Peace & Justice Update
April 30, 2009
(Volume 21, Number 8)
The countries for the Peace & Justice Updates have been chosen as areas of focus at the
Institute.
Source information: Information presented in this update is condensed from wire and
newspaper reports from Lexis/Nexis and from electronic sites on the World Wide Web.
Complete bibliographical information is unavailable from these services, but every attempt
has been made to properly cite information and give credit to source materials. This update
is intended for use by IPJ staff and associates for informational purposes only. As the
material in this update is condensed, and does not directly quote the primary source,
information from the update should not be quoted.
Update subscriptions: Electronic subscriptions to the Peace & Justice Updates are free;
simply send an email to updates@sandiego.edu and include the word “subscribe” in the
subject line.
The Peace & Justice Updates are written by the Spring 2009 interns at the Joan B. Kroc
Institute for Peace & Justice at the University of San Diego.
The interns are Irene Burga (University of San Diego),
Shawna Fehrman (University of San Diego), Chris Groth (University of San Diego ’06),
Breyn Hibbs (University of San Diego), and Csilla Kristof (University of San Diego).
AFP
AllAfrica
AI
AP
APA
AT
Awareness Times
BBC
BBC Monitoring
Bloomberg
Business Day
CFR
CGD
Citizen
CIA
CNN
Cocorioko
Colombia Reports
CPJ
CSMonitor
CTN
Daily Mirror
Daily Nation
Daily News
DPA
Economist
ECOWAS
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EITI
El Espectador
El Nuevo Herald
El Pais
El Tiempo
Garowe
Guardian
Guatemala Times
Himalayan Times
HRW
IANS
ICC
ICG
Independent
Int’l News: Kenya
Invisible Children
IHT
IMF
IPS News Agency
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SOURCE LIST
Agence France-Presse (www.afp.com)
AllAfrica.com (www.allafrica.com)
Amnesty International (www.amnesty.org)
Associated Press (www.ap.org)
African Press Agency (www.apanews.net)
Asian Tribune (www.asiantribune.com)
Awareness Times (www.awarenesstimes.com)
British Broadcasting Corporation (www.news.bbc.co.uk)
BBC Monitoring International Reports (www.monitor.bbc.co.uk)
Bloomberg (www.bloomberg.com)
Business Day – News Worth Knowing (www.businessday.co.za)
Council on Foreign Relations (www.cfr.org)
Center for Global Development (www.cgdev.org)
The Citizen (www.thecitizen.co.tz)
CIA - The World Factbook (www.cia.gov)
CNN (www.cnn.com)
Cocorioko Newspaper Limited (www.cocorioko.net)
Colombia Reports (www.colombiareports.com)
Committee to Protect Journalists (www.cpj.org)
The Christian Science Monitor (www.csmonitor.com)
Concord Times Newspaper (www.concordtimessl.com)
Daily Mirror (www.mirror.co.uk)
Daily Nation (www.nation.co.ke)
Daily News (www.dailynews.lk)
Deutsche Presse-Agentur (www.dpa.de/index.html)
The Economist (www.economist.com)
Economic Community of West African States
(www.ecowas.int)
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (www.ei.transparency.org)
El Espectador (www.elespectador.com)
El Nuevo Herald (www.elnuevoherald.co)
El Pais (www.elpais.com)
El Tiempo (www.eltiempo.com)
Garowe Online (www.garoweonline.com)
The Guardian (www.guardian.co.uk)
The Guatemala Times (www.guatemala-times.com)
The Himalayan Times (www.thehimalayantimes.com)
Human Rights Watch (www.hrw.org)
Indo-Asian News Service (www.ians.in)
International Criminal Court (www.icc-cpi.int)
International Crisis Group (www.crisisweb.org)
The Independent (www.independent.co.uk)
International News: Kenya (www.majimbokenya.com)
Invisible Children, Inc. (www.InvisibleChildren.org)
International Herald Tribune (www.iht.com)
International Monetary Fund (www.imf.org)
Inter Press Service News Agency (www.ipsnews.ne)
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IRIN
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IWPR
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Kantipur
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Kathmandu Post
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LA Times
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Liberian Journal
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Liberian Times
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MaximsNews
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Media Watch
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MFA
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Miami Herald
