By Mariko Lamb – Talk Radio News Service

Major General Scott Gration, a U.S. special envoy to Sudan, discussed a comprehensive strategy for that nation in preparation of UNAMID’s 2011 peace referendum and Sudan’s April 2010 elections.

“We want a country that is governed responsibly, justly, democratically, a country that’s at peace with itself and its neighbors, that’s economically viable, a country that works together with the United States in common interests,” Gration said in an address to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Thursday.

In order to meet these objectives, “we need some space on sanctions,” he said, calling on Congress to help lift sanctions that restrict access to certain Sudanese ports. Such sanctions, he said, block access of trains carrying essential equipment and personnel for health care and education. They “are hindering me from being able to bring development to the south,” he added.

Gration said he believes that by establishing an environment that helps leaders in the north and south of Sudan reach twelve areas of agreement of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the U.S. can help Sudan reach a major milestone on the road to peace. “We created the environment so that the two parties, NCP and SBLN, could make the agreements,” Gration explained.

“It’s getting significantly better, but that doesn’t mean that we need to stop our efforts,” he said.

In addition to lifting sanctions, “we need more people,” Gration said. He recently requested three additional full-time employees from the U.S. State Department of State to assist him in fostering peace in Sudan.

The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, is this week providing an update to the Security Council regarding the recent ICC’s investigation in Darfur, Sudan. This is the first briefing following the ICC judges’ issuance of an arrest warrant for the President of Sudan, Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir, in response to allegations of attacks and human rights violations on civilians in Darfur.

The Coalition’s  for the ICC’s (CICC’s) Omar Ismail, Advisor of the ENOUGH project based in El-Fashir, Sudan said “The Prosecutor is right. Al-Bashir should be brought to justice. We must end this –it has been six years. It is the government of Sudan against its own people with the intention to do harm.  I know the women who were raped. The marching orders were given by Sudan, dismembered bodies were thrown in water resources.”

Ismail urged President Obama and the government of the United States to support the Darfurians and to “ensure Darfurians will see their day in court.” He added the government of Sudan is doing everything in their power to cause suffering in  Darfur and the world should say “no this cannot happen. ”

The Enough Project, the Save Darfur Coalition, and the Genocide Intervention Network today issued a statement in response to President Barack Obama’s remarks in Cairo:

“If the Cairo speech was intended to outline shared challenges that America and the Muslim world should confront together, President Obama’s failure to call for a joint push for peace in Sudan is a glaring omission. A passing reference to suffering in Darfur is insufficient.

“The President rightly called the situation in Darfur ‘a stain on our collective conscience,’” said Enough Project Executive Director John Norris, “but that is not enough. The president needs to articulate a clear vision of how a lasting peace is going to be achieved for all of Sudan, and demonstrate through his actions rather than just his words that this is a political priority. The situation in Darfur deserves more than a single sentence of the president’s attention.”

The ICC Coalition claims there are strong public indications that following the ICC’s March 4 2009 arrest warrant for Al-Bashir, the Sudanese government has “grown increasingly more uncooperative.” Members believe that in response, the government has stepped-up attacks on innocent civilians ignoring United Nations Security Council Resolution 1593 was approved in March 2005 which states:

“The Council decided also that the Government of the Sudan and all other parties to the conflict in Darfur would cooperate fully with the Court and Prosecutor, providing them with any necessary assistance.

The Council decided further that nationals, current or former officials or personnel from a contributing State outside the Sudan which was not a party to the Rome Statute would be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of that contributing State for all alleged acts or omissions arising out of or related to operations in the Sudan authorized by the Council or the African Union, unless such exclusive jurisdiction had been expressly waived by that contributing State.”

Richard Dicker from Human Rights Watch added “There are these charges approved by the judges, that Al-Bashir is wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity-but it is essential to scrap away diplomatic double speak. There are over 700,000 dead in Darfur. Several hundred thousand have been forced into a miserable exile as refugees in Chad.”

