Latest info on Darfur : Jan 10, 2007
Thanks God for this Good News,
May God help build peace
Dear mike,
I want to share some important news from Khartoum. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson just released a joint statement with Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir that, if implemented, would bring some immediate security and relief to the people of Darfur as well as provide a clear path forward to long-term peace in the region.
We asked Governor Richardson to travel to Sudan to discuss ways to secure peace in Darfur and to end the genocide. The Governor was accompanied by Save Darfur Senior International Coordinator Ambassador (ret.) Lawrence Rossin, Refugees International Executive Director Kenneth Bacon, and Public and International Law and Policy Group senior attorney Amjad Atallah. Since Sunday, when they arrived in Khartoum, Governor Richardson and the delegation have visited Darfur and participated in a variety of meetings with government officials, rebel leaders, humanitarian officials, AU commanders and UN officials.
The promises from President Bashir in this agreement are encouraging. They include commitments to:
A 60-day ceasefire with an international peace summit to be held before March 15, 2007.
Sudan's cooperation to work with the African Union and United Nations on the deployment of a hybrid peacekeeping force in Darfur.
Ensuring "zero tolerance" policies for gender-based violence in Darfur.
Free access for humanitarian aid workers and journalists.
Click here to read the full joint statement and the press release.
Your concerns for the people of Darfur were voiced directly to President Bashir by Governor Richardson and Ambassador Rossin. We believe that today's agreement offers a promising step forward to end this four-year nightmare for the people of Darfur. By no means, however, has the genocide ended.
We call urgently upon Sudan, the United Nations, the African Union, and the Bush Administration to make these promises become a reality for the long-suffering people of Darfur.
We must demand that the international community take advantage of this dramatic progress. Your help in this effort will be vital in the months ahead.
Thank you for your contribution to these new developments.
Best regards,
David RubensteinSave Darfur Coalition
AA,
I appeal to Muslims and every human on the earth to take time to understand this crisis; 400,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million innocent Citizens have been displaced.
This disgusting act has a additional shameful turn to it - it is the Muslims killing other Muslims. We have to condemn this barabarism. If there is an organization doing some thing about it, please join them, one such group is www.Savedarfur.org.
We have to speak up, speak up load when there is injustice no matter where and to whom. That is the least we can do. Insha Allah, on this link, we will continue to update the issue and you are welcome to post your comments and news here.
May God help us to be just.
Below this you will find information about Darfur.
Mike Ghouse
www.WorldMuslimCongress.com
FROM THE WEBSITE SAVE DARFUR.
Darfur has been embroiled in a deadly conflict for over three years. At least 400,000 people have been killed; more than 2 million innocent civilians have been forced to flee their homes and now live in displaced-persons camps in Sudan or in refugee camps in neighboring Chad; and more than 3.5 million men, women, and children are completely reliant on international aid for survival. Not since the Rwandan genocide of 1994 has the world seen such a calculated campaign of displacement, starvation, rape, and mass slaughter.
Since early 2003, Sudanese armed forces and Sudanese government-backed militia known as “Janjaweed” have been fighting two rebel groups in Darfur, the Sudanese Liberation Army/Movement (SLA/SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). The stated political aim of the rebels has been to compel the government of Sudan to address underdevelopment and the political marginalization of the region. In response, the Sudanese government’s regular armed forces and the Janjaweed – largely composed of fighters of Arab nomadic background – have targeted civilian populations and ethnic group from which the rebels primarily draw their support – the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa.
The Bush Administration has recognized these atrocities – carried out against civilians primarily by the government of Sudan and its allied Janjaweed militias – as genocide. António Guterres, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, has described the situation in Sudan and Chad as “the largest and most complex humanitarian problem on the globe.” The Sudanese government and the Janjaweed militias are responsible for the burning and destruction of hundreds of rural villages, the killing of tens of thousands of people and rape and assault of thousands of women and girls.With much international pressure, the Darfur Peace Agreement was brokered in May 2006 between the government of Sudan and one faction of Darfur rebels.
However, deadlines have been ignored and the violence has escalated, with in-fighting among the various rebel groups and factions dramatically increasing and adding a new layer of complexity to the conflict. This violence has made it dangerous, if not impossible, for most of the millions of displaced persons to return to their homes. Humanitarian aid agencies face growing obstacles to bringing widespread relief. In August 2006, the UN's top humanitarian official Jan Egeland stated that the situation in Darfur is "going from real bad to catastrophic." Indeed, the violence in Darfur rages on with government-backed militias still attacking civilian populations with impunity.
On July 30, 2004, the UN Security Council adopted resolution 1556 demanding that the government of Sudan disarm the Janjaweed. This same demand is also an important part of the Darfur Peace Agreement signed in May of 2006. On August 31, 2006, the Security Council took the further step of authorizing a strong UN peacekeeping force for Darfur by passing resolution 1706. Despite these actions, the Janjaweed are still active and free to commit the same genocidal crimes against civilians in Darfur with the aid of the Sudanese government.International experts agree that the United Nations Security Council must deploy a peacekeeping force with a mandate to protect civilians immediately. Until it arrives, the under-funded and overwhelmed African Union monitoring mission must be bolstered. And governments and international institutions must provide and ensure access to sufficient humanitarian aid for those in need.
