Being the National Education Coordinator for STAND during the past school year allowed me to grow as an individual, advocate, and student.  My primary jobs included making educational materials for existing conflicts in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Syria, Skyping with chapters to discuss current events, distributing information about emerging conflicts in North Africa, working with a task force consisting of conflict experts, contributing to campaign planning, and publishing a weekly news update.  These duties are critical for maintaining STAND’s identity as an informed student constituency, but the intangible components of the Managing Committee (MC) are most valuable.  Countless conversations with other MC members and chapters taught me new ways of thinking about conflicts and peace-building strategies. 

Also, my work with Jenn Polish, our fabulous intern this year, around diaspora community engagement challenged me to consider creative and inclusive ways of ending conflict rather than conventional military or diplomatic means.  Projects such as this are not in the job description of a MC member, but can be the most valuable.  Last, being education coordinator made me delve more deeply into the history of conflicts and develop a nuanced understanding of conflict drivers.  Overall, my tenure of the MC was transformative and life-changing both intellectually and spiritually. 

The MC application is due on May 28th and can be found here.

Being the National Education Coordinator for STAND during the past school year allowed me to grow as an individual, advocate, and student.  My primary jobs included making educational materials for existing conflicts in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Syria, Skyping with chapters to discuss current events, distributing information about emerging conflicts in North Africa, working with a task force consisting of conflict experts, contributing to campaign planning, and publishing a weekly news update.  These duties are critical for maintaining STAND’s identity as an informed student constituency, but the intangible components of the Managing Committee (MC) are most valuable.  Countless conversations with other MC members and chapters taught me new ways of thinking about conflicts and peace-building strategies.  Also, my work with Jenn Polish, our fabulous intern this year, around diaspora community engagement challenged me to consider creative and inclusive ways of ending conflict rather than conventional military or diplomatic means.  Projects such as this are not in the job description of a MC member, but can be the most valuable.  Last, being education coordinator made me delve more deeply into the history of conflicts and develop a nuanced understanding of conflict drivers.  Overall, my tenure of the MC was transformative and life-changing both intellectually and spiritually. 

Today marks a major turning point for the anti-genocide movement in the United States.  President Obama announced the creation of a Atrocities Prevention Board which will help ensure the government has the “mechanisms and structures” to prevent and respond to civilian protection crises.  The announcement came after an extensive study, directed by the National Security advisor, that assessed existing crisis response infrastructure, protocols necessary for the board’s creation, and how the intelligence community could best assist prevention efforts.  He gave his remarks at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum nearly nine months after a presidential directive declared mass atrocities and genocide prevention a national security priority and moral responsibility.  In his speech, Obama reaffirmed the importance of past and current genocide prevention strategies such as international diplomatic pressure on Bashar al-Assad and his allies.  He added a need to punish foreign nationals who use new technologies to limit social organizing.  Moreover, the President also reinforced the need for a peaceful resolution to the Syrian crisis by using targeted sanctions.  He concluded by reaffirming one of the Responsibility to Protect doctrine’s key principles which says that the right to national sovereignty includes an obligation to protect civilians within respective states. If that obligation is not fulfilled, the international community has a responsibility to respond.

The board will consist of members from several government agencies working in conjunction to streamline and operationalize prevention and protection measures.  More specifically, it will institutionalize cooperation between civil society, military, and diplomatic actors such as the Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, USAID, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  The group will meet monthly to implement policies that will utilize the reach of all relevant U.S. government agencies

According the the directive issued in August 2011, the goals of the Atrocities Prevention Board are to “ensure: 

(1) that the US national security apparatus recognizes and is responsive to early indicators of potential atrocities; 

(2) that departments and agencies develop and implement comprehensive atrocity prevention and response strategies in a manner that allows "red flags" and dissent to be raised to decision makers;

(3) that the US increases the capacity and develop doctrine for our foreign service, armed services, development professionals, and other actors to engage in the full spectrum of smart prevention activities; and 

(4) that the US is optimally positioned to work with its allies in order to ensure that the burdens of atrocity prevention and response are appropriately shared.”

