Category: Blog

Fatou Bensouda

Fatou Bensouda joined the International Criminal Court as their Chief Prosecutor in 2011 after previously holding the position of the ICC’s Deputy Prosecutor since 2004. Before joining the ICC Ms. Bensouda had served the people of Gambia in many different legal capacities. Between 1987 and 2000 Ms. Bensouda served as Senior State Council, Principle State Council, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Solicitor General and Legal Secretary of the Republic, and Attorney General and Minister of Justice. Ms. Bensouda then moved to the international stage serving as a delegate to the UN Conference on Crime Prevention, and as a delegate of Gambia to the Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court. She worked as a Legal Adviser and Trial Attorney at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. She then rose to prominence as Senior Legal Adviser and Head of Legal Advisory Unit from 2002 to 2004.

For FatouBensouda’s official International Criminal Court biography:

http://www.icc-cpi.int/en_menus/icc/structure%20of%20the%20court/office%20of%20the%20prosecutor/Pages/theprosecutor2012.aspx

Stephen J. Rapp

Stephen J. Rapp was appointed in 2009 as the Ambassador at-Large, heading the Global Office of Criminal Justice at the U.S. State Department. Before his appointment however, Mr. Rapp served as Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone starting in 2007. Mr. Rapp was placed in charge of prosecutions such as Liberian President Charles Taylor and other persons suspected of committing atrocities during the civil war in Sierra Leone. During this time he became the first person to earn a conviction on the charge of recruitment and use of child soldiers, sexual slavery, and forced marriages under international humanitarian law.

From 2001 to 2007 Mr. Rapp served the United Nations as Senior Trial Attorney and Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. He was appointedin 1997 as U.S. Attorney in Iowa, where he served two four year terms. Prior to his appointment Mr. Rapp worked as an attorney in a private practice and was elected to the Iowa Legislature.

For Stephen Rapp’s official biography:

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/129455.htm

Eric Reeves

Eric Reeves is a Professor at Smiths College who teaches a wide variety of courses, from Shakespeare to the History of Criticism, from Milton to the Technology of Reading and Writing. Professor Reeves has written about Sudan for the past 15 years and has become recognized as an expert in the study of Sudan and Darfur. He has studied Sudan’s culture, recent political crisis, as well as the humanitarian issues that have arisen as a result. On multiple occasions Professor Reeves has been consulted for advice concerning Sudan by humanitarian and human rights organizations. He has also been asked to testify in front of Congress several times. Professor Reeves has published two books concerning the Darfur conflict; in 2007 he published A Long Day’s Dying: Critical Moments in the Darfur Genocide, while in 2012 he completed Compromising with Evil: An Archival History of Greater Sudan, 2007-2012. Over the last couple of years Professor Reeves has been awarded multiple honorary degrees in recognition of his groundbreaking research.

For Professor Eric Reeves’ official biography:

http://www.smith.edu/english/faculty_reeves.php

Gregory Stanton

Gregory Stanton is the President, and Founder, of Genocide Watch, an organization dedicated to predicting, preventing, and punishing acts of genocide as well as other forms of mass murder committed anywhere throughout the world. Dr. Stanton is also a Research Professor in Genocide Studies and Prevention at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution of George Mason University.

From 2007-2009 Dr. Stanton was President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, and in 1999 he was Chair of the International Campaign to End Genocide, the world’s first anti-genocide alliance.

Dr. Stanton served in the State Department (1992-1999), during this time he drafted the United Nations Security Council resolutions which resulted in the creation of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the Burundi Commission of Inquiry, and the Central Africa Arms Flow Commission.

He served as a legal adviser to the RUKH, a Ukrainian independence movement, for which he was named the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America’s Man of the Year in 1992.

For Dr. Gregory Stanton’s official biography:

http://scar.gmu.edu/people/gregory-stanton

Ndimyake Mwakalyelye

Ndimyake Mwakalyelye is an anchor for Voice of America reporting for many different shows. The television show that she is most well-known for is called “In Focus”, which broadcasts in Africa, in this show Ms. Mwakalyelye reports on a multitude of issues.

