Urgent Time to Act

SUDAN/SOUTH SUDAN

“Our concerns are heightened by clashes reported yesterday between the national armies of Sudan and South Sudan in Lake Jau and other border areas,” Melissa Fleming, Spokesperson, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Over the past three days, new bomb attacks paralyze strategic areas of Sudan. Antonov planes dropped more than 40 bombs on the villages of Dika, Bain, Keda, Jok and Senagarai in North Darfur. Meanwhile, ground troops in six tanks and 150 vehicles moved in to the villages beating male residents, looting and burning houses. The soldiers also reportedly raped more than 30 women and girls and arrested ten of the men.

In addition, Unity State Minister of Information Gideon Gatpan said Sudan dropped at least three bombs near oil fields in the town of Bentiu. The bombings come one day after Sudan and South Sudan clashed in the disputed border town of Jau, prompting Sudan to cancel President Omar al-Bashir’s trip to meet with South Sudan President Salva Kiir next week.

Making the humanitarian crisis more pressing and horrific is the refugee situation as thousands of displaced Sudanese face mass starvation and chronic water shortages.

“It took 17 days to walk here. We were facing hunger on the way, and that’s how other people starved to death, and with the rains, a lot of people lost their lives from pneumonia. The water here is not enough… People end up fighting at the water point.” Hamid Yussef Bashir, one of around 37,000 refugees in Jamam camp in South Sudan’s Upper Nile State.

There is an urgent need to relocate fleeing refugees in order to avoid civilian casualties “among a population that has already endured a great deal of trauma,” Melissa Fleming, spokesperson, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

In total, more than 105,000 Sudanese refugees forced to flee from attacks in the states of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile have ended up in South Sudan and neighboring Ethiopia.

When will signed peace treaties equate to zero civilian deaths and human rights abuses?

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

Is corporate accountability possible? Human-rights groups, led by the Canadian Association Against Impunity (CAAI) and survivors of a massacre in the Katanga province of Democratic Republic of Congo have turned to the Supreme Court of Canada to sue a Canadian mining company on behalf of the victims of a massacre in Congo. Congolese families are seeking to appeal the Quebec Court of Appeal’s decision to dismiss a human rights case against the Canadian corporation Anvil Mining Limited. The company is alleged with providing logistical support including planes, trucks and drivers to Congolese troops who massacred over 100 unarmed civilians in Katanga province in 2004. The port was key to the operation of a copper mine, the exit point for $500,000 worth of copper and silver every day.

“My father has not lived to see justice delivered,” said Dickay Kunda (whose father, a policeman, was badly beaten and tortured while in military custody). His 22-year-old sister Dorcas also died after being raped by soldiers. “But after more than seven years, we now look to the Supreme Court of Canada for justice,” he added.

If the Supreme Court decides to hear the case, advocates say the ruling could set a precedent for whether corporations can be held accountable for their involvement in human rights violations committed abroad. However a 2010 UN report says that “the Kilwa case demonstrates the difficulty in proving the legal responsibility of private companies in the perpetration of human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law.”

We, as responsible consumers have the voice and power to urge corporate accountability. We can do this by putting pressure and seeking justice on corporations who greedily make profit from exploiting populations and committing human rights abuses and also we can commit to buying conflict-free products.

BURMA

As we await Burma’s elections on April 1, the Burmese government has allowed the United Nations to ship a second round of humanitarian aid to rebel-controlled areas in northern Kachin state. It is only the second time the government has let international aid to enter areas controlled by the Kachin Independence Organization.

But unfortunately, the aid doesn’t come close to addressing the needs of tens of thousands of displaced ethnic Kachin. Aye Win, a U.N. spokesman in Rangoon, says the aid is not enough. He says there are at least 50,000 people displaced and in need of sustained help.

The UN has grown slightly more verbose over the matter, requesting that aid deliveries be continued well into the future (OCHA says food insecurity could last until the end of 2013). I urge that there needs to be a sustained commitment to humanitarian assistance to the 60,000 people in Kachin.

Darfur War is “Over”?

According to a United Nations military commander, the war between Darfur and the Sudanese government has ended -

Banditry, localized issues, people trying to resolve issues over water and land at a local level. But real war as such, I think we are over that.

Great news right? Not so fast.

