29 September 2006 - CRIN Children and Armed Conflict 100
Special Edition on Darfur
Â
___________________________________________________________
- DARFUR: The International Communityâs Responsibility to Protect Population [news]
- BACKGROUND: Facts and Figures on the Humanitarian Situation and Child Rights in Sudan
- HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL: Address by High Commissioner for Human Rights on Darfur [speech]
- SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR: Report on Sudan Discussed at Human Rights Council [report]
- UNITED NATIONS: Report of UN Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict in Sudan [publication]
- WOMEN AND GIRLS: Reports on the Situation of Women and Girls in Darfur [publications]
- RESOURCES
**NEWS IN BRIEF**Â Â
___________________________________________________________
Your submissions are welcome if you are working in the area of child rights. To contribute, email us at info@crin.org. Adobe Acrobat is required for viewing some of the documents, and if required can be downloaded from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html If you do not receive this email in html format, you will not be able to see some hyperlinks in the text. At the end of each item we have therefore provided a full URL linking to a web page where further information is available.
___________________________________________________________
DARFUR: The International Communityâs Responsibility to Protect Population [news]
On 7 April 2004, in a moving speech in Geneva on the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan set out an action plan to prevent genocide. During his speech he highlighted the ethnic cleansing occurring in Darfur and spoke of the urgency of taking action to avoid past mistakes:
âWe must never forget our collective failure to protect at least 800,000 defenceless men, women and children who perished in Rwanda 10 years ago. Such crimes cannot be reversed. Such failures cannot be repaired. The dead cannot be brought back to life.â
The Secretary-General said that the prevention plan, which includes protecting civilians during war and taking swift and decisive action in response to warnings of genocide, was the only 'fitting memorial' to the 800,000 Rwandan tutsis and moderate hutus who were killed in the genocide.
He declared that genocide is a crime against humanity and that âhumanity must respond by taking action in its own defence. Humanityâs instrument for that purpose must be the United Nations, and specifically the Security Council.âÂ
Two years on in Darfur, an estimated 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 others displaced from their homes in three years of fighting between government forces, rebel groups and other militias.
The UN has approved the deployment of a UN force of 17,500 troops and 3,300 police to Sudan through resolution 1706. However, this deployment is subject to the approval of the Sudanese government which is accused of supporting the militias. The government has refused to allow UN troops into the country, which it claims will try to recolonise the country, and has argued that the African Union should remain in charge of peacekeeping in the region.
On September 17 last year, world leaders agreed they had a âcommon responsibilityâ to protect civilian populations from genocide, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. In an address at the 61st session of the UN General Assembly, held this month in New York, Kofi Annan referred to this commitment made a year ago, expressing sadness that the situation in Darfur âmade a mockeryâ of their claim to shield people from such abuses.
Human Rights Watch has demanded that the UN Security Council Members act on their common responsibility, and called for sanctions to be imposed on Sudanese President Omar El Bashir and other senior officials who impede the deployment of a UN force to Darfur.
Human Rights Watch has questioned the Security Councilâs willingness to enforce its own resolutions. Russia and China, both of whom have veto power, have resisted efforts to pressure Sudan to accept UN troops. China is a major recipient of oil from Sudan.
Mark Malloch Brown, who is Britainâs outgoing UN deputy Secretary-General, has criticised the âmegaphone diplomacyâ of London and Washington to impose a UN force. He said they need to tone down their rhetoric and instead work towards building international consensus, as âthe Sudanese know that we [the UN] donât have troops to go in against a hostile Khartoum government; if Sudan opposes us thereâs no peace to keep there anywayâŚItâs just not a credible threat.â
The 7,000 resource-poor AU troops have not managed to put an end to the conflict and the humanitarian situation is worsening. Their mandate was due to expire at the end of this month but has been extended until the end of the year.
