It is safe to say, that when art and human rights are synthesized, the outcome can have a certain devastating effect. When Picasso revealed his Guernica painting to the Paris Worlds Fair in 1937 it struck like a cudgel to the minds of a people on a continent that had only felt the breath of the Nazi political machine. Guernica was a sinister foreshadowing, the end signal of the old world as we (collectively speaking) new it. A copy of Picasso’s cubist holocaust hangs at the entrance to the UN Security Council chamber, a looming reminder of that body’s purpose. As advocates against genocide we lobby the logos and ethos of the human mind very well, but often fail with the pathos; a place where Picasso succeeded. This is ironic because pathos is so close to us but the most elusive when appealing to someones mind.

In country like Burma we can observe the pre-conditions for genocide. A pseudo-fascist military regime that uses apathy as a weapon, isolates it’s country, and has begun scapegoating a relatively small ethnic group (the Karen, just in case you are interested). One diversion from the Burmese military command’s path to complete totalitarian rule is the presence of the only Nobel Peace Prize laureate in the world that is on house arrest. I am, of course, referring to Aung San Suu Kyi. Her story is painfully familiar to the international community. The bureaucracy headed by General Than Swe dares not touch her. The best way to find out why is to read a certain graphic novel by Japanese cartoonist Akazu Mizuha called The Fighting Peacock. The title is a subtle reference to to the flag of Suu Kyi’s party the National League for Democracy which cleverly depicts a white peacock chasing a star. Although not the impetus for the peacock, Suu Kyi has come to be identified with the bird as a national symbol.
The Fighting Peacock was drawn in 1994 by Akazu Mizuha, who sympathized with Suu Kyi and the cause of the people of Burma. It has remained fairly obscure ever since then, but it shouldn’t. The novel chronicles the life of Suu Kyi from the assassination of her father, Aung San, all the way to her house arrest in 1991 after a series of civil upheavals in which she was involved. The story is so stylized that you might forget that you are reading about a very real person. Suu Kyi is portrayed as a heroin, spurred constantly by the memory of her father (who was just as great of a symbol in the 1960’s) to pursue democracy in Burma. The story is multi-faceted and is neatly crafted so that anyone can find something to relate to in Suu Kyi’s life. There is even a endearing romance between Suu Kyi and her college boyfriend Michael, who is now her husband. The aim of the story, being to show the woman behind all the political intrigue; while retaining the background of one of the largest civil movements in South East Asia. Artistic liberties aside, the novel also gives a surprisingly accurate account of the 1988 revolutions and the political atmosphere in general; a connection impossible when you are merely reading a human rights report or the news.
It is a bit painful, to see such a smart novel on the periphery, for someone who thinks (as I do) that human rights struggles are fought just as hard in the minds of the apathetic developed world. Hence advocates must attack indifference three-fold. We know our facts, figures, and statistics. We can walk into a congressman’s office and regurgitate names of leaders, places and legislation; and discuss the mutual benefit of human rights awareness (logos and ethos), but yet again, where’s the Pathos? As advocates, is this the part we miss? We scoff at art’s impact as ineffectual on the political process. However, art (in this case biography) has a deceptive level of importance; it brings people in the developing world as close as they will come to actually experiencing fascism and the complete destructive capability of the irrational. Many Americans now know about the Islamic revolution (Iran) due in large part to Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel Persepolis. The Diary of Anne Frank is the quintessential reading on the Nazi Holocaust, and one of the reasons we are so aware of this historical catastrophe; because these appeal to pathos.
As hinted before, genocide is the product of irrationality and fanaticism. In this respect, the artistic medium is a strong weapon against genocide; meeting fanaticism with an analytical mind. It is a something we have that is lacked by the unsavory people who are brought into the ICC. So in the spirit of not taking pathos for granted, I urge you all to acquire a copy of The Fighting Peacock from the link below at the Irrawwady newspaper. The profits go to Burmese relief organizations, and you will get a great piece of undervalued literature in return. Aung San Suu Kyi, the "fighting peacock" herself, is no stranger to the power of pathos. The military regime is said to have removed the piano she used to play in her house, obviously they are not taking art for granted, so you shouldn’t either.

http://comic.irrawaddymedia.com/
 

On Saturday, the Government of Sudan (GoS) allegedly launched heavy attacks against two Darfur rebel groups in Northern Darfur, sparking off a series of heavy military confrontations. The rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Movement – Unity (SLM-Unity) and the United Resistance Front (URF) “claimed government and militia forces attacked their positions on Saturday around the North Darfur towns of Disa, Birmaza and Tawila, causing heavy casualties” according to the AFP. Those casualties included more than two dozen civilians, and over twice as many military. Massive displacement was reported.

