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 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.

“If people think the worst is behind us, they do not know Sudan,” said Andrew Natsios, former Administrator for the United States Agency on International Development, who described his concern that the situation in Sudan could escalate into violence. Mr. Natsios gave his own view on how America should deal with the Sudanese issue, and he stressed that America should work towards peace and should forget about bringing the individuals who committed atrocities to justice. The reason for such a controversial assertion is that western forms of justice are foreign to Sudan, and attempting to arrest and try 20,000 janjaweed or Sudanese soldiers is infeasible.

Additionally, Natsios outlined the basic issues that need to be settled before the 2011 referendum, in which southern Sudan can vote to become a sovereign state. Firstly, the border between the north and south needs to be entirely settled, as currently only 80 percent of it is. Secondly, the north and south must decide how to share the oil revenue because the current provision stipulates that the two sides split the amount. However, since most of the oil is located in the south, they may want to obtain a larger share of the revenue, which would stall all peace talks and lead to a breakout of violence. Nastios discussed how in 2019 the oil fields will be depleted, and “the notion that were going to have a nation go to war with a bloodbath potentially over oil fields that will be depleted in less than ten years would be a tragedy.”

Nastios asserted that America should seek to use positive incentives not negative ones in order to encourage the Sudanese government to actually reform its actions. America must cease seeking a regime change because this will cause the United States to become isolated from its European and Asian allies. Also, America should fight to get the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) back into the Sudanese refugee camps, and strengthen the southern military in order to prevent a Northern attack upon it. Nastios worried that if America did not follow this plan, then Sudan could become once again entrenched in a new and even bloodier civil war.

Andrew Natsios, former administrator of United States Agency of International Development, discusses how former Sudanese President Sadiq al-Mahdi views American foreign policy. (0:38)

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By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

One week after thirteen international aid organizations were expelled from Darfur, and one day after President Obama named Former General J. Scott Gration as a special envoy to Sudan, Congressman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said that military options to stop the genocide should not be ruled out. These military options could come to fruition as a no-fly zone. McGovern hopes the Obama administration’s diplomacy can prevail, but went on to say that time is running out and that Obama should work with NATO, the African Union, and the Arab League to stop the violence immediately, since more people are dying each day.

The Congressman said, “What we have done up to this point has not worked.” He said that genocide, violence, and rape are continuing, and now the government is “going to starve people to death.” McGovern went on to say that the Sudanese government is “determined to kill the people of Darfur” and drew similarities between the situation and the Holocaust

The Save Darfur Coalition said that since the aid organizations were expelled by President Omar al-Bashir, approximately 1.1 million civilians have been left without food aid, 1.5 million without health care, and almost 1 million without drinking water. In the crisis at large, the United Nations states that since 2003 over 200,000 people have been killed, and over 2 million people have been displaced.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir expelled the aid organizations after being indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. Congressman Jim Moran (D-Va.) charged, “this expulsion of aid workers further confirms the legitimacy of the indictment,” and that the president is guilty as charged.

Congressman Chris Smith (R-N.J.) continued that he thinks there is no “political will” right now to send more troops into harm’s way considering America’s presence in Iraq and Afghanistan and feels that African Union forces should be left to do the job. African Union troops have unsuccessfully tried to quell the violence in the past. Smith said he believes a renewed effort by the African Union forces will yield better results.

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

Congressman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said today that although he hopes diplomacy can work to stop the genocide in Darfur, he thinks that a military option should be on the table. He thinks this military option could take the form of a no-fly zone. (01:43)

 

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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.

As the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) by President Bill Clinton nears, Commissioner for the rights of non-Muslims in Sudan, Joshua Dae Diu, spoke at the Hudson Institute about the progress Sudan has made.

“Religion is still a major problem in Sudan. South Sudan has become a secular system where freedom of religion is allowed, while the north is still not allowing non-Muslims to practice their religion,” Diu said.

The CPA says that there are other citizens practicing different religions and traditions that police, judges, and other law enforcement need to remember and to allow. Diu says because of this agreement, the south has moved to allow non-Muslims to practice their religion freely throughout. The north is still an Islamic State and until the elections occur in 2009, the north has refused to change course to allow religious freedom.

“The CPA has tried to address the basic issues that plague Sudan, that is why we have one country with two systems. After six years of having these two systems, what do we do then? We must leave it up to the people in the north and south,” Diu said.

Along with the elections that will take place in 2009, a Census is being held throughout Sudan. Diu said that the Census does not cover who is non-Muslim in the Nation’s Capitol and in Sudan. Diu went on to say that the south should have argued this but they were intimidated by the northern officials. “Because of the south being intimidated by the north we are now stuck, we will have to wait another 10 years for another Census to occur. We can not wait another 10 years to get safety for non-Muslims in Sudan.,” Diu stated.

Pentagon Correspondent Dawn Casey will attend a briefing by Army Col. Dominic Caraccilo, Commander of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), live from Iraq in the Pentagon Briefing Room. UN Correspondent Tala Dowlatshahi will attend a briefing by the Russian Federation. The Washington Bureau will also attend a conference held by Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies on “Unearthing Iraq: Trajectories of Disintegration and Transformation,” a discussion by the Center for Strategic and International Studies on “Past and Present Challenges for Global Health and AIDS,” the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom and the Institute on Religion and Democracy’s discussion on “Promoting Religious Freedom in Sudan,” and a discussion on “The Election and Post-Racial Politics” by the Institute for Policy Studies.

Talk Radio News Service Bureau Chief Ellen Ratner interviews Ann Veneman, the Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). They speak about the biggest fundraising period for the fund, Trick or Treat for UNICEF, the goals of the fund, and the work in education, healthcare and feeding that the program does in Sudan and other underdeveloped places in the world. (4:39)

 

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