He added when the Security Council meets, the expectation should be to make clear that Sudan is obligated to cooperate with the court on a legal basis — Resolution 1593. Sudan must surrender Al-Bashir, Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb and support an end to impunity and justice for victims. Dickers said the closed door discussions are unfortunate and should be merited by the specific constructive nature of the discussion to support Security Council Resolution 1593.

Dickers emphasized the efforts to suspend proceedings against Al-Bashir have failed. He also said the efforts of Libya and Algeria to label the ICC as biased against Africa are invalid and are causing a delay in prosecuting these war criminals.

When prompted by TRNS with a question on the recent debate by critics that the ICC is a colonial system set up as racist against African countries, Dickers replied that it is this precise ideological agenda that is being used as the reference to past crimes under colonial rule by a number of European regimes which were horrific, “but hardly provide justification for the crimes being committed today.”

He also said that serious crimes against humanity have been committed in Gaza and Southern Lebanon in recent months by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), which has yet to be properly held accountable.

By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service

The Congressional Black Caucus welcomed actress and activist Mia Farrow Tuesday for the launch of the Darfur Fast for Life Campaign. According to a press release form Congressman Donald Payne’s office, the campaign calls on the CBC and others “to fast in solidarity with the Darfuri people who are suffering at the hands of the Omar al-Bashir regime in Sudan.”

Farrow discussed her experiences while in the region and said, “I was there when a school on the edge of the Darfur-Chad border was named the Obama school and with it there were so many expressions of hope.”

Farrow also said that as she stood in front of the Capitol she was reminded of how the American people are defining themselves. She commented that Americans are “bystanders to a genocide.”

Farrow is working to change this image and fasted for twelve days to call attention to the problems in Darfur. United States Representative and Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, Donald Payne (D-NJ) began a three-day water-only fast of his own on May 11, 2009, to prompt congressional leaders and the Obama administration to keep Darfur high on their list of priorities.

Omer Ismail, a Sudanese and senior advisor for Enough:the project to end genocide and crimes against humanity said, “We are trying to see to it that the United States is going to help end this tragedy in Darfur and bring peace to the whole Sudan because Darfur is a state or a region in Sudan that is ridded with problems. But it is part of the bigger problem of Sudan that is security, democracy, peace and a rule of law.”

By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service

Actress and activist, Mia Farrow, discusses the significance of calling attention to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, with the U.S. Capitol as a backdrop. (0:20)

 

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By Celia Canon- Talk Radio News Service

Top Senate Democrats and State Department officials reiterated their intent to help Sudan and the DRC with its rape problem.

According to Melanne Verveer, the U.S. State Department Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, “36 women are raped daily” in Sudan.

“This must stop,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). “As colleagues we must come together – across all the lines that normally divide us – to end this madness…If raping an infant is not a crime against humanity, I don’t know what is.”

The attention of lawmakers was piqued after the release of reports by Human Rights Watch, which said that “the number of women and girls raped since January has significantly increased in areas of military operations by armed groups and soldiers of the Congolese Army.”

Boxer explained the need to intervene immediately as one representing more than a humanitarian crisis. “If raping an infant is not a rime against humanity, I don’t know what is” she said.

According to Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), “The United States has an important role to play, in helping to facilitate such initiatives and ensure sound policies are implemented”.

DRC-based journalist Chouchou Namegabe Nabintu said that “The rapes are targeted and intentional, and are meant to remove the people from their mineral-rich land through fear, shame, violence, and the intentional spread of HIV throughout entire families and villages.”

Verveer said that the problem can not be resolved by attempting to prosecute perpetrators. “The law enforcement personnel and magistrates continue to treat rape and sexual violence in general with a marked lack of seriousness,” she said. But, “a solution must be found to stop the war and restore an order that will have to be completely reshaped in order to reduce the power the soldiers now have,” she said.

”Ending the conflict is the most important direct and certain path to ending the violence. Peace negotiations … should remain our highest priority” said Verveer.

