In his Nobel Peace Prize speech last month, President Obama said, “When there is genocide in Darfur; systematic rape in Congo; or repression in Burma—there must be consequences.” We must continue to hold President Obama accountable for his promises, including those he made on the campaign trail. We must use this opportunity to urge the Obama administration to demonstrate leadership on genocide prevention.

Send a message to President Obama to urge him to publicly commit to making genocide prevention a priority in his upcoming State of the Union address.

On Wednesday President Barack Obama will deliver his first State of the Union address. The GPTF report identified the State of the Union address as an important venue for the President of the United States to “demonstrate that preventing genocide and mass atrocities is a national priority.” During the address, President Obama should demonstrate his administration’s support for genocide prevention by publicly committing to making genocide prevention a priority for his administration.

What Can You Do?

Send a Message

Send a message to President Obama to urge him to publicly commit to making genocide prevention a priority in his upcoming State of the Union address.

Tell Your Friends

To raise awareness about this advocacy opportunity, please forward this opportunity to your family and friends and urge them to take action to make genocide prevention a priority for the Obama administration!

• Tweet to your friends about this advocacy opportunity.
• Share this post on Facebook.

Over the course of the next week, the Obama administration is hosting a series of Facebook chat sessions to “take stock of what we’ve done over the last year, where we are now, and the tremendous amount of work that remains to bring the change the Americans want and need.” The daily chat sessions will feature a morning blog post from a policy specialist in the administration, followed by a video chat on Facebook in the afternoon. Tuesday’s session will feature Ben Rhodes, President Obama’s foreign policy speechwriter, who will discuss President Obama’s approach to national security and foreign policy over the past year and its plans for the year ahead. 

This is a critical opportunity for anti-genocide activists to take action. The President’s State of the Union address is approaching quickly. As we noted in a recent blog post, President Obama’s public commitment to genocide prevention is a critical component of the Genocide Prevention Task Force report’s recommendations. As President Obama’s foreign policy speechwriter, Ben Rhodes will have an important role in the development of the State of the Union address’ foreign policy section. We must urge the Obama administration to publicly commit to making genocide prevention a priority in the upcoming National Security Strategy.  

What Can I Do? 

Participate in the Facebook chat session. Ben Rhodes will discuss President Obama’s national security and foreign policy strategies beginning at 3:00 pm EST.  

• At 3:00 pm EST tomorrow, join the discussion through Facebook. Ask President Obama to publicly commit to making genocide prevention a priority in his upcoming National Security Strategy.
• Ask questions that assure us the Obama administration is considering a coordinated genocide prevention strategy and taking steps to achieve those goals. You can find the Genocide Prevention Task Force report here.

Tell your Friends

To raise awareness about this advocacy opportunity, please forward this opportunity to your family and friends and urge them to take action to make genocide prevention a priority for the Obama administration!

• Tweet to your friends about the chat.
• Share this post on Facebook.

Earlier today, President Barack Obama accepted his Nobel Peace Prize at Oslo City Hall. Recognizing the combined importance of nonviolence and military action to accomplishing and maintaining peace, President Obama emphasized the necessity of acting in accordance with international law. Condemning those who act in grave violation of international humanitarian standards, he said, “When there is genocide in Darfur, systematic rape in Congo or repression in Burma—there must be consequences.”

President Obama’s recognition of these conflicts in an international forum is important, as is his affirmation of consequences in response to genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. However, rhetoric will do little to stop the scourge of extrajudicial killing, political repression, mass rape, and other human rights violations taking place in Sudan, the Congo, and Burma. President Obama has listened. Now is the time to move his administration into action.

What Can I Do?

SUDAN

Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and John McCain (R-AZ) have drafted a letter urging Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, to speak publicly about the Sudanese government’s violations of the United Nations arms embargo and ensure that the Security Council monitors troops and arms movements and additional sanctions.

The Save Darfur Coalition is circulating letters to U.S. Senators, urging them to sign on to the Feingold-McCain letter.

Sign the letter to your Senator here.

The United Nations arms embargo is a crucial tool in resolving the conflict in Sudan.

Take action now.

BURMA

The U.S. Campaign for Burma has drafted a petition urging members of Congress to support H.Res. 898, which calls for the Burmese regime to be held accountable for their human rights abuses. We need a dozen more Congressional Representatives to co-sponsor this resolution before Congress breaks for recess. We are asking you to email your Representative today.

Khartoum police arrested around 70 opposition members yesterday morning, including three leaders of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), the ruling party of South Sudan. The arrests were in response to protests calling for electoral and legal reform by the National Assembly. The Sudanese government issued a last minute ban on the opposition rally on Sunday.

