United to End Genocide Blog

Video: Dan Sullivan on Conditions in Yida Camp

02/10/12

By Allyson Neville-Morgan

Following his trip to visit refugees from Sudan in Yida camp, our very own Dan Sullivan sat down with Voice of America to discuss the troubling situation on the ground.

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The Educator – A Story from South Sudan

02/09/12

By Daniel Sullivan

Hamad Mamur Albasha in Yida Camp, South Sudan

Hamad fled the initial fighting in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan last June with over 500 students and just ten teachers. He was in an education center in the town of Kadugli when fighting broke out. Initially he led them higher into the mountains where they might be safe, thinking that the fighting might last just a few days. But continued indiscriminate aerial bombardments by the Sudanese Armed Forces forced many to take shelter in caves and soon made him decide he had to lead the children away to South Sudan.

Hamad and his youthful entourage traveled for one week by foot through the mud of the rainy season, losing some students in the chaos of the flight and having to leave others behind. A gun attack along the way killed three students and injured four others. By the time Hamad reached Yida there were only 264 children still with him. Before long Hamad would go back and return with another 74.

Hamad was among the first to arrive in Yida, now a sprawling camp of 28,000 refugees located roughly 20 miles from the Sudanese border. Humanitarians on the ground estimate that 74 percent of Yida’s population is under the age of 18.

Hamad was an education officer back in Kadugli and it becomes quickly apparent that he is fond of numbers. As I sit before his makeshift desk in one of the many straw shelters dotting the camp he continues to rattle off some startling statistics. Of the approximately 5,000 students in the camp, 3,108 are what he calls “unaccompanied minors” living in the camp without parents. To deal with this over the past six months Hamad has set up three “boarding schools” with older students taking care of the younger ones. The schools include nearly 5,000 total students and just 139 voluntary teachers.

The state of education is poor to say the least. One textbook is shared by the three schools rotating on a weekly basis. “The students can only listen,” Hamad tells me, “there is nothing to write with.” There seems to be some reluctance to provide books as UN officials see the camp as unsafe and would prefer that the refugees move to a place further from the border. Indeed the camp itself was bombed in November with one thankfully unexploded bomb landing outside a school. For their part, many refugees see alternative locations as equally dangerous plagued by militias and dangerous ethnic tensions and would prefer to stay in the area they know.

Meanwhile, the refugee population is growing. Hamad tells me that 274 new students recently registered for his schools. Another 170 refugees arrived the day before I met Hamad and just before sitting down with him I spoke with more exhausted refugees who had just arrived on a tractor. And he expects more.

As difficult as things are in the camp, the situation in most of the Nuba Mountains is much worse. Aerial bombardments continue both day and night forcing children and elderly to remain living in caves. The bombing and fighting prevented farmers from planting crops and the Government of Sudan continues to block humanitarian aid to the area. Famine experts expect conditions to reach one level under full fledged famine in the coming weeks.

Hamad is ready. He is an educator and whether in the Nuba Mountains or in a refugee camp, whether with several text books or just one, he will continue to carry out his calling. But having seen the effects of the Government of Sudan’s actions first-hand, Hamad leaves me with an appeal for assistance and a cry for the international community to take note of the plight of the innocent youth of Yida and the countless other “unaccompanied minors” continuing to suffer under Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir’s actions.

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French Bill to Stop the “Double Killing” – Denial of Armenian Genocide

02/09/12

By Guest Blog

Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan, Republic of Armenia (Photo credit Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2006)

By Kate Nahapetian

Recognizing and remembering past genocides is an important step toward ending this cycle of violence. The denial of genocide is widely recognized as the last stage — a “double killing.” This double killing continues today with regard to the Armenian Genocide. What is unique about the denial of the Armenian Genocide is that it is promulgated by a multimillion dollar state-sponsored campaign by Turkey. Countries like the United States have acquiesced to Turkey’s threats and have failed to recognize the genocide, while countries like France have stood up and are taking action to prohibit denial.

