August, 2009

The third African Union summit of the year is underway, with longtime Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi playing host… again. Just two months ago, AU representatives gathered in Sirte, Libya for the annual summit; now, they have convened at the behest of the “king of kings” in the Libyan capital ostensibly to address the continent’s most serious conflicts, including Somalia and Darfur among others, according to AU documents. Certainly, those two conflict zones – where African Union peacekeepers serve on the front lines and in some cases have paid the ultimate price – provide more than enough fodder for the AU delegates to discuss. However, it seems that Darfur and Somalia may have been more of a pretext for ensuring that the celebration of Qaddafi’s 40 years of (authoritarian) rule has a good turnout. Said one anonymous African minister to AFP:

"We are at about the same point where we were at the last summit in Sirte. There have been no major advances… [By calling the summit,] the Libyans want to guarantee a high level of representation at the festivities.”

It comes as no surprise that Sudanese President Bashir, wanted on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, has jumped at the chance to yet again thumb his nose at the international community and make an appearance.

The festivities to mark 40 years since Colonel Qaddafi seized power in a coup begin tomorrow.

Technorati Tags: Africa Darfur and Southern Sudan Somalia

Wrapping up a five-day trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, the UNICEF chief said that she was “horrified” by the stories of violence inflicted on the people of eastern Congo by predatory groups like the Lord’s Resistance Army, but was moved by the “sheer will and determination of the community to help.”

In her final stop, UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman drew attention to Dungu, a town in northeastern Congo that’s been hit hard by attacks over the past two years by the Lord’s Resistance Army, the marauding rebel group infamous for abducting children and forcing them to fight.

UNICEF estimates that 320,000 people have been displaced by the uptick in attacks targeting civilians. During a particularly violent period in late 2008 and early 2009, which included what’s known as the Christmas massacre, over a thousand people were killed and 476 children abducted.

In a statement, Veneman recounted the experience of a boy she met during the visit:

“I met a boy who had been kidnapped by the LRA.  His foot became seriously infected and he was unable to keep up with the daily long-distance treks across the countryside. The rebels taunted him and then severely beat him and left him behind. He lay stranded in the bush without food or water for five days before he was found. ”

Fortunately for this boy and others like him, foster families in the community often take in children who manage to escape. Veneman commended in particular five women she met who now care for traumatized children, despite their limited resources and large families. “This kind of community care is a true example of humanitarianism,” Veneman said.

Late last week, Veneman spent time in South Kivu province, where she met with women who have fallen victim to the sexual violence that has made the region the worst place in the world to be a woman or girl. One particularly moving interaction, which Veneman highlighted, came when she visited again with a 15-year-old girl she’d met during her last trip to Congo.  In a statement, Veneman recounted:

“In 2006, I met a 12-year-old girl who was attacked and brutally raped by four men. Her story has been with me ever since.  Three years on, she is wracked with physical pain, and even more, I saw heartbreaking mental anguish in her eyes. Three years ago she told me she wanted to become a nun when she grew up. Today, when I asked, she told me her aim in life is the same…. her choice speaks volumes.”

As Veneman makes her way back to the U.S. – where she will hopefully draw from her recent experiences to lead a renewed effort from UNICEF to address the devastating conditions she witnessed – she’ll be taking questions from the public about her visit. Post your question to Veneman on this forum, or send them in via Twitter to #askunicef by tomorrow, September 1. Her responses will be posted on Reuters AlertNet later this week.

Photo: A woman rests in a clinic in eastern Congo

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Reporting from Mogadishu for the Los Angeles Times, Edmund Sanders offers a glimpse into the seemingly insurmountable challenges facing African Union peacekeepers charged with attempting to protect Somalia’s lawless and violent capital city. Through interviews with the Burundian and Ugandan soldiers that make up the force, known as AMISOM, as well as with residents in Mogadishu, Sanders exposes just how difficult it is to attempt peacekeeping in a country that, as one commander notes, has no peace to keep. A recent spate of deaths due to malnutrition and chronic funding problems (the force has never received the $800 million dollars it had been promised) underlines the severity of the day-to-day hardships the members of the force encounter.

