For all of you who took the opportunity to sign an internet petition or call the White House comment line, be proud:
Watch Bush's address.
Bush Toughens Sanctions Against Sudan Over Darfur
Brendan Murray and Kevin Carmichael Tue May 29, 12:27 PM ET
May 29 (Bloomberg) --
President George W. Bush imposed economic sanctions against Sudan in a bid to curb the violence in Darfur and called on the United Nations to step up financial pressure on a leader who hasn't stopped what the U.S. describes as genocide in the African country.
``The people of Darfur are crying out for help,'' Bush said at the White House. ``I promise this to the people of Darfur: The United States will not avert our eyes from a crisis that challenges the conscience of the world.''
Bush said the U.S. Treasury has blocked two Sudanese government officials and one rebel leader from the U.S. financial system; frozen the assets of 30 companies owned or controlled by the Sudanese government; and sanctioned one other company, Azza Air Transport Co., for violating an arms embargo.
The penalties against the oil-producing country follow a warning Bush gave April 18 in a speech at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. He said then that the world has a moral obligation to halt genocide in Darfur, a region in western Sudan.
``One day after I spoke, the military bombed a meeting of rebel commanders designed to discuss a possible peace deal with the government,'' Bush said today. ``The result is that the dire security situation on the ground in Darfur has not changed.''
New UN Resolution
Bush said he instructed Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice to consult with the U.K. and other allies to draft a new UN Security Council resolution that would apply additional punitive measures on Sudan. France will support the U.S. push for a resolution, Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere said today.
Bush's envoy to Sudan, Andrew Natsios, told CNN that ideas floated privately by the new French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, lead the U.S. to believe France may get more involved in the Darfur issue.
Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte told reporters in Washington that the U.S. will seek from the UN Security Council a ``binding ban on military flights over Darfur.'' Natsios, who joined Negroponte at the briefing, declined to say how such a prohibition against Sudan's military would be enforced.
More than 200,000 people have died in Darfur in the past four years in a campaign of violence directed at rebels seeking a greater share of oil revenue and political power from the central government in Khartoum. The fighting has spread to include violent clashes among rival tribes in the region and has spilled over into neighboring Chad, where a dozen major refugee camps house thousands of Darfur refugees.
``The world has a responsibility to help put an end to it,'' Bush said.
Sudan's `Obstruction'
Bush said the Sudanese government failed to honor pledges to stop the violence. Sudanese President Umar al-Bashir's ``actions over the past few weeks follow a long pattern of promising cooperation, while finding new methods for obstruction,'' Bush said.
``I call on President Bashir to stop his obstruction and to allow the peacekeepers in, and to end the campaign of violence that continues to target innocent men, women and children,'' Bush said.
Sudan's envoy at the UN criticized Bush for the sanctions steps. Bush is ``polluting'' progress toward a new peace agreement in Darfur and efforts by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon to persuade the government in Khartoum to accept UN peacekeepers, Sudanese Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad said in an interview.
AU, UN Troops
The African Union has about 7,000 peacekeepers in Darfur who aren't able to provide full protection to civilians in the region, which is as big as France. Sudan to date has approved the deployment of 2,500 UN troops to support the AU force and has rejected a much larger UN-led force.
The Treasury Department said three Sudanese officials will be sanctioned for their roles in fomenting the violence:
Ahmad Muhammed Harun, Sudan's state minister for humanitarian affairs, who already is accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court, and Awad Ibn Auf, the head of military intelligence and security, both acted as liaisons between the Sudanese government and the Janjaweed militias that have attacked Darfur residents, the Treasury said.
Khalil Ibrahim, leader of the Justice and Equality Movement, was also cut off from the U.S. financial system. The JEM refused to sign a peace agreement, and Ibrahim is ``personally'' responsible for rebel activity aimed at destabilizing the situation, the Treasury said.
Arms Exporter Targeted
Among the 30 companies targeted by the Treasury are GIAD Industrial City, which supplied armored vehicles to the government for military operations in Darfur; Sudatel, the national telecommunications company; and five companies in the petrochemical industry, including Advanced Petroleum Co., RAM Energy Co., Bashaier, Hi-Tech Petroleum Group and Hi-Tech Chemicals, according to the department's release.
Humanitarian groups and experts on Africa said the sanctions may have little effect on the government or its victims.
``Unilateral sanctions on a couple mid-level officials and expanding unilateral sanctions for which the Sudanese were fully prepared will have no impact on the regime's calculations,'' John Prendergast, an Africa analyst at the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, said today in an e-mailed response to questions. ``This appears to be posturing for domestic constituencies on Washington's part.''
``For many people in Darfur, these sanctions mean very little,'' said Ted Dagne, a specialist in African affairs at the Congressional Research Service in Washington.