This fresh series of attacks is significant in many ways: first and foremost, it resembles more closely traditional counter-insurgency campaigns, where the military targets are more the rebels than the civilians who support them, civilian casualties are a byproduct rather than the end product, and where the rebels manage to put up a substantial military resistance. It is an interesting shift in tactics, and yet civilians still suffer just as massively.

These new attacks may be linked to the fact that the new UN envoy, Djibril Bassole, is due to start peace talks soon: rebel groups allege the GoS is in a mad scramble to grab as much territory as possible by whatever means necessary before the peace talks begin, so that they sit down at the negotiations with a more powerful hand. North Darfur has potentially lucrative oil sites (such as oil Block 12A owned by the Saudi Arabian company al-Qahtani) and many key trade routes and makes it a valuable territory for the GoS to have.

The stakes are getting higher and the heat is still turning up: this week’s ongoing clashes follow on the heels of last week’s crushing attack on Kalma Camp, a camp for displaced Darfuris. Attacks on aid workers continue to increase and the UN World Food Program is crying out that if security doesn’t improve, it will have to stop delivering emergency, life-saving food to Darfuris who depend on this to food to live.

What this shows more than anything is that the international community cannot afford to lose more time and let the violence escalate on its own than it already has – and moreover, the more unstable that Darfur gets, the harder it will be for aid organizations and Sudanese to get Darfuris what they need to survive, and the more Darfuris will die from the “genocide by attrition” that the GoS started long ago.

Strategies and situations on the ground change constantly: keep your eyes and ears open for more news so we can be responsive even when the world may not be.

*Note: we are still waiting for more official confirmations of the numbers and natures of the attack: the GoS denies the attacks ever took place and UNAMID is so under-staffed that it is having a hard time managing the effects of last week’s attack on Kalma while monitoring the new attacks. This blog post will be updated as we get more information in”

All-Sudan:

On Saturday, the Government of Sudan (GoS) attacked two rebel strongholds in Northern Darfur. The attack involved heavy fighting between the two sides, with many military dead and several civilian dead being reported. The GoS denies this, and the rebels claim that the GoS was trying to capture a lot of territory before peace talks start again, and it is after the oil in North Darfur.

There is also still insecurity around last week’s attacks in Kalma camp as there have been reports of the Sudanese army building up its troops surrounding the camp.

Attacks on aid workers continue in Darfur, which has caused the UN to warn that it will stop all emergency food delivery if security doesn’t improve. Food has already been cut so much that a riot broke out in a refugee camp over lack of food in which one woman was killed.

 Burma:

The Burmese police chief denies the claims of the National League for Democracy that Aung San Suu Kyi is on a hunger strike in protest of her treatment. 

The World Health Organization has come under fire for their seemingly lauditory stance of the Burmese governments aid response to the areas still devastated by Cyclone Nargis.

Congo:

The DRC government closed a section of the border with Uganda this week, in an attempt to cut off supply lines to ethnic Tutsi rebels lead by General Laurent Nkunda. Fighting between the Congolese army and Nkunda’s forces began late last week in North Kivu province, prompting fears that eastern DRC will return to all-out war.

Anti-UN protests erupted in North Kivu province following efforts by MONUC, the UN mission in DRC, to stem fighting between the Congolese army and Nkunda’s forces. Citizens of the district particularly objected to MONUC’s calls for the Congolese army to return territory taken from Nkunda in the fighting, in an attempt to enforce the ceasefire agreement.

The International Criminal Court declined to lift a stay on proceedings in the trial of former DRC rebel leader Thomas Lubanga. Lubanga will remain in ICC custody until a final decision is made on the appeal to have his case dismissed.

E-mail education@standnow.org to have the Weekly News Brief delivered to your inbox every Monday

Last week, clashes between the Congolese army, FARDC, and militias lead by General Laurent Nkunda erupted in North Kivu province, marking the worst violations to-date of a ceasefire agreement signed in January 2008. Now, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in DRC, MONUC, is facing violent protests as it attempts to restore calm. Although all sides have repeatedly violated the ceasefire, eastern DRC has remained relatively stable since January, at least compared to conditions during the country’s devastating civil war (1998-2003). However, following this week’s violence, international observers fear that eastern DRC may again be deteriorating into all-out war.

