Slavery in Sudan
By Joseph Winter BBC News, southern Sudan Akech Arol Deng has not seen his wife and son since they were seized by Arab militias from their home in south Sudan 19 years ago.
His son, Deng, was just three years old at the time but Mr Arol is sure they are still alive, being used as slaves in the north. "I miss them so much. I really hope that one day they come back," Mr Arol told the BBC News website mournfully in his home of Malualbai, just a few hours' on horseback from the Bahr el-Arab river which divides Muslim northern Sudan from the Christian and Animist south.
Some 8,000 people are believed to be living in slavery in Sudan, 200 years after Britain banned the Atlantic slave trade and 153 years after it also tried to abolish slavery in Sudan.
But rows about money mean no-one is doing anything to free them.
In the same year that Mr Arol's family was kidnapped, Arek Anyiel Deng, aged about 10, was seized from her home, not far from Malualbai.
Arab militias rode in to her village on horseback, firing their guns. When the adults fled, the children and cattle were rounded up and made to walk north for five days before they were divided between members of the raiding party. Forced conversions
"It's like I was still in the camp, it's the same situation as in the north" Arek Anyiel Deng
Ms Anyiel returned home under a government scheme last year. "My abductor told me that I was his slave and I had to do all the work he told me to - fetching water and firewood, looking after animals and farming," she said. Sudan's slave voices
Forced conversions
Ms Anyiel returned home under a government scheme last year. "My abductor told me that I was his slave and I had to do all the work he told me to - fetching water and firewood, looking after animals and farming," she said.
"When I was 12, he said he wanted to sleep with me. I could not refuse because I was a slave, I had to do everything he wanted, or he could have killed me." Such raids were a common feature of Sudan's 21-year north-south war, which ended in 2005.
The northern government is widely believed to have armed the Arab militias in order to terrorise the southern population and distract rebel forces from attacking government targets.
According to a study by the Kenya-based Rift Valley Institute, some 11,000 young boys and girls were seized and taken across the internal border - many to the states of South Darfur and West Kordofan.
The boys generally looked after cattle, while the girls mostly did domestic chores before being "married", often as young as 12.
Most were forcibly converted to Islam, given Muslim names and told not to speak their mother tongue.
War of words
Sudan's government has always rejected claims that people are living in slavery but admits that thousands were abducted during the war. It says this is an ancient tradition of hostage-taking by rival ethnic groups.
One senior government official strenuously denied there was any slavery in Sudan but bizarrely acknowledged: "It was the same as when people were taken from West Africa to America."
The United Nations defines slavery as: "The status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised."
Ms Anyiel and several others we spoke to certainly seemed to have been living in conditions of slavery - having been abducted, subjected to forced labour and often beaten. To be able to work with the return programme the government set up in 1999 under intense international pressure, donors agreed to use the euphemism "abductee". About 3,000 were taken back home before the programme ran out of money in 2005.
Donors pulled out, saying some were not genuine slaves, some had been returned against their will and had been left to fend for themselves in the desolate, under-developed south.
The government then funded the return for a while but strangely, the end of the war seems to have taken the urgency out of the project.
The governments in both north and the autonomous south seem more interested in spending their new oil wealth. Officials from both administrations say they are still working out their new policy on the "abductee file".
Disillusioned
Ahmed Mufti from the government's Committee for the Eradication of Abduction of Women and Children (CEAWC) says the Arab tribal leaders are now more than happy to release the "abductees" but his group does not have the $3m he estimates it would need to arrange transport and pay officials to organise the operation.
Faced with this lack of progress, James Aguer, the man at the forefront of the campaign to free Sudan's slaves, is becoming increasingly disillusioned after spending some 20 years risking his life for the cause. "With peace, I thought they would be freed by now," he says bitterly. He says he has the names and location of 8,000 people, who could easily be freed from the Arab cattle camps, as soon as the political will is there.
He says the true number of those being forced to work against their will without pay in Sudan is more than 200,000, although most donors believe that is an exaggeration.
Sitting on the dusty ground outside the abandoned mud hut where she and her five children now live, Ms Anyiel is delighted to have finally gained her freedom and to be able to make decisions about her own life.
But freedom is not necessarily easy - she now has to support the children on her own, with no assistance from donors or the government.
Her only income comes from collecting firewood in the bush to sell in the local market.
"It's like I was still in the camp, it's the same situation as in the north," she complains.
Tribal markings
Ghada Kachachi, from United Nations' children's agency Unicef, uses Ms Anyiel's case to explain why funding was stopped for CEAWC's return programme.
She says those who are freed must be helped when they get back home - both economically and socially, as they move from an Arabic society to the Dinka community some left 20 years ago. But campaigners say the first priority must be to free them from slavery and then sort out the details of their return. Ms Kachachi also points out that it can be difficult to trace the parents of children abducted in a war zone up to 20 years ago.
Some have forgotten their real names and where they come from, although they can sometimes be identified by the marks cut into their faces as children - a part of Dinka traditions.
Save the Children UK is still helping foster parents look after some children several years after they returned "home". While officials debate the best way to organise the return, Mr Arol and many others are just desperate to see their loved ones again.
He has gone to meet four different convoys of returned abductees in the hope of being reunited with his family, only to be disappointed each time.
"I always ask God, why other children come back but not mine. What have I done to deserve this?" he asks.
Copyright: BBC
Thursday, March 22, 2007
SLAVERY IN SUDAN
Slavery in Sudan
By Joseph Winter BBC News, southern Sudan Akech Arol Deng has not seen his wife and son since they were seized by Arab militias from their home in south Sudan 19 years ago.
His son, Deng, was just three years old at the time but Mr Arol is sure they are still alive, being used as slaves in the north. "I miss them so much. I really hope that one day they come back," Mr Arol told the BBC News website mournfully in his home of Malualbai, just a few hours' on horseback from the Bahr el-Arab river which divides Muslim northern Sudan from the Christian and Animist south.
Some 8,000 people are believed to be living in slavery in Sudan, 200 years after Britain banned the Atlantic slave trade and 153 years after it also tried to abolish slavery in Sudan.
But rows about money mean no-one is doing anything to free them.
In the same year that Mr Arol's family was kidnapped, Arek Anyiel Deng, aged about 10, was seized from her home, not far from Malualbai.
Arab militias rode in to her village on horseback, firing their guns. When the adults fled, the children and cattle were rounded up and made to walk north for five days before they were divided between members of the raiding party. Forced conversions
"It's like I was still in the camp, it's the same situation as in the north"
Arek Anyiel Deng
Ms Anyiel returned home under a government scheme last year. "My abductor told me that I was his slave and I had to do all the work he told me to - fetching water and firewood, looking after animals and farming," she said. Sudan's slave voices
Forced conversions
Ms Anyiel returned home under a government scheme last year. "My abductor told me that I was his slave and I had to do all the work he told me to - fetching water and firewood, looking after animals and farming," she said.
"When I was 12, he said he wanted to sleep with me. I could not refuse because I was a slave, I had to do everything he wanted, or he could have killed me." Such raids were a common feature of Sudan's 21-year north-south war, which ended in 2005.
The northern government is widely believed to have armed the Arab militias in order to terrorise the southern population and distract rebel forces from attacking government targets.
According to a study by the Kenya-based Rift Valley Institute, some 11,000 young boys and girls were seized and taken across the internal border - many to the states of South Darfur and West Kordofan.
The boys generally looked after cattle, while the girls mostly did domestic chores before being "married", often as young as 12.
Most were forcibly converted to Islam, given Muslim names and told not to speak their mother tongue.
War of words
Sudan's government has always rejected claims that people are living in slavery but admits that thousands were abducted during the war. It says this is an ancient tradition of hostage-taking by rival ethnic groups.
One senior government official strenuously denied there was any slavery in Sudan but bizarrely acknowledged: "It was the same as when people were taken from West Africa to America."
The United Nations defines slavery as: "The status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised."
Ms Anyiel and several others we spoke to certainly seemed to have been living in conditions of slavery - having been abducted, subjected to forced labour and often beaten. To be able to work with the return programme the government set up in 1999 under intense international pressure, donors agreed to use the euphemism "abductee". About 3,000 were taken back home before the programme ran out of money in 2005.
Donors pulled out, saying some were not genuine slaves, some had been returned against their will and had been left to fend for themselves in the desolate, under-developed south.
