Doctors Without Borders workers abducted in Darfur

By Sarah El Deeb – Associated Press

AP – A worker walks into the offices of the Belgian branch of the aid group ‘Doctors Without Borders’ known …

KHARTOUM, Sudan – Armed men abducted three international aid workers and two Sudanese guards in Darfur, a week after the government in Khartoum ordered aid groups expelled in response to an international arrest warrant for the Sudanese president, officials said Thursday.

The kidnappings — believed to be the first of Westerners in Darfur — took place late Wednesday in a rural area known as Saraf Umra about 125 miles west of the city of El Fasher, said Noureddine Mezni, a spokesman for U.N. peacekeepers in Khartoum.

The area is government controlled, and pro-government Arab militias known as janjaweed live and are based nearby.

The attackers stormed into the compound of the Belgian branch of the aid group Doctors Without Borders in the evening and abducted the staffers, said Susan Sandars, a Nairobi, Kenya-based spokeswoman for the group, which is also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF.

The two Sudanese guards were later released, but a Canadian nurse, an Italian doctor and a French coordinator were still being held, she said, adding there was no information on the motive or the whereabouts of the kidnapped. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the abduction.

The kidnappings come after Sudan expelled the 13 biggest aid groups from Darfur in response to the March 4 arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir by the Netherlands-based International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 6-year-old war in the region.

Many fear the warrant would make the foreign community in Sudan a target for anger and revenge attacks.

The French and Dutch branches of MSF were among the 13 groups expelled from Darfur. Its Belgian, Swiss and Spanish branches, however, were allowed to remain, along with dozens of other smaller aid organization. MSF, which has five branches, had an extensive medical operation in Darfur and was often the only health provider in violence-stricken or rebel held areas.

Later Thursday, Christopher Stokes, director of MSF Belgium, said in Brussels that MSF decided to pull all its remaining staff from Darfur to Khartoum as a safety precaution until those abducted are freed.

“We are trying to negotiate for the moment the release of our colleagues,” Stokes said. “The only people that will stay behind are the people dealing with trying to secure the freedom of our colleagues. The remaining … MSF Belgium, Switzerland and Spain … also decided to withdraw their teams.”

The 13 expelled aid groups have all pulled out of the large western region of Sudan, although some stayed on in Khartoum. They represented about 40 percent of the humanitarian personnel in Darfur.

Authorities claimed the groups were cooperating with the ICC tribunal. Sudanese officials have warned that vigilantes could target foreigners, though they promised to try to protect them.

Hassabo Abdel-Rahman, of the government humanitarian affairs office said the three abducted workers were able to call their MSF colleagues after the kidnapping to assure they were in good health.

He said the two Sudanese guards who were released have been questioned by police but could not identify their kidnappers. “It’s an isolated and immoral act,” Abdel-Rahman said, claiming an unknown group was behind the abduction.

The ICC warrant accuses al-Bashir of orchestrating atrocities against civilians in Darfur, where his Arab-led government has been battling ethnic African rebels since 2003. Up to 300,000 people have been killed, and 2.7 million have been driven from their homes.

Most of those who have fled the fighting rely on U.N. agencies and international aid groups for their survival and the expulsion of the aid groups also raises fears of a humanitarian disaster.

MSF Belgium said on its Web site that the families of the kidnapped have been informed. “Doctors Without Borders is seriously concerned over their safety and is doing all that is possible to secure their safe release,” it said.

Sergio Cecchini of MSF in Rome said the group was not aware of any ransom requests and said he had no information of who was behind the kidnapping.

Aid workers or convoys are frequently attacked in Darfur by armed bandits from any of the multiple armed forces fighting in Darfur. Usually, aid workers are let go after their equipment is stolen, but some have been killed.

In February, two Sudanese working for the French Aide Medicale Internationale were killed by bandits. In 2006, a Sudanese working for Oxfam was kidnapped in the same area where the Wednesday kidnapping took place, and remained missing for at least 2 months, forcing Oxfam to shut down its offices there. The Sudanese was killed shortly after his release, when he got caught up in fighting while trying to get back to Saraf Umra.

The increased banditry has forced many aid workers to travel only by helicopters to avoid high-risk roads.

Sudanese foreign ministry spokesman Ali Youssef said Sudan condemned the abductions.

“We are following this, we don’t have clues,” he said, dismissing the possibility that the aid workers were detained by authorities. “Why should we detain them? If the government of Sudan was responsible … we would say so, say that they are under investigation.”