The opposition parties’ grievances included the National Assembly’s delay in passing national security and referendum laws. Opposition supporters demonstrated in support of democratic reforms preceding next April’s national elections and the 2011 referendum on south Sudanese independence. Political violence followed the arrest of opposition members, despite First Vice President Salva Kiir’s call for calm among the protesters. Kiir, also the President of South Sudan, condemned the arrests as a violation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended the north-south Sudanese civil war.

After his release, Secretary General Amum urged a continuation of SPLM demonstrations until President Omar al-Bashir implements the CPA between north and south Sudan and addresses electoral reform.

The Sudanese government’s detainment of SPLM leaders and opposition supporters prompted urgent responses from the Sudan advocacy community. John Prendergast, the co-founder of the ENOUGH Project, notes the unrealistic expectations of U.S. policy towards Sudan: “It was fanciful of the United States and other donor nations to think that the ruling National Congress Party (NCP), which has ruled Sudan with an iron fist and tolerated no peaceful dissent, would suddenly loosen its grip and allow peaceful elections and their necessary precursor: peaceful freedom of assembly.” Bec Hamilton, author of the forthcoming book The Promise of Engagement, suggests that, “we can expect to see more and more incidents like this in the coming weeks.” (Also included in Hamilton’s post is the text of the SPLM’s press statement on the arrests.)

What Can I Do?

Call the White House to express your support for democratic reforms in Sudan and urge President Obama to condemn the Sudanese regime for its imprisonment of political opposition.

Call 202.456.1111 or 202.456.1414

Sample Statement:

Hi, I’m _______

Thank you.

If you have any questions about ways to get involved, please email education@standnow.org or advocacy@standnow.org. Also, follow @iSTANDsudan on Twitter for updates!

Photo credit: AFP

As we mentioned last Thursday, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), an ethnic Kokang ceasefire group, ended its two-decade ceasefire with the Burmese regime. The ceasefire’s end brought about several days of destructive military combat between the MNDAA and the Tatmadaw, the Burmese army. At its peak, the conflict caused the exodus of as many as 30,000 refugees from the Kokang region of the northeastern Shan State. Most refugees fled to the Yunnan province of China, destabilizing the Chinese border and inciting a rare rebuke from the Chinese government.

STAND has previously discussed the potential for diplomatic cooperation presented by the Tatmadaw’s destabilization of the Sino-Burmese border surrounding the Shan State. While the Burmese regime’s last military campaign in the Shan State warranted only limited warnings from the Chinese government, the Kokang conflict provoked more concerned rhetoric from the China. Much of the Kokang minority population in Burma shares ethnic ties with Chinese in the Yunnan province. The Kokang region of the Shan State hosts a significant population of Chinese nationals, one of whom was reportedly killed by government troops during the recent conflict.

In its rebuke, China urged Burma to “protect the security and legal rights” of Chinese citizens. Though China’s vocabulary of rights was admittedly non-universal, the government’s refugee assistance in the midst of the Kokang refugee crisis indicates a willingness to push for stability and security in the Sino-Burmese border regions. The international community should still push for the establishment of a UN commission of inquiry into the regime’s crimes. In the absence of Chinese cooperation on this initiative, however, the international community must push China to take a greater role in supporting refugee populations border region conflicts and deescalating the Tatmadaw’s campaigns in ethnic minority regions. China runs adjacent to nearly half of Burma’s eastern border. China’s security interests present the opportunity for a number of diplomatic and humanitarian initiatives that can stabilize the Sino-Burmese border and protect the human rights of civilians in the region.

Meanwhile, the United States will occupy the UN Security Council presidency in September. The Security Council presidency presents an “unparalleled opportunity” for the US to end impunity over the regime’s crimes. Sign the petition to push for a UN commission of inquiry into the regime’s crimes in Burma’s ethnic minority regions.

Important Reading

TIME: Why Violence Erupted on the China-Burma Border

Woman and Child Rights Project: Nowhere Else to Go: An Examination of Sexual Trafficking and Related Human Rights Abuses in Southern Burma

ReliefWeb: Refugees Wary of Returning from China

Want to keep updated on the situation in Burma? Follow us on Twitter @STANDBurma.

The Irrawaddy reported on Thursday that the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), an ethnic Kokang ceasefire group, ended a two-decade ceasefire with the Burmese regime. Several instances of fighting broke out along the Sino-Burmese border, aggravating the month-long refugee crisis in the northeastern Shan State.