The government then funded the return for a while but strangely, the end of the war seems to have taken the urgency out of the project.
The governments in both north and the autonomous south seem more interested in spending their new oil wealth. Officials from both administrations say they are still working out their new policy on the "abductee file".
Disillusioned
Ahmed Mufti from the government's Committee for the Eradication of Abduction of Women and Children (CEAWC) says the Arab tribal leaders are now more than happy to release the "abductees" but his group does not have the $3m he estimates it would need to arrange transport and pay officials to organise the operation.
Faced with this lack of progress, James Aguer, the man at the forefront of the campaign to free Sudan's slaves, is becoming increasingly disillusioned after spending some 20 years risking his life for the cause. "With peace, I thought they would be freed by now," he says bitterly. He says he has the names and location of 8,000 people, who could easily be freed from the Arab cattle camps, as soon as the political will is there.
He says the true number of those being forced to work against their will without pay in Sudan is more than 200,000, although most donors believe that is an exaggeration.
Sitting on the dusty ground outside the abandoned mud hut where she and her five children now live, Ms Anyiel is delighted to have finally gained her freedom and to be able to make decisions about her own life.
But freedom is not necessarily easy - she now has to support the children on her own, with no assistance from donors or the government.
Her only income comes from collecting firewood in the bush to sell in the local market.
"It's like I was still in the camp, it's the same situation as in the north," she complains.
Tribal markings
Ghada Kachachi, from United Nations' children's agency Unicef, uses Ms Anyiel's case to explain why funding was stopped for CEAWC's return programme.
She says those who are freed must be helped when they get back home - both economically and socially, as they move from an Arabic society to the Dinka community some left 20 years ago. But campaigners say the first priority must be to free them from slavery and then sort out the details of their return. Ms Kachachi also points out that it can be difficult to trace the parents of children abducted in a war zone up to 20 years ago.
Some have forgotten their real names and where they come from, although they can sometimes be identified by the marks cut into their faces as children - a part of Dinka traditions.
Save the Children UK is still helping foster parents look after some children several years after they returned "home". While officials debate the best way to organise the return, Mr Arol and many others are just desperate to see their loved ones again.
He has gone to meet four different convoys of returned abductees in the hope of being reunited with his family, only to be disappointed each time.
"I always ask God, why other children come back but not mine. What have I done to deserve this?" he asks.
Copyright: BBC
By Joseph Winter BBC News, southern Sudan Akech Arol Deng has not seen his wife and son since they were seized by Arab militias from their home in south Sudan 19 years ago.
His son, Deng, was just three years old at the time but Mr Arol is sure they are still alive, being used as slaves in the north. "I miss them so much. I really hope that one day they come back," Mr Arol told the BBC News website mournfully in his home of Malualbai, just a few hours' on horseback from the Bahr el-Arab river which divides Muslim northern Sudan from the Christian and Animist south.
Some 8,000 people are believed to be living in slavery in Sudan, 200 years after Britain banned the Atlantic slave trade and 153 years after it also tried to abolish slavery in Sudan.
But rows about money mean no-one is doing anything to free them.
In the same year that Mr Arol's family was kidnapped, Arek Anyiel Deng, aged about 10, was seized from her home, not far from Malualbai.
Arab militias rode in to her village on horseback, firing their guns. When the adults fled, the children and cattle were rounded up and made to walk north for five days before they were divided between members of the raiding party. Forced conversions
"It's like I was still in the camp, it's the same situation as in the north"
Arek Anyiel Deng
Ms Anyiel returned home under a government scheme last year. "My abductor told me that I was his slave and I had to do all the work he told me to - fetching water and firewood, looking after animals and farming," she said. Sudan's slave voices
Forced conversions
Ms Anyiel returned home under a government scheme last year. "My abductor told me that I was his slave and I had to do all the work he told me to - fetching water and firewood, looking after animals and farming," she said.
"When I was 12, he said he wanted to sleep with me. I could not refuse because I was a slave, I had to do everything he wanted, or he could have killed me." Such raids were a common feature of Sudan's 21-year north-south war, which ended in 2005.
The northern government is widely believed to have armed the Arab militias in order to terrorise the southern population and distract rebel forces from attacking government targets.
According to a study by the Kenya-based Rift Valley Institute, some 11,000 young boys and girls were seized and taken across the internal border - many to the states of South Darfur and West Kordofan.
The boys generally looked after cattle, while the girls mostly did domestic chores before being "married", often as young as 12.
Most were forcibly converted to Islam, given Muslim names and told not to speak their mother tongue.
War of words
Sudan's government has always rejected claims that people are living in slavery but admits that thousands were abducted during the war. It says this is an ancient tradition of hostage-taking by rival ethnic groups.
One senior government official strenuously denied there was any slavery in Sudan but bizarrely acknowledged: "It was the same as when people were taken from West Africa to America."
The United Nations defines slavery as: "The status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised."
Ms Anyiel and several others we spoke to certainly seemed to have been living in conditions of slavery - having been abducted, subjected to forced labour and often beaten. To be able to work with the return programme the government set up in 1999 under intense international pressure, donors agreed to use the euphemism "abductee". About 3,000 were taken back home before the programme ran out of money in 2005.
Donors pulled out, saying some were not genuine slaves, some had been returned against their will and had been left to fend for themselves in the desolate, under-developed south.
The government then funded the return for a while but strangely, the end of the war seems to have taken the urgency out of the project.
The governments in both north and the autonomous south seem more interested in spending their new oil wealth. Officials from both administrations say they are still working out their new policy on the "abductee file".
Disillusioned
Ahmed Mufti from the government's Committee for the Eradication of Abduction of Women and Children (CEAWC) says the Arab tribal leaders are now more than happy to release the "abductees" but his group does not have the $3m he estimates it would need to arrange transport and pay officials to organise the operation.
Faced with this lack of progress, James Aguer, the man at the forefront of the campaign to free Sudan's slaves, is becoming increasingly disillusioned after spending some 20 years risking his life for the cause. "With peace, I thought they would be freed by now," he says bitterly. He says he has the names and location of 8,000 people, who could easily be freed from the Arab cattle camps, as soon as the political will is there.
He says the true number of those being forced to work against their will without pay in Sudan is more than 200,000, although most donors believe that is an exaggeration.
Sitting on the dusty ground outside the abandoned mud hut where she and her five children now live, Ms Anyiel is delighted to have finally gained her freedom and to be able to make decisions about her own life.
But freedom is not necessarily easy - she now has to support the children on her own, with no assistance from donors or the government.
Her only income comes from collecting firewood in the bush to sell in the local market.
"It's like I was still in the camp, it's the same situation as in the north," she complains.
Tribal markings
Ghada Kachachi, from United Nations' children's agency Unicef, uses Ms Anyiel's case to explain why funding was stopped for CEAWC's return programme.
She says those who are freed must be helped when they get back home - both economically and socially, as they move from an Arabic society to the Dinka community some left 20 years ago. But campaigners say the first priority must be to free them from slavery and then sort out the details of their return. Ms Kachachi also points out that it can be difficult to trace the parents of children abducted in a war zone up to 20 years ago.
Some have forgotten their real names and where they come from, although they can sometimes be identified by the marks cut into their faces as children - a part of Dinka traditions.
Save the Children UK is still helping foster parents look after some children several years after they returned "home". While officials debate the best way to organise the return, Mr Arol and many others are just desperate to see their loved ones again.
He has gone to meet four different convoys of returned abductees in the hope of being reunited with his family, only to be disappointed each time.
"I always ask God, why other children come back but not mine. What have I done to deserve this?" he asks.
Copyright: BBC
Thursday, March 15, 2007
As a Child, Obama crossed a cultural divide in Indonesia!
As a child, Obama crossed a cultural divide in Indonesia
By Paul Watson Times Staff Writer
Posted March 15 2007, 5:49 PM EDT
JAKARTA, INDONESIA — As a boy in Indonesia, Barack Obama crisscrossed the religious divide. At the local primary school, he prayed in thanks to a Catholic saint. In the neighborhood mosque, he bowed to Allah.Having a personal background in both Christianity and Islam might seem useful for an aspiring U.S. president in an age when Islamic nations and radical groups are key national security and foreign policy issues. But a connection with Islam is untrod territory for presidential politics.