Sanders highlights the possibility of a new tack with the arrival of Ugandan Maj. Gen. Nathan Mugisha, AMISOM’s new force commander. Mugisha has signaled a willingness, and the go-ahead, to  get the force off of its heels and on the offensive. Mugisha believes that his men “can preempt…We don't have to be like sitting ducks, waiting to be beaten like a drum," a point with which Somali President Sheik Sharif Ahmed agrees.

Military personnel told Sanders that new marching orders would make them much more effective against rebels, which the AU outguns but cannot beat back with its current mandate. However, such an approach sparks fears that preventive action could make AMISOM seem like an invading force, thus galvanizing support for the Islamist rebel groups al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam.

If Sander’s sources are correct, a re-imagined AMISOM could prove more successful. However, the question remains: What does that mean without a political process to pull Somalia out of more than two decades of anarchy?

Photo: Militants patrol the streets in Mogadishu (AP/Mohamed Sheikh Nor)

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The Los Angeles Times ran a well-timed editorial today countering now former UNAMID force commander Martin Luther Agwai’s self-serving comments last week about the end of Darfur’s hot war and urging President Obama to turn his attention to the “millions suffering in Darfur.” As the administration’s Sudan policy review appears to be nearing its end, it’s significant that calls abound for the U.S. to maintain a firm stance with Khartoum. As the LA Times put it: "If the killers who control Sudan have demonstrated anything in 20 years of bloodshed, it's that they respond more reliably to sticks than carrots."

Read the full editorial here.

Technorati Tags: Darfur and Southern Sudan Prevention Protection Punishment

Here at Enough, we often swap emails with interesting articles and feature stories that we come across in our favorite publications and on our favorite websites. We wanted to share some of these stories with you as part of our effort to keep you up to date on what you need to know in the world of anti-genocide and crimes against humanity work.

The latest installment of Voices on Genocide Prevention, the podcast series broadcast by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, features an interesting interview with Alex Hinton, the director of Rutgers University Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights, who provides an overview and analysis of the Cambodian tribunal to try the members of the Khmer Rouge who are accused of orchestrating at least 1.5 million deaths from 1975 -1979. The first trial has been a long time coming and began this year. Host Bridget Conley-Zilkic and Hinton have an interesting discussion spurred by Conley-Zilkic’s question about why perpetrators do they do what they do – “an excess of killing that’s much more cruel than just ending life” – and about whether the case has shed new light on the psychological element of perpetration.

Tracy Kidder, prize-winning author of the best-seller Mountains Beyond Mountains, is coming out with a new book, Strength in What Remains, and spoke with The World’s Jeb Sharp this week about his most recent project. Kidder talks about the subject of his new book, a Burundian man named Deo who "escapes" violence in Burundi by fleeing to Rwanda in 1994 and eventually lands NYC, where he miraculously goes to medical school ... and eventually makes his way back to Burundi to open a clinic. Kidder is an excellent storyteller, and it’s fascinating to hear him talk candidly about capturing Deo’s remarkable life story.

This Q&A with Doctors Without Borders coordinator Katharine Derderian provides a good anecdotal account of the conditions in northeastern Congo, in a region that has come under recent attacks by the LRA. In addition to the description she provides about the situation for civilians – “there is indescribable fear in everyone’s eyes” – Derderian provides a sobering account of the challenges faced by the few aid agencies still operating in the dangerous conditions.

The Economist offers a good analysis of former Liberian President Charles Taylor’s trial in The Hague, which marks the first time an international court has tried an African former head of state. Taylor is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his alleged arming of Sierra Leonean rebel groups during the country’s civil war from 1991-2002. The case is charting new territory on a number of fronts, and the Economist highlights several of them.

Don’t miss the blog post by Alex Meixner of Save Darfur, in which he takes apart the claims made Marc Gustafson in a controversial op-ed in the Christian Science Monitor. Gustafson suggests that pressure from activists led to misallocation of U.S. funding that could’ve been used to save lives in Darfur. Meixner goes through the list of “skewed figures and false premises” one by one, and offers this clarification:

Save Darfur’s efforts to shine a spotlight on what was clearly an unmet need for more robust peacekeeping and civilian protection in Darfur did not diminish the allocation for humanitarian aid, both because that’s not the way the system works and because that was never the intent. Quite the opposite, the intent was to push for the creation of a stronger and fully funded peacekeeping force to complement the humanitarian life line already in place.

