Lots going on today. At midday Hague time, Darfuri rebel, Abu Garda‘s confirmation of charges hearing began at the ICC. He is the first suspect to appear before the court in any of the Darfur cases. It’s 4.30am where I am, so I’m afraid you’re not getting a summary from me right now, but there […]
Archives for October 2009
Verify, then trust
October 19, 2009 by 2 Comments
“Verify, then trust” seems to be the sentiment of the day – both from the U.S. government towards Khartoum, but also from Darfur activists to the U.S. government. The Obama Administration finally released the results of its long-awaited Sudan Policy Review this morning. As the State Department’s press release puts it: “The strategy is based […]
A challenging topic . . .
October 14, 2009 by 1 Comment
With much gratitude to The New Republic for running with something that no one else wanted to touch, here is the article that pulls together what was the most salient issue from my recent time in Darfur: the collapse of services for women who have been raped. It is desperately under-reported; in part due to […]
Left Behind
October 14, 2009 by 1 Comment
THE NEW REPUBLIC Why aid for Darfur’s rape survivors has all but disappeared. NYALA, Darfur — When Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir was indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in March, he responded by expelling 13 international aid agencies from Darfur and disbanding three other domestic relief groups. Khartoum claims the […]
Temporary hiatus
October 2, 2009 by Leave a Comment
Hi everyone I have some family issues to attend to over the coming month (in addition to keeping up with what is obviously my main focus – the book), which mean I won’t be able to blog as much. I’ll post intermittently, and let people know via twitter (@ bechamilton) if I do put up […]
Sexual violence against Darfuri women – as reported from one side of the border
A report, entitled “No Place for Us Here” released by Amnesty International yesterday highlights the continuing problem of both the occurrence of rape and the impunity for it in and around the refugee camps in Chad. Amnesty acknowledges the limitations of their research given the general insecurity in the area and the sensitive nature of […]