LocalLinks
Obama's four years as a child in Indonesia underscore how dramatically his background differs from that of past presidential hopefuls, most of whom spent little, if any, time in other countries. No one knows how voters will react to a candidate with an early exposure to Islam, a religion that remains foreign to many Americans.Obama's campaign aides have emphasized his strong Christian beliefs and downplayed any Islamic connection. The candidate was raised "in a secular household in Indonesia by his stepfather and mother," his chief spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said in a statement in January after false reports began circulating that Obama had attended a radical madrasa, or Koranic school, as a child."To be clear, Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian who attends the United Church of Christ in Chicago," Gibbs' Jan. 24 statement said. In a statement to The Times on Wednesday, the campaign offered slightly different wording, saying: "Obama has never been a practicing Muslim." The statement added that as a child, Obama had spent time in the neighborhood's Islamic center.His former Roman Catholic and Muslim teachers, along with two people who were identified by Obama's grade-school teacher as childhood friends, say Obama was registered by his family as a Muslim at both of the schools he attended.That registration meant that during the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class.The childhood friends say Obama sometimes went to Friday prayers at the local mosque. "We prayed but not really seriously, just following actions done by older people in the mosque. But as kids, we loved to meet our friends and went to the mosque together and played," said Zulfin Adi, who describes himself as among Obama's closest childhood friends.The campaign's national press secretary, Bill Burton, said Wednesday that the friends were recalling events "that are 40 years old and subject to four decades of other information." Obama's younger sister, Maya Soetoro, said in a statement released by the campaign that the family attended the mosque only "for big communal events," not every Friday.The sensitivity of Islam as a political issue was on display earlier this year with the false report that Obama had attended a radical madrasa here. The report, which appeared initially on a conservative-oriented online magazine and then on a Fox News program, attributed the news to opposition researchers for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.). Both campaigns denied the story and accused conservative media outlets of trying to use the rumor to smear two Democratic hopefuls simultaneously.Indonesia, the world's most populous Islamic-majority country, has seen an upsurge of Islamic radicalism in the last few years. But during the 1960s, when Obama lived here, the country was known for a brand of Islam more open to the nonIslamic world than the austere versions preached in much of the Middle East. Even in the Mideast, political Islam was far less influential in the 1960s than it is today.In his autobiography, "Dreams From My Father," Obama briefly mentions Koranic study and describes his public school, which accepted students of all religions, as "a Muslim school.""In the Muslim school, the teacher wrote to tell my mother that I made faces during Koranic studies," Obama wrote. "My mother wasn't overly concerned. 'Be respectful,' she'd say. In the Catholic school, when it came time to pray, I would close my eyes, then peek around the room. Nothing happened. No angels descended. Just a parched old nun and 30 brown children, muttering words."Obama was born in Honolulu. When he was 2, his father, Barack Hussein Obama Sr., a Kenyan, and his Kansas-born mother, Ann Dunham, separated and later divorced. Dunham later married Lolo Soetoro, who was a Muslim. In 1967, the family moved to Jakarta, where Obama lived from ages 6 to 10. People there knew him as Barry Soetoro.Adi said he often visited the Soetoro family at their home, a small flat-roofed bungalow at 16 Haji Ramli St. Today, he runs an Internet cafe and purified water business from the same small Jakarta house where he grew up near Obama.Theirs was a middle-class neighborhood, but Haji Ramli Street was a dirt lane where Obama used to wile away the hours kicking a soccer ball. In the long rainy season, it turned to thick, mucky soup; Obama and his friends wore plastic bags over their shoes to walk though it, said Adi, who at 46 is the same age as Obama.Neighborhood Muslims worshiped in a nearby house, which has since been replaced by a larger mosque. Sometimes, when the muezzin sounded the call to prayer, Lolo and Barry would walk to the makeshift mosque together, Adi said."His mother often went to the church, but Barry was Muslim. He went to the mosque," Adi said. "I remember him wearing a sarong."In her statement, Obama's sister, who was born after the family moved to Indonesia, said: "My father saw Islam as a way to connect with the community. He never went to prayer services except for big communal events. I am absolutely certain that my father did not go to services every Friday. He was not religious."In 1968, Obama began first grade at St. Francis Assisi Foundation School, just around the corner from his home.
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Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Sudan To Hold Own Darfur Trials!
Sudan to Hold Own Darfur Trials
Belligerent Khartoum Makes A Bid to Undercut The ICC’s Jurisdiction.
By Katy Glassborow*Institute for War and Peace Reporting March 8, 2007
Sudan has announced that it will try three of its citizens on charges relating to crimes in Darfur, in an apparent attempt to defuse the challenge created by the decision of the International Criminal Court to name Sudanese officials as part of its investigation into war crimes in the region. At the same time, Sudanese papers have published government statements vowing to "slit the throats" of anyone who apprehends their countrymen on the ICC’s after the court's Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo revealed evidence on February 27 which could lead to arrest warrants against former interior minister Ahmad Muhammad Harun and Janjaweed militia commander Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb.
ICC prosecutors say they have collected evidence, over 21 months of investigations in 17 different countries, that Harun - a close associate of President Omar al-Bashir and currently Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs - and Kushayb committed 51 alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence. President al-Bashir refuses to accept the ICC's jurisdiction over any crimes committed in Darfur, and is adamant that his country is willing and able to investigate and prosecute its own suspects to an internationally acceptable standard.
Judge Richard Goldstone, former chief prosecutor at the United Nations’ international criminal tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, emphasised that the ICC derived its jurisdiction from the UN Security Council, and that this decision is binding on all member states including Sudan. If Sudan continues to violate the relevant Security Council resolution, it will be incumbent on the top UN body to take appropriate steps to compel it to comply. The Sudanese authorities have named Kushayb as one of the three men scheduled to stand trial imminently in the national-jurisdiction court in the west Darfur regional capital of Geneina. The other two are security services captain Hamdi Sharaf ul-Din, and Abdul Rahaman Dawood Humaida. It was not stated whether Humaida is a member of one of Darfur's rebel groups, the Sudanese armed forces, or the government-backed Janjaweed. The Janjaweed militias are accused of widespread abuses in Darfur. Despite repeated denials by officials that the Sudanese authorities are in any way associated with the Janjaweed, Moreno-Ocampo told ICC pre-trial judges that there are reasonable grounds to believe Harun and Kushayb acted together with the common purpose of attacking civilian populations in west Darfur between 2003 and 2004.
An estimated four million people currently benefit from aid provided by international aid agencies and the UN in Darfur, where civilians are calling on the world community to disregard what they describe as posturing and intimidation by the government in Khartoum. Some 200,000 to 400,000 people have died in Darfur since violence erupted in 2003, with two million people forced to leave their homes for IDP (internally displaced persons) camps and another 235,000 fleeing to refugee camps in neighbouring Chad.
Many commentators see the decision by Sudan's government to put the men on trial, on charges that have yet to be specified, as a blatant effort to claw back jurisdiction from the international court, after the Darfur situation was referred to The Hague by the UN Security Council in March 2005. Human rights lawyer Salih Mahmoud Osman, based in Khartoum, told IWPR that survivors of what the United States government has described as genocide in Darfur are confused by Moreno-Ocampo's announcement – they are unable to understand why only two men have been named as potential defendants in a war crimes trial. The chief prosecutor said he took evidence from 100 witnesses, but Osman said that survivors "cannot believe this evidence only identified and implicated two people for the crimes".
Leslie Lefkow, the lead author of a Human Rights Watch report that called for war crimes investigations into 22 people, said that “their [Darfur people’s] government has betrayed them and [has] been primarily responsible for massive crimes against them, and far from acknowledging, they are denying and minimising the events". Human Rights Watch and other watchdog groups say that Harun and Kushayb represent merely the tip of the iceberg of what has happened in Darfur, and that Moreno-Ocampo needs to initiate prosecutions against a second tranche of higher ranking individuals. Osman said that some Darfur residents are calling for those who they believe masterminded the catastrophe from Khartoum to be brought before the Hague-based court.
Deirdre Clancy, co-director of the New York- and Kampala-based International Refugee Rights Initiative, told IWPR it has been difficult to document the level of evidence necessary to follow the trail to the highest chain of command, because Khartoum denied ICC prosecutors permission to enter Darfur to pursue their investigations. But Clancy said Harun was an important bridge between those higher up and those on the ground. "Mr Harun is close enough in the inner circle to cause tremors," she said.
The ICC is not the only international body that has struggled to investigate events in Darfur. For example, a recent UN Human Rights Council fact-finding mission to Darfur had to be cancelled because the Sudanese government refused to issue visas to the five-strong team.