In other words the Atrocities Prevention Board is heavily geared toward recognizing and swiftly responding to early warning signs of mass atrocities. Based on that data, relevant government agencies will develop a comprehensive collaborative strategy to effectively respond to crises.  Moreover, the board will work with international partners to maximize supranational coordination.

Another implicit goal of the Atrocities Prevention Board is to avoid situations like Rwanda in the future.  In 1994, President Clinton failed to coordinate with foreign policy agencies as 800,000 Rwandans were killed in about one-hundred days.  Ad hoc, disaggregated responses from the international community once again proved ineffective.  The focusing of interagency prevention work and lessening of bureaucratic red tape will hopefully quicken response times. 

The Atrocities Prevention Board announcement comes as two major (and other) conflicts are killing civilians.  Violence along the Sudanese border between lingering SPLA soldiers, Sudan, and South Sudan is increasing as disputes over oil revenue sharing and land ownership remain unresolved.  Meanwhile, Bashar al-Assad’s violent crackdown on Syrian protesters continues into its thirteenth month leaving over 10,000 civilians dead.  However, the new board will, in theory, be better equipped to proactively respond to crisis such as these.

Policy experts and youth advocates should embrace today’s announcement.  However, today is merely a step in the right direction that will require a sustained commitment to civilian protection.  Students must work alongside professionals in pressuring the administration to uphold his commitments.  Meanwhile, they must also continue transformative advocacy that is shaping a new human rights narrative that more fully respects local civilian populations.  Constituencies who are not fully incorporated into policy-making such as civil society in conflict areas and diaspora groups living in the United States must be taken into consideration.  Finally, the Atrocities Prevention Board provides an opportunity to view conflicts are intersectional processes involving environmental change, women’s rights, minority rights, military operations, and diplomacy.  Let’s use our leverage as informed student activists to continue developing a progressive human rights framework that better serves civilian populations.  

 Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, DRC

Sudan, South Sudan

The International Monetary Fund has announced that South Sudan has become the institution’s 188th member country, giving it access to IMF loans and technical assistance. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesdayrevised down its forecast to Sudan’s economy to show a significant shrinkage in 2012.

The U.N. Security Council discussed on Tuesday possibly imposing sanctions on Sudan and South Sudan if the African neighbors did not stop border clashes that were threatening to spiral into full-scale war. The African Union (AU) urged both Sudan and South Sudan to “act responsibly” and immediately end the current conflict between their armed forces, as demanded by the international community.

The United Nations announced that one of its peacekeeping compounds in South Sudan sustained “material damage” over the weekend when it was hit with five bombs. No United Nations employees were hurt, but two people on the base were killed, initial reports said. 

South Sudan’s army (SPLA) says that some Murle cattle herders are avoiding handing over their weapons to the military as part of a statewide disarmament campaign in Jonglei following severe violence earlier this year.

Sudan’s President Omar Al-Bashir escalated war rhetoric against South Sudan on Wednesday, saying that Khartoum’s goal is to rid southerners of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in Juba and liberate them.

Over 300 youth from Gogrial West County in South Sudan’s Warrap State on Tuesday voluntarily registered and embarked on training as part of the public campaign to mobilize support for South Sudan’s national army (SPLA).

Syria

A week after the deadline for the Syrian government to have implemented the contingent parts of the UN-backed Syrian peace plan, acting UN General Secretary Ban Ki Moon released a letter to the Security Council Thursday stating the Syrian state had failed to implement broad sections of the plan, including the withdrawal of troops and particularly armored elements from major urban centers. Opposition sources also reported that sweeps by government security forces are being carried out on a smaller scale, and additionally reported that the city of Homs has continued to be shelled by the Syria n armed forces despite the ceasefire. However, the Secretary General still said there was an “"opportunity for progress" despite the setbacks.

