Voices of Hope Concert for Darfur - We can not remain silent

As we approach this holiday season, a lot of families from the fours corners of the world are wondering how they are going to make ends meet as a result of the global economic downturn. For most families in the developed world, this holiday season will be worse than last year. Their children will go to bed a little hungrier, they probably won’t have any new toys, with excuses that Santa had the flu or that he lost the map to their house being a prevalent excuse amongst the poorer sections of our communities.

Regardless of our individual financial situation this holiday season, the best gift to give our children will be a combination of a hug and a kiss followed with the meaningful words of “I love you.” It is hoped that our children will garner more from the knowledge of our love for them than the message that they might receive from our purchase of expensive gifts for them. They might still be disappointed that they did not receive the latest Wii game or Barbie and Ken activity set but the many disappointments will hopefully be short lived.

As we are consistently told at this time of year, the holidays are a time for thinking about those that are less fortunate than we are. Our religious leaders speak of the need to reflect on the poorer sections of our communities, of the need to reach out to our neighbors in a show of compassion and love, and to share what little we may have with those less fortunate.

In certain parts of the world though, this holiday season will be no different than last year. There will be no presents, no Santa Claus, but more depressing, there might be no food. For most of the children and their parents in these parts of the world, life will continue to be lived in utter nightmarish circumstances. Most are living on a day by day basis and they are suffering the effects of mass hunger and poverty and the concomitant effects of poverty. Instead of waking up to presents, some children will wake up to participate in combat as soldiers – child soldiers. There are roughly 200,000 child soldiers in Africa alone, young children that have been kidnapped from their families and forced to commit horrendous crimes against their own people. Young girls are also kidnapped and forced to become sex slaves.

In Darfur, children are used by the Janjaweed militia to commit murder and rape. Other children are on the receiving end of this brutality.

There is no greater crime than the sexual exploitation, manipulation, mutilation, or rape of a child. In Western nations, when similar crimes are committed against children, there is utter public revulsion and promises by the civil authorities to bring the culprits to justice. Such justice is usually swift and warranted. But when sexually-based crimes are committed against children in the developing world, the cries for help usually fall on deaf ears, with little action been taken against the perpetrators of these horrific crimes. The rapists usually go free.
Darfur is a rapist’s playground and a victim’s hell. There are substantiated reports that children, some as young as four years of age are being raped on a daily basis. Women, young and old, are gang raped and left to fend off the stigma that comes with being the victim of this kind of brutality. Many victims of these crimes become pregnant, which leads to further stigmatization and in most cases, abandonment. The children born as a result of these attacks are commonly known as “enemy” children. They become stigmatized, and in most cases suffer horrendous abuse, abandonment, discrimination and infanticide.

The perpetrators of these crimes are not “men in long coats,” hiding in dark alleys or stalking the streets looking for victims. No, the perpetrators of these crimes are mostly soldiers, paid public servants in the service of the Sudanese government. Uniformed soldiers or civilian clad militias, they act with impunity, but mostly they act like animals, and that is probably a slight against animals.

The utilization of rape in Darfur is part of the overall tactical strategy incorporated by the Sudanese government to annihilate Darfur’s native Black African population. With the murder of close 700,000 innocent Darfuri men, women and children, Darfur represents the first genocide of the 21st Century. Not only has genocide been committed, but mass war crimes and human rights abuses have also been committed. Not only have the native Darfuri population been targeted, but those working with the various NGOs as well as UN peacekeepers, serving with UNAMID, have been attacked and murdered by the Janjaweed. These attacks and the continuing hijacking of aid convoys fall under the realm of war crimes. Still, the international community debates the appropriate action to be taken against the Sudanese President, al-Bashir, and his government.

In January, 2009 it is envisioned that the judges of the International Criminal Court will defer the issuing of a warrant for the arrest of President al-Bashir. The postponement of this warrant will be a major coup for the African Union, along with other organizations and individual nations, such as certain nations who serve as permanent members of the UN’s Security Council. The reason given by these organizations and nations for the requested postponement is their considered opinion that the issuance of the warrant will destroy the “on-going” peace initiatives. As far as most concerned groups are aware, there is no constructive peace process currently under way in regards to solving the conflict Darfur. Irrespective of whether the warrant is issued today or next year, Al-Bashir will be arrested and he will face an international criminal court where he will be prosecuted for the actions of his government and for the genocidal actions of his forces in Darfur.

Last week the international community “celebrated” the 60th Anniversary of the famous Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As noted during the celebrations, most of the 30 articles, as outlined in the UDHR, had been ignored by most countries were either non-internal and internal conflicts occurred over the past 60 years. While most of those dignitaries representing the nations that led the celebrations spoke ever so eloquently about the initial reasons behind the UNDR and its formation, their very nations have been major supporters of regimes that have totally ignored the principles set forth in the UDHR, examples of which we have witnessed during conflicts in Darfur, Chad, Rwanda, Bosnia, Burundi, Cambodia, to name but a few.

Nowhere in the world has there been a total disregard for the UDHR principals, or any other international charter protecting the rights of civilians, than in Darfur. It is time for the international community to live up to its words and promises to implement the actions that are required to save the lives of over 4 million innocent civilians, whose lives are currently under immediate treat of death.

Over the weekend, the UN held its annual “Climate Change” conference in Poznan, Poland where billions of dollars were promised to curb the growing trends in the earth’s destruction. What is remarkable about this is the fact that nobody is stepping up to the plate to donate the few million dollars it will take to curb the destruction of the native Black African population in Darfur. The future generations that we are trying to save through our proposed responsible approach to climate change will hopefully look back with shame at the fact that we did nothing to save the current generation in Darfur and in other areas of conflict, because we were prepared to put money into economic gains rather than in to the preservation of human life.