On January 23, 2012, the French Senate followed the lower house of the French Parliament in passing legislation criminalizing the denial of all instances of genocide officially recognized by France, adding the Armenian Genocide to an earlier version of the law prohibiting denial of the Holocaust.

Turkey reacted with predictable fury, threatening irreparable harm to bilateral relations, and trotting out its tired dog-and-pony show of withdrawn ambassadors, irate declarations, and hypocritical sermons.  Turkey, which has prosecuted, jailed, and – according to the European Court of Human Rights – effectively allowed the assassination of a writer, Hrant Dink, for speaking honestly about the Armenian Genocide, is today preaching to France about free speech and democratic values.

Unlike France, the United States continues to participate in this last stage of genocide by aiding and abetting Turkey in this “double killing,” at tremendous cost to our nation’s credibility on human rights.

When asked why the United States does not recognize the Armenian Genocide, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton claimed, as recently as January 26, 2012, “that this has always been viewed, and I think properly so, as a matter of historical debate and conclusions rather than political.”

Previously, almost four years ago to the day, then-Senator Clinton stated that the Armenian Genocide was “a clear case of genocide” and that:

“[o]ur common morality and our nation’s credibility as a voice for human rights challenge us to ensure that the Armenian Genocide be recognized and remembered by the Congress and the President of the United States.”

She had consistently cosponsored the Armenian Genocide resolution as a Senator and had even demanded that President Bush recognize it on multiple occasions.  The only thing that changed prior to her very public retreat from the truth is that she was subjected, as our nation’s top diplomat, to Ankara’s high-pressure arm-twisting. Instead of standing up to Ankara’s bullying, she – and the rest of the Obama-Biden Administration – let Turkey impose a gag-rule on American condemnation of a crime against all humanity.

As one French parliamentarian stated, it was precisely because of Turkey’s state-sponsored campaign of denial and its rage against France’s efforts to safeguard the truth that dictated the need for passage of a bill on the Armenian Genocide.  Denial of genocide is a celebration of genocide and a warning that it can easily happen again.  Armenia and the entire region is under threat because of Turkey’s denial.  It is no accident that Turkey also provided political shelter to the genocidal government of Sudan, with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan himself vocally denying Khartoum’s genocide in Darfur.

Help end the cycle of genocide, by standing up against Turkey’s denial of the Armenian Genocide. Learn more and take action here.

The author is the Government Affairs Director at the Armenian National Committee of America.

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American Responsibility on the Campaign Trail

02/08/12

By Guest Blog

The following originally appeared in the Huffington Post and was authored by Emma Goldberg, Social Media Specialist for STAND — the student-led division of United to End Genocide:

By Emma Goldberg

In November 2011, the GOP presidential hopefuls hit the road to meet with voters in Iowa, New Hampshire, and other states with early primaries. Mitt Romney announced to voters that his campaign aimed “to save a vision of America,” the country he calls “the greatest nation in the history of the Earth.”

Eight thousand miles away in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a radically different presidential election was unfolding. Allegations of fraud plagued the voting process, instigating violence in Kananga and other major cities throughout the vast nation. Since the elections, human rights abuses have spread with security forces killing more than 25 civilians. Attempting to prevent the spread of post-election information, the government shut down SMS texting services.

What did U.S. candidates have to say about it? Nothing. Nor is the Congolese election the only humanitarian issue that has largely been ignored on the campaign trail. On the contrary, candidates have been applauded for bashing humanitarian aid and support for developing countries. Newt Gingrich told constituents that he would make heavy cuts to the foreign aid budget, saying that America “ought to start off at zero” and tell developing countries, “explain to me why I should give you a penny.” Mitt Romney concurred with this sentiment.

Paradoxically, the candidates have been talking incessantly about American leadership and preeminence on the world stage. Romney has told voters, “I believe a strong America must — and will — lead the future.” Gingrich endorsed this vision of American exceptionalism, telling constituents, “every generation must learn why being an American is a unique and precious experience.” How can the candidates claim to endorse American leadership, yet reject responsibility for those deprived of freedom and security abroad?