Before recommending that the UN Security Council refer the Darfur case to the ICC in 2005, a special UN commission of inquiry said acts no less grievous than genocide were taking place in Darfur, and named 51 individuals whom it recommended should be investigated. Osman said this recommendation raised the hopes of Darfur residents who felt that international justice provided the best chance for perpetrators to be brought to justice and to bring an end to the violence.
Many Darfuris have become disillusioned by the international community because so many UN Security Council resolutions relating to the violence have not been implemented. "Survivors hear tough words about the government of Sudan from the international community, but no acts have been seen to be taken," said Osman. "There is gossip about international politics being behind the fact that some names were not revealed." That "gossip" focuses on the possibility that the ICC prosecutors have made compromises that let high-level perpetrators off the hook so as to avoid a major diplomatic falling-out with Khartoum.
Judge Goldstone told IWPR that Harun and Kushayb held sufficiently senior positions to fall within the mandate and terms of the ICC's founding 1998 Statute of Rome. "I feel confident that they are the most senior people against whom ICC prosecutors have evidence," Goldstone said. "The failure to name more senior people at this time does not arise from a political decision taken by the prosecutor, but [is] a question of the evidence available to him."
Clancy said the Sudanese case needs to be handled carefully because there is a distinct possibility of the Sudanese state "splitting into two in the next few years, so there are huge implications for the future of the Sudan". She added that Moreno-Ocampo will "certainly be aware of the political implications of his decisions".
Presenting evidence against a sitting head of state such as Sudan's al-Bashir or against other senior leaders is a very serious step – and Sudan's justice minister Mohamed Ali al-Mahdi is adamant that the ICC has no jurisdiction to try any Sudanese national on any charge. Al-Mahdi has strongly defended the legitimacy and capabilities of the Special Criminal Court on the Events in Darfur, SCCED, specially set up by the Khartoum government a few days after the ICC's prosecutor launched investigations into Darfur.
The SCCED's mandate has been widened to include jurisdiction over crimes under international law, but many human right organisations dismiss the SCCED as a charade which has prosecuted only a handful of cases, mainly involving cattle theft and other petty crimes, without any serious intention to hold individuals accountable for grave crimes. Crucially, al-Bashir's government has legislated to grant immunity to all members of the armed forces. Lefkow said there has been no genuine willingness to launch effective prosecutions against those accused of planning and coordinating attacks on the ground in Darfur. Cases dealt with by the SCCED have been minor. "When military were involved, they were later acquitted," she said.
As part of his 27 February evidence, Moreno-Ocampo told the ICC's pre-trial judges that during an attack by Sudanese regular forces and the Janjaweed on Arawala, a Darfur village of 7,000 people, soldiers burnt every hut and forced all surviving inhabitants to flee. In the town of Mukjar in western Darfur, Moreno-Ocampo said the Sudanese armed forces and the Janjaweed carried out executions of civilians between 2003 and 2004. On one occasion, he alleged, they loaded 32 men into a convoy of Land Cruisers and took them to a stream bed to be murdered. "The shooting lasted for about ten minutes," he said. "A short while later the vehicles returned [to Mukjar] empty. The next day, some women found 32 dead bodies in the bushes."
Moreno-Ocampo said the ICC evidence was "not a judgement on the Sudanese justice system as a whole", and that he has checked to ensure that Khartoum has not investigated the same crimes he intends bringing up in The Hague in Kushayb's case. Judge Goldstone argued that the Sudan government is now obliged to send a mission to The Hague to argue that the ICC has no jurisdiction on the grounds that a Sudanese court is investigating Darfur crimes. "If they do not appear [in The Hague] to object, the ICC will have to continue its investigations and eventual prosecutions," he said.
From Khartoum, human rights activist Salih Mahmoud Osman told IWPR it would be a "disaster" if the ICC backs down on Darfur. "The government of Sudan would be encouraged to go on establishing the genocide they have started," he said. So far, Moreno-Ocampo is asking pre-trial judges to issue summonses, not final indictments, against Harun and Kushayb to ensure their initial presence in court.
Moreno-Ocampo told pre-trial judges that ensuring that Harun and Kushayb appear is a major challenge, and that if arrest warrants are issued, primary responsibility will rest with Sudan “either to take steps to serve the summonses or to arrest the individuals". He added that Khartoum has both a legal responsibility to facilitate the appearance of the individuals, and the capacity to do so.
Even though Sudan has not signed the ICC’s founding statute that created the ICC, it is subject to UN Security Council decisions. Importantly, because Darfur was referred to the ICC by the Security Council, chapter seven of the UN charter allows for punitive measures if Sudan refuses to cooperate. Judge Goldstone said everything depends on the Security Council showing the political will to support the ICC through possible economic sanctions and embargoes if Khartoum fails to cooperate. "It [the Security Council] is under both a moral and a political obligation to do so, and if it fails in this regard, it will weaken its own credibility and authority," concluded Goldstone.
About the Author: Katy Glassborow is an IWPR reporter in The Hague.
More Information on International Justice
Belligerent Khartoum Makes A Bid to Undercut The ICC’s Jurisdiction.
By Katy Glassborow*Institute for War and Peace Reporting March 8, 2007
Sudan has announced that it will try three of its citizens on charges relating to crimes in Darfur, in an apparent attempt to defuse the challenge created by the decision of the International Criminal Court to name Sudanese officials as part of its investigation into war crimes in the region. At the same time, Sudanese papers have published government statements vowing to "slit the throats" of anyone who apprehends their countrymen on the ICC’s after the court's Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo revealed evidence on February 27 which could lead to arrest warrants against former interior minister Ahmad Muhammad Harun and Janjaweed militia commander Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb.
ICC prosecutors say they have collected evidence, over 21 months of investigations in 17 different countries, that Harun - a close associate of President Omar al-Bashir and currently Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs - and Kushayb committed 51 alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence. President al-Bashir refuses to accept the ICC's jurisdiction over any crimes committed in Darfur, and is adamant that his country is willing and able to investigate and prosecute its own suspects to an internationally acceptable standard.
Judge Richard Goldstone, former chief prosecutor at the United Nations’ international criminal tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, emphasised that the ICC derived its jurisdiction from the UN Security Council, and that this decision is binding on all member states including Sudan. If Sudan continues to violate the relevant Security Council resolution, it will be incumbent on the top UN body to take appropriate steps to compel it to comply. The Sudanese authorities have named Kushayb as one of the three men scheduled to stand trial imminently in the national-jurisdiction court in the west Darfur regional capital of Geneina. The other two are security services captain Hamdi Sharaf ul-Din, and Abdul Rahaman Dawood Humaida. It was not stated whether Humaida is a member of one of Darfur's rebel groups, the Sudanese armed forces, or the government-backed Janjaweed. The Janjaweed militias are accused of widespread abuses in Darfur. Despite repeated denials by officials that the Sudanese authorities are in any way associated with the Janjaweed, Moreno-Ocampo told ICC pre-trial judges that there are reasonable grounds to believe Harun and Kushayb acted together with the common purpose of attacking civilian populations in west Darfur between 2003 and 2004.
An estimated four million people currently benefit from aid provided by international aid agencies and the UN in Darfur, where civilians are calling on the world community to disregard what they describe as posturing and intimidation by the government in Khartoum. Some 200,000 to 400,000 people have died in Darfur since violence erupted in 2003, with two million people forced to leave their homes for IDP (internally displaced persons) camps and another 235,000 fleeing to refugee camps in neighbouring Chad.
Many commentators see the decision by Sudan's government to put the men on trial, on charges that have yet to be specified, as a blatant effort to claw back jurisdiction from the international court, after the Darfur situation was referred to The Hague by the UN Security Council in March 2005. Human rights lawyer Salih Mahmoud Osman, based in Khartoum, told IWPR that survivors of what the United States government has described as genocide in Darfur are confused by Moreno-Ocampo's announcement – they are unable to understand why only two men have been named as potential defendants in a war crimes trial. The chief prosecutor said he took evidence from 100 witnesses, but Osman said that survivors "cannot believe this evidence only identified and implicated two people for the crimes".
