July 11th, 2011 by Tom Andrews
                             
                                       Tom celebrating in the streets of Juba on July 9th

We will soon head to the Juba airport to begin our journey back to the United States. It has been a joyful and yet disturbing stay in South Sudan. We have felt the unbridled joy of the birth of a new nation. (Here is a short clip of the moment that the clock struck midnight and independence for South Sudan.) And, we have heard numerous stories of a growing catastrophe in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan and a plea for help.

The birth of this newest nation on earth was described as a “miracle” by many here. It was a miracle made possible, in no small measure, by the activism of the hundreds of thousands of Americans who pushed their government to take action, to save lives.  So many here recognized the importance of this activism and wanted to share their greatest moment with our movement. Bishop Taban, an Episcopal priest from Torit, South Sudan, exclaimed:  “Thank you all people of the whole world who made this birth possible.”

      
       Tom speaking with Catholic Archbishop Paolino who gave the Independence Day invocation

But it became alarmingly apparent that history is repeating itself as we heard story after story of churches burned and looted in South Kordofan; of villages being bombed in Darfur; of the displacement of hundreds of thousands and a brutal blockade of vital food, water, medicine and fuel putting untold numbers of innocent civilians at risk.

It was also being repeated by a US government that seemed strangely unaware of the attacks on many thousands of innocent people at the hands by the Bashir government of Sudan.  If it is aware, the United States remains unwilling to express outrage, demand that the assaults  stop and that tough economic  sanctions  be imposed. Instead, as the killings and forced displacement continued, Secretary Clinton released a formal statement on behalf of the United States that included: “By continuing on the path of peace, the Government of Sudan can redefine its relationship with the international community and secure a more prosperous future for its people.”

There is an important connection between our movement and the extraordinary developments here in South Sudan. It was an informed, alarmed and committed people in the United States who helped to create the political conditions that saved countless lives and led to the birth of a nation.  For many in Darfur, the power of our movement came too late. But, when fully engaged, it pushed the US government into action and saved countless lives.

As history repeats itself in this beleaguered part of the world – and in the halls of power in Washington DC – we need to re-ignite the passion and activism of our movement. Our actions to stop genocide in Darfur saved untold numbers of lives. But, it was too late for the hundreds of thousands of lives were lost.

We have an opportunity, no an obligation, to act before the death toll in the Nuba mountains mounts any further.  We need to spread the word about the horror that is unfolding , reach out to everyone we know and ask them to join us in demanding that the Obama administration do everything in its power to  end to the killing and hold those responsible fully accountable.

Please raise your voices with me and call on the Obama administration to issue tough economic sanctions against north Sudan’s president Bashir and his cronies, to issue a call for an international investigation of the crimes against civilians that are being committed in Sudan, and to declare support for an expanded UN protection force in the contentious border region to save the lives of those who are being targeted by the government of Sudan.

There is no time to waste.  Untold numbers of innocent lives stand literally in the balance.

July 8th, 2011 by Allyson Neville-Morgan

On Saturday, South Sudan will become the world’s newest country. As we congratulate the people of South Sudan on the birth of their nation, we remain deeply concerned about the ongoing violence taking place in northern Sudan’s Darfur and Southern Kordofan regions. Members of Congress have also spoken out by recognizing this important moment for South Sudan, while urging the protection of civilians in areas now under attack.

Congressional statements and floor speeches are included below. We will continue to update this page.

Congress Speaks Out

On June 6, 2011 Congressman Donald Payne (D-NJ)–Ranking Member of the Africa, Global Health and Human Rights Subcommittee and Co-Chair of the Sudan Caucus–released a press statement saying in part:

    "As a Ranking Member on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights, I have been committed to helping Sudan achieve peace and justice. I have worked closely with the U.S. Department of State and the international community throughout the years to ensure that South Sudan become an independent nation. The United States has been a critical partner in the peace process that led us to where we are today. Therefore, I am proud to be a part of the Presidential Delegation to participate in South Sudan’s independence ceremony. While today marks a great achievement, let us not forget to reinforce our past investment in diplomacy and development to ensure that the current progress evolves into stability and growth."

On June 7, 2011 Congressman Hank Johnson (D-GA) made the following statement on the House floor:

On June 8, 2011 both Congressman Michael Capuano (D-MA)–Sudan Caucus Co-Chair–and Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ)–Chair of the Africa, Global Health and Human Rights Subcommittee–gave one-minute speeches on the floor of the House of Representatives.

The opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of STAND.

July 7th, 2011 by Tom Andrews

Nuba Preists

“Churches have been looted and a Catholic church is now being used by the military to conduct operations.  We need the international community to save the people of the Nuba mountains.”

