DAY 36 OF ROUND-THE-CLOCK DARFUR VIGIL AT WHITE HOUSE

Press Release June 17, 2006

DAY 36 OF ROUND-THE-CLOCK DARFUR VIGIL AT WHITE HOUSE

White House President’s Park, Washington, DC. 25 days ago a businessman from Philadelphia began a round the clock vigil to rescue and restore Darfur from the Genocide that has raged for the last 3 years in Western Sudan. “Even when I was a well to do self centered child I knew that humanity should have stopped the Holocaust, no excuses, whatever it took. Well, now it is happening on my watch, and I want to do everything in my power to help spark the miracle of Darfur’s Rescue and Restoration.”

McGinley maintains that we can stop this Genocide now, without question. He asserts that this is a petty land grab by bullies and if we put the 20,000 Chapter 7 UN Peace Keepers called for on the ground not a shot need be fired and 2,000,000 lives can be restored. “That is worth my life right now. I am here for as many months as I can hold out to encourage our leaders and my countrymen to get the 20,000 on the ground, NOW.”

Darfur, a state the size of Texas in western Sudan populated with native African farmers, has been victimized by its Arab government in Khartoum who wants the land for Arabs for grazing. To grab the land the government’s Janjaweed (Devils on Horseback) militia has destroyed 70% of the Darfur villages, slaughtered 300,000 residents, gang raped 1000’s of women, incinerated countless children alive, and forced the remaining 2,000,000 inhabitants into desert camps where the murder and rape by the Sudan militia continues, along with forced starvation and disease. 2,000 per week are dying. The UN has called it the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Until May 14th Jay McGinley, 55, ran an elite furniture store in a northern suburb of Philadelphia, and prior to that was a computer industry executive. “The April 30th 2006 Rally for Darfur at the US Capitol with 30,000 of us from around the country including congressmen and celebrities showed me that Rescue and Restoration was coming within reach.”

However, this country has never stopped a Genocide, ever. Harvard’s Samantha Power’s Pulitzer Prize winning Genocide study of the last 100 years presents a clear conclusion. “THE BATTLE TO STOP GENOCIDED HAS THUS BEEN REPEATEDLY LOST… [BECAUSE] AMERICANS OUTSIDE THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH WERE LARGELY MUTE…” Jay says, “I am not going to be mute, and by this round the clock vigil at the White House I will try to encourage my countrymen, and our elected leaders, that now is the time to find the time and courage to CRY OUT to stop this Genocide and to restore the people of Darfur to their lives. We need to do whatever it takes to make crystal clear to our leaders that, WE WANT YOU TO STOP THE GENOCIDE NOW, AND WE ARE BEHIND YOU ON THIS 100%.”

But in McGinley’s view, there is more involved. “Frankly, although 2,000,000 Darfuri lives are enough justification, I think more than that is at stake. I think that what we stand for as a US people is at stake – JUSTICE, FAIRNESS, PROTECTION OF THE WEAK. We MUST unleash our humanity to rescue and restore Darfur now. This can be our shameful failure, or our finest hour. Let’s make it our finest hour.”

Contact: Jay McGinley, 484 356 6243, restoredarfur@cs.com
Blog: www.standwithdarfurwhitehouse.blogspot.com

UN Finally Does The Right Thing

The Washington Post news report that U.S. is secretly backing Warlords in Somalia does not surprise me, because that is exactly what the US is doing in Sudan by backing the rebels and using the Western mainstream media to misinform the ignorant public that the Janjaweed militia and the Sudanese government are the real evils in Darfur. The rebels are actually the real devils perpetrating evils in Darfur. I have been in contact with Jan Pronk, the UN Special Envoy to Sudan and I am glad to read that the U.N. Council Approves Mission to Darfur

--Posted by Orikinla Osinachi. to Nigerian Times at 5/17/2006 06:37:00 AM

The Washington Post Says US backs proposed NATO role in Darfur:

The Washington Post Says US backs proposed NATO role in Darfur.
And I say, it's about time.

