In this week’s issue: Fighting continues in South Darfur, the UN pushes for talks in Burma, and Rwandan citizens flee eastern Congo by the thousands.

Quote of the Week: "[It would be] like giving birth to a dead rat that is smelling and of no use at all."
— Sudanese ambassador to the United Nations Abdalmahmoud Abdalhaleem on the impending International Criminal Court (ICC) indictment of Sudanese president Omar el-Bashir. See below for more information on the controversy surrounding the ICC.

Questions? Feedback? Contact STAND’s Education Team at education@standnow.org or leave a comment!

Sudan

Bombings by the Sudanese government continued around the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM)-held town of Muhajariya for the second week, causing 30,000 to flee. JEM offered to pull out on Tuesday in consideration of the safety of civilians, as long as the town remained under UNAMID control. Despite international criticism, the Sudanese government rejected this last condition and occupied the ravaged town. JEM countered by threatening to re-take the town.

JEM has since been in peace negotiations with UN mediator Djibril Bassole and talks with UNAMID on protecting civilians and IDPs.

The indictment by the International Criminal Court to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for war crimes is expected this week. Bashir continues to receive support from Arab, Islamic, and African leaders, and from China.

However, there are rumors of division within Bashir’s own party over the case. Click here for a guide to Sudanese internal politics on the ICC indictment.

The Obama administration came out publicly in support of the ICC indictment this week. In an interview with the Washington Post, Ambassador Susan Rice, the U.S. representative to the United Nations, indicated that she plans to continue engagement with the government of Sudan in its new role as the head of the G-77 group of developing nations, while continuing pressure on the government regarding the situation in Darfur.

STAND students from George Washington University protested at the U.S. State Department on Friday, urging the U.S. government to take stronger action to address the escalating violence in Darfur.

Burma

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called upon the military junta in Burma to begin talks with National League for Democracy (NLD) opposition without precondition, something that the NLD has been attempting for years. 

Indonesia has rescued about 400 of about 1,000 Rohingya (Burmese Muslims) that Thailand towed out to sea.  The Thai government recently rejected 1,000 Rohingya seeking asylum from Burma, a country that denies their existence within its boarders.  Indonesia has criticized the Thai government for the rejection of the refugees.  

The rebel Shan State Army has promised to oppose the 2010 popular election in Burma claiming that the process is not democratic. The promise sparks much speculation that the 2010 election will lead to civil war.

Democratic Republic of Congo

On Tuesday, members of the Tutsi CNDP rebel group asked the Congolese government to grant them amnesty for acts carried out during recent fighting in North Kivu province. This comes weeks after CNDP commander Bosco Ntaganda signed a peace deal with the government.

A growing number of Rwandan citizens living in eastern DRC are seeking to be repatriated to Rwanda, apparently to escape a joint Rwanda/DRC military operation aimed at capturing the extremist Hutu FDLR militia. Over 1,400 Rwandans have moved across the border since the operation began.

Several weeks into the Rwanda/DRC operation to track down the FDLR, MONUC, the UN mission in DRC, is apparently attempting to investigate possible violations against civilians. Human rights groups haveexpressed concern about violence against civilians by Rwandan/Congolese troops and the potential for reprisal killings by rebels.

Doctors Without Borders accused MONUC of failing to protect civilians from Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in northern DRC, a charge that the UN has denied. Meanwhile, it appears that a top LRA officer may have offered to surrender to Ugandan forces. This week, the New York Times reported on the United States’ role in coordinating the Uganda-led mission aimed at capturing LRA leader Joseph Kony.

In an alarming development following weeks of escalating violence between government and rebel forces, Khartoum has requested that UNAMID withdraw troops guarding the rebel-held town of Muhajiriya in South Darfur. Meanwhile, the Sudanese army has begun bombing near Muhajiriya and amassing troops on the town’s outskirts, clearly in preparation for an attack.

The UN has refused Khartoum’s request, vowing to protect Muhajiriya’s 30,000 citizens from impending attacks. However, it is far from clear that the 196 peacekeepers stationed at the town will be able to hold up against a full-scale Sudanese army offensive.

The situation has prompted comparisons to the massacre at Srebrenica in 1995, when thousands of Bosnians were slaughtered in an area that had been declared a UN “safe zone.” It is up to the international community to ensure that this dark chapter of history is not repeated.