``For the 450,000 people who were killed over the past four years and for the millions who are still in the displaced camps, the sanctioning of Sudanese companies will not end the suffering,'' Dagne said. ``The issue in Darfur is protection of the helpless and ending the suffering.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Brendan Murray in Washington at bmurray@bloomberg.net
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Bush Imposes Sanctions on Sudan
Friday, May 11, 2007
Darfur: Get Educated, Get Agitated
www.enoughproject.org
A Plan B with teeth for darfur
By John Prendergast and Colin Thomas-Jensen
Strategy Paper 2
May 2007
A Joint initiative of the International Crisis Group and the Center for American Progress
If there is a Guinness Book of World Records entry for most threats issued with no follow up, the international community’s response to Darfur is likely setting a new standard.
Barking without biting is the diplomatic equivalent of giving comfort to the enemy. In the case of Darfur, it may be even worse. Each time during the past three years that the Bush administration or the UN Security Council has threatened the Government of Sudan but failed to take action, the Khartoum regime has been emboldened to escalate its destruction and obstruction in Darfur. Its past practices make clear that the regime no longer takes these threats seriously, and will continue to flout international opinion until there are specific and escalating costs to its actions.
In these matters, it is best to rely on empirical evidence.
And the preponderance of evidence shows that during the 18 years it has been in power, the regime in Khartoum has changed its behavior only when faced with concerted international and regional pressure. Three times the regime has reversed its position on a major policy issue, and each of those three times the change resulted from intensive diplomacy backed by serious pressure—two ingredients sadly and shockingly missing from the response to Darfur today. The three cases are the regime’s support for international terrorist organizations during the early to mid 1990s; its support for slave-raiding militias in southwestern Sudan throughout the 1990s; and its prosecution of a war in southern Sudan that took two million Sudanese lives. (See “The Answer to Darfur” on www.enoughproject.org for case histories.)
When the lessons of this regime’s behavior are taken into account, the answers become clear and obvious. Continuing to ignore these historical precedents may condemn hundreds of thousands of Darfurians to death.
The necessary ingredients for the stabilization of Darfur are:
• a peace agreement that addresses the remaining issues of the non-signatory rebels and broader Darfurian society (see the new report on the peace process by the International Crisis Group at www.crisisgroup.org); and
• an effective civilian protection force, the starting
point for which is the “hybrid” AU-UN force mandated by the international community but rejected by Khartoum.
There is ongoing debate about how to secure those two critical peace and protection objectives, the first two “P’s” of what ENOUGH, a joint initiative of the International Crisis Group and the Center for American Progress to abolish genocide and mass atrocities, calls the “3Ps” of crisis response. The third P is punishment: imposing a cost for the commission of mass atrocities and building leverage through these measures for securing the peace and protection objectives.
Setting a firm deadline triggering meaningful and timely action is crucial. Last month, the U.S. accepted UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon’s appeal to delay U.S. and UN Security Council sanctions in order to give diplomacy more time, and the administration indicated that Khartoum would be given two to four weeks following the Secretary General’s April 2 request. A month has now passed, and, as demonstrated by recent attacks by helicopter gun ships and a build-up of Janjaweed forces in West Darfur, Khartoum continues to pursue a military solution.
Though further delay is abhorrent, there is a silver lining. The Bush administration’s current Plan B—the measures that President Bush was going to announce during his April 18 speech at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum but then delayed in order to give diplomacy more time—is inadequate. In delaying implementation, the administration has given itself time to prepare a real Plan B—a set of punitive measures with teeth. Further, it gives U.S. diplomats time to use the U.S.’ month-long chairmanship of the UN Security Council (May 2007) to move Darfur high on the Council’s agenda and coordinate Plan B efforts with the European Union (which has indicated that its own Plan B sanctions could go into effect as early as June) and other international actors willing to impose a cost on the regime for its actions.
On May 18, one month after the President’s initial speech, the White House should announce a revised set of Plan B measures and allocate sufficient resources to implement them swiftly and effectively. One month is a fair amount of time after President Bush’s speech to see whether the UN Secretary General’s diplomatic efforts will have had effect. If not, then the U.S. should impose Plan B on that date and work with allies to make Plan B as multilateral as possible.
AN INADEQUATE PLAN B—SO FAR
Most of the measures the administration was prepared to announce in April lack clear and decisive plans for implementation, are too unilateral in nature, and are too weak to have a major impact on the calculations of either regime officials in Khartoum or on intransigent rebel leaders. After ten years of dealing with unilateral U.S. sanctions, the Sudanese government and its commercial partners have by now figured out how to circumvent any additional U.S. measures.
