Nigerian Times

African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) patrol in Darfur. 24 Jan 2012 06:03 Africa/Lagos UN Security Council press statement on killing of peacekeeper in Darfur NEW YORK, January 24, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Baso Sangqu (South Africa): The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the attack on an African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) patrol in Darfur on 21 January, in which one peacekeeper was killed and three were wounded, one of them seriously. The members of the Security Council expressed their condolences to the family of the peacekeeper killed in the attack, as well as to the Government of Nigeria. They called on the Government of Sudan to bring the perpetrators to justice and stressed that there must be an end to impunity for those who attack peacekeepers. The members of the Security Council reiterate...

Darfur - George Galloway by inet 21 Nov 2011 06:35 Africa/Lagos Darfur / UNAMID Media Brief EL FASHER (DARFUR), November 21, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- UNAMID Media Brief / 20 November 2011 UNAMID supports sports competition in North Darfur In its continued efforts to engage the local community, UNAMID presented today sports equipment to five secondary schools from Abu Shouk, Al Salaam and Zamzam internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in North Darfur, which will participate in the Back to School Tournament. The kits included balls, nets, footwear and clothes for female and male volleyball and football teams. UNAMID Director of Communications and Public Information Kemal Saiki said that “UNAMID has been very active working for the community, essentially for the youth. We are keen to see the youth engage in activities that promote competition in a peaceful way”. On behalf of the Principals of the schools and the Umdas (community leaders) from the three camps, Ibrahim Al...

Act of War by Sudan Requires Change Of Course For Obama Administration’s Sudan Policy Action Not Words is Needed Now (Washington, DC) – United to End Genocide President Tom Andrews released the following statement today condemning Omar al-Bashir’s attacks on civilians in South Sudan and calling on the United States to hold Bashir and other perpetrators responsible for their crimes: “Omar al-Bashir has driven hundreds of thousands of people from their homes in the last six months, and now he is attacking these same men, women and children in the South Sudan villages where they have sought refuge. These attacks are not only an escalation of Bashir’s brutality against civilians, they are an act of war against a sovereign nation whose independence the United States hailed and celebrated only four months ago. What more evidence does Secretary Clinton and the Obama administration need that its Sudan policy has failed and needs to be fundamentally changed? The United States needs to be deman...

Human Rights Leader Faults Obama Administration for Failure In Sudan – Could Cost Thousands Of Lives Rejects Current “Normalization” Approach for Tough Sanctions against Indicted War Criminal (Washington, DC) – United to End Genocide President Tom Andrews today urged policymakers to mandate increased U.S. sanctions and other actions to help halt escalating ethnic-based attacks on civilians in South Kordofan and Blue Nile by forces backed by Sudan’s president Omar al-Bashir. Andrews testified at a House of Representatives’ Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hearing, “Sudan: The Ongoing Humanitarian Crisis in South Kordofan and Continuing Human Rights Violations in Darfur.” Omar al-Bashir “Omar al-Bashir is repeating the targeted ethnic attacks of Darfur in South Kordofan and Blue Nile where his forces have already killed thousands and left hundreds of thousands displaced with little food and no access to humanitarian aid,” stated Andrews. “Unfortunately, the Obama Administration, by ...

GI-NET/SDC Welcomes Presidential Directive on Mass Atrocities (Washington, DC) – Tom Andrews, President of Genocide Intervention Network/Save Darfur Coalition issued the following statement welcoming today’s release of the Presidential Directive on Mass Atrocities: “President Obama is exactly right – preventing mass atrocities is very much a core moral responsibility of our nation while also being in our national interest. We welcome the release of the Presidential Directive on Mass Atrocities and steps outlined by the administration to strengthen our nation’s capacity to prevent mass atrocities and genocide. These include ensuring that vital early-warning information about a possible mass atrocity or genocide is able to get from the ground to the highest levels of government decision making.” “Strong action to stop mass atrocities is needed now more than ever. President Bashir of Sudan, wanted for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court, is...

Chinese President Hu Jintao and Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir 17 Jun 2011 12:42 Africa/Lagos China must arrest Sudanese President LONDON, June 17, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The Chinese government should immediately withdraw its invitation to Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir, and arrest him if he travels to Beijing, Amnesty International said today. Omar Al-Bashir is due to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao and other high-ranking officials as part of a visit from 27-30 June The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued two arrest warrants for Omar Al-Bashir for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur. The warrants, issued in 2009 and 2010, charge him with criminal responsibility on 10 counts, including murder, extermination, forcible transfer of population, torture and rape. “If China welcomes Omar Al-Bashir it will become a safe haven for alleged perpetrators of genocide”, said Catherine Baber, Deputy Asia Pacific Director at Amnesty Internati...

