Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Good Times

So some people have asked me what I do for fun while here in Darfur. Well I have to admit that there are always enough social events to go around. With such a large expat community here there are dinner parties, birthdays, brunches, sports activities, movie nights, quiz nights and of course the best dance parties around. There is something about dancing all the stress, frustration and anger out of your system at the end of a crazy week. Some of these activities are planned with all the proper permits required when having a large group of people and others are spontaneous gatherings that surprise you with how fun they end up being. But most of the time we have to be creative and find fun in the strangest places. Here are a few pictures that may help you visualize a bit better of the non work aspect of my life here in Darfur.


My first yoga lesson with a fabulous view




Who needs a mirror when you have friends close by




Singing in the truck is a must - especially with the right song



Let the dancing begin.



Don't worry he doesn't always look like this - it's just a part of the finding the fun in Darfur.


Oh the good times in Darfur

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Another Great Article

I know my blog has been full of borring articles lately but it's becuase all I have been doing is writing proposals and waiting for funding. Once all that gets worked out I will hopefully be in the field a bit more with some exciting - but not too exciting stories. So as you await the real fun stuff take a read through this really good article from Amnesty International.

DARFUR: ‘WHEN WILL THEY PROTECT US?’
Civilians trapped by violence in Sudan



"No one is fighting for the cause of the internally displaced. They want to go back home, they want to cultivate their land, they want compensation, they want peace and security, this is their priority."


Darfuri from the Masalit ethnic group

Darfur today is a place of violence and terrifying insecurity. With weapons readily available, the population is trapped in a web of armed attacks that grows ever more complex. Paramilitary forces armed by the Sudanese government grow ever stronger while more and more armed opposition groups emerge. Fighting is often between groups – including ethnic groups – formerly on the same side. One thing has not changed: it is still civilians who pay the price.


The UN estimates that 4.2 million people in Darfur rely on humanitarian aid. They include 2.2 million gathered in camps for the displaced.
People are still fleeing. Between January and August 2007, according to UN figures, almost a quarter of a million people fled, some for the third or fourth time.




DANGEROUS FRAGMENTATION
The Sudanese government, faced with a rebellion in 2003, exploited existing tensions to arm militias and forcibly displace hundreds of thousands of people. Since then, the situation has become far more complex.

There are continuing attacks by the Janjawid militias and air attacks by government on civilians or armed groups. There is a heavy government security presence throughout the area. There are also more than 12 armed groups, who fight not only against the government but also against each other. There is fighting between ethnic groups and, within ethnic groups, between clans.

AWASH WITH ARMS


"Because everyone has guns from government and rebels, a small incident leads to disaster."
Darfuri from the Ma’aliya ethnic group

Darfur is awash with arms. When the government armed the Janjawid it equipped them with large quantities of Kalashnikovs, rocket propelled grenades (RPGs), and militarized vehicles. Government paramilitary forces in Darfur are made up largely of Janjawid: they include the Popular Defence Forces (PDF), the Popular Police and the Nomadic Police. The Border Intelligence Guards have been greatly expanded and in Darfur are nearly all former Janjawid.

Armed opposition groups such as the various factions of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) are also well-armed. Some of their arms were captured from government forces or Janjawid. Some come from across Sudan’s borders, from Libya, Chad and Eritrea.
CIVILIANS UNDER ATTACK


Insecurity on the roads

Large parts of Darfur are now unsafe for travel. According to the UN, in July 2007, 14 humanitarian vehicles were hijacked, 15 convoys were attacked and looted. As a result, UN and aid workers are forced to use helicopters, severely restricting their mobility.

Attacks on humanitarian aid
Nearly every aid agency has suffered armed attacks and nearly every agency has reduced its staff. In July 2007, nine humanitarian centres were attacked and eight aid workers were killed on duty. Some agencies have had to pull out altogether, after government harassment or armed attacks. In December 2006, armed men broke into three aid agency bases in Gereida. One aid worker was raped, another was badly beaten and 12 vehicles were stolen. In July 2007, having failed to obtain credible assurances that attacks would not continue, Oxfam withdrew from Gereida.

Attacks by government and Janjawid forces

In May and June 2007, more than 2,500 people fled from south Darfur, making a painful 10-day trek to the Central African Republic. The refugees said they fled after Janjawid and government forces attacked Daffaq between 12 and 18 May.

The villages of Mazrouk and Um Sa’ouna in south-east Darfur were each attacked by about 300 Janjawid, with vehicles, in August 2007. In Mazrouk two civilians were killed, in Um Sa’ouna about seven. The Janjawid forces were led by a former SLA member and supported by bombing raids by government Antonov airplanes. Such aerial bombardments have been prohibited by UN Security Council Resolution 1591 of 2005.

