Yesterday, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to authorize the deployment of 2,875 military personnel and 300 police to reinforce MONUC, the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The resolution is certainly welcome – and long overdue. The seriously overstretched mission has been struggling to protect civilians and maintain stability in light of a renewed offensive by Tutsi rebels in eastern DRC that began over two weeks ago. But translating the authorization into change on the ground and achieving long-term stability in the region will require a focused and sustained engagement by the international community.

In a piece in Slate magazine last week, Michael J. Kavanagh outlines how our past failure to muster such an effort has led to the current crisis, and offers a convincing case for real action:

"Over the years, many world leaders have made the trip to Rwanda to stand before the gravesites of genocide victims and apologize for their inaction in 1994. But if the worth of an apology is measured not in words but in actions, most of these apologies have been rubbish. True repentance for Rwanda has always meant ending the Congolese conflict – especially in the Kivus.

So maybe we should dust off one of the best apologies for Rwanda ever rendered and repurpose it for Congo, so that world leaders can get the talking out of the way and start acting. Here’s President Bill Clinton in Kigali, circa 1998:

‘It may seem strange to you here, especially the many of you who lost members of your family, but all over the world there were people sitting in offices, day after day after day, who did not fully appreciate the depth and speed with which you were being engulfed by this unimaginable terror.

There are hundreds of thousands of people in North Kivu right now who are starving, hiding in the forest, and living in ditches in unimaginable terror that they might be killed."

Read the entire article here.

-Nina McMurry, Congo Education Coordinator, congo@standnow.org

It’s fundraising time, and not just for STAND. With the holidays getting closer and closer, many organizations are asking for money.  Student groups are raising money for all kinds of issues – from toys for low-income children to international humanitarian aid.

At a time like this, STAND activists can’t help but ask: why civilian protection? 

There are a lot of reasons, many of which you can find out on the STANDFast section of the STAND website.  But, I can’t say it better than Jeff Machozi, a 30-year-old man who has found himself in the middle of a bloody war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in which both sides target civilians.  Displaced from his home, Machozi has set up a tent made out of tree branches and bamboo. For now, he survives in a state of terrified suspense as Laurent Nkunda’s rebels continue to advance.  Here’s what he said:

"We are hungry and thirsty, but we don’t want any aid. We want security. We want this war to stop."

You can read the entire International Herald Tribune piece here, but his words say it all.  Machozi is living the "protection deficit," seeing that the call for humanitarian aid has been answered, but protection, his greatest need, is still missing. 

And that’s why STAND advocates for civilian protection.  The international community needs to answer the call for protection first, and we need to show them that we will take protection into our own hands until they do.

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

Get all the info you need here.

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

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

Centenary College, in NJ, held a die in last week and despite it being a cold and rainy day they still had 40 people participate. In the Northeast, students at Bridgewater College are planning a concert with the proceeds benefiting GI-NET’s Civilian Protection Program. Students at the Art Institute of Seattle are putting together a book to let people artistically express how they feel about genocide. Northeast Iowa Community College’s chapter recently had a movie showing where they teamed up with a Dental class whose professor had traveled to Africa doing dental work.

Chapters both new and old across the country are doing their part to try to end genocide. Now is the perfect time for you to start doing yours.
 

-Hilary Jampel, College New Chapter Outreach Coordinator

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

The fighting has prompted world leaders and the international media to take notice of DRC in a way they haven’t for years. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner called it, “a massacre such as Africa has never seen…taking place virtually before our eyes.” The response of the international community over the next several weeks will gauge our ability to respond to mass atrocities against civilians and the sincerity of our commitment to the Responsibility to Protect.

Between 1998 and 2003, the Democratic Republic of Congo played host to a devastating civil war, the deadliest conflict in terms of civilian casualties since World War II. Now, even despite the signing of several peace accords, and the presence of the world’s largest United Nations peacekeeping force, the violence continues. Atrocities are committed by both sides, including rape as a weapon of intimidation, forced displacement of thousands and mass killings. A UN-brokered ceasefire signed in January 2008 has been consistently violated by both the Congolese army and ethnic Tutsi rebels led by General Nkunda. The FDLR, extremist Hutu militia made up of former Rwandan génocidaires, also remain at large in eastern DRC.

General Nkunda’s attack on Goma this past Wednesday initiated the worst violence seen in eastern DRC since the January ceasefire. It is the latest incident in a resurgence of violence that erupted at the end of August between Congolese government forces and Nkunda’s CNDP rebels, who claim to be protecting DRC’s Tutsi population from the FDLR. Consistent with their past performance, Congolese government forces stationed in the area miserably failed to protect Goma’s citizens from Nkunda’s advance. Those that did not flee the city entirely began looting and raping, directly harming citizens they are obligated to protect.

UN peacekeepers are struggling to fill the resulting security vacuum. Despite pledges to “act against any effort to take over a city or any major population center by force,” it is doubtful that MONUC, the 17,000-strong peacekeeping force in DRC, will be able to effectively intervene at its current capacity. To deal with the current crisis, MONUC plans to redeploy troops from other areas of the country to enforce those in Goma. The UN Security Council is currently discussing a proposal to deploy 2,000 additional forces.