Leslie Lefkow, the lead author of a Human Rights Watch report that called for war crimes investigations into 22 people, said that “their [Darfur people’s] government has betrayed them and [has] been primarily responsible for massive crimes against them, and far from acknowledging, they are denying and minimising the events". Human Rights Watch and other watchdog groups say that Harun and Kushayb represent merely the tip of the iceberg of what has happened in Darfur, and that Moreno-Ocampo needs to initiate prosecutions against a second tranche of higher ranking individuals. Osman said that some Darfur residents are calling for those who they believe masterminded the catastrophe from Khartoum to be brought before the Hague-based court.
Deirdre Clancy, co-director of the New York- and Kampala-based International Refugee Rights Initiative, told IWPR it has been difficult to document the level of evidence necessary to follow the trail to the highest chain of command, because Khartoum denied ICC prosecutors permission to enter Darfur to pursue their investigations. But Clancy said Harun was an important bridge between those higher up and those on the ground. "Mr Harun is close enough in the inner circle to cause tremors," she said.
The ICC is not the only international body that has struggled to investigate events in Darfur. For example, a recent UN Human Rights Council fact-finding mission to Darfur had to be cancelled because the Sudanese government refused to issue visas to the five-strong team.
Before recommending that the UN Security Council refer the Darfur case to the ICC in 2005, a special UN commission of inquiry said acts no less grievous than genocide were taking place in Darfur, and named 51 individuals whom it recommended should be investigated. Osman said this recommendation raised the hopes of Darfur residents who felt that international justice provided the best chance for perpetrators to be brought to justice and to bring an end to the violence.
Many Darfuris have become disillusioned by the international community because so many UN Security Council resolutions relating to the violence have not been implemented. "Survivors hear tough words about the government of Sudan from the international community, but no acts have been seen to be taken," said Osman. "There is gossip about international politics being behind the fact that some names were not revealed." That "gossip" focuses on the possibility that the ICC prosecutors have made compromises that let high-level perpetrators off the hook so as to avoid a major diplomatic falling-out with Khartoum.
Judge Goldstone told IWPR that Harun and Kushayb held sufficiently senior positions to fall within the mandate and terms of the ICC's founding 1998 Statute of Rome. "I feel confident that they are the most senior people against whom ICC prosecutors have evidence," Goldstone said. "The failure to name more senior people at this time does not arise from a political decision taken by the prosecutor, but [is] a question of the evidence available to him."
Clancy said the Sudanese case needs to be handled carefully because there is a distinct possibility of the Sudanese state "splitting into two in the next few years, so there are huge implications for the future of the Sudan". She added that Moreno-Ocampo will "certainly be aware of the political implications of his decisions".
Presenting evidence against a sitting head of state such as Sudan's al-Bashir or against other senior leaders is a very serious step – and Sudan's justice minister Mohamed Ali al-Mahdi is adamant that the ICC has no jurisdiction to try any Sudanese national on any charge. Al-Mahdi has strongly defended the legitimacy and capabilities of the Special Criminal Court on the Events in Darfur, SCCED, specially set up by the Khartoum government a few days after the ICC's prosecutor launched investigations into Darfur.
The SCCED's mandate has been widened to include jurisdiction over crimes under international law, but many human right organisations dismiss the SCCED as a charade which has prosecuted only a handful of cases, mainly involving cattle theft and other petty crimes, without any serious intention to hold individuals accountable for grave crimes. Crucially, al-Bashir's government has legislated to grant immunity to all members of the armed forces. Lefkow said there has been no genuine willingness to launch effective prosecutions against those accused of planning and coordinating attacks on the ground in Darfur. Cases dealt with by the SCCED have been minor. "When military were involved, they were later acquitted," she said.
As part of his 27 February evidence, Moreno-Ocampo told the ICC's pre-trial judges that during an attack by Sudanese regular forces and the Janjaweed on Arawala, a Darfur village of 7,000 people, soldiers burnt every hut and forced all surviving inhabitants to flee. In the town of Mukjar in western Darfur, Moreno-Ocampo said the Sudanese armed forces and the Janjaweed carried out executions of civilians between 2003 and 2004. On one occasion, he alleged, they loaded 32 men into a convoy of Land Cruisers and took them to a stream bed to be murdered. "The shooting lasted for about ten minutes," he said. "A short while later the vehicles returned [to Mukjar] empty. The next day, some women found 32 dead bodies in the bushes."
Moreno-Ocampo said the ICC evidence was "not a judgement on the Sudanese justice system as a whole", and that he has checked to ensure that Khartoum has not investigated the same crimes he intends bringing up in The Hague in Kushayb's case. Judge Goldstone argued that the Sudan government is now obliged to send a mission to The Hague to argue that the ICC has no jurisdiction on the grounds that a Sudanese court is investigating Darfur crimes. "If they do not appear [in The Hague] to object, the ICC will have to continue its investigations and eventual prosecutions," he said.
From Khartoum, human rights activist Salih Mahmoud Osman told IWPR it would be a "disaster" if the ICC backs down on Darfur. "The government of Sudan would be encouraged to go on establishing the genocide they have started," he said. So far, Moreno-Ocampo is asking pre-trial judges to issue summonses, not final indictments, against Harun and Kushayb to ensure their initial presence in court.
Moreno-Ocampo told pre-trial judges that ensuring that Harun and Kushayb appear is a major challenge, and that if arrest warrants are issued, primary responsibility will rest with Sudan “either to take steps to serve the summonses or to arrest the individuals". He added that Khartoum has both a legal responsibility to facilitate the appearance of the individuals, and the capacity to do so.
Even though Sudan has not signed the ICC’s founding statute that created the ICC, it is subject to UN Security Council decisions. Importantly, because Darfur was referred to the ICC by the Security Council, chapter seven of the UN charter allows for punitive measures if Sudan refuses to cooperate. Judge Goldstone said everything depends on the Security Council showing the political will to support the ICC through possible economic sanctions and embargoes if Khartoum fails to cooperate. "It [the Security Council] is under both a moral and a political obligation to do so, and if it fails in this regard, it will weaken its own credibility and authority," concluded Goldstone.
About the Author: Katy Glassborow is an IWPR reporter in The Hague.
More Information on International Justice
Ex-Mozambique President Attempts To Save Uganda Peace Talks
Ex-Mozambique president attempts to save Uganda peace talks
[ Latest News From Sudan At Sudan.Net ]
News Article by AFP posted on March 12, 2007 at 16:51:13: EST (-5 GMT)
Ex-Mozambique president attempts to save Uganda peace talks KAMPALA, March 12, 2007 (AFP) - Former Mozambique president Joaquim Chissano ventured into the southern Sudanese jungle and spoke to a fugitive Ugandan rebel leader in a bid to save stalled peace talks, officials said Monday.
Chissano, UN special envoy for northern Uganda's conflict, and officials met Lord's Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony on Sunday to try to convince him to resume talks with Kampala, said LRA deputy chief Vincent Otti.
The rebels pulled out of the talks in south Sudan's capital Juba in December, requesting a new venue and mediation after they lost trust in the southern Sudanese mediators, a move Kampala dismissed as a time-wasting ploy.
They also vowed never to sign a peace deal if the International Criminal Court refuses to drop war crimes charges against Kony, Otti and three top commanders.
Chissano vowed to address the sticking points and return with a definitive answer late this month, Otti said.
"We agreed that we will meet on March 25 when we will decide when, where and under whose mediation we will resume talks," Otti told AFP by satellite phone from southern Sudan.
Otti described Chissano as "very good in peace-making" and that "his style is unique" compared to Riek Machar, the vice president of the semi-autonomous region of southern Sudan, who was rejected as mediator by the LRA.
Chissano also discussed fears of fresh unrest after the rebels refused to renew a truce that expired at the end of February, Otti added.
The ceasefire, signed in August and renewed last December, had raised hopes of an end to a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced around two million others.
It was the only significant achievement the talks achieved since opening in July.
"Small clashes still persist," Otti said, refusing to elaborate.
Ugandan officials said Interior Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, the chief government negotiator in the peace talks, also met with Kony at the hideout in Ri-Kwangba near Sudan's border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Meanwhile in Kampala, Sudanese first vice president Salva Kiir told reporters that he stood ready to host the fledgling talks if the LRA agrees to resume dialogue.
"We are ready to host them as long as they want peace," said Kiir, also president of southern Sudan.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni was on Monday unusually diplomatic regarding the LRA, a group he often dismisses as terrorists.
"The UN special envoy is having a meeting with them, he will be the one to guide us on how move (forward)," he said.
