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Aid groups pull out of Darfur refugee camp after rape

Aid groups have suspended operations in Darfur and may pull out of the Sudanese province after a French relief worker was raped, another sexually assaulted and an Oxfam employee was severely beaten at the world's largest refugee camp. (Alex Duval Smith and Jonathan Erasmus, Independent, 22 January 2007)

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2174975.ece

(Added: Thu Jan 25 2007   Modified: Mon Feb 05 2007   Hits: 53)

Darfur's Fragile Peace Agreement

According to this report, the peace agreement signed on 5 May has little chance of bringing any stability to Darfur unless the parties comply strictly and the international community acts decisively to support the peacekeeping mission. The deal depends heavily upon the goodwill of the parties, including the Khartoum government, which has broken many commitments in the past. International actors must shore up its security provisions, improve the return and recovery packages for displaced persons, bring in holdouts who have yet to sign, and rapidly deploy UN peacekeepers with Chapter VII authority. Significant violence has continued since the DPA was concluded, and the agreement will not hold unless the peacekeepers of the AU, and soon the UN, can deal robustly with the many spoilers who want to undermine it. (International Crisis Group, 20 June 2006)

http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?l=1&id=4179

(Added: Wed Jun 21 2006   Hits: 44)

No ownership, no peace: the Darfur peace agreement

This paper is based on the author's participation in the Darfur mediation process. The paper examines the deadline diplomacy and the failure of the AU and its international partners to distinguish between getting the parties to sign a peace agreement and obtaining their genuine consent to its terms and execution, and considers the psycho-political dynamics, balance of power and other factors that gave rise to the parties' reluctance to enter into real negotiations; and section 3 explore the ways in which the deadline diplomacy prevented the mediators from doing a proper job. (Laurie Nathan, Crisis States Research Centre, September 2006)

http://www.crisisstates.com/download/wp/wpSeries2/WP5.2.pdf

(Added: Wed Oct 18 2006   Modified: Thu Nov 30 2006   Hits: 162)

"Darfur: The Failure to Protect" [PDF - 500Kb]

Two years into the crisis in Darfur, the humanitarian, security and political situation is deteriorating. Atrocity crimes are continuing, people are still dying in large numbers from malnutrition and disease and a new famine is feared. The international community is failing to protect civilians itself or influence the Sudanese government to do so. The UN Security Council is currently negotiating a draft resolution that could begin to resolve the crisis if it is strong enough on civilian protection and accountability for atrocity crimes. But if Council divisions and veto threats again water down the final product as has happened several times already, the situation in Darfur will worsen. And it is likely to be only a matter of time until its poison affects the peace deal that was signed on 9 January 2005 to end the long war between the government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLM). The comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) signed by the government and the SPLM contains provisions and models that could form the basis of a political solution -- not only for the conflict in Darfur, but also for the east of Sudan where conditions are ripe for increased violence. But neither its elements nor the prospect it offers of new players, and eventually new policies, in the central government can have a quick impact in Darfur. That requires a much more robust international policy to reverse a deteriorating situation. (International Crisis Group, March 2005)

http://www.crisisgroup.org/library/documents/africa/horn_of_africa/089_darfur_the_failure_to_protect.pdf

(Added: Wed Mar 09 2005   Modified: Wed Apr 19 2006   Hits: 85)

"On Our Watch" - A Documentary About Genocide in Darfur

Three years of fighting in Darfur have destroyed hundreds of villages, displaced 2.2 million and led to more than 400,000 deaths. President Bush has accused the government of Sudan of genocide, but the U.S. has taken few concrete actions to stop the fighting. Narrated by Sam Waterston, this 11-minute documentary tells the story of those who have lost their loved ones to this war, those who are fighting to survive and those who are working to bring peace to the region. (Refugee International, 2006)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1587138622759665645&q=Refugees+International

(Added: Mon Aug 28 2006   Modified: Thu Jan 18 2007   Hits: 233)

"They Shot at Us as We Fled"Government Attacks on Civilians in West Darfur in February 2008

