Blog Posts in Punishment
Share Your Enough Moment
In their forthcoming book, The Enough Moment, John Prendergast and Don Cheadle present the stories of celebrities, activists and survivors who have dedicated their lives to advocating for human rights in Africa. It all begins with an "Enough Moment" -- an experience in your life when you realize you have to stand up, speak out, and organize with others on vital human rights issues in Africa.
The book hits stores Sept. 7, but you don’t have to wait to share your own Enough Moment. We’re interested in hearing your story now, so we’re gathering video versions of personal Enough Moments.
Just begin the video by introducing yourself: Tell us your name, where you live, and what you do. In three minutes or less, describe how you are involved in fighting for human rights in Africa, and the moment in your life that prompted you to take action.
Most importantly, be yourself. Film your video in a simple, natural environment. It's just you, on camera, sharing your story.
Want to see an example? Here's Enough's own Mari Wright sharing her Enough Moment.
When you're finished with your video, upload it to YouTube with the tag "enoughmoment." Please title it “[your name]’s Enough Moment.” For example, John would title his video “John Prendergast’s Enough Moment.” Finally, email the link to us at yourmoment@enoughproject.org.
Later this summer, we'll be launching a special Web site, www.enoughmoment.org, where your video will appear alongside other Enough Moments from celebrities, activists, and survivors.
To learn more about the book and to pre-order your own copy, click here.
Thank you, and we look forward to hearing about your Enough Moment.
Why We Should Care About the Congo
This post originally appeared on Huffington Post.
Deep in the mountains that separate the Democratic Republic of the Congo from Rwanda, largely hidden from public view, a war has been raging for the past 14 years. In this gruesome conflict, rape is frequently the weapon of choice, and a wide array of armed groups with many different patrons fight mercilessly for control of mineral riches.
There is no easy solution to ending the war in Congo, which has claimed more than five million lives, making it the most lethal conflict since World War II. But the Wall Street reform legislation signed into law by President Obama includes a far-reaching provision designed to reduce the horrific violence. Building on the work of a coalition of a dozen major humanitarian organizations and industry pioneers, the bill establishes a new mechanism that will limit the ability of armed groups to profit from the illicit mining and sale of cassiterite, coltan, and wolframite and other "conflict minerals."
My colleagues and I have been working for months to pass this provision, and by partnering with the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Barney Frank, and several other key allies in the House and Senate, including Rep. McDermott and Senators Brownback, Dodd, Durbin, and Feingold, we were able to secure broad, bipartisan support for a requirement that companies doing business in the Congo and adjoining countries disclose both the provenance of the minerals they use and the efforts they have taken to ensure that their dollars do not directly or indirectly support armed groups that employ rape as a tool of war and otherwise perpetuate the conflict.
Let there be no mistake: this is only one critical step of many that must be taken to stop one of the world's longest running wars. But it is a major step.
To be effective, this action must be paired with other efforts. By companies, who will need to build on the work of peers who have already started to develop conflict-free supply chains for the minerals they use. By consumers, who will need to make conscientious choices about the products they buy. By regulators, who will need to ensure that the disclosure process is taken seriously, and that loopholes are not reopened. And by Congress, which will need to carefully monitor the effectiveness of the new mechanism, and take other steps to enhance the ability of the United States to work for peace in places like Congo.
Several of those efforts are currently under consideration in the Foreign Affairs Committee. One that is a particularly high priority for me would overhaul U.S. foreign assistance programs for the first time since 1961, thus enabling our nation to more effectively and efficiently target and deliver our aid dollars.
In these difficult economic times, it is sometimes hard to understand why we should care about what happens in faraway and largely forgotten places like the Congo. But in our increasingly globalized world, conflicts in even distant corners of the world can create ripple effects – from mass migrations and the spread of infectious disease, to deforestation and the depletion of other key natural resources – that impact the current and future well-being of Americans.
Despite the difficult challenges we face here at home, Americans are a generous and compassionate people. Our values compel us to fight injustice wherever it occurs, and to reduce the suffering of innocents. The men, women, and children of the Congo have endured unimaginable hardships for more than a dozen years, and it is time for us to act. The conflict minerals provision in the just-passed Wall Street reform bill is an important first step in changing the situation in that beleaguered country.
The author is the Democratic Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. He represents the 28th District of California.
Bashir's Summer Vacation
President Bashir took a little risk in his first trip since a warrant was issued for his arrest by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide. Previously, he had only been visiting countries that were not signatories to the ICC. This week, he traveled to Chad, which is a signatory. The Chadians decided not to apprehend this particular genocide suspect, despite their obligations under international law. This is unfortunate but simply an expression of Chad's domestic political situation, in which the regime there is looking to improve ties with the Sudan government in order to reduce Sudanese support for Chadian rebels.
