Day 234 - November 29th

- Sudan Government kills seven IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) in the camp of Deliij. The killings were executed by Sudan's security agents and the Janjaweed as part of terror campaign to force Elections registration on the displaced people of Darfur in the camps.
More details as reported by Sudan Tribune:

Sudan kills seven IDPs in Darfur camp

Sunday 29 November 2009.

November 28, 2009 (PARIS) — Seven Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) were killed Friday in West Darfur following a wrangle between the residents and government troops which attempted to force them to take part in voter registration.

Burial ceremony at Kalma IDP camp (UNAMID/file)

The IDPs ask the government to disarm militia and to bring to justice responsible of atrocities committed in the restive region as well as to conclude a peace deal with the rebel groups before organize elections in the country.

However, the local authorities in Darfur launched a voter registration process in the three states of the province in a bid to count IDPs that the UN estimates their number to be 2.7 million.

Many of them resisted the Sudan fifth population and housing census conducted in April year. The total number of Darfur three states is estimated at 7 501 012 according to the figures published by the Sudanese authorities.

The Sudanese regular forces and militia in West Darfur state on Friday evening — at 05:00pm – killed seven people in Deleij IDPs camp, some 280 klm from El Geneina the capital of West Darfur state. The incident took place after attempts by local officials to persuade the residents of the camp to register in electoral lists.

In a discussion with the officials who were accompanied by regular forces from the army and police besides Janjaweed militiamen the residents reiterated their rejection to the electoral operation.

"They had a hot discussion with the officials after declaring their support to (the rebel leader) Abdel Wahid Al-Nur, then the regular forces and the militia started shooting on the innocent civilians," said Hussein Abu Sharati the spokesperson of Darfur IDPs and refugees.

He further said the peacekeepers in the area were present but did not intervene to prevent the killing.

Speaking on Saturday afternoon, the IDPs spokesperson added the regular forces had been withdrawn after the killing.

Abu Sharati also stressed that what was happened in Deleij could be repeated in two other camps in North Darfur.

According the spokesperson, the Sudanese authorities already visited Al-Maliha and Kassap camps today and threatened to arrest tomorrow those who refuse the voter registration operation.

"Today they already arrested seven local leaders (Mashaikh) from Kassap camp," he further said.

Sudan launched a one month voter registration operation inside and outside the country, ahead of general election scheduled to be held next April. The process is extended for one week during the next month.

- Also from Sudan Tribune on Elections that the ruling party NCP is clearly planning to rig:

Sudan slams US skepticism over conducting credible elections in 2010

Sunday 29 November 2009.

November 28, 2009 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese government responded angrily to a statement by the US administration which expressed doubts that the April 2010 elections could be held in a credible manner hinting that it should be delayed.

Yesterday the US State department released a statement saying that Washington is “concerned about the chances for conducting credible elections and referenda”.

“In Khartoum, the two parties to the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA)—the National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM)—continue their discussions to resolve key outstanding issues relating to the 2010 national elections and the 2011 referenda in Southern Sudan and Abyei. Unfortunately, the parties have not yet demonstrated the political will necessary to achieve resolution on these difficult and sensitive issues”.

In the past the US has been adamant about conducting elections on time despite signs that this may not be possible in light of political disagreement and long standing objections by opposition parties that the NCP is restricting free press and political campaigning with wide powers granted to the security bureau including those relating to arresting individuals.

The Sudanese foreign ministry spokesperson Muawiya Osman Khalid described the US position as “sabotage with a goal of achieving special agenda” adding that the number of registered voters surpassed 10 million which he described as a “good figure”.

Khalid noted that the border demarcation between North and South “is a long technical process” stressing that the committees are carrying out their duties in “coordinated and coherent steps”.

The Sudanese official called on the international community “to ignore the voices which seeks to doubt the elections” and the support the democratic transformation process and encourage the political parties “to carry out their role towards its members”.

This week in Khartoum the US special envoy to Sudan Scott Gration said that he is “pleased to see that Sudan is entering into the registration period that things are proceeding, and we look forward to a good election in April”.

The change in US position could indicate failure by Gration to make the NCP or SPLM reach a middle ground on last year’s census results used to determine geographical constituencies which the ex-southern rebel group views as objectionable because it claims to understate the population of Southerners. There is also a dispute of the draft national security bill as well as the referendum law.

