal to Sudan: no longer will genocide be tolerated, in Africa or anywhere else. Six other states have already passed similar legislation; twenty-five more are slated to introduce bills this year.
One might think that all Americans could support such a strategy. But one would be very wrong. A group calling itself the Virginia Muslim Political Action Committee (VMPAC) has already issued a press release opposing the divestment legislation on the grounds that such divestment campaigns are “exclusively use[ing] economic sanctions and military interventions against Muslim countries." Never mind the fact that similar tactics have been used to fight repression in such non-Muslim countries as Cuba and North Korea. The real irony here is that the targets of the Sudanese genocide are in the main innocent Muslims.
Politicians rarely publicly stand up to Islamist pressure groups like the VMPAC. Doing so, they fear, may cause such organizations to mobilize their constituencies with a combination of fear-mongering and disinformation. One who refuses to be browbeaten is Rep. Frank Wolf, a Republican from Virginia. In response to the VMPAC’s opposition to the divestment legislation, the congressman has courageously called on the group to defend its position. In a letter to VMPAC, Wolf writes:

Alrabae Adam Ezaldeen
Supervisor of foreign Affairs & General Secretary of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM/A-A)
In United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland’s Chapter

Why the UN? Why NATO?Why the UN? Why NATO?

Why the UN? Why NATO?

On August 31st, 2006, the U.S. and Britain helped pass a United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing a Chapter VII UN mission—“Chapter VII” indicating that this force would formally have the mandate to protect civilians and humanitarian groups from genocidal perpetrators. However, the resolution indicates that deployment of this mission will happen on the basis of the Sudanese government’s acceptance. This idea—that the international community must ask permission of the genocidaires to stop the genocidaires—reflects an egregious error in moral and political judgment.
Given its current peacekeeping resources and limitations, the UN has said it will take many months for any UN contingent to begin deployment to Darfur, assuming that this deployment happens. Clearly, the victims of mass slaughter and systematic rape cannot wait any longer for protection; the death toll in Western Sudan may very well reach over 1 million if no multinational presence intervenes. Here, NATO forces would be best equipped to stop the Darfur genocide: NATO can deploy quickly, and it has the prior troop commitments and resources necessary for establishing immediate civilian protection in the region. Also, NATO has already held training exercises in Western Sudan, so it is familiar with the terrain.
OurPledge.org is an initiative of Americans Against the Darfur Genocide


Alrabae Adam Ezaldeen
Supervisor of foreign Affairs & General Secretary of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM/A-A)
In United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland’s Chapter

Q: Why call for a MULTINATIONAL intervention? What about having African countries take the lead?

Why call for a MULTINATIONAL intervention? What about having African countries take the lead?
20- 11- 2006 A monitoring presence called the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) is in Darfur right now. Originally, the international community placed its hope in AMIS, expecting it to protect civilians. But it is clear now that it does not have the resources or the troop numbers to patrol a region the size of Texas. And it does not have the proper mandate: legally, AMIS is forbidden from proactively engaging the genocidaires, since it is limited to guarding international monitors in the region. The AU itself has said that it doesn't have the resources for a robust peacekeeping mission. A solution that calls for rapidly strengthening AMIS is not a feasible one, especially given that the African Union itself is a decision-by-consensus organization that has the Sudanese government as one of its crucial members.
If planned and executed correctly, a multinational intervention force would have the resources, troop numbers, and mandate necessary to stop the Darfur genocide. While the dictatorial rulers of Sudan have promised to attack any NATO or UN force that enters its country, this cannot prevent the international community from acting. The reasons here are ultimately moral. When millions of lives are literally close to death in an ongoing genocide—lives exposed to daily bombing, deliberate starvation, and brutal gang-rape—those in positions of power cannot allow the violence to go unchecked. In no other scenario is intervention a more just cause.

Alrabae Adam Ezaldeen
Supervisor of foreign Affairs & General Secretary of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM/A-A)
In United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland’s Chapter

Why can’t we use diplomatic negotiation to get the Sudanese government to stop what it is doing?

Why can’t we use diplomatic negotiation to get the Sudanese government to stop what it is doing?

15 -10- 2006 Negotiation has been tried for a long time now. More than two and a half years of formal talks between the international community and the government of Sudan have never successfully mitigated the violence in the Darfur region. What’s more, the government has openly broken ceasefire after ceasefire and promise after promise. In May 2006, according to the terms of the Darfur Peace Agreement, the Sudanese government committed to disarming its Janjaweed militias, intimating that it was planning on stopping its systematic campaign against Darfur’s civilians. But instead it has drastically increased its military operations in the region, in full view of on-the-ground humanitarian groups, human rights experts, and journalists. So, rather than fail to respond to diplomatic pressure, more exactly the government has used previous diplomatic agreements as a way to make time and space for its human rights abuses.