Sexual violence


"They were raped by any man who wanted. Whenever any man came to them, the women were supposed to comply otherwise they were badly beaten."
Darfuri witness, speaking to UN investigators

Rape and sexual slavery continue to be carried out with complete impunity. On 26 December 2006, Deribat, an SLA stronghold, was attacked by armed men on horses and camels, accompanied by vehicles and aircraft. The people fled to the hills. About 50 women were abducted and taken to a dry river bed where they were surrounded by armed men and systematically raped. Many children watched what happened to their mothers and some were raped themselves. The women were held as sex slaves and also had to cook and serve food for their captors.

Women interviewed by UN human rights investigators were held for about a month; some escaped after an SLA attack. The UN named commanders and members of the PDF in connection with the violence, and Fur men belonging to the SLA/Abu’l-Gasim faction were also said by witnesses to be involved.

Displaced women and girls in camps are vulnerable if they go outside to collect firewood or go to market, and also face rising violence within camps and within their families. Hundreds of rapes were recorded by the UN and NGOs. Three of the women raped were relief workers.

Ethnic conflicts
Hundreds of people have been killed in 2007 in fighting between ethnic groups. As arms have proliferated, disputes that in the past would be resolved by traditional reconciliation processes have led to mass killings.

The fiercest attacks have been by the Northern Rizeigat on the Tarjem. Both groups identify themselves as Arabs, and both groups have provided members of the Janjawid and the PDF. On several occasions in 2007, Northern Rizeigat men, mostly dressed in Border Intelligence uniforms, accompanied by vehicles mounted with RPGs or machine guns, attacked Tarjem villages, burning homes and systematically looting. They shot indiscriminately at the Tarjem. Most of the dead were armed Tarjem villagers fighting back, but old men and those too weak to run also died. According to reliable sources, more than 400 people were killed between January and August.

One of the most recent attacks took place on 31 July during a ceremony to commemorate those killed in a previous attack. The government army was warned the day before that armed men were massing in the area, but took no action. At least 68 people were killed.
Abuses by armed groups

A number of armed opposition groups, including the JEM and the various SLA factions such as SLA/Minawi, have committed abuses including kidnapping, detaining and sometimes killing opponents and attacking humanitarian convoys.

Gereida, 136 km south-east of Nyala, used to be a small town of 12,000 people in an area of Masalit farmers and Fallata cattle-herders. Since 2003, the town has swollen and is surrounded by camps for the displaced containing more than 130,000 people. During 2006, Gereida’s civilians and displaced were left unprotected. The government actually increased insecurity, for instance by obstructing aid workers through a fuel embargo and roadblocks. The 100-strong AMIS force deployed there has failed to provide protection: villagers complain that even when they call AMIS during an attack they seldom help.

After the 2006 peace agreement, the SLA/Minawi controlled the area. They are implicated in summary killings of about 42 people. A number of Masalit men were detained by the SLA/Minawi in September 2006 after an attack on their camp; the bodies of eight of those detained were found in January in a mass grave.

Camps for the displaced


"Look at the camps – there is no security, there are no secondary schools. This generation will be the generation of anger, boys and girls."



Darfur political activist

Within the displaced camps, which are constantly expanding beyond their capacity, there is increasing politicization and militarization. Frustrated young men, bitter against the government of Sudan and mistrustful of outside forces, turn to armed groups.

Leaving the camp is still risky, especially for women, and violence within families is reportedly rising. The camps also come under attack from outside. On many occasions members of Janjawid groups have terrorized camps, kidnapping civilians and demanding cattle and ransom.

On 21 August 2007, after two policemen were killed, hundreds of police, army and Border Intelligence Guards raided Kalma Camp near Nyala, which was sheltering more than 90,000 people. As they entered the camp they beat displaced people with gun butts, looted shelters and arrested some 35 displaced men. The police took the detainees to Nyala, where they were tortured.
ACTION NEEDED NOW

"The NGOs provide food and blankets. They cannot provide security."
A displaced person from Mershing camp


For years the internally displaced have campaigned for a UN force to protect them. At last, three years after the UN Security Council first passed a resolution about Darfur, the Security Council has set up a hybrid AU-UN peacekeeping force of more than 26,000 and the Sudanese government has accepted its arrival.

