Daily Darfur
Daily Darfur: Curious Reshuffle of Khartoum Hardliner
Published August 14, 2009 @ 04:56AM PT
This will be the last of the Daily Darfur posts --- switching to a weekly overview next week.
Another wave of government reshuffling just passed through Khartoum: Security and intelligence chief and party hardliner Salah Gosh, who is accused by human rights groups of involvement in the atrocities in Darfur, was relieved of his post last night and re-appointed as an adviser to President Omar al-Bashir.
As the Sudan Tribune recounts, Gosh is a particularly nefarious character, with the highlights of his ambitious career including severe crackdowns on political opposition and creative torture methods, plotting a failed assassination attempt against Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in 1995, aiding Osama bin Laden in the 1990s, and arming Darfur's notorious Janjaweed militias.
No reason was given for the move, and nothing much has surfaced yet on his replacement. It's difficult to imagine anyone more hardline than Gosh --- is his replacement more of the same, or more of a moderate?
Daily Darfur: China, Revisited
Published August 13, 2009 @ 04:29AM PT
In a move that can largely be attributed to intense campaigning by Darfur activists in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics last year, China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi listed Darfur as one of four "hot spot issues" on his foreign policy agenda. The minister urged the various parties to the conflict in Darfur to make haste to the negotiating table in a speech yesterday in Geneva.
Beginning in 2007, two dedicated campaigns formed to pressure the Chinese on Darfur: Dream for Darfur, and the athlete-focused Team Darfur, led by Olympian Joey Cheek. Working alongside other activist organizations, these campaigns brought significant international attention to Chinese complicity in the crimes of the Sudanese government. During the course of the projects, China relented on authorizing UN peacekeepers in Darfur, joined a UN Security Council resolution calling on Sudan to cooperate with the International Court, appointed a special envoy to Sudan, and made its first public statements admonishing the government of Sudan.
In a testament to how annoyed the Chinese were by the attention, Joey's visa was revoked the night before he was set to travel to Beijing to support his activist athletes.
Daily Darfur: The Upper Hand on Hope
Published August 12, 2009 @ 05:22AM PT
Congressman Ed Royce of California is warning Darfur advocates that the "Obama Administration looks to be letting them down -- big time." After campaigning on a platform of aggressive action (not to be equated with military action) against Khartoum's many atrocities and abuses, Royce predicts that the forthcoming administration policy review will be a "big about-face."
The reason for this, according to a private sector intelligence analyst quoted atVoice of America, is that the policy review is weighing two competing priorities: Ending the conflict in Darfur, and maintaining Sudan's cooperation in the war on terror, for which Khartoum as been a "useful behind-the-scenes ally":
"Now there are other elements within the United States government that have had to cooperate with the Sudanese government since 9/11 in terms of the war on terror. And the Sudanese government has been a more background partner to help the United States gather intelligence on international jihadists fighting in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq, and some of those jihadists that have come from Sudan and from the Horn of Africa region."
This has all the makings of one of those episodes of the West Wing where Bartlett's idealism crashes once he's confronted with the realities of office. The question is, then: Can Obama leverage the benefits Khartoum receives from its cooperation with counterterrorism efforts to push for meaningful conflict resolution, or will one of the world's most cruel and violent regimes gain the upper hand over Hope?
Daily Darfur: Impunity Carrots
Published August 11, 2009 @ 03:58AM PT
US Special Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration went on the defensive yesterday, issuing a statement on his work thus far in response to the backlash against his comments at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing last week. Although Gration's remarks that sanctions against Sudan should be eased and the country should be taken off the US's list of state sponsors of terrorism garnered broad condemnation, this statement seems directed to the US advocacy movement, for which he is widely known to spare little love.
(Side note: Advocate Nina McMurry posted an explanation of US sanctions against Sudan over at Enough.)
While I find his attempt to cast his lot alongside that of Africa's many refugees somewhat misguided --- being forced to flee your home is always traumatic, but it's an entirely different ordeal when you a.) are or end up impoverished as a result and b.) don't have anyone to come evacuate you --- the statement is otherwise a genuine attempt make his case, from an envoy that has thus far kept the media and the public at arms length. He writes:
Daily Darfur: Wave of Arrests in Darfur Camps
Published August 10, 2009 @ 03:58AM PT
US-based Darfuri activist Mohamed Suleiman is raising the alarm over a wave of arrests of tribal leaders in IDP camps in Darfur. Mohamed posted a list of both arrested and threatened leaders on his blog, and recently wrote for Change.org about the threats against Darfuri leaders.
The exact motivation for the latest wave of arrests is unclear, but follows close on the heels of the murder of a camp leader and his wife last weekend. Radio Dabanga reports that residents of the camp requested UNAMID's intervention after 26 people were arrested without charge by government security forces, but were denied.
Arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detention, and torture are a common tactics of the regime in Khartoum, despite international attention and provisions for improvement under the country's interim constitution, which was adopted following the end of the North-South civil war in 2005. (Of recent fame, journalist Lubna Hussein is was arrested in Khartoum for violation of a sporadically-imposed law prohibiting women from wearing pants.)
International attention, it seems, has yet to translate into sufficient pressure on Khartoum to change its ways. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that world leaders and certain American envoys seem more inclined to offer rewards while ignoring bad behavior.
Daily Darfur: Going Home No Simple Matter
Published August 07, 2009 @ 04:28AM PT
A small contingent of displaced Darfuris faced harassment while attempting to return to their home village this week. The families told Radio Dabanga that "settlers" had taken over their land in their absence.
It's a likely a sign of trouble to come, if Darfuris begin to return without some kind of agreement or process on dealing with land disputes: According to a recent analysis by the State Department, over 3,300 villages were severely damaged or destroyed during the six-year conflict, and there seems to be little information on how much land is now otherwise occupied.
Going home will be no simple matter. Access to land and scarce resources is a driver of conflict in Darfur and elsewhere in Sudan, and sustainable peace will not be possible without some mechanism to deal with land rights. Further, such a mechanism, whatever it may be, needs to be facilitated by a transparent international body --- control by the government of Sudan will almost certainly allow the perpetrators of genocide to consolidate their gains and further deprive Darfuris of their rights.
Daily Darfur: Phony, or Misguided?
Published August 06, 2009 @ 04:26AM PT
Eric Reeves goes after Scott Gration in a piece in the Boston Globe this morning, taking the envoy to task for his "phony optimism" on Darfur. The article touches on, among other things, the issue of repatriating internally displaced Darfuris:
"Humanitarians were dismayed at Gration's insistent talk about the ‘voluntary' return of some 2.7 million displaced persons languishing in camps throughout Darfur. There is no humanitarian capacity to oversee such returns and ensure their voluntary nature; Khartoum refuses to provide security in areas it controls; and Darfuris in the camps complain bitterly that they are being asked to return to lands without protection, and which have oftentimes been taken over by Arab tribal groups. The notorious Janjaweed have not been disarmed and pose a constant threat. Even in the camps themselves, security is tenuous; women still face rape, men are tortured and murdered, and looting is commonplace. In the past, it has been Khartoum that has pushed for returns under these conditions; now, perversely, it is the US special envoy."
I've heard similar concerns elsewhere --- that the government is trying to force the return of IDPs before security and land issues have been dealt with. IDP leaders and UN officials are pushing back against the idea. Many Darfuris fled has their villages were being destroyed, and much of their land has been taken over --- what do they have to return to? The whole situation lends itself to rather nefarious conspiracy theories. What is Khartoum's motivation for forcing premature returns?
Personally, I'm beginning to wonder if someone placed a chip in Gration's head during his last trip to Khartoum, turning him into a drone for the government of Sudan.