Museveni lauded Kiir for reinitiating the landmark peace talks, saying that he had come to believe that the process "might work."
Diplomats have urged both sides to resolve the row and resume the talks seen as the best chance to end the conflict that spurred what UN and aid groups have dubbed one of the world's most neglected humanitarian crises.
The conflict has raged since 1988, when the elusive Kony took leadership of a two-year-old regional rebellion among northern Uganda's ethnic Acholi minority.
[ Latest News From Sudan At Sudan.Net ]
News Article by AFP posted on March 12, 2007 at 16:51:13: EST (-5 GMT)
Ex-Mozambique president attempts to save Uganda peace talks KAMPALA, March 12, 2007 (AFP) - Former Mozambique president Joaquim Chissano ventured into the southern Sudanese jungle and spoke to a fugitive Ugandan rebel leader in a bid to save stalled peace talks, officials said Monday.
Chissano, UN special envoy for northern Uganda's conflict, and officials met Lord's Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony on Sunday to try to convince him to resume talks with Kampala, said LRA deputy chief Vincent Otti.
The rebels pulled out of the talks in south Sudan's capital Juba in December, requesting a new venue and mediation after they lost trust in the southern Sudanese mediators, a move Kampala dismissed as a time-wasting ploy.
They also vowed never to sign a peace deal if the International Criminal Court refuses to drop war crimes charges against Kony, Otti and three top commanders.
Chissano vowed to address the sticking points and return with a definitive answer late this month, Otti said.
"We agreed that we will meet on March 25 when we will decide when, where and under whose mediation we will resume talks," Otti told AFP by satellite phone from southern Sudan.
Otti described Chissano as "very good in peace-making" and that "his style is unique" compared to Riek Machar, the vice president of the semi-autonomous region of southern Sudan, who was rejected as mediator by the LRA.
Chissano also discussed fears of fresh unrest after the rebels refused to renew a truce that expired at the end of February, Otti added.
The ceasefire, signed in August and renewed last December, had raised hopes of an end to a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced around two million others.
It was the only significant achievement the talks achieved since opening in July.
"Small clashes still persist," Otti said, refusing to elaborate.
Ugandan officials said Interior Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, the chief government negotiator in the peace talks, also met with Kony at the hideout in Ri-Kwangba near Sudan's border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Meanwhile in Kampala, Sudanese first vice president Salva Kiir told reporters that he stood ready to host the fledgling talks if the LRA agrees to resume dialogue.
"We are ready to host them as long as they want peace," said Kiir, also president of southern Sudan.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni was on Monday unusually diplomatic regarding the LRA, a group he often dismisses as terrorists.
"The UN special envoy is having a meeting with them, he will be the one to guide us on how move (forward)," he said.
Museveni lauded Kiir for reinitiating the landmark peace talks, saying that he had come to believe that the process "might work."
Diplomats have urged both sides to resolve the row and resume the talks seen as the best chance to end the conflict that spurred what UN and aid groups have dubbed one of the world's most neglected humanitarian crises.
The conflict has raged since 1988, when the elusive Kony took leadership of a two-year-old regional rebellion among northern Uganda's ethnic Acholi minority.
US Threatens Action Against Sudan over Darfur Stalling!
"Extremely troubled" US threatens action against Sudan over Darfur stalling
[ Latest News From Sudan At Sudan.Net ]
News Article by AFP posted on March 13, 2007 at 18:02:15: EST (-5 GMT)
"Extremely troubled" US threatens action against Sudan over Darfur stalling
WASHINGTON, March 13, 2007 (AFP) - The United States said Tuesday it was "extremely troubled" by Sudanese backtracking on a deal to boost peacekeeping forces in the war-torn Darfur region and could soon take tougher action against the Khartoum government in response.
The State Department said Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir was challenging aspects of a November agreement in which he pledged to allow a joint United Nations-African Union (AU) force of 20,000 troops into Darfur.
In a lengthy letter sent last week to the United Nations, Beshir notably said he would not accept certain elements of a so-called "heavy support package" that the UN was to provide to AU peacekeepers struggling to end the violence in Darfur.
"We're extremely troubled by the fact that that letter does seem to try to pick and choose among elements of the heavy support package," department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said.
"We continue to believe that the heavy support package needs to be provided for as soon as possible -- it's essential to help the African Union perform its peacekeeping obligations," Casey told reporters.
Casey said US and international patience was wearing out after months of "delaying tactics" by the Sudan government and that tougher measures would soon be required.
"To the extent that the government of Sudan does continue to try to frustrate implementation of the agreement, the US and the other representatives of the International Community are going to have to think seriously about implementing additional measures to deal with the humanitarian crisis in Darfur," he said.
Casey did not elaborate, but US officials have in the past said they were considering measures ranging from political and financial sanctions against Khartoum to the imposition of a no-fly zone over Darfur.
More than 200,000 people have died and another 2.5 million left homeless since a rebellion by Darfur's ethnic African population erupted in early 2003, drawing a fierce response from the Arab-led government in Khartoum.
The worst violence, including torture, mutilations and systematic rape, have been blamed on a government-financed Arab militia known as the janjaweed.
An under-funded and ill-equipped AU force of 7,000 men has been unable to halt the violence, which the main UN human rights agency on Monday said amounted to war crimes by the Khartoum government.
"The situation is characterized by gross and systematic violations of human rights and grave breaches of international law. War crimes and crimes against humanity continue across the region," said a report by the UN Human Rights Council.
[ Latest News From Sudan At Sudan.Net ]
News Article by AFP posted on March 13, 2007 at 18:02:15: EST (-5 GMT)
"Extremely troubled" US threatens action against Sudan over Darfur stalling
WASHINGTON, March 13, 2007 (AFP) - The United States said Tuesday it was "extremely troubled" by Sudanese backtracking on a deal to boost peacekeeping forces in the war-torn Darfur region and could soon take tougher action against the Khartoum government in response.
The State Department said Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir was challenging aspects of a November agreement in which he pledged to allow a joint United Nations-African Union (AU) force of 20,000 troops into Darfur.
In a lengthy letter sent last week to the United Nations, Beshir notably said he would not accept certain elements of a so-called "heavy support package" that the UN was to provide to AU peacekeepers struggling to end the violence in Darfur.
"We're extremely troubled by the fact that that letter does seem to try to pick and choose among elements of the heavy support package," department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said.
"We continue to believe that the heavy support package needs to be provided for as soon as possible -- it's essential to help the African Union perform its peacekeeping obligations," Casey told reporters.
Casey said US and international patience was wearing out after months of "delaying tactics" by the Sudan government and that tougher measures would soon be required.
"To the extent that the government of Sudan does continue to try to frustrate implementation of the agreement, the US and the other representatives of the International Community are going to have to think seriously about implementing additional measures to deal with the humanitarian crisis in Darfur," he said.
Casey did not elaborate, but US officials have in the past said they were considering measures ranging from political and financial sanctions against Khartoum to the imposition of a no-fly zone over Darfur.
More than 200,000 people have died and another 2.5 million left homeless since a rebellion by Darfur's ethnic African population erupted in early 2003, drawing a fierce response from the Arab-led government in Khartoum.
The worst violence, including torture, mutilations and systematic rape, have been blamed on a government-financed Arab militia known as the janjaweed.
An under-funded and ill-equipped AU force of 7,000 men has been unable to halt the violence, which the main UN human rights agency on Monday said amounted to war crimes by the Khartoum government.
"The situation is characterized by gross and systematic violations of human rights and grave breaches of international law. War crimes and crimes against humanity continue across the region," said a report by the UN Human Rights Council.
