STAND Out Loud, the 2008 National Student Conference, is just around the corner! Unfortuntately, the conference venue can only fit 400 student leaders, and registration is filling up quickly.
Remember, your spot at the conference isn’t reserved until you pay your registration fee, so get it in quickly to make sure that you don’t miss out on all that STAND Out Loud has to offer!
Fears that recent fighting in eastern DRC would spark a return to regional war appear likely to be realized, as longstanding animosity between DRC and Rwanda resurfaced this week in a major way.
Last Thursday, after intense fighting between the Congolese army (FARDC) and Tutsi militia led by General Laurent Nkunda, DRC’s envoy to the UN warned that a Rwandan attack in North Kivu was “imminent” and called on the UN Security Council to intervene. He accused Rwandan army soldiers of supporting Nkunda’s forces during Wednesday’s battle, in which Nkunda took control of a key military base. The next day, DRC’s foreign minister claimed that a Rwandan army officer had been captured in Rutshuru, near DRC’s border with Rwanda, and repeated accusations that Rwanda has been sending in troops to assist Nkunda and building up additional forces along the border.
Rwanda denies these charges and has levied accusations of its own against DRC’s government, claiming that FARDC has been fighting alongside the FDLR, extremist Hutu militia largely comprised of ex-Rwandan military and Interhamwe fighters who fled Rwanda after participating in the genocide against Rwandan Tutsis in 1994.
On Friday, a top aide to Rwandan President Paul Kagame accused MONUC, the UN peacekeeping mission in DRC, of supporting an alliance between the Congolese government and the FLDR, claiming that MONUC’s provision of military and logistic support to FARDC is “equivalent to joining the alliance with those committing genocide” At the same event, several Rwandan senators called on their country to prepare for war with DRC.
The current crisis between DRC and Rwanda reflects longstanding tensions between the two countries, much of which has centered on the state of the minority Tutsi population in DRC. Congolese Tutsis make up about one to two percent of the total Congolese population, but have historically played a disproportionately prominent role in Congolese politics. This dominance has bred strong anti-Tutsi sentiment among many Congolese, who view Tutsis as proxy agents of the Rwandan government, assisting its attempts to maintain influence in DRC and control the country’s resources.
This week’s reports of Rwandan incursions into DRC are undoubtedly stirring up memories of Rwandan occupation during Congo’s devastating civil war. At the same time, the growing strength of General Laurent Nkunda, whose forces commit widespread atrocities against civilians, has rekindled anti-Tutsi sentiment in DRC. In Rwanda, Nkunda has been able to rally support by highlighting the increased vulnerability of the Tutsi population, and by invoking the 1994 genocide in connection with the activities of the Congolese government.
Some have argued that Rwanda’s and General Nkunda’s “playing the genocide card” has made many among the international community reluctant to speak out strongly against the Rwandan government. The international community—MONUC in particular—has also been criticized for failing to adequately speak out against the Congolese government for failing to uphold its commitments under several internationally-brokered agreements. As tensions escalate, it is clear that a renewed sense of urgency by the international community to hold all parties accountable is necessary to avoid a return to regional war.
-Nina McMurry, Congo Education Coordinator
On GW’s campus just a few weeks ago, 5 former secretaries of state – James Baker, Madeline Albright, Warren Christopher, Henry Kissinger, and Colin Powell – were interviewed by Christiane Amanpour and Frank Sesno. The group discussed many different global challenges, including Darfur.
The most important quote of the video? Christiane Amanpour’s shout-out to STAND: “Many, many people on campuses all over the United States have distinguished themselves by creating a grassroots movement for Darfur.”
Check out the video:
We all watched the foreign policy-focused Presidential debate at Ole Miss, but one high school STAND chapter went to the center of the action. Check out this post from Elly Jackson of St. Andrew’s Episcopal School.
On September 26, 2008, I had the privilege of attending the first presidential debate at the University of Mississippi with my high school’s STAND chapter. I attend St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Ridgeland, Mississippi, and our STAND chapter is currently the only high school chapter in Mississippi. It was formed last year and has continued to grow with our new dynamic president, Sophie Sharp. We had only decided to attend the debate about three weeks prior to the date, so we had a lot to pull together in a short amount of time. None of us really knew what would come of our involvement at the presidential debate. I had no idea that it would be an experience that I will remember for the rest of my life.