Sudan Cannot Dictate Terms To The UN

Khartoum says this and Khartoum says that.
I am tired of reading, hearing and listening to all the irrational statements of the Sudanese government on Darfur. Because, Sudan cannot overule the Resolution of the United Nations Security Council on stopping the genocide in Darfur. Sudan cannot dictate terms to the UN.

Darfur Blues and other Jazz.

I have been busy addressing the political emergencies in Nigeria. Because, we have to put out the fire in our own house before we can put out the fire next door. See my http://nigeriantimes.blogspot.com on the current crisis in Nigeria.

I have over 12 active blogs and all my blogs are for all the issues on the facts of life. And my most favourite blog is my romantic http://kissesandroses.blogspot.com for overcoming stress.

The Sudanese government must bow to the UN and that is the only solution to the problem in Sudan.

The Religious Blackmail In Sudan

Anti-America rally in Darfur, SudanPhoto: Associated Press

Sudanese rally against UN Darfur plan
Wednesday 08 March 2006, 16:50 Makka Time, 13:50 GMT Aljazeera.Net

Declares the headline on Aljazeera.Net in a very comprehensive report on the threats of the Islamist movement to stop any foreign intervention in the civil war in Sudan. And groups called the "Darfur Jihad Organization" and the "Blood Brigades" have emerged to threaten fire and brimstone against the deployment of the UN Peace Keeping Force. And as usual, they are accusing the US of trying to turn Sudan into another Iraq.

The threats of Islamist groups are becoming the worst fears of the 21st Century. Because, their religious terrorism is now the weapon of Islamic tyranny. And I am afraid that if we allow this Islamic tyranny to continue, millions of non-Muslims in predominantly Islamic states will continue to be victimized and killed as the Islamic terrorists known as the Janjaweed guerillas have been doing in Darfur. And the emergence of the so called "Darfur Jihad Organization" and the "Blood Brigades" is a threat to the on-going peace keeping efforts in Sudan.

The report that:

" Abd al-Rahim Muhammad Husain, the defence minister, addressed a military
demonstration in central Khartoum, but foreign journalists were detained and
escorted from the scene." is a pointer to the unrepentant nature of the ruling
government in Sudan.

"Jihad, victory, martyrdom," the soldiers chanted.
"Our martyrs are in heaven, and we are ready," said the minister.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/429EE02A-ABBA-4451-907A-4F3AF9B2765A.htm

We must reject all the religious blackmail of the Islamist regime in Sudan and defend the fundamental human rights of all the people in Sudan. Especially the Darfuris. And the Washington Post echoed the sentiments on one of the Darfuris.

Among the crowd of demonstrators, one brave woman quietly said she supported intervention in her place of origin, Darfur.
"I don't think the government can solve the problem, nor can the African Union," student Maha Mekki said. "I want America to come in," she said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/08/AR2006030801378_2.html

Bush Calls For More Troops In Darfur

Bush finally comes to the aid of the suffering Darfuris in Sudan.

Bush Calls For More Troops In Darfur
President George W. Bush and Kofi AnanThe Washington Post reports the good news from President George W. Bush that the US will support the deployment of more troops to increase the peace keeping force of the African Union in Darfur. And I say, it is long over due. The procrastination has cost thousands of innocent lives in Darfur. And I have already made repeated calls for such a task force on my The DARFUR Blog since the beginning of this year. So, I agree, that it's about time we eradicate the Janjaweed terrorists on rampage in Darfur and put an end to the tyranny in Sudan.Read the full report

Is Sudan Ready To Repent?

The fact that massacres of humans are still going on even as I blog only means that the case of humanity is a forgone conclusion that humanity has chosen the bloody path of self-destruction.

I don't believe in flogging a horse that has refused to drink from the stream of humanity.
I just wait for it until it is too thirsty to refuse to drink from the stream.

Is Sudan is now ready to reject the evils of the devils and repent from the atrocities of her crimes against humanity?

That Washington Post Report:African Rebels Take Their Battles Online

As for the rebels in Darfur, the group remains fractured and the
leaders are still not talking face to face. But they reportedly are still
e-mailing each other.

