Author: Rebecca Brocato

An interesting post at Change.org’s Humanitarian blog notes the significance of an important new report from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the use of rape in war. The post’s co-authors Jocelyn Kelly and Will Cragin highlighted quotes from civilians living in some of the world’s worst war zones to commend the Secretary-General for “figuring out something that almost everyone in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda already knew – that rape is a form of genocide” and a weapon of war. The report marks the one year anniversary of Security Council Resolution 1820, which made clear that sexual ...

Secretary Clinton touched down in South Africa today, the second leg in her seven country African tour. In Pretoria, Clinton met with reporters after her meeting with South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane. In the video below, Secretary Clinton discusses the sanctions and aid to the Zimbabwean government and al-Shabaab recruitment: ...

Zimbabwe’s political stalemate will sits atop Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s agenda in South Africa later this week, where she is set to meet with South African President Jacob Zuma. The situation in Zimbabwe in the run up to that meeting remains precarious, as politically motivated arrests (Amnesty International reports today on the arrest of four student leaders, HT to reader Eliane D.) and corruption continues despite recent victories for a free press inside the country. Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai met President Zuma in Johannesburg earlier this week. During the meeting, Tsvangirai reportedly discussed Mugabe’s continued intransigence and unwillingness ...

A telling series of statements from Southern People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) Secretary General Pagan Amum this week reaffirms the belief of many that the time is not right to lift sanctions in Sudan. During his testimony on Captitol Hill, Amum, one of the most important politicians in South Sudan, opposed lifting sanctions at this moment. He argued: "normalization of relations with Sudan should come as a result of the full implementation of the CPA, the achievement of Democratic transformation, through the conduct of a fair and free elections, and after the ending of the war in Darfur through a negotiated ...

Writing in the most recent issue of the New York Review of Books, Adam Hochschild provides a compelling description of “more than a decade of a bewilderingly complex civil war” in eastern Congo. The piece is required reading for anyone interested in learning more about the region host to the world’s deadliest war. Hochschild understands the history of predation in Congo. His book King Leopold’s Ghost explored the atrocities committed by the Belgian King Leopold, who tyrannically controlled the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908. In lucid detail, Hochschild described the cultivation of Congo’s “red rubber” and the work ...

Last winter, the bi-partisan Genocide Prevention Task Force, co-chaired by Clinton era cabinet officials Madeleine Albright and William Cohen released its “Blueprint for U.S. Policymakers.” Their findings, based on exhaustive interviewing, were more than a year in the making. The Task Force gets it right in demonstrating that genocide prevention is a national security issue and recommending that the United States prioritize the prevention of mass atrocities. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum played an integral role in the Task Force and recently amalgamated U.S. government actions in regards to the recommendations since the report’s release six months ago. President ...

Congresswoman Donna Edwards, the freshman Democrat representing Maryland’s 4th District, has quickly emerged as rising star in Congress. Recently profiled as one of Politico.com's 50 Politicos to watch, Edwards fast became a loud voice working on human rights issues in the House of Representatives. For the past ten Fridays, Congresswoman Edwards has fasted in solidarity with the people of Darfur. In a recent statement she urged colleagues and constituents to join her in participating in the Darfur Fast for Life: “’Today marks the tenth Friday I have fasted in solidarity with the people of Darfur, while they have endured suffering ...

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. Thousands of children fought in the front lines during the 22 year civil war between northern and southern Sudan that raged until the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005. Reintegrating child soldiers in the South ...

Late last week, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced its nominations for the 2009 primetime Emmy awards. Two nominees stand out. Both "The Greatest Silence," a documentary about violence in eastern Congo, and "The Devil Came on Horseback," which narrates atrocities committed in Darfur provide crucial glimpses into the lives of those affected by some of the world’s worst violence. In “The Greatest Silence,” Lisa Jackson, a rape survivor herself, chronicles how rape is used as a weapon of war in eastern Congo. She accurately portrays the horrors of sexual violence in the region while also emphasizing the ...

Sourcing and tracing the movement of arms and munitions is difficult but crucial detail-oriented business. In a paper published last week by the Belgium-based International Peace Information Service, Brain Johnson-Thomas and Peter Danssaert argue in favor of ratifying the international Arms Trade Treaty, which would consolidate existing international law against arms trafficking and make it easier to prosecute people and organizations that funnel arms across borders. The paper highlights a series of illuminating case studies on Zimbabwean arms transfers from the past 18 months. The authors argue that these cases could be better combated if the treaty were ratified. The ...