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Monitor
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MONUC
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MSF
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Nepal News
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New Times
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New Vision
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NYT
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Oxford Journal s
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Prensa Libre
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Press TV
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Radio Netherlands
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ReliefWeb
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Reuters
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Reuters Africa
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RSF
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SC-SL
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Shabelle
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Sudan Tribune
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ST
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TamilsAgainstGeocide =
TamilNet
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Telegraph
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This Day
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UNAMID
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UN News
UNESCO
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UNHCR
UN-OHCHR
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UNICEF
UNIFEM
VOA News
WP
World Bank
Xinhua
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Integrated Regional Information Network (www.irinnews.org)
Institute for War and Peace Reporting (www.iwpr.net)
Kantipur Report (www.kantipuronline.com)
The Kathmandu Post (www.kantipuronline.com)
Los Angeles Times (www.latimes.com)
The Liberian Journal (www.theliberianjournal.com)
The Liberian Times (www.theliberiantimes.com)
MaximsNews Network (www.maximsnews.com)
Media Watch (www.mediawatch.com)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sri Lanka (www.slmfa.gov.lk)
The Miami Herald (www.miamiherald.com)
The Monitor (www.monitor.co.ug)
UN Mission in DR Congo (www.monuc.org)
Doctors without Borders (www.msf.org)
Nepal News (www.nepalnews.com)
The New Times (www.newtimes.co.rw)
The New Vision (www.newvision.co.ug)
The New York Times (www.nytimes.com)
Oxford Journals (www.oxfordjournals.org)
Prensa Libre (www.prensalibre.com)
Press TV (www.presstv.ir)
Radio Netherlands Worldwide (www.radionetherlands.nl)
ReliefWeb (www.reliefweb.int)
Reuters (www.reuters.com)
Reuters Africa (www.af.reuters.com)
Reporters Without Borders (www.rsf.org)
Special Court for Sierra Leone (www.sc-sl.org)
Shabelle Media Network (www.shabelle.net)
Sudan Tribune (www.sudantribune.com)
The Straits Times (www.straitstimes.com)
Tamils Against Genocide (www.TamilsAgainstGenocide.org)
TamilNet (www.tamilnet.com)
Telegraph (www.telegraph.co.uk)
This Day Online (www.thisdayonline.com)
UN African Union-UN Hybrid Operation In Darfur
(www.unamid.unmissions.org)
UN News Center (www.un.org/news)
UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
(www.unesco.org)
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (www.unhcr.org)
UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
(www.ohchr.org)
UN Children’s Fund (www.unicef.org)
UN Development Fund for Women (www.unifem.org)
Voice of America News (www.voanews.com)
The Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com)
World Bank (www.worldbank.org)
Xinhua News Agency (www.xinhuanet.com/english)
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UPDATE SUMMARY
COLOMBIA
Colombian drug baron claims to have supported Uribe’s election campaigns.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
MONUC implements Quick Impact Projects (QUIPs).
GUATEMALA
CICIG mandate extended for two more years.
LIBERIA
Liberia continues to reduce debt; foreign nations interested in economic investment.
SIERRA LEONE
Justice still questioned after SCSL hands down final sentence; civil society speaks out about
drug-trafficking trial decision.
SRI LANKA
Government announces end of heavy combat in “no fire zone.”
SUDAN
Eleven Darfur rebels sentenced to death.
UGANDA
Children still in danger as northern Uganda transitions to peace.