The International Alliance For Human Rights will be staging the “Voices of Hope Concert for Darfur” to enhance global awareness of the need to take appropriate action in Darfur and to call on the international community to implement its promises to safe guard human life now! For more information, please contact David Nolan at 212.695.7022, ext. 315 or shoot him an email at dnolan@spinmillgroup.com.

Voices of Hope Concert for Darfur - Do we really care?

70 years ago last weekend, the Holocaust began. On the night of November 9th-10th, 1938 Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues were attacked by Nazi stormtroopers, hell bent on purifying Germany of its Jewish population. Nearly 90 Jews were murdered and close to 30,000 Jewish men were rounded up and sent to concentration camps. This event in German history is known as Kristallnacht, The Night of Broken Glass.

This week, as the German government remembers this part of its sordid past, the rise and influence of far-right groups is causing alarm across the whole of Europe and amongst the member states of the EU in particular. Racial hatred, not only in Europe, is quickly rising it ugly head again against the backdrop of mass increases in global immigration, global unemployment and mass uncertainty pertaining to the global economy.

How then, can we expect the international community to fix the problems that are currently destroying Africa if their own people are increasingly hostile towards offering refugees from Africa’s many conflicts refugee status or political asylum in EU and other states? As we have witnessed, vast populations are being wiped off the face of the earth from conflict and nobody seems to give a dam. Both the UN and the EU have deployed large peacekeeping forces to various trouble spots in Africa but with stark differences between their forces.

The EU force (EUFOR Tchad/RCA) that is currently deployed in Chad is mandated to protect the innocent Darfuri refugees that have attempted to escape the conflict in Darfur. EUFOR is equipped with the latest military technology and weaponry. The main proponent behind this force was the French government. Why, of all places, was the French government calling for a special EU peacekeeping force to be deployed to Chad? The French army was already on the ground in Chad prior to EUFOR’s deployment in 2007. If the French already had a strong military presence in Chad, was there a need for it to push for EUFOR’s formation and deployment? The answer is quite simple. There are major oil contracts in place between the Chadian and French governments. While French military deployment in Chad had nothing to do with protecting innocent refugees from Darfur, it had everything to do with protecting its oil interests there.

When Sudanese-sponsored rebels launched major attacks against Chad and threatened to overrun the country, France was fearful of losing one of its major sources of oil. It could not afford to let the President of Chad, Idriss Déby be overthrown by rebels because France had invested considerable amounts of money there to secure the flow of cheap oil. It couldn’t increase its own troop numbers in this, one of the poorest countries in the world without arousing suspicion as to why it was taking this action. This resulted in the French government proposing to the EU that, because of the large numbers of Darfuri refugees entering Chad and because of the attacks from the Sudanese rebels on these refugees, a special force was needed to protect them, hence the deployment of EUFOR. This became a huge PR coup for the French because everybody thought that they were going in to protect the refugees. But they were not. They were going in to protect their own national interests and they didn’t care about the Darfuri refugees – they haven’t done anything that’s measurable in reference to supporting UNAMID in Darfur itself.

The same happened with the DR Congo in 2006, but it was based largely on a conspiracy by a large number of EU states to protect the flow of mineral resources from DRC – minerals from DRC earn billions of dollars a year (Tantalum, used in the production of cell phones, pagers, PCs, automotive electronics, jet engine components, chemical process equipment, nuclear reactors, missile parts, orthopedic implants, and camera lenses, sells for close to $160,000 per metric ton) – and these EU states were not prepared to see a decline in the availability of these minerals because of rebel fighting nor is the EU prepared to allow this mineral rich country fall into the hands of the main rebel leader, General Laurent Nkunda, hence the call for an increase in the current strength of both its police (EUPOL) and military (EUSEC) missions to DRC.

The big picture is this – we can allow millions of people to die but we can not allow a disruption in the continuous flow of much needed minerals that are vital to industrial strength and development in the EU, the US and Asia. In 1994, Rwanda had no mineral resources and was of no strategic (military or otherwise) importance so the international community allowed close to 1,000,000 innocent men, women and children to be murdered. Burundi was the same, Ethiopia was the same and Somalia, well, all we have to do is look at the hands on hands off approach that the international community has adopted towards that country.

The strange thing is, in Darfur, which has large oil reserves, the international community is neglecting its obligations to protect close to 4,000,000 innocent men, women and children. In nearly six years of conflict, it has stood by and allowed close to 700,000 innocents to perish at the hands of a genocidal regime and still, it does nothing. Why? Why has this approach been taken? When the UN announced its intentions to deploy a peacekeeping mission to this hell on earth, the Sudanese government hesitated (and still does to this day) to allow non-African countries to deploy troops as part of the UN peacekeeping force, UNAMID. But the Sudanese government did allow the Chinese government to deploy a battalion of troops as part of this force – why? Why, to this day, does the Sudanese government refuse to permit EU nations contribute troops to UNAMID? Again, the answer is oil and other mineral resources that come from Sudan. China is Sudan’s biggest oil customer. The Chinese, along with its allies, have basically told the international community, specifically the EU and the US, to back off from harassing Sudan’s government. Nobody wants to offend the Chinese and get their bad side. Economically, it could be disastrous.