Today, however, UN Sudan envoy Jan Pronk has urged the international community to put its efforts into strengthening AU forces. He told news agency Associated Press that he does not expect UN troops to be approved by Khartoum in the foreseeable future. Mr Pronk said âOur first priority must be to help the people of Darfur.â
[Sources: BBC, AlertNet, Human Rights Watch, UN]
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=10449&flag=news
Further information
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
BACKGROUND: Facts and Figures on the Humanitarian Situation and Child Right in Sudan
The United Nations has described Sudan's western Darfur region as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. For over three years since a local insurgency began, civilians have suffered attacks by government troops and nomadic militia, involving systematic rape, arson, shooting, uprooting and looting.
Facts and figures on the humanitarian situation
Total no. of people affected by conflict: 3.6 million
No. of people receiving food aid: 2.7 million
No. of residential people in need of humanitarian aid: 1.8 million
No. of displaced people: 1.8 million
Percentage of affected population accessible according to UN security standards: 78 per cent
No. of humanitarians on the ground (national and international): 14,750
No. of NGOs and UN agencies on the ground: 97
Malnutrition (moderate and severe): 11.9 per cent (2005 â down from 21.8 per cent in 2004
Mortality: 0.8 per 10,000 people per day (2005)
Primary school enrolment: 383,000 (December 2005 up from 142,000 in December 2004)
No. of child soldiers so far removed from rebel forces: 513
[Source: AlertNet]
Sudan and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
Sudan and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
Â
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=10450&flag=news
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL: Address by High Commissioner for Human Rights on Darfur [speech]
In an address at the second session of the Human Rights Council, Ms. Louise Arbour, High Commissioner for Human Rights, spoke of the deteriorating human rights situation in Darfur, denouncing the Sudanese Government's failure to protect the people of Darfur, and its unwillingness to allow UN assistance. She urged Council members to put more pressure on Sudan to comply with its obligations towards the International Criminal Court (ICC) in order to end impunity:
âViolence, deprivation, and human rights abuses trigger migratory flows to the real or imagined lands of plenty. But such factors play an even greater role in the forced flight of people within countries devastated by conflict, or in their desperate exodus to neighbouring States that are likely unable to provide them with minimal security, let alone with adequate shelter and other means of survival. And this often occurs because the international community's action is either unforthcoming or hamstrung.
The deteriorating situation in Darfur stands out as a tragic reminder of such protection failures. Since early 2004 and in the face of mounting abuses, numerous Governments, regional organizations, as well as the Security Council, have urged the belligerents in Darfur to respect human rights, uphold international humanitarian law, and protect civilians, particularly women. Finally, in May 2006, the belligerents entered into a peace agreement. Yet, the situation has steadily deteriorated.
Civilians have been displaced on some occasions for a second and third time. Humanitarian access is more restricted than ever, as emphasized by Under Secretary-General Egeland. Despite the peace agreement, violations of human rights are perpetrated on a large scale by government forces and their associated militia, as well as by rebel groups. Combatants routinely make a mockery of the principles of international humanitarian law: not only are armed groups failing to discriminate between civilians and combatants, they specifically target civilians who are from tribes and groups perceived as hostile. Despite repeated assurances by the Government of Sudan, the level of sexual violence in Darfur continues to rise. No progress is made in holding anyone accountable for these and other crimes.
The Secretary-General has reminded the Government of Sudan that it can not escape accountability for atrocities perpetrated against the people of Darfur, the very people that the Government of Sudan has the primary responsibility to protect.
The Government refuses the international assistance that the Security Council deems essential for the effective protection of the population in Darfur. In the face of a near collapse of the prevention and protection initiatives put forward by the international community, we must stress, in the last instance, the need for unflinching accountability.