On April 19th, the Syrian government agreed to an expansion of the United Nation’s observation mission, bolstering the mission’s total numbers to 300 observers. The present observation mission is comprised of 30 observers, with an advance group of 8 already on the ground. However, the Syrian government has placed some restrictions on movement on the present observation mission, and at present the observers have not been able to visit the embattled city of Homs, one of the alleged sites where violence has continued on the greatest scale. Negotiations on the details of the expansion remain ongoing, with the Syrian government also stating that observers should come from those it considers “neutral” countries, such as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

While violence throughout Syria dropped off in the immediate aftermath of the ceasefire deadline, both opposition groups and the Syrian government have accused each other of breaking the peace in recent days. Opposition sources reported that22 people, 13 civilians among them, were killed during artillery barrages in Homs on Wednesday, and Syrian state news reported that six law enforcement officials had been killed by a roadside bomb, along with a number off civilians.

DRC

Following President Kabila’s statements last week on the necessity of arresting Bosco Ntaganda, wanted by the ICC for using child soldiers in his militia group, has been followed by increased pressure by the international community. While visiting North Kivu’s capitol Goma, Kabila said the government had “more than a hundred reasons to arrest him” but also noted that his government would not be bullied by “pressure from the international community.” He did announced that military operations against revels in the eastern North and South Kivu provinces were officially suspended, due to the desertion of hundreds of FARDC troops earlier in the month which provoked violent clashes within the army and allowed for the rebels to seize territory.  

According to a report published this week by Congolese and international NGOs, the failure to reform FARDC (the Congolese army) has mired the majority of the civilian population in poverty and insecurity despite billions of dollars of foreign aid. The 15,000-strong FARDC is made up of primarily former rebels, who lack basic training and often target civilians because they are not properly paid or housed. The failure to create security forces that protect the population rather than targets it results in obstacles to conflict resolution, development and economic growth. The report notes that more than $14 billion in international aid over the past few years has barely impacted the civilian population, who represent the bottom of the UNDP’s development index. The FARDC is fundamentally corrupt; while many Congolese troops run illicit mining operations in the east, others profit from so-called ‘ghost soldiers’, or non-existent troops whose pay is then siphoned off illegally. President Kabila remains an obstacle to security sector reform (SSR), as “he feels more comfortable with a disorganized army, he can maneuver better than a trained one.” Only one percent, or $85 million, of development aid for the Congo was spent on SSR between 2006 and 2011. 

Glencore, one of the world’s leading producer and marketer of commodities, now faces accusations of breaching international law by allowing children as young as 10 to work in one of its mines in the DRC. International law prohibits anyone under the age of 18 from mining; however in the Tilwezembe copper mine in the Kotanga province, children were found going down shafts 150 feet deep without any safety or breathing equipment. Glencore chief executive Ivan Glasenberg refuted the claims, saying the mine was decommissioned in 2008 after the depression of copper prices and now it has been taken over by artisanal miners. The company is also being accused of dumping acid into a river by the company’s Luilu refinery. Despite the severity of the accusations, Glaseberg continues to assert that it is an “ethical business”. 

President Kabila named finance minister Matata Ponyo Mapon as his new prime minister on Wednesday, in a move aimed to improve the state’s business environment. The nomination comes a month after the former government resigned in order to allow Kabila to form a new cabinet. 

Etienne Tshisekedi, who continues to protest the fraudulent November elections, announced earlier in the year that the opposition party Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) would not join parliament. However 33 of its members did join parliament, and they now have been excluded from UDPS for deviating from party lines. 

Refugees from the DRC continue to cross the border into Uganda, where an estimated 50-80 refugees arrive daily. Many of the new arrivals are being housed at Nyakabande transit camp in the Kisoro District, which was originally designed to accommodate 1,000 people and now has over 3,500 residents. The site was described by UNHCR as “over-stretched by completely under control.” Many of the new arrivals have fled from the government offense against defected soldiers led by Bosco Ntaganda. 

