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.
Sudan expert and human rights lawyer Bec Hamilton recently returned from Sudan, where she was barred from traveling outside of the capital. But being stationary in the North didn’t prevent her from reporting on one of the most highly contested regions of the country – Abyei. Here’s her report for NatGeo News Watch, based on a meeting with a member of a ruling Misseriya family from the area.
We knew it wouldn’t be long until Maggie Fick, our former researcher in southern Sudan appeared on our blog again. This time, she’s posting on U.N. Dispatch (a new regular gig, so keep an eye out) aimed at, as she explains it, “keeping readers up to speed on how issues surrounding the holding of the referendum relate to the threat of a return to North-South war and the possibility of serious internal southern conflict following the referendum.” Here’s a link to her first three.
This IRIN feature piece describes how the International Criminal Court is trying, and failing, to bring to justice accused war criminals in eastern Congo. The piece makes note of a number of obstacles the Court has bumped up against in recent proceedings, focusing on the case perhaps most frustrating of all – that of Bosco Ntaganda, aka The Terminator.
With the (unsurprising) re-election of Rwanda President Paul Kagame this week, Congo Siasa blogger Jason Stearns muses about Kagame’s frequent references to creating an African Singapore. Stearns uses a quote from a Rwandan presidential advisor to highlight why some say democracy isn’t realistic in post-conflict country: "The issue here is how do you ensure political cooperation when confrontational politics will almost certainly lead to renewed violence?" Stearns makes note of a number of different theories on the topic, which are also interesting to consider in relation to other contexts, like, say, southern Sudan.
Glenna Gordon at the blog Scarlett Lion points out this new compilation of music from around the continent called “Songs About Leaving Africa.” I’ll soon be on my way to Africa (more on that soon…), but the line-up looks great. Scarlett Lion provides a few good links for sneak peeks and commentary from the artists.