Google Earth focuses on Sudan atrocities

NF Reporter · 04-10-2007, 08:57 PM

AP - Google is using its popular online mapping service to call attention to atrocities in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Full Story...

DeViAnThans3 · 04-14-2007, 02:37 AM

Happy to read!
Well, at least Google also does something "for the good thing", just like a few other companies in the huge IT business.

We'll see if it gives any result, which I don't doubt in fact hehe: Google Earth is already too popular for that.

08-02-2007, 12:56 AM

UN troops goin' in...

Sudan Accepts Darfur Resolution, Rebels Have Their Doubts
01 August 2007 - Sudan's government says it will abide by a Security Council resolution that paves the way for the United Nations and the African Union to deploy 26,000 peacekeepers to the region.

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The Security Council resolution is the latest effort to bring peace to Sudan's Darfur region, where officials estimate that more than 200,000 people have been killed in four years of fighting. Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol announced his government's formal acceptance of Security Council resolution 1769. The final version is significantly watered down because, for one, it does not threaten sanctions if Sudan refuses to comply.

The main Darfur rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Movement, says it is encouraged by the tough language in the resolution. But SLM spokesman Yahia Bolad says his group will reserve final judgment until it sees whether the peacekeepers are able to enforce the agreement. Bolad tells VOA that another major concern is that much of the land abandoned by civilians in Darfur has been occupied by Arabs backed by the Sudanese government. He says the Sudan Liberation Movement will start thinking about a strong political agreement for Darfur only when attacks cease and the issue of resettlement has been solved.

"We want to see our people to be protected, we want to see aerial bombardment to stop, after that we can look for the political process, and we know that the political process at the end of the day is the way to solve these problems," he said. Those comments suggest that the Sudan Liberation Movement is still determined to boycott talks set for later this week in Arusha, Tanzania on laying the groundwork for a new peace process in Darfur. Earlier, Sudan Liberation Movement leader Abdelwahid al-Nur told the English language Sudan Tribune that he would not attend the talks unless the violence in Darfur stops.

More VOA News - Sudan Accepts Darfur Resolution, Rebels Have Their Doubts

waltky · 09-01-2007, 12:55 AM

The ravages of war...

U.N.: Malnutrition On The Rise In Darfur
Sep. 1, 2007 - Malnutrition Increasing In Darfur Along With Number Of People Fleeing Home, U.N. Official Says

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Malnutrition is increasing in Sudan's violence-wracked Darfur region along with lawlessness and the number of people fleeing their homes, a senior U.N. official said Friday. "The humanitarian situation in the last few months has become more critical in many parts of Darfur," Assistant Secretary-General Margareta Wahlstrom, the U.N.'s deputy humanitarian chief, told a news conference.

Wahlstrom said she expects Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to raise the worsening humanitarian situation in Darfur with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir when he visits Sudan next week. More than 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been uprooted since ethnic African rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated Sudanese government in 2003, accusing it of decades of neglect. Sudan's government is accused of retaliating by unleashing a militia of Arab nomads known as the janjaweed _ a charge it denies.

The humanitarian operation in Darfur remains the largest in the world _ as it has been for the past three years _ with 4 million people now dependent on humanitarian assistance as a consequence of the protracted conflict, rising tension and increasing lawlessness, she said. She said 18 spot surveys by U.N. agencies and nongovernmental organizations in the three Darfur provinces all found that for the first time in three years the number of malnutrition cases has increased beyond the emergency threshold of 15 percent to "well over 17 percent being detected in some areas."

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Northern Sudan could be the next Darfur
Aug. 31, 2007 -- Nubia, the northern region of Sudan, could soon see violence and human rights abuses like those in the country's Darfur region.

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A newly formed rebel group called the Kush Liberation Front is calling for guerrilla-style attacks on Sudanese cities, The Los Angeles Times reported Friday.

Tension between the Arab-controlled government and local people spiked in June when soldiers fired into a crowd of 5,000 protesters, killing four and wounding dozens more, the Times said. The government has arrested Nubian leaders and sympathetic journalists.

Sudan has been wracked by violence for decades, first in a 20-year civil war in the South, and then by conflict in the east and subsequently in the western Darfur region, the newspaper said.