This post is produced every Thursday to update STAND members and the advocacy community about developments with regards to genocide and crimes against humanity.  For more information contact the following:

Education Coordinator: Sean Langberg education@standnow.org 

Sudan Education Coordinator: Emma Smith esmith@standnow.org

DRC Education Coordinator: Siobhan Kelley skelley@standnow.org

Emerging Crises Education Coordinator: Tom Dolzall tdolzall@standnow.org 

 Sudan, South Sudan, DRC, Syria

Sudan, South Sudan

South Sudan’s oil minister, Stephen Dhieu, claims that Khartoum has been constructing an illegal pipeline to extract oil from South Sudan’s Unity State, amid bombing raids.

The Sudanese finance and national minister Ali Mahmood Abdel-Rasool spoke out against the comprehensive sanctions imposed by the United States on his country saying it is responsible for the recent delay in opening a sugar plant. He called on China to supply financial aid.

Jonglei residents have been asked to return home and start farming once again. Out of the 29,000 residents, only 5,000 remain in the state as of now.

South Sudan said on Tuesday that Sudan had attacked a disputed oil-producing border region and the town on Teshwin with warplanes and artillery. The Sudanese ground forces started their attack from the disputed area of Heglig, where Sudan controls an oil field that accounts for roughly half of its 115,000 barrel a day output. On Wednesday, Sudan said in response that it mobilize its army against South Sudan, and halted talks with Juba over oil payments and other disputed issues after the South occupied an oilfield vital to the North’s economy. South Sudan has suspended the oil production in the area. The Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) intend to reach the border between the two countries as it was demarcated in 1956—the year British-Egyptian colonial rule ended.

The supreme court in Sudan ruled to commute a sentence issued against one of four prison escapees who were convicted of killing a US diplomat three years ago.

South Sudan received a shipment of military hardware from China that were loaded via the Kenyan port of Mombasa, according to a Kenyan newspaper.

DRC

The situation in eastern Congo has been rapidly evolving due to recent developments surrounding General Bosco Ntaganda of the FARDC. Bosco has for years been a key player in the mineral trade, as he has largely controlling sites of extraction and trade in the east. He also serves as a major impediment to justice and accountability in the region – though he is wanted by the ICC for the recruitment of child soldiers between 2002 and 2003, he has continued to act without impunity in plain sight. In 2009, Bosco’s ethnic Tusti rebel group the CNDP, linked to Rwanda, was incorporated into the Congolese army through a peace agreement. Since then, he has used his position to consolidate power and the group has been accused of rape, murder, extortion and intimidation of the civilian population. Last week, CNDP members defected from FARDC on orders from Bosco. Kabila’s government is increasingly under pressure by the international community due to the widespread irregularities and fraud in the November election process, and Ntaganda might be the only card President Kabila has to play in order to appease the international community. “Last week, Belgian Foreign Affairs Minister Didier Reynders is said to have told DR Congo President Joseph Kabila that his credibility was being affected by his failure to arrest Gen Ntaganda.”

As of Monday, President Kabila, in an unprecedented move, traveled to Goma. He reportedly never travels to the region, except for when he is on the campaign trail, so the move is especially significant. Wednesday, Kabila called for the arrest of Bosco, as a means to restoring peace in the region. Kabila said, “We ourselves can arrest him because we have more than 100 reasons to arrest and judge him right here (in Goma), and if not here, then in Kinshasa or elsewhere in our country.” Anneke van Woudenberg of Human Rights Watch says that Kabila’s government is legally bound to transfer Bosco to the Hague after referring the crimes committed in 2004 to the ICC. While the Congolese government can submit a request to the ICC to try Bosco domestically before a military tribunal, she fears the justice system is too weak to “try Bosco’s crimes in a free and fair process.” Bosco apparently fled to the bush with a few CNDP members, and his whereabouts are now unknown. However it is believes that he has consolidated forces loyal to him in an area north of Goma between Rutshuru and Masisi. 