The Burmese army conducted a drug raid on MNDAA Chairman Peng Jiasheng’s house earlier this month and has been building up its military forces in the Kokang region of the Shan State. The military build-up has caused a mass refugee crisis across the Sino-Burmese border. Tens of thousands of Burmese civilians, many ethnic Chinese Kokangs, have fled their homes for China’s Yunnan Province since early August.

Follow STANDburma on Twitter (twitter.com/STANDburma) to receive more updates on the conflict in the Kokang region.

– Daniel Solomon, National Burma Education Coordinator (burma@standnow.org)

An August 13 media release by the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF), the Shan Women’s Action Network (SWAN), and the Shan Relief and Development Committee (SRDC) described the Burmese junta’s renewed scorched earth campaign in the Shan State. The military campaign, which began on July 27, has displaced 10,000 ethnic Shan villagers. The junta’s soldiers have torched over 500 houses and 40 villages, and arrested and tortured 100 civilians. The junta’s campaign of atrocity continues, despite condemnations from international human rights organizations and limited warnings from China, which shares a southern border with the Shan State.

The Shan State, the Economist magazine reported in 2005, remains under China’s sphere of influence in Southeast Asia. According to the article, “[a]round 350,000 Chinese tourists visit every year to gamble, frequent the massage parlours, and perhaps take in a Thai transvestite show.” Additionally, about 10,000 Kokang and Chinese refugees crossed into China from the Shan State after the Burmese junta’s escalated military operation against the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA). The junta’s scorched earth campaign remains an important security concern for China, and therefore a viable opportunity for the international community to press the Burmese junta to end its human rights violations in the Shan State.

On his recent and controversial diplomatic trip to Southeast Asia, Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) underscored China’s importance in pressing for a change in Burma’s behavior. The international community’s efforts to end the junta’s war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Shan State, the Karen State, and other Burmese regions of concern can only be effective with China’s assistance. Human Rights Watch has called for a UN committee of inquiry to investigate the regime’s war crimes in the Shan State. ALTSEAN Burma, a network of human rights organizations based in ASEAN member states, has issued a similar plea. Prosecution before an international war-crimes tribunal may be the most effective method of ending impunity over the regime’s various crimes against civilians in ethnic minority regions.

Effective action by the UN Security Council requires the cooperation of China, which possesses a veto on the Security Council. The international community should take advantage of the opportunity for action presented by China’s security concerns in the Shan State, and press the Chinese regime to cooperate in establishing a committee of inquiry into the regime’s crimes.

Sign the petition from Avaaz to call on the UN Security Council to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity in ethnic minority regions and push the Burmese military junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi. We must hold the regime accountable for its violation of international human rights law and infringement on democracy.

Take action by signing the petition.

Recently, STAND published a blog post addressing the presence of child soldiers in military combat operations by Tatmadaw, the Burmese army, and ethnic rebel groups in eastern Burma. Since then, the United Nations has taken impressive strides towards ending the abuse of children and use of child soldiers in Burma. On August 4, the UN announced that it would send a team to Burma to push the junta and ethnic rebel groups to end the use of child soldiers. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has been diligent in documenting the use of child soldiers by military and paramilitary groups. According to Reuters, Ban’s June report accused the Burmese junta of conducting “‘grave violations’ against children” in Burma. In the same article, Radhika Coomaraswamy, the UN Special Representative for children and armed conflict, noted “positive developments” regarding the issue of child soldiers and the release of some children from military service. Given the reportedly vast population of child soldiers in the Burmese military, however, the release of “some children” is insufficient according to to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Accordingly, the international community must push the Burmese junta, as well as rebel groups operating in ethnic minority regions, to end the abuse of children and use of child soldiers in combat operations. On August 4, the UN Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1882, concerning the abuse of children in armed conflicts. The resolution noted Burma’s military, the Karen National Liberation Army, the Kachin Independence Army, and the Shan State Army-South, among others, for their use of children in armed conflict. The resolution intends to strengthen its monitoring infrastructure regarding the abuse of children in armed conflict, but does little to deter actions by organizations involved in such actions. The resolution serves primarily as a “name and shame” list for countries and insurgent groups. As John Boonstra of UN Dispatch rightly asked, “how much shame can child murderers really have?” While an important step towards revealing the extent of the child soldier usage in armed conflict, the UN resolution remains weak on deterrence. In order to limit the abominable use of child soldiers, the international community must take a harder line on the Burmese military and ethnic rebel groups. The US has passed broad-reaching sanctions against the Burmese regime, but the international community must place greater pressure on Burma’s security partners (Thailand, Russia, and China) and weapons suppliers (Russia, China, Ukraine, Israel) to sway Burma’s hand on its use of child soldiers. Only through conscientious global action may the international community see a shift towards a just application of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.