Technorati Tags: Advocacy Darfur and Southern Sudan Eastern Congo International Criminal Court Peace Prevention Protection Punishment Violence Against Women War Crimes

South African President Jacob Zuma arrived in Harare last evening dedicated to engaging with Zimbabwe’s political crisis. In the run-up to this visit, Zuma’s first to Zimbabwe since he was elected in May, rival parties within the frail unity government in Harare made contradictory statements regarding the visit, with ZANU-PF officials stating that Zuma would not talk politics while in the capital, ostensibly for the opening of a farm trade show. Zuma has quickly proven ZANU-PF wrong, however, as he and his staff have made it the modus operandi of their visit to demonstrate their commitment to helping Zimbabwe through its current political crisis.

Gwede Mantash, the secretary general of South Africa’s leading ANC, said Wednesday that Zuma would not shy away from being vocal, noting that the South African president would “become more vocal in what we see as deviant behavior in our neighbor.”

Zuma himself lived up to his commitment, noting in a speech at the Harare Agricultural Fair:

"The inclusive government has the responsibility to fully implement the global political agreement and thus create confidence in the process."

Speaking to Voice of America, Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai expressed excitement on the occasion of Zuma’s visit and stressed the importance of South African engagement in his country:

"President Zuma is not coming here as prosecutor or a judge, but as chairman of SADC and guarantors of the agreement, …All he wants to see is the agreement implemented and on that score I am very optimistic."

Zuma met with both Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe in Harare. At least publically, Zuma seems to have found hope in Zimababwe’s political process, as comments from last night highlight. After a formal dinner, he told reporters:

“The remaining issues are not insurmountable, and can be overcome. The most difficult path has already been travelled.”

President Zuma’s engagement is a welcome step and I hope very much that he is right that Zimbabwe’s worst times are behind it. However, the continued corruption at the heart of the unity government, increasingly disturbing reports of arrests and violence, as well as increased tension surrounding a nascent constitutional process and a six month review of the unity government make his case a very hard sell. There is lots of hard work on the horizon for the power-sharing government and international backers--of which Zuma is a key player--if those words are going to ring true.

Photo: South African President Jacob Zuma (AP)

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In the three days since the Sudan Now initiative launched, I’ve seen a number of bloggers and journalists qualify their reports of activist frustration by noting that the Obama administration has indeed been active in trying to address the multiple crises in Sudan. Even the top U.S. diplomat for Sudan has sought to emphasize the common goals he shares with the increasingly agitated Sudan activists. (This post by Chris Good on Marc Ambinder's blog at The Atlantic captured Gration's response to this recent push to hold top administration officials accountable for their past tough words.)

Without a doubt, the decision by President Obama to appoint a special envoy to Sudan was a good one. And as his appointee for the post, retired Maj. General Scott Gration, touches down in Washington today after his seventh trip as Sudan special envoy, there is no doubt that he is hard working, well-intentioned, and facing some very real challenges.

But the consensus starts to crumble when we look at how the Obama administration is approaching Sudan and the nuts and bolts of the diplomatic strategy. Based on the direction Special Envoy Gration has taken these past five months, it is hard not to conclude that in some important respects the U.S. approach is simply wrong-headed.

With regards to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the North-South war, the United States is now spending a lot of time getting the parties to renegotiate and re-agree to things that are already in the CPA, such as the timeline for the independence referendum in the South. The U.S. and it allies have not made it clear to Khartoum that there is a price to pay for failing to live up to commitments agreed to in the CPA. So with no cost for failing to implement existing agreements, it is no surprise that the ruling party in Khartoum is doing everything it can to go back on its word on a whole range of issues, thus threatening to push the country back toward a full-blown civil war. Since it has not faced any real costs for its actions to date, Khartoum is again arming proxy-militias and threatening to engulf the South in violence in an effort to derail the 2011 self-determination referendum.