The force, UNAMID, must be rapidly deployed. It needs to replace the existing AU force, AMIS, by 31 December 2007 and achieve full operational capacity to implement its mandate as soon as possible. That is a daunting task. The government of Sudan has a long track record of accepting interventions under pressure, only to break its promises when the international community looks elsewhere. The work of the AU and UN in Sudan has been consistently hindered by delays in obtaining visas, travel authorizations or import permits. The AU has been hamstrung by not having enough aircraft and by having to gain authorization each time its personnel needed to travel by air. UNAMID must be well resourced and have rules of engagement which reflect its mandate and freedom to move anywhere in Darfur.

In addition to its general mandate to protect civilians, two related areas are vital: the return of displaced people and the protection of women.

The peacekeeping mission should help to ensure safe, voluntary and sustainable return of the displaced to their homes. This needs to include the protection of those returning home and a visible and lasting protective presence in areas after return.
The peacekeeping mission should ensure the protection of women, and other vulnerable groups, from violence, and must formulate a detailed action plan to protect women from gender-based violence. Peacekeepers should work in close co-operation with AU and UN experts, with the participation of women and civil society.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Confused Yet?

Here is a great article that is reflective of what is happening right now here in Darfur. That is not so normal because usually by the time we figure out what is going on things have already changed. I hope this adds a bit more clarity and understanding to this crazy place for you.

By Jeffrey Gettleman

August 28, 2007 (NYALA, Sudan) — Some of the same Arab tribes accused of massacring civilians in the Darfur region of Sudan are now unleashing their considerable firepower against one another in a battle over the spoils of war that is killing hundreds of people and displacing tens of thousands.

In the past several months, the Terjem and the Mahria, heavily armed Arab tribes that United Nations officials said raped and pillaged together as part of the region’s notorious janjaweed militias, have squared off in South Darfur, fighting from pickup trucks and the backs of camels. They are raiding each other’s villages, according to aid workers and the fighters themselves, and scattering Arab tribesmen into the same kinds of displacement camps that still house some of their earlier victims.

United Nations officials said that thousands of gunmen from each side, including some from hundreds of miles away, were pouring into a strategic river valley called Bulbul, while clashes between two other Arab tribes, the Habanniya and the Salamat, were intensifying farther south.

Darfur’s violence has often been characterized as government-backed Arab tribes slaughtering non-Arab tribes, but this new Arab-versus-Arab dimension seems to be a sign of the evolving complexity of the crisis. What started out four years ago in western Sudan as a rebellion and brutal counterinsurgency has cracked wide open into a fluid, chaotic, confusing free-for-all with dozens of armed groups, a spike in banditry and chronic attacks on aid workers.

United Nations officials said tribal and factional fighting was killing more people than the battles between government and rebel forces, which, except in a few areas, have declined considerably.

Though the recent round of clashes between the splintering groups has not come close to taking as many lives as the thousands who were dying each month during the height of the conflict in 2003 and 2004, many aid officials say they fear that the situation is getting out of control.

“The fragmentation of armed groups is among our major concerns,” said Maurizio Giuliano, a spokesman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for Sudan. “This is making the situation even more complex, and more difficult for civilians as well as for humanitarians trying to help them.”

The rising insecurity is spelled out in two color-coded maps taped to Mr. Giuliano’s wall in Khartoum, the capital. One is from May 2006 and has only a few pockets of orange and yellow danger zones. But on the map from this June, the danger zones are everywhere.

United Nations officials say the militias may be jockeying for power and trying to seize turf before the long-awaited hybrid force of United Nations and African Union peacekeepers begins to arrive, perhaps later this year. Today’s battlefields are superimposed on yesterday’s, with the Arab militias killing one another over the same burned villages and stingy riverbeds where so much blood has already been spilled.

Though many Western diplomats and a seemingly endless supply of advocates have blamed the Sudanese government for arming Arab militias in the first place, an accusation the government denies, several independent observers in Sudan said the government was not driving this phase of the conflict.

“The government is no longer arming the janjaweed,” said Col. James Oladipo, the African Union commander in Nyala, in South Darfur. The problem now, he said, is “bandits and factions.”

Some aid workers say Darfur is beginning to resemble Somalia, the world’s longest-running showcase for AK-47-fed chaos. Highwaymen in green camouflage — rebel fighters? local militia? janjaweed? — routinely flag down trucks and drag out passengers, robbing the men and sexually assaulting the women. Newly empowered warlords are exacting taxes. The galaxy of rebel armies — the Greater Sudan Liberation Movement, the Popular Forces Troops, the Sudan Democratic Group, to name a few new arrivals — keeps expanding, and ideology seems to fade away. Despite peace talks among them in early August, the rebels, mostly non-Arabs, are now also battling themselves.

Among Arabs, one of the most egregious examples of the recent infighting happened on the morning of July 31 near Sania Daleibah, in southern Darfur. Terjem leaders said hundreds of Terjem had gathered to bury an important sheik. Then they were suddenly surrounded. It was Mahria tribesmen, and according to United Nations reports and witness accounts, the Mahria opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades and belt-fed machine guns and mowed down more than 60 Terjem.