This 35-page report documents how attacks on several towns in West Darfur's "northern corridor" were a vicious reprise of Khartoum's "scorched earth" counterinsurgency tactics. The report, based on interviews with more than 60 witnesses and victims of the attacks in West Darfur, shows how Sudanese armed forces and government-backed "Janjaweed" militia killed and injured hundreds of civilians and destroyed and looted property. The attacks occurred on February 8, 18, 19 and 22, 2008, in the towns of Abu Suruj, Sirba, Silea, and in the villages in and around Jebel Mun, a mountainous rebel-held area in northern West Darfur (Human Rights Watch, 19 May 2008).

http://hrw.org/reports/2008/darfur0508/darfur0508web.pdf

(Added: Tue May 20 2008   Hits: 42)

'I will not sign'

In this essay in the London Review of books, Alex de Waal discusses the breakdown of Dafur peace talks which ran from 2004 to 2006. De Waal, who was directly involved in the talks, looks in depth at the various factions in the talks and why their competing agendas eventually led to an impass.

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n23/waal01_.html

(Added: Tue Apr 17 2007   Hits: 72)

A Tale of Two Genocides, Congo and Darfur: The Blatantly Inconsistent U.S. Position

As many as five million people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A quarter million or so have perished in Darfur, western Sudan. Both are abominations, genocides, crimes against humanity, but only Darfur rates coverage in the U.S. corporate media, action by the United States on the diplomatic and military front, or concerted interest by the Congressional Black Caucus. The Congolese genocide, triggered directly by the U.S. and its surrogates, is masked in silence. In Darfur, "Arabs" who are indistinguishable from their Black African Muslim neighbors are demonized as enemies in the "clash of civilizations." (Glen Ford, Black Agenda Report, 18 July 2007).

http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=284&Itemid=37

(Added: Fri Jul 20 2007   Hits: 101)

A Tale of Two Genocides: The Failed U.S. Response to Rwanda and Darfur

This report by Africa Action identifies patterns in the response of the United States and the international community to the Rwandan genocide in 1994 and to the current genocide in Darfur, Sudan. It explores the similarities and differences in the reaction of policymakers and the public, and it examines the important lessons the have yet to be learnt. Finally, the report lays out the actions needed now from the United States to stop the genocide in Darfur. It underscores the possibility and necessity of a more urgent and effective U.S. response to this genocide, and the obligation of the entire international community to assert its responsibility to protect the people of Darfur. (Africa Action, September 9 2006)

http://www.africaaction.org/resources/page.php?op=read&documentid=2087&type=6&issues=1024

(Added: Tue Sep 26 2006   Hits: 145)

Abandoning Abyei

THis Human Rights Watch report 'documents human rights violations committed by SAF forces and allied militia before, during, and after clashes with Sudanese Peoples' Liberation Army (SPLA) of Southern Sudan between May 13 and 21. Abyei inhabitants who had fled south of the town told Human Rights Watch that SAF soldiers shot civilians who were trying to flee, and detained and then arbitrarily killed others.' (Human Rights Watch, 22, July, 2008)

http://hrw.org/reports/2008/sudan0708/sudan0708webwcover.pdf

(Added: Thu Jul 24 2008   Hits: 7)

Achievements on humanitarian access in Darfur 'fast falling apart'

Oxfam Media Release, Friday 19 November 2004. Security in Darfur has deteriorated over the past two weeks leaving nearly 200,000 people in Darfur cut off from vital aid supplies. The last Security Council resolution on Darfur noted improved humanitarian access, but since then the situation has deteriorated and access is worse than it was four months ago, warned international agency Oxfam, on the eve of the UN Security Council's latest resolution on Sudan.

http://www.oxfam.org/en/news/pressreleases2004/pr181104_sudan.htm

(Added: Fri Nov 19 2004   Modified: Tue Sep 12 2006   Hits: 96)

Aid to Sudan, though hefty, leaves gaps

As Sudanese peace negotiations continue in Abuja, Nigeria, the humanitarian crisis in Darfur goes on unabated. The World Food Program, which is providing emergency food assistance to some six million refugees in the Sudan, has announced that it will have to halve rations as a result of donors falling far short of their pledges. Humanitarian agencies, activists, and diplomats are all urging for increased action to stem the disaster. (Howard LaFranchi, The Christian Science Monitor, 2 May 2006)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0502/p03s03-usfp.html