4
COLOMBIA
Colombian drug baron claims to have supported Uribe’s election campaigns. On April 22,
former paramilitary chief and drug lord Diego Fernando “Don Berna” Murillo was
sentenced to 31 years in prison and fined four million dollars by Manhattan District Judge
Richard Berman for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the U.S. Murillo was a leader of the
far-right paramilitary group United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), as well as the
head of Medellín-based drug cartels, the Cacique Nutibara bloc and the Heroes of Granada
and Heroes of Tolová blocs. Murillo, along with 13 other AUC leaders, was extradited to the
U.S. by President Alvaro Uribe in May 2008. The day of his sentencing, Murillo testified that
he had financed Uribe’s election campaigns in 2002 and 2006. After the trial, Murillo’s
defense attorney Margaret M. Shalley told spokesman for the Movement of Victims of
Crimes of the State (MOVICE) Iván Cepeda that, “The defendant supported the election of
President Uribe in 2002, contributed large sums of money to his campaign… because he
believed that peace was important.” Murillo told Judge Berman that he was a benevolent
man who used the sale of drugs to protect his people from communist aggression. Uribe’s
campaign manger for the 2002 and 2006 elections, Fabio Echeverri, denied the allegations.
Murillo, however, claims he is prepared to elaborate before the Colombian justice system on
his allegations that incriminate Uribe and to present proof. Later in the week, in a letter to
opposition senator Piedad Córdoba, Murillo appealed for a commission of Colombian
congressmen to visit him in his U.S. prison so he can “continue his collaboration with
Bogotá on bringing justice.” In the letter, Murillo wrote: “The people have a right to know
their history so it is not repeated. I am committed to tell the truth; the victims are entitled to
know, just like all Colombians.” Murillo wants “transparency, accuracy and efficiency”
guaranteed to him in his cooperation with the special Justice and Peace tribunal that seeks to
clarify the crimes committed by the AUC paramilitaries before their demobilization in 2007.
According to BBC News, “the accusation against Mr. Uribe is a very serious one and has
generated widespread reaction here in Colombia. Ever since Mr. Uribe started his political
career, he has been dogged by accusations of links with right-wing paramilitaries.” During
his term as governor of the province of Antioquia the AUC was born; it then flourished and
spread across the country, leading to the deaths of more than 100,000 Colombians, before its
demobilization as a result of the Justice and Peace Law of 2005. Currently 77 congressmen
are under investigation for links to the AUC; nine of those, almost all of whom are
supporters of Uribe, have been convicted and sentenced. (BBC News, April 23; Business
Day, April 24; Press TV, April 24, 2009)
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
MONUC implements Quick Impact Projects (QUIPs). During his travels to such localities
in North Kivu Province as Kanyabayonga and Luofu to visit those zone which have recently
been increasingly threatened by the rebel Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda
(FDLR), the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, Alan Doss, also visited Goma in order to inaugurate one of
MONUC’s most recent Quick Impact Projects (QUIPs): the building of a basketball court at
the University of Goma. According to the official website of MONUC, the UN Mission in
DRC, the aim of MONUC’s QUIPs is to “support local communities in fields like
education, health and engineering, not only to rebuild damaged infrastructure but also to
contribute to the well being of the population.” Also according to MONUC, the basketball
court project came about because basketball is one of the most popular pastimes in DRC,
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and because there was “a request from the student community in Goma, [that] the Indian
Blue Helmets of MONUC’s North Kivu brigade [undertake] the building of a basketball
court [at] the University.” This project took 35 days to complete and was funded by
MONUC’s special QUIPs budget, which was approximately $83,515 last year for all projects
combined. In 2008, 19 QUIPs were carried out by MONUC in North Kivu province alone,
and 95 others were carried out in other areas across the country. Examples of other past
QUIPs, according to MONUC, are “the construction of an open market shed in Walikale,
the renovation of Rwindi primary school and the rehabilitation of Kimoka primary school…
support [of the] local government in Bukavu, and [support of] DRC Armed Forces in
Uvira.” The University of Goma basketball court was inaugurated by Doss April 23 and was
named the Amani Sport Complex to symbolize MONUC’s efforts to help bring about peace
in DRC. In his inauguration, Doss dedicated the court to the youth of Goma and also
praised the Indian Blue Helmets for their “role in developing mutual respect and better
cooperation between peacekeepers and the local population.” Doss also communicated his
hope that the Indian Blue Helmets will “continue to undertake such projects that help the
local population to develop their talent in sport and in self-employment.” (MONUC, April