Syria

April 12^th marks the deadline by which time the Syrian government agreed to have implemented the United Nations ceasefire plan headed by Kofi Annan. Early indications suggest that large-scale violence has come to a tense stand still, but questions and doubts remain about the full implementation of the plan. Since the cease-fire deadline passed Syrian opposition sources reported to BBC News that three civilians had been killed in Idlib and Hama, and Syrian state tv reported that a roadside bomb in Aleppo had killed one and wounded many more. NYT reported that an uneasy peace has settled upon most of the unrest’s major hotspots, but that the pullout of army and security forces has not been fully undertaken as stipulated by the cease-fire agreement, with Syrian military officials further stating that the pullout must be preceded by “successful missions in combating criminal acts by armed terrorist groups.”

Earlier this week on April 9^th, Turkey expressed disapproval of a reported incident of Syrian security forces firing at refugees who had crossed over the Turkish border from Syria, leaving two dead. Tensions along the border between the two states have continued to escalate, with an estimated 24,000 Syrian refugees having flooded into the Turkish border zone since the beginning of the violence a year ago. 

This post is produced every Thursday to update STAND members and the advocacy community about developments with regards to genocide and crimes against humanity.  For more information contact the following:

Education Coordinator: Sean Langberg education@standnow.org 

Sudan Education Coordiator: Emma Smith esmith@standnow.org

DRC Education Coordinator: Siobhan Kelley skelley@standnow.org

Emerging Crises Education Coordinator: Tom Dolzall tdolzall@standnow.org 

This weekend I am attending Indiana’s first-ever Genocide Prevention Summit. In light of continuing violence along border regions in Sudan and the daily brutality of the Assad regime in Syria, the summit aims to strengthen the genocide prevention activists in the United States and empower diaspora communities.

Kizito Kalima, a survivor of the Rwandan genocide and founder of the Global Genocide Prevention Alliance, will recount his tale of tragedy and survival at the summit.  Don Kraus of Citizens for Global Solutions, a Washington-based advocacy group advocating for genocide prevention, will be providing the keynote address for the event.  Kraus will discuss U.S. and global policies and actions that are currently in place to prevent genocide and recommendations for improvements that can ensure that the international community can stop mass atrocities from occurring.  Local photographer Katie Basbagil will showcase her art project “IndyRefugee” that tells the story of Burma’s Karen ethnic group who have been victims of genocide, many of whom have resettled in Indiana.

I will be speaking, along with several other mass atrocities prevention advocates, about youth engagement in human rights work and crafting responsible and inclusive policy narratives.

The Genocide Prevention Summit will be held on Saturday, March 31 from 1-8 pm at the Interchurch Center located at 1100 W. 42^nd Street in Indianapolis. Participating organizations include STAND, United to End Genocide, Invisible Children, and the Project to End Genocide.  For more information contact Mike Oles at mike@globalsolutions.org or myself at education@standnow.org. 

 News Updates 

Syria, Sudan, South Sudan, and DRC

Syria 

Arab Leaders met in Baghdad Thursday to discuss and move forward on the implementation of the Syrian peace plan backed by the Arab League and United Nations, and headed by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. As provided by BBC news, Annan’s six point plan consists of:

“1. Syrian-led political process to address the aspirations and concerns of the Syrian people

2. UN-supervised cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties to protect civilians

3. All parties to ensure provision of humanitarian assistance to all areas affected by the fighting, and implement a daily two-hour humanitarian pause

4. Authorities to intensify the pace and scale of release of arbitrarily detained persons

5. Authorities to ensure freedom of movement throughout the country for journalists

6. Authorities to respect freedom of association and the right to demonstrate peacefully.”

The Syrian government made overtures towards accepting the plan on Tuesday, but opposition figures have expressed doubts as to the sincerity of the government’s claims. In addition, despite lingering internal differences, the majority of Syrian opposition groups are now backing the Syrian National Council (SNC) as the central outlet for opposition activity and coordination.