The U.S. has been blocking many Sudanese transactions since President Clinton imposed sanctions in 1997, and the Sudanese regime has had ten years to prepare for the next round. A new Sudanese oil industry has grown up around these sanctions, and the oil business is conducted without interference because this new sector is beyond the scope of existing U.S. sanctions. Though the oil industry has grown to dominate Sudan’s economy, the U.S. has little understanding of its operations, and has not committed the resources to collect such information.
Perhaps most damning, because the administration has for five months leaked information to the press about Plan B, the regime has had ample time to develop a plan for working around new, additional sanctions.
The United States cannot realistically impose robust sanctions on Khartoum unless and until it has enough information about how Sudanese business is conducted to prevent Khartoum from hiding its transactions. The U.S. should therefore undertake an “intelligence surge” by the CIA to gather detailed and comprehensive information on Sudanese companies with financial ties to the NCP and on individuals responsible for atrocities that have been or are being committed in Darfur. The U.S. should also undertake an “enforcement surge” and ensure that the Treasury Department devotes additional staff and resources to aggressively act on this new information. (As currently constituted, the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets
Control (OFAC) cannot effectively enforce new sanctions against Khartoum without reducing its focus on other, critical sanctions regimes). Intelligence
and enforcement surges could bring the U.S. up to speed on the critical facts and capacities that are needed to effectively implement any punitive measures. And without a clear strategy of rapidly escalating pressure through a variety of economic and legal measures, then the deadly status quo will no doubt prevail.
Both of these steps require political leadership and long-term vision. Since the fall of 2001, the U.S. has counted on the cooperation of Khartoum in global
Since the fall of 2001, the U.S. has counted on the cooperation of Khartoum
in global counter-terrorism efforts and the administration continues to welcome and work closely with many of the same Sudanese intelligence officials who are responsible for Khartoum’s policies and actions in Darfur.
Members of Congress have begun to question seriously the extent of Sudan’s cooperation with the U.S. on counterterrorism matters, but stepping up the practical pressure on Khartoum may well generate opposition in the intelligence community. Similarly, the expansion of economic sanctions—particularly those that affect Sudan’s oil sector—may complicate an already complex relationship between the United States and China.
The point is not simply to punish for punishment’s sake, even though America’s signature on Genocide Convention does oblige us to punish the perpetrators of what the U.S. government has repeatedly labeled genocide. Punitive measures are necessary to gain Khartoum’s acceptance of a durable peace deal for Darfur and the deployment of an effective international force to protect civilians.
Similar measures should be imposed against leading rebel commanders and political leaders if they are deemed to have committed atrocities or are obstructing real and balanced peace efforts, which so far do not exist.
As important as it is that the U.S. act to implement a Plan B with teeth, our ability to leverage action by Khartoum will be exponentially increased if we act multilaterally. The U.S. government already has unilateral sanctions in place against Sudan that bar U.S. companies from doing business in Sudan (though allowing U.S. businesses to work with the Government of South Sudan), and freeze assets in the U.S. or in the control of U.S. citizens of the Sudanese government and certain government-owned Sudanese companies. Enacted in 1997, these sanctions did affect the calculations of the regime in the past, but they have since run their course as the Sudanese regime circumvents U.S. institutions in its commercial dealings.
Even more important, however, the fact that existing sanctions are unilateral means that Khartoum has the practical advantage of accessing non-American
financial systems and investors, and the political advantage of knowing that the international community is not acting in concert. Punitive measures applied by the international community acting as one will have a much greater impact on the pocketbooks of those responsible for crimes against humanity. Moreover, the Government of Sudan will have a much more difficult time scoring propaganda points when the U.S. is not acting alone. It is therefore critical that the U.S. works with its partners in the UN Security Council and other forums and shares both intelligence and responsibility for enforcement.
A PLAN B WITH TEETH
Financial and Legal Components
The following initiatives could be implemented immediately at little cost, but would require a strong diplomatic effort to rally multilateral support and increases in staffing and resources to ensure aggressive implementation.
• TARGET SUDANESE OFFICIALS MULTILATERALLY: Impose targeted UN Security Council sanctions—including asset freezes and travel bans—against persons responsible for crimes against humanity in Darfur. Such sanctions have been authorized in previous UNSC resolutions, and called for in multiple reports from the UNSC Sanctions Committee Panel of Experts, but they have not actually been imposed on any official of import. The U.S. effort now underway would target only three individuals,
one of whom is a rebel leader, in addition to four individuals designated in 2006, only one of whom is a regime official. The number must be much higher and be widened with each atrocity perpetrated, and reflect the reality of Khartoum’s complicity in genocide. Three senior Sudanese officials in particular must be singled out for sanctions:
Assistant to the President Nafie Ali Nafie; Director of National Intelligence Salah Abdallah Abu Digin (AKA Salah Gosh); and Minster of Defense Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein. These three officials maintain a tight grip on Sudan’s labyrinthine security apparatus and continue to drive policy and military operations in Darfur.