NAIROBI -- The leaders of the main rebel movement in Sudan's Darfur region were once brothers in arms. But last year, the two powerful men had a falling out, and each proclaimed he was the rightful president of the Sudanese Liberation Army. Things got ugly.
But not a single shot was fired. Instead, the feuding insurgents battled as bloggers over the Internet.

"I got his e-mails and read those bitter diaries," said Mohamed al-Nur, a founder of the rebel group, at a conference held here late last year by the United States to try to bring the two sides together.

"That's the only place we hear from you -- on that Internet!" hooted Saif Haroun, a spokesman for Minni Arko Minnawi, the newly proclaimed leader. "You run your rebellion from a computer?"
-From The Washington Post

I will advise every one blogging in or on Africa to read the Washington Post article "African Rebels Take Their Battles Online:
Internet Extends Political Debate" written by Emily Wax of the Washington Post Foreign Service published on Saturday, January 14, 2006; Page A16.

The Washington Post Report is good for the general public knowledge of the fast developing African virtual world. But it has also exposed us to the majority of ignorant African rulers who don't read blogs, because they think we should be ignored. To them ignorance is bliss. Because, it is better to ignore our hysterics on their tyrannical politics than to pay us attention so that we will not bask in the limelight of such official recognition.

The most popular politcal web site in Nigeria is the Elendu Reports http://www.elendureports.com of JONATHAN ELENDU whose statement below best illustrates his character.

"I was appalled by Jeff Koinange's report on CNN, but I cannot claim, in good conscience, that he invented those people he interviewed. They are Nigerians who see increased insecurity, hunger, poverty, and thuggery as the only fruits that have been borne by democracy since 1999. CNN did not cause our problems."

"Obasanjo and Tinubu should get serious and stop looking for scapegoats in the media. The Obasanjo administration and indeed Nigerian politicians should not use this single episode as an excuse to step on freedom of the press. Every individual has a right to ask for whatever type of government he or she wants."

"This is not illegal. Obasanjo should counter negative reports in the media by doing the people's business as he promised he would. Nigerians need jobs, security, a conducive atmosphere for business to grow, and efficient basic amenities."

-Jonathan Elendu

But Elendu has been questioned for his subjective reports by many critics.

Most of my fellow Nigerian bloggers are based outside the shores of Nigeria where they are safer than me who is right here in the battlefield in the troubled waters of the Niger Delta. And as they say, "Goldfish Have No Hiding Place."

"In the past few months the underground media and later the mainstream Nigerian media have been inundated with stories of corrupt Nigerian officials putting up residences abroad, buying mansions in foreign lands and supposedly sabotaging the war that we all have declared against corruption. Against all odds, most of these stories have emanated from web based journalists especially those situated in United Kingdom and United States: two countries that have become overnight refuge for confused and dislocated citizen-refugees, most of whom will truly prefer to be back home in their country were it not for the profound decadence of a nation of such huge potential like ours."

-Michael Oluwagbemi II

I don't want to be over exposed and become the target of witch-hunting in high places. But since this Washington Post report, I am afraid that the tyrants on rampage in Africa will now be haunting us from pillar to post in our blogosphere.

Now, only God can save us.

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10,000 Postcards Sent To President George W. Bush

The "People of the Conscience" has sent more than 10,000 postcards to President George W.Bush of America appealing to him to stop the on going Genocide in Darfur.

Ann-Louise Colgan, director of policy analysis and communications at Africa Action, said:

"Next month, as president of the Security Council, the United States will have a unique opportunity to stop the genocide in Darfur by initiating U.N. action on this crisis."

In a statement issued Thursday, the Washington-based Africa Action called on the United States to introduce a new Security Council resolution on Darfur.

"February is the make or break month for U.S. action to stop the first genocide of the 21st century," Colgan said.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200601080069.html

The UN is Confused Over Darfur

The tragic deaths of over 30 Sudanese refugees in Egypt have only confirmed the shortcomings of the UN in managing the crisis in Sudan.

If the Sudanese refugees are not safe in Egypt, then why did the UN keep them in Egypt?
Imagine the horrors of these refugees who fled their own country to escape from the killing fields of Darfur and other regions of Sudan and now coming to die such a horrible death where they thought they were safe! It is a horrifying and terrifying nightmare. And sends negative signals to the other refugees at the mercy of the rebels and Janjaweed mercenaries in Sudan.