Source

waltky · 10-04-2007, 04:35 PM

Khartoum agrees to finance restoration...

Sudan to give money for Darfur restoration
Wednesday 3rd October, 2007 - Sudan's government will give US$300m to help restore Darfur.

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Ex-US President Jimmy Carter, who is in Sudan with a group of elder statesmen, has been having talks with President Omar al-Bashir to provide compensation to Darfuri residents. He said US$100m of the promised compensation money would come from Sudan's government and US$200m would be a loan from China. Mr Carter said the payout would help rebuild and repair the damage that has been done in Darfur and that it was a clear indication of President Bashir's commitment.

Meanwhile, Nigeria has said pledges of troops and equipment to a joint AU-UN peacekeeping force must be honoured. A presidential spokesman said Nigeria would continue to support the African Union's mission in Darfur, despite the weekend attack in which 10 troops were killed by rebels. On hearing of the offer, a rebel leader said safety and security was the most important issue.

He said UN troops should be deployed from Western countries such as NATO, the U.S and Australia, because AU forces had failed to protect civilians or themselves. In Darfur, the Nigerian general in charge of the AU force, Martin Luther Agwai, said his troops had been outgunned and outnumbered by rebels and militias.

Meanwhile, a human rights organisation says it has evidence that Darfuris who have been sent back to Khartoum by the U.K government have been tortured. The Aegis trust says that a number of Darfuris were severely abused and assaulted in Sudanese detention after being declared failed asylum seekers and deported by the British authorities.

Sudan to give money for Darfur restoration

waltky · 11-27-2007, 11:57 PM

Is it worth it??...

Sudan 'blocking' Darfur mission
Wednesday, 28 November 2007, Mr Guehenno said the UN has to ask whether a mission would work

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Sudanese obstacles could mean the UN mission in Darfur is not viable, the head of UN peacekeeping has said. Jean-Marie Guehenno told the United Nations Security Council that excessive demands from Khartoum "would make it impossible for the mission to operate". Among other demands, Sudan wants advance notice of troop movements and to be able to shut down communications.

Mr Guehenno said the UN would have to consider whether a deployment would be worthwhile under such conditions. The 26,000-strong United Nations and African Union peacekeeping force, Unamid, is due to take over protecting the people of Darfur in a month's time.

But Sudan has raised a series of objections which Mr Guehenno said threaten the success of the mission. Sudan has still not agreed to the presence of non-African personnel and has not yet given the UN the land it needs to operate nor authorised night flights.

'Hard choices'

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Rights Group Criticizes China for Failure to Act on Darfur
28 November 2007 - Human rights advocates say China is not doing enough to address the crisis in Sudan's troubled region of Darfur.

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One group is calling on corporate sponsors of the 2008 Olympic Games to push China to do more. U.S.-based advocacy group Dream for Darfur says corporate sponsors of the Olympics in Beijing have failed to do their part to pressure China to ensure peace in Darfur.

The group issued a report card Monday grading the companies' responses to the Darfur crisis after asking them to take a stand. Sixteen out of 19 sponsors failed or got Ds, including Microsoft, Panasonic and Visa. General Electric earned the highest grade, a C-plus.

Ellen Freudenheim conducted research for the project. Speaking to reporters via teleconference, she said the majority of Olympic sponsors are condoning the violence in Darfur by staying silent. "If there's a genocide and you're involved with a government that's actively enabling that genocide, you, too, are silently complicit if you don't at least raise the issue," she said.

Dream for Darfur graded the companies using a range of criteria, including whether they contacted China or the International Olympic Committee, donated aid to Darfur or appointed a point person on Darfur. Several companies, including Visa and General Electric, sent response letters to the campaign saying they found it inappropriate to take action. They said the correct platform for the Darfur issue is at a United Nations and government level.

More VOA News - Rights Group Criticizes China for Failure to Act on Darfur

waltky · 01-31-2008, 07:43 PM

Clooney speaks up for Darfur...

Clooney urges Sudan to let peacekeepers in
February 01, 2008 : OSCAR-WINNING actor George Clooney today appealed to Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir to allow the full UN-African Union peacekeeping force into strife-torn Darfur.