• TARGET SUDANESE COMPANIES MULTILATERALLY: Impose UN Security Council sanctions against the Sudanese companies already targeted unilaterally by the U.S., and establish a UN Panel of Experts to further investigate which companies are conducting the business necessary to underwrite Sudan’s war machine. If, ultimately the U.S. imposes unilateral sanctions on 29 more companies, this would bring the total number of companies the U.S. has unilaterally sanctioned to 159. Unless these sanctions are multilateral they will largely be meaningless, so the U.S. should lead efforts in the UN Security Council to sanction multilaterally the full panoply of 159 companies.
• PRESS INTERNATIONAL BANKS TO STOP DOING BUSINESS WITH SUDAN: As is the case with Iran, U.S. officials should engage with a number of international banking institutions to strongly encourage them to stop supporting oil transactions with Sudan, with the implication being that if such business continues then all transactions by those banks with U.S. commercial entities (and those of other countries willing to work with us) would eventually be banned. All efforts should be made to shield the Government of Southern Sudan from negative impacts from such an initiative.
This wouldn’t necessarily stop Sudan’s international exchange needs, as money would just be moved through other banking systems over which the U.S. has no access or jurisdiction, but would drive it underground and put another scarlet letter next to Sudan, furthering its isolation
and pariah status.
• REINFORCE DIVESTMENT EFFORTS: President Bush should sign an Executive Order putting into law all of the legally possible elements of existing Congressional bills in support of divestment:
the Darfur Accountability and Divestment Act of 2007 (HR 180) and the Sudan Divestment Authorization Act of 2007 (S.831). The executive branch should be supportive of efforts all over the U.S. to pressure university endowments, state and municipal pension funds, and private mutual funds to sell equity holdings in a targeted list of companies doing business with the Sudanese regime.
The Sudan Divestment Taskforce (www.sudandivestment.org) maintains an updated list of these so-called “worst offender” companies.
• SUPPORT THE ICC INDICTMENT PROCESS: Provide information and declassified intelligence to the International Criminal Court to help accelerate the process of building indictments against senior officials in the regime for their role in orchestrating mass atrocities in Darfur. The U.S. has the most such intelligence and should come to agreement with the ICC about what information to share.
A PLAN B WITH TEETH
Military Components
While the financial and legal aspects of Plan B can be implemented immediately, preparation is also required for the military elements of a Plan B with teeth. If prompt financial and legal measures succeed in altering the calculations of the regime in Khartoum, then there will be no need for these military measures. But as history makes clear, the credible threat of military action will alter the calculations of Khartoum officials. As well, and in the event the regime continues to defy its obligations to its own citizens and the will of the international community, these military actions could help to protect the people of Darfur.
Two coercive military measures require accelerated planning processes, which should commence within the NATO framework, but also seek UN Security Council approval. The aim of these military planning efforts would be to maximize the protection of Darfurian civilians and humanitarian operations if the situation continues to deteriorate.
• No Fly Zone: Absent an enhanced ground component this option is questionable and fraught with potential negative side effects. However, it is important to press ahead with planning an enforcement mechanism for a no-fly zone (NFZ) as the Sudanese regime continues to use aerial bombing as a central component of its military strategy and its civilian displacement objectives. If the mandate of the existing AU force or the planned UN/AU hybrid force would be strengthened and more troops deployed to protect civilians, neutralizing the Sudanese regime’s one tactical advantage will be essential. However, the risk to humanitarian operations posed by an NFZ must be acknowledged and mitigated. It would be irresponsible to move forward with an NFZ in the absence of preparations to deploy ground forces to protect IDP camps and humanitarian operations. Khartoum will perceive an NFZ as an act of war, so planning for a No Fly Zone must also include contingency planning based on possible responses from the Sudanese regime. The consequences could be dire. Posturing
without planning could blow up in the faces of the IDPs, refugees, and humanitarian workers bravely assisting them.
• Non-Consensual Force Deployment: Although few nations are likely to support this and volunteer forces in the present context, if the situation dramatically deteriorates in Darfur (large-scale pullout of humanitarian agencies, increasing attacks on camps or AU forces, etc.), the debate could shift quickly and credible plans need to be in place to move troops into the theater of war quickly with a primary focus on protecting vulnerable civilian populations.
This planning is both a practical necessity, and a means to build and utilize leverage against the regime.
It would be irresponsible to only pursue the implementation of a no-fly zone in the absence of any preparation for use of ground forces to protect displaced camps and humanitarian aid efforts that could be targeted as a result.