Monday, March 12, 2007
History of Gogrial
HISTORY OF GOGRIAL
Composed by Dr. Achier Deng Akol, for the children of Gogrial anywhere and devoted to all the martyrs of Gogrial who died during the Anya-nya and SPLA Wars1. ORIGINAL VERSIONS There are three versions that explain the origin of the name Gogrial:1.1 GAK RIAL AKUOL AKUITH VERSION. Akuol Akuith was from Kuac Area and was married to a traditional holy man or “Banybith” that lived in an elevated area above the water level. In that elevated area white and black crow called GAKRIAL would aggregate. Passers by or people who went to visit the Banybith for prayers described the crows as Gakrial Akuol Akuith. Later on in 1912 the British Colonialists Captain Titherington forcibly moved the family of Akuol Akuith from that elevated land to give way for a modern town and called it GAKRIAL. Through Arabic translation and misspelling, the name became Gogrial. This version was highlighted by a singer Deng Kuot (Deng Fannan) in one of his songs.1.2 KANG RIAL VERSION. The current town now called Gogrial was a water-locked area.It also had a lot of trees. When the water level dropped, people would rash into the area and mark trees to indicate their chosen locations. When anyone came afterwards and claimed the marked area, the person who got there first would say: “Ee hen aci kang rial”, in other words, I am the one who got there first in the early morning. Gradually the area became known as KANGRIAL originally and Gogrial through distortion.1.3 AGAR VERSION. There was a family who spoke differently to Rek that lived in that area. They used to go fishing there as their way of living. The husband was called GAKRIAL. Local adjascent community would rum away from them fearing they were AGAR Section of Jieng that were falsely believed by REK Section of Jieng to transform into lions. Gradually the area became known as GAKRIAL after the husband of that family and got distorted into Gogrial.
To pinpoint the correct version out of the three will require a deep anthropological, archaeological or historical research.
CHIEFTAINSHIP AREAS
There are originally TEN Chieftainship Areas
1. AGUOK BAAR: Muon Aken
2. AGUOK CIEK: Kuanyin Agoth
3. KUAC: Amet Kuol
4. APUK: Giir Thiik
5. AWAN CHAN: Chan Nyal
6. AWAN MOU: Mou Ring
7. TUIC AKUAR: Lang Juk. Now Kuac Madut Ring is separate
8. TUIC AMUOL: Bol Chol. This includes Kuac Anganya
9. TUIC ADIANG: Cier Rian cabok
10. TUIC THON: Ayuel Longar
FURTHER AREAL SUB-DIVISIONS:
1 AGUOK BAAR: ·
. Agur Piny·
. Buoth Anyith
· Marial
· Ngok Kuot
· Ngok Kuec
· Toc Anok
2. AGUOK CIEK:
· Wuny
· Monydit
· Ajak
3. KUAC:
· ANGUI with MONYJOC and MATHIANG as its parts earlier.
· LUKLUK
· WUNKUEL
· DONG
Historically there was a part of Kuac under the leadership of LONGAR that was eventually curved or returned to Wau Area. Furthermore, Italian Missionary records revealed that a man called AKOL AYAY, who was a Banybith was the first person approached by the British Colonialist in Kuac Area to be offered the Chieftainship. He declined arguing that he already held a spiritual chieftainship as a Banybith and there was need for him to also hold another human one. Kuol Amet was next approached and he accepted. Akol Ayay also played a leading role of allowing a Catholic Church to be established in Kuajok in the 1880’s.
From Kuol Amet, the chieftainship went to Ariec Wol before it was returned to the son of Kuol Amet called Amet Kuol
4. APUK
· AMAKIIR: Abuok, Ador, Abior and Apol
· LUAL: Amuk, Buoyar, Biong, Nyaramong and Jur Mananger
5. AWAN CHAN
6. AWAN MOU
7. TUIC AKUAR includes TUIC AJAK. This was first ruled by Ring Juk before Lang Juk
8. TUIC AMUOL ruled by Nyuol Gitbuong before his son Bol Chol
9. TUIC ADIANG ruled by Rian Gorkuei before Mawiir Rian and then Cier Rian
10. TUIC THON ruled by Ayuel Longar
COLONIAL ADMINISTRATORS
The district where Gogrial and Tonj were located was known as JUR RIVER DISTRICT. The FIRST CAPITAL of that district was established by Captain Titherington in 1912. Tonj was then a subdistrict. However, when a district commissioner went on leave in Tonj, the one in Gogrial went there to act and liked the area of Tonj. So he decided to transfer the capital of Jur River District to Tonj around 1922 when Anyok Lual was murdered by the British in Alek village near Gogrial.
Lately, three British Administrators that governed Gogrial were:
1. Mr Hunter, named AJIINGDIT
2. Mr BOYLE, named TIM ATIEP who died recently and his son DENG TIM ATIEP now runs a charity called TIM ATIEP
3. Mr BIGGS, named WACBEK who is still alive in OXFORD UKAs regards indigenous administrators of Gogrial, it is worth noting that GIIR THIIK was the one who helped administer Gogrial from 1946 till 1956 as the head of the administrative council
FIRST EDUCATED PEOPLE OF GOGRIAL
These include:
1. Cier Rian
2. Lang Juk
3. Morris Puol Reng
4. Ambrose Wol Dhal
5. Victor Bol Bol
6. Muon GiirAND MANY MORE.The first two participated in 1947 Juba Conference and tried their best to prevent the South from being amalgamated with rest of Sudan
MODERN HISTORY OF GOGRIAL
Gogrial and Abyei areas are now re-organised into FOUR COUNTIES:
1. Abyei County, comprising Abyei area with capital in Abyei
2. Gogrial North County comprising the Tuic Area with capital in Turalei
3. Gogrial West comprising Awan, Aguok and Kuac Areas based in Gogrial
4. Gogrial East comprising Apuk Area based in Luonyaker............
Composed by Dr. Achier Deng Akol, for the children of Gogrial anywhere and devoted to all the martyrs of Gogrial who died during the Anya-nya and SPLA Wars1. ORIGINAL VERSIONS There are three versions that explain the origin of the name Gogrial:1.1 GAK RIAL AKUOL AKUITH VERSION. Akuol Akuith was from Kuac Area and was married to a traditional holy man or “Banybith” that lived in an elevated area above the water level. In that elevated area white and black crow called GAKRIAL would aggregate. Passers by or people who went to visit the Banybith for prayers described the crows as Gakrial Akuol Akuith. Later on in 1912 the British Colonialists Captain Titherington forcibly moved the family of Akuol Akuith from that elevated land to give way for a modern town and called it GAKRIAL. Through Arabic translation and misspelling, the name became Gogrial. This version was highlighted by a singer Deng Kuot (Deng Fannan) in one of his songs.1.2 KANG RIAL VERSION. The current town now called Gogrial was a water-locked area.It also had a lot of trees. When the water level dropped, people would rash into the area and mark trees to indicate their chosen locations. When anyone came afterwards and claimed the marked area, the person who got there first would say: “Ee hen aci kang rial”, in other words, I am the one who got there first in the early morning. Gradually the area became known as KANGRIAL originally and Gogrial through distortion.1.3 AGAR VERSION. There was a family who spoke differently to Rek that lived in that area. They used to go fishing there as their way of living. The husband was called GAKRIAL. Local adjascent community would rum away from them fearing they were AGAR Section of Jieng that were falsely believed by REK Section of Jieng to transform into lions. Gradually the area became known as GAKRIAL after the husband of that family and got distorted into Gogrial.
To pinpoint the correct version out of the three will require a deep anthropological, archaeological or historical research.
CHIEFTAINSHIP AREAS
There are originally TEN Chieftainship Areas
1. AGUOK BAAR: Muon Aken
2. AGUOK CIEK: Kuanyin Agoth
3. KUAC: Amet Kuol
4. APUK: Giir Thiik
5. AWAN CHAN: Chan Nyal
6. AWAN MOU: Mou Ring
7. TUIC AKUAR: Lang Juk. Now Kuac Madut Ring is separate
8. TUIC AMUOL: Bol Chol. This includes Kuac Anganya
9. TUIC ADIANG: Cier Rian cabok
10. TUIC THON: Ayuel Longar
FURTHER AREAL SUB-DIVISIONS:
1 AGUOK BAAR: ·
. Agur Piny·
. Buoth Anyith
· Marial
· Ngok Kuot
· Ngok Kuec
· Toc Anok
2. AGUOK CIEK:
· Wuny
· Monydit
· Ajak
3. KUAC:
· ANGUI with MONYJOC and MATHIANG as its parts earlier.
· LUKLUK
· WUNKUEL
· DONG
Historically there was a part of Kuac under the leadership of LONGAR that was eventually curved or returned to Wau Area. Furthermore, Italian Missionary records revealed that a man called AKOL AYAY, who was a Banybith was the first person approached by the British Colonialist in Kuac Area to be offered the Chieftainship. He declined arguing that he already held a spiritual chieftainship as a Banybith and there was need for him to also hold another human one. Kuol Amet was next approached and he accepted. Akol Ayay also played a leading role of allowing a Catholic Church to be established in Kuajok in the 1880’s.
