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April 13: Global Day for Darfur
“The people of Darfur are hungry for change,” said Dismas Nkunda of the Darfur Consortium, a coalition of African and Middle-Eastern groups working on Darfur. “They have been the victims of a belligerent government and an inept international response. Above all it has been children who have suffered and it is they whom we must now rally to protect before we lose an entire generation to violence.” (Quote from Human Rights News, April 11.) Read about DC member events on April 12-13 here.
Read media coverage of the fifth Global Day for Darfur here.
On the occasion of the international day of Darfur on April 13 the Arab Program for Human Rights Activists (APHRA) launched its electronic (Arabic language) website about Darfur: www.aphra.org/pcd.
On April 8, Dismas Nkunda, Chair of the Darfur Consortium and Co-Director of the International Refugee Rights Initiative, talked to US radio show host at the "In My Pajamas Show".
Listen to the broadcast here.
Darfur Bar Association writes to H. E. Ambassador Liu Guijin,
Special Representative of the Chinese Government on the Darfur Issue in Khartoum
March 4, 2008
Extract from the letter:
"It is disturbing that these abhorrent crimes are being systematically committed by
the Government of Sudan in Darfur and that members of the international community
including your Government are fully aware of the extent and magnitude of these crimes.
The atrocities committed in Darfur were recognized by your Government in many ways
and on a number of occasions including deliberations at the UN Security Council."
Read the letter here.
Interview with Sudanese Minister and war crimes’ suspect, Ahmed Harun
February 18, 2008
Published in Al Hayat, Pan Arab daily ( Saudi financed publication in England)
Read the full interview here.
Arabic version
Press release
South Africa, Egypt must emulate Ethiopia on helicopters to hybrid force
(KAMPALA, February 8) The Darfur Consortium has welcomed the decision by the Ethiopian government to offer helicopters to the hybrid African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), but urged other African countries such as Egypt and South Africa to also make contributions.
Read the press release here.
Press release
Civil Society Organisations call on new AU leadership to prioritise peace and human security, gender parity and strengthening AU organs
ISSUED BY: Institute for Democratic Governance, International Refugee Rights Initiative, Solidarity for African Women Rights and Oxfam.
Addis Ababa – 2nd February 2008 – Following the election of the Chairperson of African Union and the Commission and as the 10th African Union Summit comes to a close, CSOs have called on the African Union to prioritise peace and human security, gender parity and strengthening AU organs.
Read the press release here.
Country to sit on AU Peace, Security Council
The Times of Zambia (Ndola)
31 January 2008
By James Muyanwa
ZAMBIA and nine other countries have been elected as members of the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council for the next five-years, amid challenges of conflicts in various parts of the continent.
The 10 countries representing five African regions were elected here during the 12th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the AU at the commission headquarters.
Read the article in which Dismas Nkunda, Chair of the Consortium, is quoted here.
New AU Peace and Security Council Members elected
(January 30, 2008, Addis Ababa) Ten countries have been elected as Members of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union yesterday at the end of the 12th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of AU here at the headquarters of the African Union Commission, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
According to an AU press release, drawn from the five regions of the continent, the newly appointed member countries of the PSC are: Burundi and Chad (Central Africa), Rwanda and Uganda (Eastern Africa), Tunisia (Northern Africa), Swaziland and Zambia (Southern Africa) as well as Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali (Western Africa).
Read the article here.
SUDAN: civic groups reject nation’s bid to head the African Union
(January 25, 2008) A bid by the Sudanese government to seek headship of the African Union (AU) has met with stiff resistance from human rights advocates.
Dismas Nkunda, spokesman for Darfur Consortium, a grouping of over 50 activist organizations working to end the suffering in Darfur, said it would be a huge blow to the credibility of the AU and its capacity to respond independently to the crisis if Khartoum was elected to chair the continental body
"How can the AU maintain a credible leadership role in the ongoing peace negotiations if it is headed by a party to the conflict? Tensions between Chad and Sudan are also escalating. The AU needs a leadership which can mediate independently," Nkunda said in statement.
Read the full press article here.
ICC D. Prosecutor speaks on need for justice in Darfur in women meeting
The Deputy Prosecutor of the Internatinal Criminal Court joined other African women across in a session organized by Darfur Consortium members Femmes Africa Solidarite. The session focused on conditions for women in Darfur and the need for peace and justice in the region.
Read how the conference was covered in the Sudan Tribune.
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