Change.org's Stop Genocide Blog

Sri Lanka: A Change Agenda, or More of the Same?

Michelle — 2010-02-09T10:04:00-08:00

Sri Lanka's newly re-elected President Mahinda Rajapaksa wasted no time in using his substantial (if questionable) electoral mandate to send an unequivocal message to his opposition: It's my way, or the highway.

After promptly raiding his opponent's campaign office, arresting 37 people in connection with an alleged assassination plot, and just yesterday arresting the opposition leader himself -- whether such a plot actually existed, the world may never know -- the president was quick to address the long-standing conflict with the country's Tamil minority, hundreds of thousands of whom are still displaced from decades of civil war that finally came to a very violent close last May.

At face value, Mahinda's claim that he has a "responsibility of uniting the hearts of all ethnicities" is welcome. The caveat however, is two-fold: First, he disavowed all foreign engagement in the country's still-fresh post-conflict situation, and second, his track record is one of violent repression of dissent and lethal disregard for the lives of Tamils, much less their social, economic, and political concerns. Last year, intense international pressure was required simply to release 250,000 from camps cut off from journalists and most humanitarian aid. Progress toward sustainable peace and reconciliation has since been notably lacking.

In other words, true progress toward "uniting hearts" will require a complete about-face in Mahinda's approach to the ethnic minority. Many observers worry that a refusal to address the many problems created by the historic marginalization of the Tamils, not to mention over two decades of violent war in which crimes against humanity were committed by both the government and the rebels, will lead Sri Lanka back down the path toward war.

A transformation in Sri Lankan politics and social relations would be more than welcome, but until evidence of this is apparent, skepticism at Mahinda's proclamations should prevail, and the rest of the world shouldn't honor his request to "butt out."

Photo credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe.

Justice Should Be Blind, and Know Its Place

Michelle — 2010-02-08T09:19:00-08:00

Those crying foul over last week's decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to reconsider the genocide indictment against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir would do everyone a favor by saving their angst for a more appropriate time.

The decision delivered last week was not related to the evidence of the case itself, but dealt with a technical application of standards of proof in the issuance of arrest warrants. It is not another example of how "the court is out to get Sudan" -- in a case that is thoroughly and inherently politicized, this ruling is about as apolitical as anything related to the case is going to get.

In an ideal world, all aspects of international criminal justice would be apolitical. Our global system has developed a body of international law, and any individual or nation that violates this law should be prosecuted and punished appropriately. But, of course, we do not live in an ideal world. The ICC itself relies on individual nations and the UN Security Council to refer and facilitate the investigation of cases -- right from the start, consideration of cases is a political decision handed to the court, not an objective choice made by the court. The Darfur situation was referred to the ICC by the UN Security Council, and the prosecutor is doing his job by investigating and attempting to prosecute those responsible for the atrocities committed there.

That said, it often seems that court personalities do little to help build an image of unbiased upholders of the principles of justice and accountability. Throwing prosecution into the mix of already messy conflict situations will be seen as political vengeance (at worst) or a complicating nuisance (at best) by many, the decisions made by prosecutors (at the ICC or other tribunals) in how the pursue these cases and how they interact with the public is often less than helpful. That is, prosecutors too often seem to confuse themselves with peace negotiators.

For instance, David Crane, the chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, intentionally timed the unsealing of the arrest warrant for Liberian President/War Lord Charles Taylor to "embarrass" him at the opening of Liberia's peace negotiations and weaken its negotiating position. Over the long term, Crane was right, and Taylor was finally arrested two years later, but over the short term the decision caused no small amount of chaos. Even still, this is beside the point: Unless acting in collaboration with peace negotiators, prosecutors should pursue their cases in the manner most likely to apprehend their subjects -- not in a way meant to influence political negotiations of which they are not a direct participant. Similarly, could all of the brew-ha-ha over the ICC case against Bashir, which is being manipulated by the regime and its allies into a grand distraction, been avoided if Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo had chosen a low-profile approach to the case? Maybe sealing the indictments and refraining from grandiose statements to the press?

I personally believe that, over the long term, justice for genocide and crimes against humanity is necessary for victims and survivors, and for ending the culture of impunity that allows these crimes to continue unabated in numerous conflicts across the globe. I believe this will be best achieved by a strategy that seeks to keep the pursuit of international justice, to the greatest extent possible, out of political quagmires -- or at the very least, doesn't open the door and invite the quagmires in.