On its blog, the ENOUGH Project urges the international community, and the Obama administration in particular, to take immediate action: 

The international community, and the Obama administration, now faces a crucial moment. It can abandon 30,000 civilians to state-sponsored violence, or it can embrace its responsibility to protect and make sure that Muhajiriya does not become the next Srebrenica. Rather than withdrawing, UNAMID must immediately reinforce its presence in Muhajiriya, and the United States must spell out specific consequences for the Sudan if it does not immediately cease aerial bombings and abandon its plans for this offensive.  This is a clear attempt by Khartoum to test the resolve of the Obama Administration in its early days, and the response of President Obama and the UN will determine the fate of thousands of Darfuris.

In this week’s issue: the Government of Sudan attempts to clear the way for new attacks in South Darfur, refugees in Burma face new threats, and re-shuffling of alliances causes confusion and concern in Congo

Quote of the week: On the joint Rwanda-DRC military operation targeting FDLR militia in eastern DRC…

"Then there is the almost zany task of cobbling together the joint operation itself. That entails mixing Rwandan soldiers with the Congolese soldiers who once fought them, with the rebels who were fighting the Congolese, with the ragtag militias that were fighting the rebels — and the entire operation is targeting a group the Congolese army has collaborated with for years." –Washington Post, 2/1/2009

Questions? Feedback? Contact STAND’s Education Team at education@standnow.org or leave a comment!

Sudan

Fighting escalated this week between Sudanese government troops and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebels, with the government bombing rebel positions in both North and South Darfur. The number of civilians killed and displaced in the recent fighting is currently unknown; however, Sudan expert Alex de Waal called it the worst violence in Darfur since the beginning of 2008. UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and the U.S. State Department have both issued statements condemning the fighting.

Meanwhile, the Government of Sudan has asked UN Peacekeepers to clear out of the town of Muhajeria, where government and rebel forces clashes earlier this week. JEM has since taken two more townsand declared it has free reign over Darfur.

JEM and a splinter of the SLA advanced towards Darfur’s largest city, El-Fasher, but clashed with Government forces. After intensive fighting with air strikes and heavy artillery for several days, it seems as ifcalm has returned to El-Fasher. For more information on the current status of Darfur‘s rebel groups, check out the ENOUGH Project’s new strategy paper, "Darfur Rebels 101."

Sudan has accused Chad of supplying the rebels, which Chad denies

In an unrelated but tragic incident, a civilian member of UNAMID was shot dead in an armed robbery.

Burma

A new Human Rights Watch report urges India to allow the UNHCR access to Chin refugees fleeing abusive conditions in West Burma.  The Chins’ persecution at the hands of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) is also augmented by the governments refusal to act in the face of famine and food shortages in the region. 

Time magazine chronicles the most persecuted ethnic groups in Burma today: the Rohingya, the Shan, the Chin, the Karen and the Kachins. 

Much controversy is being made over what to do with the multitudes of Rohingya (Burman Muslims), who are fleeing the country after Thai military cast the refugees’ boats back out to sea.  The Rohingya number about 800,000 of the population of Burma and are not allowed citizenship because they are Muslim. About 1,000 Rohingya are adrift in the Bay of Bengal or the Indonesian archepeligo, after being denied asylum in various countries.    

Over 5 million people in the regions affected by Cyclone Nargis are still having trouble getting food and live below the poverty line according to the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Program. 

Democratic Republic of Congo

Military cooperation between DRC and Rwanda has been met with serious skepticism and concern, particularly among eastern Congo’s civilian population. While Rwandan troops crossed into DRC earlier this month with the stated goal of eliminating the extremist Hutu FDLR militia, many worry that the troops will not distinguish between FDLR fighters and Hutu civilians. Although the Rwandan troops were reportedly invited by DRC this time, their entry invokes Rwandan invasions in 1996 and 1998 that sparked the First and Second Congo Wars.

MONUC, the UN peacekeeping mission in DRC, was originally unaware of the DRC-Rwanda operation, adding to concerns about its legitimacy and intent. Now, however, the UN has offered logistical supportto the mission. DRC President Joseph Kabila rejected criticism of the joint operation and announced that foreign troops will be out of DRC by February.

