As people start getting back from Doha, the picture is taking on a rosier shine. This today from another person who was there til the end: “. . everyone I know and trust . . . said NCP was not even close to majority. There were NO non-Darfuri attending at all.” It’s quite a different […]
Activists press U.S govt on supporting Darfuri survivors of rape
November 20, 2009 by 4 Comments
Readers of this blog know that the biggest takeaway for me from my time in Darfur this August/September was the impact that the post-ICC expulsions had on women, and in particular on survivors of rape. The women I spoke with were frustrated that the world writ-large seemed to have papered over this. While a joint […]
Negotiating the election
November 18, 2009 by 1 Comment
In the face of a threatened boycott of the 2010 elections by Sudan opposition parties, the Sudan Tribune has an interesting report on what U.S. envoy, Scott Gration, has said to his interlocutor in the Sudanese government, Ghazi Salah Al-Deen, during his current visit to Khartoum. I haven’t seen another source on this yet, but […]
The hand behind camp closure proposals – a desire for legitimacy
November 12, 2009 by 2 Comments
Today the Sudan Tribune reported that in a radio interview, Sudan’s Humanitarian Aid Commissioner, Hasabu Abdel-Rahman, said Khartoum plans to close the IDP camps in Darfur by early 2010. I have some perspective on this from recent interviews in Sudan. In short, no one will be surprised to hear my overwhelming perception is that the […]
Finally some mainstream media coverage of impact of expulsions on women
November 11, 2009 by Leave a Comment
Following the release of the Panel of Experts report last week that talked about this, we finally have a journalist with a major media organization writing on the impact of the expulsions on vital services for rape survivors. Better late than never. Thanks to Andrew Heavens at Reuters. Keep it up! Next step is for […]
Panel of Experts: SGBV is “rampant” in Darfur
November 9, 2009 by 9 Comments
In what is surely the least surprising news of the month, the Sudanese government has rejected the Report of the UN Panel of Experts, released late last week. To my shame I am only reading it now. Not all the way through it yet, I stopped my reading to blog on the section I’ve just […]
#AskUS: Responding to activists or managing them?
November 9, 2009 by 2 Comments
There is much hype among advocates about the meeting that Save Darfur’s Jerry Fowler and STAND’s Layla Amjadi are scheduled to have with Gen. Scott Gration and Samantha Power – a meeting that will be webstreamed in real time this coming Tuesday Nov. 10. STAND is giving advocates the opportunity to vote for what questions […]
Abu Garda is in the dock, but he is not the only one under scrutiny
October 30, 2009 by 1 Comment
It has been a fascinating week at the ICC with the Confirmation Hearing in the Prosecution’s case against Darfur rebel leader, Abu Garda. The Prosecution is charging him with three counts of war crimes (murder, intentionally directing attacks against a peacekeeping mission, and pillaging) with respect to the 2007 attack on the African Union peacekeeping […]
Getting Congress focused on sexual violence against Darfuris
October 28, 2009 by Leave a Comment
A great effort underway by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) today in D.C. They are giving a lunchtime briefing to Members of Congress on sexual violence against Darfuri women and girls. In the (unlikely) event that any members of Congress or their staffers are reading this, I urge you to attend.This issue is not covered […]
Who, exactly, represented Darfuris in Doha?
According to news reports, “around 170 civil groups from Darfur” were engaged in consultations in Doha last week. Having heard no real “buzz” about the first-ever, long-overdue, inclusion of Darfuri civil society in peace negotiations I was curious about who these 170 groups actually were. I remember the hype and excitement in the build up […]