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini requested the cooperation of Sudanese authorities and stressed in a statement that hostage safety must be the absolute priority and that “therefore no action must be put in place that might compromise that.”

___

Associated Press Writer Constant Brand in Brussels contributed to this report.

African leaders should support al-Bashir arrest, says Tutu

NEW YORK, UNITED STATES Mar 03 2009 13:21

African leaders should support a bid to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on war-crimes charges, Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu wrote in a New York Times editorial on Tuesday.

The retired archbishop said it was “shameful” that so many African leaders have rallied around al-Bashir, who faces a possible arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court on Wednesday over alleged war crimes in Darfur.

If the warrant is granted and an arrest carried out, al-Bashir would become the first sitting head of state to be hauled before the ICC since the court opened in 2002.

“Because the victims in Sudan are African, African leaders should be the staunchest supporters of efforts to see perpetrators brought to account,” wrote Tutu.

“Yet rather than stand by those who have suffered in Darfur, African leaders have so far rallied behind the man responsible for turning that corner of Africa into a graveyard.”

Tutu chastised the African Union for calling on the United Nations Security Council to suspend the court’s proceedings.

“I regret that the charges against President al-Bashir are being used to stir up the sentiment that the justice system — and in particular, the international court — is biased against Africa. Justice is in the interest of victims, and the victims of these crimes are African.

“To imply that the prosecution is a plot by the West is demeaning to Africans and understates the commitment to justice we have seen across the continent.”

An arrest warrant for al-Bashir “would be an extraordinary moment for the people of Sudan”, Tutu wrote.

“African leaders should support this historic occasion, not work to subvert it.” — AFP

Sudan rebels wanted over peacekeepers’ deaths

(AP) — The prosecutor at the International Criminal Court at The Hague on Thursday requested arrest warrants for rebel leaders allegedly responsible for attacks last year on peacekeepers in Sudan’s Darfur region.

The ICC has already charged Sudan President Omar al-Bashir with war crimes in Darfur.

They are the first warrants ever requested for the killing of peacekeepers, an ICC spokeswoman said. Such an act constitutes a war crime.

“I will not let such attacks go unpunished,” ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said Thursday.

The attacks happened in September 2007 when a thousand rebel-led soldiers surrounded and stormed an African Union peacekeeping base in Haskanita, in southern Darfur, the ICC said. Twelve peacekeepers were killed and eight were wounded in the overnight attack, the deadliest single attack on AU peacekeepers since they began their mission in late 2004.

Moreno-Ocampo determined there were reasonable grounds to believe that rebel commanders bore criminal responsibility for the attacks. The warrants cover three counts of alleged war crimes for murder, intentionally directing attacks on personnel and objects involved in a peacekeeping mission, and pillaging.

“They planned, led their troops and directed the attack which killed 12 peacekeepers, severely wounded eight others, and completely destroyed [African Union] facilities and property, directly affecting aid and security for millions of people of Darfur who are in need of protection,” the prosecutor said.

It was unclear when the judges might decide on the arrest warrant request. ICC spokeswoman Florence Olara said there was no set deadline for them to go through the evidence and make a ruling.

In July, Ocampo asked for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to be indicted on war crimes charges in Darfur. Sudan does not recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction nor does the United States.

Human Rights Watch praised the prosecutor’s request for the warrants, calling it “an important step toward protecting those who protect civilians.”

“Civilians rely on peacekeepers for protection, and any hope for restoring security for civilians in Darfur depends on peacekeepers being able to do their job,” said Richard Dicker, director of the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch. “These warrant requests send a strong message that such crimes will not be tolerated.”

The attack on the AU peacekeepers came months before the 7,000-strong force was replaced by a U.N. peacekeeping force of 26,000 troops.

The U.N. force, known as UNAMID, is a joint operation between the United Nations and the African Union. It took over formally at the end of 2007.

The conflict in Darfur began in 2003 after rebels in the western region of Sudan began attacking government positions. Sudan’s government responded with a fierce military campaign that has led to some 200,000 deaths and forced 2 million people to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.

China revokes visa of gold medalist, Darfur activist Cheek

By Chris Chase-Photo via Getty Images

Olympic gold medalist and outspoken Darfur activist Joey Cheek has had his visa revoked by the Chinese embassy, hours before the speedskating champion was set to fly to China. And he wasn’t even planning on wearing a mask when he got there.

