This week: a false ceasefire in Darfur, a journalist jailed in Burma for her coverage of Cyclone Nargis, and the UN considers sending reinforcements to a struggling peacekeeping mission in the DR Congo.

A few days ago, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir announced a unilateral ceasefire by government forces in Darfur.

This past weekend at STAND’s National Student Conference, many of you attended the “Introducing Congo” panel and heard from experts about the ongoing conflict in eastern DRC. Throughout the rest of the conference, and during the workshop on STAND’s evolution into a multi-conflict organization, I heard from many of you who were excited to learn more about the Congo and to discuss how STAND can and should engage.

Darfur

The rebel group Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rejected the Qatar peace talks expressed interest in bilateral peace talks with the Government of Sudan (GoS), which were rejected.

There has been much talk on the campaign trail of hope and change, rhetoric which is largely responsible for the victory of President-elect Barack Obama. Across the nation and world, there is unprecedented excitement about the new administration and its potential to change.

We now have more info on the Transition Rally, which will kick off STAND Out Loud: The 2008 National Student Conference on Friday, November 7th.

Get all the info you need here.

This is our chance to capitalize on the excitement of the election. We have to remind the country that the new President-Elect must turn promise into policy on Darfur.  Don’t miss it.

Weekly News Brief – October 27 – November 4, 2008

A weekly summary of the most important updates from the ground in Sudan, Burma, and Congo

In this issue: UNAMID peacekeeper killed in Darfur, strengthening relationships between Burma and China, surge of instability in Congo, and more… 

I am asked all the time when I think is the best time to start a chapter. My answer is always the same: now. No matter when it is, it’s an important time to take a stand against genocide. This important time in American history is no exception. Experts are saying that young people will be going out to the polls to vote in record numbers, but we shouldn’t let our participation end there. Whether or not you are able to vote in the upcoming election it doesn’t matter because voting is only the first step.

The situation in eastern DRC went from bad to catastrophic this week as ethnic Tutsi rebels led by General Laurent Nkunda launched a major offensive in the provincial capital of Goma. In the resulting chaos civilians became targets for both rebels and government forces, causing tens of thousands to flee the city. A tense ceasefire seems to be holding at the moment, but conflict threatens to erupt again at and any time and thousands of lives remain at risk.