Ms. Mwakalyelye has a very strong interest in Africa as well as other developing nations, and puts an emphasis on the struggles of individuals (especially women and children) in order to raise awareness of the crisis that have arisen.

Ms. Mwakalyelye was born in Tanzania and raised in Zimbabwe, she later moved to the United States to go to school and achieve a Bachelors degree from Howard University and a Masters degree from American University.

For NdimyakeMwakalyelye’s official biography:

http://speakerpedia.com/speakers/ndimyake-mwakalyelye

Niemat Ahmadi

Niemat Ahmadi is the Founder and President of the Darfur Women Action Group as well as the Director of Global Partners for United to End Genocide. Formerly, Ms. Ahmadi held a position with the Save Darfur Coalition, an organization which is driven to giving a voice to the Sudanese diaspora spread around the world. She is one of the founders of the Darfuri Leaders Network, a group of over twenty US –based organizations, all of whom worked together to help promote peace and security in Darfur. She also served as an adviser during the inter-Sudanese Darfur peace talks in 2006.

Ms. Ahmadi has a long history of helping the people of Sudan during her career working with NGOs. She has held positions with Oxfam Great Britain, Intermediate Technology Development Group, and the United Nation’s World Food Program. She was also an executive member of the Darfur Assessment Mission, a coalition of six Sudanese non-Governmental organizations who documented human rights abuses in Darfur during the crisis.

Ms. Ahmadi was born in Darfur; she was forced to leave, however, after two attempts on her life. She then moved to Kenya before traveling to the US where she has been helping give a voice to the people of Darfur.

For Niemat Ahmadi’s official Biography:

Niemat Ahmadi’s

Khalid Gerais

Khalid Gerais is a board member of Voices for Sudan, an organization which works to give a voice to the Sudanese diaspora community and help end the political crisis. Mr. Gerais is also the co-founder of Nubia Project, an organization which advocates for the protection of Nubian artifacts and culture against the flooding due to the building of dams by the government of Sudan.

Mr. Gerais has participated and attended prestigious events numerous times, at the US State Department, US Congress, and Hudson Institute. He has spoken at many colleges and universities on the topic of Kush Heritage in order to help bring more attention to the issue as well as educating the younger generation on a topic which is not widely discussed in the classroom.

For Khalid Gerais’ official biography:

http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Khalid-Gerais/1468253653

Honorable Thomas H. Andrews

Thomas H. Andrews is President and Chief Executive Officer of United to End Genocide. A former Congressman from Maine, Tom most recently served as National Director of Win Without War, a coalition of forty national organizations promoting a more progressive national security strategy that calls for prudent use of military engagement. He has worked to promote democracy and human rights throughout the world including Indonesia, Cambodia, Yemen, Algeria, Serbia, and Ukraine among many others. A long-time advocate of democracy and human rights in Burma, Tom has worked closely with the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, facilitated the creation of the European Burma Network and served as General Secretary of the Nobel Peace Laureate Campaign for Aung San Suu Kyi. Tom is a Senior Advisor to the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, chaired by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Tom was elected to the Maine House of Representatives in 1982, the Maine Senate in 1984 and the United States House of Representatives in 1990. Tom also served as president of New Economy Communications, a not-for-profit organization providing strategic planning and communication services to individuals and groups advancing labor and human rights issues.

Marion Arnaud

Marion Arnaud is the current representative for the office of the United Nations Secretary General on Genocide Prevention. She is a strong advocate for discussing conflict resolution and has participated in numerous End Genocide Action summitsas a panelist. Ms. Arnaud works with numerous ongoing conflicts and works to bring awareness to political and civilian issues at hand by working with the United Nations Press Release. Ms. Arnaud has a Master of Arts in Conflict, Security and Development from the University of Leeds, England and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from McGill University. Her work focused on the Responsibility to Protect in Darfur, which she began upon working at an internship in 2006. Ms. Arnaud has also worked on various educational and humanitarian projects ranging from France to Peru. She has also worked with providing briefings of the United Nations to the public as the officer for the Project Officer at the International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect.