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"These peacekeepers are not an occupying force, there are not there to spread democracy or infringe on religious belief," he said on his first visit to UN headquarters since UN chief Ban Ki-moon appointed him Messenger of Peace earlier this month. And Clooney said China, as a close ally and trading partner of Khartoum, had a key role to play in urging the Sudanese government to cooperate.

"It's China that can hold the Sudanese government to the commitments it made to the UN and to China specifically," Clooney said. "The international community looks more and more to China for leadership and with that comes great responsibility. You can be the difference to millions of people's lives. "I am proud to be here as a messenger of peace," said the Hollywood heartthrob, who earlier was mobbed on his arrival by dozens of excited female UN employees.

He shared his impressions of his recent tour of Darfur, Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo where he accompanied UN Assistant Secretary General for field support Jane Holl Lute Lute on her recent technical mission. Asked how he would like the next US president to deal with the United Nations, the US actor replied: "Whoever he or she is, I would hope that they are infinitely more inclusive of the UN than the (current) administration."

Clooney, a passionate advocate for an end to war and famine in Sudan's Darfur region, was chosen as peace messenger in recognition for his tireless efforts to focus public attention on key international political and social issues. He has played a leading role in the international campaign to raise awareness of the humanitarian tragedy in Darfur, where at least 200,000 people have died from the combined effects of war, famine and diseases while another 2.2 million have been forced from their homes, according to UN figures.

More Clooney urges Sudan to let peacekeepers in | NEWS.com.au

forumposters · 01-31-2008, 11:12 PM

Google used to simply have a motto of "don't be evil". But, lately they seem to be taking that a step more and actually going out of their way to do good. Not only are they trying to bring attention to these people in need, they also have done a lot to promote solar power recently to help save our planet.

waltky · 02-11-2008, 03:23 AM

Granny says, "Tell `em to Google onna financial office...

U.N. wasting money in Sudan, audit says
Feb. 11, 2008 -- The United Nations has wasted millions of dollars in its peacekeeping operations in Sudan during the past three years, an audit indicated.

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Internal audits by the U.N. Office for International Oversight Services found that millions of dollars were spent on, among other things, renting warehouses that were never used, booking hotel rooms that were never filled, and losing food rations to theft and spoilage, The Washington Post reported Sunday.

Auditors also found that one U.N. purchasing agent might have steered a $589,000 contract for airport runway lights to a company that helped his wife obtain a student visa.

The U.N. procurement division "did not have the necessary capacity and expertise to handle the large magnitude of procurement actions" in Sudan, said a confidential October 2006 audit obtained by the newspaper. The Post reported that a U.N. task force is probing the global agency's handling of nearly $300 million in contracts for food, transportation and fuel for Sudan.

Source

bizwiz · 02-11-2008, 09:14 AM

Google has done a great service by making people more aware about what actually is going on down there in the hopes that the atrocities committed against women and children will stop.

waltky · 03-28-2008, 10:18 PM

Underreporting of genocide?...

Is Death Estimate For Darfur Too Low?
Mar. 28, 2008 : Ex-UN Humanitarian Chief Says His Estimate Of 200,000 Deaths In Darfur Is Far Too Low

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How many people have died in Darfur? Two years ago, the United Nations estimated 200,000. But the man who gave that figure now says it's far too low. Sudan has long said it's way too high. A new mortality survey might settle the question, but the U.N. has no plans for one _ it is too busy trying to help the living. Activist groups say Sudan's government doesn't want one.

Former U.N. humanitarian chief Jan Egeland told The Associated Press he has no doubt that tens of thousands more people have died since he made the 200,000 estimate in 2006. He cited a dramatic increase in the number of people affected by the conflict and a surge in fighting. But Egeland, now a special adviser to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said only a large-scale mortality survey and access to areas where aid workers are unable to reach could provide an accurate death figure for the 5-year-old conflict.

Aid workers long have been prevented from reaching parts of Darfur because of Sudanese government obstruction and the unrelenting violence between ethnic African rebels and the janjaweed militias that support the Arab-dominated regime in Khartoum. Sudan's government strongly disputes the figure of 200,000 deaths, contending the toll is a tiny fraction of that _ less than 10,000.

