Check it out: http://www.albashir.sd/e/index.php As part of preparations for his bid to renew his Presidency in the upcoming “democratic” elections of 2010, Bashir has taken his campaign online (complete with a dove of peace floating above his name). Note though, the target audience. Firstly, while Khartoum has a high rate of internet usage, the bulk […]
Working in parallel
October 20, 2009 by Leave a Comment
What I liked most about the Obama administration’s Sudan Policy Review document was something very simple: the clear articulation of three objectives (Darfur, CPA, counter-terrorism) and a commitment not to trade them off against each other. In particular was nice to see the CPA getting equal billing with Darfur (I have a column on this […]
Fudge the analysis, fudge the policy
October 20, 2009 by 1 Comment
I think what surprises me most about the Sudan Policy Review is that a document that contains so many of the basic principles found in any “policy 101” textbook (mix of carrots and sticks, escalating series of responses, verification before acceptance etc.) took so long to be concluded. But the length of time it took […]
Abu Garda at the ICC
October 19, 2009 by Leave a Comment
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 […]
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 […]
Sexual violence against Darfuri women – as reported from one side of the border
October 1, 2009 by Leave a Comment
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 […]
White House defends Gration against WaPo article
September 29, 2009 by 5 Comments
The ABC’s Senior White House correspondent just posted these comments by Administration officials saying that Gration was mischaracterized in today’s Washington Post. The Washington Post says it stands by Stephanie McCrummen’s piece. I can’t say anything about the comments in relation to South Sudan as I was not there for that part of the trip. […]
More background on Gration and the WaPo article
September 29, 2009 by 1 Comment
A few people have asked me questions about Gration’s interactions on his latest Sudan trip, especially with respect to some parts of Stephanie McCrummen’s Washington Post article since I posted on it this morning. I thought it could be useful to share my responses: Stephanie wrote: During a stop in El Fasher, capital of North […]
Time for a truce between Gration & the activists?
A day after all the hype and anticipation of the Sudan Policy Review announcement, I thought I’d share a few thoughts. Staff at Enough , GI-Net and Save Darfur have come out with disciplined, uniformly positive but cautious reactions to the Review (although as pointed out on Sahel blog, John Norris and John Prendergast at […]