Following the weekend attack on Khartoum, the Sudanese government is calling JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim an agent of Israel and demanding that JEM leaders living abroad be labeled terrorists and handed over:
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Following the rebel attack on Khartoum over the weekend, the government has placed a nearly $250 million bounty on Khalil Ibrahim, head of the Justice and Equality Movement:
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On Friday, there were reports that the Sudanese government was stepping up its military presence in Kordofan amid concerns that the JEM rebels were preparing an attack. The JEM denied this at the time, but it looks like that is exactly what they had in mind:
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Nicolas Sarkozy seems to think it was at least partially responsible:
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It looks like the Senate has finally gotten around to realizing that, unlike Las Vegas, what happens in Darfur does not stay in Darfur:
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Just yesterday I wrote about just how chaotic and fractured the rebel movements are in Darfur and problems they are creating in trying to hammer out any sort of peace accord.

Well, today Reuters reports that five rebel groups have agreed to unite: (more…)

For my inaugural post on the crisis in Darfur, I’d like to provide you with a quick, concise overview of the situation on the ground: who are the good guys, who are the bad guys, how many people have died, how the UN force is shaping up, and what steps need to be taken to pacify the region.

Unfortunately, I can’t because the situation there has deteriorated so much over the last five years that is it nearly impossible to make head or tails out of what is exactly going on.

As noted Sudan expert Alex de Wall recently told the US Holocaust Memorial’s Committee on Conscience, “The reality of Darfur is nobody trusts anybody and absolutely nobody trusts the government.”

de Wall recently penned a three-part memo on his excellent blog, Making Sense of Darfur, in which he looked at mediation efforts in Darfur and attempted to explain who the various factions were and what they wanted and the problems they present individually and collectively to the currently stalled peace process:

Darfur also possesses its own special complications. It’s both an international war—between Sudan and Chad, which are acting as state belligerents with each seeking to topple the other—and a civil war. Its a war in which many of the locally-mobilized belligerents are ready to switch sides or withdraw from the conflict altogether.

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Darfur’s Arabs have not yet found their political voice. During the height of hostilities four and five years ago, a number of Arab militia leaders were complicit in horrendous atrocities. They paid a high price: the Arabs’ livelihoods were disrupted, they were demonized and discredited internationally—the label “Janjaweed” was applied indiscriminately to the Darfur Arabs—and they didn’t benefit from international humanitarian aid. Nor were they represented at the peace talks. In the last year, the Arabs have mobilized themselves independently. They are far from united, but their position—independent from the rebels, in a limited government embrace—is emerging.

Several important Arab militia leaders deserted the government last year. But they found no reliable partner among the rebel movements. Chad was not interested. Nor were they taken seriously by the international community. Unsurprisingly they went back to Khartoum. Their calculation is that Khartoum is the least unreliable interlocutor, and also the most likely to prevail, so they might as well deal with it.

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Into this middle of this protracted and intractable conflict, UNAMID is being deployed. Despite its Chapter VII mandate and its task of protecting civilians, it is in fact a classic peacekeeping force with a few ornaments. Not only is it deployed into a situation that is very far from a classic two-sided conflict, but there is no peace to keep. The ceasefire and security arrangements provisions of the DPA are respected by nobody. UNAMID cannot interpose itself between the belligerent parties. The Ceasefire Commission and the Joint Commission (the political oversight body for the CFC) are completely dysfunctional. These institutions are as important as UNAMID’s military forces and without them UNAMID is severely handicapped.

UNAMID forces themselves do not have the capacity to enforce their will militarily. Their mandate for civilian protection is mostly (not entirely) out of reach. Having more troops and armoured vehicles and helicopters will help but it will not address the fundamental problem that UNAMID cannot sustain a ceasefire which the parties are determined to violate and cannot provide overall security for a civilian population spread across such a large area.

The intricacies and details of this analysis might not be easily understandable to those who haven’t been following this issue for the last several years, but that is to be expected, as they aren’t all that understandable even to me, and I’ve been reading it about every day for five years. But suffice it to say that what began as a relatively straight-forward rebellion and counter-rebellion has slowly degenerated into borderline chaos.

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As a godless, terrorist-loving, America-hating, liberal fascist, I must humbly thank Feddie for his short-sightedness and gullibility in granting me access to this vaunted blog.

Since Feddie and I agree on next to nothing, it shows real courage on his part to ask me to join his fine blog where I could, if I wanted, write post after post about the abomination that is William Pryor or the utopia we will all inhabit once Barack Obama ascends to the White House.

But, as a considerate and fortunate guest here, I will not do such things and will, instead, confine myself to topics on which Feddie and I share a common concern:  human rights.

The majority of my posting will undoubtedly be on the on-going crisis in Darfur, though I will also cover the situations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the fracturing peace process in Northern Uganda, the looming threat in Zimbabwe, and related issues as they develop.

Feddie and I might not agree on much, be we do both care about these issues and I greatly appreciate his offer to allow me to post on these issues here in order to share developments with SA’s fine readers.