The negotiations between the NCP and SPLM on elections and referendum have been dragging on for months which could jeopardize the timing of holding both processes. The elections have so far been moved up 3 times.

The SPLM categorically rejects any delay in rescheduling the 2011 referendum amid regional concern that the South may resort to unilateral declaration of referendum.

The Sudanese political parties including the SPLM are scheduled to meet in the coming weeks to determine whether they will take part in the elections which they alleged to be marred with widespread fraud.

The Islamist opposition leader Hassan Al-Turabi said any boycott decision has to be made by a coalition of parties and that it is useless for one single party to make such a move unilaterally.

Day 233 - November 28th

- Security in Zalengi (west Darfur) is in jeopardy, residents told Radio Dabanga. Some residents said that there are armed ethnic groups wearing uniforms enter homes of people claiming that they are security forces and in mission of search, then they assault people and terrorize civilians.

- From Reuters:

U.S. says Sudan's 2010 elections in doubt

Fri Nov 27, 2009 12:19pm EST

* U.S. cites lack of political will to resolve issues

* Statement comes after U.S. envoy's visit to Sudan

* Strains raise fears north-south civil war could restart

WASHINGTON, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Sudan may be unable to hold credible elections in coming months because the ruling party and opposition cannot agree on ground rules for the polls, the U.S. State Department said on Friday.

At the end of a trip to Sudan by President Barack Obama's special envoy Scott Gration, the State Department said it saw little movement on issues such as voter registration and border delineation between Khartoum and the semi-autonomous South -- endangering plans for national elections in April 2010 and a referendum on southern succession in 2011.

"Without immediate resolution of these disputes, we are concerned about the chances for conducting credible elections and referenda," it said in a statement.

"Unfortunately, the parties have not yet demonstrated the political will necessary to achieve resolution on these difficult and sensitive issues."

Gration's trip to Sudan was his first since Washington announced in October it would keep economic sanctions on Sudan but would also offer Khartoum new incentives to end violence in Darfur and the South.

The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), former southern rebels who are now junior partners in the governing coalition under the terms of a 2005 peace deal, have accused the North of stalling on a democratic transformation and undermining plans for free elections.

The SPLM and other parties said on Wednesday they would delay a decision on whether to boycott April's elections in part due to a week-long extension of the voter registration period.

The strains have raised fears the north-south civil war -- fueled by issues including religion, ethnicity, oil and ideology between mostly Christian southern rebels and the Islamist Khartoum government -- could reignite.

Gration visited voter registration centers and urged people to sign up for the polls "as it is the only way for the Sudanese people to maintain their right to participate in the national elections in April 2010," the statement said.

He also visited Darfur, where the United Nations says more than 2 million people were driven from their homes and some 300,000 people died in a crisis that saw non-Arab militias take up arms against the central government. Khartoum puts the death toll at 10,000.

Gration's meetings concentrated on the security situation along the Chad-Sudan border, with the State Department noting lawlessness and banditry were heightening tensions yet again.

- From Reuters Also:

Ten killed in Darfur clashes, rebels say

* Fighting as peace talks begin

By Opheera McDoom

KHARTOUM, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Rebels in Sudan's Darfur region on Thursday accused government troops of launching two attacks in a development likely to hinder peace talks which began this month. Rebel commander Suleiman Marjan of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) said government forces attacked civilians in Jabel Eissa and al-Harra in North Darfur on Wednesday.

"They drove out the civilians, beating them, looting and arrested 11 young men," Marjan said.

The SLA had no base in the villages, which was home to about 6,000 people, he said.

In an earlier army attack on Nov. 18 on a nearby SLA base, two rebels and eight government soldiers were killed, he said.

"We repulsed them and they left 20 injured behind and about 50 prisoners who we later released," Marjan said.

Officials from the government army were not available to comment. The joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force (UNAMID) was also unable to confirm the attacks.

The United Nations estimates about 300,000 people have been killed since mostly non-Arab rebels in Darfur took up arms against Khartoum more than six years ago. The government puts the toll at about 10,000.

The International Criminal Court has demanded President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's arrest for war crimes linked to the counter-insurgency campaign .

The peace process mediated by the United Nations and African Union began earlier this month in Qatar with civil society groups taking part. The SLA has refused to attend until security returns to Darfur.