Ms. Arnaud has also participated in the 2000 Millenium Summit in which she worked on the reports on the status of crimes against humanity in North Korea and the responsibility for preventing war crimes.

Reverand Dr. Kemi Onanuga

Rev. Dr. Kemi Onanuga is the Founding President for the Pawla Organization and the Co-founder for the African Immigrant Caucus (AIC) as well as Ambassador for the United Nations. She also working on bringing advocacy to issues in Nigeria and working with Jesus House as well as MD State Coordinator for the campaign launched in response to the kidnappings of women and girls in Nigeria. Her work with Jesus House was to alleviating the damages of the violencein Nigeria and also in outreach efforts within the United States. She is an author and life-coach with her work as a role model well-known to young generation leaders. She also works as an administrative professional in Business Management and has a Doctorate in Theology. She is the Minister in Charge of the Pastoral Care Ministry at Jesus House DC and the Executive Director of the Redeemers’ Community Development Corporation.

Reverend Kimberly Barnes

Reverend Kimberly Barnes is the pastor Gethsemane African Methodist Episcopal Church in Landover, Maryland. She is co-pastor with her husband Reverend Ronald Braxton. This is her first pastorate position which she began in 2010. Before joining Gethsemane AME Church she was the assistant pastor of Metropolitan AME Church in Washington D.C.

Reverend Barnes also serves as the Executive Director and Founder of Voices for Hope. She has been volunteering in her community for many years, including volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club. When she was working as the assistant pastor for Metropolitan AME Church she became a co-facilitator of the Darfur Interfaith Network. While in this position Reverend Barnes organized many different protests including a protest on the Sudanese Embassy in Washington DC. Her activism lead to Reverend Barnes being nominated by the Washington Chapter of the American Jewish Committee to travel to Israel with a delegation of pastors and inspect the Palestinian Israeli Conflict.

For Reverend Kimberly Barnes official biography:

http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Kimberly-Barnes/1166954651

Jeffery Eide

Having spent a majority of his life living and working abroad, Jeffrey Eide became strongly intertwined with human rights and especially women’s rights in particular as a vehicle for progress in the world. The resistance to women’s progress cemented his passion. Now living the USA, Jeffrey heads the education and media outreach committee at the Fargo Rape and Abuse Crisis Center, where his current focus is The Redefining Masculinity Project, which aims to educate about attitudes and the role men play in preventing assault.

Professor Ahmed Adam

Professor Ahmed Adam is an internationally known Sudanese politician who is from Darfur. He gained his law degree from Sudan before moving to the UK to get a degree in public international law from Westminster University. Mr. Adam quickly became one of the most prominate voices for the people of Sudan on the international stage. He became one of the principle negotiators on behalf of the people of Darfur in peace talks sponsored by the United Nations, the Arab League and the African Union.

Professor Adam is currently working on a book called Darfur Betrayed: An Insiders Perspective which will analyze the peace process and the regional and international response to it as well as the Darfur crisis since 2004. From 2012 to 2014 Ahmed Adam was a visiting professor at Columbia University. For Professor Ahmed Adam’s official biography:

http://hrcolumbia.org/visiting/bios.php

El-Fadel Arabab

El-Fadel Arabab is a survivor of the Darfur genocide and has become an activist speaking at many events about Darfur and the importance of bringing President Bashir to justice.

When Mr. Arabab was only 12 years old the Janjaweed attacked his village. He managed to escape and get to Khartoum where he lived for years as a homeless child on the streets. He then found a relative in the city who managed to get him to Egypt where he stayed until 2004 when he traveled to the US.

Mr. Arabab is the secretary and lecturer of the Fur Cultural Revival Organization which is an organization committed to rising the governments awareness of the Darfur genocide, they also help serve the Darfur community in the Portland area.

For El-Fadel Arabab’s official biography:

http://endgenocide.org/el-fadel-arbab-arrest-omar-al-bashir-bring-justice-to-me-and-my-people/

Jo-Marie Burt

Jo-Marie Burt is a senior fellow at WOLA with her focus on Latin American Studies. She teaches political science at George Mason University and is acting as the co-director of the Center for Global Studies. Her research addresses political violence and state power, human rights and transitional justice, and social movements in Latin America.