Equally corrosive, the NCP now believes, apparently correctly, that it can revisit every aspect of existing agreements. Yet, if Khartoum hasn’t lived up to its end of the CPA, which garnered far more international attention than any recent agreement, why would we expect the NCP to abide by the provisions of this new, re-purposed CPA timeline? As one colleague puts it, “Khartoum will sign anything.”

The other area of major disagreement is the administration’s approach to the Darfur peace process. As my colleague John Prendergast has argued, “The Obama administration is not leading a new peace process for Darfur; it is more energetically supporting a failed one.” The current approach for resolving the conflict in Darfur bears far too much resemblance to the one that produced the dead-on-arrival Darfur Peace Agreement of 2006. Instead of working only with the rebel groups, the U.S. must give members of Darfur civil society a prominent place at the negotiating table so that the process has their buy-in from the start. When Khartoum quashed the Mandate Darfur peace conference – which would’ve brought together Darfuri civil society leaders in Addis Ababa back in May – the Obama administration didn’t even react. Rather than give the ruling party in the North a pass when it so brashly obstructs movements toward peace, the administration must take a firm line with Khartoum. The bottom line: Rather than rally around a Darfur peace process with such deep flaws, the U.S. needs to lead a brand new one, with backing from key actors both domestically and internationally (think Egypt and China).

The Obama administration will announce its new Sudan policy in the coming weeks, and in the meantime it’s clear that the special envoy’s office is doing what it can to reassure advocates that Gration wants everyone to “work together and speak with one voice in favor of peace, stability, prosperity, and justice for the people of Sudan.” But while we may share the same end goal, getting there is the trick. Given the stakes – the break-up of one of the largest countries in Africa, strategically located on the Horn – there’s little room for error.

Technorati Tags: Advocacy Darfur and Southern Sudan Prevention Protection

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. The World Food Program is now suspending its ground operations in parts of southern Sudan because of attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army. And who has been the LRA’s most consistent patron over the years? The ruling National Congress Party in Khartoum, which has used the LRA as a weapon against the South. With an independence referendum for the South less than two years away, the NCP has every reason to try and again destabilize the South and make the situation too messy, violent, and chaotic for the referendum to take place. With more weapons flowing into the South and clashes on the ground escalating, it looks like Khartoum is again stepping up its well-worn proxy tactics, leaving the civilians of southern Sudan in the crossfire. Very little public comment from the U.S. government on these emerging trends to date.

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In talking about the situation in Darfur as he departs his post, the commander of UNAMID Martin Luther Agwai, has offered some very self-serving remarks. Agwai rightly notes the declining levels of violence in Darfur, but entirely misses the big picture in doing so. "As of today, I would not say there is a war going on in Darfur," declared Agwai in a briefing in Khartoum.

So the days of wine and roses have arrived? What Agwai and others conveniently fail to mention: the three million Darfuris stuck in refugee and displaced camps unable to return to their homes because of insecurity and violence. Having driven three million people from their homes, President Bashir and his janjaweed allies do not need to engage in daily military clashes anymore because they have achieved their objectives. Instead of offering self-congratulatory remarks, the outgoing commander and the entire international community should simply note that it is appalling that after more than six years they have still failed to create the conditions on the ground that would allow displaced peoople to return home by disarming the janjaweed, holding perpetrators of earlier war crimes accountable, securing a viable peace deal, and putting a credible peacekeeping force in place.

Technorati Tags: Darfur and Southern Sudan Prevention Protection Punishment

Amid the mounting political challenges in Sudan, the United Nations signaled this week that it is gearing up for a massive food shortage in southern Sudan.

“On top of the one million people we already plan for assistance this year there will be about another 300,000 people who we will need to provide assistance quite urgently between now and December this year," said Kenro Oshidari, the World Food Programme (WFP) representative in Sudan, according to alJazeera.

Southern Sudan's dire development needs have made the region a long-time recipient of U.N. assistance, but recent conflict between tribes and poor growing conditions this year have left many more people in need of basic services. (For more details about these developments, see the latest update from the U.N. humanitarian agency.) With aid groups increasingly targeted for attacks and rains making remote areas inaccessible, the WFP representative said his agency is leaning towards re-starting food drops.