The fighting has driven more than 2 million people from their homes and destabilised the remote region bordering Chad and the Central African Republic, who are both fighting uprisings fuelled by the Darfur unrest.

Day 232 - November 27th

- As reported by Radio Dabanga from Eastern Chad: Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad are continuing to suffer from the lack of secondary schools. Students usually do not find opportunities to continue their education even if they successfully completed the primary education. As a result of this, proportion of the lost generations among the refugees has dramatically increased.

In order to address this matter, Mrs. Fatima Ibrahim Adam, a deputy superintendent of education at camp Abu Nabag appealed to the voluntary organizations to provide secondary education for the refugees in Eastern Chad.

- NCP practices unfair registration tactics during Elections' registration in Nyaka: After 12 hours arrest ,security authorities in Nyala released on Wednesday November 25 Abussfian Mohammed Al Hassan, he was an observer of the Popular Congress Party at Kawakib electoral Registration Centre, Constituency number 5. According to a member of the popular congress party the arrest of Abussvian was due to his protest against some practices that were contrary to the regulations and criticism he made against the policy of multiple registrations by members of the National Conference at the electoral registration Centre .

Day 231 - November 26th

- IDP Camp attacked:
As reported by Radio Dabanga: Prompted by deaths of its members, an armed group believed to be members of the Arab Aballa tribe (camels herders) attacked on Tuesday morning the IDP camp in Deleij in Wadi Saleh. The attackers not only flogged the displaced people with whips but also looted their belongings. According to an eyewitness, the displaced people suspected that the attackers were incited by an incident Monday evening, in which two persons entered the camp to watch a film at the video club but end up being killed by the IDPs .

Day 226 - November 21st

- Villagers in Thur, Jabal Marra area (West Darfur) are living in terror and undersiege by armed pro government militia, Radio Dabanga reported this morning. A villager told the radio in an interview that armed militia entered the farms of the villagers with their live stock grazing the the planted crops and threatened the villagers not to leave their homes or try to come to the farms. In the same area a vehicle of World Food Program (WFP) was carjacked and not found til now, Radio Dabanga reported. The villager interviewed said the area is undergoing complete chaos and no security whatsoever.

Day 225 - November 20th

- Gun men on horsebacks and camels kill 11 and wound 4 in a village in south Darfur:

By Alaa Shahine

Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Unidentified gunmen, many riding on camels, killed 11 people in attacks on two villages in Sudan’s Darfur region, the United Nations and African Union peacekeeping mission said today.

More than 300 gunmen took part in the attack in the state of South Darfur, the mission said in an e-mailed statement.

“The cause of the clashes is unconfirmed, although access to water seemed to be the trigger,â€‌ the statement said.

Analysts including Jeffery Sachs, a development economist at New York’s Columbia University, have blamed world powers and the UN for focusing mainly on political and military solutions for the crisis in Darfur, while neglecting other root causes such as scarce natural resources.

Clashes between pro-government forces and rebels -- along with tribal fighting, banditry and disease -- have killed about 300,000 people since 2003, the UN says. The mostly African rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated government, accusing it of neglecting the region. The government puts the violence-related death toll at about 10,000.

Four people were also wounded in the attacks on the villages of Taman and Shaleb Shaleb on Nov. 17, the peacekeeping mission said. Two other people were still missing, it added.

Day 224 - November 19th

- Armed men entered a camp and killed two refugees, an IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) witness in the camp of Elriyad near the city of ElGeneina in West Darfur.
The leader added that the assailants entered the camp by night carrying arms and entered one home and shot Mohamed Adam Akasha (27 years) in the head without provocation. The the armed men entered another house, shot same way in the head and killed Fanniyah (30 years old female).

- Violent clashes are occurring in South Darfur. In one incident violence broke between two Arab tribes of Reziegat and Habbanyiah where 5 people were killed. In another incident 7 from Sudan Government's troops were killed in an ambush by unknown armed people.

- IDPs in Kalma and Zalingei did not send representative to Doha

Kalma - Zalingei - 18 – November: The displaced People in Kalma camp said on Thursday that they did not send anyone to represent them in the Doha meeting. Those who went there from these camps represent only themselves . One of the leaders of the displaced persons camp said they learned that there are workshops held in Nyala last week. The IDP camp was not consulted about these workshops and therefore they had no representative there.
The IDPs in Zalingei renewed their rejection of the Doha consultations and they said those who went to Doha to take part are members of the National Congress Party and they are not related to displaced persons. The coordinator of the camps in Zalingei said that the route used by the government and UNAMID does only lead to more complexity in Darfur.