The Security Council's referral of the situation of Darfur to the International Criminal Court (ICC) more than a year and a half ago, was a significant step towards ending the impunity that the perpetrators of international crimes in Darfur have enjoyed so far. In light of the continued and clear failure or unwillingness by the Government of Sudan to hold them to account, the ICC must be able to exercise the full force of its mandate. To this end, it is imperative that the UN Member States give their unequivocal support to the work of the Court, and remind the Government of Sudan that its cooperation with the International Court is not optional, but rather an obligation stemming from a UN Security Council decision taken under Chapter VII. Such cooperation must include unfettered access for exhaustive investigations to be carried out in Darfur. The Government of Sudan must also ensure that testimony can be heard and collected freely and, crucially, that witnesses are enabled to come forward without fear of retribution.
It may also become necessary to complement the work of the Commission of Inquiry, created by the Security Council in 2004, and which in early 2005 established that officials of the Government of Sudan and associated militia were responsible for serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law amounting to crimes under international law. All efforts must be deployed to support the work of the ICC and to lay the foundations for the exercise of universal jurisdiction by Member States in the face of crimes of this magnitude.â
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=10306
Further information
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR: Report on Sudan Discussed at Human Rights Council [report]
On Wednesday, 27 September 2006, the Human Rights Council discussed the report of its Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Sudan.
Sima Samar, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Sudan, said that following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in January 2005, Sudan had embarked on a difficult path of peace building, reconciliation and reconstruction. In 2005, a new Government of National Unity was formed and a new interim national Constitution was adopted containing a bill of rights. Later in the year, the Southern Sudan Legislation Assembly was formed. The Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan was adopted in December 2005. That put in place a framework for the protection of human rights. Since the formation of the Government of National Unity, the people had seen little change in their everyday life â the emergency laws were still in place in Darfur and the East and were also applied in Khartoum, people were arbitrarily arrested and held incommunicado by security forces; torture, ill-treatment and killings of civilians continued. Discrimination and marginalisation of certain groups continued and basic rights such as access to food, shelter, health and education were not guaranteed.
The right to life continued to be violated, in particular in Darfur. Killings and harassment of civilians in villages and internally displaced person camps continued. The perpetrators were government forces, militia and armed groups such as rebel factions and Chadian opposition. The Government had failed in its responsibility to protect the population from attacks in areas where it had control. In rebel-held area, there were breaches of the ceasefire agreements by all parties and violations of obligations under international humanitarian law had exacerbated the suffering. Many civilians had been killed and displaced. In Southern Sudan, outside the towns, insecurity continued due to the absence of the rule of law and the presence of different armed groups. Rape and sexual violence against women continued, in particular in Darfur. Among her recommendations, the Special Rapporteur urged all parties to cease all hostilities, comply with the peace agreements and enter into an inclusive dialogue process to resolve the conflict peacefully.
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=10448
Further information
Â
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
UNITED NATIONS: Report of UN Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict in Sudan [publication]
[UNITED NATIONS, 22 August 2006] - Children are still being abducted, killed, raped and pressed into warfare as soldiers by armed groups in Sudan - including the country's army - despite peace deals in the south and west, the United Nations reported on Tuesday.
Other groups abducting and recruiting children for war in the country's western Darfur region included the government-backed Janjaweed militias and the rebel Sudan Liberation Army, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in the report to the Security Council.
In southern Sudan, the report accuses the former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army, or SPLA - now the region's official army - of killing and recruiting children as soldiers, along with the national army - the Sudanese Armed Forces.
The report blames the Sudanese Armed Forces and Janjaweed militias for sexual violence against children in Darfur.
There were no reports of armed groups sexually abusing children in southern or eastern Sudan from the May-July period covered by the report, Annan said.
His report was based on confirmed incidents but gave no numbers.
"The numerous armed forces and groups that are parties to the conflict in the Sudan have a long history of using children for military purposes," the report said, calling on all such groups to end the abuse of children in war.
"The current peace processes in Darfur and southern Sudan offer a real opportunity for the leaders of the Sudan to end the practice of recruitment and use of children once and for all," Annan said.
Sudan, a vast northeast African country, has a long history of conflict in its south and east as well as western Darfur.
A peace agreement was signed in January 2005 to end two decades of civil war in the south but has yet to be implemented. It requires the Sudanese Armed Forces to leave the south by 2007 and to be replaced by SPLA troops.