Other nations have taken similar approaches to the interference in Sudan’s “internal” issues. The Russian government has considerable relationships with, not only the Sudanese government, but with other countries in the developing world that are rife with conflict. These relationships are built along trade agreements that are primarily focused on the supply of Russian military equipment and technology. Russia supplies close to 60% of the major conventional weaponry that is used by the Sudanese government to kill innocent civilians in Darfur. It supplies air force pilots to the Sudanese government in the bombing of all targets (strategic/non-strategic) in Darfur. While China and Russia are the main winners, from a financial view point, from the conflict in Darfur, a host of Western and other Asian nations are responsible for the supply of weapons and weapon technologies to Sudan in contravention of UN Security Council Resolutions 1591 and 1556.

It has been reported that a vast number of countries have directly sold weaponry and military technologies to Sudan while even a greater number of producers of weaponry and military technologies have indirectly supplied their products to Sudan. The current embargo on Sudan requires that all nations do their utmost to prevent arms from entering Darfur and therefore all weapons and military technology producing countries must take all appropriate actions to ensure that their products do not reach Darfur either directly or indirectly through third-party nations. It has been recommended that these nations investigate how their weapons and weapon technologies have ended up in Sudan and to name the third party nations involved.

The following is a list of the nations who are direct suppliers of weapons and weapon technologies to Sudan:

• Belarus, China, Cyprus, India, Iran, Kenya, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Slovakia, Spain, and Turkey

The following is a list of weapons and weapon technologies producing nations whose products have directly or indirectly been supplied to Sudan:

• Australia, Belgium, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Kuwait, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Thailand, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and United States of America

So a solution to the crisis in Darfur calls for a lot of nations to make internal sacrifices in terms to forgoing huge financial deals for the benefit of the innocent civilians caught up in the conflict in Darfur. This may explain the lack of a concerted effort on the part of the international community to engage in a tactical and strategically pressurized approach to force Sudan to halt its ambitious drive to eradicate the native Black African people from Darfur.

While leading celebrities and others may have pointed the “big finger” at China as the nation most responsible for supporting Khartoum’s genocidal ambitions, no nation appears to be free from blame for the prolonged humanitarian catastrophic nightmare that is Darfur. But the fact remains that China and her sister in crime, Russia, have given diplomatic cover to the Sudanese government at the UN due to their continued economic-based relationship in Sudan and this has clearly given the Sudanese government carte blanche to fulfill its desires in reference to Darfur without retribution from the international community.

In May, 2000 in Kimberley, South Africa, a process was instituted by the diamond producing countries of South Africa to stem the flow of conflict (blood) diamonds onto the international markets. This process, known as the Kimberley Process, was adopted to ensure that the trade in conflict diamonds could be halted and that those buying diamonds, whether wholesale or retail, could be assured that their diamonds had not contributed to violence. It was only in 1998 that the UN first identified that diamonds mined in certain African countries, that were either in a state of war or internal conflict, were being sold to finance that war/conflict or a warlord's activity.

Diamonds are not the only valuable commodity that has help to fuel wars or conflicts. Today, a product called gum arabic is helping to finance wars and conflicts in a number of African countries, most notably Sudan. Sudan is the primary global exporter of this major product and the global production of all gum arabic is heavily controlled by the Sudanese government. What makes gum arabic such a key product is the fact that it is a key ingredient used in several industries, primarily the food and beverage industry, and to a lesser extent in the painting, photography, printmaking and pyrotechnics industries. Without gum arabic we would not have syrups for our coke cola and other soft drinks nor would we have gummy candies like gumdrops or marshmallows or M & M's or most notably, chewing gum. The industries that rely on gum arabic are numerous and if Sudan was to withdraw its trade agreements with the West pertaining to making this product available, the global economic impact would be catastrophic. So we can say that Sudan basically has the international community over a barrel.

So the question arises, “Can we also make a case for Blood Ingredients?” These are products, such as gum arabic, that are produced in war/conflict zones that help finance the continuation of hostilities. Maybe we could call it the Coke Cola process, whereby people, when they buy a coke in a store or order one with their meal in a restaurant, can be guaranteed that the coke that they are drinking does not contain a product that has helped to finance the murder of millions of people.

One last item, which is now a clear indication of what is happening in Darfur and why it should be to the center of the stage at the bastion of global diplomacy, the UN. The Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC), Mr. Luis-Moreno Ocampo, under the clear direction of the UN Security Council and with the authorization given to him and his office under UN Security Resolution 1564, indicted the President of Sudan, President Al-Bashir on three counts of genocide and a host of other crimes. The findings of the International Criminal Court make it official that genocide had and continues to be committed in Darfur, therefore the UN should publicly identify the conflict in Darfur as genocide. The issuing of an international arrest warrant for President Al-Bashir is currently pending.

Regardless of the ceasefire declared by Al-Bashir on Wednesday, November 12th, the ICC will soon issue an arrest warrant so that he can face justice for the injustices that he committed, by authorizing his forces to do so, against his own people.

The International Alliance For Human Rights will be staging The Voices of Hope Concert for Darfur, a global concert event to enhance global grassroots awareness of the conflict in Darfur and to demand that the international community take the appropriate action required to bring about a quick cessation of the conflict. For more information, please contact David Nolan at 212.695.7022, ext. 315 or email him at dnolan@spinmillgroup.com.

Voices of Hope Concert for Darfur – Death Continues to Flow

Africa is alive! It is alive with death and destruction. Over the last few months we have witnessed major catastrophic events on this forgotten continent that have seen the lives of millions of people put at risk of starvation, murder and disease. During the summer, we witnessed the total collapse of Somalia and the mass exodus of thousands of people from its capital Mogadishu.