“It's going to be very costly but at the same time it's going to be very much needed," Kenro said. WFP estimates it will cost $44 million to purchase the additional food and pay for the larger airplanes needed for distribution.

The humanitarian situation in southern Sudan deteriorates as the country moves ever closer to a national election next year and a key referendum in 2011 to decide whether Sudan will remain united or split into two countries. Many unconfirmed reports have suggested that the government in the northern capital of Khartoum may be arming some of the groups in southern Sudan with the goal of destabilizing the region prior to the self-determination referendum.

Of course, nature has dealt a blow to southern Sudan this season, but on top of that, many southerners are expected to endure further hardship this year as their lifeline – distributions like WFP’s – is increasingly threatened by violence, some of it likely politically-motivated.

Photo: Families collect water in Rumbek, southern Sudan. (Enough/Maggie Fick)

Technorati Tags: Darfur and Southern Sudan Protection

Six months into her post as U.N. Ambassador, Susan Rice spoke with NPR this morning about the shift ushered in by the Obama administration in the way that the U.S. engages with the United Nations. One of the most apparent examples of the new approach is the U.S. decision to rejoin the United Nations Human Rights Council. While Ambassador Rice acknowledges the flaws of the Council – the membership of which includes a handful of states one wouldn’t exactly call human rights champions – Rice says that the Obama administration feels the United States can be far more effective “engaging from within rather than criticizing from the sidelines.” It’s a great interview that’s worth checking out.

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This post appeared today on the Huffington Post.

Yesterday, a coalition of anti-genocide advocacy organizations announced the launch of a bold new campaign called Sudan Now: Keep the Promise. The campaign will challenge President Barack Obama and top U.S. administration officials to live up to their campaign and political promises by taking strong and immediate action to help end the international crisis in Sudan and bring a lasting peace to the people of that country. Members of the coalition include Humanity United, the Enough Project, Stop Genocide Now, and Investors Against Genocide.

The situation in Sudan is urgent: Nearly 3 million Darfuris living in camps face the threat of rape and aid cut-offs. The country's president is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, torture and attacks against civilian populations. And a return to full-scale North-South civil war looms as the nation prepares for a vote on bifurcation of the country in 2011.

As part of the campaign’s launch, a series of print and online advertisements will appear in national publications beginning today. The advertisements feature statements made by President Obama, Vice President Biden, and Secretary Clinton, which focused on applying “real pressure” to the government of Sudan. (Check out all the ads here, here, here, and here.) In sharp contrast, the U.S. administration’s current approach, according seems to favor incentives and concessions over strong, comprehensive action.

In addition to the ads, the coalition will launch a new Web site, SudanActionNow.com as well as a strong social media presence to complement, amplify and reinvigorate efforts already under way by the advocacy community, which has for years been working to help bring lasting peace to Sudan.

“There has never been a more critical time in Sudan’s history, nor a more acute opportunity for the U.S. to lead a bolder path forward, than right now,” said Randy Newcomb, president and CEO of Humanity United, a Silicon Valley-based philanthropic organization and founding member of the coalition. “The advocacy community can help keep pressure on President Obama to ensure that he and his administration officials are pursuing the best possible path to peace—one that is comprehensive in approach, long-term in vantage point, and one that is mindful of the lessons of history and does not repeat the errors of past efforts which have tried to help create peace for the people of Sudan.”

With the U.S. administration planning to release its major policy review on Sudan soon, we call on President Obama to:

1. Lead a more effective and urgent peace process for Darfur;
2. Build an international coalition for strict implementation of the North-South peace deal; and
3. Implement a policy that creates real consequences for those in Sudan who continue to attack civilians, block life-saving aid, undermine peace, and obstruct justice.