This is what we heard today when we met with two Episcopal priests from the besieged city of Kadugli, South Kordofan. They both escaped to Juba – one two weeks ago and the other in June – after being targeted by Sudanese government backed forces in South Kordofan’s Nuba mountains.  They told stories of how the Khartoum regime’s actions – tightening its blockade of food, water, medicine, humanitarian aid and now fuel to South Kordofan’s Nuba mountains – is creating a humanitarian catastrophe that, if not stopped, could claim thousands or even hundreds of thousands of lives.

According to the priests, more than one million men, women and children are already being impacted by the government blockade and conditions are becoming desperate. They had just spoken to a colleague in Nuba who had climbed a mountain so that he could call in a report from his mobile phone.  Their colleague reported that military operations are intensifying and that supplies of food, water, medicine and fuel have dropped to dangerous levels. By preventing the cultivation of desperately needed crops in the critical rainy season, the violence will extend the humanitarian crises while making the people of South Kordofan even more dependent on access to food from outside their borders.

Bloomberg News is reporting today that President Bashir has quit talks in Ethiopia over Southern Kordofan and that the UN is reporting heavy gunfire and bombardments around the capital, Kadugli with helicopter gunships “engaged in offensive air operations” west of the capital city.

But President Bashir is using more than military arms to attack the people of Nuba. According to the priests, conditions are becoming desperate as fuel runs out. Their colleague reported from Nuba that grain can no longer be ground into flour, making the food shortage worse. “They are using food and humanitarian relief as a weapon,” the priests explained.

In a meeting with us this afternoon at his Juba headquarters, the Secretary General of the Sudan Council of Churches, Rev. Ramadan Chan Liol, called for the international community to come to the aid of the victims in Nuba before it is too late. “There must be an international intervention”, he said.  The Episcopal priest from Nuba told us: “We need the international community to save the people of the Nuba mountains.”

In just two days, Susan Rice, the US envoy to the United Nations will lead the US delegation to the ceremony marking South Sudan’s independence.  She will be joined by, among others, former Secretary of State Colin Powell.  Sudan’s president, indicted war criminal and leader of the civilian attacks on the Nuba, Omer al-Bashir, will join them on the stage.

Ambassador Rice today released a statement condemning Bashir’s brutality.  We need to see these strong words matched by action.  The administration can begin by announcing tough economic sanctions against Bashir and his cronies; issuing a call for an international investigation of the crimes against civilians that are being committed every day in Sudan; and declaring support  for a strong UN protection force to save the lives of those who are being targeted by the regime.

Condemnation without action has continued to be met with more attacks, more death and growing desperation in South Kordofan as Bashir tightens the noose of his brutal blockade. Ambassador Rice and other American dignitaries traveling to Juba for Saturday’s historic event have an opportunity to stand up to Bashir’s violence. They can also take the opportunity to sit down with some of those – like the priests we met with today – who have been forced to flee South Kordofan and can bear witness to the horrors unfolding there. They would learn a lot including what is at stake in South Kordofan and how desperately important it is to act before it is too late.

The opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of STAND.

July 6th, 2011 by Janina Pescinski

Pressure France and the UK to Ensure Effective Protection for Civilians

The United Nations Security Council is voting this week to establish a new peacekeeping mission in the soon-to-be independent Republic of South Sudan. With more than 1,800 deaths due to rebel and tribal violence throughout South Sudan so far this year, the need for a peacekeeping force that is capable of protecting civilians is great.

The current draft of the resolution authorizing the new United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) includes a Chapter 7 mandate, which equips the UN Mission with the power to take measures to maintain peace. A report issued by the Secretary General in June recommends a peacekeeping force of 7,000.  However, we’re hearing reports that France and the United Kingdom are seeking to cut the number to around 3,000-4,000 troops. Without the recommended 7,000 troops the peacekeeping mission will not be able to effectively engage in civilian protection activities.

Take Action Today

Your help is needed to put pressure on France and the United Kingdom to authorize 7,000 troops for UNMISS under the Chapter 7 mandate.  You can help by contacting the French and British Missions to the UN now! Contact information is included below. You can choose whichever method of outreach works best for you.

Sample message: I’m an American citizen concerned about civilian protection in South Sudan. I’m contacting you to encourage your country to support the authorization of 7,000 troops for the new peacekeeping mission in South Sudan.