Day 222 - November 17th

- Leaders of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in camps around Kas (west Darfur) told Radio Dabanga that they have authorized anyone to represent them in Doha. These days there is a workshop is held for " civil society leaders" in Doha, Qatar. There are other complaints from other Darfuris in Sudan that the Government of Sudan has played influential role in selecting Darfuris who traveled from Khartoum to Doha to participate in the current workshop.

- After heavy criticism it received regarding the limited registration centers for elections, the Sudan Embassy in Washington issued an statement in a harry. In that statement, the Embassy announced that the registration committee in the Sudan Embassies in Washington and New York will travel to some American cities. In the announced schedule it is decided for some regions, like Texas, two days for registration. In many other regions, like California, the date and period are not determined yet.
The Government of Sudan is not genuine in carrying out these elections as truly free and fair. Such above reactions are only meant to hush criticism.
Below is the latest statement issued by the Embassy of Sudan in Washington (in Arabic):

الثلاثاء, 17 نوفمبر 2009 14:03



Embassy of The Republic of the Sudan – Washington

2210 Massachusetts Ave.

Washington, DC, 20008




بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم





سفارة جمهورية السودان واشنطون

هاتف : 202-338-8565

فاكس : 202-667-2406

سفارة السودان بواشنطون: مشاركة السودانيين المقيمين بالولايات المتحدة الأمريكية في إنتخابات رئاسة الجمهورية



مشاركة السودانيين المقيمين بالولايات المتحدة الأمريكية في إنتخابات رئاسة الجمهورية

تفيد السفارة السودانية بواشنطن ان المفوضية القومية للانتخابات قد قررت فتح مركزين لتسجيل الناخبين بالولايات المتحدة الامريكية ، بالسفارة السودانية بواشنطن (المكتب القنصلى) وبالبعثة الدائمة بنيويورك وقد بدأ التسجيل فى العاشر من نوفمبر وسيستمر حتى الثلاثون من نوفمبر من العام الحالى.

استنادا على التفويض الممنوح للجان التسجيل بالسفارات والقنصليات بالتحرك خارج المراكز لتسجيل الناخبين فى مواقع تجمعاتهم فسيتم تحرك لجان التسجيل بمركزى واشنطن ونيويورك وفقا للجداول التالية:

البعثة بواشنطن:

الجهة


موقع التسجيل


الفترة الزمنية

دالاس – تكساس


دار الجالية2440 West Irving Blvd. Irving, Tx 75063


19-20/11/2009

شيكاغو- الينوى


Holiday Inn O’hare Area

5615 N. Cumberland Ave.

Chicago , IL 60631




21-22/11/2009

اوماها - نبراسكا


يحدد لاحقا


23-24/11/2009

قرينزبورو – نورث كارولينا


Marriot

304 N. Greene Street

Greensboro’ N.C 27401


25-26/11/2009



المندوبية بنيويورك

الجهة


موقع التسجيل


الفترة الزمنية

بوستن - ماساشيوستس


يحدد لاحقا


يحدد لاحقا

اوكلاند- كاليفورنيا


يحدد لاحقا


يحدد لاحقا

فلادلفيا


يحدد لاحقا


يحدد لاحقا



شروط التسجيل:

1. ان يكون الناخب سودانى الجنسية 2. ان يكون بالغا من العمر ثمانية عشر عاما عند بدء التسجيل

3. ان يكون سليم العقل 4. ان يحمل جواز سفر سودانى واقامة سارية.