Photo credit: Veyis Polat.

Senator Tom Coburn Stands in the Way of Peace

Michelle — 2010-02-06T11:13:00-08:00

Do you live in Oklahoma? Or have any friends and family in the lovely Sooner State? Then you need to get on the phone and tell Senator Tom "Dr. No" Coburn to stop blocking the passage of the Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act.

The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), under the leadership of self-proclaimed messiah Joseph Kony, has terrorized a wide swath of central Africa for over 20 years, and became particularly notorious for their use of child soldiers and child sex slaves. What started as a brutal rebellion in Northern Uganda has now spread across the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Darfur, and the Central African Republic. In the past few months alone, hundreds of thousands of civilians have been displaced, and thousands more have been either killed or abducted by LRA forces. According to an Enough Project researcher, as many as 400 people have been killed in the last two months. Recent waves of violence also threaten to further destabilize already-precarious situations in South Sudan, and possibly even Darfur.

According to Resolve Uganda Executive Director Michael Poffenberger, the bill will require President Obama to develop a strategy to end LRA attacks, apprehend Kony, and provide life-saving assistance to the LRA's victims.

"That’s the kind of leadership that has been missing for the 24 years and counting," Poffenberger writes.

Resolve Uganda is running a petition targeting Coburn -- sign the petition today to show your support (even if you don't live in Oklahoma) for this critical piece of bipartisan legislation.

Photo credit: U.S. Senate Office of Tom Coburn.

Add Your Support for the Violence Against Women Act

Michelle — 2010-02-05T08:58:00-08:00

I once listened to a woman recount tales of domestic violence in a refugee camp, but she struggled to find the right words to describe the violence inflicted on these women -- who had already been forced from their homes by war -- by their husbands.

"'Domestic violence' doesn't work -- it's not just a slap or a beating. It's torture," she said.

What had been an occasional problem "before" was now a pervasive problem exacerbated by conflict and forced displacement.

Violence against women takes many horrific, depressing forms. It is problem of epidemic proportions, and one that is shared by all nations across the globe -- not exactly a form of global unity that we can celebrate. Sexual violence is an increasingly common tactic used in conflicts, and the systematic infliction of sexual violence is recognized as an act of genocide and a crime against humanity.

A bi-partisan coalition of congressmen and women reintroduced the International Violence Against Women Act in both the House and Senate today. The act elevates the issue to a diplomatic priority and supports comprehensive programs to combat gender-based violence and support economic and educational opportunities for women and girls, especially those in poverty. (Far more comprehensive, that is, than giving rape victims in the Congo cameras to film their attackers.)

Women Thrive Worldwide has launched a petition on Change.org. You can add your signature and let your senators and representatives know that you support this critical and innovative piece of legislation.

Photo credit: UNiTE to End Violence Against Women

Media Plea Leads to Child Soldier's Release in Burma

Michelle — 2010-02-04T09:04:00-08:00

Even hardened military dictators resent bad press. In Burma, a child soldier was returned to his mother after she made appeals to international media outlets.

Sandar Win's 14-year-old son was one of many children forcibly recruited by the Burmese military, but unlike his fellow child soldiers in the ranks of the national army, he was released by the government after Ms. Win pleaded for his return on BBC's Burmese Service and Radio Free Asia (RFA). The military junta that rules Burma is among the most iron-fisted in the world -- perhaps second only to North Korea in its control of the media and flow of people in and out of the country.

The regime is also notorious for its use of child soldiers and its violent repression of political dissidents and ethnic minority groups. Many experts believe that the violence perpetrated by the government amounts to crimes against humanity, if not genocide.

"Name and shame" tactics are often accused of pushing hard-line, repressive dictators (and other assorted unsavory characters) further into unflinchingly extreme positions, but sometimes "shedding a light" and drawing public attention to their abusive policies can be incredibly effective. An accurate judgment on which tactics to deploy in each situation is far more art than science -- and a difficult one, at that.

The unfortunate thing about this case, however, is that it is an isolated one -- the greater problem of the pervasive use of child soldiers by the Burmese military has been much harder to address.

Photo credit: Kaunda

Genocide Charge Back on the Table for Bashir

Michelle — 2010-02-03T15:12:00-08:00

This morning's action at the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague was kind of a big deal -- or was it kind of not?

