US Conflict Mineral Law Opens the Door to Peace in the DRC
By Aaron Hall and Bahati Jacques This post originally appeared on African Arguments: In recent weeks a debate has emerged over the merits of the conflict minerals provision in the Dodd-Frank Act. Critics of the legislation assert that the provision and those groups supporting it are responsible for causing damage to the people and communities of eastern Congo. Specifically, David Aronson's New York Times op-ed ‘How congress devastated Congo’ – which argues that the US law is responsible for the suffering of eastern Congolese mining communities – is irresponsibly oversimplified ...
Satellites Confirm Sudanese Red Crescent Burial of Body Bags in Mass Graves
The Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) has confirmed the burial of human remains, some of them in body bags or tarps, through a series of DigitalGlobe satellite images taken of two newly discovered mass grave sites in Sudan’s restive South Kordofan region. The addition of the two new mass graves brings the total discovered by SSP to eight ...
Field Dispatch: The Challenge of Tackling Terrorism in South Sudan
The nation of South Sudan has come into existence with many unresolved issues threatening the stability of the new state. One of the greatest of these is the continued activity of seven South Sudan rebel militias, in addition to the notorious Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA ...
How Warlords and Washington Lobbyists Undermine Stability in Eastern Congo
This post originally appeared on Global Post: What do corrupted Congolese warlords and Washington lobbyists have in common? They’ve joined forces to become the biggest obstacle to development and stability in eastern Congo ...
Field Dispatch: The Challenge of Tackling Terrorism in South Sudan
Within its first month of independence, South Sudan was named among the top five countries in the world where terrorist attacks are most likely to occur. Further attempts toward destabilization by militias are therefore imminent and are, in fact, likely still happening in the field ...
5 Stories You Might Have Missed This Week
A weekly round-up of must-read stories, posted every Friday ...
Cover Up: New Evidence of Three Mass Graves in South Kordofan
Dovetailing with the recent U.N. report calling for investigations into human rights violations in Sudan, the Satellite Sentinel Project, or SSP, released a report today that identified three new alleged mass grave sites in and around Kadugli, the state capital of South Kordofan, where heavy fighting has taken place since June ...
Nelson Ochaya: Supporting Other Former Child Soldiers
Nelson Ochaya, a former LRA child soldier, shares his story of abduction and escape, and how his experience inspired him to work toward educating and reintegrating other former child soldiers ...
Report: New Eyewitnesses, Satellite Evidence of Three More Mass Graves in South Kordofan, Sudan
The Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) has obtained visual evidence, and new eyewitness reports, of three more mass grave sites in and around Kadugli, capital of Sudan’s conflict-torn Southern Kordofan state. Satellite imagery reveals what appear to be two piles of corpses wrapped in body bags or tarps on a wooded mountainside. Rising above the site are the town’s landmark, giant words of welcome: “Kadugli, The Town of Love and Peace.” The painted, white Arabic lettering is visible by anyone who flies in or drives through ...
South Kordofan Conflict Continues as U.N. Calls for Human Rights Investigations
Over two months since the conflagration in the Sudanese border state of South Kordofan broke out, violence continues to persist, and the warring parties have not re-opened dialogue. Despite findings by the United Nations report that suggest war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in the conflict, the international response has moved little beyond rhetoric ...