How can the UN fail to take care of these helpless and powerless refugees in Egypt?

From the shoddy treatment of the refugees within and outside Sudan, we can see that the UN is confused over the emergency in Darfur.

Only God can save the refugees in danger in Sudan and outside.

10 DAYS PROTEST TO STOP THE GENOCIDE IN DARFUR

400, 000 Killed
2.5 million Displaced
10 Days Protest

Stop the genocide in Darfur

January 1-10, 2006, Outside the Embassy of Sudan



10 Days of Protest: A New Year’s Resolution for Darfur

From Sunday, January 1 – Tuesday, January 10, student groups, activist organizations, religious congregations and concerned individuals from Washington D.C. and all over the country will protest outside the Sudanese Embassy against the government-backed genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region.

WHY?
The Sudanese Embassy claims on its website that “Darfur wasn’t Genocide,”
BUT the violence in Darfur—responsible for 400,000 deaths, millions of displaced peoples, murder, rape and the destruction of 90% of the villages in Darfur—has been declared genocide by President Bush, Colin Powell, a unanimous House of Representative, and the National Holocaust Memorial Museum.

The Sudanese Embassy asserts “No evidence Sudan’s government involved in Darfur raid,”
BUT the weaponry and aerial equipment of the Janjaweed are those of Khartoum, and all evidence indicates that government officials are directly supporting these militias. While the Sudanese Government denies responsibility, it refuses to prosecute the 51 suspects named by the UN for war crimes in Darfur and awaiting trial in the International Criminal Court.

The Sudanese Embassy declares Sudan’s “optimistic future,”
BUT North/South peace talks are being constantly postponed because of Janjaweed violence. Due to the violence, humanitarian aid threatens to leave, an action that would lead to a certain death for Darfurians. Moreover, the likely occurrence of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir becoming President of the African Union would transform Darfur’s last line of defense into an extension of Khartoum. The “optimistic future” includes the eradication of an entire population for Khartoum’s economic and political benefit.

Amidst this catastrophic scenario, the United States has become a complicit observer—and by extension, so has the American public. After Rwanda, George W. Bush infamously declared: “not on my watch.” Now, over a year after his government declared the situation in Darfur to be “genocide,” Bush and his administration have taken no real action for fear of upsetting the Sudanese government. Meanwhile, American newspapers and television have covered the crisis minimally or not at all, failing in their fundamental responsibility to educate the public.

Starting on New Year’s Day, we will stand outside the embassy for 4 hours each day from 11 am to 3 pm. For 10 days, we will pressure our politicians to take an aggressive stand against genocide. We will generate the kind of press that this crisis warrants, exposing the horrors that American media has cruelly neglected.

We demand:
· An end to Khartoum's support of the Janjaweed militias
· An expansion of the African Union mandate to protect civilians, and the involvement of UN or NATO multinational peace-keeping forces on the ground.
· Prosecution of Sudanese human rights violators in the International Criminal Court.

As many people as possible should be here each day; however, it is most important that the effort is sustained rather than large. A calendar is posted online to allow each group and individual to mark times of presence. Go to www.calendar.yahoo.com. Username: Darfurprotest, Password: Darfur. Go to monthly calendar and click "add" on the dates you wish to participate. It will also allow you to specify hours. Please include a contact email address.

Compelling visuals will be provided, but any other images or information are encouraged. Wear your warmest green clothing! Remember, the goal of the project is gain media attention—the more people, the more organizations, the more buzz we can create!

The Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan is located at 2210 Massachusetts Ave. NW, in Washington, DC. Please join us in protest.
Phone: Sarah Reed, 610.283.1149
Email: sreed@wesleyan.edu, akoch@wesleyan.edu and jboddum@wesleyan.edu for more information.