Meanwhile throughout the country violence has continued unabated, and the week has been marked by frequent clashes between government security forces and army units and elements of the Free Syrian Army (FSA). Shelling of Homs has continued throughout the week. In addition, two Syrian Army Colonels were killed in guerrilla shootings in the city of Aleppo. The United Nations now estimates that the death toll in Syria stands at more than 9,000 dead. NYT reported Wednesday on the hardships upon the estimated 6,000 Syrian refugees who have fled into neighboring Lebanon since the beginning of the unrest a year ago.

United Nations’ Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay told BBC News Wednesday that Syrian security forces are “systematically detaining and torturing children” and castigated Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad for not doing more to end arbitrary detentions by government forces.

Sudan, South Sudan 

South Sudan Archbishop says that Jonglei peace will begin soon.The Archbishop is head of a committee charged with finding a solution to the violence in Jonglei. 

Inter-communal violence erupted on Tuesday in the main campus of the University of Juba in the South Sudan’s capital, leaving several students wounded.

The Sudanese foreign minister Ali Karti has revealed that his country wants a ceasefire as a prerequisite to allowing aid into the war-battered state of South Kordofan.

South Sudan’s army, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) denied using child soldiers. The UN special representative for children and armed conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy, asid that there are still child soldiers in the SPLA, and that it is "very important that we de-list them as soon as possible."

A devastating fire broke out in Kuajok the capital of Warrap State causing fear among residents and business groups. The exact cost of the goods lost in the blaze isn’t known, although a victim estimated the cost at 120,000 South Sudanese pounds (around $45,000).

After a brief, halting step toward reconciliation, military clashes along the long, disputed border between Sudan and newly independent South Sudan have stirred fears of a renewed conflict between the two sides. The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, said she is very concerned about the cross-border attacks.

DRC

Last month, the Congolese army launched a new military offensive called Amani Kamilifu (“perfect peace” in Swahili). According to Jason Stearns, the operations currently appear to be confined to South Kivu, which is primarily focused on fighting the FDLR. The Congolese army reported that five battalions have been currently mobilized for these operations. The operation has already begun to raise fear among members of the humanitarian community, especially in light of the massive waves of displacement across the country. Displacement has been accompanied by increased abuse and human rights violations which have been connected to both rebel forces and members of the Congolese army. Though the FDLR has allegedly been losing strength and momentum, the past few months have been marked by violent clashes between the army and rebel forces, which has only exacerbated displacement and has even resulted in the death of civilians. 

In response to the increased violence in the region, many Congolese villagers have begun to rely on self-defense militias as a source of protection. Living in a region where few trust the Congolese army, one villager living in eastern Congo said, “We are like orphans, without a father or a mother – we are an abandoned people. So we decided to fight.” However many relief workers believe these self-defense militias, called Raia Mutomboki or Angry Villagers, are just perpetuating the cycle of violence in the region. Increased fighting between militias and armed rebel groups like the FDLR has exacerbated displacement, where as many as 1.2 million are believed to be displaced from North and South Kivu. In the month of December, South Kivu witnessed the displacement of 128,000 people alone. 

Up to 7,000 Congolese have fled to neighboring Uganda to escape increased violence and instability in the country since the botched November elections. Ugandan officials are now warning that the influx poses a security risk for Uganda and could lead to a clash over resources. Tensions are already high as one local official involved in refugee resettlement was killed on March 1, highlighting the growing animosity in the region over newcomers. The refugee influx comes at a time of heightened security over the border, as the Ugandan government fears the reprisals of militia groups that operate without impunity in eastern Congo. 

Political negotiations continue in the DRC, spearheaded by MP Charles Mwando Nsimba, to identify a parliamentary majority ahead of the formation of a new cabinet. The next prime minister will be chosen from within the parliamentary majority, and Nsimba has 30 days to present a tentative list of leaders to President Kabila to choose from. 

Belgium has joined a long list of international actors who have criticized the November electoral process and have called on the DRC to reform its electoral system. Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said, “The process must be overhauled. I think the new parliament should make sure there is an improvement in the way the electoral commission works.” He did not comment on the role his country and former monarch, King Leopold II, have played in the country’s history and have allowed for the creation of the current system based on exploitation to flourish. 