كما تنص قواعد التسجيل على حضور الشخص الراغب فى التسجيل بنفسه

لمزيد من المعلومات يمكن الرجوع الى موقع المفوضية WWW.NEC.ORG.SD وبريدها اللالكترونى info@nec.org.sd هذا البريد الالكتروني محمى من المتطفلين , يجب عليك تفعيل الجافا سكر يبت لرؤيته

Day 220 - November 15th

The coming Elections in Sudan: A Disaster in the Making

On last Tuesday November 10th, Samantha Power, NSC Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs, held a live stream video question and answer session at the White House. The session “ ask U.S.” was about Sudan and Darfur. Other participants were The Special Envoy to Sudan General Gration, the President of the Save Darfur Coalition Jerry Fowler, and the Student Director of STAND Layla Amjadi.
Martina Knee from San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition submitted one excellent question directed to the Special Envoy. The question was:
“ What actions were being taken with respect to the 2010 elections so that they do not result in a U.S.-paid-for and organized legitimization of President Al-Bashir and the National Congress Party? Given the control by NCP of media, security forces, and all aspects of the elections, the logistical challenges of elections in Sudan, and the vulnerability of the Sudanese voters, please outline all the steps to be taken between now and the elections to insure that they are truly free and fair, What are the indicators of a truly free and fair elections that the U.S. Government will be using?”

Well, The Special envoy in his answer to Martina’s questions mentioned many things, and how important the elections are. He failed to come up with a single indicator that the U.S. Government will be using to determine that the elections will be truly free and fair. The Special Envoy to Sudan did not outline any single step to be taken between now and the elections to insure that they are going to be truly free and fair.

In this whole session I was concerned with the lack of specific answers from the Special Envoy. Moreover, it bothered me greatly his oversimplifying the situation in Sudan and Darfur, having no clear plans for the return of the internally displaced persons (IDPs), not voicing the concerns of many Sudanese about the blatant fraud committed in the open by NCP through election process so far (census, registration, campaigns, lack of freedom).
When the Special Envoy was pressed for specific answers (benchmarks for example), he conveniently cites “these are classified”, or “let us see how it turns out”. For him the lives and future of my people in Darfur is an experiment. A doctor should not tell a patient “ I am going to give you medicine and operate on you, but all these are classified”.
The Special Envoy to date is not able to show a tangible concession or compromise drawn from NCP in order to settle any major dispute in Darfur or in the South to the satisfaction of the concerned people in Darfur or in the South. General Gration in every dispute he handled so far in Sudan, treats it as a ”dispute” between equal partners and hence he works as a broker seeking settlement out of an American court. He asks those who have lost almost everything (Darfuris and Southerners) to give more, while the assailant (NCP) keeps everything acquired by force or deceit in return of empty promises and hollow rhetoric.
The Special Envoy now compromises even justice for the Darfuris by endorsing the AU panel recommendations. The Darfuris across the board has rejected the AU panel recommendations since they see them as a ploy to circumvent ICC. The Ex-Foreign Minister of Egypt and a member of the AU panel has embarrassed the AU panel when he said in an interview that the purpose of the AU panel is to find a way out for AlBashir from the ICC indictment.
These half-measures, ambiguities, and lack of specifics in handling Sudan’s problems by the Special Envoy has encouraged the ruling party, the NCP, to practice unfairness openly.

One example of such unfair practices, which will benefit NCP, is the elections coming in April 2010. These elections will be anything but free and fair. To be specific: Look at the registration process for Sudanese outside Sudan. The Government of Sudan has distributed a formal statement about eligibility conditions of voting for Sudanese outside Sudan. As a Sudanese living abroad to be registered for voting you have to fulfill the following conditions:

1- To present a valid Sudanese passport besides the ID of the hosting country.
2- Registration must be in person (electronic or by mail is not acceptable) in the designated registration centers or in the Embassies of Sudan.

The Government of Sudan has designated its Embassies in Washington and New York as the only places for registration.
According to the Government of Sudan, I am not eligible to register and hence, not eligible to vote since I can’t fulfill the above two conditions (I don’t have a valid Sudanese passport and it is not reasonable to travel from California to New York or Washington just to register).
I am not alone in this exclusion. Now there are thousands and thousands of Sudanese like me across U.S.A., Canada, Europe, and Australia. The West is considered by NCP as home for dissidents, political asylum seekers, torture victims, and ordinary Sudanese who wish some day will return to a free and democratic country called Sudan.
While a country like U.S.A. has only two designated centers for registration, another tiny country like Qatar (which hosts many NCP supporters as expatriate workers) has many designated registration centers, including mobile ones (the registration center comes to you at your work or home). Who does designate and control these centers inside Sudan and around the world? … Al-Bashir’s government does.

The Government of Sudan does not hide these blatant actions of election fraud.
Martina has raised crucial points in her questions to the Special Envoy. Census and registration fraud are rampant in Sudan. Albashir and NCP will not loose this Election. It is the United States of America that has everything to loose in helping killers to abuse a sacred democratic process that many people around the world yearn to enjoy.

