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.
Congo analyst Jason Stearns blogs on what he heard through the grapevine regarding the U.N. Security Council’s next move for the Congo peacekeeping mission, MONUC. According to him, the U.N. body is considering Human Rights Watch’s recommendation of creating a civilian protection expert group—what would certainly be a right step in efforts to make civilian protection in eastern Congo more effective.
Take a look at this interesting On The Media interview with Nicholas Kristof on the psychology behind what makes people want to respond and take action for humanitarian causes, such as Darfur.
A press release from Carter Center today commended the broad participation of Sudanese citizens in the voter registration that ended last week. The organization reports that at least 75.8 percent of eligible Sudanese registered, or 15.7 million out of 20.7 million people. In the period leading up to elections, the center called on expanding civic education and making the preliminary voters’ list available so that national and international observers, political parties, and citizens can take a look.
On Wednesday, Credit Suisse agreed to pay $536 million to settle claims brought against it by the U.S. government for helping countries, including Sudan and Iran, violate financial sanctions. Apparently, the bank made more than $1.6 billion in illegal transactions involving Iran, Sudan, Burma, Cuba and Libya from the mid-1990s to 2006. Thanks to Bec Hamilton for the catch.
Finally, don’t miss this wonderfully ironic holiday greeting from the Sudanese government, featured on Foreign Policy Passport.