A group of student organizers have begun amplifying that question, intent on holding their presidential hopefuls accountable for global leadership. STAND is a student-led anti-genocide organization with more than a hundred chapters on high school and college campuses across the United States. This semester, STAND students are using the 2012 presidential elections as an opportunity to engage the candidates in conversations about mass atrocities prevention, civilian protection, and the foreign aid budget. The Know Your Candidate campaign will allow students to raise their voices in the current political climate, as well as to raise national awareness about the issue of genocide prevention. Using state primaries as an outlet for participation, STAND students will hold local events, attend town hall meetings, and implement letter-writing campaigns aimed at sustaining the U.S. budget for foreign aid. During national debates STAND will use social media to raise the profile of humanitarian issues that the candidates have failed to address.

Sudan will be high on the list. Aerial bombardment and ground attacks by the government have persisted on the Sudan-South Sudan border for the past eight months, displacing more than 80,000 civilians. Until January 31, no GOP candidate so much as mentioned the region. On the 31st, Romney released his first statement on civilian protection, condemning the violence in South Kordofan, Sudan. He showed courage in addressing the subject of humanitarian intervention during a campaign season in which compassion is in low esteem, with voters cheering for execution and jeering assistance to the needy.

Statements like Romney’s should not demand courage. They should be expected of candidates who have promised global leadership.

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Sanctions, Technology and Human Rights in Syria

02/07/12

By Bama Athreya

The following was originally posted on The Hill’s Congress Blog.

Sadly, things are not getting better for the people of Syria – just this past weekend residents of Homs experienced some of the worst violence since the Syrian government began attacking civilian protesters nearly one year ago. If there is good news, it is that recent actions by President Barack Obama and the Senate that demonstrate the United States’ willingness to hold perpetrators like Bashar al-Assad – as well as countries and corporations that enable their brutal actions – accountable.

President Obama strongly condemned the Syrian government’s latest assaults against the people of Homs, and his Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice issued a scathing criticism of China and Russia after the two nations vetoed a U.S.-led Security Council resolution Saturday that would have backed a transition to democracy in Syria and sent a strong unified message to Assad. The Senate Banking Committee – with much less notice but deserving equal praise – advanced a bill last week that would impose tougher sanctions on Assad’s regime and take important steps to prevent technology companies from assisting and profiting from the Syrian government.

The international community has in past months mounted pressure on Syria’s economy through sanctions of the important oil sector. Yet, U.S. and European high-tech firms continued to actively and knowingly profit by doing business with Assad. Media exposure and name-and-shame public pressure on companies whose surveillance technology is used by Assad’s security forces – including AreA, NetApp and Blue Coat – led to some voluntary actions. Similarly, exposure of over a dozen international webhosting companies working with the Syrian government by a Canadian organization Citizen Lab released a report that shamed several of these companies into either suspending their web hosting services or to issuing justifications for their actions.

This exposure of tech sector actors pointed out a critical gap in current international sanctions and raised the question: What responsibility do information and communications technology companies have to ensure they are not directly or indirectly supporting regimes sanctioned by the U.S. government and the international community?

The Senate Banking Committee included language in its Iran sanctions bill that prohibits the sale to Syria of technology that can be used for censorship or to otherwise support human rights abuses by the Assad government. This represents a significant step by identifying the need for technology companies to scrutinize their business dealings and demanding corporate accountability.

The provisions in this new bill won’t immediately end the violence against Syrian civilians, but in taking this on, Senators are setting a precedent by establishing due diligence standards that will make it much more difficult for tech firms operating in conflict zones or with abusive regimes to be complicit in the oppression of human rights.

Had this legislation been in place last year, companies such as NetApp and Blue Coat would have been subject to much stronger pressure than the court of public opinion alone can impose. Tech companies that continue to sit on the fence about their role in supporting the Syrian government may no longer have a choice in the matter. Congress should immediately pass this bill and give the U.S. government the mandate to scrutinize these companies’ relationships and judge the extent to which they support violence against innocent civilians in Syria.

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Syria’s Long Winter

02/07/12

By Bama Athreya

The following originally appeared in the Huffington Post:

In early 2011 — almost exactly a year ago — Syria’s citizens began protests against the repression of the Assad regime. While countries throughout the Middle East enjoyed a wave of political reforms — the “Arab Spring” — in Syria, citizens faced a bloody crackdown and have seen nothing but one long and bleak political winter.

Syria’s war has the world’s attention; this is no remote African conflagration but one at the heart of the new Great Game. Syria is of military, political and economic significance to the United States, European Union, Arab League and Russia. For Russia, the country is a major importer of Russia arms, the host of a large military base on the Mediterranean Sea, and one of its last allies in the region. For the European Union, it’s a major source of oil. The political endgame in Syria may well affect the balance of power not only regionally but globally. In their haste to predict the endgame, however, countries seem to have forgotten that first and foremost there must be consideration of how to end the killings of civilians — the Responsibility to Protect.

The United Nations estimates that at least 5,000 people have been killed in Syria, several hundred of them children. Human Rights Watch and others have documented extensive abuse, torture and disappearances on top of these killings. The international community now clearly must invoke the doctrine of Responsibility to Protect. In Syria, this means getting to peace, not supporting protracted civil war — no matter how rosy-eyed our predictions regarding ‘regime change.’

The Arab League has come up with what may be the only practical political roadmap possible to end the Syrian conflict quickly: calling for Assad to hand power to his Vice President, and the opposition to negotiate with the Syrian government. Two things need to happen to make the proposal work. Russia needs to get behind it, and persuade Assad to accept it. And the rest of the world needs to ensure the Syrian National Council, representing opposition forces, comes prepared to accept reasonable terms to end the conflict.

This weekend the Arab League deal was put before the UN Security Council, and Russia destroyed the negotiations — blowing a very cold wind over Syria’s long winter. Russia has done worse than simply sink this proposal; it has continued to sell arms to the Assad regime even as the regime continues to kill its own citizens.

The United States government has acted properly, at first urging all its allies to support the UN Security Council proposal, and then, in the wake of the proposal’s failure, calling quickly for an alternate forum — an urgent meeting involving the Arab League, NATO and other concerned nations. All these countries need to make a convincing case to Russia that Russia needs all the rest of them more than it needs Assad.

Syria may well be facing protracted civil war, and it is not clear what the outcome of such a war would be. A coup would represent an optimistic scenario, assuming Assad’s replacements would see the wisdom of negotiating a cease fire and power-sharing arrangement with the opposition — leading to an ‘illiberal democracy’ with the military still potentially playing a heavy role in government. Worse still would be internecine conflict — a scenario like the tragic Democratic Republic of Congo where, in the mid-1990s, the country’s dictator Mobutu was ousted, but after his demise the country fell apart, and is still a victim to protracted internal conflict.

This is precisely why the doctrine of Responsibility to Protect is so important, and why it is vital to get it right — simple regime change is in no way a guarantee for adequate civilian protection. Many observers are now calling for international support for Syria’s armed opposition. These advocates would do well to remember the famous 18th Brumaire of Napoleon Bonaparte. Revolutionary France saw regime change, but with it, widespread killing of civilians and a new form of dictatorship, not democracy.

Civilian protection must be the primary concern and focus of any new multilateral proposal for Syria — and this means putting together a deal that brings an end to the violence, even if it does not represent a complete political transition. Russia must be a part of that deal, and Russian prime minister Putin might take heed of more recent history lessons before putting Russia’s political clout behind a Syrian civil war — and recall that Russia chose the losing side in Afghanistan in 1979. The Soviet Union sustained that conflict for a decade, but today’s Russia is hardly capable of sustaining its own interests while supporting ongoing conflict elsewhere. Russia’s better bet would be to support a political transition and make the most of a Syrian spring.