(Added: Thu May 04 2006   Hits: 56)

Aid workers killed in Darfur

Save the Children New Zealand, 14 December 2004. Two Save the Children staff were brutally killed yesterday in South Darfur, Sudan. Abhakar el Tayeb, a Medical Assistant, and mechanic Yacoub Abdelnabi Ahmed were travelling in a convoy of clearly marked humanitarian vehicles when they came under fire on the main road between Mershing and Duma. Save the Children operates a feeding centre and medical clinics in the area. Our humanitarian operations in South Darfur are currently suspended while we review the situation. An African Union investigation is underway.

http://www.savethechildren.org.nz/new_zealand/newsroom/tragedy_sudan.html

(Added: Wed Dec 15 2004   Modified: Wed Dec 07 2005   Hits: 184)

All in a day's work: 200,000 refugees and roving bandits

Few volunteers last six months in eastern Chad, but aid worker Claire Bourgeois has spent two years here for the UNHCR, responsible for all 200,000 Darfur refugees. (Claire Soares, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 July 2006)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0720/p01s02-woaf.html

(Added: Fri Jul 21 2006   Modified: Thu Aug 17 2006   Hits: 227)

Appeasement Driven by Oil: The Bush Administration and Darfur

The ongoing slaughter in Darfur turns out to be significantly connected to oil exploration, and thus the oil explorers, the Europeans and the Chinese. In late August, the Bush administration launched the mid-term election season in the United States country with a round of "appeasement" charges against the opponents of its war in Iraq. This article considers that charge of "appeasement" in the context of the genocide in Darfur and the oil race in that region. (David Morse, TomDispatch, 2006)

http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?emx=x&pid=124232

(Added: Thu Oct 19 2006   Modified: Fri Oct 27 2006   Hits: 104)

Avoiding Conflict in the Horn of Africa

The greater Horn of Africa-including Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda-is a region of strategic importance. It is also a region in crisis. Commissioned by the Council's Center for Preventive Action this report presents a comprehensive picture of this neglected part of the world and suggests what the United States can do to address the multiple challenges to stability and peace. (Terence Lyons,Council on Foreign Relations, December 2006)

http://www.cfr.org/content/publications/attachments/Ethiopia_EritreaCSR21.pdf

(Added: Tue May 15 2007   Hits: 77)

BBC Resources: Sudan - A nation divided

Regularly updated, this website page is an excellent resource on the crisis in the Sudan. Features include the stories of refugees, the diary of an aid worker, interviews with the militia and solidiers in the rebel army, photos essays, news stories and in depth analysis.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/africa/2004/sudan/default.stm

(Added: Fri May 05 2006   Hits: 109)

Beyond Victimhood: Women's Peacebuilding in Sudan, Congo and Uganda

Countries in crisis and the wider international community must do much more to support women's involvement in solving Africa's deadliest conflicts. In Sudan, Congo and Uganda, an array of women's organisations and leaders are doing remarkable work, under difficult circumstances, especially in community organisations and informal conflict resolution mechanisms. Still, women remain marginalised in formal peace processes and post-conflict governments. Donors and others in the international community all need to do much more to offer sustainable support rather than just rhetoric. It is not merely a question of fairness or equity: women make a difference in part because they often adopt a more inclusive approach toward security and address key social and economic issues that would otherwise be ignored. Peace agreements, post-conflict reconstruction and governance work better when women peace activists are involved. (International Crisis Group, 28 June 2006)

http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?l=1&id=4185

(Added: Thu Jun 29 2006   Modified: Thu Jul 13 2006   Hits: 283)

Call on investors: stand up for human rights in Darfur

Press some of the most powerful companies in the world to use their influence to help end the human rights catastrophe in Darfur.

http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/c.jhKPIXPCIoE/b.2590179/k.C43E/Take_Action_Online/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=jhKPIXPCIoE&b=2590179&aid=9310

(Added: Fri Nov 16 2007   Hits: 129)