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) quoting a Refugees International report which states that rape in Darfur is used by the government as a weapon against society. (0:36)

 

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John Holmes, who heads up the UN’ s humanitarian operations, briefed reporters on the current food and emergency aid crisis in Sudan. Some 16 national and international Non Governmental Organizations have been kicked out of the country due to President Al-Bashir’s anger at being called to the International Criminal Court.

Over 1.1 million people have been affected by these recent actions.  On the question of  genocide, Holmes replied, “The Secretary-General has issued a report which will debated by the General Assembly and there will be interventions –aid cannot be provided unless there is cooperation with the government. Governments can be part of the problem–but the UN in terms of the responsibility to protect, is doing its job.”

“The UN has continuously urged these decisions to be reversed,” he added.

An assessment released by the UN Special Representative in Sudan this morning underscored, currently, over 850,000 people are still receiving potable water, and up to 650,000 do not have access to full health care.

“What the assessment essentially shows, while efforts are being made to plug some of the gaps, these are band-aid solutions and not long term solutions,” Holmes added.

In nutritional and health, there are significant numbers of malnourished and diseased areas. People also need non-food items, like cooking equipment–and the rainy season is coming up in two months. Staffing, surveillance, monitoring and financial and bureaucratic impediments remain key concerns.

“We also need to rebuild trust and rebuild an operating environment. This technical joint assessment is a first in many steps. The key tests still lie ahead,” said Holmes. A local aid worker from Canada was shot dead this morning in Darfur and security is a serious concern.  When prompted on Al-Bashir ’s actions, Holmes replied, “we cannot expect these problems to be resolved quickly. This is a long-term problem.”

The Sudanese government through its UN Ambassador has denied there are gaps and that illnesses including meningitis have been exaggerated by the international media. Holmes said the UN is now “looking for ways to fill the gaps.”

Today, the United Nations Security Council heard from a long list of member states on piracy in Somalia. The Council reviewed reports on bringing the country back from the brink of disaster. The Djibouti agreement was cited as the helpful path out of the crisis and conflict. The agreement underscores through the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia and the Alliance for Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) to, “ensure the cessation of all armed confrontation and a political settlement for a durable peace; promote a peaceful environment; avoid a security vacuum; facilitate the protection of the population and the unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance and call for the convening of a reconstruction and development.”

The agreement also emphasizes that a whole generation of young people and adults have been sacrificed or denied education and development. The humanitarian situation is continuously deteriorating throughout the country. At the same time, the country’s international image and standing have been seriously undermined due to piracy off the Somali coasts.  Eighteen years of war and conflict have not brought peace or stability and member states including the Untied Kingdom, Mexico, Burkina Faso, United States, France, Japan and China among others gathered to promote the Djibouti agreement.  The main goal of the session was to ensure the territorial integrity of Somalia while protecting civilians from corruption, piracy and rebel groups. The Special Representative to the Secretary-General on Somalia, Mr. Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, stated to Council members that “an integrative approach and large resources remain for Somalia. Timely and effective disbursement should be done effectively and by transparent means. On piracy, it is an offshore repletion. But the naval presence is a good opportunity to protect our coasts.”

The Security Council has also scheduled an open meeting on Darfur for today. The government of Sudan and the United Nations finished assessments on Darfur and the review report states 16 NGO’s have been kicked out of the country due to the call for Al-Bashir’s arrest by the International Criminal Court. The main concerns now are water, sanitation, hygiene, food aid and non-food items and shelter. The review will be public on March 22nd.

On Afghanistan, the Special Representative for the country briefed the Security Council yesterday.  There will be a meeting held on Afghanistan in the Hague at the end of this month. The Special Representative stated countries need to work to end the  “doom and gloom atmosphere” in his country.

On the DR CONGO, there was a resumption of civilians displaced as rebel Hutu groups known as the FDLR have continued attacks on villages in North Kivu. UN Spokesperson Montas stated these attacks have not halted the return of FDLR troops back to Rwanda under a joint agreement signed by the two parties early this year.