Elections in Sudan in April 2010 is a disaster in the making, not because it will come with an indicted Al-Bashir to power, but the U.S.A. government will be complicit in legitimizing a genocidal government to rule Sudan for the next twenty years.

I believe that the Obama’s strategy in Sudan in the coming period is:
1- Put Darfur’s problem in a deep freezer.
2- Allow NCP to rule Sudan hoping such appeasement will allow the South to secede peacefully with no violence.
3- Elections (any) will solve the Sudan’s complex problems.

Many Sudanese believe that if Al-Bashir and NCP win April’s elections, the South will revolt and secede violently, followed by unrest in the rest of Sudan. If AlBashir and NCP loose elections in April, then AlBashir and NCP will resort to violence to survive by clinching to power.


The video session with the Special Envoy could be watched here in its entirety:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNSXeMkiZ_M

Day 219 - November 14th

My apologies for not reporting news from Darfur in the past days due to circumstances beyond my control.
It is important on this blog to report major news coming from Darfur. Yet it is more important to report news of less significance (as may be defined by the main stream media) about incidents occur to individuals or communities in Darfur and outside Darfur. Such incidents although may be small in scale or not so frequent in space and time, yet they cast a deliberate pattern of abuse carried out by Government of Sudan against the Darfuri people.
The international community, Activists, and human rights advocates are becoming less and less alarmed by abuses and on going genocide in Darfur. This is the "boiling frog" syndrome (the story of a frog died in an experiment when it failed to react to the danger of temperature's rise. The reason of the frog failing to sense the danger was due to not sensing the gradual rise of temperature of the water in small increments over relatively extended period of time). In other words the creep of normalcy is setting in.
In the past ten days, these are brief lines of some of the events that has occured to Darfuris in Darfur, Khartoum, or elsewhere:

- Leaders of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in camps of Abu Shouk, Al Salam, and Zalengie has issued an statement rejecting the Elections and the registration process.

- Government of Sudan expels more than 50 female Darfuri students from University of Khartoum. These are the same students that were assaulted few months ago in the campus by security agents and supporters of the ruling party (NCP).

- Fire destroys 22 classrooms in the IDP camp of Zamzam. This is the second in a week fire destroys school buildings in the camp. Unknown men were suspected in setting these fires.

- The International Committee of the Red Cross suspends partly its activities in the state of West Darfur, due to lack of adequate security and safety of their staff.

- AlBashir (the indicted president of Sudan) cancelled a trip to Turkey for fear of arrest.


(note: In contemporary tests, many frogs sensed the danger of rising temperature and leaped out).

Day 208 - November 3rd

- From Reuters:

Britain to allow non-Arab Darfur refugees to stay
Tue Nov 3, 2009 2:44pm EST
LONDON, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Non-Arab asylum seekers from Darfur will be allowed to stay in Britain and will not be sent back to Sudan after it was deemed too dangerous, the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday.

The refugees will be able to remain in Britain for five years, with periodic reviews to be carried out on the safety of the war-torn African country.

The guidance update was influenced by recent reports from international organisations expressing concern about treatment of Darfuris returning to Khartoum, an Interior Ministry spokeswoman said.

"All non-Arab Darfuris, regardless of their political or other affiliations, are at real risk of persecution in Darfur and internal relocation elsewhere in Sudan is not currently to be relied upon," the Interior Ministry's UK Border Agency concluded in its operational guidance note.

The human rights group Amnesty International said about 1,200 Sudanese, many from Darfur, have applied for asylum in Britain during the past three years.

Up to now, they could be deported back to the Sudanese capital.

Mostly non-Arab Darfuri rebels took up arms against Sudan's central government in early 2003, accusing it of neglect. The government mobilised mostly Arab tribes in a brutal counter-insurgency campaign that caused one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

Non-Arab tribes in Darfur, located in western Sudan, tend to speak a language other than Arabic as their mother tongue. But after generations of inter-marriage it is sometimes difficult to differentiate non-Arabs from Arabs. The United Nations estimates some 300,000 died in Darfur and 2.7 million driven from their homes, mostly farmers from non-Arab tribes. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in March for war crimes in Darfur.

