Attacks

Late last month, representatives from the Sudanese and South Sudanese governments met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia under the auspices of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel, or AUHIP, for yet another round of negotiations on outstanding North-South issues. Central among these issues are “financial transitional arrangements,” a euphemism for how much money Juba, along with, perhaps, the international community, can pay Khartoum to offset Sudan’s “fiscal gap” resulting from South Sudan’s secession.  Read More »

In October, the Obama administration announced the deployment of approximately 100 U.S. military personnel to Central Africa to help end the Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA.  For those who have advocated for increased efforts to put an end to Joseph Kony and his LRA’s reign of terror, the deployment was a welcomed step in the Obama administration’s implementation of its LRA strategy. However, concerns still linger about the failures of past military operations and peace processes, and the numerous efforts needed to foster peace, stability and justice in the region. To address these concerns, Enough Project Co-Founder John Prendergast joined a panel of experts to discuss further efforts needed to end the LRA, and how to bring peace to the affected region.  Read More »

A weekly round-up of must-read stories, posted every Friday.  Read More »

Earlier today,Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal CourtLuis Moreno-Ocampo briefed the UN Security Council about the situation in Darfur, urging the international community to act on the Court’s arrest warrants for Sudanese officials and lambasting Chad and Malawi, which are both State parties to the ICC, for failing to arrest President Bashir on recent visits.

But the crimes of these individuals do no stop in Darfur. In addition to well-documented instances of indiscriminate bombing and forced displacement of civilian populations in South Kordofan and Blue Nile, there is evidence of ethnic cleansing of the Nuba people on the part of the government of Sudan.  Read More »

For many of us working in the anti-genocide field, one of the comforting facts of life is that the other side does not have a pro-genocide lobby. It used to be a joke of sorts, something we would say to each other to make us feel better about work that can feel intractable and slow-moving. After all, who in their right mind would represent a genocidal dictator? Well, now that question has its answer: Bart S. Fisher.  Read More »

This week, a long-awaited—and rare—preliminary military trial took place for Sadoke Kikunda Mayele, a former Mayi-Mayi fighter indicted for mass rape. Mayele was the chief of staff of the armed group Mayi-Mayi Sheka until his arrest in October last year. Mayi-Mayi Sheka, together with the FDLR and some army deserters, are allegedly responsible for the mass rape of an estimated 387 civilians in 13 villages in the Walikale territory in the summer of 2010. Arrest warrants have been issued for Sheka, Mayele and six other fighters. Mayele is the only one in custody, while the hearings for the others proceed in absentia.  Read More »

A weekly round-up of must-read stories, posted every Friday.  Read More »

While Congo sifts through the ballots from the presidential and parliamentary elections, a group of Washington, D.C., based policy and advocacy groups focused on human rights in the Congo gathered Tuesday with partners and policy makers on Capitol Hill to discuss the recent elections and its implications in the ongoing battle against impunity for war criminals in Congo.  Read More »

You'd think by the second decade of 21st century — with the development of international accountability and prevention mechanisms — that the use of starvation would have disappeared from the arsenal of war weapons because it bears too high a cost for the perpetrator. The people of Sudan would beg to differ, George Clooney and I write in an op-ed appearing on TIME.com today.  Read More »

A couple of weeks ago, with elections fast approaching, some felt a renewed hope for transitional justice in Congo. A coalition of rights groups introduced “Justice Now for the DRC,” a countrywide campaign aimed at improving Congo’s justice system and securing government financial and political support for it.

But the Justice Now initiative faces an uphill battle. The proposed Specialized Mixed Courts it advocates for have faced powerful opponents ever since the concept was suggested as a remedy to addressing significant shortcomings of the Congolese judicial system.  Read More »