But it’s unclear how soon these forces will arrive, and the international community has been reluctant to send in reinforcements. Earlier this week, France proposed sending an EU humanitarian mission of up to 1,500, which he emphasized would only provide aid and would not assist MONUC in fighting against Nkunda’s rebels. However, following objections from Britain and Germany, the EU seems to have scrapped the plan, opting to focus on finding a political solution.

France and Britain’s foreign ministers, Bernard Kouchner and David Miliband, headed to the region on Friday to meet with Congolese and Rwandan leaders and to evaluate the humanitarian and security situations. US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Jendayi Frazer, arrived on Thursday for talks with all parties aimed at minimizing tensions. Presidents Joseph Kabila and Paul Kagame of DRC and Rwanda have now agreed to attend an emergency summit in Nairobi.

It is critical that the international community continue robust diplomatic efforts focused on securing a political solution and increasing the capacity to protect civilians. In absence of a solution involving all parties, the situation threatens to erupt again into regional war. Tensions between DRC and Rwanda intensified last week, with DRC accusing the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan government of supporting Nkunda’s Tutsi militia, and Rwanda accusing the DRC military of fighting alongside extremist Hutu FDLR, which are largely comprised of ex-Interhamwe and Rwandan military soldiers who fled into eastern DRC after massacring over 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutus during the 1994 genocide.

The current conflict in DRC is a direct result of a failure to fully address the aftermath of the genocide in Rwanda.

The international community has expressed plenty of regret over our failure to intervene in 1994. It remains to be seen whether that guilt and our affirmations of “never again” will compel us to deal with the consequences that are threatening innocent lives on a massive scale today.

Click here to read a statement from the ENOUGH Project calling for a response to the current crisis in DRC.

-Nina McMurry, Congo Education Coordinator

Have you emailed media@standnow.org?

The STAND Media Team is ready to help your chapter get the media attention it deserves! Our Regional Media Coordinators – Sejal, Monique, Jenny, Libby, and Kaden – can’t wait to meet you; you’ve just got to email them first.

Seriously, they’ll work with you to do it all.  They’ll work with a media point person in your chapter to identify a list of media contacts at newspapers, radio, tv, and blogs in your area, develop and send a media advisory and press release, and brainstorm other creative ways to get the word out about your event.

For media help, you can also check out the Get Media section of the STAND website.

When you fast for civilian protection on December 3rd, you won’t be alone.  Check out these celebrities joining you in your STANDFast:

-Mia Farrow, Actress and Activist

-Samantha Power, Author and Founder of the Carr Centre for Human rights

-John Prendergast, former Clinton Advisor and founder of ENOUGH

-Nick Kristof, New York Times Columnist

-Jerry Fowler, President of the Save Darfur Coalition

These aren’t the only celebs though; across the country, students are getting local celebrities in their communities to join them in their STANDFast, too.  Check out a downloadable invitation to send to local leaders in your community here.

Registration may be closed for STAND Out Loud, the National Student Conference 2008, but that doesn’t mean you’re left out.

Keep an eye out for more info on Chapter Retreats occurring in states around the country early in the Spring semester, and get in touch with your Outreach Coordinator on other ways to learn the activist tools we’re going over at the National Conference.

What will you give up on December 3rd?

Now that chapters are planning their STANDFasts, we’ve got the tools to help you make STANDFast the best it can be.  Check out the STANDFast site here for tips on fundraising, getting media attention, involving local celebrities, and more.

And, be sure to work with your Outreach Coordinator to brainstorm ways to make your STANDFast even better. This December, we’re taking civilian protection into our own hands. Join thousands of students all over the world and fast to save lives in Burma and Darfur.

Darfur:

The United Nations issued a statement saying that recent violence in North Darfur may be responsible for the displacement of more than 40,000 civilians. Sudan denies this.

On Thursday, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir held a Darfur peace conference which was boycotted by all rebel parties, who dismissed it as a public relations trick.

Luis Moreno Ocampo, the Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, said he will present a case within weeks for the indictment of several rebel commanders accused of attacking peacekeepers.

9 Chinese oil workers were captured in Sudan, and though the Government of Sudan claims Darfur rebels are responsible, not one has claimed responsibility.

Burma:

Sittwe, a city which has seen great civil arrest since last’s September’s Saffron Revolution, is seeing a significant buildup of security forces throughout the city. Residents are unsure of the reason.

Burma is said to have made $175 million in gem trading despite a US Embago on the commodity. India and Burma have agreed to expand border trade.

The Guardian just put out a report on the "lethal combination of climate change, poverty and conflict " in Burma.

Congo:

Following accusations from Rwanda of collusion with Rwandan Hutu rebels known as the FDLR, the Congolese government called on all FDLR to leave DRC.

CNDP rebels and the Congolese army continued to battle in North Kivu with skirmishes reported northwest of the provincial capital of Goma. MONUC, the UN mission in DRC, is working to find a negotiated solution to the violence.

The New York Times reported this week on Congolese rape victims speaking out for the first time about their experiences, helping to break the silence about widespread rape and gender-based violence that has become an epidemic in the region. The feature includes a video of a recent event in the eastern city of Bukavu that includes testimonials of Congolese women.

Questions? Email Sabina Carlson at education@standnow.org