---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> Date: Tue, May 21, 2013 at 12:16 PM Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] Controversial visits To: Group <[email protected]>
1. From Sudan to North Korea and Syria: A Plea to President Obama to Activate His Atrocities Prevention Board Posted: 05/20/2013 6:59 pm Huffington Post Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and its Museum of Tolerance Co-authored by Professor Samuel Totten "In remembrance lie the roots of redemption; in forgetfulness the roots of destruction." That Judaic theme has inspired museums, international memorial days, and not a few politicians to invoke "Never Again" when the specter of genocide rears its horrific head. Yet while millions may draw inspiration and hope from survivor's stories and inspirational films, the people who hold the power to act do not have a great track record in the generation since the Nazi Holocaust. From the Cambodian genocide to Rwanda and Darfur, a more accurate reprise might be "ever again." Now comes word that the Obama administration will host representatives of Sudan's al Bashir regime, whose dismal human rights record has led al Bashir's indictment for crimes against humanity and genocide for atrocities perpetrated in Darfur. The concerns today go beyond the well-documented crimes in Darfur. Since June 2011, the people of the Nuba Mountains in Sudan have been under assault by Government of Sudan (GoS) ground troops and aerial bombings. As a result of the daily bombings, hundreds of thousands fled from their villages and farms into the hinterlands and into caves seeking sanctuary. Without ready access to their produce and stores of food, many have suffered the whole gamut of hunger -- malnutrition to severe malnutrition to starvation. Furious that they were not allowed to secede from Sudan and join the new Republic of South Sudan and at what they considered the rigged election for governor of South Kordofan, where the Nuba Mountains are located, many in the region began calling into question the authority of al Bashir. During huge rallies in early 2011, the people not only denounced their being forced to live under the dictatorial thumb of al Bashir, and called on him to give himself up to the ICC. They also decried the fact that Ahmed Haroun, who is also wanted on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes perpetrated in Darfur, was named the new governor of the Nuba Mountains. The response from Khartoum was to unleash ground troops, along with Antonov bombers and MIGs, against the Nuba Mountains. Instead of solely attempting to apprehend the potential rebels, Bashir's forces began attacking unarmed civilians. Countless women, children, infants and the elderly have been killed and maimed in the worst ways imaginable. The bombings, killings, maiming and starvation continue unabated as the world looks on and does nothing. The government in Khartoum views the Washington meeting as a sign that their international isolation is waning. President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry should firmly disabuse them of any such notion. In addition to demanding that the murderous onslaught against the civilians in the Nuba Mountains cease, President Obama should activate his Atrocities Prevention Board (APB), which he launched one year ago. The president touted APB as a serious innovation in the fight against crimes against humanity and genocide, inferring that his was the most forward-looking of any presidential administration in the fight against genocide. If only that were so. To date, at least when it comes to Sudan, it appears that the APB is more cosmetic than concrete. Human rights disasters never wait for the good guys to act. New crimes against humanity, and in certain cases, possibly genocide, are rife across the globe: daily, the Sudanese government carries out aerial bombings against innocents in the Nuba Mountains; murder and mass rape are commonplace occurrences in the Democratic Republic of Congo; mass graves have been discovered in Syria and death mayhem and destruction threaten to stretch beyond its borders; and the North Korean regime continues its inhumane treatment of 200,000 prisoners in its Stalinist-style gulag. The voiceless and defenseless desperately need a powerful advocate. It is not too late for the Obama administration's Atrocities Prevention Board to take the lead in thwarting mass atrocities. Everyday it fails to act is nothing less than an invitation to Khartoum, Pyongyang, Damascus and their ilk to step up their assaults on human lives and dignity. If we fail to act, future generations may yet remember the countless forsaken victims we forgot to save. Co-author Samuel Totten, Professor Emeritus at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, is the author of Genocide by Attrition: Nuba Mountains, Sudan (Transaction Publishers, 2012). He was last in the war torn Nuba Mountains this past winter. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-abraham-cooper/from-sudan-to-north-korea_b_3274766.html END1 2. On the Visit of Baroness Valerie Amos to Khartoum SPLM/N 20 May 2013 The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Baroness Valerie Amos, is visiting Khartoum from the 20th to the 23rd of May. We learned from Khartoum that her program will include meeting General Bashir and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and HAC, the Sudan government humanitarian agency. She may travel to Darfur. This visit is coming at a crucial and critical time for the Sudanese people as Sudan is witnessing the worst humanitarian crisis in Africa today that includes Blue Nile, Nuba Mountains/South Kordofan, North Kordofan and Darfur. Around 4 million of the civilian population have been displaced or have become refugees as a result of the ongoing war in Darfur for one decade, and in the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile where humanitarian access has been denied for two years by the Sudan government as it simultaneously launched aerial and ground bombardments against the civilian population. More than 24 civilians were killed in the last three months in Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains alone and more were injured as a result of the Sudan air force aerial bombardment against civilian targets. More than 700 were arrested among the internally displaced in the government held areas and among activists in different states, mostly from the SPLM-N. Some of them have been tortured and some were sentenced to death. Those who were arrested include 138 in Blue Nile state - some were sentenced to death. Around 200 were arrested in the Nuba Mountains/South Kordofan, which includes 45 women (some are with kids and some were pregnant), and more than 50 leaders of the SPLM-N, including 2 members of our negotiating team for the peace talks under the AUHIP are in custody. More than 200 were arrested from Darfur and North Kordofan, including activists from various organizations, including the SPLM-N. The visit comes at a time when, in the last four months in 2013, those who were displaced in Darfur are greater in number than in the whole year of 2012. Khartoum is not interested in addressing the humanitarian situation and as usual is buying time, using the visits of high profile international officials to give lip service to the humanitarian situation. The Sudanese regime and General Bashir have been the largest manufacturer of the humanitarian crisis in Africa for 24 years continuously and the present regime has a long record of targeting civilian populations and destroying lives. They are permanently on the humanitarian crisis list for almost a quarter of a century - the same regime with the same personalities. Meanwhile we appreciate the efforts of Baroness Valerie Amos, although the government has never allowed her to visit the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile. We are asking her to consider the following: 1. To visit the areas in Blue Nile, Nuba Mountains and Darfur that are outside of the control of the government, which have been denied access for two years in the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile, and to see for herself and to report to the international community the depth of the humanitarian crisis in those areas rather than visiting the well selected areas by the government that do not reflect the magnitude of the crisis. 2. As she will be doing in Khartoum, to meet the political leadership and the humanitarian wing of the SPLM-N in her visit to Addis Ababa since the UN Security Council Resolution 2046 required both the Sudan government and the SPLM-N to address the humanitarian crisis and there is a need to get information from both sides in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2046. 3. To make it clear to the Sudan government and the Sudanese public the concern and the position of the United Nations humanitarian organs that denying access for humanitarian purposes is a war crime in international humanitarian law. On the proposal for vaccinations, the SPLM-N humanitarian wing expressed its readiness for a meeting with OCHA to work out the requirements and a detailed plan. We equally stated the need for a brief cessation of hostilities to carry out the vaccination plan since Khartoum refused for more than one year a full humanitarian cessation of hostilities. In the absence of a humanitarian agreement with Khartoum and given the war situation, there is a need to agree on where the vaccination program will originate from. Yasir Arman Secretary General, SPLM-N May 20, 2013 END2 ______________________ John Ashworth Sudan, South Sudan Advisor [email protected] +254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile) +211 919 695 362 (South Sudan mobile) +27 79 832 8834 (South Africa mobile) +44 750 304 1790 (UK/international) +88 216 4334 0735 (Thuraya satphone) PO Box 52002 - 00200, Nairobi, Kenya This is a personal e-mail address and the contents do not necessarily reflect the views of any organisation -- -- The content of this message does not necessarily reflect John Ashworth's views. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, John Ashworth is not the author of the content and the source is always cited. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sudan-john-ashworth" group. 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