REMINDER: Don't Forget From Tomorrow, We Protest For Darfur

10 DAYS OF PROTEST: A NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION FOR DARFUR

From Tomorrow Sunday, January 1 – Tuesday, January 10, student groups, activist organizations, religious congregations and concerned individuals from Washington D.C. and all over the country will protest outside the Sudanese Embassy against the government-backed genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region.

Starting on New Year’s Day, we will stand outside the embassy for 4 hours each day from 11 am to 3 pm. For 10 days, we will pressure our politicians to take an aggressive stand against genocide.

We will generate the kind of press that this crisis warrants, exposing the horrors that American media has cruelly neglected.

We demand:
• An end to Khartoum\'s support of the Janjaweed militias
• An expansion of the African Union mandate to protect civilians, and the involvement of multinational peace-keeping forces on the ground.
• Prosecution of Sudanese human rights violators in the International Criminal Court.

As many people as possible should be here each day; however, it is most important that the effort is sustained rather than large.

A calendar is posted online to allow each group and individual to mark times of presence. Go to www.calendar.yahoo.com. Username: Darfurprotest, Password: Darfur. Go to monthly calendar and click \"add\" on the dates you wish to participate. It will also allow you to specify hours. Please include a contact email address. Compelling visuals will be provided, but any other images or information are encouraged.

Remember, the goal of the project is gain media attention—the more people, the more organizations, the more buzz we can create!

The Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan is located at 2210 Massachusetts Ave. NW, in Washington, DC. Please join us in protest.

Email: sreed@wesleyan.edu, akoch@wesleyan.edu and jboddum@wesleyan.edu for more information. Organizational Affiliation: STAND (Students Take Action Now: Darfur)Event type: PublicContact name: Alison Koch, Sarah ReedContact Info: Akoch@wesleyan.edu Sreed@wesleyan.edu

DARFUR: The UN and the US Are Guilty

Kofi Annan loves to talk and talk. But, he only barks like a toothless bulldog. Because, he has failed to act with expediency in response to the emergency in Darfur. Exactly, the same lack of expediency caused the extermination of millions of lives in the Rwanda Holocaust and the same lack of expediency was responsible for the genocide in Bosnia and now in Darfur.

The US is also guilty in this case and has fooled the majority of Americans into the futile war in Iraq. Because, the Al Qaida led by Osama bin Laden was not operating from Iraq, but from Somalia and Sudan.

Now let me address the latest report on the situation in Darfur:
News Report: Attacks on villagers by government-backed militia of Arab heritage have raised the spectre of genocide in Sudan’s western Darfur region. In the south, the Khartoum government and southern rebels have officially ended Africa’s longest-running war -- a 21-year civil conflict that the United Nations estimates killed two million -- but the humanitarian crisis continues to fester, with more than 5.5 million people displaced from their homes. Simmering conflict in northeastern Sudan, the Nuba mountains of south Kordofan, the Southern Blue Nile and Abyei risk destabilising the country further.
My Commentary: The attacks on the innocent people in Sudan are masterminded by the Sudanese government and both the UN and the US can stop the genocide if they really want to. But, their inefficiency and lack of expediency have been exploited by the terrorist government of Sudan.

In a poll of "forgotten" emergencies released by AlertNet in March 2005, aid experts chose Sudan as the world's third-biggest neglected crisis. Here they explain why.

On the scale of the crisis in Darfur…

In nearly 40 years of traveling the world, I have not witnessed any crisis that so vividly combines the worst of everything -- armed conflict; acts of extreme violence; great tides of desperate refugees; hunger and disease combined with an unforgiving desert climate.
-Martin Bell British journalist, former lawmaker, UNICEF UK’s ambassador for humanitarian emergencies
On a U.N. panel’s finding there was no genocide in Darfur…

The Darfur situation is probably the more serious in that given what the U.N. Commission decided it is now open season and it is likely that the Janjaweed and the Sudan government may decide to continue to kill with impunity leaving the lives of 1.8 million people in absolute peril over the coming months.
-John O'SheaChief executive, GOAL, Ireland.