We arrived at the Ole Miss campus wide-eyed and excited on the morning of the debate in our orange STAND tee shirts that we had had made to raise money for our trip. The thirty-four of us, mostly new members, were apprehensive about the long day that awaited us, but the general fervor greatly exceeded any anxiety. I was feeling especially anxious that day: I knew that what we were about to do would be huge. We set up our tent with our homemade sign that said "Vote Darfur 2008" and spread our freshly printed brochures across our folding table. Various members of the group, myself included, were interviewed for both local and national news broadcasts. Members were divided into work shifts, and everyone was expected to work for at least one hour, handing out pamphlets and telling anyone we could about the atrocities of the current genocide in Darfur. People walking by were also given the opportunity to sign petitions that we are sending to both candidates urging them to do something about the genocide in Darfur. Although only about six people were required at the tent for each shift, there were never fewer than fifteen STAND members at our tent at any given time. Many people had no idea about the genocide in Darfur in which over 400,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million people have been displaced. When I told them about the raping of women and the dearth of food supplies, I saw their eyes all of a sudden become wide with awe, and I knew that I had expanded their thinking. As the day went on, I felt an overwhelming sense of empowerment. As I handed out brochures and yelled "Vote Darfur!" I realized something: we as young people have the power to make real change in our world. We don’t have to wait around until we are old enough to vote or run for office. Our time to change minds is now.
I had the distinct privilege to create a one-minute video advocating our cause. The video featured photos of Darfur and clips of Senators Barack Obama and John McCain voicing their opinions about the current situation. The video played on two giant screens in "The Grove," the outdoor lawn where the events of the day took place. I was elated to see my hard work projected on the big screens; I knew my mom would be proud. Unfortunately, not everyone in my group had seen the video when it played. However, I realized that even if they hadn’t seen it, someone in "The Grove" had to have seen it, and maybe it made an impression on him or her.
By the end of the day, we had handed out all of our 2000 brochures, and we had told everyone we could find about the genocide. We were all tremendously proud of our progress. The day had been a roaring success. I have never felt more productive in my life. We may have changed 2000 minds that day. I may never know the extent of our actions, but I feel assured that we have planted a seed of hope for Darfur, using our voices to advocate for real change in our world.
-Elly Jackson
Time tends to move slowly in Darfur:
From the earliest days of the genocide, Ali Kushayb could be seen leading and directing groups of Janjaweed militias as they swept across the desert, destroying countless Darfuri villages and Darfuri lives in their wake. According to Human Rights Watch, Kushayb "was one of the key leaders responsible for attacks on villages around Mukjar, Bindisi, and Garsila in 2003-2004 in West Darfur".
It was over a year ago that Ali Kushayb was indicted by the International Criminal Court at the Hague for massive crimes in Darfur, along with Ahmed Haroun, Sudan’s Minister for Humanitarian Affairs. The Government of Sudan immediately refused to turn him in, on the grounds that they don’t recognize the International Criminal Court. The Government of Sudan halfheartedly tried to put him through trial in 2007 and ended up letting him go ""due to lack of incriminating evidence against him".
It was several months ago that the International Criminal Court reached higher and its Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo made his case for the arrest of Omar al-Bashir, the President of Sudan. This brought the unresolved indictment of Ali Kushayb back to the international stage, and was even thrown around as a bargaining chip in negotiations.
It was just a few days ago that the Sudanese Government announced that it had Kushayb in its custody for a trial for crimes committed in Darfur. While many speculate about what the exact cause of this move by the Government of Sudan is, many see the increased pressure around the ICC cases to be the root cause.
While this has the potential to be a great victory for justice in Darfur, it really presents a set of new challenges to the movement: we must pay close attention to ensure Ali Kushayb is not simply tried halfheartedly in a Sudanese court and served some travesty of justice. We need to ensure it doesn’t serve as a reason to forget about the accusations standing against Ahmed Haroun, Omar al-Bashir, and many others.
And above all else, we must work to ensure that time does not continue to move so slowly in Darfur: for in the time between Kushayb’s indictment and his arrest, the security situation on the ground has worsened, lives have been lost, and opportunities for peace have been forgotten.
The waiting game must end.
-Sabina Carlson, Education Coordinator, education@standnow.org
Before watching the final Presidential debate at 9 pm Wednesday night, be sure to hop on the October National Call at 8 pm EDT!
We have tons to talk about, including updates on Call to Candidates, the National Student Conference, and STANDFast. You don’t want to miss out, so make sure you or a representative from your chapter calls in tomorrow night.
To get on the call, dial (269) 320-8300. Then enter 349902# when prompted.
The security situation in Darfur deteriorated severely this week: militias attacked a Darfur village, an ambush on UNAMID killed a Nigerian peacekeeper. Meanwhile, UNAMID has been sent to guard Kalma camp amid fears of a new attack. Reports from Sudan that more than 100 rebels surrendered to the Sudanese army. Fighting erupted Monday morning, leaving 11 dead. And former rebels alleged they would attack peacekeepers.
This week, Darfur tribal leaders met to discuss peace and reconciliation and a Darfur mediator said that rebels seemed ready to discuss peace while the Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations also met with the rebels.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has dismissed the allegations he is responsible for genocide and denied that mass rape has occurred in the region, and Arab justice ministers criticized the potential arrest warrant. However, Ali Kushayb, previously indicted by the ICC, has been arrested by the Sudanese Government in preparation for trial.
Secretary General Ban Ki Moon issued a large push for the redeployment of UNAMID: this week, an Indonesian police force deployed to Darfur, Thai troops committed. And the African Union will send a peacekeeping force to Chad and Sudan.
