An August 13 media release by the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF), the Shan Women’s Action Network (SWAN), and the Shan Relief and Development Committee (SRDC) described the Burmese junta’s renewed scorched earth campaign in the Shan State. The military campaign, which began on July 27, has displaced 10,000 ethnic Shan villagers. The junta’s soldiers have torched over 500 houses and 40 villages, and arrested and tortured 100 civilians.

Recently, STAND published a blog post addressing the presence of child soldiers in military combat operations by Tatmadaw, the Burmese army, and ethnic rebel groups in eastern Burma. Since then, the United Nations has taken impressive strides towards ending the abuse of children and use of child soldiers in Burma.

Recently, after hearing from activists all over the country, senators on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee grilled U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan Gration on his strategy for peace in Sudan.

Having claimed the lives of 5.4 million people since 1998, and displaced 250,000 since August 2008, DR Congo’s crisis rages on. More and more people are getting displaced in the Eastern towns of Kivu, Rutshuru and Nyakakoma. And those who manage to return home from exile in neighboring Uganda with assistance of organizations like the International Rescue Committee (IRC) are met with mere debris left over from their torched homes. With today’s ongoing resettlement, congestion and disease have become a very big problem.

As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets with African leaders this week during her eleven-day, seven-nation tour of the continent, she will be forced to face a cache of challenges, from recent instability in Nigeria to the continuing plight of refugees and women in the Congo.

Two weeks ago, the Thai-Burmese border-based Yoma News Service released a report detailing the Burmese army’s widespread use of under-age soldiers in combat operations.

For those interested in watching U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration and others testify today before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, you can catch it streaming from the Committee’s website starting at 10 am EST.

Genocide Intervention Network’s own Allyson Neville will also be liveblogging.

On Thursday, July 30, 2009, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing on a comprehensive strategy for Sudan. Scheduled to testify is the Administration’s Special Envoy to Sudan, General Scott Gration. Help make sure the right questions are asked!

In the months following Obama’s inauguration, activists all over the country demanded that President Obama live up to his word and make Sudan an immediate priority, first by appointing a new Special Envoy to Sudan, and next by completing the policy review on Sudan that outlines the US approach toward the situation there.

Sunday marked the 62nd anniversary of Martyrs’ Day, the Burmese national holiday commemorating the triumph and assassination of Aung San, the father of Aung San Suu Kyi, and his companions in the fight for Burmese independence from British rule.