I agree with Sudan analyst Gill Lusk in that, even if the war is “over”, the people of Darfur continue to be overwhelmed with other obstacles. The local issues mentioned by the military commander are very real and debilitating – and also include hardships such as a lack of food, shelter, and medical aid.

In the words of Lusk -

There has been a large decline in fighting in Darfur, and that is undoubtedly a good thing for the people…But it is the government that turns the tap on and off – they can restart the violence whenever they want.

So yes, the military commander’s words should make us happy, but do they mean we should close the chapter on Darfur? Absolutely not.

The R2P Debate

The United Nations General Assembly recently debated the concept of “R2P” or the “responsibility to protect” – which describes “a nation-state’s duty to support and defend its population” to prevent atrocities such as genocide and ethnic cleansing from occurring.

The consensus is that there are three pillars supporting the idea of R2P -

1. Responsibility of nation-states to protect their own people
2. Responsibility of the international community to assist sovereign states in need
3. Responsibility of the UN to use collective force when a nation-state fails to protect its own people.

Click here to read a great article discussing the R2P principle and the controversy that the third pillar often creates when it comes to current issues such as Darfur and the Congo.

Darfur – Only “Remnants of Genocide”

What we see is the remnants of genocide.

Those words were spoken today by US Special Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration whose recent trip to Darfur did not convince him that a genocide is TAKING place – only that a genocide TOOK place.

Gration also remarked that the humanitarian gap caused by Sudan’s expulsion of major aid groups in March has been “essentially closed”.

Perhaps Gration is simply trying to exhibit optimism. Perhaps he’s out to improve the image of Sudan.

Whatever the reason behind his words today, I’m left confused.

Just two days ago, US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice called Darfur a present “genocide”. Less than two weeks ago, the man who appointed Gration, US President Barack Obama, referred to Darfur as a ”genocide that’s taking place”.

How can people working together lack consensus on something like this? Yes, Darfur was a genocide in 2003. It was a genocide in 2006. And it is a genocide today. The means of carrying out the genocide may have changed but the motive is the same.

Rape – A Weapon of War

Today, an expert spoke with several US senators about a common weapon of war.

No, that weapon was not guns nor was it bombs. It was rape.

Rape is far too often used as a means of bringing down the enemy during a war – as is the case currently in Darfur and the Congo (DRC).

1100 rapes are reported in the Congo every month – that’s 36 women and girls victimized each day! And just think about the number of incidents that go unreported.

According to the State Department’s ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues -

Rape is employed as a weapon because it is effective…it destroys the fabric of society from within and does so more efficiently than do guns or bombs…the apparent purpose is to leave a lasting and inerasable signal to others that the woman has been violated.

US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice plans to travel to Africa to discuss the issue of rape in war-torn societies – an issue referred to as a “shame on the human race” by California senator Barbara Boxer.

Also today – the US was elected to the UN Human Rights Council. Let’s hope we make the most of it.

Is Darfur A Genocide?

An article in today’s LA Times written by Edmund Sanders questions whether or not the situation in Darfur is a “genocide” – by the term’s legal definition.

Sanders’ piece is controversial and provocative – showing us just how powerful the “G-word” can be.

I firmly believe that the Darfur crisis is a genocide – without question. However, I also agree with Darfur advocate John Prendergast -

Well-meaning scholars can disagree, but the debate is a crushing diversion from what we need to do to find a solution.

People can bicker back-and-forth all they want about whether Darfur is or is not a genocide. But, how is that helping the situation on the ground?

Millions of people struggle to survive without food, water, and medical supplies while we question just how bad their situation is? Unacceptable.

Click here to read the legal definition of “genocide” – and decide for yourself.

26 Million Strangers in Their Own Homes

According to a European aid organization, there were 26 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in 2008.

IDPs differ from refugees because, although they flee their homes, they do not cross any borders. Sadly, they are homeless in their homeland.

Three countries account for approximately 45% of the IDPs – Sudan (4.9 million displaced), Colombia (2.7 – 4.4 million displaced), and Iraq (2.8 million displaced).

According to UN humanitarian chief John Holmes -

The IDPs are the real human face very often of conflict and disaster…the scale at the moment is horrific…the physical and psychological suffering that people go through in this situation cannot be underestimated…too often, I think, they are the forgotten remnants of crises.