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.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has had some choice words about “spy satellites,” alluding to the work done by the Satellite Sentinel Project to document evidence of mass killing orchestrated by the government and its allies. But he is not altogether opposed to space exploration, Robert Beckhusen reported for Wired’s Danger Room blog. This week, Bashir appealed to the African Union to “legislate protection of [Africa's] space,” and also launch “the biggest project, an African space agency.”
Some behind-the-scenes lobbying by several Western governments and human rights groups, accompanied by a public campaign driven by actress and activist Mia Farrow, compelled Sudan to bow out of a race among African countries to fill five open seats on the U.N. Human Rights Council, Foreign Policy’s Turtle Bay blogger Colum Lynch reported.
Kenyan photojournalist Boniface Mwangi was awarded the prestigious Prince Claus award in recognition of his courageous work to prompt discussion about reconciliation, conflict prevention, and tribal politics through his photographs of the post-election violence in Kenya in 2007-2008. The award is timely ahead of the March 2013 elections, which Mwangi says have the makings to be violent again. "The perpetrators of violence will rise again,” he told Radio Netherlands. “Kenya is experiencing a curse. The curse of bad leadership.''
The New York Times’ Jeffrey Gettleman highlighted the connection between an elephant poaching spree in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Uganda army in a piece about how the ivory trade is fueling armed groups in central and east Africa. Gettleman reports:
Some of Africa’s most notorious armed groups, including the Lord’s Resistance Army, the Shabab and Darfur’s janjaweed, are hunting down elephants and using the tusks to buy weapons and sustain their mayhem. Organized crime syndicates are linking up with them to move the ivory around the world, exploiting turbulent states, porous borders and corrupt officials from sub-Saharan Africa to China, law enforcement officials say.
Egypt-based Sudanese activist Nazik Kabalo writes for openDemocracy about the role of women activists in the revolution movement in Sudan. “The Sudanese government now knows for sure that women were not just the spark of the revolt or even just protestors,” she explains. “They now know that Sudanese women were mobilizing behind the scenes and in the front lines of the political parties, youth movements and civil society.”