This week, the war raging in the Democratic Republic of Congo has seen tens of thousands of people displaced and walking towards the paths of death and disease. In the eastern city of Goma, there have been reports of large scale rapes and murder, and while there is currently a highly tenuous ceasefire, the main rebel leader, General Laurent Nkunda has threatened to take the city unless the UN can maintain the ceasefire. While the UN peacekeeping mission in the DR Congo is the largest UN peacekeeping mission ever launched, the Special Representative of the Secretary General for the peacekeeping mission in the Congo, Alan Doss, stated that the UN Mission was being stretched to its limits and that the current number of peacekeeping troops on the ground was totally inadequate based on the scale of the conflict.

In Darfur, the near forgotten conflict, the situation has now reached levels whereby millions of people are now in eminent danger of death from murder, disease and starvation. The UN mission in Darfur, UNAMID is totally under strength and is targeted for attacks on a daily basis. Both the mainstream government forces and their militia, the Janjaweed, regularly target UN troops.

Some highlights of this past week’s horrors in Darfur:

• On Wednesday, October 29th, South African troops serving with UNAMID came under attack. One soldier was murdered and one was injured while securing a water point near the Kassab Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camp.
• On Monday, October 27th, the BBC reported at that at least 40 innocent civilians had been murdered in recent clashes in the area of Muhajiriya, in Southern Darfur and that as a result of intense attacks by the Janjaweed, over 12,000 civilians had been displaced.
• On Thursday, October 23rd, Reuters reported that clashes in the Northern Darfur between the various warring factions had resulted in numerous deaths.
• On Wednesday, October 22nd, Uganda’s Daily Monitor reported that close to 30,000 Ugandan children, who were forcibly conscripted into the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army in northern Uganda, were sold in Darfur. These children are being used as child soldiers, porters and others have been sold as sex slaves to the Sudanese government troops and Janjaweed militia.

Over the last few months, attacks on the UN peacekeepers have been committed on a regular basis with many peacekeepers returning home in coffins. The UNAMID mission is under continued pressure as the troop commitment levels to this force are well below the number that was promised by the UN and the logistical commitment from donor nations is basically non-existent. So what we have in Darfur is a UN force that is greatly undermanned and disgustingly ill equipped.

Meanwhile, the Janjaweed and the Sudanese government forces in Darfur continue to attack the non-Arab civilian population. Thousands of people are dying on a daily basis, both from violence and disease. Volunteers with the international NGOs continue to be attacked and aid convoys are continuously hijacked. The rape of women and young girls continues unabated and young boys are kidnapped to be utilized as child soldiers.

The UN continues to issue its weekly Security Council reports on the crisis in Darfur and with each report the recorded death rate increases. It is estimated that by December 31st, 2008 close to one million will be dead as a result of the conflict in Darfur with a further estimated 4 million people fighting for survival.

The most recent reports from the UN have clearly stated that all crimes now being committed in Darfur are being designated as war crimes or crimes against humanity and therefore the organizers and perpetrators of these crimes should be indicted by the International Criminal Court.

The international community has admitted that it identifies the fact that Sudan has failed in its obligations pertaining to erga omnes and that the UN has identified its own failures in relations to Security Council Resolution 1674 which reaffirms the provisions of paragraphs 138 and 139 of the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document regarding its responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. While the resolution commits the Security Council to action to protect civilians in armed conflict, the UN acknowledges that it can not even protect its own peacekeepers in Darfur.

While the debate pertaining to genocide may also be forgotten on the international diplomatic front as it pertains to the crimes being committed in Darfur, it is important that the principals behind the declaration of genocide made by General Colin Powel on behalf of the government of the United States of America be reviewed. This is due to the fact that while the UN Security Council announced in its 2005 report on Darfur that the International Criminal Court found “reasonable grounds to believe that the individuals identified [in the UN Security Council Resolution 1593] have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes," there was no finding of sufficient evidence to prosecute for genocide. However, in its most recent report on the conflict in Darfur, the International Criminal Court found sufficient evidence to file ten charges of war crimes against Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two counts of murder.

What we must remember is the fact that genocidal acts need not kill or cause death against those members of a targeted group. Genocide also covers the acts of causing serious bodily or mental harm, prevention of births and transfer of children. Basically speaking, any acts committed as part of a policy to destroy a group’s existence can be classified as genocide or at least politicide.

Because the Sudanese government has been committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur for nearly six years, the leaders of this government now act with impunity and as the focus of the international community shifts back and forth between the various global crisis, many more innocent Darfuris will die today.

It is time for the international community, primarily the members of the UN Security Council’s P5 to come together and find a solution to the conflict in Darfur, and that solution will hopefully include the issuing of an international arrest warrant for the President of Sudan and all others indicted by the International Criminal Court. Until this solution is found, it is important that a blanket embargo be placed on all exports/imports with Sudan. All investment companies, all oil companies and those companies involved in the infrastructural development of Sudan’s capital, Khartoum and all other Sudanese regions allied to Khartoum need to be placed under this blanket embargo.

We can’t use the excuses that we used in regards to ignoring the genocides of Bosnia and Rwanda, its too late for that. When the conflict in Darfur ends, and it will end, the true facts will one day be released that will hopefully shine a light on who and what nations conspired with and were complicit in the destruction of the native Black African population of Darfur. There will be no rocks big enough for the culprits or their coconspirators to hide under.

The International Alliance For Human Rights, a New York-based humanitarian focused group will be focusing its efforts on enhancing global awareness on the conflict in Darfur when it stages the Voices of Hope Concert for Darfur.

For more information, please contact David Nolan at dnolan@iafhr.org.

Voices of Hope Concert for Darfur - Death Marches On

Today thousands of men, women and children will die. Today hundreds of women, girls and young children will be raped and mutilated. Today our world leaders continue their inadequate silence to the ongoing carnage in Darfur.