On media coverage…
I would like the media to continue to focus on Sudan. This seems to have fallen off the map a bit. It’s very telling how the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal for Sudan reached “only” £35 million -- perhaps this has not been as “real” to western public donors as the tsunami. Some human interest stories could help to refocus this.
-Juliette ProdhanActing regional humanitarian coordinator, Oxfam GB in East Asia

On the quality of life in southern Sudan…
"Southern Sudan," a U.N. official told me, "is still the worst place in the world to be born." The statistics do not contradict him. In education, literacy, and child malnutrition, southern Sudan ranks at the bottom of the world, and is near the bottom in all other social indicators. Most international attention is focused on Darfur, but southern Sudan suffers from a continuing humanitarian emergency.
-Larry ThompsonSenior advocate, Refugees International, USA
On the food crisis in southern Sudan…

Considerable diplomatic effort by the U.S., U.K., Norway and E.U. has gone into brokering the peace accord. Yet it will mean little to the people of Sudan unless they have enough to eat while they rebuild the war-ravaged south. Our operation there has just seven percent of the money it needs this year.
-James MorrisExecutive director, U.N. World Food Programme.

On Sudan’s other hotspots…
And if I can suggest another crisis, I'd be tempted to go for non-Darfur and non-SPLA parts of Sudan -- e.g., the Beja in the northeast and perhaps also Kordofan. A greater and more widespread understanding of groups such as these will be essential if the peace process is to achieve a lasting settlement in Sudan.
-George Graham Programme officer for East Africa, International Rescue Committee, UK .

My Commentary:
The Sudanese government is telling lies that the leaders of their Janjaweed militias or bandits cannot be identified. Because, the government is providing most of the arms and Thuraya phones the Janjaweed terrorists are using in their criminal operations in Darfur. Because, they are being used as mercenary guerillas against the rebels in Darfur and other areas of conflict in Sudan.

The African Union (AU) is ill-equipped to end the genocide in Darfur. So, the UN and the US should take over the peace keeping operations in Darfur to disarm both the rebels and the Janjaweed mercenaries of the government in Sudan.

The Worst Thing I Saw Came Last December

The Brian Steidle Eye Witness Account of Darfur :

The worst thing I saw came last December, when Labado, a village of 20,000 people, was burned to the ground. We rushed there after a rebel group contacted us, and we arrived while the attack was still in progress. At the edge of the village, I found a Sudanese general who explained why he was doing nothing to stop the looting and burning. He said his job was to protect civilians and keep the road open to commercial traffic and denied that his men were participating in the attack. Then a group of uniformed men drove by in a Toyota Land Cruiser. The general said they were just going to get water, but they stopped about 75 yards away, jumped out, looted a hut and burned it. The attacks continued for a week. We have no idea how many people died there but tribal leaders later said close to 100 were missing.

http://www.ushmm.org/conscience/alert/darfur/steidle/

Note: Brian Steidle, a former U.S. Marine, was a member of the African Union team monitoring the conflict in Darfur, where he took hundreds of photographs documenting atrocities.

DARFUR: PEACE TALKS RESUME IN ABUJA, NIGERIA, AFTER CHRISTMAS BREAK

Sudanese people and animals getting water from the same supply. Photo courtesy of CARE

Cecile,

The African Union (AU) Peace Talks on Sudan have resumed in our capital Abuja after the Christmas break.

Imagine that the delegates went on break for three whole days to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ! So, we should pat them on the back and commend them as good "Christians"?
What an irrational excuse.

Imagine medical doctors and nurses going on Christmas break whilst their patients in critical condition in the emergency ward are crying for help as they are writhening in pains and dying?
Do the millions of suffering and dying war-stricken refugees in Darfur know it was Christmas last Sunday?

The hypocrisy of our leaders is nothing but sheer ruthlessness and wickedness.
What is Christmas? Just another holiday and the biggest "christian" trade fair.
Did Jesus Christ tell us to celebrate his birth? Or to love our neighbours as we love ourselves?
Why do we like deceiving and fooling the ignorant and gullible populations of poor people in this world?

The sooner we stop giving excuses for our blunders, mistakes and failures the better we would be.