The recent violence began last Thursday near the town of Rutushuru in North Kivu. As the two sides exchanged mortar fire, each blamed the other for initiating hostilities. The outbreak followed reports of building tensions throughout the previous weeks as the various groups rearmed. At the time, UN Special Representative to DRC, Alan Doss, said the UN did not know whether "this [was] the beginning of the end for the peace treaty signed in Goma last January."

After the fighting began, MONUC prepared to launch investigations to determine which party was responsible, and deployed armed personnel to the area. The mission immediately issued statements condemning the fighting, urging both sides to use restraint and to return to their initial positions, and reminding both sides that all acts of military engagement, including counterattacks, constitute violations of the ceasefire.

In a fact-finding visit to North Kivu two days after the clashes began, Doss urged the local populations not to hinder MONUC’s work, and assured them that "the only goal of the Peacekeeping Mission is to let Congo return to normal and help end fighting once and for all."

However, MONUC’s suggestion that the Congolese army should cede territory it had taken from Nkunda’s rebel forces drew strong protests from populations around Rutushuru. On Tuesday, the protests turned violent, as crowds attacked a convoy of international mediators. On Wednesday, MONUC peacekeepers were forced to seek refuge at a base after being attacked by demonstrators.

Local populations, the Congolese government, and Nkunda’s rebels have all expressed suspicion about MONUC’s objectives. According to peace process laid out in the January agreement, known as the Amani process, all armed groups were to disengage, leaving buffer zones for MONUC to occupy. MONUC is also charged with protecting local populations in imminent danger and reporting on violations of the ceasefire agreement.

In a press conference on Wednesday, the mission pledged to "redouble efforts" to successfully implement the Amani program. The same day, fresh fighting erupted between FARDC and CNDP. According to MONUC, FARDC has managed to capture more territory previously held by Nkunda. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), reports that at least 8,000 civilians have been forced from their homes by the recent violence.

–Nina McMurry, Congo Education Coordinator

Right now, the world’s attention is turned to the 2008 Presidential Elections iin the United States between Democratic candidate Obama and Republican candidate McCain. And for all of us concerned about what is happening in Sudan, we have another election to watch: the 2009 Presidential Election.

Sudan has not had a democratic election virtually since independence: in 1958 there was a military coup that was followed by a series of coups that ended up putting Omar al-Bashir in power in 1989, who has ruled as a dictator ever since, despite the title “President”. Well, after the decades-long Civil War between North and South Sudan ended, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed. The CPA provided for many things, one of which was the guarantee of a democratic Presidential election in the year 2009.

This has enormous implications for us as anti-genocide activists: first, it has implications because it is the current regime that is inciting, guiding, directing this genocide in Darfur. Second, it has implications for the peace and stability of Sudan as a whole. Further, it has implications that echo in every aspect of the multiple crises: the ICC indictments, the CPA implementation, the delivery of humanitarian aid, etc.

However, there are many things standing in the way of a free and fair elections: many fear the Government of Sudan is likely to postpone the elections, harass and manipulate voters, tamper with the results, or hold onto power even if it has lost. All of these could have disastrous consequences because they are denying democracy to a people who have been fighting for it since the country gained independence over a half century ago. And that in turn effects Darfur and Sudan as a whole.

Tonight, Wednesday, August 5 we will be having an EduCall about the upcoming 2009 elections, what it means for both Darfur and Sudan, and what it means for anti-genocide activists across the world. We will have special guest speakers, Yien Matthews, who is a Secretary for Youth and Student Affairs of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) , the largest political party in South Sudan, and Apuk Ayuel  from the SPLM.

Jump on the call Wednesday, September 3, 2008, at 9 PM EST. Just dial (269) 320-8300 and type in the pin 349902# – I’m looking forward to hearing you on the call!

All-Sudan:

As the dust cleared, we saw the Government of Sudan’s attack of Kalma camp in Darfur left a few dozen dead and scores wounded. The day after, Sudanese Armed Forces continued to surround Kalma camp and the highest most recently reported death toll is at 45. Some of the wounded are said to had been evacuated, many wounded men had  reportedly refused to be evacuated.

The Darfur rebels, Minni Minawi, JEM , SLA-Abdel Wahid, have reacted angrily and publicly about the violence, while Omar al-Bashir remains unapologetic. The US Government has issued a statement condemning the attacks and calling for an investigation.

This attack happened the first day new UN Mediator Djibril Bassole was starting his job on the ground in Sudan, and he issued a call for a ceasefire. Many are saying this attack was the GoS’ attempt to gain ground militarily before Bassole begins new peace talks.