She also directs a research project on the prosecution of perpetrators of grave human rights violations committed in Peru (special regards to its armed conflict) and in Latin America more broadly. For more information see the project website at http://rightsperu.net)

Zeinab Mohamed Blandia

Zeinab Mohamed Blandia is a Muslim peacemaker from Sudan and has been involved in creating community and maintaining peace in the Nuba Mountains which is one of the most conflict-affected and neglected regions of the world. She is the founder and director of Ruya, or “Vision,” which is an organization in Kadugli in the south and also in Omdurman in the north where Zeinab trains and cultivates fellow “women peace ambassadors.”She works in the Nuba Mountains to develop economic skills of women through teaching on subjects such as savings accounts. Her groups together identify conflict issues and work with peacebuilding at the level. She is also involved in the program “Women Bridging” which allows women to exchange vists within the state as well as trains illiterate women in solar engineering. She is working in training women in technology as well as conflict resolution methods in indigenous areas. For more information, go to: http://www.sandiego.edu/peacestudies/institutes/ipj/programs/women-peacemakers/about/zeinab-mohamed-blandia.php

Femme

Femme is a documentary depicting different voyages of women across the world who are involved in global society and the ways in which society can be healed from previous conflict. Women in this documentary discuss and lead in religious, scientific, historic, political, and entertainment issues that require advanced and multi-tiered solutions. The documentary seeks to highlight the work of women around the world in hopes of opening the door to conversation and women’s involvement in world issues. For more information, go to Femmethemovie.com

A Problem From Hell

Inspired by Samantha Power’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book A Problem From Hell, this multi-faceted documentary interweaves Raphael Lemkin’s struggle with the courageous efforts of four individuals keeping his legacy alive: Luis Moreno Ocampo, Chief Prosecutor of the ICC; Samantha Power, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations; Ben Ferencz, a former Nuremberg prosecutor still tenaciously lobbying the UN for peace, and Rwandan Emmanuel Uwurukundo, UN Refugee Agency Field Director.

Elizabeth Bohart

Elizabeth Bohart is the Director for Outreach Strategy and the Executive Producer with Watchers of the Sky. She worked with strategic planning in Eastern Africa and also worked with an UK based consultancy on assisted private equity. She oversaw the development of the film and its educational outreach that targeted middle and high school curriculum. She is a strategist behind the development of the film’s program and community engagement. She is also on the board of directors of Maloto which is a nonprofit organization based on Malawi. Bohart also works with a violence-preventative organization that works to teach young people conflict resolution skills.

Amelia Green Dove

Amelia Green Dove is a producer, filmmaker, and journalist. She was a field producer for the filmmaker Michael Moore’s Academy Awared feature documentary and was an associate producer for Bill Moyer. She worked as a researcher for the BBC Open University division in London and has worked with Edet Beluberg on The Recruiter. She is also the film outreach Engagement Campaign Manager for Watchers of the Sky.

Omer Ismail

Omer Ismail was born in the Darfur region of Sudan and is the Senior Enough Advisor. For the past 20 years, Omer worked with international organizations on human rights and relief efforts. He founded the Sudan Democratic Forum and helped develop a think tank for Sudanese intellectuals who were assisting with the development of democracy in Sudan. He also founded the Darfur Peace and Development organization to spread awareness of the ongoing problems in Darfur and worked as policy adviser with agencies in crisis management. Ismail was also a fellow at Harvard University for the Kennedy School of Government.

Bama Athreya

Bama Athreya is the Senior Specialist for Labor and Employment Rights at USAID. She formerly was the Executive Director of United to End Genocide which is a collaboration with the Save Darfur Coalition and the Genocide Intervention New York. She has spent many years with her dedication to human rights, ending genocide, and preventing human rights atrocities. She worked in the 1990s to expose mass atrocities by Exxon Mobil in Aceh as well as lived in Cambodia during the United Nations Transitional Authority attempt to end the civil war. Athreya also is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and of the National Committee on US- China Relations and holds a B.A. in Comparative Literature from the University of Pennsylvania. She also is an appointed member of the special Consultative Group on Forced and Child Labor and publishes on issues of child labor in countries abroad.

Norrie Kurtz

Norrie Kurtz was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1943 during World War II. Her family moved to a small resort town in upstate NY when she was 12. After receiving her Masters degree, Norrie worked as a speech pathologist in a school for neurologically impaired youngsters and subsequently as an audiologist for 20 years at Manhattan Eye, Ear & Throat Hospital in NYC.

Ambassador Mathilde Mukantabana

Mathilde Mukantabana presented her credentials as Rwanda’s ambassador to the United States on July 18, 2013. The Washington post is Mukantabana’s first diplomatic position of any kind. She is also non-resident ambassador to Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina.

She came to the United States in 1980 to attend Sacramento State University, where she earned an M.A. in history in 1986. She also married a professor, Alexandre Kimenyi, who taught linguistics, ethnic studies, French and African languages. He was a Rwandan activist whom she had known in Rwanda. Mukantabana went on to earn another master’s degree, this one in social work, with the hope that it might help her rebuild her country.

Mukantabana began teaching history at Cosumnes River College in Sacramento in 1994. That was also the year of the Rwandan Genocide, in which thousands of Tutsi were massacred by members of that country’s Hutu majority. The same week that she was hired by Cosumnes River, she learned that among those killed were both her parents, three sisters, two brothers, six aunts, four uncles and all of her nieces and nephews.

Ikhlas Mohammed

Ikhlas Mohammed is a Sudanese youth leader with United States Institute of Peace’s Middle East & Africa team, with with responsibility for conducting a research project in Women Role and Conflict Resolution in Darfur. From 2010 up 2013 she was working as a translator and interpreter with United Nations and African Union Mission in Darfur in Zalingei. Currently she is working with UNAMID/ Khartoum Office in Security Section since 2013; she also worked as Volunteer Teacher with Sudanese National Association for Blinds from 2007 up 2010. She was working as communication and coordination secretary in National Staff Association in UNAMID, and Published Nafaj Magazine that discusses the National Staff concerns in UNMAID and the sociocultural issues of the local citizens in Zalingei and the role of the mission in Zalingei.

Ikhlas has a bachelor degree in arts and humanities sciences department of English language from University of Juba, and she is a master degree holder in Gender and Migration studies from Ahfad University for Women in Sudan.

16 Days of Activism to End Violence Against Women

Today, the Darfur Women Action Group will be launching our 16 days of activism to bring awareness and action against violence directed to women in Darfur. Through November 25 to December the 10th, we will be sharing stories of suffering and resilience in order to provide opportunities for others to take action. While allowing for women to take part in representing their voices and facilitating dialogue between reader/writer, we will be actively sharing our UNSC petition as well as our petition to the Congress. Our petitions will call for immediate and collective action to be directed at the incident in Tabit as well as share ways in which readers can immediately partake in addressing human rights violations.

These 16 days of activism is also an opportunity to invest in the resiliency noted in the women of Darfur. We will launch a fund raising effort to build women empowerment center to provide support needed for the women in Tabit including Medical treatment, Psychosocial support and trauma counseling It is a practical response to the long standing violence against women in Darfur, and, as such, this project will provide women with a place needed for them to share, to develop their priorities and survival strategies, to seek counseling and solutions to rape and other multiple problems facing women in the camps daily. By coming together, the women’s strength can be realized through the absence of their regular isolation. In addition, telling their stories will help women turn their bitterness and fear into productive energy, enable them to speak up, overcome stigma, start to heal and be prepared to seek justice.

Readers will also have the chance to donate funds to help support these women to return to their lives and to continue speaking out on the violation of human rights. It is the goal of the Darfur Women Action Group to continue sharing these petitions as well as partake in demonstrating the subaltern female voice from Darfur to break the silence that is often given to women. With these stories, women will have the chance to themselves portray the picture and depict the problems with which grassroots organizations may utilize to restore dignity in their communities. it. Please join us in these 16 Days of Activism and take part in a unified stance against violence.