Sudan Now members believe that the best chance for peace lies in crafting a policy that carefully balances incentives for Sudan’s political leaders with unequivocal consequences for non-compliance. “Sustained pressure backed by meaningful and focused consequences is the only tool that has moved Sudanese President al-Bashir and his National Congress Party during the 20 years of its authoritarian rule in Sudan,” said John Prendergast, co-founder of the Enough Project. “This was the approach President Obama advocated as a candidate and this is the course he should return to with a comprehensive policy focused on nationwide peace.”

Join the movement to press U.S. leaders to make peace in Sudan a priority. Make a statement at SudanActionNow.com and join the conversation on Twitter @SudanActionNow and by tweeting to #SudanNow.

Technorati Tags: Advocacy Darfur and Southern Sudan Peace Protection

We’re beginning to sound like a broken record… As we noted yesterday, a story in the Sudanese press about the confusion over Special Envoy Gration’s intentions highlights the urgent need for a consistent and firm line from the Obama administration. Now, amid reports that two leaders of UNAMID, the joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force for Darfur are leaving their posts, it need for leadership and direction on peacemaking and peacekeeping is more apparent than ever.

First, AllAfrica.com reported yesterday on the farewell ceremony for UNAMID force commander General Martin Luther Agwai, who has served in Darfur since 2007 when he was deployed as force commander for the African Union Mission in Sudan.

Then Reuters broke the news that the head of UNAMID has resigned and will vacate his post on August 31. While Special Representative Rodolphe Adada was often criticized by those who said he was an ineffective leader, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon praised Adada for his service during an “initial deployment phase and in an environment of unprecedented difficulty.”

But no matter what people say about their performance on the job (and there certainly have been critics), the glaring hole in the equation is that there isn’t a peace agreement in Darfur for UNAMID enforce. In the meantime, the peacekeepers have been given the task of overseeing an expanse the size of France with a force just 13,500-strong – 60 percent of its authorized strength. Of course this was a recipe for disaster.

The departure of these two leaders will undoubtedly create another challenge for UNAMID to overcome, as a change of leadership in any bureaucratic institution often does – multiplied by two in this case. But a quote by our own John Prendergast’s in the Reuters article sums up the unfortunate larger truth:

"There is an urgent need to construct a more credible and effective peace process backed by stronger leverage. U.N. efforts have meandered without laying down a serious peace proposal. In the absence of diplomatic leadership, it is not surprising that most analysts view UNAMID as ineffective."

Technorati Tags: Darfur and Southern Sudan Peace Prevention Protection

South African President Jacob Zuma is set to head to Zimbabwe this week for the first time since he was inaugurated in May. Zuma will be in the capital, Harare, on Thursday to participate in the opening ceremonies of a farm trade show. However, what he will or will not say about Zimbabwe’s continually fragile unity government remains the real question.

A report from IRIN underscores the tension between MDC and ZANU-PF officials regarding the purpose of Zuma’s visit. President Mugabe’s spokesman George Charamba recently noted, “President Jacob Zuma is coming here to officially open the agricultural show and not to resolve the MDC's issues.” However MDC officials emphasized their belief that Zuma “will hold deliberations with the three principals [in the unity government]."

In the first months of his presidency, Zuma seemed to look inward instead of outward and did not actively engage with Zimbabwe’s political stalemate. Comparatively, Zuma’s predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, almost single handedly dragged parties to the negotiating table and basically forced them into signing last October’s Global Peace Agreement, or GPA, which led to the creation of Zimbabwe’s unity government.

However, recently President Zuma has certainly stepped up his game vis-à-vis Zimbabwe. Zuma met with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in Johannasburg last month and promised to engage with Zimbabwe’s crisis. Furthermore, Zimbabwe sat atop Zuma’s agenda with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she visited South Africa during her recently completed Africa trip. South Africa has a keen interest in stopping any re-ignition of intense violence in Zimbabwe, especially in the run up to the World Cup next summer, which must be seen as a coming-out party of sorts for southern Africa.

Zuma carries enormous leverage in Zimbabwe, and South Africa is far and away Zimbabwe’s largest trading partner. As fissures within the Zimbabwean government remain, corruption continues to rage, and disturbing reports of paramilitary training in Zimbabwe’s rural areas increase, there is no time like the present for South African leadership to help Zimbabwe navigate the treacherous road toward stability.

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