Aid workers say Sudan's figure probably reflects people killed by bullets, but doesn't take into account all those who have died from hunger or disease tied to the upheaval of the conflict. The last official, independent mortality survey for Darfur was released in March 2005 based on data collected from 8,844 displaced people living in camps by a team from the World Health Organization. It estimated 10,000 people had died among the refugees each month between the end of 2003 and October 2004 _ mostly of malnutrition and disease.

Egeland said when he was interviewed at the end of 2005, "I just added the 10,000 we found that died per month in 2004. ... I said well it's 18 months, it's 180,000." A few months later he raised it to 200,000. "Then, the clock stopped ticking, sort of," he said in the AP interview earlier this month. "You have the figure 200,000 people died in Darfur which has been used continuously since I gave it," Egeland added. "Please stop using that figure. I gave it. It's two and half years old. It's wrong."

More Is Death Estimate For Darfur Too Low?, Ex-UN Humanitarian Chief Says His Estimate Of 200,000 Deaths In Darfur Is Far Too Low - CBS News

waltky · 05-03-2008, 04:37 AM

A fortuitous development?...

Plane Crash In Sudan Kills Defense Minister, 22 Others
May 2, 2008 - A plane crash in southern Sudan Friday killed 24 passengers and crew, including the country's defense minister.

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The Beachcraft 1900 operated by South Sudan Air Connection crashed some 220 miles (375 kilometers) west of Juba, capital of the semi-autonomous region in the south.

Southern Minister of Defense Dominic Dim and people who attended the Sudan People's Liberation Movement conference were aboard the plane returning to Juba. Investigation of the crash is ongoing.

Presstv.ir quoted Deputy Prime Minister Riek Mashar as saying that an attack was ruled out as the cause of the crash.

Plane Crash In Sudan Kills Defense Minister, 22 Others | May 3, 2008 | AHN

waltky · 07-11-2008, 05:16 PM

Should have done this 4 years ago...

Sudan president expected to face war crime charges
Jul 11, `08 - U.N. officials and diplomats said the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court will seek an arrest warrant Monday charging Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with crimes against humanity and genocide in Darfur.

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The court based in The Hague, Netherlands, said the prosecutor will present evidence of the war crimes in Darfur to judges Monday and one or more new suspects will be named. But court officials refused Friday to identify any of the potential new suspects. The U.N. officials and diplomats said they expect lesser charges of helping orchestrate genocide and participating in crimes against humanity to be brought against Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Mohammed Taha. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

A spokesman for Sudan's president dismissed the investigation and said his government refuses to hand over any suspects. Sudan's ambassador to the U.N., Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamed, warned that issuing arrest warrants for government leaders would be "a criminal move." "We condemn it in the strongest of terms. It will have far-reaching, bad implications for the entire country, and all options are open for our reactions," he told The Associated Press.

"If you indict our head of state, the symbol of our country, the symbol of our dignity, then the sky's the limit for our reactions." State Department spokesman Sean McCormack warned the Sudanese government not to resort to violence. "Violence perpetrated by the government against those on the ground performing humanitarian missions, performing duties on behalf of their governments serves - certainly does not serve the purposes of the Sudanese government," he said.

More My Way News - Sudan president expected to face war crime charges

waltky · 07-31-2008, 11:57 PM

UN extends peacekeeper mandate...

Security Council Votes to Extend Darfur Peacekeepers
31 July 2008 - The United Nations Security Council has voted to extend the mandate of peacekeepers in Sudan's Darfur region.

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Ambassadors originally were set to meet and vote on the one-year extension by mid-afternoon, New York time. But the meeting was pushed back because the United States was objecting to language in the draft resolution that raised concerns about moves to indict Sudan's president for genocide. The chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) has asked the court to issue an arrest warrant for Mr. Bashir on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Security Council has the power under the ICC charter to suspend prosecutions or investigations by the ICC for a year at a time, with indefinite renewal. Last week, an adviser to the Sudanese president said Sudan cannot guarantee the safety of African Union and United Nations peacekeepers in Darfur if the president is indicted. The joint U.N.-AU force has about 9.000 soldiers and police, barely a third of the 26,000 personnel that was projected. The force's mandate expires Thursday.

