Blog Series
Conflicts
Announcements
Archive
- May, 2012 (27)
- April, 2012 (62)
- March, 2012 (64)
- February, 2012 (53)
- January, 2012 (53)
Blog Roll
- Africa in Transition
- Africa24 Media
- Across the Aisle
- Burning Billboard
- Change.org - Human Rights
- Chris Blattman's Blog
- Condition Critical
- Congo Siasa
- From the Front Line
- Genocide Intervention Network
- Huffington Post
- ICC Observers
- IJCentral
- Impunity Watch
- In Situ
- Institute for War & Peace Reporting
- Opinio Juris
- Meskel Square
- Mia Farrow
- National Security Network Democracy Arsenal
- Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times
- Promise of Engagement
- Pulitzer Center - Untold Stories
- Resolve Uganda
- Save Darfur
- South Sudan Info
- STAND
- SudanReeves.org
- TakePart
- Think Progress
- UN Dispatch
- Voices from the Field
- Voices on Genocide Prevention
- War Crimes
- WITNESS
- Woodrow Wilson Center
- World is Witness
- Wronging Rights
Books by John Prendergast
A Day Late and a Dollar Short?
The State Department, somewhat belatedly, has come out and expressed 'extreme concern' about the Government of Sudan offensive in Darfur -- an offensive that has taken place even as diplomats were heralding a deal between the government and the Justice and Equality Movement as a breakthrough. The statement is fairly weak tea given the flagrant nature and timing of President Bashir's offensive, and it is small wonder that the peace deal is already showing signs of coming apart at the seams.
One other point in the State Department statement deserves special notice. The spokesman calls for the Government of Sudan and rebels to "allow the Joint African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur access to Jebel Marra to assess the humanitarian situation and restore stability." Any peacekeeping Mission that relies on the warring parties for a permission slip to carry out its most basic functions really isn't much of a peacekeeping Mission at all. The fact that UNAMID can't even get through a basic roadblock in Darfur gives you a good idea how effective they are at protecting the millions of Darfuris in harm's way.
Last night a friend who recently returned from Darfur shared that GoS uses UNAMID for development. UNAMID sets up a base which includes building roads, setting up fences and structures, etc., and once a compound is established, GoS evicts UNAMID and takes over the base.
This reminded me of an event last week at Stanford where one of the speakers talked about how the UN has become a proxy of the state. The international community finances and manages basic systems in Darfur, but GoS has ultimate authority. GoS determines what the UN can and cannot do and they randomly seize property, expel groups, etc. to make sure everyone knows who is in charge.
I'm not sure this is what the intentional community had in mind when they set out to provide security and aid for those in Darfur.