Burma:

In light of the recent failure of the UN envoy to Burma in meeting top military officials and Aung San Suu Kyi, the National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB), a government formed of Burmese political ex-patriots is petitioning the UN to exclude Burma from the GA sine the government is technically illegitimate.  

Washington observers acknowledge that democratic vice-presidential candidate, Joe Biden, has always paid special attention to Burma and spearheaded the recent Tom Lantos bill, strengthening the US embargo on Burmese gems.  It is not clear if he would use his position as VP to bolster his support for Burmese human rights. 

New Zealand has entered into a free trade agreement with ASEAN, of which Burma is a memeber.  This move has come under fire as supporting the Burmese military regime.

Congo:

Fighting between the forces of General Laurent Nkunda and the Congolese Army (FARDC) erupted on Thursday as both sides exchanged mortar fire, marking the worst fighting since the signing of the January 2008 ceasefire. MONUC, the UN mission in DRC, is expected to launch investigations to determine which party was responsible for initiating the violence. UN Special Representative for DRC, Alan Doss, condemned the fighting and urged both sides to exercise restraint.

Officials from the UN, EU, and the Rwandan government met in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, on Wednesday to prepare for a meeting of the Joint Monitoring Group established by a communiqué issued by DRC and Rwanda in November 2007. The delegation discussed disarmament and repatriation of the Hutu extremist FDLR militia ahead of the Monitoring Group meeting, which will takes place in Kinshasa today.

E-mail education@standnow.org to sign up and have your Weekly News Briefs delivered to your inbox every Monday!

The headlines in Darfur this week told a story which has become as repetitive as the rising of the sun over the Sahara: Sudanese military forces attacked Darfur refugee camp, dozens dead, dozens more wounded.

"I am inside the camp Kalma. Now there is still shooting," Abakr Suleiman, a senior tribal leader inside the settlement, said at 10 a.m. "There is heavy shooting. They came into the camp and killed people. There are houses burning."

This week’s story followed much of the same pattern we have seen throughout the conflict: on Monday, the Sudanese Armed Forces gathered 100 vehicles outside of Kalma camp, Darfur’s largest Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camp. They attacked the camp under the pretense that they wanted to clear out illegal weapons in the camp – Darfuri IDPs said the Sudanese Armed Forces wanted to really clear out ethnic Darfuris from the camp. As the sun set, the dust settled, and the news wires began picking up the story, there were reports of between 27-64 dead, and scores wounded. Meanwhile, UNAMID faced many obstructions in trying to get to the camps to evacuate the casualties, and had its medical relief partners outright blocked from entering the camps. And as the sun rose the next day, more armed forces were gathering outside the camp.

And meanwhile, food is running out in Kalma as the rainy season approaches.

The attacks have led the US, UN, and UNAMID to call out the Government of Sudan on its actions, but in turn, it has led all the main rebel groups to call out the world on its silence:

• The SLM-AW said, “These people fled the killings to these camps for safety after they lost everything. The government’s final solution is to kill them right where they are at.”
• JEM added: “This is genocide happening before our eyes. The international community must live up to its responsibility and protect the civilians”
• SLM-MM warned, “The situation may well develop into another war. The silence of the international community is a negative signal”.

And Darfuri IDPs have not kept silent: thousands of residents of Kalma refugee camp demonstrated during the funerals of their fellow IDPs.
This is the fifth attack of its kind against Kalma. While this seems to be a repeat of the same patterns that have written themselves into sands of Darfur, the world has to finally learn from these patterns.

This is a pattern that displaced Darfuris have been living with and dying because of for five years. And Darfuris are not sitting by simply as victims, waiting for the international community to come and save them: they have bravely organized within these camps to defend and look after each other and are unbelievably active in the face of such a deadly reality.

But at the end of the day, when the sun sets over Kalma camp, the IDPs, no matter how brave, cannot hold their own against the guns of the Government of Sudan. And that is where our Responsibility to Protect comes in – identifying and working to end this pattern of a government abusing its citizens, so that its citizens can return home and rebuild the peace that has been taken from them. As the sun sets on Kalma camp today, can we as an international community look at the residents and say that we have done everything we can to fulfill our duties under R2P: fully supporting UNAMID, entering into robust negotiations with real incentives, real consequences, and discussing real underlying issues, holding the worst offending parties responsible for their genocidal actions?

We have a lot of work left to do as an international community. As the sun rises over Kalma camp today, Darfuris will begin another day of working hard to protect and care for themselves and their families; let us begin another day of fulfilling our responsibility to protect and support them.

