New month,

a new chance,

Back to Europe off to Canada, USA, Mexico

Hope to meet tons of people

Ashis

Ashis Brahma said:

New month,

Thank Ashis. Where are you now? Jim

Darfur conference called for mid-July

U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said Thursday the July 15-16 meeting would be in Libya's capital, Tripoli. Invitations have been sent to Sudan, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, the Arab League, the U.S. and U.N. Security Council's other four permanent members, and key donors, she said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070 705/ap_on_re_af/un_darfur

Matt Damon, Ben Affleck Play Poker for Africa

http://www.people.com/people/art icle/0,,20044767,00.html?xid=ema il-peopledaily-20070706-20044767

"The friends tried their hands at the Ante Up For Africa poker event at the Rio Hotel, which raised money for the Enough Project and the International Rescue Committee, both aiding survivors of the crisis in Darfur."

--

"Ante Up For Africa was co-organized by Damon's Ocean's Thirteen costar Don Cheadle and professional poker player Annie Duke, who has coached both Affleck and Damon.

"Hopefully we won't be here in five years for Darfur," Cheadle said at a press conference. "This isn't going to be solved one nation at a time. We need to bring this to the world. We're actually doing a great job in this country."

With my parents in my motherland, Holland, Gouda eating cheese and stroopwafels.

Jim Fussell said:

Ashis Brahma said:

New month,

Thank Ashis. Where are you now? Jim

I appreciate this thread with the Darfur Scores:

I have learned one of my government representatives in government is an A+ and another a D...a man that certainly needs to be worked on. How can you not support something that is so crucial?

I now know what I must do...appreciate all that brought forth this information..It will make a difference...one state at a time...

You should also check out http://www.AskTheCandidates.org . Jim can you add this to the top section under Mobilize?

Also, one more cool event happening tomorrow in Central Park http://tinyurl.com/33x4fh

Mark Hanis said:

You should also check out http://www.AskTheCandidates.org . Jim can you add this to the top section under Mobilize?

Done Mark!

Mark Hanis said:

Also, one more cool event happening tomorrow in Central Park http://tinyurl.com/33x4fh

This new play is by Winter Miller, a close associate of Nick Kristoff. Jim

I've been following the links that the forum provided and have learned so much. I appreciate the time and effort to bring awareness to myself as well as others.

I am only one voice but I hope to make a difference and I appreciate the guidance in this issue. We must stand together in all nations to make things right.

Online article from a recent Camp Darfur event in Portland.

i-ACT 3 ..... STOP GENOCIDE NOW

http://www.stopgenocidenow.org/c ategory/iact/iact3/day1

I was able to give Pagan two "Humanity Before Genocide" t-shirts today! (sorry this is so long)

---

SPLM Secretary General says “genocide” going on in Darfur

Wednesday 11 July 2007 05:30.

By Roba Gibia

July 10, 2007 (CAIRO) — The Secretary General of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) described the situation in Sudan’s troubled region of Darfur as "genocide in its really meaning" adding that it represents a real challenge for all the Sudanese.

In a speech before the Sudanese community in Cairo on July 6, Pagan Amum the Secretary General of the SPLM said “what is happening today in Darfur is ethnic cleansing and genocide in its really meaning, and it is a real challenge before us.” Referring to a statement by Sudanese president on the real number of Darfurians killed up to now in Darfur conflict, Pagan said "they claimed that people killed in Darfur were only nine thousand! Five thousand is considered genocide, and more than three hundred villages were burned and people are chased out of their homes, depending entirely on foreign aids!" Pagan mocked at Khartoum’s refusal for foreign troops in Darfur, by saying that the foreign troops are already there on the ground, exclaiming, what about the Rwandan or Nigerian troops, are they not foreign troops or they are Sudanese forces! The SPLM Secretary General said that "Sudan is the only country in the region with high percentage of internal displaced people, and Khartoum is the evidential example of that with more than two million IDPs. There was no country in the entire world with ghost houses like Sudan."