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Darfur United: From Refugee Camps to International Competition

02/07/12

By Guest Blog

By Katie-Jay Scott Stauring

I remember the very first game of soccer I played with the Darfur refugees living in the camps of Eastern Chad. It was Gabriel, me, and two other kids against ten young boys. I scored in the first minute, as the crowd laughed hysterically at the team who let a girl score. Since that 2008 trip, our team has returned seven more times, and established programs that create mutually beneficial relationships between the refugees and communities here who are willing and able to act. Each time we visit, we play soccer.

Although most of our focus has been on education, last year we decided to collect new and gently used soccer and volleyball equipment from families and soccer clubs in Manhattan Beach, California.  It became apparent when we began delivering the equipment that playing sports was a necessity to which the refugees had little access. Quickly the idea evolved into creating a refugee soccer team that could represent Darfur refugees in an international competition. When Darfur United and the possible involvement in the 2012 Viva World Cup tournament for nationless people was introduced to the refugees, one man said “now we are part of the world.”

In March, the best soccer players from the twelve Darfuri refugee camps will come together for tryouts and team selection. In May, Darfur United players, coaches, and the i-ACT team will travel to Iraqi Kurdistan to compete for the Nelson Mandela Trophy. i-ACT is documenting the entire process, uploading video shorts and photos, and we will create a feature-length documentary to tell the story of Darfur. For many of these players, Darfur United is more than a soccer team – it’s a way to participate in the world and represent a part of Sudan that has long been sidelined.

Follow Darfur United’s journey at www.darfurunited.com and www.facebook.com/DarfurUnited

The author is Director of Community Programming at i-ACT (interactive-activism).

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United to End Genocide Activists Travel to Uganda and South Sudan

02/06/12

By Emily Roberts

2011 Carl Wilkens Fellows Cynthia Davis (right) and Cory McMahon

On January 28th, two of United to End Genocide’s 2011 Carl Wilkens Fellows departed the United States on a two-week trip to Uganda and South Sudan. Cynthia Davis is a decorative artist from Fairfield, Connecticut and Cory McMahon is a Registered Nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital with a background in public health. Cynthia and Cory are on a trip with Gabriel Bol Deng in support of Hope for Ariang, a development organization tasked with education accessibility with a special focus on girls and empowering women in the village of Ariang in South Sudan.

Before going to South Sudan, Cory and Cynthia met Gabriel in Kampala, Uganda to visit with four students from Ariang who are attending boarding school there with the vision that they will one day come back to the village to teach future generations.

“They fit everything required in a small metal trunk and carried everything up three flights of stairs on their own,” Cynthia said, reflecting on the beginning of the school year check-in process. “It took hours to get their supplies checked in, uniforms ordered, bed selected, and money in the canteen. It was hard seeing their dorm room beds stacked 3 high with barely a mattress and side by side for rows; but observing their smiling faces and embraces with friends I knew they were happy to be there and excited to be back at school.”

Unfortunately though, not all the students could travel from Ariang to Kampala this year for school, “probably due to inflation and the food crisis at home,” Cynthia said.

“It would make a huge difference in America if every child knew what it is like in a developing country without the opportunity for education. We are soon to get a real taste of it in the village.”

Stay tuned to our blog for more on Cynthia and Cory’s trip to South Sudan.

About Cynthia and Cory

As a board member of Hope for Ariang and a Carl Wilkens Fellow with United to End Genocide, Cynthia Davis created The Sudan Canvas Project to raise money for a women’s empowerment project and raise awareness about ongoing violence throughout Sudan through artwork. Cynthia has been building political will to end and prevent genocide throughout southern Connecticut by engaging her community, raising the profile of mass atrocities in her local media and raising her voice with her members of Congress. At a culminating event in Fairfield, CT in November 2011, Cynthia and the Sudan Canvas Project raised over $10,000 for Hope for Ariang. “After raising the money for women’s empowerment in the village, I felt it was time I went myself to get this project off the ground,” Cynthia said.

Cory McMahon has significant international public health experience, including serving as the Vice President of the board of directors for Sibusiso, Inc. and working closely with immigrant and refugee populations in Massachusetts to provide health education and awareness, increase access to health care, and serve as a resource to connect those in need with other critical services. As a Carl Wilkens Fellow, Cory is creating a network of health care professionals who are active human rights and anti-genocide advocates.

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A Peacekeeper’s Story: Failure and Hope in the Sudans

02/02/12

By Daniel Sullivan

United Nations peacekeepers deployed in Sudan (UN photo)

“I had to tell the driver to stop, STOP! There was shooting up ahead. He stopped and we got out and dove for the ground for cover.”  These are the words of a United Nations Peacekeeper who I met yesterday. Let’s call him Badu to protect his identity. Badu was in the town of Kadugli in Sudan’s Southern Kordofan state when fighting broke out in June. He was telling me how on the day the fighting started he was turned around at gunpoint only to face more shooting in the other direction.

Badu has escaped the fighting in Kadugli but not the memory of how the UN was unable to protect the civilians that came to its doors. Even national staff had to be told that their safety could not be guaranteed and some would be arrested in Khartoum. “Shameful,” Badu describes it to me. I am now traveling with one of those national staff, a Nuba woman who is helping us with translation. She is the one who recognized Badu on the streets of Malakal in South Sudan where he continues to serve as a peacekeeper with the UN.

It is ironic that I met Badu in Malakal. The city is a place I visited almost a year ago just days after a militia attack resulted in several deaths, the taking of some 100 orphans hostage, and a brief assault on the UN compound. Badu can take solace that no similar attack has taken place in Malakal since. Still, militias with a history of ties to the North remain a threat, ethnic fighting has broken out in neighboring Jonglei and rumors of new attacks around Malakal continue to pop up.

In a way, Malakal is a microcosm of the challenges faced by South Sudan. There is the militia threat, ethnic tensions, and an army struggling to professionalize itself. The violence in Malakal last year was followed by reports of heavy-handed responses by the South Sudanese army targeting Shilluk civilians. This is all without mentioning the highly fraught but inescapable interdependence with South Sudan’s looming neighbor to the north, Sudan. Indeed a majority of the South Sudan’s states border Sudan. A large proportion of the population depends on trade with the north, even as violence and persecution across the border brings a steady stream of returnees and refugees, many through Malakal.

This is the situation faced by the fledgling nation of South Sudan. It’s the reason for a large UN mission in the country, and the reason I found Badu in Malakal. No longer facing the direct threat of the Sudanese Armed Forces, he still faces the threat of violence and limited resources to deal with myriad problems. Yet Badu remains undeterred, focusing on one part of the puzzle that he might contribute to through work on child protection. As he bids me a warm farewell, I can see that he is still hopeful, still the peacekeeper.

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Don’t Let Them Starve in Sudan

02/02/12

By Bama Athreya

Photo from Shannon Orcutt.

Today, we are joining our allies at Enough Project, American Jewish World Service, Act for Sudan and other organizations to demand immediate action to stop Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir from threatening the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.

Villagers in these states have suffered months of aerial bombings by the Sudanese Air Force and are now targets for ground troops, as well. But massive numbers are about to die from a form of violence that requires no guns: they will be victims of intentional starvation. The aerial bombings of the past several months have killed dozens, but the terror they have unleashed has also succeeded in preventing villagers from planting or harvesting crops.

As our team on the ground in the region learned firsthand, “families will run out of food by March.” Now, with no food at all, these people will assuredly starve. Unless the United States and international community take urgent action, Omar al-Bashir will be free to achieve his goal of killing untold numbers of men, women and children.

The world can do something immediately: set up humanitarian corridors from neighboring countries to get food and supplies to the people of South Kordofan and Blue Nile. But while we push for immediate action, we also demand that a long-term, comprehensive political solution for all marginalized areas be prioritized, recalling that these regions were promised peaceful popular consultations under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005 and a lasting peace for Darfur hasn’t yet been achieved.

The ultimate solution to this unnatural disaster is to arrest Sudan’s President, Omar al-Bashir. Already, Bashir has been declared a war criminal for the genocide in Darfur where he utilized similar bomb and starve tactics. He must be arrested and brought to justice before his policies can murder hundreds of thousands more of Sudan’s citizens.

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