Human Rights Groups Condemn Recent Attacks and Humanitarian Aid Restrictions in Darfur Washington, D.C. – Sudan Now, a group of human rights and anti-genocide organizations, today called on the Obama Administration to condemn the Government of Sudan for conducting air strikes against civilians in Darfur and preventing humanitarian assistance from accessing the affected sites. The administration should demand that access for humanitarian groups and peacekeepers be restored immediately, the Sudan coalition said. The air attacks were the second in three days conducted by the Government of Sudan and were followed by the denial of access for humanitarian groups and peacekeepers for nearly all of South Darfur, including two of the largest displacement camps in the world. “The U.S. government has offered a roadmap to normalization of relations with Khartoum, with the hope that these incentives could lead to a peaceful transition to independence of South Sudan as well as progress toward peace...

Dear Aisha, It started yesterday. One of the most prophetic Sundays in Southern Sudan, but will the skies no longer be gloomy in Darfur? I know that David must be happy for you. The lanky Senator John Kerry and George “the debonair” Clooney were there. They flew all the way from America to witness the making of history. The week-long independence referendum to free your people of the south from the shackles Khartoum. They joined the crowds sweating in the heat of the Sunday sun. January 9, 2011, will be an unforgettable day in the history of southern Sudan. Nobody seemed tired of standing in the long queues as they were waiting to cast their votes in the last leg of the long march to freedom. The harrowing nightmares of the horrifying and terrifying years of the rampaging devils on horsebacks will no longer haunt your people? Dr. Halima Bashir will no more drink from the pool of the tears of the desert and the sleepless nights of Daoud Hari The Translator of the years of the wrath o...

President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan President Omar al-Bashir was indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday July 14, 2008, on charges of crimes against humanity. Sudan alerted the U.N. that the indictment could jeopardize the peace process on the resolution of the Darfur crisis. The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague found President Bashir guilty of the murder and rape committed by the Sudanese government troops and their militias against the people of Darfur. The ICC sought for the warrant to arrest President Umar al-Bashir for trial. Related reports: 14 Jul 2008 15:16, USAID Memorial Ceremony Planned 12 Jul 2008 00:49 Embassy of Sudan: Ocampo's Political Pursuits Jeopardize Peace 11 Jul 2008 23:30 Ros-Lehtinen Condemns UN Failure to Pass Resolution on Zimbabwe 10 Jul 2008 20:27 Donation Helps Expand Water Well Work in Darfur 9 Jul 2008 21:52 USAID Memorial Ceremony Planned 09:56 National Elections Act: A Milestone Towards Peace And Democrac...

The most brutish and foolish creatures on earth must be Africans, from Nigeria to Rwanda and from the Sudan to the Congo. Africans have committed more atrocities in Africa since the independence of African countries than the atrocities of the imperialists in two centuries. The rest of the world said they were shocked by the Rwanda holocaust , but more people are being killed in the Congo and yet we have not done anything to stop it. The emergency in the Congo is worse than the Darfur crisis , but how many times have we seen the horrors making headlines online and offline? I have decided to be distant from the hordes of hypocrites who claim to be citizen journalists and human rights activists in the blogosphere and claiming to be global voices or whatever tag they use for their hypocritical impressionism, but have not addressed the emergencies in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Others among them are busy looking for American and Western European endorsements for their gay rights and o...

More than five years of conflict in Darfur has left at least 200,000 people dead and more than 2.5 million people homeless, with new attacks on villages in West Darfur recently. Human Rights First has launched a new campaign to get China, by far the largest known provider of small arms to Sudan, to stop selling these weapons to Sudan. I just joined their efforts and I hope you will do the same by visiting their new campaign website, Made in China: Stop Arms Sales to Sudan: The continuing violence in Darfur, combined with China's latest "charm offensive," gives us a unique moment to get China to take a fundamental step toward promoting peace by halting its arm sales to Sudan. China claims that its arms sales to Sudan are insignificant, but a report being released by Human Rights First argues that China has supplied Sudan with some 90% of its small arms and munitions since 2004-the types of weapons and bullets that are used to kill, maim, and leave people homeless in Darf...

I thank God Samantha Power, resigned with apologies and regrets for her terrible utterances against Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton . Samantha Power is brilliant without doubt. But you cannot blame Bill Clinton for the Rwandan Genocide as you cannot blame President George W. Bush for the the genocide in Darfur happening before our very eyes. I am 100% Black African who is committed to the efforts to end the Darfur Crisis and communicated with the former UN Special Envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk and my own insider in Darfur on how to stop the massacre of innocent people in Darfur. But the Sudanese government and the rebels have continued to pour fuel in the fire of the conflict in Darfur and they are both guilty of the genocide. The African Union and the UN are guiltier than the former President Bill Clinton on the Rwandan Genocide. I do not think there is anything Bill Clinton would have done to stop the genocide in the hellish circumstances if the UN failed to do so. America cannot ...