The body of a Burmese solider was found near the Burmese-India boarder with his weapon taken. Burmese solders often move across the boarder to India to demand money form Indian merchants.
The military government has recently intensified its raids on local Internet cafes often demanding information about all the customers from the establishments proprietors. The government is increasing its raids due to the realization that the Internet is a substantial outlet for freedom of expression and the use of proxy servers provides an easy way for people to circumvent the governments restrictions.
Activist and artist, Amar Kanwar, has compiled a new video chronicling the grass roots efforts of democracy activists in Burma called "The First Torn Pages."
Fighting broke out in DRC’s Ituri province on Friday between government forces and a new rebel coalition known as the Popular Front for Justice in Congo (FPJC).
DRC officials accused Rwanda of aiding DRC rebel leader General Laurent Nkunda, and have expressed fears that Rwanda plans to attack Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu. Meanwhile, MONUC, the UN peacekeeping mission in DRC, confirmed reports of collaboration between the Congolese army and extremist Hutu rebels known as FDLR.
MONUC reported that UN peacekeepers rescued 13 children under the age of 18 from forced recruitment by armed groups in North Kivu. During the mission, peacekeepers were fired upon by Nkunda’s forces.
Following a three-day visit to DRC, African Union chief Jean Ping stated that the AU will ramp up efforts to secure peace in the east of the country. To aid this effort, the AU will appoint a regional representative in North Kivu.
E-mail education@standnow.org with any questions.
It is safe to say that most people are not familiar with the situation in East Burma. The name “Darfur” has finally disseminated into many households thanks to groups like STAND, although there is still muck work to be done. Most people’s experience with Burma extends as far as the zoo, where they can see the country’s Python (at least that’s where I first encountered Burma in my youth). The effort to get people to pay attention to Burma’s struggle for democracy, much less the situation in East Burma, is just beginning. So how has the conflict in East Burma been allowed to go on since the 1940’s (before Sudan was even independent and Darfur not event a thought) with so little international attention? The answer to this comes in the manner in which the government conducts its genocide.
In 2000, a man named Guy Horton traveled through East Burma on the back of a 75 year old elephant. He had originally traveled to Rangoon at the behest of Michael Aris, a close friend and Aung San Suu Kyi’s late husband in 1998. But in 2000, he came with a different mission. He emerged from the jungle and wrote an almost 700 page report called “Dying Alive” (the most comprehensive concerning the region) of which he was going to present to the UN and try and convince them that the situation in East Burma was genocide. Horton makes a convincing case that there is something, how do you say, sui generis, about the way in which genocide is pursued in East Burma. For Horton, the realization of this uniqueness came when he saw a cooking pot in one of the destroyed villages turned over on the ground with the bottom smashed in. At first he though, “Why do something so arbitrary and ludicrous?” He then realized that the tatmadaw (the Burmese military) were executing a type of scorched earth genocide against the Karen people of East Burma.
In the case of Rwanda in 1994, the Hutu militia went house to house, snatched people out and killed them. In only just a month, over 800,000 people had been killed. The Burmese government operates on a different plane to achieve the elimination of the Karen of East Burma. The tatmadaw not only kill people, but they make living conditions for them impossible to survive in, as evidenced by the things like Horton’s broken pot. Often times the military will burn villages to the ground, take any valuables, kill any livestock, and then destroy anything else that is necessary for every day living. They might not pursue the villagers who fled into the bush, but when said villager comes back to the razed village they have no means to support themselves, and are turned into nomads, who often starve.
This broken-pot method of genocide also works very effectively at fooling the international community. There is no great loss of life in a concentrated period of time as with Hitler and the Jews, Darfur, or RWanda so the attention of the world is absent. The East Burma crisis has been going on for the better part of 50 years. It started a civil war between Karen insurgents and the military junta controlling Burma. The junta’s philosophy in fighting the Karen insurgents has been to eliminate the Karen people altogether. Guy Horton calls this situation a “slow genocide;” due to the gradual medium through which the tatmadaw pursue the extermination it is not noticed. As anti-genocide activists it is important that we recognize that as indirect as the methods of the Burmese government are, they are still very intentional.
Last week, STAND chapters around the country wrote letters to Gwen Ifill, urging her to ask about Darfur at last week’s VP debate in her capacity as moderator. And she did. Still not convinced it had to do with activists like yourselves?
Look at this Sudan Tribune article:
At the end of the article, it says, "Activist organizations had been lobbying intensely for the debate moderator to ask a question about Darfur, mostly through e-mail and letter-writing campaigns."
If that’s not enough proof, Gwen Ifill’s office called George Washington University’s STAND chapter today to thank them for pushing her on Darfur. Not just to acknowledge the link between the letters and the question about Darfur, but to thank the students for caring about genocide and taking action to make sure it was addressed on the natonal stage.
Keep up the good work!
-Maggie Tiernan, Advocacy Coordinator