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Lobbying Congress:
You can help pressure Congress to do more to help the people of Darfur by meeting with your congressional representative or members of his or her staff.
Now that the elections are over, we are asking our activists to meet with their Representative and Senators before the new Congress convenes. If your member has a poor record on Darfur, this is the perfect opportunity to educate him or her on the issues. If he or she is already a leader for Darfur, it is important that you thank them for their previous support and urge them to continue their efforts.
To learn how your member of Congress voted on important Darfur legislation please visit DarfurScores.org.While lobbying a member of Congress may sound intimidating, most of our activists find it to be an easy and enjoyable activity.
We have created the materials you need for a successful visit:
•Overview of how to organize a lobby visit
•Training guide for citizen lobbyists
•Meeting outline for your visit
•Sample letter to give to your member of Congress
•Talking points on Darfur and our current policy requests of Congress
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CIVIL DIALOGUE
The people in Dallas are making an effort to understand and clean their own hearts first, when we are free from bias, it would be easy to share that with others. Islam teaches us in so many ways to "respect the otherness of others" and it is time we find simple practical ways of doing it.
Press Releases Muslim Aid Leads Call for Peace in Darfur
ReplyDeleteAbout Us > Press Releases
15/9/2006
As the situation in Darfur, Sudan, threatens to spiral out of control, Muslim Aid will be participating in a ‘Day for Darfur’ campaign outside Downing Street on Sunday September 17.
The ‘Day for Darfur’ will be attended by high profile religious leaders from Muslim, Christian and Jewish faiths, and the heads of aid agencies. Prayers written by Sheikh Ibrahim Mogra, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and others will be read and then handed in to Number 10 Downing Street.
In addition to Muslim Aid, the other organisers are CAFOD, Christian Aid, Islamic Relief, Tearfund, Waging Peace, World Jewish Aid, and World Vision. September 17 marks the one-year anniversary of the United Nations’ pledge to provide security for civilians around the world.
Thousands of people in dozens of cities will call on their governments to do more to protect civilians in Darfur as the situation on the ground rapidly deteriorates. Events are planned in over 30 capitals from New York to Paris, and Abuja to Cairo.
Over a million people have been made homeless and thousands of people already dead. At the same time as renewed fighting and a military build up, the African Union forces who have been trying to keep the peace are threatening to withdraw.
“We urge all parties to engage in dialogue to give peace a chance,” said Saif Ahmad, CEO of Muslim Aid. “We in Muslim Aid would like to offer our services to invite dialogue between the government and the rebels to defuse the tension. We need to help the Sudanese government to reach an acceptable solution.”
Muslim Aid calls for the strengthening of the forces of the African Unity that are currently playing the role of peace-keeper in the area. These forces are scheduled to be pulled out by the end of the month, but Muslim Aid believes that more support needs to be given to the African Union peacekeepers, so that they can make their role a more effective one.
Muslim Aid works in Darfur providing mobile hospitals to those in urgent need. In addition, Muslim Aid has provided skills training and educational programmes in Darfur.
“My colleagues work around the clock to get help to those who otherwise would die,” said Saif Ahmad. “But no matter how hard they work, no organization could keep up with such an escalation. My colleagues don’t mind picking bullets out of the backs of civilians – but if we can stop those bullets being fired, that’s in everyone’s interests.”
American Muslims on Darfur
ReplyDeletePosted by Tikkun Webmaster (Tuesday, May 02 2006 @ 11:26 AM PDT)
The Islamic Society of North America, the Muslim Public Affairs Council and the Council on American-Islamic Relations speak out about the crisis.
(Washington, DC - 5/2/06) -- Several national Muslim American organizations today reiterated their concern for the crisis in Darfur, and condemned the violence, which has been perpetrated upon villages by government sponsored militias and the rebels, and has produced more than 1.3 million internally displaced refugees.
The United States Congress has determined the continuation of targeted violence against the people of Darfur constitutes a genocide. The United Nations, Amnesty International and other agencies disagree on this point.
The joint statement by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) stresses that the humanitarian workers on the ground have warned the international community and the region that politicizing the Darfur conflict will ultimately result in more suffering and will endanger more civilians.
It may be recalled that almost two years ago, Muslim Americans sent a peace delegation to the region to determine steps toward ending the conflict and the suffering in Sudan. A group of ten individual representatives of the national Muslim organizations spent one week meeting with both government and rebel representatives to encourage the cessation of violence and a just resolution of the conflict.