“It was a massacre,” said Mohammed Yacob Ibrahim Abdelrahman, the top Terjem leader. “By our brothers.”

The Arab-Arab violence is impeding the slow recovery process that had begun in some parts of Darfur. Around 2.2 million people are stuck in displaced persons camps, though some had been taking the first steps to leave, like villagers from Jimaiza, north of Nyala, who left their camp in July to go back to plant their peanut fields. They were not worried about Arab militias raiding their village, they said. Those days seemed over. But then the Terjem-Mahria feud erupted.

“It was strange,” said Abakar Ahmed Abdul Rahman, a leader of the Fur tribe, which is non-Arab and the biggest in Darfur. “A few days after the fighting, a Mahria elder came up to me and said: ‘Tell your people not to go back to the camp. They’re safe in the village. We don’t have a problem with you.’ ”

But Mr. Abakar shook his head and laughed.

“I know these people,” he said. “They killed my wife and burned my hut. I’ll never trust them.”

Not all Arab tribes joined the bloodletting when Darfur exploded in 2003. But according to United Nations documents, the Mahria and the Terjem did.

The Mahria are nomadic camel herders from northern Darfur, rugged people of the desert whose militias have helped the Sudanese government patrol the long, sandy border with Chad. The Terjem are farmers and cattle herders who lived closely with the Fur. The Mahria knew how to fight. The Terjem knew where the Fur lived.

Together, the two tribes massacred many Fur villagers, according to United Nations officials and Fur survivors. Then they divvied up Fur land. But the partnership broke down late last year, when, Terjem leaders say, the Mahria kidnapped a 14-year-old Terjem boy. For their part, Mahria leaders say the Terjem started it by stealing Mahria animals, an act that had to be answered.

Juma Dagalow, a Mahria sheik, said that after one ambush in which Terjem gunmen killed many Mahria, he called other sheiks by satellite phone and rallied the troops.

“We went to that funeral to attack them, to finish the account,” the sheik explained, adding that his people were “a little aggressive.”

It was then that the wali stepped in. The wali, or governor, of South Darfur called a peace conference and urged neutral tribes to mediate a cease-fire.

The wali, Ali Mahamoud Mohammed, said in an interview that such clashes were “just a natural part of the life of the tribes” and something he had witnessed growing up in Darfur in the 1970s.

Mr. Ali said the fighting began in December, when the Mahria headed south on a seasonal migration with their camels and trampled through Terjem territory near the Bulbul River. The fighting predictably resumed in July, he said, when the Mahria trampled back.

The governor said he sent troops to Bulbul to quell the fighting. But the Arab-Arab bloodshed, fueled by an overflow of guns in Darfur and a breakdown in the traditional order, seems to be spreading faster than anyone can control. Several tribes have recently fought over land, livestock and the right to extort money along certain trade routes. Among those fighting: Hotiya versus Rizeigat (the Rizeigat are a huge tribe that includes the Mahria); Rizeigat versus Habanniya; Habanniya versus Salamat.

Tribal feuds that used to be reconciled by sheiks before the body count reached into the hundreds are now turning into tribal wars.

And there may be a connection to the rampant banditry, which seems to spare no one — not aid workers, villagers or even Sudanese government officials.

“As these groups split,” said Colonel Oladipo of the African Union, “banditry becomes the source for weapons, money and food in order to sustain their factions.”

The 50 miles of asphalt running between Nyala and the neighboring town of Kas, which cuts straight through a Terjem stronghold, have become bandit boulevard. On a single day in late August, there were six attacks. Traveling by road has become so dangerous in Darfur that the United Nations now uses helicopters to fly even 12 miles.

“There’s absolutely no law and order in this place,” said Annette Rehrl, a spokeswoman for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The insecurity has driven away some aid workers, United Nations officials said, with 12,300 working in Darfur, 16 percent less than last year.

It has also cemented tens of thousands of Terjem, who traditionally roam with their animals for part of the year, in internally displaced persons camps where they are not free to move. Out here, newly widowed women lie in plastic huts, flies exploring the corners of their eyes. Once proud sheiks have been reduced to carrying sacks of sand on their backs for work. A Terjem baby with a three-inch, bubbly scar at the base of her spine — a recent gunshot wound — howled her head off.

“We just sit here, hating ourselves,” said Mariam Mohammed, a wisp-thin Terjem woman who said her husband had been shot dead in front of her. “Just look at me. I’m half of what I used to be.”

(New York Times)