CONCLUSION
The U.S. must move away from its current policy of constructive engagement without leverage to a more muscular policy focused on walking softly and carrying—and using—a bigger stick. Unfulfilled threats and appeals should be replaced quickly with punitive measures backing a robust peace and protection initiative. We may not know the names of the victims in Darfur, but we know the names of the orchestrators of the policy that led to their deaths.
There is hope. The growing constituency in the U.S. focused on countering the atrocities in Darfur is expanding by the day. Elected officials who ignore this crescendo of activism—though not usually front page news—do so at their own peril. We will do a great service to all of history’s victims of mass atrocities if we make it politically costly for this administration, or any future one, to stand idly by while Darfur burns.
Your elected officials need to hear from you that the current Plan B proposed by President Bush is inadequate. The United States must work multilaterally
to impose punitive measures—including targeted sanctions and economic pressures—against senior Sudanese National Congress Party officials and the companies they control. By contacting your elected representatives, you will be joining thousands of concerned activists from across the country in “leading their leaders.”
ENOUGH urges activist organizations to issue action alerts urging their members to contact the White House, their Senators, and their members of Congress to press for a Plan B with teeth.
The Genocide Intervention Network operates a toll free number, 1-800-GENOCIDE that will connect you to your elected officials.
Call 1-800-GENOCIDE to contact your Senators and member of Congress and tell them:
• that punitive action against the Government of Sudan will only be effective if it is taken multilaterally;
• to urge President Bush to impose targeted UN Security Council sanctions against persons responsible for crimes against humanity in Darfur and Sudanese companies already sanctioned unilaterally by the U.S.;
• to urge President Bush to engage with a number of international banking institutions to strongly encourage them to stop supporting oil transactions
with Sudan;
• to urge President Bush to sign an Executive Order in support of divestment;
• to urge President Bush to provide information and declassified intelligence to the International Criminal Court; and
• to urge President Bush to put credible plans in place for a no-fly zone and non-consensual force deployment to protect civilians if the situation dramatically deteriorates in Darfur.
Call 1-800-GENOCIDE to contact the White House and tell President Bush:
• that Plan B will only be effective if the U.S. works multilaterally to take punitive actions against the Government of Sudan;
• to impose targeted UN Security Council sanctions against persons responsible for crimes against humanity in Darfur and Sudanese companies already
sanctioned unilaterally by the U.S.;
• to engage with a number of international banking
institutions to strongly encourage them to stop supporting oil transactions with Sudan;
• to sign an Executive Order in support of divestment;
• to provide information and declassified intelligence to the International Criminal Court; and
• to put credible plans in place for a No-Fly Zone and non-consensual force deployment to protect civilians if the situation dramatically deteriorates in Darfur.
John Prendergast is on leave from his International Crisis Group work to help build ENOUGH, which he co-chairs. His bestselling book, Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond (www.notonourwatchbook.org), co-authored with actor/activist Don Cheadle, is available at book stores nationwide.
Colin Thomas-Jensen is taking leave from Crisis Group work to serve as Policy Adviser to ENOUGH.
WHAT YOU CAN DO—Lead Your Leaders
The mission of ENOUGH, a joint initiative of the International Crisis Group and the Center for American Progress, is to end crimes against humanity in Darfur, northern Uganda and eastern Congo, and to prevent future mass atrocities wherever they may occur. Each month, Crisis Group’s experts on the ground assess the dynamics in northern Uganda, and eastern Congo and provide ENOUGH with comprehensive field analyses of these crises. then outlines the challenges and obstacles to policy change and offers focused policy recommendations to end these mass atrocities. The monthly updates also support an activist agenda for how concerned citizens can affect policy change. ENOUGH employs a “3P” strategy focused on promoting durable peace efforts; providing protection for the innocent victims of mass atrocities and genocide; and punishing the perpetrators to break the cycle of impunity and will utilize field analysis and policy advocacy to empower a growing activist movement for change. Working with a broad range of activists and experts with extensive experience in the field and with government, multilateral, and non-governmental organizations, ENOUGH will also issue a series of policy proposals focused on what the international community, and particularly the United States, can do now to prevent mass atrocities and genocide in the future.
ENOUGH!
1333 H Street, NW, 10th Floor
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-682-1611 Fax: 202-682-1867
www.enoughproject.org
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Make Mother's Day Extra Happy
Use your Mother's Day present to help mothers you've never met! The links below will take you to catalogs which allow you to buy gifts that help others, the purchase of which directly help international aid organizations at work in Africa. All the charities listed in this post have gotten an "A" rating from the American Institute of Philanthropy (charitywatch.org), indicating that over 90% of their budget goes to relief work. In addition to supporting charities (or, in the case of ONE, an advocacy campaign), many of these products are FAIR TRADE or the handiwork of impoverished people. By purchasing from most of these sites, you are "giving" two times over: helping individuals directly and supporting a relief organization.