A separate peace accord was signed for Darfur in May 2006 but did not include all warring rebel factions and has also remained largely unimplemented.
The 3-year-old conflict there erupted when the Arab-dominated government sought to put down a revolt by mostly non-Arab rebels. It armed the mainly Arab militias known as Janjaweed as proxy fighters, who went on to wage a campaign of rape, plunder and murder of the indigenous population.
There is no peace agreement in eastern Sudan and access to that region is difficult, "which has translated into a critical lack of information on child rights violations in the east for this report," Annan said.
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=9896&flag=report
[Source: Reuters]
Further information
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
WOMEN AND GIRLS: Reports on the Situation of Women and Girls in Darfur [publications]
Womenâs Commission for Refugee Women and Girls: Beyond Firewood: Fuel Alternatives and Protection Strategies for Refugee Women and Girls (March 2006)
Despite the known dangers, these women and girls must collect wood to sell or cook with in order to survive in conflict situations around the world. This report outlines a number of practical solutions that could save thousands of women and girls from being attacked.
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=7653&flag=report
Amnesty International: Rape as a Weapon of War (January 2004)
A report into the use of rape as a weapon of war in the western region of Darfur, Sudan.
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=43
International Crisis Group: Beyond Victimhood: Womenâs Peacebuilding in Sudan, Congo and Uganda (July 2006)
Countries in crisis and the wider international community must do much more to support womenâs involvement in solving Africaâs deadliest conflicts. This report assesses what women have been able to achieve in those three countries to challenge the dominance of militarised solutions. In all three, an array of womenâs organisations and leaders are doing remarkable work, under difficult circumstances, especially in community organisations and informal conflict resolution mechanisms. Still, women remain marginalised in formal peace processes and post-conflict governments. Donors and others in the international community all need to do much more to offer sustainable support rather than just rhetoric.
The report is available at: http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4185&l=1
Â
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
RESOURCES
Rift Valley Institute and UNICEF: Sudan Open Archive (May 2006)
The Sudan Open Archive is an open-access digital library for Sudan, containing documents that until now were largely unavailable in digital form. The materials in the archive provide a record of emergency aid and offer an opportunity for Sudan and humanitarian agencies to learn from the mistakes of the past.
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=8470&flag=report
Oxfamâs Cool Planet for Teachers: Sudan - Crisis in Darfur brings together information from the main Oxfam website and external sites to enable teaching around the current humanitarian crisis unfolding in the west of Sudan.
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/teachers/sudan/index.htm
Middle East North Africa Network on Small Arms (MENAANSA): Middle East - Perceptions about Guns and Community Security - Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon, Sudan (February 2006)
There are âtoo many guns in our society,â say young people across the Middle East region. The new study lifts up the voices of ordinary young people on how they experience human insecurity, what they see as their community security priorities and how they may choose to improve conditions for community security.
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=7412&flag=report [English]
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=7415&flag=report [Arabic]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
**NEWS IN BRIEF**
REDRESS: Victims, Perpetrators or Heroes? Child soldiers before the International Criminal Court (September 2006)
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=10382&flag=report
Aldeas Infantiles SOS EspaĂąa: Villages empty out as more people flee violence in north-east Colombia
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=10335&flag=news
Save the Children UK: Future of more than a million Somali children on a knife-edge
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=10320&flag=news
Human Rights Watch: Improving Civilian Protection in Sri Lanka: Recommendations for the Government and the LTTE
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=10269&flag=report
The Independent: Gaza - The children killed in a war the world doesn't want to know about
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=10272&flag=news
___________________________________________________________
The CRINMAIL is an electronic mailing list of the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN). CRIN does not accredit, validate or substantiate any information posted by members to the CRINMAIL. The validity and accuracy of any information is the responsibility of the originator.
To subscribe, unsubscribe or view list archives, visit http://www.crin.org/email.
___________________________________________________________