24, 27, 2009)
GUATEMALA
CICIG mandate extended for two more years. On April 21 the mission of the International
Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), was extended for two more years. In
an official ceremony attended by the Guatemalan government as well as members of the
international community, the decision of the UN to extend the mandate of CICIG to
September 4, 2011 was announced. On March 20, the government of Guatemala, through
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had asked the UN to extend the mandate of CICIG, which
was scheduled to end September 4 of this year. One month later, the UN sent an official
letter approving the extension. The Guatemalan government affirmed that the extension
would not require a majority approval vote by Congress, which was the case for its creation
in 2007. President Alvaro Colom expressed his gratitude to the international community and
stated: “The extension of CICIG will allow the strengthening of the National Justice and
Security pact, which state agencies signed [April 15].” CICIG Director Carlos Castresana
expressed his relief at the extension. He explained his worry that organized criminal groups
would have seen the end of CICIG’s mission in September as an opening for them to
expand and gain power. Castresana also expressed his commitment to a Public Ministry and
Judicial system in Gautemala that will be strong and effective by September 2011. To achieve
this objective, Castresana called upon the government to create maximum security prisons;
for the judiciary to hear high-impact cases; and for the congress to approve a package of
laws to increase security in the country. Chilean ambassador Jorge Mario Saavedra called the
extension a necessary “dream come true.” French ambassador Michele Ramis also expressed
her satisfaction with the extension and asserted that it is essential for the CICIG to have
more time to complete its mission of reducing impunity and tackling organized crime in
Guatemala. The creation of CICIG, operating with financial support from Belgium, Canada,
Denmark, the U.S, Spain, Finland, Norway, England, Sweden and Switzerland among others,
was approved by Congress with the votes of 110 members and began its work officially in
September, 2007. (The Guatemala Times, April 22; Prensa Libre, April 22, 2009)
6
LIBERIA
Liberia continues to reduce debt; foreign nations interested in economic investment. On
April 14, Liberia concluded negotiations reducing its debt by $1.2 billion in commercial debt
at a 97 percent discount. The World Bank and a group of wealthier nations paid the $38
million needed to close the deal. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf commented that the debt
reduction “puts [Liberia] on a firmer footing to attract investment and accelerate economic
growth.” In the wake of the debt buyback, Liberia was acknowledged by the Obama
administration and is being approached by interested foreign investors. On April 17, the
British government waived $45.5 million of $50.6 million debt owed to Britain by the
Liberian government. Liberian Finance Minister Augustine Ngafuan said, “The remaining
$5.1 million in debt is expected to be waived by the British Government when [Liberia]
reaches the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) completion point.” HIPC is a program
initiated by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank that provides debt relief to
countries with high levels of poverty and heavy debt. Liberia is expected to reach this
completion point in early 2010 by continuing to meet macroeconomic stability goals. In a
meeting with Sirleaf and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Clinton commented that
“the United States has given more than $211 million to clear Liberia’s [unpaid debt] to the
International Monetary Fund and the African Development Bank, and we have canceled
more than $390 million in bilateral debt claims.” The United States also pledged to cancel
100 percent of Liberia’s remaining debt to it by the HIPC completion point. Clinton
commented that the goals of the U.S. comprehensive assistance program for Liberia include
“helping Liberians to reinvigorate their economy, encouraging private sector growth,
improving the delivery of basic services such as health and education, rebuilding vital
infrastructure, enhancing governance, extending the rule of law, using natural resources in a
sustainable manner, and ensuring peace and security.” In response, Sirleaf once again
confirmed her dedication to being accountable to Liberia’s investors to achieving results in
peace and development. Nigeria further praised Liberia’s debt reduction and is taking steps
towards investing in Liberia in the near future. Nigerian Senator Ibrahim Ida, along with ten
other senators, visited Liberia in early April and told the Senate about the “enormous
sacrifices the Nigerian troops made to restore peace and democracy in Liberia.” Ida asked
the Senate to consider investing in Liberia’s economic rebuilding after Nigeria’s having spent
so much time and effort in investing in peace in Liberia. Ida also commented that in
appreciation for Nigeria’s support, “the Liberian legislature has pledged to pass a resolution
in support of Nigeria’s bid for a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council.”