Last March, the court made a splash with the issuance of arrest warrants for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. This morning, the court determined that the legal rationale used to throw out the "genocide" charge was incorrect -- it was a procedural decision, ruling that the pre-trial chamber (three judges) that issued the arrest warrants used the wrong standard of proof in invalidating the genocide charge. Now the chamber will have to reconsider the evidence and decide anew.

On many levels, the decision was hugely important. As Darfur expert and international human rights lawyer Bec Hamilton notes, this decision has implications for the development of international criminal law and any possible future genocide cases brought before the court.

For the advancement of international justice, the fight against impunity for egregious human rights abuses, and upholding the memory and dignity of Bashir's many victims, the fact that the genocide charge might still come through is a victory -- even if the true test is yet to come, when the pre-trial chamber reconsiders its original decision.

But for the current situation in Sudan, the impact of the decision is less clear, or at least less immediate. The existing warrants and the possible new charge give credence and momentum to human rights and other civil society actors seeking to oust their war-mongering president, but the history of international justice efforts in the midst of ongoing conflicts is ambiguous, and gratification delayed. In the cases of Charles Taylor and Slobodan Milosevic, arrests came years after the indictments, after the situations they were involved in had calmed down a bit.

If a genocide charge is added to Bashir's warrant, it won't make much of a difference in the short term, at least for those on the ground -- unless Bashir lashes out again and finds some way to retaliate, like he did last March by expelling 13 major humanitarian aid agencies from Darfur. The question of whether the ICC inhibits peace efforts in Sudan in the shorter term is a serious one, but the question of whether or not the world-wide culture of impunity fuels horrendous violence against civilians is fairly simple: Yes, it does.

Unfortunately, the moral clarity of that answer does nothing to ease the difficult, "realpolitik" quandaries encountered in the pursuit justice against the powerful perpetrators of these crimes.

Photo credit: US Navy.

The Mysterious Murder of a Cambodian Actor/Genocide Survivor

Michelle — 2010-02-02T09:02:00-08:00

Did Haing Ngor die for his role in a film about the Cambodian genocide? The Oscar-winning star of The Killing Fields was gunned down in a dark alley in L.A.'s Chinatown in 1996, and now his family wants the investigation into the case reopened.

Conspiracy theories surrounding Ngor's death refused to die when three members of a local gang were convicted of what was determined to be a robbery-related murder, and now they've been given new life by a surprising admission in last year's trial of a former Khmer Rouge prison chief.

"Haing Ngor was killed because he appeared in the film The Killing Fields," Kang Kek Ieu, known as Comrade Duch, told the Cambodian court. He added that Pol Pot, the notorious leader of the genocidal Khmer Rouge, "used a kind of trick used by Stalin when he killed Trotsky in order to kill Haing Ngor."

For many, the facts of the case never added up. If Ngor was shot resisting a robbery, why was he left with $2,900 in his pocket and the keys to his Mercedes lying on the ground next to the car? At the time of the trial, an investigative trip to Cambodia was called off. Today, the FBI remains convinced that the murder was not ordered by the now-deceased dictator -- and like all of history's great mysteries, the death of Haing Ngor seems destined to remain the realm of circumstantial evidence and and wild speculation.

Photo credit: Dr dre.

Madame Agathe, Lady Genocide

Michelle — 2010-02-01T09:55:00-08:00

She and her family are accused of being the driving force of extremism behind Rwanda's genocidal government in the early 1990s. Yet Agathe Habyarimana, wife of then-President Juvenal Habyarimana, still lives comfortably in France.

In the years leading up to the 1994 genocide, Madame Agathe was widely regarded as the true power behind her husband's office. Her family, known as "le Clan de Madame," made up the most influential portion of the akazu, or "little house," the personal inner circle supposedly bestowed with the president's trust and confidence. But the influence of this inner circle was increasingly threatened as President Habyarimana was forced into a power-sharing agreement with exiled Tutsi rebels, with the UN-brokered accord calling for an end to nepotism in government appointments. Unwilling to cede any power, political or economic, to their Tutsi "enemies," the akazu spread their "Hutu Power" propaganda, imported arms, trained militia, and prepared for a country-wide bloodbath, all of which the first lady is believed to have played an integral role in planning.