UN peacekeepers in Sudan. (Photo: Albert Gonzalez Farran / UNAMID)

French Mission to the UN                                                                                    
Call: (212) 702-4900                                                                                                 
Email: france@franceonu.org                                   
Twitter: @franceonu

UK Mission to the UN
Call: (212) 745-9200
Email: UK@UN.int
Twitter: @UKUN_NewYork

UN peacekeepers in Sudan. (Photo: Albert Gonzalez Farran / UNAMID)

July 6th, 2011 by Tom Andrews

It was remarkably green as we touched down in South Sudan late yesterday afternoon.

Rainy season brings new life and hope to this dry land.

Hope is trying to get a toe hold here as the people of South Sudan prepare to celebrate their independence from Sudan on Saturday July 9th.

It is early morning as I reflect on this juncture of our journey. The only sounds are neighboring roosters and clicking computer keys.

We arrived yesterday from Rwanda. The images of that beautiful and haunting country woke with me this morning and will forever be etched in my mind. I found myself repeatedly in awe of the remarkably beautiful “land of a thousand hills”. Our long drives in the Rwandan countryside provided endless opportunities to see one breathtaking vista after another. As Rwandans walked or cycled by, I struggled with how such beauty could have become the venue of such unspeakable horror.

The contrast haunted me. None more so than at the Murambi Genocide Memorial Exhibition, a three hour drive from Kigali in southern Rwanda. Vulnerable Tutsis were told that this local technical school would provide refuge. The local mayor assured them that Murambi would be a safe place for themselves and their families.

What they thought was safety became hell on earth. After holding off their attackers with sticks and stones, the 50,000 Tutsi men, women and children who had gathered at the technical school for protection were slaughtered by waves of attackers. The numbers are virtually impossible for me to grasp: 50,000 murdered as they desperately tried to escape or begged to be shot so that they could die quickly and avoid the slow agonizing death that followed being bludgeoned with a shovel or hoe. 50,000 murdered on the grounds and in the classrooms of a local technical school that stood amidst the breathtaking beauty of the surrounding hills and farms. 50,000 victims of an unfathomable horror. It is the same number of Rwandans who I joined at a stadium in Kigali the day before yesterday to celebrate their fourth of July or “Liberation Day”. 50,000.

The Murambi Genocide Exhibition is a brutally graphic and disturbing display of the truth of that day. Most of the victims are buried in large crypts on the Murambi grounds. 848 of them were covered in limestone and laid out in the classrooms where they died. The first limestone covered body I saw as I entered a classroom was that of a woman clutching a baby in her arms. In the adjoining classroom lay the body of a very young boy, his little hands and arms trying to cover his head. He could not have been much older than my young son Hooper is today.

As I stepped from the small classrooms and the smell of limestone and death, I was struck with sunlight, a cool breeze of fresh air and the sight of a family working on their small family farm. A young boy smiled and waved from the adjoining field. Hooper was never far from my mind as I continued to walk the grounds of Murambi.

Earlier that day I visited the Kigali Memorial Center where 259,000 genocide victims are buried. AND COUNTING. The latest funeral and burial had occurred the day before of a victim whose body had been only recently discovered following the confession of his killer. Additional burial space has been prepared for the victims that have yet to be discovered and buried. The local judicial hearings known as gacaca – from a long tradition of justice in Rwanda – continue to occur, unearthing new information and the locations of the bodies of yet more victims.

David Mugiraneza

Among the those buried at Kigali is David Mugiraneza, age 10. His picture is displayed on a wall in the children’s section of the Memorial Center. His favorite sport was football. He dreamed of one day becoming a doctor. He enjoyed making people laugh. His last words: “UNAMIR (the United Nations) will come for us.”
                                      
They didn’t. The United Nations, the United States, the world failed David and nearly one million of his fellow Rwandans. Their systematic murder was made possible by the willful ignorance of the world’s leaders – including our own – who refused to recognize and act on what had become a politically inconvenient development in a distant land.

It is for David and for all of the victims of genocide and mass atrocities that we take this journey. And, it is for all of the innocent men, women and children who today find themselves in the cross-hairs of the perpetrators of mass killing and genocide – including those who live in this remarkable part of the world – that we commit ourselves to this work. Their lives are literally in the balance.

Welcome to South Sudan where poverty, volatility and the threat of yet more mass violence co-mingle with a hope that has arrived with the rainy season and the birth of the world’s newest nation.

July 5th, 2011 by Allen Combs

Save Darfur Coalition President Tom Andrews and Senior Policy Analyst Dan Sullivan are on a two week trip to Kenya, Rwanda and South Sudan. They just departed Kigali, Rwanda for Juba, South Sudan this afternoon but before they left they sent a quick video update from their trip. Take a look!