Day 206 - November 1st

- Darfuris in the camps and in Diaspora have stated consistently that they want to see justice.
The Darfuris have suspected that AU, Arab League, and other entities want to find a way out for the fugutive Omer Hasan Al Bashir, the indicted president of Sudan.
Well, AU panel member has admitted that all the commotion they were making was exactly that: To find a way out for the indicted dictator.
This is from Sudan Tribune:

‘Our goal was to find a way out for Sudan president’ says Mbeki panel member


November 1, 2009 (WASHINGTON) – The African Union (AU) high level panel on Darfur wanted to find away out for Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir from the International Criminal Court (ICC) indictment, one of the commission members said today in an interview.

This week the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) endorsed a report prepared by an eight-member team headed by former South African president Thabo Mbeki that was tasked with crafting a formula to resolve the conflict in Darfur that would take into consideration peace, justice and reconciliation.

The panel was formed weeks before the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Bashir prompting skepticism from Darfur rebels and other critics who say that the AU wants to circumvent the indictment, something which Mbeki has denied in meetings with Darfur IDP’s.

Mbeki called for a hybrid court to try war crimes suspects and changes to Sudanese laws. It took no position on the ICC warrant except to say that the Hague-based tribunal cannot try all the suspects, effectively supporting its work.

However, one of the members of the AU panel said that the goal of the mission was to give Bashir an exit strategy from the ICC row.

“Incriminating the president is out of question and fundamentally unacceptable” the former Egyptian foreign minister said in an interview with the Egypt based Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper.

“Our goal was to find a way out [to Bashir] from the dilemma of the ICC that sparked a great deal of controversy,” Maher said.

The AUPD member, who served as Egypt’s Foreign Minister from 2001 until 2004, said that the ICC case against Bashir was “political” in nature and “biased” against the Sudanese head of state “with exaggeration in depicting the situation”.

“Demanding the prosecution of an African head of state before an international tribunal is totally unacceptable” the former Egyptian top diplomat said.

Maher said that achieving justice in Darfur “will be through Sudanese prosecution with African members selected by Sudan and agreed upon by the AU”.

“We are not prosecutors. We observe the situation and make sure that perpetrators are brought to justice and this is the task of the Sudanese judiciary. Whoever is involved should be prosecuted,” he said.

Maher noted that the panel found that dispute over resources between different ethnic groups as one of the “incorrect” situations during their work requiring a ceasefire, repatriation and providing compensation to the displaced.

The remarks made by Maher will likely cause a huge embarrassment to the AU and the panel chief, Mbeki who sought to quell accusations on seeking to protect the Sudanese president.

Mbeki is now heading the implementation team established by the AU to ensure that the recommendations see the light.

Alex De Waal, a Sudan expert who was also an adviser to the panel, writes in his blog ‘Making Sense of Darfur’, about what they encountered in their discussions on justice with various parties they met. De Waal gives examples of how the panel was initially met with intense skepticism on its impartiality by IDP’s and accusations that it is a cover up to protect Bashir from ICC prosecution.

“The allegation that Pres. Mbeki was intent on salvaging Pres. Bashir came up several times in the discussion. One woman said, “We fear you are here to defend the criminal Omar al Bashir.” One man stood up and said, “Seven members of my family were killed. How should I feel if Thabo Mbeki says that Omar al Bashir should not go to court?” De Waal writes.

“Pres. Mbeki challenged him, “from where did you get this information that I said that President Bashir should not go to court?” The man responded, “it is well known.” He then said that the Africans were the ones saying Bashir should not go to the ICC, citing the early June meeting in Addis Ababa to discuss the African position on the ICC. This reply did not satisfy Pres. Mbeki, who continued to press him, “I asked you a question. Please answer it. You made an allegation. From where did you get this information?” The man said it was the BBC”.

In Paris, the head of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) Abdel-Wahid Al-Nur reiterated his rejection of the hybrid court saying his movement only accepts the ICC intervention in the Darfur crimes.

Al-Nur stressed that the war in Darfur “is not tribal” adding that the government arming of militias triggered the conflict and the humanitarian situation.

He further said that reconciliation “occurs after peace process is concluded and through local mechanism not requiring international mechanisms”.

The UN says up to 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million fled their homes since ethnic minority rebels in the western region of Darfur first rose up against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum in February 2003.

The Sudanese government disputes the death toll saying 10,000 people died.