The genocide was officially launched with the assassination of President Habyarimana -- Madame Agathe was spirited out of the country three days later, courtesy of the French military.

Madame Agathe was denied a final asylum appeal last fall, yet continues to live -- illegally, and alongside other wanted Rwandan genocidaires -- in the suburbs of Paris. In an interview in 2007, the desperate, self-pitying widow bemoaned her treatment in France -- "I am so disappointed, I thought this was the land of asylum and human rights" -- while promptly denying the slaughter of 800,000 of her fellow countrymen. (Cue the world's smallest violin.) Madame Agathe may, however, soon find a sort of "asylum" from a rather unwanted place: New genocide courts being set up in France to investigate and prosecute genocidaires living on French soil.

France has thus-far refused to extradite Rwandan war criminals if they will face the death penalty upon prosecution at home. While it would be preferable, on many fronts, for Rwanda to abolish the death penalty and achieve justice for the crimes committed against its people on its own soil, the French courts are a welcome alternative to allowing the genocidaires to freely roam the streets of Paris.

Photo credit: Fanny Scherter

Film Festival Explores Complexities of Conflict

Michelle — 2010-01-31T14:09:00-08:00

Moral absolutes are much easier to cling to from a perspective outside of a conflict. The view from the inside, of course, is much more riddled with the ethical trade-offs confronted in fighting the perpetually-uphill battle that defines the work of civilian protection in the world's protracted conflicts.

The "Human Rights in Crisis" Film Festival at Georgetown Law Center in Washington, D.C., will explore this theme, among others, through a collection of films that show these struggles as they are confronted on the ground in conflict zones. The films are all projects of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, a non-profit organization that supports independent international journalism.

The film "Troubles in the Congo," for example, explores the difficulties of UN peacekeeping in the eastern region of the country, where UN forces have come under harsh criticism recently for collaborating with the Congo's notoriously violent and unruly military. While the UN forces recognize past mistakes and are reevaluating their operations, the reality of the situation on the ground necessitates some level of "dealing with the devil," or choosing between "least bad" options.

For those of you in DC, the event takes place at Georgetown University on Monday, February 1, from 6-8pm. For those of you elsewhere in the world, information on the films and the other great work supported by the Pulitzer Center is available online.

Photo credit: UN Photo/Marie Frechon.

Mr. President, What About Sudan?

Laura Heaton — 2010-01-31T07:22:00-08:00

Post-State of the Union frustration among anti-genocide activists was palpable. Certainly, A glimpse at the #genprev (short for genocide prevention) hashtag on Twitter gives a sense of the expectations leading up to President Obama’s speech and the disappointment at the realization that, if anything, Sudan might just get a passing mention when the president shifted from domestic issues to foreign policy … and then, no, not even then.

But I agreed with Michelle’s sentiment post-SOTU: Since there is so often a discrepancy between politicians’ public pronouncements and their actions, why do we still hold their verbal commitments in such high esteem and feel surprised by the lack of follow through? More importantly, what can we do to compel them to actually live up to their commitments?

Now is our chance. Genocide prevention may not have been the main event on Wednesday night, but we have the opportunity to ask President Obama a follow-up question live on YouTube and demand a meaningful answer – not just a passing mention.

We’ve heard from the president’s surrogates about the new U.S. policy on Sudan, but we’re eager to hear directly from President Obama about how he assesses progress on the ground under his watch, and what he plans to do in this year of milestones in Sudan to prevent widespread violence. (In a nutshell: the first multi-party national elections in 24 years, and a referendum on southern Sudan’s independence in January 2011 are two powder kegs; violence is increasing in the South, with the UN recording 2,500 deaths last year; and three million Darfuris are still displaced due to insecurity).

CitizenTube is collecting questions, and we’ve submitted ours:

Between now and tonight at 8:00PM, the public can vote to choose which questions President Obama will address on YouTube. Questions started pouring in as soon as the State of the Union ended, so we need your help to vote our Sudan question to the top.

Vote here, and please spread the word.

Photo credit: The White House

For Southern Sudanese, a Deal's a Deal

Michelle — 2010-01-29T11:58:00-08:00

If southern Sudanese are denied their right to a self-determination referendum next January, there will be a renewal of civil war with the North -- a war that already left two million people dead.