“We Christians in the U.S. have to use our resources not to build bigger churches, and not to be even more concerned with being pro-life, but to show how we value life by protecting the lives that are being lost every day because of war, disease, and starvation.” -Deborah Fikes

“Killing is wrong, whether you’re killing a Jew, a Christian, or a Muslim.”
“I’m as concerned about what’s happening in Darfur as I am about what happened in southern Sudan. It’s evil. God made the people there in Darfur. For us to ignore them would be a sin.”
-Billy Graham.

“We acted too late to save millions of Jews during World War II.”
“We didn’t act at all when hundreds of thousands of innocents were slaughtered in Rwanda. We have the opportunity now to stop a genocide and we must act.”
-Charles Rangel, the New York City congressman.

Cecile,
Here is the latest news report on the Sudanese Peace Talks in Abuja.

27/12/2005 17:10 LAGOS, Dec 27 (AFP)
Darfur: peace talks resume in Abuja after Christmas break: official
The African Union (AU)-mediated Sudanese peace talks on the Darfur crisis resumed Tuesday in Nigeria's capital Abuja after Christmas break, AU spokesman told AFP.
Delegates to the talks observed a three-day recess which ended on Monday to enable them to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, Noureddine Mezni said in an official statement which he read on telephone.
http://www.africasia.com/services/news/newsitem.php?area=africa&item=051227171023.6fu1bema.php#

The US Must Spearhead the Rescue Mission To Darfur 2

Cecile,

This Darfuri boy reminds me of me during the civil war in Nigeria as I was once missing from our refugee camp. My mother had lost three children, she was nursing a year old baby and the oldest son my elder brother had gone to join the Biafran scouts called "Boys Company" used in spying on our enemies (The Nigerian Armed Forces).

The latest report on Darfur in the Washington Post of today was written by two US Senators calling for more US interventions in Darfur http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/26/AR2005122600547.html

(see the previous post below) and a popular blog http://www.independentconservative.com/ shared my views on why Sudan should have been invaded by the US instead of Iraq.

The Unicef reports that over a million children are in danger of dying in Sudan since the Sudanese Arab terrorists have prevented emergency Aid from reaching the refugee camps where these helpless children are suffering and dying everyday from malnutrition, diseases and violence.

UNICEF correspondent Chris Niles reports on child malnutrition in Darfur:

Malnutrition rates in the last year have been halved among children living in camps which provide food, shelter and medical care. But an estimated 2.5 million people are not receiving any help because they live in isolated and dangerous areas. Children in these groups are dying from malnutrition and other preventable diseases.

http://www.unicefusa.org/site/c.duLRI8O0H/b.50755/k.7A58/

I will keep you posted.

The US Must Spearhead the Rescue Mission To Darfur

“The only difference between Rwanda and Darfur is the numbers involved of dead, tortured, and raped. This is ethnic cleansing, this is the world’s greatest humanitarian crisis, and I don’t know why the world is not doing more about it.”
- Mukesh Kapila, the former U.N.’s humanitarian coördinator for
Sudan.

Dear Cecile,

The reality of a human catastrophe as horrifying and terrifying as the Rwanda Holocaust repeating in Sudan is very frightening. Because, the UN, OAU, G-8 and other world bodies were all there when the massacres in Rwanda became a genocide and finally became another holocaust. And there was no excuse.


Those we thought could save us failed to save us in Rwanda. And they are failing to save us again in Sudan.

World leaders have failed us.

The UN and NATO should have a combined emergency intervention coalition force for the control and prevention of war crimes and wide spread violations of human rights.

By now, the UN should have sent a peace-keeping force of at least 500,000 armed soldiers to Sudan to disarm the lawless Janaweed terrorists without compromise.
The US should treat the Janaweed mass murderers as terrorists and I have already sent petitions to the office of the US Secretary of State on this note.

I don't believe in speeches at the UN, AU and G-8 while hundreds of thousands of armless and helpless civilian populations are being exterminated in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe and the UN and world leaders are wasting time meeting over treaties instead of reacting as a matter of emergency to violations of international law, violations of human rights, and policies that do not respect the rule of law and democratic principles. To put Sudan immediately under arms and trade embargoes and ban the issuance of Foreign Visas to Sudanese officials.