From Kuol Amet, the chieftainship went to Ariec Wol before it was returned to the son of Kuol Amet called Amet Kuol
4. APUK
· AMAKIIR: Abuok, Ador, Abior and Apol
· LUAL: Amuk, Buoyar, Biong, Nyaramong and Jur Mananger
5. AWAN CHAN
6. AWAN MOU
7. TUIC AKUAR includes TUIC AJAK. This was first ruled by Ring Juk before Lang Juk
8. TUIC AMUOL ruled by Nyuol Gitbuong before his son Bol Chol
9. TUIC ADIANG ruled by Rian Gorkuei before Mawiir Rian and then Cier Rian
10. TUIC THON ruled by Ayuel Longar
COLONIAL ADMINISTRATORS
The district where Gogrial and Tonj were located was known as JUR RIVER DISTRICT. The FIRST CAPITAL of that district was established by Captain Titherington in 1912. Tonj was then a subdistrict. However, when a district commissioner went on leave in Tonj, the one in Gogrial went there to act and liked the area of Tonj. So he decided to transfer the capital of Jur River District to Tonj around 1922 when Anyok Lual was murdered by the British in Alek village near Gogrial.
Lately, three British Administrators that governed Gogrial were:
1. Mr Hunter, named AJIINGDIT
2. Mr BOYLE, named TIM ATIEP who died recently and his son DENG TIM ATIEP now runs a charity called TIM ATIEP
3. Mr BIGGS, named WACBEK who is still alive in OXFORD UKAs regards indigenous administrators of Gogrial, it is worth noting that GIIR THIIK was the one who helped administer Gogrial from 1946 till 1956 as the head of the administrative council
FIRST EDUCATED PEOPLE OF GOGRIAL
These include:
1. Cier Rian
2. Lang Juk
3. Morris Puol Reng
4. Ambrose Wol Dhal
5. Victor Bol Bol
6. Muon GiirAND MANY MORE.The first two participated in 1947 Juba Conference and tried their best to prevent the South from being amalgamated with rest of Sudan
MODERN HISTORY OF GOGRIAL
Gogrial and Abyei areas are now re-organised into FOUR COUNTIES:
1. Abyei County, comprising Abyei area with capital in Abyei
2. Gogrial North County comprising the Tuic Area with capital in Turalei
3. Gogrial West comprising Awan, Aguok and Kuac Areas based in Gogrial
4. Gogrial East comprising Apuk Area based in Luonyaker............
Treaty of Gogrial!
Hi Guys,
Here the Treaty of Gogrial, please feel free to check it out.
Best regards
Deng Columbus,
The Treaty of Gogrial Between Congressman Bill Richardson and Commander
Kerubino Kwanyin Bol in 1996.
BAIL BONDSMAN TO THE WORLD Monday, Dec. 23, 1996 By DOUGLAS WALLER/WASHINGTON Article ToolsPrintEmailReprints The haggling under a broad mango tree in the dusty, hot Sudanese village of Gogrial had dragged on for four hours. Flies buzzed around; seven-year-old boys toting automatic rifles played among the grass huts; a vulture watched from a thatched roof. Guerrilla commander Kerubino Kwanyin Bol, in sunglasses and camouflage fatigues and with an AK-47 propped against his chair, wanted $2.5 million for the three Red Cross hostages. "You're not getting that," Congressman Bill Richardson said. The best he could offer was bags of rice, four jeeps, nine radios, help in sanitizing the local water, and vaccines for the village children. "Can you add a tractor?" Kerubino finally asked. "Done," Richardson replied. The Treaty of Gogrial was pecked out on a battery-powered laptop computer. Richardson passed around congressional cuff links to the guerrillas. Kerubino presented him with first an elephant-hair bracelet and then a lunch of grilled goat and okra stew. Later the three tearful hostages were bundled into a rickety DC-3 prop plane to freedom. Need an American sprung from jail in a hostile country? For the past two years Bill Clinton's favorite bail bondsman to the world has been Richardson, a beefy, cigar-chomping New Mexico Congressman whose addiction to winning people over is almost as legendary as the President's. (He once shook 8,871 hands in one day of campaigning.) Last week, after Richardson returned from his sixth rescue mission, Clinton picked him as his new U.N. ambassador, replacing Madeleine Albright, who has been nominated to the job of Secretary of State. The two men have become good friends, in part because Clinton has so enjoyed listening to the seven-term Congressman's accounts of his Indiana Jones adventures. Richardson "has undertaken the toughest and most delicate diplomatic efforts around the world," the President said in announcing his nomination last week. Richardson negotiated the release of U.S. Army pilot Bobby Hall from North Korea in 1994, and just last month was sent back to that country to free American Evan Hunziker. In 1994 he also pressured the Burmese government to free Nobel-prizewinning dissident Aung San Suu Kyi and helped persuade Haitian military ruler Raoul Cedras to leave power. And in the summer of 1995 he pried defense contractors William Barloon and David Daliberti from the grip of Saddam Hussein after they spent 114 days in jail for mistakenly crossing into Iraq. Richardson has kept an overnight bag in his Capitol Hill office, and a State Department officer is detailed to him to help arrange his quick flights into unfriendly territory. The State Department has found him a useful unofficial envoy to states with which it has strained relations. "It's a way to send in someone with credibility through the back door," explains a White House aide.
Here the Treaty of Gogrial, please feel free to check it out.
Best regards
Deng Columbus,
The Treaty of Gogrial Between Congressman Bill Richardson and Commander
Kerubino Kwanyin Bol in 1996.
BAIL BONDSMAN TO THE WORLD Monday, Dec. 23, 1996 By DOUGLAS WALLER/WASHINGTON Article ToolsPrintEmailReprints The haggling under a broad mango tree in the dusty, hot Sudanese village of Gogrial had dragged on for four hours. Flies buzzed around; seven-year-old boys toting automatic rifles played among the grass huts; a vulture watched from a thatched roof. Guerrilla commander Kerubino Kwanyin Bol, in sunglasses and camouflage fatigues and with an AK-47 propped against his chair, wanted $2.5 million for the three Red Cross hostages. "You're not getting that," Congressman Bill Richardson said. The best he could offer was bags of rice, four jeeps, nine radios, help in sanitizing the local water, and vaccines for the village children. "Can you add a tractor?" Kerubino finally asked. "Done," Richardson replied. The Treaty of Gogrial was pecked out on a battery-powered laptop computer. Richardson passed around congressional cuff links to the guerrillas. Kerubino presented him with first an elephant-hair bracelet and then a lunch of grilled goat and okra stew. Later the three tearful hostages were bundled into a rickety DC-3 prop plane to freedom. Need an American sprung from jail in a hostile country? For the past two years Bill Clinton's favorite bail bondsman to the world has been Richardson, a beefy, cigar-chomping New Mexico Congressman whose addiction to winning people over is almost as legendary as the President's. (He once shook 8,871 hands in one day of campaigning.) Last week, after Richardson returned from his sixth rescue mission, Clinton picked him as his new U.N. ambassador, replacing Madeleine Albright, who has been nominated to the job of Secretary of State. The two men have become good friends, in part because Clinton has so enjoyed listening to the seven-term Congressman's accounts of his Indiana Jones adventures. Richardson "has undertaken the toughest and most delicate diplomatic efforts around the world," the President said in announcing his nomination last week. Richardson negotiated the release of U.S. Army pilot Bobby Hall from North Korea in 1994, and just last month was sent back to that country to free American Evan Hunziker. In 1994 he also pressured the Burmese government to free Nobel-prizewinning dissident Aung San Suu Kyi and helped persuade Haitian military ruler Raoul Cedras to leave power. And in the summer of 1995 he pried defense contractors William Barloon and David Daliberti from the grip of Saddam Hussein after they spent 114 days in jail for mistakenly crossing into Iraq. Richardson has kept an overnight bag in his Capitol Hill office, and a State Department officer is detailed to him to help arrange his quick flights into unfriendly territory. The State Department has found him a useful unofficial envoy to states with which it has strained relations. "It's a way to send in someone with credibility through the back door," explains a White House aide.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Welcome
Welcome to the Sudanese4Sudanese Blog. I will periodically post links to news articles and information relating to the Sudanese community.
I found the following article a few weeks ago. Those of us that do not have citizenship yet, should consider applying very soon:
www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0201immig-fees0201.html
I found the following article a few weeks ago. Those of us that do not have citizenship yet, should consider applying very soon:
www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0201immig-fees0201.html
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