If you have a mom (or wife) who says "It's the thought that counts" and MEANS IT, try one of the choices below. These links also take you to places to buy gifts online which support "A"-rated relief organizations. In the cases below, however, the "gift" is really a personalized donation, which allows you to give the intended recipient of your gift a card stating that you bought school supplies for a classroom, or food rations or courses of AIDS drugs in the name of the recipient. Unlike raw donations, the amounts correlate to a specific usage, making the gift more "tangible" and meaningful.
Happy Mother's Day!
Africa News Round-Up
Progress on Punishing Those Responsible for the Genocide in Darfur:
(AP)The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for the Sudanese government’s humanitarian affairs minister and a janjaweed militia leader suspected of committing war crimes in Darfur, the court said Wednesday.
Ethiopia and Press Freedom:
(AP)Ethiopia tops a list of 10 countries — including three in sub-Saharan Africa — where press freedom has deteriorated over the past five years, a New York-based media advocacy group said Wednesday.
Three countries on the list — Ethiopia, Gambia and Congo — show that "democracy's foothold in Africa is shallow when it comes to press freedom. These three African nations, as diverse as they are, have won praise at times for their transition to democracy — but they are actually moving in reverse on press issues. Journalists in Ethiopia, Gambia, and DRC (Congo) are being jailed, attacked, and censored, a picture far worse than what we saw only a few years ago."
Ethiopia's Internet Repression
(Reuters) An Internet watchdog on Tuesday accused Ethiopia of blocking scores of anti-government Web sites and millions of Weblogs in one of sub-Saharan Africa's biggest cases of cyber-censorship.
SIGN THIS PETITION TO HELP FORCE AMERICAN COMPANIES TO STAND UP TO REPRESSIVE REGIMES. Google and other American companies allow Ethiopia and China to "block" blogs and webpages, in order to profit in these countries. If we are in the business of spreading democracy (and if Ethiopia is really our ally in the war against the anti-democratic terrorist ideology), we should encourage American companies to show, by example, how integral the "Fourth Estate" is to the democratic system.
Starbucks, Ethiopia, Strike Deal
Starbucks and the Ethiopian government agreed in principle on a licensing, distribution and marketing deal that recognizes the importance and integrity of the nation's specialty coffee names, they said in [a joint] statement.
The parties expect to formalize the details of the agreement and sign it this month.
"Ethiopia is firmly committed to work in partnership with all international specialty coffee companies and distributors of its fine coffees, including Harar, Sidamo and Yirgacheffe," said Getachew Mengistie, director general of the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office.
Aid agency Oxfam, which launched an campaign in October last year urging Starbucks to talk to Ethiopia directly on the issue, welcomed the move.
"This initiative will help create real change for the 15 million Ethiopians dependent on the country's coffee sector," Oxfam America President Raymond Offenheiser said.
Poverty is dire in Ethiopia, where a quarter of its 80 million people rely on coffee. The average Ethiopian's yearly income, in purchasing power parity terms, is around $1,000.
Eight Ethiopian Hostages Free
Eight Ethiopians made a tearful return to Addis Ababa on Thursday, two months after being kidnapped at gunpoint with five Europeans in the country's remote northeastern Afar region.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Don Cheadle on Darfur: "And Now What?"
That’s the message Don Cheadle and John Prendergast recently imparted at a lecture I attended, adding urgency and up-to-the-minute information to the passion expressed in their book, NOT ON OUR WATCH: THE MISSION TO END GENOCIDE IN DARFUR AND BEYOND
Don Cheadle, fresh from his role in HOTEL RWANDA, had heard about Darfur from Congressman Ed Royce (R-CA). A short time later, he met John Prendergast at a screening of the film, hosted by the New York Holocaust Museum. In 2005, NIGHTLINE captured Mr. Cheadle's journey to the camps in Chad, and the burned 1,500 villages in Darfur. The experience left him humbled, but he also felt it would be the height of hypocrisy to declare the platitudes of "Never Again" during the promotion of HOTEL RWANDA, but not do everything in his power to stop the killing in Darfur.
"If you're a parent, like I am, to see the children that are suffering as a result of what's happening in that region and also, finding yourself in a place where you can't believe you knew so little about, where so much is happening... It just struck a chord in me and touched a nerve that it's hard for me to do anything but ask myself afterward, "And now what? You've seen it, you know it, you've confirmed it, and now what?"