He said the war in southern Sudan claimed more than 4 million lives and now that is happening in Darfur. The IDPs in Sudan are between 6 to 7 million and about 5 million lost their lives. In every ten IDPs in the world, nine is from Sudan, and Sudanese are scattered everywhere in the world, and this was the evidence of political failure in Sudan. SUDANESE HAVE A GOVERNMENT TO CHANGE On the relations between the North and the South after the referendum on self determination of 2011, Pagan said “if Southerners choose unity, still they will rule themselves by themselves but if they choose secession, south and north will remain good neighbors and the tie between them will remain ever stronger.” He further explained that there is no problem between southerners and northerners, "but with the government in the center which has to be changed, and if not, I am afraid that after south Sudan separation, Sudan will be disintegrated into countries." During his three day visit to Cairo last week, Pagan Amum held talks with the Egyptian officials and visited the parliament, the Arab League and met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

The visit comes as part of boosting bilateral relationship between the government of Southern Sudan and Egypt. The SPLM Secretary General also had a meeting with UN officials to stand at the latest developments of the Sudanese refugees in Egypt, and also visited Australian embassy in Cairo. Pagan Amum also met with Democratic Unionist Party leader, Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani in which the two discussed variety of issues pertaining to CPA implementation and the efforts being made to resolve Darfur crisis as well as unification of Darfur movement front. The SPLM Secretary General visited GoSS Liaison Office for Arab Republic of Egypt – Middle East – Gulf States and the Arab League in Cairo, in which he discussed with Liaison staff the responsibility entrusted upon them, and said this office is a symbol of freedom struggle and a path forward in the right direction from the domination and mediation.

Below is a summary of the major points in his speech before the Sudanese community in

Cairo reported by the Sudan Tribune : Before flying back to Khartoum on July 6, 2007, the SPLM Secretary General met with Sudanese community at Meridian Hotel in Cairo. He told Sudanese community that he is happy to be in Egypt at this juncture, and that this is his first time to come directly from Khartoum to Cairo, unlike the past twenty-two years or more where he used to come to Cairo from various directions such as Asmara, Nairobi and Triply and said that this is his second time to visit Egypt after Naivasha agreement. He started his speech by observing one minute silence in the memory of those who perished in the war and the martyrs, on top of them late Dr. John Garang de Mabior.

Pagan Amum started his speech by enlightening the Sudanese community about the previous efforts made to bring the peace about in Sudan, and the memorandum of understanding which was signed in 1988 between DUP and SPLM which was known as al-Mirghani- Garang agreement. The memorandum was aiming to look into Sudan’s problems and commencement of constitutional conference which will include all the Sudanese political parties, and to enable Sudanese define themselves and find a sustainable solution to the country’s predicament. But unfortunately the June 30, 1989 coup by National Islamic Front made the constitutional conference impossible to convene. Thus, it changed entirely Sudan’s political direction. Pagan Amum talked about the plight of the Sudanese people during the past fifty-one years, and said that the Sudan crisis was due to the failure and imposition of the government on the people.

He said for instance, Ibrahim Aboud thought the military rule was the solution to Sudan’s problems, but it failed miserably in solving the country’s predicament. He went on saying that even the so called democratic elected governments in Khartoum, was not really democratic but incomplete and yet it failed to solve crisis in Sudan. Then Jaafar Mohamed Nimeri thought the socialism was the Sudan’s best solution, but failed too to resolve the chronic problem of Sudan because it was imposed socialism which doesn’t emerge from the Sudanese people. And Nimeri was toppled by the public uprising, and then came the so called elected democratic government. But the National Islamic Front thought the "Islam was the solution" and came to power by coup in 1989 and imposed Sharia law and declared jihad or holy war against south, which added more blaze and the entire situation intensified, and it failed to find a solution to Sudan’s problems.

The SPLM Secretary General went on explaining that, right after independence we Sudanese were supposed to ask ourselves very simple question "who are we?", but this simple question was never asked and instead the government in the center mobilized and utilized country’s resources to terrorize, torture and kill its own citizens. This excessive force used by Khartoum government against its citizens, affected all the political parties in Sudan from right to left. And the arrest and disappearance of politicians and political leaders made Sudan one of the compelling countries in the region i.e. if you are opposition, either you will be killed, jailed or obliged to flee the country, and that is evidential for the great number of Sudanese oppositions living in exile. Sudan was the only country in the region with high percentage of murder and the only country with excessive brutality which kills or imprisons its people, opponents and political leaders. Thus, Sudan became centrifugal country to its own people as well as politicians. And that is obvious with your presence here today in Egypt, as even this hall is not enough to contain you all.

DARFUR GENOCIDE

He said Sudan is the only country in the region with high percentage of internal displaced people, and Khartoum is the evidential example of that with more than two million IDPs. There was no country in the entire world with ghost houses like Sudan. He said the war in south Sudan claimed more than 4 million lives and now it is happening in Darfur. The internal displaced people in Sudan are between 6 to 7 million and about 5 million lost their lives. And in every ten internal displaced person in the world, nine is from Sudan, and Sudanese are scattered everywhere in the world, and this was the evidence of political failure in Sudan. He went on saying that after closing the door of immigration for Sudanese to Australia, Canada and America, now they opened a new door of infiltrating into Israel which is really disgracing. He called on the Darfur people to go to south Sudan, Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains instead of Israel. They claimed that people killed in Darfur were only nine thousand! Five thousand is considered genocide, and more than three hundred villages were burned and people are chased out of their homes and depending entirely on foreign aids! Pagan said what is happening today in Darfur is ethnic cleansing and genocide in its really meaning, and it is a real challenge before us. And called on the Darfur movements to unite and benefit from the SPLM experience.