Chinese officials don’t need a reason to revoke anyone’s visa but, in their eyes, they had plenty of reasons to snatch Cheek’s. He is the founder of Team Darfur, a group of 70 athletes whose goal it is to raise global awareness of the human-rights violations taking part in the Darfur region of Sudan. China’s military, economic and diplomatic ties to Sudan have been well-publicized in the lead-up to the Games.

Said Cheek of his ban in a prepared statement:

“I am saddened not to be able to attend the Games. The Olympic Games represent something powerful: that people can come together from around the world and do things that no one thought were possible. However, the denial of my visa is a part of a systemic effort by the Chinese government to coerce and threaten athletes who are speaking out on behalf of the innocent people of Darfur.

Cheek was going to China to support the athletes on Team Darfur — including soccer player Abby Wambach — and to promote the cause, one that he has championed for years. After winning gold in the Torino Games, Cheek announced he was donating his $25,000 USOC bonus to Darfur and implored his sponsors to do the same. It seems that Joey Cheek is truly one of the good guys.

And now he’s out of China before he even got there. With the Games getting closer (just two days away now), the world seemed ready to forget about all the Chinese issues in order to focus on the Games themselves. Unfortunately, China’s actions make that impossible. In a time when we should be wondering who will light the Olympic cauldron, whether Michael Phelps can break an all-time record and how Liu Xiang will react to the pressure of 1.3 billion of his countrymen hanging on his every step, we’re instead left to discuss the Chinese government’s reluctance to allow any dissension in their country, despite repeated promises that they’d clean up their act when the Olympics came to town.

UN vote OKs Darfur peacekeeping, but US abstains

By JOHN HEILPRIN, Associated Press Writer Thu Jul 31, 11:33 PM ET

The U.N. Security Council approved another year of peacekeeping in Sudan’s bloodied Darfur region Thursday night, but the U.S. abstained from a vote that reflected sharp divisions over genocide charges against the Sudanese president.

The United States, despite support for the struggling peacekeeping mission, did not vote because of its opposition to any delay in efforts to prosecute Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

The resolution that was approved 14-0 carried language that noted an African Union request to freeze the International Criminal Court’s prosecution of al-Bashir.

Though the measure does not stop the prosecution, U.S. Deputy Ambassador Alejandro Wolff said that the language “would send the wrong signal” to al-Bashir and “undermine efforts to bring him and others to justice.”

Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor of the international court, filed 10 charges against al-Bashir on July 14 related to violence in Darfur that the U.N. says has claimed 300,000 lives and driven 2.5 million people from their homes.

Those who survive are preyed upon by the government-backed janjaweed Arab militia and regular troops, Moreno-Ocampo said. The court could takes months to decide on his request for an arrest warrant.

The resolution — drafted by Britain — also emphasizes “the need to bring to justice the perpetrators of such crimes and urging the government of Sudan to comply with its obligations in this respect, and reiterating its condemnation of all violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Darfur.”

In an effort to stem the violence, a joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force took over duties in Darfur in January from a beleaguered AU force. The joint force has about 7,500 troops and less than 2,000 police, out of a total of 26,000 that have been authorized. The U.N. is seeking to boost the force to nearly 21,000 by year end.

Libya and South Africa, backed by Russia and China, which both have council veto power, took the AU’s side in pushing for the council to put on hold for a year efforts to prosecute al-Bashir.

Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya said the prosecutor’s moves “will seriously undermine” chances for peace in the region and the uncertainty over how the Sudanese government and other forces might react “will have serious implications for stability in that region, but also … for the U.N. soldiers on the ground.”

The U.S., Britain and France — the other three veto-wielding council members — opposed delaying the prosecutor’s work.

Unlike the U.S., however, Britain and France were willing to include in the resolution a paragraph “taking note” of the desire by the AU and some council members to have the council freeze the prosecution, and of their intention to revisit the topic later.

“It’s very likely … that we will discuss this again over the coming months,” British Ambassador John Sawers said.

The vote on the Darfur mission was preceded by intensive negotiations over the past several weeks. At one point Thursday, council members huddled in an unusual, big circle around Wolff and Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin as they argued.

The final vote came little more than two hours before the mission’s mandate was set to expire at midnight.

The last-ditch American effort to remove the language “took everybody by surprise because the African Union is a partner in the Darfur issue,” said Sudanese Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad.