Daily Darfur: The Violent Hand of a Dirty Government

by Michelle . · 2009-06-16 04:30:00 UTC
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Reports of two rather disturbing acts of targeted violence are coming out of Sudan:

Mohamed Suleiman reports on the While We Wait blog (one of my new favs) that Darfuri activist Shoumo Adam was killed in his home by armed men suspected of ties with the government, marking yet another incident in a recent escalation of targeted attacks against Darfuri activists.

And from the Sudan Tribune: Several men affiliated with the ruling National Congress Party disguised themselves as women in order to infiltrate a meeting of Darfuri women at the University of Khartoum. The students were discussing the legal merits of the International Criminal Court case against President Omar al-Bashir --- a very dangerous thing to do in Sudan these days, it seems. The Sudan Tribune states that the erstwhile cross-dressers "violently attacked the Darfur women," but does not go into greater detail. (So, no idea how badly any of the women were hurt. If they haven't already been arrested, it wouldn't surprise me if that soon followed.) Hat Tip: Orange Country for Darfur.

While these events might seem isolated, don't be fooled --- precision attacks such as these are tried-and-true favorites of dictatorial regimes everywhere, as their apparent low-scale nature often escapes large-scale domestic and international media attention, and can be committed with impunity. (Bashir's buddy Bobby Mugabe is a master at this.) The attacks are not one-offs, but part of a larger pattern, a series, intent on silencing critics and maintaining an iron grip on power.

Quickies

This is an amazing story (with an amazing picture), from the New York Times: Sudanese Family Reunites in Brooklyn.

Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson just returned from a long tour of Africa, which included a visit to Darfur.

[Photo from AP: Members of the Darfuri community in a memorial to remember victims of the Darfur conflict, outside the Sudanese embassy in central London, following the issuance of arrest warrants for Bashir. Picture date: Wednesday March 4, 2009. ]

Michelle . has been involved in various activist endeavors, including the Teach Against Genocide pilot campaigns.
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