On July 9th at noon (eastern) Tom and Dan will host a live Twitter Q&A event from Juba to discuss the South’s independence celebration and the future of both Sudans. If you’d like to ask a question you can submit one in advance or use the hashtag #inSudan to join the discussion.

The opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of the STAND.

July 1st, 2011 by Tom Andrews

We cannot allow the history of a brutal genocide to repeat itself in Sudan, nor denial and inaction to repeat itself in Washington DC. Both are happening at this very moment.

Tom speaking with Rwandan refugees in Nairobi

I’m in Nairobi, Kenya where I have been meeting with survivors of the genocides in Rwanda and Darfur and the election violence that rocked Kenya in 2008. We leave tomorrow for Rwanda and then onto Juba, South Sudan for the July 9th independence celebration when South Sudan becomes the newest nation on earth.

Today I spoke at an international news conference here. On behalf of GI-Net/ Save Darfur, I demanded that the international community act NOW to protect the innocent civilians of South Kordofan and Darfur who are under relentless attack by government soldiers and government backed militias. Those who are behind these heinous crimes need to know that they will be held accountable. And if they are not, WE will hold government leaders who refused to act accountable. We released a report with Crisis Action and other partners, “Beyond the Pledge: International Engagement After Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement”.

We’ve followed news of the ongoing violence in Sudan, largely at the hands of the Khartoum regime, led by an indicted international criminal who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for the systematic slaughter of hundreds of thousands of his own citizens. Yesterday 16 people, including 8 women and children were killed and 32 wounded in the most recent bombing of villagers in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan. The attack came less than a day after it was announced that the government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement had agreed to a 20 km “demilitarized zone” along the north-south border.

We met with two refugees from Darfur in their home yesterday on the outskirts of Nairobi. Their stories put the escalating attacks on the Nuba mountain villages into perspective. They told of being startled at 4:00 am by 3,000 Janjaweed militia galloping into the sleeping village on horseback. Machine guns mounted on pickup trucks followed. The invaders torched homes and massacred startled villagers as they ran from their burning homes.

Somehow our hosts managed to escape and make their way to the very place that is under vicious attack today, the Nuba mountains of South Kordofan. They spoke of the warmth and hospitality of their Nuban hosts who welcomed and cared for them even as conditions became strained with diminishing supplies of food and water to accommodate the growing numbers of refugees from Darfur.

As we sat in their darkened home, chickens cackling and children playing outside, they told of their alarm at the news from the very place that gave them refuge: “Nuba is becoming Darfur”.

I thought of our Darfur hosts when I read Nicholas Kristof’s latest piece in The New York Times. He quotes The Rt. Rev. Andudu Elnail, an Episcopal bishop for the Nuba Mountains who talked about the attacks that continue to rage against his people : “They’re killing educated people, especially black people, and they don’t like the church,” he said.

President Bashir need only fear the truth being disclosed IF someone outside of those villages gives a damn and does something about it. IF he and his murderous colleagues are held to account.

Our hosts had wondered why the international community, particularly the US or UN, had refused to help them as they looked back from their escape route and saw the thick black smoke of their burning village. The US government and UN did too little, too late, and their families and neighbors perished while the world waited.

As we made our way around Nairobi to learn more from those who experienced the horror of genocide firsthand, we heard that the indicted criminal President Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court to face charges of crimes against humanity, was walking down a red carpet of welcome by the government of China.

And, as we waited to hear a strong statement of outrage by the White House or an announcement that tough, targeted sanctions would be imposed on the perpetrators of the killings in South Kordofan, we heard silence.

History is repeating itself before our very eyes. From the brutality of a genocidal regime that kills and rapes with impunity, to the silence and inaction from the rest of the world. The rest of the world includes us.

If you haven’t already, please join our chorus of calls to the White House. Tell the Obama administration that we need tough new sanctions imposed on President Bashir and his cronies who are behind the violence. We need an international investigation into the crimes against humanity that are being committed every day in Sudan. And we need a strong UN protection force to save the lives of those who are being targeted by the regime. Just call 1-800-GENOCIDE. It’s free, we will prepare you for your call and then connect you right to the White House. Over 1,400 concerned people have called already. We need you to join us and have your call logged at the White House today. The stakes are too high to not speak out.

You can make a difference today by demanding that our government act NOW. We cannot afford to look back and wonder how it was possible that ONCE AGAIN, untold numbers of innocent people perished while the world did nothing. Meanwhile, I will keep you posted as we continue our journey to Juba, South Sudan. Next stop: Rwanda.

The opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of STAND.