Daily Darfur: Lots of advice edition

by Martha Heinemann Bixby · 2009-06-26 07:18:00 UTC
Topics:

Advice

The Sudan Liberation Army/Movement released an open letter to African leaders, urging their support for marginalized people in Sudan:

It’s high time that democracy - oriented African countries and their progressive-minded leaders to know that our people in the marginalized areas in Southern Sudan, Blue Nile, South Kordofan, Eastern Sudan, Abei and Darfur Region have been struggling for years to decentralize the system of governing in the country. The conflicts are the reflection of total rejection of the center-dominated by North Sudan elites since the independent of the country to share wealth and power with others.

Meanwhile, former South African president Thabo Mbeki is pushing for Darfuri Arabs to be included in peace talks:

"The negotiations have got to involve everybody who is relevant to the creation of peace in Darfur," said Mbeki, who heads an African Union panel of former heads of state that is due to report back to the bloc's Peace and Security Council later this summer.

"Certainly the Arab tribes are one of the constituencies that has to be involved," added Mbeki.

Violence and death

At Making Sense of Darfur, Eric Reeves asks interesting questions about what constitutes a "violent" death in Darfur.

Citing the example of the conflicts in February, 2009 - "the month in which Khartoum’s forces retook the town of Muhajeria in South Darfur, displacing (according to UN reports) more than 30,000 civilians" - Reeves asks whether deaths as the result of that displacement would be considered "violent" by UNAMID reports.

"Everyone should fight for something"

Athlete-advocates for Darfur - and peace and justice broadly - Joey Cheek and Jessica Mendoza are profiled in today's Washington Post.

"Is success that we got people to hear more about it? Maybe," he muses. "Is success that there were fewer people killed because of the efforts we made? Maybe, maybe not. Sometimes you feel like the only thing that matters is if you have a billion dollars or a cruise missile."

Photo of soccer in a refugee camp from Stop Genocide Now's last day of their trip to Chad - iAct 8.

Martha Heinemann Bixby
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