A nuclear weapon free zone in Central Asia pact has been ratified today by all five Asian states including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

Ambassador Susan Rice discussed the situation in Sudan at the Security Council. UNIMID 64% of its authorized strength. There is urgency to get to 100 %. There was a cost free air bridge to the area to get in heavy equipment. The United States welcomes the efforts by the United Nations and the African Union. Agreement signed in Doha is the a first step. UNIMID has had bravery. There is extreme disappointment because of one member state to not give its support to condemning GEM and others. The action of one member state is getting in the way. The United States all rebel groups to join along with Civil Society to join in negotiations. Libya is alone in the security council.

The Sudan Ambassador to the UN was very upbeat about the “landmark” achievement signed in Doha today, The French Government is still holding a rebel leader from joining in the peace progress. The issues related to Darfur are very clear and now the root causes will also be discussed. Our country is fully united behind our President. We will continue to rally behind our president. Peace in Darfur will heal wounds. Many countries are favoring Article 16 but other countries have other views. It is ironic that the US is asking for the ICC (International Criminal Court) but the US is not a member of the ICC.

Christian Wenewaser, Ambassador of Liechtenstein and President of the Assembly of States Parties for the International Criminal Court (ICC) sat down with TRNS this afternoon to give us an update on the recent actions of the court. There has been a lot of movement taken this week as a criminal court sentenced a Sudanese man, Mohammed Al-Sirri,  to 17 years in prison after convicting him on Wednesday of spying for the ICC. Al-Sirri’s evidence into the Darfur conflict could lead to an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir.

Al-Sirri is the first Sudanese to face charges at home of collaborating with the ICC court in The Hague and its investigation into Darfur crimes. The United Nations says up to 300,000 people have been killed in the six-year old conflict with over 2.7 million people displaced.

Wenaweser said that the ICC has just received the information on Al-Sirri’s arrest. “it is a disturbing development and not unheard of that witnesses are intimidated, harassed and incarcerated. We will certainly look into it.”

From the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the trial of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, opened on Monday 26 January 2009 before Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court. Lubanga is the first person to have been surrendered to the Court since its inception. He is accused of having committed severe war crimes consisting of enlisting and conscripting of children under the age of 15 years into the Forces patriotiques pour la libération du Congo [Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo] (FPLC), and using them to participate actively in hostilities. He has been awaiting trial since 2006 on charges of recruiting child soldiers as young as ten years old. He is also accused of commanding the Union of Congolese Patriots which committed atrocities in an ethnic conflict in which thousands were killed.

The case is the first to have come to trial since the ICC was created ten years ago as the world’s only permanent war crimes tribunal and the proceedings are being closely watched by legal experts and potential defendants, as well as countries yet to sign up to the court such as the US, Russia, India and China.

Wenaweser said Lubanga’s trial is a very important moment for the ICC.  “It is the first trial and was significantly delayed due to technical and procedural difficulties. I hope it will be an efficient and speedy trial that comes to a conclusion very quickly.  It will set an important backdrop to what is happening today in the Congo.”

There are a total of 18 judges who serve on the ICC. The final replacement judges were selected to fill expired seats last week. “It is significant change to have one third of the judges replaced.  There is a change in the dynamic within the court as we are losing the experience of judges, but with that, new people are coming in with a fresh perspective,” Wenaweser added.

Mr. Wenaweser was very involved in drafting the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. In September 2003, he was designated as Chairman of the Special Working Group on the Crime of Aggression.
Wenaweser will focus in the coming weeks on the working group meetings to more actively include crimes of aggression in the Rome Statute of the ICC. From 9-13 February, a working group will be tasked to bring together evidence leading up to the next review conference of the ICC in 2010 in Kampala, Uganda.

“I am here at an interesting time. This year, we have trials and big cases. I believe the defendants should be convicted if found guilty . The ICC is essential as the court sets up  trials according to international standards and works to efficiently and effectively get a fair verdict. So far, this has been a court without trials.”