That lingering question led NOT ON OUR WATCH: THE MISSION TO END GENOCIDE IN DARFUR AND BEYOND, a book authored by the actor and Prendergast, a senior advisor to the International Crisis Group, an organizer of Enough! The Project to Abolish Genocide and Mass Atrocities and a former director of African affairs for the National Security Council (1996-99) and a special adviser to the State Department (1999-01). Prendergast has been working to end crises in Africa for 23 years.
Prendergast described Darfur as "Rwanda in slow motion". "In Rwanda, within 100 days, 800,000 lives were extinguished. Those people can't be brought back... Here in Darfur, it's going on NOW. It's a race between the killers in Khartoum and those who would intervene and stop the killing." Prendergast noted, sadly that during the entire 100 days of the Rwandan genocide, the US government didn't receive one letter from an American citizen, urging action. This time, he points out, is different. The crisis is moving slowly enough, and, "for whatever reason", Darfur has captured the imagination of the average citizen in such a way that it IS becoming a political issue. These two factors give Prendergast and others in the human rights community hope.
As Prendergast explains it, after years of brutal political repression from Khartoum, non-Arabs living in the Darfur region of Sudan began a small guerrilla war to fight for political representation. They successfully attacked about 30 Police and Army outposts in the region. Rather than engage with the guerrilla militias, Khartoum "contracted out" to the Janjaweed, a militia Prendergast describes as a Sudanese "Ku Klux Klan" -- a racially motivated, armed "lynch mob", essentially. The Janjaweed practices a slash and burn warfare against villagers, figuring if they kill or displace anyone who can give material support to the rebels, the rebellion will dry up. In the ensuing years, 1,500 villages were razed, 400,000 people were killed and millions were displaced, mostly to NGO-supported refugee camps in neighboring Chad.
"Phase Two" of the Janjaweed assault consists of attacking African Union Peacekeepers and NGOs (charities like Mercy Corp., Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, etc.), forcing them to pull out of the region, leaving the refugees abandoned and vulnerable. It is in the face of this mounting crisis, this attempted genocide against those who survived the first pogrom that requires stronger international intervention.
So far, the White House has offered a very mixed bag: Bush has rightfully called the crisis in Darfur a "genocide", but then has failed to take the next step, required by the Genocide Convention, signed after WWII, to take swift action to prevent the genocide and punish those responsible. Prendergast explains that while the US has provided funds and material support in the form of humanitarian aid to the refugees, it has refused to impose any real consequences on the Sudanese government.
The reasons are simple. First, Khartoum feels that by hiding behind the extra-governmental actors, the Janjaweed, it has plausible deniability. Second, after spending decades helping Osama Bin Laden, Sudan suddenly switched sides shortly after 9/11, becoming an "ally" on the war on terror. According to Prendergast, Sudan has vast intelligence on the financial structuring of Al Quaeda, and they are withholding that information from the US -- dangling it in front of our noses, as it were -- to provide themselves with an insurance policy against international interference. "Every time the US is about to get tough, Khartoum 'happens' to find another file." Finally, China is the major investor in Sudan and the biggest customer for Sudan's oil. To sanction Sudan would be to confront the Chinese, something few in Bush's inner circle wish to do. Prendergast insists that China is, in essence, "financially supporting genocide".
To answer criticism that the UN is obstructing the US on this issue, Prendergast pointed out that China has never once exercised it's veto power on the Security Council over a human rights issue. While everyone acknowledges that China is no champion of human rights, to put it mildly, they also don't want to be isolated as the only country publicly DEFENDING genocide. It is Prendergast's considered opinion, that with the US and Britain in lockstep, we could back China into a corner, essentially shaming China into going along with sanctions.
How do we move President Bush? This is the most interesting part of the lecture -- and, interestingly, due to it's timeliness, the part not covered in the book:
Don Cheadle exclaimed, "There is a decision being made very quickly. There's a way to make your voice heard while there's something that is pending." Prendergast elaborated: "The President has on his desk, or is about to get on his desk, very soon, something he's asked for. He said, ‘We are not doing enough to end this genocide.’ He's using this word, ‘genocide’, the first time a President has ever called a genocide by it's rightful name while it was ongoing. President Clinton didn't do it in '94 in Rwanda, famously using all kinds of verbal gymnastics, trying to circumvent what was believed to be a legal obligation, then, to act. President Bush, remarkably and courageously, used this term. Everyone thought it implied that he would act [due to the requirements of the Genocide Convention], then [Bush] didn't..."
Now, after mounting political pressure, especially from Christian and Jewish conservatives -- members of his base, Bush has asked for recommendations from National Security Advisor Steve Hadley. Those recommendations either have been or are soon to be delivered. The recommendations could range from instituting an arms embargo, freezing assets or travel bans that would restrict the movement of senior Sudanese officials. Other recommendations could include sending in more African Union Peacekeepers (ironically, including troops from a now peaceful Rwanda) or more UN Peacekeepers. Not even advocates like Prendergast believe it is in anyone's best interest to commit American troops.