Pagan mocked at Khartoum’s refusal for foreign troops in Darfur, by saying that the foreign troops are already there on the ground, exclaiming, what about the Rwandan or Nigerian troops, are they not foreign troops or they are Sudanese forces! Pagan Amum went on discussing Sudan’s crisis by saying that when they signed Naivasha agreement, it is called inclusive but it never solved entire problems of Sudan, as Darfur is till on fire and there will not be inclusive peace in Sudan unless Darfur crisis is solved. Darfur should be given its rights and be represented in the government according to its population. He said we want dispense power to the people because all Sudanese need power, they want to rule themselves by themselves. As the imposition of government on people will never solve the problems of Sudan and the decentralization is the best recipe for the country. He said from the previous experiences, we even do not want to impose New Sudan but we can’t accept Sudan in its old form.

He called on the Sudanese people from south Sudan, Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains to go back home and participate in the process of peace building and the country, and wondered if you do not go back, then to whom government will be given! “We in the SPLM party, look forward to establishing bright Sudan which will contain all Sudanese with equal rights and opportunities, and dispensation of power to the regions, states and to the every locality till to the village level.” The SPLM Secretary General continued saying that we had been playing match for the past fifty-one years without scoring a goal, and if at all there was a score, it was in our own goal. And said, now we are playing in the waste time, and the remaining four years is crucial.

SUDAN AFTER 2011 REFERENDUM

Yes, the peace is moving very slow, but in the desired direction, and as our President said talking as Chairperson of NCP that the elections will be conducted as scheduled in the first half of interim period. Thus, there is need for all political parties/powers in Sudan to sit down and formulate the election regulations to guarantee the fair and transparent elections. As in the year 2011, we will tell Southern Sudanese that now everything has been done and the unity of the country has been made attractive, and it is you now to say your final word, unity or secession, and whatever Southerners will say in 2012 will be respected. If Southerners choose unity, still they will rule themselves by themselves and if they choose secession, south and north will remain good neighbors and the tie between them will remain ever stronger. Because there is no problem between Southerners and Northerners, but with the government in the center which has to be changed, and if not, I am afraid that after south Sudan separation, Sudan will be disintegrated into countries.

WEALTH DISTRIBUTION

Speaking on the resources, the SPLM Secretary General said, Sudan is expected to be one of the largest oil producers in the world including other minerals as well as about 45% of fertile agricultural land. Thus, it is time for Sudanese to cooperate and share their wealth. For instance, Gezira scheme wealth should be for Gezira people and they are the one to contribute to the federal or central government, and same thing applies to the revenue of Port Sudan and gold in east, date in northern Sudan and oil in southern Sudan and the pipe line carrying oil to Port Sudan, will add yet another income to the eastern Sudan. Thus, it is time for each region in Sudan to govern and control its resources, and no one will accept to be a hostage for the previous and old system. And that was evidential, when late Dr. John Garang de Mabior said "everyone from the different regions of Sudan, should come with its own plate and anyone coming without plate shouldn’t share from others dishes or plates". (ST)

Thanks all, for continuing these threads and for your commitment to stopping the atrocities in Sudan and Chad.

I cannot believe this discussions were started in June 2004.

Sorry for not being online with you all... been more behind the scenes... went to Africa - incredible trip. Didn't make it to Sudan or Chad though.

Ubuntu, p

Leila steals the SHOW!!!!

The footage is fabulous ..... and Leila is gorgeous. (and Gabriel is the biggest softie of all time!)

http://stopgenocidenow.org/categ ory/iact/iact3/day3

Have you told 5 friends about i-ACT3 today?

Just told 46 folks about i-ACT3, including Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Christiane Amanpour of CNN. Hope it gets some air-time. Such great work our friends are doing.

Gayle Rogers (Australia) said:

and Leila is gorgeous. (and Gabriel is the biggest softie of all time!)

Yes, I totally agree Gayle. Jim

Agree Leila is a sweetie.

I just want to convey to you all that Aegis has reports that Sudanese authorities are systematically re-populating African villages with Arabs. Re-settlement has been happening sporadically and predictably since the beginning of the crisis and consolidates the ethnic displacement.