CHAD-SUDAN: Islamic community failing Darfur victims, rights groups say

Human rights advocates and religious leaders are using a conference in Dakar to tell leaders of predominantly Muslim countries they are failing the people of Darfur. (IRIN, 16 March 2008)

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=77227

(Added: Mon Mar 17 2008   Hits: 39)

Crackdown in Khartoum

This 28-page Human Rights Watch report documents Sudanese government repression in Khartoum following the May 10 attack by the Darfur-based rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). Eyewitnesses suggest that more than 60 civilians were killed during the fighting. The government has detained hundreds of people but has provided no information on their identities, whereabouts, or any charges against them. Most of the people arrested were, or appeared to be, from Sudan's Darfur region, indicative of a discriminatory intent.

http://hrw.org/reports/2008/darfur0608/darfur0608web.pdf

(Added: Thu Jun 19 2008   Hits: 9)

Crisis in Darfur

The International Crisis Group's Darfur Campaign page. This page provides both background and current information on the humanitarian situation in Sudan, links to where you can find out more about the conflict, and information on what you can do about it.

http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=2700&l=1

(Added: Tue Jun 15 2004   Modified: Wed Dec 07 2005   Hits: 600)

CRISIS PROFILE-What's going on in Sudan's Darfur?

This article, in question-and-answer format, provides a concise background for the present crisis in Darfur, asking: What is the humanitarian crisis in Darfur? What's holding up the aid? Why are the attacks happening? Has this got anything to do with oil? What is the connection between this conflict and Sudan's war between north and south? Does the conflict also have local roots? What are the ethnic groups in the area? Who is displaced and who is in the militia? Is this partly a struggle between pastoralists and farmers over land? Why would the government support the militia? Who are the rebels? How is Chad involved? Why are observers so alarmed about the conflict in Darfur, apart from the obvious humanitarian crisis? (Reuters AlertNet, 14 June 2005)

http://www.alertnet.org/thefacts/reliefresources/11198858462.htm

(Added: Mon May 01 2006   Hits: 53)

CrisisWatch N°36, 1 August 2006

In 36 months of publishing CrisisWatch, the International Crisis Group has not recorded such severe deteriorations in so many conflict situations as in the past month. The Middle East erupted with full-scale conflict between Israel and Hizbollah in south Lebanon, and there was a major escalation in Israel's conflict with Hamas in Gaza. Insecurity and sectarian violence surged in Iraq, claiming over 100 civilian lives daily. Somalia sits on the brink of all-out civil war, which is drawing in the wider region: Ethiopian troops entered Somalia to support the transitional federal government, and Eritrea is arming the opposing Union of Islamic Courts. In Sudan, implementation of the Darfur Peace Agreement was at a standstill, with rebels split, and fighting, over the agreement. The Mumbai bombings that killed over 200 had wider implications for the normalisation process between India and Pakistan. Tensions rose dramatically on the Korean Peninsula after Pyongyang fired seven test missiles. The situation also deteriorated in Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire and Haiti. Four situations showed improvement in July 2006: The Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Timor-Leste, and Cyprus. (ICG, 1 August 2006)

http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?l=1&id=4296

(Added: Wed Aug 02 2006   Hits: 112)

Darfur Bleeds: Recent Cross-Border Violence in Chad

The crisis in Darfur, Sudan, which has been trickling into Chad for the better part of three years, is now bleeding freely across the border. A counterinsurgency carried out by the Sudanese government and its militias against rebel groups in Darfur, characterized by war crimes and "ethnic cleansing," has forcibly displaced almost two million civilians in Darfur and another 220,000 people who have fled across the border into Chad. The same ethnic "Janjaweed" militias that have committed systematic abuses in Darfur have staged cross-border raids into Chad, attacking Darfurian refugees and Chadian villagers alike, seizing their livestock and killing those who resist. This report is based on a Human Rights Watch research mission to eastern Chad in January-February 2006. (Human Rights Watch, February 2006)

http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/africa/chad0206/

(Added: Thu May 04 2006   Modified: Thu Jan 18 2007   Hits: 185)

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