This brings us full circle, to Mr. Cheadle's stark, honest question: AND WHAT NOW?
Relying on his own experience in the halls of government, Prendergast shared his plan of action, "Make some noise. Demand from your elected officials that they make this issue a priority and that they press the President of the Unites States to do so, to take the lead in undertaking the kinds of actions necessary within the international system and we can end this genocide very very quickly.
There's no K-Street lobbying firm advocating for genocide and crimes against humanity. It's in our hands. We don't have an opposition -- it's just inertia and indifference and ignorance that are our enemies on this issue.
From the experience I've had, [calling/writing/emailing/demonstrating] DOES make a difference. When a member of Congress or a Senator or the White House gets a slew of letters or emails or phonecalls, demanding action, they will respond. That's the way our system works."
For more great information on how to effectively work to end genocide, buy "Not On Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond" by Don Cheadle and John Prendergast. The book includes a thorough history of the Darfur genocide, Northern Uganda, Congo and (as those involved in Ethiopian adoptions are aware) Somalia. The book includes SIX INSPIRING WAYS TO ACT, three ways to stop genocide, a profile of "upstanders" -- normal citizens who are making a difference through creativity, and a HOST of incredibly valuable tips about how to effectively advocate (which would be useful for ANY kind of activism). The book also contains many emotional stories of the crisis and lots of first-person reporting by Don Cheadle as he canvases the globe in hopes that he can make his pledge "Never again" a reality.
SwerlAction:
Call The White House comment line this week, to demand stiff sanctions against the Sudanese government.
Here's the number -- (202) 456-1414
Talking Points (courtesy of www.savedarfur.org):
I'm calling because I am concerned about the violence in Darfur, Sudan.
I urge President Bush to implement "Plan B" without further delay.
Nearly two months have passed since the President's January 1st deadline for the Sudan to cooperate - it's time to act.
While calls are best, you can ALSO email the White House and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, urging them to take stronger action. The message will read:Every 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, I call on you to do the following:
Other resources:
1. Push for the immediate deployment of the already-authorized UN peacekeeping force.
2. Strengthen the understaffed African Union force already in Darfur until the UN force can be deployed.
3. Implement a fair and lasting Peace Agreement.
4. Increase humanitarian aid and ensure access for delivery.
SAVE DARFUR/Global Days for Darfur
Enough! The Project to Abolish Genocide and Mass Atrocities
www.sudandivestment.org - if you are part of any kind of mutual fund or pension fund, contact the mutual fund or pension fund manager and request that the fund DIVESTS ITSELF OF ANY SUDANESE INVESTMENTS. This kind of economic boycott helped bring an end to Apartheid.
Making China accountable
earth.google.com - Download Google Earth, find and click on Darfur to see an amazing presentation that gives you the reality of the situation through a massive on-line exhibit.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Darfur Days
On Friday, I heard an inspiring lecture by John Prendergast (International Crisis Group/www.enoughproject.org) and actor Don Cheadle on the genocide in Darfur.
I will have a proper post on Monday regarding the lecture, but that will be too late to urge everyone to attend a rally on Sunday (tomorrow). This is a crucial moment. President Bush has declared the crisis a "genocide", but has failed to live up to the International Genocide Convention, signed after WWII. His staff has recommended stiff sanctions against the Sudanese government, but Cheney and other members of his Cabinet are arguing against implimentation for various political reasons, including Sudan's intelligence capabilities against terrorists and maintaining good relations with China.
It could either way. Only popular pressure can encourage Bush to make the moral choice rather than the politically-expediant choice.
Attend a rally tomorrow (Sunday, April 29th). Go to SAVE DARFUR/Global Days for Darfur for information on rallies in your area. You can enter your zip code to pull up that information.
Also, if you cannot attend a rally, call The White House comment line this week, to demand stiff sanctions against the Sudanese government.
Here's the number -- (202) 456-1414
Talking Points (courtesy of www.savedarfur.org):
I'm calling because I am concerned about the violence in Darfur, Sudan.
I urge President Bush to implement "Plan B" without further delay.
Nearly two months have passed since the President's January 1st deadline for the Sudan to cooperate - it's time to act.
While calls are best, you can ALSO email the White House and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, urging them to take stronger action. The message will read:Every 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, I call on you to do the following:
1. Push for the immediate deployment of the already-authorized UN peacekeeping force.
2. Strengthen the understaffed African Union force already in Darfur until the UN force can be deployed.
3. Implement a fair and lasting Peace Agreement.
4. Increase humanitarian aid and ensure access for delivery.
