Uganda Seeks to End Amnesty for LRA Rebels
The controversial trial of former Lord’s Resistance Army commander Thomas Kwoyelo has taken a discouraging turn. The first former LRA rebel to stand trial, Kwoyelo has applied for amnesty through Uganda’s Amnesty Act of 2000 but has not been granted it. Furthermore, the Ugandan government is now attempting to strike down the Amnesty Act – a vital tool for encouraging LRA commanders and rank-and-file fighters to leave the group – by contending that the law is unconstitutional ...
Opposition Leader: ‘Change is Inevitable’ in Sudan
As violence continues in Blue Nile and South Kordofan, the leader of the group fighting Sudanese government forces in the two border states called for a “holistic, integrated approach” to Sudan’s multiple conflicts. “It’s not about Nuba Mountains, it’s not about Darfur, it’s not about Blue Nile,” said Yasir Arman, the secretary general of the SPLM-N, the political arm of the opposition group, told Enough in a phone interview. “It’s about democracy and transformation. The issue is about how Sudan is going to be ruled.” ...
Enough in WSJ: ‘Congo Minerals Policy is Working’
In reaction to a book review published by The Wall Street Journal, Enough's Congo researcher Fidel Bafilemba wrote this letter to the editor, "Congo Minerals Policy is Working." ...
Sudan: More Evidence of Khartoum’s Targeting of Civilians as New Front Erupts
A new battle zone along Sudan’s volatile border opened last night, with government bombardments and fighting reported from the capital of Blue Nile state. Enough issued a statement this afternoon condemning the assault on Blue Nile, the third region to come under attack by Sudan Armed Forces in the past six months. News of bombardments in Blue Nile came in the wake of a report this week that bolstered allegations of Khartoum’s deliberate effort to target civilians in the neighboring state of Southern Kordofan since fighting broke out in the area in early June ...
The Lubanga Case: Wrapping up the ICC’s First Trial
The prosecution and defense teams presented their final statements last week in the International Criminal Court’s first case to go to trial, The Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, representing a landmark for this unprecedented institution of international justice ...
Sudan: Irrefutable and Nearly Immediate Proof of War Crimes
The wall of impunity that has long protected war criminals is crumbling. And that process is now accelerating through the use of technology. Atrocities committed during military actions or in campaigns of ethnic cleansing used to be routinely denied, disputed, and covered up for years. With the advent of the International Criminal Court a decade ago, investigations and charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide began to come more quickly and the accused perpetrators have been put under a harsh spotlight while the court's process moved forward ...
U.S. to Fund Livelihoods Project Worth $20 Million in Eastern Congo
Following calls to action from advocates from many corners, USAID has just announced a $20 million livelihoods project in eastern Congo. It is a request for proposals for a four-year program in the Kivus and Orientale provinces, focused on people affected by sexual violence and the conflict minerals trade. Because grassroots communities bear the brunt of the violence in eastern Congo, Enough has called repeatedly for such a project, and we applaud USAID for this initiative ...
U.N. Human Rights Official Assaulted by South Sudan Police
South Sudanese police dramatically flouted the concept of respect for human rights in a recent attack on a senior U.N. official – the head of the human rights division, no less. On August 20, the U.N. human rights chief in South Sudan, Benedict Sannoh, denied police access to search his belongings at a hotel in Juba, which Enough sources said contained U.N. reports ...
U.S. Statement Credits Sudan Government for Non-existent Ceasefire
In a statement issued yesterday on the ongoing conflict in South Kordofan, the U.S. State Department revealed itself to be behind the curve on developments on the ground in Sudan. The press statement praised Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir’s ceasefire announcement on Tuesday as a “positive initial step” and urged the opposing Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, or SPLM-N, “to show the same leadership and declare a two-week ceasefire as well.” The statement appears to be either uninformed or intentionally dismissive of the fact that the government has continued to bomb areas in the Nuba Mountains since the declaration ...
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