The passive and silent stand of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Arab League has forced the international community to intervene in this situation. This dereliction of duty must end. The American Muslim organizations call upon the international Muslim leadership to honor their obligations to be part of the solution in this human tragedy by making significant contributions through humanitarian aid and political pressure resulting in a just resolution of the problem.
The Muslim American organizations have requested a meeting with President Bush and Secretary Rice. The organizations offer the following recommendations for peace, urging that the U.S. take effective measures to help the innocent civilians in Darfur:
1. Demand that the Government of Sudan rein in the militias that now rampage villages.
2. Pressure the rebels to accept the peace offer presented by the African Union mediators and which has been accepted by the government of Sudan.
3. Warn Eritrea and Chad that they must stop supporting the rebels if they continue to reject peace offers by African Union mediators.
4. Help reduce the potential for ethnic- or religious- based conflict by clarifying to the American public that those leading rebel and government forces are both Muslim and both African Sudanese.
5. Urge the international community to obtain more humanitarian assistance from non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
[CONTACTS: Edina Lekovic, MPAC Communications Director, 213-383-3443, communications@mpac.org; Ahmed ElHattab, ISNA Acting Secretary General, 317-839-1826, aelhattab@isna.net; Corey P. Saylor, CAIR Government Affairs Director, 571-278-4658, csaylor@cair-net.org]
Re: MuslimAgenda :: A Muslim Speaks on Darfur
ReplyDeleteDear Thomas and Mike:
No matter how a conflict starts, in time it deteriorates with punches, followed by counterpunches, selfish interests and those meddling to gain ancillary advantages. Darfur conflict also has all these overprints on the essentially ethnic conflict.
I wrote an article on this conflict about four years ago urging Muslims to get involved, at the very least with moral exhortations. Unfortunately I heard similar excuses essentially saying it was a Western propaganda.
Mike is absolutely right in his approach. The conflict is real what ever the starting point may have been. Now the reality is that a very large number of innocent people have been killed and made homeless. Sudanese government is at much greater fault because the job of the government, particularly the one that professes to be Islamic is to take care of all its citizens with justice. In this it has miserably failed.
Is it genocide or not is a crass irrelevant matter to those who care for human life, dignity of being and justice. Is the US and Israeli lobby milking it for propaganda value. In all probability yes! But that is because the Muslims, in particular Muslim governments, in their ignorance and narrow minded attitudes have not done much to resolve and ameliorate this terrible conflict and has given a great propaganda coup to those who want to use it as such. There is no better propaganda than exposing the utter failings of one's enemy.
It is not a legitimate excuse, to use other such conflicts as crutch to find justification for this atrocity. It is time we need to raise our voices, particularly Muslim voices to help stop this atrocity. Thus save human lives do the decent humane and Islamic deed and in the process take away the propaganda value.
Mirza Beg
MODERATOR:
ReplyDeleteThomas, this is the universal problem a few of us Muslims have, and it is time
we shed this attitude. You and I can join other leaders to help us learn to
focus.
We are talking about the genocide in Darfur, you are talking about Lebanon and
Israel, which was condemned by one and all. What is the point in loading so many
items in one single breath? Each issue is important and should be given
importance... and not negate one with the other. This attitude does not let us
move forward. We cannot negate every problem with the other.
Whether Israel is taking advantage of it, or our foriegn policy is goofy, still
our concern is life no matter who wrongs it.
Insha Allah, this thread will deal exclusively with Darfur and not weaken it
with other issues.
Mike Ghouse
======================================================
salaams. too bad you still miss my point. let me state
this for the very last time. america is the only
country calling this a genocide period and there in
lies the issue!
not one country on the whole continent of africa calls
this a genocide now ask yourself why? don't you think
that if there was a real genocide going on this
continent the government of south africa would be
calling it that! i never said that killing wasn't
going on here done by both sides.
we should all condemn killing of innocents anywhere in
the world, however, i'm questioning america's motive
of being the only nation calling it a genocide.
if you really want to see what genocide looks like
today check out what the illegal state of israel just
did to the people of lebbanon last year and what they
have been doing to the palestinians for over fifty
years.
now you tell me where is your condemnation? or are you
too cowardly to comdemn that?????????
--- Thomas Muhammad
Mike Ghouse,
ReplyDeleteWhat you and much of the “Save Darfur” movement leave out is the role the United States and other democracies in fueling the violence in Sudan, as well as other African countries. The United State supplies weapons to the rebels in Darfur, but not enough to subdue the Sudanese government, only enough to create chaos and perpetuate the violence. Are you aware that the United States is the number one seller of weapons to Africa and sometimes it sells weapons to both sides of a conflict? It is important to discuss all factors that are contributing to a problem, otherwise the issue will not be resolved.
Here are two articles that provide information about Darfur, that you will not find in the mainstream media.
One is by Keith Harmon Snow at
http://allthingspass.com/journalism.php?jid=165
the other is by F. William Engdahl at
http://www.engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net/
Geopolitics___Eurasia/Oil_in_Africa/oil
_in_africa.html