In Sudan, warlordism makes for uniquely legitimate military infrastructure. The Islamist government in Khartoum is headed by one General Omar al-Bashir, Sudan’s chief warlord, who, in spite of an arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, continues to ignore the due process of law and flaunt impunity as some sort of honor badge.

al-Bashir’s Islamist government is known to have been wont to use violence to quell any subversion, suppress any disagreement to his administration, and annihilate his political opponents. In true warlord style, he arms militias to finish off the so-called ‘rebels.’ A quick look at the statistics of Darfur’s ethnic wars would give a glimpse on al-Bashir’s style: nearly half a million deaths in the 6 or so years of the conflict in Darfur and close to 3 million internally-displaced people (IDPs) now housed in a smattering of disease-infested sub-human refugee camps.

To say that Africa’s largest country is hell on earth is an understatement. Now, hell will most likely split in half within two years time, and will do so in an assuredly combustible conflagration. The warning signs are screaming, but those that may effectively act to avert this are either not doing it the right way or not doing anything at all.

‘In 2011, Sudan is scheduled to hold a referendum that will allow South Sudan to vote on severing its ties with the North and declaring independence.’ As everyone expects, the South will vote overwhelmingly for independence. In the past few days, violence has been erupting in South Sudan, and scores of people have been killed.

Via Foreign Policy

According to the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the war in the Congo has claimed nearly 6 million lives and left millions of others displaced since 1998. The genocide in Darfur, even at the height of the Darfur war pales in comparison to the carnage in Congo. ‘The death toll at the height of the Darfur conflict is equivalent to that in the Congo every six-and-a-half months.’ The IRC adds that “Congo’s loss is equivalent to the entire population of Denmark or the state of Colorado perishing within a decade.”

The war in the Congo is by far the deadliest conflict of the past 50 years. But while the Darfur conflict hogged headlines and still continues to get much international press due to celebrities and named personalities attached to the cause, the war in the Congo has not permeated global awareness and consciousness. This is the reason why it is often called the Forgotten War.

There are cause-oriented and concerned groups that campaign for awareness regarding this war, however small their voices are at the moment. These groups include Friends of the Congo, a DC-based advocacy organization, and Breaking the Silence, an online presence that campaigns for Congo Week, an umbrella program of student and community organizations aimed to reveal to the world the tragedy in Congo.

Activism against the war in Congo is mostly carried out by student youth and aimed at global awareness and giving voice to the voiceless. Last year, 150 schools in 35 countries participated in Congo Week.

This year, Congo Week will take place from October 18-24. Those who take up the cause of the Forgotten War enjoin everybody around the world to ‘break the silence.’

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Via Foreign Policy in Focus

On March 4, Sudanese President, General Omar al-Bashir, was issued a warrant of arrest for war crimes and crimes against humanity, and missed on the ultimate prosecution for genocide. He simply snubbed such warrant and flaunted his impunity through his trips outside Sudan. This time, the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague will finally go after him for three counts of genocide based on additional sufficient evidence.

“The prosecution submitted detailed evidence on the mobilization and use of the entire Sudanese state apparatus for the purpose of destroying a substantial part of the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa ethnic groups in the entire region of Darfur during more than six years,” said Luis Moreno-Ocampo, ICC Prosecutor, who presented more evidence to ‘prove the genocidal intentions’ of al-Bashir. Moreno-Ocampo requested the appeals chamber to ‘correct the error’ of earlier omitting the genocide allegations against al-Bashir.

The United Nations asserts that more than 300,000 people died during the war in the western Darfur region that cloaked what really was ethnic cleansing. 2.7 million people have fled their homes and became refugees in camps reeling in squalor. al-Bashir’s government claims that only 10,000 have been killed.

The African Union (AU) has declared that it will not cooperate in implementing the warrant. It has also appealed to the United Nations to delay the indictment, citing reasons that such prosecution would affect international peacemaking efforts in Darfur. In reality, there are 30 African states that signed the Rome statutes which creating the International Criminal Court, making these countries obligated to arrest al-Bashir by virtue of the ICC warrant should the Sudanese president travel to their respective countries.

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Via Yahoo! News

According to the Minority Rights Group International (MRG) that trends annual indexes, Somalia, Iraq, Sudan, and Afghanistan have been topping annual lists for four straight years of countries where genocide, mass killings, or violent repression victimizes the minority population.

The human rights group gives a more chilling conclusion: countries involved in the so-called ‘war on terror’ have actually been utilizing the principle behind such a ‘war’ in battling extremists as a means to decimate minority groups. Countries in Africa occupy most of the top ten spots in these lists.

“You see governments who have faced a genuine threat, but the point is the actions they have taken against the wider civilian population, including minority civilians, have been justified as part of the ‘war on terror.’ It has included disappearances, torture and extrajudicial executions,” according to MRG director Mark Lattimer.

In Somalia, the two-year crackdown on the al Qaeda-linked Shabaab insurgency has managed to wipe out 18,000 civilians. Civilian deaths In Iraq are still said to presently occur, at 300-800 a month during the last year, especially among the Shabak people who have fled from Mosul to Nineveh.

Myanmar, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and the Israel/Palestinian territories rank 5th to 10th in that order.

Regional conflicts that lead to political violence and suppression of dissidents have also cost collateral damage in the decimation of ethnic populations.