Meanwhile, efforts to integrate Tutsi rebel fighters into the Congolese army following last week’s arrest of rebel leader Laurent Nkunda are not going as planned. Integration efforts are complicated by the participation of CNDP commander Bosco "The Terminator" Ntaganda, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.

The International Criminal Court trial of former DRC rebel leader Thomas Lubanga got off to a shaky start last week, as the testimony of the prosecution’s first witness was called into question. The witness, a former child soldier, retracted testimony claiming he had been abducted by Lubanga’s militia, suggesting that he had been coached. Lubanga, who is the first ICC suspect to stand trial, has pled ‘not guilty’ to charges of recruiting child soldiers as young as 10 years old.

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In this week’s issue: DRC rebel leader Laurent Nkunda is arrested, thousands more are displaced in fighting between Darfur rebel factions, attempts at diplomatic negotiations continue in Burma, and the International Criminal Court begins its first trial

Questions? Feedback? Contact STAND’s Education Team at education@standnow.org or leave a comment!

Sudan

After fighting broke out between the rebel group JEM and the former rebel group SLA-MM in the town of Muhariya, thousands of civilians have been displaced and JEM finally took control. In response, theSudanese Government has bombed the rebel positions in the town numerous times, killing a number of rebels and civilians. The violence has been widely condemned.

A new UN report has accused Sudan of violating international law in a devastating raid it conducted on Kalma IDP camp this summer where it fired unlawfully upon civilians, claims which the government denies.

Representatives from the AU, the UN, and the Government of Sudan met today in Ethiopia to discuss the future of UNAMID.

After President Obama’s inauguration, the Sudanese Government says it is willing to work with the new U.S. administration.

Burma

The Ministry of Religious Affairs in Burma has ordered private Christian worship centers to close.  Since the 1960’s the military government has halted all the construction of churches and forced Rangoons congregations (some 100 in number) to worship in privately-owned buildings.

With the election of Barack Obama, Burma analysts recommend that Washington redouble its efforts in Burma by signing on a U.S. Special Representative and Policy Coordinator for Burma and instituting seven party talks.

UN Special Envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari is making his first trip to Burma in 2009 on January 31. Based on past experience of failed diplomatic efforts, most believe that his trip is unlikely to yield progress for the pro-democracy forces. 

Democratic Republic of Congo

Tutsi rebel leader Laurent Nkunda was arrested on Friday morning in Rwanda, after being pursued in North Kivu by Rwandan and Congolese troops. Rwandan troops crossed into DRC last Wednesday as part of a joint operation to pursue Hutu militia known as the FDLR. Nkunda is currently being held in Rwanda, and while the DRC authorities have asked that he be extradited, there is concern that this may become a source of tension between the two countries.

Reports indicate that the CNDP fighters have begun laying down their arms since Nkunda’s arrest. Days before the arrest, a CNDP faction led by Nkunda’s second-in-command Bosco Ntaganda, signed a ceasefire agreement with the DRC and agreed to integrate in to the Congolese army. Check out the STAND Blog for more background on this developing situation and the ENOUGH Project’s blog for a discussion of its potential implications.

The United Nations condemned recent attacks by the Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in DRC’s Ituri province. The violence has claimed over 600 civilian lives according to some estimates, and UNHCR reported last week that more than half of the 135,000 civilians displaced by the fighting since September have no access to humanitarian assistance.

Former DRC militia leader Thomas Lubanga becomes the first suspect to stand trial at the International Criminal Court today. Lubanga is accused of enlisting and conscripting child soldiers in DRC’s Ituri province during the 1998-2003 war. The Lubanga trial, as the ICC’s first, is considered crucial for establishing the court’s credibility.

This morning, January 23, CNDP rebel leader Laurent Nkunda was arrested by Rwandan troops after fleeing North Kivu. The arrest, coupled with the recent ceasefire between the government and a rival CNDP faction under top commander Bosco Ntaganda, may help make progress in the peace process in eastern Congo.

Reports indicate that over the past few weeks, Nkunda’s commanders increasingly viewed him as corrupt and power-crazed. There is also speculation that Nkunda was becoming increasingly embarrassing for Rwanda, which may have prompted a deal between the Rwandan and Congolese governments, resulting in Nkunda’s arrest in exchange for Rwanda being able to pursue Hutu extremists (the FDLR) in the Congo. Nkunda is currently being held in Rwanda, but the DRC government is seeking to extradite him.

Thousands of Rwandan troops crossed the border into DRC on Tuesday, part of a joint operation with the DRC government with the stated purpose of pursuing the FDLR. Earlier in the week, the U.N. peacekeeping mission in DRC (MONUC), and several humanitarian organizations expressed concern about potential consequences for the civilian population. MONUC was reportedly blocked from areas where Congolese and Rwandan troops were operating, but noted that the troops were headed for CNDP-controlled areas.

Nkunda’s arrest comes days after senior members of the CNDP under Bosco Ntaganda announced a ceasefire with the government and indicated that they would begin to work with the Congolese army to eliminate FLDR militia members.

These developments are positive signs for peace in the Kivus, but should not be seen as the sole guarantors of peace in the region. Eastern DR Congo remains quite unstable due to the continued presence of the FDLR, the lack of a political process to address deep-seated ethnic tensions and the rise in attacks on civilians committed by the Lord’s Resistance Army led by Joseph Kony. The arrest of Nkunda is good news in North Kivu, but much still needs to be done to bring peace to this troubled area of the world.

In this week’s issue: Fighting breaks out between rebel factions in Darfur, the US imposes new sanctions on Burma, and the LRA continues to massacre civilians in eastern DRC.

Questions? Contact STAND’s Education Team at education@standnow.org or leave a comment!

Sudan

Rebels from JEM have clashed with former rebel Minni Minawi’s forces, causing civilians to flee to a nearby UN base where they were protected. JEM seems to have taken control of Muhajaria, a town in the western Sudan region of Darfur. This has led Darfuri former rebel leader Minni Minawi to accuse some countries of forming an international conspiracy to put Khalil Ibrahim in power.

Sudan’s army said on Wednesday it had bombed rebel positions in Darfur, a rare admission of air attacks in the western region. Ban Ki Moon condemned both the bombings and the rebel clashes.

Sudan detained opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi after he called on Sudan’s president to turn himself into the International Criminal Court. The indictment, which is expected soon, has been warned about by Sudan’s first Vice President Salva Kiir, two Sudanese organizations, and the UN Humanitarian Coordinator John Holmes.

At her confirmation hearing, Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday she would focus on the Darfur crisis as top U.S. diplomat and the Obama administration was looking at a range of options. Obama’s UN pick Susan Rice has also made public statements on Darfur.

Burma

HBO has picked up the television rights to a movie called "Burma VJ" that uses underground footage of the 2007 uprising in Rangoon to tell the story of that time and Burma in general.

The US Treasury Department has applied new sanctions to two people and 14 companies. Freezing foreign assets and economic sanctions have been the prime measures taken by the US to oppose the military junta in Burma.

Thailand’s new Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has openly called for a change in Burmese politics citing that the refugee crises Burma has created as vastly changed the region and needs to be addressed. There are currently about 4 million Burmese refugees in Thailand.

Washington based Human Rights Watch has issued a new report detailing how the human rights situation in Burma is getting worse, citing the recent upsurge in arrests of democratic activist in the nation along with the escalation of ethnic violence.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Human Rights Watch reports that the Ugandan rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has killed at least 620 people and abducted more than 160 children in eastern DRC since Christmas. The UN estimates that 567 have been killed and 115,000 displaced by the recent fighting. The killings escalated after the governments of South Sudan, Uganda, and DRC launched a joint offensive to capture LRA leader Joseph Kony. Check out the STAND Blog for commentary on this situation.

A break-away faction of the CNDP, led by one of Laurent Nkunda’s top commanders, General Bosco Ntaganda, announced on Friday that it was ready to end the conflict with government troops and reintegrate with the Congolese army. There has been no reaction from Nkunda as of yet, but it is suspected that much of the CNDP leadership is backing Ntaganda. Ntaganda, nicknamed "The Terminator," has been indicted by the ICC for war crimes.

Peace talks, which resumed on January 7 in Nairobi, have been put on hold again to allow mediators for the CNDP and the DRC government to consult amongst themselves. AU mediator and former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa noted that substantial progress had been made when both sides signed an agreement adopting ground rules to govern the next phase of dialogue.

Sudan

Tensions have escalated around anticipations that the ICC will issue its indictment of Bashir soon. The Sudanese government denies reports it will impose emergency law in the case of an indictment; however, Sudan has been observed increasing security across Sudan and showing off its military might recently.

In the first week of the new year, UNAMID has marked its 1 year anniversary and still only has half the equipment and 58% of the troops it needs to fulfill its mission. The security situation continues to worsen and a UN Peacekeeper in Darfur was wounded in a car-jacking and later died from his wounds.

Talks on the peace process in Darfur that were supposed to be held in Qatar were delayed to due to discussions on the situation in Gaza. Former Darfur rebels the SLM-MM have requested to join the future talks but have not yet been invited, highlighting another complication of the rebels in the peace talks.

Here is an article on Mark Hanis of GI-NET in the Washington Times and a great analysis of national politics in Sudan by Eric Reeces.

Burma

Burma observers speculate that the recent spike in the imprisonment of political activists by the military regime in the run-up to elections in 2010 is intended to prevent a repeat of 1990, when Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy won an election in a landslide. The junta subsequently canceled the results.

The junta governing Burma is bracing for a more turbulent relationship with Thailand as a more human rights-oriented government is taking over. For the last decade, various Thai administrations have been more receptive of the brutal regime in Burma for the sake of business ties. However, the new foreign minister has claimed that Thailand will not be "blackmailed by economic interests.” Thailand is Burma’s largest trade partner.

Burmese authorities have released 19 North Korean refugees into Thailand. The refugees were caught by the military as they tried to cross from Burma into Thailand and were detained in Burma for a month before their release. Now they will be send to South Korea.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Tutsi rebels led by General Laurent Nkunda have threatened to walk away from peace talks with the Congolese government, claiming that government forces have been redeploying in breach of a truce. MONUC, the UN peacekeeping mission in DRC, dismissed the accusations and urged Nkunda to participate in talks, which are set to resume January 7 in Nairobi, Kenya.

Ugandan LRA rebels led by Joseph Kony clashed with DRC government forces on Saturday in a national park in northeastern DRC. The LRA has killed more than 400 people in eastern DRC since late December. The massacres follow the launch of a joint military offensive by Uganda, southern Sudan, and DRC intended to eliminate the LRA.

The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, reports that recruitment of child soldiers is on the rise in eastern DRC as a result of the escalating violence.

In a televised address on New Year’s Day, DRC President Joseph Kabila vowed to bring peace to the country before the end of 2009.

Fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo continues to escalate this week, as civilians face rape, torture, and murder from rebel militias and government forces alike. Thousands have been forced to flee their homes in recent weeks, with a quarter million Congolese newly displaced since August. The UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, known as MONUC, has been unable to protect civilians from the violence.

Last week, the UN Security Council authorized the deployment of an additional 3,000 peacekeepers to bolster MONUC. But the deployment will take months – much too long for civilians in eastern DRC to wait without effective protection.

UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon, echoing the calls of Congolese community organizations, international experts, and human rights groups, has thrown his support behind a French proposal to send a European “bridging” force to reinforce MONUC until additional UN troops arrive.

European leaders will be meeting this week to discuss the proposal. While France, Belgium, and the UK have backed the plan, other states are reluctant to send troops.

So what can we do?

Avaaz.org is raising money to place advertisements in major European newspapers, urging European governments to support the deployment of an EU bridging force. According to Avaaz, the placement of such an advertisement in the Times of London immediately prompted the UK’s Africa minister to call the organization, and led to a shift in the UK government’s position in favor of sending troops.

Click here to donate and help push more European governments to answer the Secretary General’s call for action.

While you’re fasting this week to support civilian protection efforts in Darfur and Burma, please consider donating to help protect civilians in eastern DRC as well, and ask your friends and family to do the same. Avaaz is collecting donations until the end of this week.

The people of eastern Congo have suffered enough. Let’s act now to help make sure they get the protection they need, and hold the international community accountable for its Responsibility to Protect.

Questions? Email congo@standnow.org.