What is new is that GOS is bringing in Arabs from outside Darfur - Chad, Niger and Mali and issuing them with Sudanese ID cards. So far this year, 40,000 non Darfuri Arabs have been settled in Darfur, posing as returning IDPs.

I expect we will hear soon from the UN that there is a breakthrough in the political process. When that occurs, we can assume it is because the GOS is confident that by killing some and re-populating with others, the ethnic balance will be sufficiently altered in their favour ahead of the 2009 elections in Darfur and 2010 referendum on autonomy, agreed in the doomed DPA.

If it does become safe for IDPs to return, disputes and fights over the re-settled land will inevitably break out, even in the presence of a hybrid force. The returning Africans will be blamed for the violence. No-one will be able to prove it was once their land as no census was taken before the crisis erupted in 2003.

Look out for an article on this in tomorrow's Independent by Steve Bloomfield.

Oh James....... the plot thinkens doesn't it??

I had a creepy de ja vue feeling as I read your post - it was all a bit Serbia/Kosovo-like.

Thank you for the post.

Jim ..... thanks :)

And Miss Cynthia - firstly HI and secondly - 46 - that's just raised the bar.

Well Done :)

Gayle xxx

VERY powerful footage - Day 4 - i-ACT3

http://stopgenocidenow.org/wordp ress/category/iact/iact3/day4

Stop Genocide Now - i-ACT 2007 photos

Thanks Mark .... that one of Gabriel and Leila is priceless.

...things that NO kid should draw about

i-ACT3 - Day 5 - StopGenocideNow.org

Day 5 footage is both poignant and difficult to watch .... imagine living it

http://stopgenocidenow.org/wordp ress/category/iact/iact3/day5

i-ACT in the news

Upsurge Reported in Violence Against Humanitarian Workers in Darfur; Africa Action Releases Analysis of Prospects for a Deployment of Peacekeepers

Thursday, July 12, 2007 (Washington, DC)

Yesterday, Ghana, Britain and France circulated a draft resolution at the United Nations (UN) to authorize a hybrid peacekeeping force for Darfur, of up to 26,000 troops and police. Africa Action today emphasized that decisive diplomatic and financial leadership by the U.S. at the UN is immediately necessary to ensure the widespread support for and troop contributions to the deployment of a robust peacekeeping mission.

In light of Sudan’s stated acceptance of a hybrid African Union (AU)–UN mission last month, Africa Action further stated that the U.S. must use its international leverage to ensure that deployment proceeds urgently. UN estimates currently indicate that such a peacekeeping mission will not be on the ground before 2008, anticipating a long process of soliciting troop contributions. Furthermore, the draft UN resolution establishes that command and control of the peacekeeping mission will remain under the UN, a potential point of contention with Khartoum. Africa Action urged that the international community not allow Khartoum to manipulate such negotiations to prevent concrete action to protect civilians.

Regional and international diplomatic actors in the Darfur peace process will be in Libya on July 15 and 16, to push for a return to the negotiating table. Over the past year, the rebel movements in Darfur have splintered into various groups, seriously complicating the prospects of a unified peace process.

Meanwhile, a UN report this week revealed that attacks against relief workers have increase 150 percent in the past year and that, in June, approximately one in six humanitarian convoys leaving the capitals of Darfur provinces was ambushed by armed groups. There are currently 13,000 aid workers in Darfur, providing relief to more than 4 million people, and violence has increasingly limited the ability of humanitarian agencies to reach populations in need. The UN report also showed that about two-thirds of the population in Darfur is now dependent on relief aid.

Nii Akuetteh, Executive Director of Africa Action, said today, "The security situation in Darfur is spiraling out of control. When humanitarian workers become targets of violence, their ability to provide life-sustaining aid deteriorates. While the upcoming Tripoli meeting attempts to pull the peace process back on track, it is imperative that the international community work to improve security conditions in Darfur immediately. Above all, the U.S. must show decisive diplomatic, financial and logistical leadership at the UN to insure that rapid deployment of the peacekeeping force begins now."

This week, Africa Action released an analysis of the prospects of peacekeeping for Darfur. This statement, titled "Unkept Promises", highlights the persistent diplomatic obstacles to an effective deployment and calls for more concerted U.S. and international pressure on Khartoum.

Three activists with the organization Stop Genocide Now are currently visiting refugee camps along the Chad-Sudan border and posting daily video web-casts at the website http://www.stopgenocidenow.org. These videos provide the opportunity for viewers to experience the immediacy of the ongoing genocide.

For more information on Africa Action’s Campaign to Stop Genocide in Darfur, visit http://www.africaaction.org/darf ur.