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Here at Enough, we often swap emails with interesting articles and feature stories that we come across in our favorite publications and on our favorite websites. We wanted to share some of these stories with you as part of our effort to keep you up to date on what you need to know in the world of anti-genocide and crimes against humanity work.
Yesterday, South Africa’s first black President and human rights champion passed away. Leaders around the globe, including Pope Francis, Vladimir Putin, Barack Obama, and David Cameron lamented the profound loss of Nelson Mandela. Mandela, the father of South Africa, forged bonds around the world and left a tremendous legacy. As news of his passing spread, admirers around the world paid tribute to his loss: the Eiffel Tower was swathed in the colors of the South African flag and memorials sprung up below his statue in London and Washington, DC. As we remember the beautiful spirit of Nelson Mandela, Israeli President Shimon Peres' words echo the sentinment of many:
“[Mandela's] legacy will remain etched on the pages of history and in the hearts of all those people whose lives he touched.”
Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha announced his resignation as the National Congress Party's cabinet reshuffled this week. Bakri Hassan Saleh, Minister for Presidential Affairs is reported to assume his position. If confirmed, the departure of Taha could catalyze serious changes in the executive branch. Additionally the Commission of Inquiry has suggested dismissing three other members and suspending nine others. Leadership of the National Congress Party in Sudan will meet on Saturday to announce new cabinet members.
At a conservation conference African and Asian leaders worked together to establish a framework to curtail illegal ivory trade. Recommendations for better anti-poaching regulation included: tough sentences for poaching and trafficking, more efficient monitoring of elephant population and increased cross-border cooperation. Armed criminal gangs have increased the killing and trafficking of elephants, with eighteen large seizures of more than 44 tons of illegal ivory recorded this year.
When Jacob Deng Mach came to the United States as one of Sudan’s Lost Boys, he thought that the struggle of his childhood were over. Mach had already lost his father, faced the destruction of his village, and moved from refugee camp to refugee camp often barefoot starting at age seven. A new documentary captures Jacobs's journey, and shares his remarkable resilience.
The United Nations launched the first unarmed, aerial, peacekeeping drone to monitor an area between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda on December 3 that will be looking for M23 soldiers and other militia in the area. Herve Ladsons, the United Nations undersecretary for peacekeeping, emphasized that the drone is unarmed and used only for surveillance purposes. However, as New York Times' Howard French explained earlier this month, the drone represents the United Nation mission's new assertive push to enforce peace in the Great Lakes region.