Finally, Liberia has been approached by Thailand, which is also interested in investing in
Liberia’s economy. An exploratory delegation led by former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra visited Liberia last week and is interested in investment possibilities in
agriculture, oil exploration and extraction, and exploration of metals. The Thai investors’
goals were to “get first hand information and get an idea of where to invest.” Liberian Vice
President Joseph Boakai emphasized that Liberia is looking for investment in any of the
aforementioned areas, and that the country’s overall goal is to “empower [Liberia’s] young
people and citizens in the rebuilding process of our country.” (America.gov, April 22; The
Informer, April 17, 24; This Day, April 23, 2009)
SIERRA LEONE
Justice still questioned after SCSL hands down final sentence; civil society speaks out about
drug-trafficking trial decision. The UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL)
7
handed down its final sentences for three former Revolutionary United Front (RUF) leaders.
This trial was the last to be held by the SCSL, which tried those responsible for the most
“serious violations of international and Sierra Leonean law” committed between 1991 and
2002 during Sierra Leone’s civil war. The trials concluded April 8; however, there are still
questions as to whether justice has been achieved. According to IPS News, there are still
many victims who “claim that the ex-combatants have been rehabilitated and given skills
training and cash incentives as part of the reconciliation process, while they the victims have
been left on their own, languishing in abject poverty.” The same news service comments
that victims want the former RUF leaders to serve their sentences in Sierra Leone at “the
scene of the crime” instead of at Mpanga prison in Rwanda. The RUF defense lawyers also
want the leaders to serve their sentences in Sierra Leone because serving in Rwanda “would
violate the rights of [their] clients and [would] isolate them from meeting their families,
friends and loved ones.” In other trial news, civil society members in Sierra Leone
questioned the Liberian government’s decision to allow three U.S. citizens found guilty of
cocaine smuggling to serve their jail sentences in the United States instead of in Sierra Leone
where they committed the crime. Chairman of the civil society groups, Charles Mambu, said
he “welcomed the guilty verdict handed down by the high court;” however, he questions
whether the convicted men will be able to appeal their case in the United States. Minister of
Information and Communication Alhaji Ibrahim Ben Kargo said the convicts’ “expulsion
was due to a prior agreement between the United States government and the government of
Sierra Leone that the three men will be handed over to their country of origin if convicted,
and that it was done because of the international implications of their offence.” The
expulsion was done under the provisions of the Non-Citizen’s (Registration, Immigration
and Expulsion) Act, 1965. This law “provides that the President shall, if he deems it
conducive to the public good, expel any non-citizen from Sierra Leone and also if it is so
recommended by the Trial Judge.” Kargo commented that the three convicted men were
also going to be charged in the United States for drug-related charges in the Southern
District of New York. Finally, Kargo believes the action taken by Sierra Leone and the
United States sends a “clear message that never again will [Sierra Leone] be used as a transit
point for cocaine… because the due process of law has been achieved.” (Concord Times,
April 23; IPS, April 28; SC-SL; United Nations; VOA, April 22, 2009)
SRI LANKA
Government announces end of heavy combat in “no fire zone.” On April 27 the
government announced that the military had been ordered to stop using “heavy caliber guns,
combat aircraft and aerial weapons which could cause civilian casualties.” The military’s
conventional campaign has shifted to rescuing the remaining civilians trapped in the no fire
zone (NFZ). “There is no ceasefire. The rescue operations are continuing to save the
civilians and we have already informed the troops in the North to stop using heavy
weapons,” Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said. Defense officials continue to claim that they
have abided by a “zero civilian casualty” policy: “This is the same and an extension of what
the security forces have been continuing since the fall of Mullaitivu,” said Nanayakkara.