The crimes being committed in Darfur are an affront to civilization. Apart from those that will die, many hundreds of thousands will suffer from the concomitant effects of this conflict. These affects include contracting diseases such as HIV/AIDS, drug resistant TB and the ever present and dangerous malaria, which are highly prevalent in Darfur. Another factor which is increasing the prevalence of these diseases is the fact that aid convoys delivering food and emergency medications are hijacked on a daily basis and the number of convoy drivers being murdered continues to grow.

Most of all, the children that survive the conflict, including some adults, will suffer long term neurological side effects from their experiences and it is these effects that may form the basis of bitter and prolonged resentments which may lead to future conflicts in the region.

Darfur has now become unsafe for the continued deployment of aid agencies and other related humanitarian volunteers, hence the indigenous black African people are, is some places, being left to fend for themselves. Because there is a total lack of the most basic and appropriate care, due to the fact that Darfur continues to be devoured by mass human rights abuses, children will die in the arms of strangers tonight.

Though the history of warfare may have thought us many lessons, the rules developed from these lessons are continuously broken. Prior to World War II, two ground breaking conventions, The Hague and The Geneva Conventions were instituted to protect the rights of innocent civilians, wounded soldiers, and POWs during times of war or internal conflict. Their aim was also to protect peace loving nations from aggressive wars. It was based on the total disregard of both these conventions that the triumphant Allied powers initiated the International Military Tribunal (IMT) at Nuremburg in 1945, to prosecute all parties that the Allies deemed to have played a major role directly or in support of the European Axis Powers, primarily as that support related to the Nazis’ destruction of Europe and its citizenry. The institution of aggressive war policies, but more importantly, crimes against humanity, specifically as it related to the attempted annihilation of any or all ethnic groups deemed to be enemies of the Nazi ideology system, identified as those committed against the Jews, gypsies, Poles, Russian POWs and Catholics, formed the basis of the need to set up the IMT.

Bringing the Nazi leadership to trial was not an issue, as most of the leadership were either dead or had been captured by the Allies. Later trials were held for those that were either directly responsible or part of the general apparatus to cleanse Europe of those ethnic groups outlined for destruction. Though many members of the SS and Gestapo escaped Europe after the war and were aided in their evasion for long periods of time, those that committed the most heinous of crimes have eventually been brought to justice. Still, though they may be quite old, some are still living with the support of sympathetic nations.

One item, in reference to the Nazi war machine, that caused major discord amongst the key prosecutors at Nuremberg as they prepared the criminal indictments, was the culpability of the major industrialists who supported the Nazi regime. The argument put forward in support of prosecution was that many corporations empowered the Nazis to gain control of Germany, purely for self gain. They knew that Hitler would once again galvanize the industrial strength of Germany to deliver on his promise of global dominance to the German people. Every German industrial sector was suspected of playing a major role in the growth of Nazism. Upon review of countless documents in support of indicting Germany’s industrialists, a decision was made by the prosecution team, under the tutelage of Robert Jackson, the Chief US prosecutor at Nuremberg, that any corporation and its owner/s, irrespective of industry, who made a profit in support of the Nazi war machine and who utilized the services of slave labor, would face trial at Nuremberg for war crimes.

What caused most revulsion during the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal were the descriptions of how the young Jewish children were treated and how most went to their deaths. Over 1.5 million Jewish children were murdered during the Holocaust. Most were gassed at the death camps upon their arrival, some were kept for experiments at the hands of sadist physicians, and some were worked to death under the Nazi’s slave labor regime. The total figure represents many future generations who were wiped off the face of the earth because some lunatics decided that, because they were Jewish, they were not worthy of living.

The story of Anne Frank has captivated the world over, due primarily to how she suffered greatly throughout her short life. Anne’s story, as we know, was her very own, captured through her thoughts and experiences in the diary she kept. Today, her diary is as famous as the Bible and when one reads the story of Anne Frank, and cries for the millions of children and adults alike, who died both mercilessly and needlessly at the hands of the Nazi regime, one can not help but proclaim that no child should have to live life the way that this little girl lived.

What is most poignant about the Diary of Anne Frank is not only the fact that it was written by a young girl who would die during the Holocaust, but the fact that it speaks of a young girl’s views of hope, of love, of anger and of the most important relationships that we, as humans, develop during our lifetime.

Nothing affects our moral thinking more than learning of the intentional harm to children. Nothing can prepare us for the images of children that have been brutally treated by vicious, soulless individuals. Yet, as we in the West enjoy the comforts that so many of us have been blessed with, our leaders seem to continuously sidestep the horrors being experienced by young children and many others in Darfur.

Armed with the knowledge of what are daily occurrences in Darfur, we must strip away the shells of uselessness that we feel and stand together as the voices of hope for the people, and in particular the children of Darfur. Children should not be used as soldiers, they should not be sexually mutilated and they should not witness the mass destruction of life.

Today in Darfur there are many stories similar to that of Anne Frank, only it is not an attic where the children are confined, but refugee camps. To venture outside these camps means rape, mutilation or even death.

On Sunday, May 4th, Sudanese government jets bombed a school killing close to a dozen children. The UN has a no-fly zone over Darfur, but as is evident from the events of May 4th, the UN and the international community in general refuses to endorse it.