Following last year’s plane crash at Kisangani airport in eastern DRC, Hewa Bora Airways will destroy six plans in order to restore confidence in the country’s aviation industry. Hew Bora Airways was put on a European Union airline blacklist following the crash, so this move will symbolize the creation of a new national airline called Fly Congo. 

In the DRC, malaria remains the leading cause of death. Several regions of the country currently face an extremely serious outbreak of malaria, which is made worse by the lack of health infrastructure and properly trained medical personnel in the area. In response, Doctors Without Borders/Mèdecins Sans Frontières (MSF) are working in Maniema, Equateur and Orientale provinces to combat the spread of the disease, and have already treated more than 17,000 people.

AVX Corp and Motorola Solutions Inc. have announced the first shipment of tantalum products validated as “conflict-free”. The tantalite ore used in the components was mined in the DRC, and reflects the result of Solutions for Hope which is a cooperate effort by AVX and Motorola to meet the impending requirements from Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act. 

The education update is produced every Thursday to update STAND members and the advocacy community about developments with regards to genocide and crimes against humanity.  For more information contact the following:

Education Coordinator: Sean Langberg education@standnow.org 

Sudan Education Coordiator: Emma Smith esmith@standnow.org

DRC Education Coordinator: Siobhan Kelley skelley@standnow.org

Emerging Crises Education Coordinator: Tom Dolzall tdolzall@standnow.org 

DRC, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria

DRC 

Following Invisible Children’s video Kony 2012 surpassing the 80 million view mark, 34 senators introduced a resolution this week to condemn Joseph Kony and his 26-year campaign of violence, abduction and murder. The measure backs the effort of Uganda, DRC, CAR and South Sudan to stop Kony and LRA violence, while it also symbolizes the continued commitment of the US to aid regional forces to stop the militia group once and for all.

The DRC will contribute forces to a 5,000-strong African Union military force today in Juba, South Sudan to hunt down Joseph Kony and the LRA. The force will bring together soldiers from the South Sudan, CAR and Uganda as well. 

UN peacekeeping troops are supporting a Congolese army drive against jungle-based rebel groups, including the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) and the LRA, by the army (FARDC). However this drive is expected to displaced at least 100,000 people, as aid workers have warned this will trigger new waves of instability, violence and human rights violations. The drive began in South Kivu on February 15^th; however it has been largely unreported until now as the FARDC moves towards North Kivu, which borders Uganda. The operation is, ironically enough, called Perfect Peace. 

The United Nations just released a report citing the widespread human rights violations, including killings, disappearances and arbitrary detentions, committed during November’s presidential and legislative elections in the DRC. The report documents the murder of at least 33 people by security forces in the capital of Kinshasa between November 26 and December 25 as well as the wounding of 83 others by bullets. 235 people were arrested during this time and arbitrarily detained, many also tortured while in confinement. The majority of these violations were committed by the Congolese Republican Guard, National Congolese Police or the National Intelligence Agency. Witnesses even were quoted as saying that bodies were dumped in the Congo River or buried in mass graves. There also emerged a pattern amongst the victims, as “the investigation also found that many of the victims of violations were targeted because of their affiliation to the political opposition part of Etienne Tshisekedi, the main opponent of President Joseph Kabila”. While the report calls on Congolese authorities to conduct independent investigation into cases of human rights violations and bring perpetrators to justice, the country’s justice minister has already rejected the report’s findings. The report can be found in its entirety here. 

After the first verdict was issued by the ICC last week against Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, chief prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo announced he will visit the DRC, thank Joseph Kabila for his support of the verdict and also to seek the immediate arrest of other indicted Congolese. Civil society groups in Kinshasa have called upon the government to arrest Bosco Ntaganda, allegedly Lubanga’s main accomplice, who has also been charged with committing mass murders in Ituri and Kiwanja in 2002 and 2009. 