This won't be the last time the ICC gets caught up in politics. So we shouldn't be discouraged, but just understand this missed opportunity as a function of the deeply flawed international system as it relates to the promotion of human rights. Speaking of flawed, we need only look at the confused response of the United States to the genocide warrant issued last week for Bashir. In the same week as President Obama was praising the Court, his special envoy for Sudan, General Scott Gration, was expressing concerns about the impact of the warrants on his job.
The lack of imagination is staggering. General Gration does not see that, rather than hindering his work, the ICC warrants provide a point of significant leverage in support of peace in Sudan. First of all, sustainable peace will not come to Sudan without justice, so breaking that cycle of impunity is a prerequisite for progress. Second, if the U.S. and other countries that are ICC signatories (the United States isn't) were more unified and vocal in their support of these arrest warrants in Sudan, this would have a major impact in deterring future human rights abuses. Third, the possibility of a one year conditional deferral of the warrants exists in the ICC charter in the interests of peace, so if Khartoum did all it could to ensure peace in Darfur and the South as well as provided for credible alternative justice mechanisms in Darfur, a deferral of the warrant could be possible.
That is real leverage for peace. President Obama, please note.
N.B.: I had a chance to talk with NPR’s Michele Kelemen about Bashir’s visit to Chad on today’s Morning Edition. Listen here.
How to Fix U.S. Policy Toward Sudan
“The time has come for an urgent rethink of how the United States can contribute to peace in Sudan now, building on lessons of the recent past,” writes Enough Co-founder John Prendergast in a short paper released today.
“What’s Wrong with U.S. Policy Toward Sudan and How to Fix It” provides a point-counter point breakdown of areas where the Obama administration’s strategy is failing to live up to the policy that it rolled out last October. John’s paper addresses the Obama administration’s view of efforts to make peace in Darfur, implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and negotiate post-referendum arrangements between North and South, utilize and build U.S. leverage, and hold those most responsible for conflict in Sudan accountable. On each theme, the paper describes Enough’s alternative view of what the United States should be doing, based on both the solid policy that the Obama administration itself devised last year and the influential role America played over the past decade to bring an end to the long war between North and South.
Read the full report here.
Photo: Special Envoy Gration and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice at the Sudan policy launch, October 2009 (State Department)
ICC Calls for Arrest of Sudan’s Bashir for Genocide
News broke today that the International Criminal Court had issued a second arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir – this time for genocide. In a statement from The Hague, the Court announced that its pre-trial chamber considered there were reasonable grounds to believe President Bashir is responsible for three counts of genocide against the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa groups in Darfur.
The three counts include genocide by killing, genocide by causing serious bodily or mental harm, and genocide by deliberately inflicting on each target group conditions of life calculated to bring about the group’s physical destruction.
In the daily press briefing at the State Department, spokesman Philip Crowley reacted to the news by saying, "Everyone is entitled to a day in court, and we think the sooner that President Bashir presents himself to that court, the better."
A statement issued by Enough, Genocide Intervention Network, the Save Darfur Coalition, and the American Jewish World Service recognized the Sudanese government’s responsibility to hand over President Bashir to the ICC but noted, “Barring this unlikely cooperation, the United States and the international community should work together to ensure Bashir’s swift arrest.” (Read the full statement for reactions from leaders of each group.)
Today’s news settles a question left open ever since the ICC filed its initial charges against the first sitting head of state in March 2009. The pre-trial chamber originally issued arrest warrants for Bashir and two top Sudanese officials for war crimes and crimes against humanity, but it rejected the genocide charge, prompting the ICC chief prosecutor to file an appeal. In February, the Court re-opened the possibility that the genocide charge would come when it decided that the pre-trial chamber had used an inappropriately high burden of proof to evaluate whether there was reason to believe Bashir could be tried for genocide. (We boiled down that decision in this blog post at the time.) Today’s decision paves the way for the Court to try Bashir for genocide once he is delivered to The Hague.
Focus quickly shifted from this breaking news alert to expressions of concern about how the news would be received by the ruling party in Sudan. When the first round of arrest warrants was issued in March 2009, the Sudanese government expelled 16 international and Sudanese aid groups from Darfur, leaving an estimated one million people who were dependent on aid vulnerable. In a region where three million people are displaced, any interruption in distribution can leave civilians at great risk. Emergency contingency plans enabled remaining aid groups to fill gaps in basic services, but the few groups who have been able to investigate on the ground report that treatment for survivors of sexual violence has still not been restored, more than a year later.
“President Obama should make abundantly clear his unequivocal support for peace rooted in justice in Sudan by sending the message that consequences will result from any retaliation against Sudanese civilians as a result of this warrant, and by building stronger international support for this warrant,” Enough’s John Prendergast said.
It was already afternoon in Sudan when the news broke today, so we’ll continue to watch this story as it unfolds.
Photo: Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir at his inauguration in May (AP)