The draft resolution also calls on the government of Sudan, troop contributors, and donors to do everything possible to support an increase in the force so that UNAMID can reach 80 percent of its capacity by the end of 2008. Darfur activists have accused the international community of failing to give enough support to the mission. A report written by aviation expert Thomas Withington and backed by more than 30 human rights groups says donor nations have failed to supply helicopters and other badly needed equipment to the force.

International experts say more than 200,000 people have died and some 2.5 million displaced from their homes since Darfur rebel groups rose up against the Sudanese government in 2003. Sudan says Western governments and media have exaggerated the scale of the conflict, and that only 10,000 people have died.

VOA News - Security Council Votes to Extend Darfur Peacekeepers

waltky · 08-25-2008, 10:36 PM

Gee, wonder what was goin' on in Darfur while ever'body was watchin' the Beijing Olympics, wonder how many died?

Darfur Refugee Camp Attacked
Monday, Aug. 25, 2008 — Sudanese government forces attacked one of Darfur's largest refugee camps at dawn Monday, killing dozens of civilians, according to rebels and a witness in the camp.

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Sudan's military acknowledged the raid but said soldiers were searching for smuggled weapons. The United Nations said it was "gravely concerned" about the situation inside the Kalma camp in southern Darfur after it received reports that Sudanese police vehicles surrounded it and subsequent attacks caused "injuries and deaths of civilians." The U.N. did not provide a death toll. But a resident of the camp, Mandela Abdullah Mohammed, told The Associated Press by telephone that he counted 32 dead bodies, including several women and children.

More than 50 vehicles "packed with armed men wearing police and security forces' uniforms ... hit us with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns," Mohammed said. But a military spokesman said government troops were fired on first. "They were surprised by heavy gunfire from within the camp. There was an exchange of fire and a number of victims," said spokesman Sawarmy Khaled, without elaborating. He said the fighting had stopped by Monday night.

The assault comes as Sudan's president faces genocide charges for alleged government-backed attacks on ethnic Africans in the country's troubled western region. Up to 300,000 people have died and more than 2.5 million have been displaced since a rebellion began in Darfur in 2003. The International Criminal Court is expected to decide whether to issue a warrant for his arrest within months.

Kalma, which sits about 15 miles from the South Darfur capital of Nyala, is home to about 90,000 residents. Sudanese soldiers stormed the camp, a sprawling mix of mud huts and scrap-plastic tents, and immediately opened fire on civilians, said Nimr Abdel-Rahman, spokesman for the Sudan Liberation Army, a Darfur rebel group. He told AP by telephone from Darfur that 45 people were killed and 135 wounded. He was about 30 miles from Kalma but said the information came from witnesses and aid workers on the ground.

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UN criticises Sudan for killing civilians in Darfur
26 Aug 2008, The United Nations has criticised the Sudanese police for their alleged role in killing internally displaced persons (IDPs) at a camp in South Darfur.

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A deadly firefight on Monday killed at least 25 people after Sudanese security forces thrust into one of the largest camps for displaced people in Darfur, witnesses and rebels said. "Such actions severely threaten the safety and security of civilians, who have a right to protection under international humanitarian law," UN spokesperson Marie Okabe told reporters as she urged restraint.

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan has called for the immediate establishment of a humanitarian corridor at the Kalma camp, which is home to about 80,000 IDPs, so that the injured may be evacuated. The joint UN-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) has sent police and military patrols to Kalma to confirm the details of the incident and provide any assistance needed. Okabe added that the mission's leadership is extremely concerned over the incident, stressing that the circumstances will be investigated and the entire situation is being closely monitored.

The mission has been in place in Darfur since the start of the year in a bid to try to quell the deadly fighting and humanitarian suffering that has afflicted the impoverished Sudanese region since 2003. In the past five years an estimated 300,000 people have been killed, either through direct combat, disease, malnutrition or reduced life expectancy, while another 2.7 million people have been forced to flee from their homes because of fighting between rebels, Government forces and allied Janjaweed.

Source