I am more of a “here’s what is happening” type of blogger, and less of a “here’s what needs to be done” type, but that doesn’t mean that Feddie or his readers will agree with my interpretations or explanations.  If that is the case, by all means, let me have it, though I hope that you will do so respectfully and intelligently, as that is how I intend to conduct myself in my guest-posting capacity (I cannot make this same pledge for my commenting on others’ posts, though.*)

So thank you to Feddie for inviting me to join SA and I look forward to covering this issues here and hopefully providing SA’s readers with a greater understanding of some of the on-going and developing human rights issues around the world.

* That is a joke … kinda.

Kudos to the good folks in San Francisco for protesting the Olympic-torch relay this month. China’s human-rights record is beyond disgraceful, and it sickens me to no end that its government is being allowed to host this summer’s games. And if that weren’t bad enough, China has the ability/influence to help end the genocide taking place in Darfur, but refuses to do anything because of the oil revenue it generates in Sudan. Here’s hoping that President Bush will reconsider his decision to attend the games.

I, for one, am getting sick and tired of the excuses offered for “engaging” China, a murderous and evil regime if there ever was one. I will have nothing to do with these Olympic games; and with all due respect to the hard-working athletes, I hope this summer’s Olympic games are an abject failure.    

RIP, brave souls.

Eugene expresses my sentiments well regarding the inclusion of the ongoing Darfur genocide as a “top news story” of 2006.

For all you Domers:

Please stop by the BLSA table in the law school lounge today for the “Save
Darfur” International Day of Service.

Educate yourself on the ongoing ethnic cleansing in Darfur, which has affected
millions…

Get a red ribbon to wear for a $1 minimum contribution (proceeds support humanitarian efforts by the International Committee for the Red Cross in Darfur)…

Participate in a letter writing and petition campaign to members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, demanding that the U.S. pressure the U.N. Security Council to sanction Sudan and withdraw its financial support to the Sudanese government.

Attend the candle light vigil tonight. Meet @ 6:15 pm by the flagpole  (Quad, in front of the law school), and we’ll head over to the Grotto for a moment of silence in memory of the Darfur victims.

Thanks,
Marlysha, BLSA Community Service Chair

I would have posted this earlier, but I just checked my gmail account for the first time today.

Anyway, I encourage all Domers to do what they can to help Marlysha get out the word about the genocide taking place in Darfur.

And God Bless Marlysha for her fine work on behalf of the people suffering so greatly in Darfur; for being a voice for the voiceless.

It is time for Republicans and Democrats to get off their asses and do something (anything) to stop the genocide taking place in Darfur.

The United States must be a voice for the voiceless, even if the rest of the international community is willing to stand idly by and watch the innocent die.

Foxnews is reporting on Bush and the U.S. putting pressure on Sudan.  Sudan seems to have responded to the pressure, in part, by retracting its statement that anyone who provides peacekeeping troops will be committing an act of war against Sudan.  What prompted  Bush’s attention–most likely the recent ads calling of Bush to stop the genocide.  That may have brought Darfur to the attention of the public, but there is no excuse for Bush not having started pressuring Sudan much sooner.  Let’s see if he keeps it up.

Kudos to the Governor:

“We cannot watch from the sidelines and be content to mourn this atrocity as it passes into history. We must act and that is exactly why we will divest from the Sudan. Divesting will show our defiance against the murderers and their inhumanity.”

Lord have mercy on us all for allowing this to take place on our watch.

The AP is reporting that “Sudan is launching a new offensive in Darfur”:

The Sudanese government has launched a major offensive against rebels in war-torn Darfur in recent days, human rights activists and African Union officials said Friday . . . .

Government troops Monday attacked and later occupied Kulkul, a rebel-held village north of Darfur’s provincial capital el Fasher, David Buchbinder of Human Rights Watch said by telephone from New York, citing local reports. Two other rebel-controlled villages have since reportedly fallen under government control.

This, of course, comes on the heels of numerous reports that the situation in Darfur is only getting worse. 

I can only second Daniel Allott’s plea that the international community not “forget Sudan.” 

He received as A+ from the Genocide Intervention Network for his noble efforts to address the genocide taking place in Darfur. 

The situation worsens.

The CFD has this tragic report.

Reuters has this report.

In case you were wondering, the genocide continues in Darfur. 

Please continue to pray for peace, and an end to this senseless tragedy.

Just a reminder that the genocide in Darfur continues to take place, and that Eugene Oregon remains steadfast in raising awareness of this human tragedy on a daily basis over at CFD.

God Bless you, Eugene.

Just a reminder that Eugene is still doing an excellent job of daily blogging on everything related to the genocide taking place in Darfur over at CFD.

Brian Steidle provides us with a visual presentation of the tragedy that is Darfur.

Mark Steyn yesterday:

I wish the celebs well. Those of us who wanted action on Darfur years ago will hope their advocacy produces more results than ours did. Clooney’s concern for the people of the region appears to be genuine and serious. But unless he’s also serious about backing the only forces in the world with the capability and will to act in Sudan, he’s just another showboating pretty boy of no use to anyone.

Here’s the lesson of the past three years: The UN kills.

The AP has this report about the deal, but “analysts immediately raised doubts about whether the agreement would stop the fighting or end attacks on civilians by government-backed militias.”

Last night’s episode of ER re: Darfur was well done. Kudos to the ER folks for bringing attention to the tragedy that is Darfur.

Reuters is reporting that “Darfur talks on brink of collapse.”

The AP has this report on tonight’s episode of ER.

Time has the latest.