Abyei is an oil-rich region in Sudan which has long been fought over by the Government of Sudan and the Government of South Sudan. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended the decades long civil war between the North and the South, established the Abyei Border Commission to decide the fate of the region, and it decided it belonged to the South.
STAND has long dedicated its time and energy to ending the genocide in Darfur, and will continue to do so until we bring this crisis to a close. STAND has also in recent months brought its attention to the crisis in Burma. Despite the countries’ many differences, their two conflicts share a similar set of traits, including their violation of the principles of the Responsibility to Protect and the way they manipulate the international community.
UNAMID, the joint United Nations – African Union peacekeeping force on the ground in Darfur currently has only 9,000 of the 26,000 mandated troops. It’s up to President Bush to Enforce UNAMID, and it’s up to us to make sure he does!
To follow up on the previous post which contained some stark and unsettling news about the Government of Sudan’s questionable motivations behind its crackdown, we want to take a minute to look behind the motivations of the rebel group behind making this attack to begin with.
The following Washington Post article raises several interesting points about the rebel group JEM, a selection from which is as follows:
For those of you concerned about the situation in Burma, you should know that aid is slowly beginning to trickle into the country.
However, many are saying that what is happening in Burma right now brings up the question of The Responsibility to Protect, something that STAND holds as one of its founding principles. Click here for the link to the Washington Post article outlining the relationship between R2P and Rangoon.
There has been a crackdown on "suspected rebels" in the capitol city of Khartoum. However, there are reports that this is more like a crackdown on persons of Darfuri descent, particularly those belonging to the Zaghawa tribe of the rebel movement JEM.
for an article on the roundups, and read below for an excerpt:
Hey Everyone-
Please note that over the next week, we’ll be updating the blog frequently with news updates from Sudan and Burma. This is due to the urgency of the situations this week. As always, remember to comment and also feel free to email STAND’s Education Coordinator Sabina Carlson at education@standnow.org
This weekend, a significant escalation in the conflict in Darfur happened: a rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) attacked the Government of Sudan in the capitol Khartoum. The following is a rundown of the news from this weekend:
The set-up:
STAND is excited to announce that two of its student leaders, former Student Director Scott Warren and former High School National Outreach Coordinator Colin O’Brien, are taking their anti-genocide activism on the ground to Africa, and bringing STAND along with them…
We will be keeping track of Scott and Colin through Weekly News Briefs, weekly calls, and action alerts – and you can keep track of their journey at their blog!
Their travel schedule is:
May 28-June 4 = Harare, Zimbabwe