I don't believe in White Collar diplomacy that has done us more harm than good.
If the UN, OAU and EU intervened without delay in Rwanda, millions of lives would have been saved. But they were busy globetrotting and hobnobbing with the "gobs and snobs" of governments in diplomatic chitchat in five star hotels, squandering hundreds of thousands of dollars in hotel bills and air fares while hundreds of thousands of poverty stricken and war ridden refugees are suffering and perishing everyday by day in Darfur and other regions of emergencies in the world.

I am saying this from my experience as a UNICEF Consultant for child survival and development when I was one of the national coordinators in Nigeria. I was lodged in a double suite at the five star Durbar Hotel in Kaduna. What do I need a double suite for? And room service? At over $200 per night in 1988. I was pissed. I protested. But, the others laughed at me and said why should I complain when it was not even my money and they filled their refrigerators with food and wine. They even had to come and use my own glasses. And we were meeting to discuss how to save poor children from preventable diseases? The amount of money spent on our hotel bills was more than the amount spent on the procurement of the drugs for the immunization of the children in Nigeria and whilst we were still studying modules of Informatio0n, Education and Communication (IEC) , thousands of children were dying daily.

I left the UNICEF and never sought for the appointment again. And even as a project artist for the USAID, the same bureaucratic misadministration made me to walk away and I became an independent producer and writer to address the needs of my people from public transport buses and at local markets for 11 years without any government or foreign grant.

The draconian Sudanese Government is taking advantage of the bureaucratic circumlocution of the UN, AU, EU and other global bodies and their inefficiency often leads to dormancy.

JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED.

Emergency demands Expediency.

If you have been a refugee child, you would have known why I am so concerned and the only weapon I have now is this Internet. If you are the only one I succeed in getting across my plea of angst I have not wasted my time.
No more, no less.

We can stop the holocaust in Darfur.

May God help us all before it too late.

Even Democratic Senator Barack Obama from Illinois and Republican Senator Sam Brownback from Kansas have finally given their verdict on the shortcomings of the US Policy in Sudan as it delays the progress in Darfur.

"The Bush administration has helped reduce suffering in Darfur, but the situation is dangerously adrift. And when the history of this tragedy is written, nobody will remember how many times officials visited the region or how much humanitarian aid was delivered. They will only remember the death toll."
-Barack Obama is a Democratic senator from Illinois.
Sam Brownback is a Republican senator from Kansas.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/26/AR2005122600547_pf.html

The USAID Takes Over the Work of the UN in Darfur

The USAID is almost doing the work of the UN in Sudan. And I wonder if the UN has decided to pass the buck or to admit the shortcomings of the UN in responding to emergencies until it is too late?

Now read the comprehensive plan of the USAID in Sudan.

USAID Support to the Comprehensive Peace Plan in Sudan

Overview

With the peace agreement, long-isolated areas are now accessible. Roads and markets are improving, making trade more vibrant.

The Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement have signed a comprehensive peace agreement including fundamental changes in governance through power-sharing, wealth-sharing, security arrangements, and a formal ceasefire. It is hoped that these changes will provide a framework for resolving conflicts in other unstable areas outside of southern Sudan, most notably Darfur and Eastern Sudan. A peaceful Sudan is important to the United States to promote regional stability in the volatile horn of Africa. Current USAID programs focus on supporting the peace process, democracy and governance, education, health, economic growth, and humanitarian assistance.

Programs Support to the Peace Process

The war has been the central focus of political life throughout Sudan for more than 20 years. To support the peace process in Sudan, USAID activi-ties will seek to establish social and institutional foundations for stability and peacebuilding at the grassroots level in selected conflict-prone com-munities in Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile, and Equatoria provinces. This in-cludes increased access to information through the development of independent media and wide distribution of the peace protocol. Read more...

Responsive and Participatory Governance

Under the peace agreement, southern Sudan will have governing auton-omy within the context of a national unity government. USAID will seek to aid in the establishment of transparent and accountable government struc-tures in southern Sudan. Efforts will be made to support the development of civilian political parties and a vibrant civil society, including a network of organizations that are committed to the empowerment of women. Read more...