However, in mid-March UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanetheem Pillay
released a statement implicating both the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the
government of possible humanitarian law violations as evidenced by the “catastrophic” level
of civilian deaths. Western provincial council elections were held April 25; provincial
elections are held on a rotating schedule, each electing a portion of MPs to serve a four-year
8
term. President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s ruling party, United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA)
won 65 percent of the vote, putting the UPFA just shy of a two-thirds majority in
parliament. “People of Sri Lanka approve government military campaign,” read a headline
from Colombo Page, an online newspaper based in the country’s capital. The election
victory is being interpreted by state-run press as a stamp of approval for Rajapaksa’s
campaign to eradicate the LTTE. On April 26, a day after the elections, the LTTE
announced a unilateral ceasefire in an attempt to instigate international pressure on the
government to accept. Rajapaksa reiterated that he would only accept unconditional
surrender; yet the order to end heavy combat and the shift toward rescue operations reveal
that Rajapaksa may be succumbing to external pressures. The eighty-four-year old chief
minister of Tamil Nadu state in India, Muthuvelu Karunanidhi, launched a one-man hunger
strike, declaring he was ready to be “yet another victim” of violence in Sri Lanka. He ended
the strike after one day, when he was assured by the Indian government that “immediate
action would be taken for a ceasefire in Sri Lanka.” On May 13 India is to hold general
parliamentary elections. Tamil Nadu, home to 65 million ethnic Tamils, is a concern for the
ruling National Congress Party in India. If India is seen as supporting Rajapaksa’s plan to
eradicate the LTTE, the face of the Tamil nationalist movement, Congress could lose Tamil
voters. Pressure also came from UN under-Secretary General for humanitarian affairs John
Holmes, who spent three days in Sri Lanka meeting with government and military officials.
Holmes had pushed for a “humanitarian pause” upon arrival April 25, but supported the
government’s announcement to suspend the use of heavy weapons three days later, though
he remained skeptical of its commitment. “I hope the idea of not using heavy weapons will
be genuinely respected this time which I’m afraid has not been [the case] in the past,”
Holmes said. French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner and British foreign secretary David
Miliband are to arrive in Colombo April 29; they are expected to negotiate with government
officials for a “humanitarian ceasefire” and preside at the opening of a field hospital in
Vavuniya, intended to treat injured civilians from the NFZ to the north. The French and
British governments have contributed medical equipment and 75 medical staff including
doctors and nurses to the hospital. In addition, the UN has pledged a total of $20 million in
aid for displaced people and UNICEF has airlifted 50 metric tons of emergency relief
supplies, which have yet to be distributed to civilians in the NFZ. Libyan leader Muammar
Gadaffi announced that steps would be taken to make a $500 million loan promised to
Rajapaksa during his visit April 8 visit to Libya. Gadaffi has publicly praised the steps taken
by Rajapaksa to “defeat terrorism in the country completely.” The NFZ, an eight-squaremile sliver of coastal land, is the last remaining territory under rebel control. LTTE leader,
Velupillai Prabhakaran, is believed to be alive and in the NFZ. The LTTE has waged war
against the government for a separate Tamil homeland since 1983; ruling de facto over the
Tamil population in the north and east. It is estimated that 6,500 civilians have been killed
since January. The rebels now refuse to allow the remaining 20,000- 50,000 civilians to leave
the NFZ because the hostages are their only protection. (Daily Mirror, April 25, 28; Reuters,
April 25, 27; Colombo Page, April 26, 27, 28; Daily News, April 28; 2009)
SUDAN
Eleven Darfur rebels sentenced to death. On Sunday, April 26, 11 members of the Justice
and Equality Movement (JEM), Darfur’s largest and most heavily equipped rebel group,
were found guilty of participating in a JEM attack on Khartoum May 10, 2008. The attack
lasted several hours and left more than 200 people dead. The 11 rebels sentenced to death
9
were found guilty on twelve charges, including terrorism, illegal possession of weapons, and
violence against the state. Eight other rebels were acquitted at the Sunday trial and therefore
will be freed. Judge Hafez Ahmed of the Sudanese court in Omdurman, where the rebels
were convicted and sentenced, told the crowded courtroom that “for their actions in
terrorizing the people, and threatening the foundation of the state… aggressive sentences
[for the rebels] are required.” The handcuffed men yelled, “Allahu Akbar!” (God is Great) as
Ahmed read their sentences aloud. According to Reuters, the Omdurman court “is housed
in a compound [at which] JEM rebels fired missiles… during the attack… last year.” When