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Via Reuters

There have been other genocides apart from the one in Sudan. There had been systematic killing of populations in Germany, Cambodia, and Rwanda. The difference with the genocide in Darfur is that Omar al-Bashir, the perpetrator of the genocide, carries on his mockery of the justice system, ignores his arrest warrant for crimes against humanity and war crimes issues by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, and continues to travel around freely. What’s more, al-Bashir persists to be president of the country.

Nearly half a million people have been killed in the Darfur war. Two million have been displaced by the fighting and the ethnic cleansing, and are now housed in refugee camps that have been declared a humanitarian meltdown as the camps are riddled with starvation and disease. al-Bashir booted out international aid groups but eventually allowed foreign aid to come back, though not from the ones kicked out earlier that happen to be the bigger and more capable relief organizations.

Before he became president, Barack Obama declared, “When you see a genocide, whether it’s in Rwanda or Bosnia or in Darfur, that’s a stain on all of us. That’s a stain on our souls.” To date, Obama does not have a clear Sudan policy. Based on the pronouncements of the Obama administration envoy in Sudan, it looks like the strategy sways towards a move to ‘build rapport with Khartoum.’ But Omar al-Bashir is a radical Islamist. He is not wont to compromise, even negotiate, his political ambition – even if it means the continued suffering of the people in Darfur.

The most logical actions to be done now, as far as mitigating the suffering and hardship of Darfuris, are bringing back the big humanitarian aid groups into Darfur and acting on a strategy whereby the refugees can safely and securely return to their homes. However, those might prove extremely difficult with an Islamist who openly and obnoxiously skirts the rule of international law. So, the next best thing is for the US to step into the picture, exert pressure on the Khartoum government, and do these three things: diplomatic pressure, tougher multilateral sanctions, and use of military force.

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Via The New Republic

A famine in 1930s which killed millions of Ukrainians during Stalin era finally has a true memorial at Kiev. The famine was not due to natural reasons. The villagers were brutally starved and killed by hunger by then communist regime in Soviet Union. The memorial is a stark reminder of Stalin’s dark legacy. No amount of pressure, power could bury this simple harsh truth. All because of one man’s determination to uphold history of the period and not distort in even under pressure.

Till 1980s Soviet Union had banned all the discussions of the famine. But due to mounting international pressure Professor Kulchytsky was asked investigate reasons of the famine and concoct his findings. But he refused to conclude that famine was a natural disaster. His research findings clearly pointed to harsher truth that famine was man-made to wipe away Ukrainian dream of independence from Moscow. It was another silent genocide.

The memorial was inaugurated at Kiev in last November and is becoming one of the important pilgrimage sites. Another memorial is being built at Washington.

Via International Herald Tribune

Former Cuban President Fidel Castro blamed the new leader of the United States for participating in the genocide against the Palestinians. He also accuses Obama of arrogance and abuse for not returning the Guantanamo naval base to their country.
In a new article in his series “Reflections,” the Cuban leader said that Obama and his vice president Joe Biden have decided to “strongly support the relationship between the U.S. and Israel.” “America will never distance itself from Israel and its president and vice president believe strongly in the right of Israel to protect its citizens,” says Fidel Castro.

In Castro’s article entitled “Decoding the thought of the new U.S. president,” the former strongman asserts that the unfairness of the power of the empire has not changed. Castro reiterates what Obama stated after his inauguration that the return of the territory occupied by the Guantanamo Naval Base to its rightful owner should weigh in first, whether or not the move affects the defensive capabilities of the US.

Castro adds that keeping a military base in Cuba against the will of the Cuban people violates the most elementary principles of international law. The convalescing leader strongly avers that the United States should abide by the rule without any conditions, and that the immense power should accord respect to a small country instead of arrogance and abuse.

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Via Yahoo! News

The vicious Khmer Rouge fell from power 30 years ago. Vietnamese-led forces toppled the murderous regime in 1979. As more than 40,000 Cambodians celebrate the three-decade anniversary, they are overwhelmed with both collective relief and the pain of bitter memory. Nearly 2 million died in the 4 years that the Khmer Rouge ruled with genocide. To help placate a traumatic past, a UN war crimes tribunal will be indicting the five collaborators of the tyrant Pol Pot in a few months time. 30 years after the genocide, no Khmer leader has paid for his crimes of torture and murder. One of the bloodiest regimes of the 20th century remains a dark chapter with no justice yet given to the victims and their families.

The Khmer Rouge, headed by Pol Pot, ruled from 1975 to 1979 as the communist ruling political party of Cambodia. The bloody regime killed one-fifth of the entire population of the country. It carried out mass executions, torture, starvation, and forced labor. It executed what it called agrarian communism where everyone was ordered to work in the country’s collective farms. Children were separated from their parents and brought to socialism brainwashing camps where they were taught how to torture, using animals. They were molded to be leaders in torture and executions.

The Khmer Rouge tried to eradicate anyone suspected of being an intellectual or learned in school, as well as anybody involved with any free-market activity. Some 8,000 skulls of victims of the Khmer Rouge are on display at the Cheoung Ek ‘Killing Fields’ memorial in Phnom Penh. One of the regime’s mottos is “To keep you is no benefit. To destroy you is no loss.”

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Via BBC