So as the death toll in Darfur continues to rise, and the Sudanese government continues to act with impunity towards its native black African population, the question arises “who, along with the Sudanese government ministers and members of the Janjaweed militia that have already been indicted by the International Criminal Court at the Hague, will pay for the crimes that have been committed since the conflict in Darfur began in 2003?” A significant number of EU and US-based corporations have played significant roles in the economic and industrial support and growth of the Sudanese regime. These corporations may be held financially responsible for their support of the Sudanese regime. It may take many years, but as we have witnessed with the recent US court rulings pertaining to civil proceedings being brought against multinational corporations that supported the apartheid regime in South Africa, corporations that support, or have supported genocidal regimes are no longer safe from criminal or civil action. Financial retribution to the innocents of Darfur may not replace all that they have lost, but it may help them to restore some form of normalcy to their lives.

The International Alliance For Human Rights will be staging the biggest concert ever held to raise awareness of the crisis in Darfur. The “Voices of Hope Concert for Darfur” will be calling for fundamental action to be taken to help enhance protection for the native black African population, with an ultimate call for a cessation of hostilities to be enforced by the joint UN/AU hybrid force that is currently being deployed in Darfur.

For more information, please contact David Nolan at dnolan@iafhr.org or 212.695.7022, ext. 315. Make your thoughts known – visit our blog at http://iafhr-darfur.blogspot.com.

Darfur - Increase in Crimes Against Women

When nations go to war, it is expected that the participating nations will adhere to the rules of war which including the utilization of appropriate weaponry, the proper treatment of prisoners of war and safe guarding the passage of civilians, ensuring that no harm come to them from the opposing forces.

When there is internal conflict in which various ethnic groups fight amongst themselves it always happens that the rule books are thrown to the wind. As we have seen in numerous internal conflicts over the last sixty years, countries that have undergone tumultuous regime changes have done so at the expense of its civilian population. From Cambodia to Bosnia, internal conflict has resulted in mass genocide with the culprits brought before various international criminal tribunals. This only happens once the hostile regime has been overthrown and a new democratic government installed.

It is the destruction of the civilian population and the unabashed refusal of regimes to adhere to the Geneva Conventions surrounding the stated protection of the civilian population that must be addressed by the international community if the growing episodes of genocide are to be stopped.

Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, the Secretary General of UN announced on Saturday, April 5th that violence towards the civilian population in Darfur had deteriorated to new levels. The use of sexual violence towards women and young girls has increased dramatically over the last six months. The newly deployed UN-AU Hybrid Force is not providing the appropriate levels of security for women or young girls and therefore the Sudanese government forces and sponsored militia are basically free to carry out these horrendous crimes against innocent civilians.

One can only imagine the effects that these crimes have on their victims. The long term, mental issues that are associated with rape and other forms of abuse are known to have a detrimental affect not only for the victim, but for the immediate family. The feelings of guilt, lack of trust towards other human beings can and often does lead to early death, either at the victims own hand or through the decline of the physical person.

As a man, a husband and a father, I loath the thought of harming another human being. In Darfur, the female section of the community is solely responsible for collecting firewood and other items that require them to travel, on foot, outside the refugee camps. The reason for this is the fact that if men are to undertake these tasks, their lives are placed in immediate danger, so it is considered wiser to let women and young girls be raped and mutilated rather than have the men killed.

While attending a conference at the UN during the latter stages of 200, I heard first hand accounts from women that had been sexually violated in other conflict areas, primarily Darfur, Bosnia and Burma. They were ostracized from their communities, they felt that they had become worthless, because having lost their virginity, they were considered spent, unclean and no good to a man who might previously have been considered a suitable husband.

The worst situations concern those victims that become pregnant after being raped. They must bring a child into the world and watch that child grow up only to be reminded every day, for the rest of their lives, that the child’s father is the perpetrator of the most vicious crime that can be committed against women. According to the witnesses who spoke at the UN conference, when the victim is ostracized from her community, she will often go in search of the perpetrator so that she may stay with him, because no one else will have her. This can also result in a ready made army for future conflicts, with the child from an early age being told stories of how its mother’s tribe didn’t want her and how that child must grow up to take revenge. It is a cycle that we in the developed world are not too familiar with.

While the focus of Darfur has drifted to the back pages of our daily newspapers, due to the increase of media attention on Tibet, Kosovo and other growing concerns, this has allowed the Sudanese government to step up its actions in Darfur, as the old saying goes “while the cat’s away, the mice will play.” This is the situation that Mr. Ban blames for the upsurge in violence against women.

I would like to invite you to take a moment to reflect on the situation in Darfur. During your time of reflection, think of the innocent men, women and children who face a horrific future if we don’t do something to change the course of their lives.

The International Alliance For Human Rights, together with Hope for Humanity will stage the largest concert of its kind in New York City. This concert, to be held in the coming months, will help to raise awareness of the situation in Darfur and it will also call on the international community to take action to stop what can only be described as a nightmare.

For more information, please call 212.695. 7022, ext. 315 or email dnolan@spinmillgroup.com. (http://iafhr-darfur.blogspot.com)

Voices of Hope Concert for Darfur - Update 03/18/08

The rainy season is quickly approaching Africa and little has been done to stem the flow of death in Darfur. While it has quickly disappeared from the news headlines, the situation in Darfur is now at a critical point based on a few issues.

First is the potentially disastrous short supply of food aid. Over the last few months, about 50 supply trucks have been hijacked, with many of the drivers murdered. To date, there are still 13 drivers missing. Trucking companies that had previously worked with the World Food Program are refusing to supply convoy drivers because of the lack of security being provided for the convoys. The World Food Program also recently announced that it may have to suspend its Humanitarian Air Service at the end of March because of the lack of funding. This means that the lives of those Darfuris living in refugee camps in remote parts of Darfur will be placed at greater risk because they will be cut off from food and medical supplies. NGOs, whose services are very much needed in these remote parts, utilize the air service because it is the only way to transport staff to these camps. The situation in Darfur will get worse when the rainy season starts. This news does not paint a good picture.

