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Daily Darfur: Torture, genocide and a plea from Cairo

Published June 19, 2009 @ 06:48AM PT

Updates

The United Nation's Human Rights Council voted to extend the term of an independent investigator/Special Rapporteur for Sudan for another year. Well, most of the council voted to extend the mandate - those who didn't include: China, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.

A State Department spokesman responded to yesterday's comments by Special Envoy Gration, saying:

I think there is no question that genocide has taken place in Darfur. We continue to characterize the circumstances in Darfur as genocide. What the President continues to demand is that we resolve this humanitarian disaster. And the special envoy is doing just that. Scott Gration, who briefed you yesterday, he has spent a lot of time on the ground in Sudan. I think, as he acknowledged yesterday, there is less violence as a result of coordinated government actions than has existed in the past. And our goal in Sudan is to save lives, facilitate a lasting peace, and promote stability and security in the region.

Torture

Amnesty International issued an action alert (PDF) yesterday, asking people to protest the detention of Abakar Ibrahim Adam and a group of other Darfuri people who were arrested after protesting against the execution of nine Darfuri men. They are now known to be still in custody and are at risk of torture.

From around the blogs:

Bec Hamilton posted a short and powerful "plea from Cairo" - a powerpoint presentation created by a refugee currently living in Cairo. Please check it out.

NBA player Tracy McGrady blogs for the Enough Project about The Darfur Dream Team Sister Schools program, which raises funds for schools in Darfur and links

"refugee schools to schools in the United States through letter exchanges and video blogging, the Sister Schools program also fosters cross-cultural relationships and mutual understanding between American and Darfuri students."

At Foreign Policy's "Shadow Government" blog, Peter Feaver is

willing to make public one more hunch: that when all is said and done, the doves will win the internal debate over Obama’s Darfur policy. I may be wrong on that hunch -- I have been wrong many times before -- and if so, we will soon know it.

Rob Crilly has a, um, vivid metaphor for the return/arrival of 'new' aid agencies in Darfur.

Islam Online discusses Muslim efforts to combat hunger in Darfur.

After talking to a Rabbi fasting for Darfur, Manya Brachear at ChicagoTribune.com asks: Are we saying enough about Darfur?

Photo from Stop Genocide Now's day 5 in refugee camps in Chad.

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Author

Martha is the campaign manager at the Save Darfur Coalition. She has worked with a number of organizations and institutions advocating against genocide, including Team Darfur, STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition and Voices for Sudan. The views expressed here are her own.