the rebels were finally stopped by government troops during their attack in May, they were
only kilometers from the presidential palace; to get to Khartoum, they had driven hundreds
of miles across desert land. Although the 11 sentenced on Sunday are among 80 rebels who
have been sentenced to death since the 2008 attack on Khartoum, no executions have been
carried out. Also according to Reuters, Adam Bakr, the rebels’ lawyer, “said he launched an
appeal, as he had done for the previous groups who were sentenced to death.” “I am only
launching it as a procedural measure, however, I am not expecting very much,” Bakr told
reporters. February brought hope for a peaceful settlement between JEM and the Sudanese
government, when both sides participated in peace talks in Doha, Qatar and signed a
declaration of intent for a peaceful settlement of the war. However, JEM has since ceased its
participation in the peace talks, accusing the Sudanese government of not honoring past
confidence-building accords. Unless all of its prisoners and prisoners of war are released,
JEM claims, it will continue its refusal to participate in the Qatar talks. (BBC, Reuters, April
26, 2009)
UGANDA
Children still in danger as northern Uganda transitions to peace. The non-profit group
Invisible Children capitalized on worldwide recognition gained from the release of their 2004
documentary, Invisible Children: The Rough Cut, and staged a “Rescue” event the weekend
of April 25. The event was held in 10 countries and 100 cities from San Diego to London to
Sydney. Participants marched to visible city-centers to “displace” themselves by sleeping
outside until being “rescued” by politicians or celebrities. In New York City 2,000 people
walked from City Hall across the Brooklyn Bridge chanting “rescue me!” “We need to do
something about this. How did I never hear this before?” said actress Yin Chang. The idea
was to heighten media attention and in turn increase pressure on governments and private
donors to channel more resources to rescuing and rehabilitating children abducted by the
Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). Invisible Children was founded by filmmakers Laren Poole,
Jason Russell and Bobby Bailey after traveling to Uganda to film the thousands of children
who marched by night from their rural villages to Kampala and other urban areas to seek
shelter from abductions by the LRA. The LRA has abducted an estimated 66,000 children
since they began fighting the Ugandan government in 1987; the LRA’s leader, Joseph Kony,
was the first person to be indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes
against humanity. The “Rescue” event coincided with a report released by IRIN (UN
Integrated Regional Information Networks) revealing an upward trend of child trafficking
and abuse cases in the northern regions Karamoja and Gulu. “People are taking advantage of
impoverished [internally displaced persons (IDPS) who are also] parents. The parents are
promised money and a good life for their children, but the children end up miserable… and
abused,” said Johnson Kilama, a regional police officer in Gulu. Speaking on the topic of
northern Uganda at the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies at the University of San
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Diego, Judy Kamanyi, a member of the board of directors of the African Center for
Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims, explained that those living in IDP camps
in the north need continued humanitarian aid to transition toward peace-time. “The
residents of the camps have grown dependent on services provided by non-governmental
organizations. Now that there is peace, the camps are closing and telling people to ‘go
home.’ But to what home?” Kamanyi asked rhetorically. “The decades of conflict have
destroyed all infrastructure, the forests have overgrown, and farming takes at least six
months to produce crops – people can starve,” she continued. The children, many of whom
have lived their entire lives in IDP camps, are left vulnerable. There are no schools and while
the parents are regenerating their farms, and communities are reassembling, there is nobody
to protect children from theft, neglect or abuse. UNICEF continues to sponsor locally
initiated children’s support groups focusing on education and malnutrition. The Karamoja
Leadership Forum for Children was held in March to mobilize “community-generated
solutions to development challenges in north-eastern Uganda.” The forum culminated in the
signing of the “First Call for Children Declaration,” which outlined specific goals for
education and child protection to be presented to a council of elders in Karamoja who
agreed to disseminate the declaration. The head of UNICEF operations in Uganda, Keith
McKenzie, urged for a renewed commitment to children: “You have a clear choice…
maintaining the status quo [or] fully embracing the chance to be remembered as the
generation that made a difference for children. Now is the time to make history.” (UNICEF,
April 2; InvisibleChildren, April 26, 28; IRIN, April 28, 2009)
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