The other news coming out of Darfur is the fact that fighting has increased between the Sudanese government forces, including the Janjaweed and local rebel groups, which has resulted in hundreds of deaths. International sources are now convinced that the Sudan government will fulfill its mandate to eradicate Darfur of the ethnic black African population and resettle Darfur with black Arabs that are loyal to Khartoum.

The issue of the UN-AU Hybrid Force continues to increase due to the lack of interest of non-African nations to provide troops to this much needed force. There are still only 9,000 UN-AU troops deployed in Darfur, most having changed their green AU berets for the blue beret of the UN. The current state of the force has ensured that the massacre of innocent men, women and children will continue, based on the fact that the force is dreadfully undermanned, logistically inadequate and the African Union in general has been grossly manipulated by Sudan to the point that AU pressure on Sudan to halt its crimes against humanity in Darfur is almost nonexistent.

So what does all this mean? It means an evitable escalation in the deaths of innocent men, women, and children. It also means the continuation of mass rape of women and young girls, some as young as four years of age. But most of all, it appears that the international community has moved its attention to other issues that are of greater concern to its membership, including the current situation in Kosovo, the recent Chinese clampdown in Tibet and the worsening global financial situation.

The message that the international community appears to be sending out to the people of Darfur resembles something along the lines of “You missed your turn! We have other much more important issues to work on at the moment. Hang on and we will come back to you when we get a chance to.” Again, Africa is put on the back burner while “white” issues are placed before the millions of people that face imminent death and destruction in Darfur. The international community can not allow instability in any part of Europe, hence the drive to calm the worries of Serbia as they pertain to Kosovo and its declaration of independence last month. In regards to Tibet, the Chinese government’s clampdown on the Tibetan fight for independence has drawn global attention because of the force used by China and the accusations of human rights violations in Tibet.

Kosovo, Tibet and other major happenings across the world has worked very well to give the international community some relief in relation to its lack of action in Darfur. If attention keeps sliding from one issue to the next, it means that all the issues, irrespective of where they are happening, will go unresolved which will lead to further unrest. That is why it is of great importance that the power of the global community, which comprises of every man, woman and child everywhere, be brought into action to help the international community to focus on resolving all the issues, not only those it deems most important to the stability of global affairs.

It is with this in mind that the International Alliance for Human Rights, together with Hope for Humanity will stage the largest concert ever held to enhance global awareness of the situation in Darfur and the plight of the millions of innocent men, women and children who face imminent death if we fail to act on their behalf. Join us as we prepare to stage the Voices of Hope Concert for Darfur in New York City. For more information on this global event, please email David Nolan at dnolan@iafhr.org or call him at 212.695. 7022, ext. 315. You can also add your comments of support on our blog at http://iafhr-darfur.blogspot.com

Voices of Hope Concert for Darfur - Update 03/06/08

The air attacks came first, then the attacks by the ground forces followed by the death squad militias on their tails, rounding up the innocent civilians, some for immediate execution others for transportation, to be used as prostitutes or child soldiers. This is not the German invasion of its European neighbors during the early stages of WWII but the recent events in Darfur. Hundreds were killed and many more disappeared. Again the question arises, what in God’s name is the international community doing to protect the lives of the innocent civilians in Darfur? The answer quite simply is nothing. International aid has been cut off from numerous refugee camps which also mean that many more innocent civilians now face imminent death not only from these murderous militias but from disease and starvation.

The European Union’s peacekeeping force (EUFOR) initiated its deployment to Chad last month after a number of delays stemming from the recent Sudanese sponsored rebel attacks on the Chadian government and the attempted coup that was thwarted by the Chadian government with the overwhelming support of the French military.

EUFOR’s mission to Chad is very important as its deployment is primarily aimed at providing much needed security for the Darfuri refugees that are being housed in camps just inside the Chadian border. Even though these refugees are inside Chad, they come under regular attack from Sudanese sponsored militia, which cross the border into Chad on a regular basis. It is hoped that EUFOR’s mandate will allow for both offensive and defensive action to be taken in order to safeguard the lives of the hundreds of thousands of Darfuri refugees that are in the Chadian camps.

Over the last the few days, French forces serving with EUFOR mistakenly drove into Sudan and came under fire. One EUFOR soldier was reported missing and on 03/05/08 his body was found by Sudanese forces in the area and upon the handover of his body to the appropriate parties, it will be shipped home to France for burial.

One issue that might prevent a successful EUFOR mission is the fact that the force is so heavily influenced by France, and with France independently providing major support to the Chadian government to protect French financial, trade and mineral trade agreements, France has become a major target of Sudanese-sponsored rebels that have withdrawn to Eastern Chad in preparation for a massive offensive to be launched in the immediate future.

We recently witnessed Steven Spielberg’s withdrawal from his role as the creative advisor of the Beijing Olympics that are due to start this coming August. If Mr. Spielberg had declined this position when it was first offered to him in 2006, the impact would not have been as great as it has now become, due to the fact that, with only a few months to go, the Chinese government will find it extremely difficult to find a notable replacement for Mr. Spielberg. The withdrawal of such a prominent global celebrity has placed the spotlight on China’s role in Darfur. China is viewed a major supporter of the Sudanese government, based primarily on economic, military and mineral trade agreements that are in place between the two nations. The details surrounding these trade agreements are considered top secret at the behest of the Chinese. The criticism of China stems from its failure to appropriately influence Sudan to stop its regime of annihilation of the native black African population of Darfur.

One item that is very important and that must not be overlooked is the fact that China is not the only country with economic ties to Sudan and it is not the only country to underutilize its influence in Sudan to stem the flow of blood in Darfur. While the safeguarding of innocent lives should be of utmost importance to the international community, it is not when to do so would interfere with global economies. No one country can be highlighted as the sole conspirator in Sudan’s mass murder of innocent men, women and children in Darfur. The international community, as a collective body is complicit in this crime. The main leaders of the international community, the group commonly referred to as the “G8” group of nations have all been silent in reference to Darfur. The main religious bodies have been extremely silent in reference to the crimes being committed in Darfur. The Vatican, under the current papacy, hasn’t been this quiet since the Holocaust and the papacy of Pious XII. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the leader of world’s second biggest religion, has been more concerned about England’s adoption of Shira law than voicing his concern of the mass murder of the innocent civilians in Darfur.

What is causing the silence? Well, it can be said that this silence is based on the various economic and strategic ties to Sudan that are in place with most G8 nations. NATO considers Sudan an ally in the war against terrorism. Today’s strategic alliance between NATO and Sudan is in stark contrast to the views held by President Bill Clinton, when in 1996 he ordered that the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, be bombed because Sudan was viewed as a safe haven for Islamic fundamentalist terrorists, including Osama Bin Laden and a major support base of other global terrorists.

While the US and the EU have instituted embargos against Sudan, embargos only work if all nations participate in the implementation of those embargos and if those embargos are not selective trade embargos. Take for example the US and EU trade agreements with Sudan that allows Arabic gum from Sudan to be exported for use in the manufacture of chewing gum, soda, and other gum-based products. An embargo of Arabic gum would result in a major loss of jobs and revenues for the global economy. So we can say that the trade embargos instituted by the US and the EU are selective trade embargos, ones that will not affect their economies.

Major European and US based financial institutions have all greatly invested in Sudan. The withdrawal of these investments could be a major blow to an already shaky global economy, let alone a major catastrophic move for the African continent.

So the big question is “Is it right to highlight and criticize one country’s role in reference to its support of a regime such as that in Sudan?”

Well, the answer has got to be a resounding NO! Just to reiterate, the international community as a whole, has been negligent in allowing the crisis in Darfur to deteriorate to its current point. If we start pointing the finger at individual nations, what then can we say about other crisis areas that are even less talked about today and the roles of Western nations in those areas? Western nations have also been particularly complicit in previous genocidal events such as the French government’s support of the Hutu regime in Rwanda during the 1994 Rwandan genocide of the Tutsi, the British and American support of General Pinochet’s dictatorship in Chile, during the 1980’s, that resulted in thousands of innocent civilians being murdered. Most of all, if we look at the activities of American and European companies in Sudan, and the major profits that they have amassed from doing business in Sudan, they can also be accused of being complicit in the events leading to the deaths of the hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children in Darfur and the potential loss of millions of lives if their support for the Sudanese regime continues.

People are now talking of boycotting the Beijing games but that will achieve nothing as far as influencing change in Darfur. It will only enable smaller nations to win more Olympic medals but that is about it. If the Olympics were being held in the US this year, how many countries would be calling for a boycott of the US games based on its war in Iraq and Afghanistan and its treatment of prisoners both in Iraq and in Cuba.

The loss of lives in Darfur can only be stopped through the initiation of combined global efforts that will influence the Sudanese regime to change its course of action in Darfur. The large scale conferences, meetings, planning sessions and other accumulated rhetoric have to stop. There needs to be a fully implemented solution-based formula developed for Darfur, based on regional economic redevelopment, education, communication and most importantly, equality. This formula may also call for a self-styled autonomous independent state of Darfur. Maybe if more time was spent on action instead of talking, life might be different for millions of innocent civilians caught up in this needless conflict in Darfur.

On March 23rd, 1943 during a House of Lords debate on the Allied Declaration of December 17th that outlined a plan of action pertaining to the treatment of Jewish refugees that were trying escape from Nazis Europe, Lord Samuel, an English peer of Jewish decent, stated that “The declaration of the United Nations was made on December 17. Today is March 23rd, and, so far as is publicly known, nothing has happened except discussions, conferences and exchanges of notes. We are glad to learn that measures are afoot for securing close cooperation between this country and the United States. But there seems to be a great danger that action is liable to be lost in the sands of diplomatic negotiations…

While the governments prepare memoranda and exchange notes and hold conferences, week after week, month after month, the Nazis go on killing men, women and children.”

So as we can see, the rhetoric and lack of action is nothing new. Dialogue during the initial stages of unrest, is extremely important and in most cases it is very helpful because it has the ability to stop the progression to all out conflict. But when third party sponsored dialogue fails to encourage a strategy of communication and cooperation amongst potential warring factions, the international community has a responsibility to take action to prohibit the progress to war. When it fails to take these necessary steps, the international community then becomes responsible for this failure and any future events associated with the conflict.

Dialogue has failed Darfur. To date, no appropriate action has been taken on behalf of the innocent civilians of Darfur and it is time for action. Military intervention will not work, but the coming together of the global community, the ordinary people of the world, to voice their concerns at the progression of the conflict in Darfur will certainly be of greater help than our diplomatic leaders continuing their dialogue.

The International Alliance For Human Rights, together with Hope for Humanity will stage the largest concert of its kind ever held to help enhance global awareness of the conflict in Darfur.

The response to our call for help has been incredible and we need it to continue. For information on how you can help, please email dnolan@iafhr.org or call 212.695.7022, ext. 315.