The referendum was the cornerstone of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended the war, and judging from remarks by representatives of the Government of South Sudan at an event in Washington, D.C., last week, the general attitude regarding any efforts to thwart the referendum is, basically, "Bring it." A deal's a deal.

Given the utter devastation of the previous war, comments undermining the referendum seem rather unwise. African Union Commission Chairman Jean Ping, who is among several regional leaders keen on Sudanese unity, told reporters that southern independence would create a disastrous ripple effect across Sudan, with the country's other marginalized regions -- such as Darfur -- wanting to follow suit. While Ping is right to warn of the risk of a return to full-scale civil war, questioning the key tenets of Sudan's fragile peace agreement are not likely to help calm this political "powder keg."

The CPA gave Sudan a six-year transitional period to reconcile the North and the South and "make unity attractive" -- and like it or not, it gave southerner's an opt-out at the end. Charged political posturing in favor of the North, which is already being accused of sabotaging the referendum, not only contributes to the tense environment, but places an undue burden of blame on southerners for exercising a right agreed to by the signatories of the CPA.

If regional leaders are serious about stopping a backsliding into civil war -- and very likely, the large scale atrocities seen before -- they should refrain from prejudging the outcome of the referendum and focus instead on ensuring the peaceful implementation of the remainder of the CPA.

Photo credit: UN Photo/Tim McKulka.

Much Ado About Speeches

Michelle — 2010-01-28T09:02:00-08:00

We latch on to public statements as a hook by which we can hold our leaders accountable, but if the history of politics is one of promises made and broken, why do we continually cry foul when our leaders fall back on their words? Perhaps it's not that we cry foul -- if a leader fails on his or her own words, he/she deserves to be called out on it -- it's that we act surprised when we do it.

The history of genocide is perhaps among the most replete with soaring speeches, aspirational commitments, and utter failures of follow-through. I purposefully left mention of International Holocaust Remembrance Day to others yesterday, preferring to focus on the liberation of Auschwitz instead, because the day has always left a bad taste in my mouth -- not because of what it commemorates, but because of who it is typically commemorated by: politicians who use the day for solemn reflection and then quickly forget its meaning and its lessons. That the day was only designated by the United Nations in 2005, after another half-century of failure to confront genocide, makes it seem all the more superficial. (I've always found Yom Hashoah far more meaningful and genuine.)

Joshua Keating said it best yesterday when he wrote of the Auschwitz "memory trap" at the FP Passport blog: "Each time a Holocaust anniversary comes around, we hear the same speeches about how these camps stand as a symbol of the human capacity of evil and the duty to prevent it, yet nations are still just as slow to respond to modern-day cases of genocide and atrocity or take steps needed to prevent them."

It's not that I think the commemoration is particularly negative or damaging, it's that, at the end of the day, I'm left with a big, "So what?" The same goes for Obama's State of the Union address -- a speech which often seems more about PR than policy, for any president. Activists made a valiant push for Obama to commit his administration to implement the recommendations of the Genocide Prevention Task Force, and while I understand the motivation for such a campaign, I can't help but wonder if that energy would have been better spent elsewhere.

Obama has made reference to genocide and human rights, in Darfur and elsewhere, in several major speeches since taking office, but his actions have yet to parallel his words. Rather than asking for more public commitments, what will it take to make sure that those already made will be effectively and transparently implemented?

Photo credit: Elwood J. Blues.

Auschwitz Remains Powerful Symbol

Michelle — 2010-01-27T11:31:00-08:00

It is among the most widely-recognized symbols of evil: An estimated 85 percent of the 1.3 million people who passed through the gates of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp lost their lives as part of the Nazi's master plan for genocide and world domination. The camp was liberated by Soviet troops 65 years ago today.

The scene that greeted the Soviet soldiers was ghastly. A few thousand emaciated prisoners were struggling to hold on to their lives; 60,000 others had been evacuated by the Nazis and forced on west-bound death marches in the dead of winter. A former Red Army soldier present at liberation recalled the horrible condition of the prisoners, but remembered, "In their eyes, only in their eyes, there was joy. The joy of being free. The joy that their hell had finally ended."

The Soviets did not understand, at first, exactly what they had found, assuming that Auschwitz was an ordinary prison camp -- the realization of the camps true purpose was, in the understatement of the century, shocking.

Today, the structures of the camp -- the gates, the train tracks, the barracks, the killing centers -- stand quietly as monument to the ghosts of those who perished within them and a stark reminder of the human face of evil. In 1947, the Polish government decided to preserve the camp as a museum: “We want to preserve the memory of what the Nazis wanted to destroy,” said Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, an Auschwitz survivor and former Polish foreign minister. Auschwitz received a record number of visitors in 2009, the vast majority of them young people -- hopefully an indication that while we may have failed at "Never Again," we still understand the importance of "Never Forget."

Photo credit: Adam Jones.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day Calls Us to Action

Michael A. Jones — 2010-01-27T09:19:00-08:00

Today marks the annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a day designated by the United Nations in 2005 to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive so that the world could prevent future genocides from taking place. Beyond recalling the horrendous crimes committed during World War II and honoring the lives that were lost, International Holocaust Remembrance Day moves us to come together as a global community to prevent the recurrence of genocide. Anywhere. Anyplace. Anytime.

The day falls on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, which happened 65 years ago today, January 27, 1945.

In a message to survivors of Auschwitz, President Barack Obama said that these brave individuals were no longer "former prisoners," but living memorials, able to serve as both a call to action against evil, and a testament to the human spirit during times of unbearable adversity.

"You are living memorials. Living memorials to the loved ones you left here. And to the spirit we must strive to uphold in our time—not simply to bear witness, but to bear a burden," Obama said. "The burden of seeing our common humanity; of resisting anti-Semitism and ignorance in all its forms; of refusing to become bystanders to evil, whenever and wherever it rears its ugly face."

Those are important comments from Obama, falling on the day when the President is scheduled to give his annual State of the Union address. Will the President, like many activists are hoping, use his global platform to remind the world that genocide prevention is a national priority for his administration?

Remembrance of the crimes committed during some of the bleakest parts of the 20th century is insulted in the face of inaction when it comes to current atrocities. That may be the most important reason to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day. We can learn a lot by not forgetting. But we can change the world by acting in real time to respond to mass atrocity, wherever it occurs, from Burma to Sudan to Uganda and beyond.

Photo credit: Kaj Bjurman

Peaceful Voting Does Not the Fair Election Make

Michelle — 2010-01-26T09:28:00-08:00

Elections are not made free, fair, and peaceful by the conduct of the polls themselves. The conditions that determine a poll's credibility and shape its outcome are laid long before election day itself. Calling for peaceful elections on the eve of voting day in, say, Sri Lanka might make for a nice headline, but is rather dubious in its sincerity.

Sri Lankans will cast their ballots today in a fierce presidential contest between two war criminals that has been marked by violence and intimidation in a country with a less-than-stellar human rights record, and the integrity of the polls is being questioned on account of accused misconduct by the government of President (and candidate) Mahinda Rajapaksa. Similarly, the possibility of free and fair elections in Sudan in April is already virtually nil, thanks to a violent repression of dissent and control of the media by the Sudanese government, not to mention irregularities in census and voter registration processes.

Critics of those who preemptively condemn elections argue that these nay-sayers are jumping the gun by judging an event that has yet to commence -- but this misses the point entirely: A fraudulent election may appear entirely peaceful and legit at the polling station, but if the pre-election environment is characterized by systematic repression and a careful manipulation of a poll's technical details, then it is virtually impossible that the result will be a valid expression of the will of the people.

The time to condemn a poll is not after it occurs, but before. Elections are always imperfect, especially in fragile states or fledgling democracies (or want-to-give-the-appearance-of-being-a-fledgling democracies). But certifying electoral legitimacy with a government that intentionally and violently ensures results in its favor does not advance democracy or serve the interests of the citizens of that country.

Photo credit: CarbonNYC

Old Habits Die Hard for Genocide Fugitive in Paris

Michelle — 2010-01-25T09:19:00-08:00

If Callixte Mbarushimana had given up his hankering for mass murder after the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, he still would have done more than enough to earn a one-way ticket to prison. But the man accused of diverting UN vehicles and fuel to genocidal militia and directing the massacres of the UN's Rwandan staff, is currently living comfortably in Paris and directing the ongoing atrocities committed by FDLR militia in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

(Gives a whole new meaning to "phone it in," doesn't it?)

To add insult to injury, he compares his poor misunderstood life to that of international peace icon Nelson Mandela, which, frankly, should be added to the Rome Statute as a crime against humanity.

Despite being featured on Interpol's Red Notice list, Mbarushimana has persistently eluded justice over the past 16 years, often for technical reasons. At the moment, France refuses to arrest and extradite him on account of Rwanda's death penalty and generally shoddy human rights record, but the alternative cannot be to allow Mbarushimana to use Paris as a safe home base from which to orchestrate massacres half a world away.

France has reportedly opened an inquiry into the case, but the urgency of the need to decapitate the FDLR's European command center cannot wait for the slow turning of the wheels of justice. (Late last year, Germany took a welcomed, if belated, lead on this by arresting FDLR commanders living within its borders.) The UN has significant evidence linking Mbarushimana to the rebels in the field, which France should not ignore.

Whatever the method -- Citizen's arrest? Jam his satellite phone signal? Find a domestic law to arrest him under? -- Mbarushimana's malfeasance is a matter of life and death for thousands and should not be permitted to continue on a mere technicality.

Photo credit: d proffer

91 Days in a Bathroom

Michelle — 2010-01-23T09:19:00-08:00

The role played by clergy men and women is one of the more shameful -- if that's even possible -- stories of the Rwandan genocide, as an ungodly number of clergy men and women were directly involved in the mass killing. But the pall cast over the church in Rwanda does not, of course, tell the whole story.

Pastor Simeon Nzabahimana hid seven women in a tiny, little-used bathroom in his home for 91 days, managing to hide the women from his own unsympathetic family, as well as from several searches by militia suspicious of his secret. In an unbelievable stroke of luck, the militia never opened the door to the bathroom. The pastor told an interviewer in 2006, "I thought that if they had seen them they would have forced me to kill them or they would have killed me and killed them as well."

Among the women saved by Pastor Nzabahimana was Immaculée Ilibagiza, now a tireless advocate for remembrance and justice for the genocide's victims, and for genocide prevention. During one of the militia raids, she heard one of the men call her name: "I heard somebody calling my name. He said, actually that, 'I have killed 399 cockroaches' and he wanted me to be the 400th."

I saw Immaculée speak on the tenth anniversary of the genocide in 2004, and though she had, by that point, retold the story of her survival numerous times, it was clear that with each retelling came a reliving -- of the fear, of the pain, of the shock ... and a quiet gratitude for the pastor.

Photo credit: deepakkt

Ballots for Bullies: The Crimes Against Humanity Elections of 2010

Michelle — 2010-01-22T09:11:00-08:00

For all you aspiring dictators out there, one of the most important things to keep in mind is that free and fair elections are your worst nightmare. Taking a cue from my Change.org colleague Una, who put 2010 elections in Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq, and the Palestinian Authority on her watchlist of polls that "could easily trigger, escalate or help resolve conflicts," I'd like to add two countries worth keeping an eye on, for the impact that elections might have on unresolved or ongoing cases of crimes against humanity: Sri Lanka and Burma.

Coming less than a year after the end of the country's long and brutal civil war, the January 26 presidential elections in Sri Lanka have made international headlines in recent weeks, as the incumbent president (who oversaw the war from on high) faces unexpected competition from a former army general (who oversaw the war from on the ground). The amount of mudslinging and dirty tricks would make Karl Rove blush.

The suffering of ethnic Tamil civilians, who were victims of abuse on the scale of crimes against humanity from both the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil rebel group, has received an ironic amount of attention as the opponents in the tight race vie for every possible vote. But given the involvement of both men in the long, bloody war, many observers caution that this political jockeying is unlikely to translate into real change for Tamils or accountability for the abuses committed against them. Many Tamils are skeptical themselves; still, Sri Lanka's main Tamil political party is backing the former general.

For Burma, what happens when a country with a ranking of "worst of the worst" on global ranking of world freedom holds elections? We should, at the very least, take promises of free and fair elections from the country's leadership with a grain salt, especially when said leadership issues thinly-veiled threats to its citizens about making "correct choices" at the ballot box. Such is the case of Burma -- or Myanmar, as it's also known - whose ultra-repressive military junta is so paranoid that it banned speculation over the cosmic meaning of last week's solar eclipse. But although the elections are not likely to occur until the later in the year, current international attention on the regime's shoddy human rights record -- which, among other things, includes the intentional targeting of civilians as a tactic to combat ethnic insurgents -- might help force at least a smidge of a democratic opening, such as the possibility of allowing Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and other political detainees meet with their parties and participate in the elections. Meanwhile, aid organizations are preparing for a possible flood of additional refugees across the border into neighboring Thailand and China, should the elections be less-than-peaceful.

Photo credit: indi.ca

The Pie Crust Promises of Omar al-Bashir

Michelle — 2010-01-21T09:30:00-08:00

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir struck an unusually conciliatory note in a televised speech this week, remarking that his National Congress Party (NCP) did not want South Sudan to secede, but would "be the first" to support the decision should southern voters opt for independence next year.

But Mr. Bashir, who led a long, devastating war against southern rebels and innocent civilians -- then took his war criminal act over to Darfur -- is not known for keeping his word. He's a master politician who knows exactly how to act when caught in an international media spotlight. But his dog-and-pony show should be painfully transparent to anyone with a basic understanding of his 20-year history as Sudan's military dictator.

So what do Bashir's remarks really mean? Perhaps one of the following:

1. He actually means what he's saying. Glory be, haphazard and uncoordinated international mediation has actually succeeded in getting the stodgy old despot to change is mind and become a peace-lover. Maybe he's jealous of Obama's Nobel Prize and fancies one of his own.

2. It's a bald faced lie. Not out of the question.

3. There's more here than meets the eye: Perhaps the NCP will let the south secede -- but on its terms. See, a number of issues related to possible secession remain unresolved, including wealth sharing from the oil field in the border region, the demarcation of the border itself, and the status of three contested areas. Is the NCP's goal now to get what it wants out of these processes, so that the southern secession won't really matter?

My bets are on #3. In tense, high-level negotiations late last year, the NCP basically managed to "get its way" while still giving an appearance of cooperation when it agreed to pass key pieces of legislation mandated by the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement and aimed at democratic transformation. The legislation itself, such as security reform, represented only minor policy concessions while still allowing the NCP to maintain its favored repressive style of governance. In sum: Appearance of change, little actual change.

So is the NCP prepared to do the same with the remaining issues that have to be resolved by next January? The party has turned strong-armed manipulation into an art form, even managing to solicit praise from certain American envoys while little actually changes on the ground. (I'd applaud, if it wasn't so depressing.) The reforms in the CPA were meant to deal with the root causes of Sudan's many conflicts -- namely, violent and despotic governance -- and the NCP has shown itself highly capable of playing along with the reform agenda while actually doing little to nothing to implement it.

And why shouldn't they play these games? Change does not bode well for the NCP, or it wouldn't be so resistant, and no one has yet presented a viable opportunity cost for the failure to comply with these various agreements. And the number of pledges, promises, and agreements broken by Bashir and his cohorts puts "the little boy who cried wolf" to shame.

The moral of the story? Don't trust a dictator as far as you can throw him.

Photo credit: US Navy

Judging Khartoum's Good Will

Michelle — 2010-01-20T09:29:00-08:00

The deliberate obstruction of humanitarian aid is a tried and true tactic used by the Sudanese government to collectively punish millions of civilians caught in the middle of its conflicts with various rebel groups. They did it during the war with the south, and they continue to do it in Darfur.

But the tactic is a violation of international law, and it should get far, far more attention from international diplomats than it currently receives.

A new report out from the Enough Project and the Sudan Now campaign lists humanitarian access and freedom of movement to reach affected populations in Darfur, as well as an end to the systematic denial of services to victims of sexual violence, as a key benchmark that the Obama administration should use to gauge progress towards peace in Sudan -- "should," because the actual benchmarks have not been made public. And while the report includes many important reforms necessary for peace, many of which have been delayed or outright ignored by the government thus far, nothing is a better, more obvious indicator of the regime's -- and especially the ruling National Congress Party's -- intentions than the provision (or lack thereof) of humanitarian assistance to four million conflict-affected civilians.

The world mobilized a massive relief operation to assist those whose displacement and suffering is caused by the Sudanese government, and Khartoum's interference, harassment, and obstruction of these efforts is legendary -- practically an art form. The Obama administration should hone in on this issue, both for the immediate needs of people of Darfur, but also as a prime indication -- a test of the direction of the wind -- of the NCP's true commitment to peace.

Photo credit: hdptcar