A London-based oil company called SOCO International intends to engage in oil exploration in Virunga National Park in the DRC, which is both Africa’s oldest national park and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Virunga is a highly vulnerable ecosystem, serves as the source of the Congo and Nile rivers, and is home to many protected species including mountain gorillas. Global Witness said, “Undertaking oil exploration or exploitation on the ground in a UNESCO World Heritage site constitutes a breach of the Convention on World Heritage, as well as DRC’s own laws and constitution.” 

The New York Times reported on the continued debates around the complexities of Dodd-Frank section 1502 by the Securities and Exchange Commission, companies and human rights activists around the country. Currently, the debate revolved around who exactly is covered by the conflict minerals requirement. The law says that the minerals must be “necessary to the functionality or production of a product manufactured by” a company, which has raised questions over the scope and scale of the law as well as implications for cost. 

World Water Day on Thursday highlighted the need internationally to increase access to clean water, which is especially pertinent in the DRC where half the population of 66 million stick lacks access and one out of every five children under the age of 5 suffers from diarrhea. For the past year, the country has faced a deadly cholera epidemic with more than 22,000 reported cases and 500 deaths. 

Sudan, South Sudan

United Nations special envoy has warned of the possibility of a “large scale humanitarian crisis” in the word’s newest nation, unless resources are mobilized to ensure protection and safety of children returning from neighboring north. 

The United States announced that it is suspending $350 million allocated to Malawi through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) citing deteriorating human rights in the country.

Chiefs from the Lou-Nuer communities expressed their readiness to handover their guns peacefully to the authorities as part of the comprehensive disarmament taking place in Jonglei State in response to insecurity, cattle raiding and tribal feuds. However, South Sudan army has reported clashes with some armed youth of Lou-Nuer who are protesting the disarmament.

The University of Khartoum re-opened its doors on Sunday, March 18^th after being closed for two months following clashes between police and students.

As Jonglei State’s disarmament campaign enters its first week, the process has been rocked by allegations that soldiers raped a women in Pariak village on Monday and that soldiers were also responsible for stealing money from Bor police station.

The director of Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) Mohamed Atta al-Moula Abbas revealed that the army along with reserve forces and NISS operatives repelled an attack on the oil-rich town of Heglig. Al-Moula said the attack was led by rebels based in the newly independent state of South Sudan adding that half the force came from Juba’s official army known as Sudan people Liberation Army (SPLA).

The President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, has expressed concerns over recent inter-communal violence in South Sudan’s Jonglei State, urging the country’s leadership to restore security by tacking the root causes of the problem.

Syria

With the backing of the United Nations and Arab League, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan arrived in Moscow in an attempt to garner Russian support for the formation of a ceasefire in Syria. Annan will meet with Russian president Dmitry Medvedev to discuss the terms and implications of such action by Russia.

Amid the renewed diplomatic overtures to end the unrest, now having reached over a year in length, violence by Syrian military and security forces and clashes withgovernment forces and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) continued unabated this week. Opposition sources reported some 10 killed in Homs by sniper and armored activity this week. The violence comes amid a continuing offensive by the Syrian army, which has made major gains over the course of the last month in securing and pacifying areas of both peaceful and armed resistance, through the use of widespread shelling and neighborhood sweeps which have utilized arbitrary killings and arrests to neutralize the populations capacity to resist.

The European Union announced Friday that it had placed a travel ban on Asma-Al-Assad British born wife of Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad, and also has freezed her international assets. The travel ban on Asma comes among an additional 11 other travel bans of Syrian nationals assigned by the EU.

The education update is produced every Thursday to update STAND members and the advocacy community about developments with regards to genocide and crimes against humanity.  For more information contact the following:

Education Coordinator: Sean Langberg education@standnow.org 

Sudan Education Coordiator: Emma Smith esmith@standnow.org

DRC Education Coordinator: Siobhan Kelley skelley@standnow.org

Emerging Crises Education Coordinator: Tom Dolzall tdolzall@standnow.org