Alrabae Adam Ezaldeen
Supervisor of foreign Affairs & General Secretary of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM/A-A)
In United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland’s Chapter

Background on the Darfur Genocide

Background on the Darfur Genocide

30- 09- 2006 Entire villages bombed and pillaged; countless women raped; wells poisoned; humanitarian aid blocked; hundreds of thousands murdered and more than 2.5 million civilians displaced---this is the culture of impunity that continues today in Darfur, a region in Western Sudan. Today the region is the site of an ongoing genocide and---according to the UN---the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
The witnesses have horrible stories to tell. This account comes from Amnesty International's report Darfur: Rape as a Weapon of War: "There was also another rape on a young single girl aged 17: M. was raped by six men in front of her house in front of her mother. M's brother, S., was then tied up and thrown into [the] fire."

Since February 2003, the Sudanese government and its proxy Janjaweed militias have been committing mass murder, mass rape, and other kinds of systematic violence against Darfur's civilians. More than 450,000 have been killed. Millions are now either displaced within their own county or cling to life as refugees; the World Food Program estimates that well over 3.5 million need daily food aid in order to survive.
In July 2004, Congress unanimously declared that the situation in Darfur constituted genocide. The Bush administration followed with its own official genocide determination in September 2004. Numerous human rights groups (including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International); international NGOs; bipartisan Congressional coalitions; Christian, Jewish, and Muslim community leaders in our own country---all these have brought attention to the deliberate and widespread ethnic killing of Darfur's African tribes.
This May, the Sudanese government and a Darfuri rebel faction agreed to a U.S.-brokered peace plan, but this agreement is now in tatters (Note 1). The plan requires the Sudanese government to disarm its militias, but instead a marked escalation in attacks has occurred.
September 2006 sees the beginning of a new, massive military campaign brought on by the genocidaires. The government is bombing and razing entire villages, threatening to kill, root out, and displace hundreds of thousands more.
President Bush, the State Department, and a large majority of Republicans and Democrats in Congress support a multinational intervention force to stop the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. But in light of unrelated foreign policy priorities, Darfur risks completely falling off the U.S. agenda. It is up to citizens of conscience around this country to advocate on behalf of the people of Western Sudan.
The U.S. helped to pass a United Nations Security Council resolution on August 31, 2006, authorizing a large and robust United Nations peacekeeping force with a mandate to protect Darfur's civilians. But, because UN deployment to Sudan is still a very uncertain issue, and because any UN mission for Darfur will in any case probably take a long time to hit the ground, the U.S. must help deploy right now a NATO rapid-reaction force to the Darfur region. NATO troops are well-equipped, well-trained, and have already held training exercises in Western Sudan.
The people of Darfur cannot wait any longer. On August 28, 2006, Jan Egeland, head of Humanitarian Affairs for the UN, reported: “I cannot give a starker warning than to say that we are at a point where even hope may escape us and the lives of hundreds of thousands could be needlessly lost."
Note 1: For the past three years, in order to consolidate its political power, the Sudanese government has been fighting against various rebel groups based in Darfur.


Alrabae Adam Ezaldeen
Supervisor of foreign Affairs & General Secretary of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM/A-A)
In United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland’s Chapter