Sri Lanka Education Call Blog Post

Not many know that just below the southern tip of India, exists a small, tear drop-shaped island.  Perhaps a symbol of the sadness that has reigned in one of Asia’s longest and most brutal ethnic conflicts, from the time of its independence from Britain in 1948, Sri Lanka has silently, but violently, spiraled downward. 

To understand the conflict, one must first understand that two culturally different people live together on the island.  The Singhalese, the ethnic majority, speak Sinhala, are predominately Buddhist, and live in the south and west of the island.  The Tamils, the largest ethnic minority, speak Tamil, are predominately Hindu with some small communities of Muslims and Christians, and primarily live in the country’s north and east.

Since Sri Lanka’s independence, successive Singhalese-controlled governments, fueled by the rise of Sinhala Buddhist ethno nationalism, have maintained power through increasingly discriminatory policies against Tamils.

For over 50 years, the Tamils have faced discrimination and ethnic cleansing at the hands of the Singhalese.  Hundreds of Tamils were killed in anti-Tamil riots in 1956, 1958, 1961, 1974, 1977, 1979, 1981, and 1983.  After the most severe anti-Tamil riots, which occurred in July of 1983, an armed Tamil separatist group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), also known as the Tamil Tigers, emerged to defend Tamils and to fight for an independent state for Tamils, “Tamil Eelam”, in the north and east.

For the last 25 years,  the Sri Lankan Army and the Tamil Tigers have fought a bloody war which has killed anywhere from 126,000 to 338,000 people; predominately Tamils, due to fighting taking place primarily in the north and east.  Both sides of the conflict have committed major human rights abuses. 

Wednesday’s education call on Sri Lanka will include a brief history of Sri Lanka and its ethnic conflict, recent and past human rights violations, and charges of genocide by American citizens/ green card holders currently working for the Government of Sri Lanka. 

We will be joined by Bruce Fein-a constitutional scholar, former associate deputy attorney general under President Reagan, Chairman of the American Freedom Agenda, and representative for Tamils Against Genocide, and Arvind Suguness, communications director for People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL), an active member of the Tamil diaspora, and a student at Ohio State University currently applying to medical schools.  Come join us on Wednesday night to learn more about Sri Lanka!

Darfur

The Sudanese Army sent 100 trucks to Kalma camp, the largest camp for displaced Darfuris, killing 27 unarmed Darfuris and leaving scores wounded. An unconfirmed report puts the number of dead at 40.UNAMID has reportedly been deployed to help evacuate the casualties.

There was more violence in South Darfur, where more than 50 Arab tribes people were killed in clashes over water and gravin land. Efforts are underway to reconcile the two tribes.

The new UN top mediator for Darfur, DJibril Bassole, deploys today from London, where he met with the rebel group SLM-Unity.

President Omar al-Bashir said he would go to war and demand Darfur peacekeepers leave if he was indicted by the ICC over war crimes in Darfur. Great Britain and France have decided to back a motion by others in the UN Security Council to suspend the indictment for 1 year; the US is currently the only country opposing this motion.

All-Sudan:

Kenya is going to start buying vast amounts of Sudanese oil, and has made statements against the ICC indictment.

Ugandan rebels accused Southern Sudanese troops of attacking them, while Southern Sudanese forces accused Ugandan forces of attacking civilians.

Tensions are brewing in Eastern Sudan, where the Beja people have long been subject to neglect and abuse.

Burma:

The last UN World Food Program flight left from Thailand left on Aug, 22 ending with a total of 232 flights to Burma for relief efforts to the Irrawaddy Delta of Burma which is still recovering from the devastating effects of cyclone Nargis. 

 UN Special Envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, failed to meet with military ruler Then Shwe on his recent trip to Burma.  He also failed to meet with the National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi at her house in Rangoon where she is detained on house arrest.  Apparently it was Suu Kyi who refused to meet with the envoy, leaving some to speculate that she is protesting Gambari’s soft tone on the military junta.  The consensus on this visit is that it was a failure.  

Congo:

A recent joint report from the International Center for Transitional Justice, University of California, Berkeley, and Tulane University highlights the challenges faced by civilians in the eastern DRC. The report, named Living in Fear, states that nearly half of the population has faced death threats and a third has been abducted for at least one week.

More UN peacekeepers have been deployed to the eastern provinces of Ituri and Orientale to counter recent attacks by Ugandan LRA rebels. MONUC, the UN mission in DRC, also reported increased violence and recruiting by Mai-Mai militia in North Kivu.