Freelancing diplomat now eyeing the White House

Freelancing diplomat now eyeing the White House

New Mexico's Democratic governor has bartered with some of the most notorious rulers of modern times: Iraq's Saddam Hussein, Yugoslavia's Slobodan Milosevic, Cuba's Fidel Castro, Kenya's Daniel Arap Moi, Zaire's Mobutu Sese Seko, Nigeria's Sani Abacha and most recently, Sudan's Omar al-Bashir. Richardson has compared himself to Red Adair, renowned for his ability to put out erupting oil well fires.
He has done this work on his own ambition as an influential U.S. citizen, but usually without an official imprimatur from the government. Now he is trying to use his freelance diplomacy, combined with his state executive experience, to show he has unique qualifications in his run for the presidency.
Richardson's most recent trip came last month at the request of the Save Darfur Coalition, which sent him to Sudan to try to help bring an end to the four-year-old war. The governor was persistent, straightforward, friendly and above all relentless in his determination to emerge promoting progress.
"I have good news," Richardson told al-Bashir after four days of back-to-back meetings with all sides in the conflict, including two rare hourlong sessions with the elusive president. "We are going to leave today."
Al-Bashir, who has ruled during the ethnic persecution in Darfur that has killed more than 200,000 people, laughed.
"With all that, we expect you to be the president of the United States!" he said in English, after speaking Arabic for the earlier discussions.
The exchange was classic Richardson. The gregarious governor tries to put the people he meets at ease with jokes, gestures and occasionally overeager touching.
Richardson's freelance diplomacy has gotten mixed reaction from the White House over the years.
But Michael Dukakis, the former Massachusetts governor who was the 1988 Democratic nominee for president, said Richardson's combination of foreign policy and executive experience should be an asset in the 2008 race.
Governors often make stronger presidential candidates but can suffer from criticism that they are light on foreign affairs.
"Bill's foreign policy experience is a big plus for him," Dukakis said.

UN chief urges patience in Darfur

UN chief urges patience in Darfur

Jan 01/2, 2007 (NAIROBI) — UN chief Ban Ki-moon has urged patience to end the bloodshed in Darfur and voiced hope that Sudan would keep a pledge to allow a joint African Union-United Nations force in the war-torn region.

Ban Ki-moon
In an exclusive interview with AFP, Ban also said that his current four-nation African tour had been a "very useful" learning experience that enabled him to take the full measure of the continent’s immense challenges.
"We need to be patient in following up this political process as well as the peacekeeping process," Ban said in reference to Darfur.
"Both tracks are moving well at this time, it may take a little longer to have a detailed agreement," the former South Korean foreign minister said Wednesday.
Earlier this week in Addis Ababa, where he attended an AU summit, the UN secretary general announced that Sudan had agreed to accept a joint visit by UN special envoy Jan Eliasson and AU envoy Salim Ahmed Salim to Khartoum and Darfur in early February to support peacemaking efforts.
In a 90-minute meeting with President Omar al-Beshir on Monday, Ban said the Sudanese leader renewed his commitment to accept the UN’s three-phase Darfur settlement plan that culminates in the deployment of a robust joint AU-UN force.
"I hope that he will keep his promise. I hope I will be able to trust him but I’ll have to see," he said.
Ban also stressed the need to consolidate a shaky peace agreement reached by Khartoum and the main Darfur rebel group by getting holdout insurgents to sign up.
He added that the peacekeeping force was a critical element in restoring peace to Darfur where the UN estimates that three years of conflict has left 200,000 people dead and nearly 2.5 million people displaced.
"I have sent a letter to President Beshir a few days ago detailing the conditions on force generation (who will contribute to the force), command and control and funding," Ban said.
"If we can agree on the third phase, then this should be the highlight of AU-UN cooperation."
The joint AU-UN force is to take over from an ill-equipped and underfunded African Union mission that has been unable to end the fighting.
Ban also described the African swing on his first trip as the world’s top diplomat as an eye-opening tour that gave him a first-hand look at the problems facing the world’s most impoverished and least developed continent.
"My first visit to Africa one month into (the start of) my tenure has been very useful for me to learn all the development and progress as well as the challenges of African countries," he said.
He came face to face with the reality of African poverty during a visit to a hospital treating AIDS patients in Kinshasa, capital of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last weeK, and during a Tuesday tour of Nairobi’s Kibera slum, one of the largest in sub-Saharan Africa.
He said that in his talks with African leaders in Addis Ababa he urged them "to promote political dialogue, good governance, good education and have good harmonious international coordination."
He hailed progress in DRC following the country’s first democratic election in 40 years and urged other African leaders to emulate what the UN regards as a "success story."
The DRC hosts the UN’s largest peacekeeping operation and Ban reassured President Joseph Kabila that the UN would not withdraw its 20,000-strong mission.
In a keynote address to the AU summit, Ban hailed the growing partnership between the UN and the 53-member pan-African body.
And he presented his own country, South Korea, as a model for African nations to develop, noting that with international assistance it had gone from a war-ravaged country to an economic powerhouse.
"I witnessed how, through unity of purpose, my country was able to transform itself from a traumatized nation with an non-existing economy into a vibrant, productive society and a regional economic power," he told the African leaders.
Before visiting Africa, Ban stopped in Brussels, then Paris where he attended an aid conference for Lebanon reconstruction.
He is to travel to Amsterdam later Wednesday before heading to The Hague the following day for talks with Dutch leaders and a tour of the world court and the UN-backed International Criminal Court.