Join us and take action to end violence against women and to end genocide in Darfur -Sudan.

Here what you can do to help:

• Sign our petition and share it with 10 people in your network
• Donate to support our practical response to Tabit incident to help women overcome; link to our give page.
• Tweet and share our action on FB; use our Hash tag #StopRapeInDarfurNow , #SpeakUp4WomenOfDarfur
• Read our blog and share it widely
• Send us your solidarity message that we can share with women of Tabit via tweeter or FB

September 19

For contact: Niemat Ahmadi, President, Darfur Women Action Group , info@darfurwomenaction.org (804) 439 2022

Do not Forget Darfur!

Darfur Women Action Group Called for the UN General Assembly and the UNSC to match its Rhetoric with realities on the ground in Sudan

Darfur Women Action Group wishes to remind the United Nations Security Council, the Secretary General and the UN General Assembly in its call for collective responsibility to protect to not “Forget Darfur!”

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his remarks to the General Assembly on August 8th has called for the need for collective responsibility to respond to the crises in the world and has included several countries, however, he has utterly failed to recognize the suffering of Sudanese people particularly in Darfur where genocide has been ongoing for more than a decade. (http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2014/sgsm16127.doc.htm).

As stated by DWAG president Niemat Ahmadi, “the ongoing genocide in Darfur and the multiple crises in Sudan are crises of a global magnitude that requires global response, failure by the UN or its Secretary General to recognize will simply mean its enabling. It is imperative that the collective effort for responsibility to protect be inclusive and Sudan should not be an exception.”

It has been 10 years since then US Secretary of State Colin Powell declared, “genocide has been committed in Darfur.” Ten years down the road—millions of men, women, children and the elderly in Darfur remain suffering from the systematic attacks and destruction of lives and livelihood throughout the greater Darfur region that has been ongoing since 2003.

President Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan stands accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the world’s worst crimes – genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, committed in Darfur. Yet President Al-Bashir remains at large as an international fugitive of justice and still perpetrating the same crimes in Darfur and has extended his crimes to the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile regions of Sudan with total impunity.

While the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) to date has nearly 27,000 forces and civilian personnel, the mission is largely failing to protect civilians or adequately report incidents of attacks against civilians or the systematic violation of human rights and international humanitarian law by the Sudanese government and its allied militias of janjaweed.

UNAMID has not only failed to carry out its mandate but it has been criticized because of its partiality and lack of accuracy in reporting civilian causalities as has been recently disclosed by the former UNAMID spokesperson.

Despite of these failures, last August 31st, the UNAMID’s mission tenure has been renewed. Amidst these internal challenges and changes with new leadership in the UNAMID, sadly, continuous waves of violence, widespread hunger, displacement and disease including the influx of Hepatitis and prevalent malnutrition are the realities that the Darfuri people has had to contend with time and again. It is quite clear that UNAMID’s existence in Darfur is meaningless unless it’s mandate is given a stronger civilian protection component.

Recognizing these harsh realities on the ground, we at the Darfur Women Action Group, demand that the United Nations General assembly must match its rhetoric with realities on the ground in Sudan. The UN Security Council should fulfill its responsibility by providing protection to the suffering people of Darfur and Sudan at large.

We further demand that UNAMID must be granted a stronger civilian protection mandate, press the Sudanese government to immediately cease its attacks against civilians in Darfur, South Kordofan and the Blue Nile and to disarm the janjaweed. It is also a must to open an unhindered and non-negotiable humanitarian access to the needy throughout Darfur, South Kordofan and the Blue Nile regions of Sudan. President Al-Bashir and all perpetrators who committed and continued commit crimes against civilians in Darfur and other regions of Sudan, should be held accountable.

Furthermore, in honoring the commitment made at the 2005 World Summit enjoining the UN as a body and its member states to take initiative and have a collective responsibility to protect—the plight of the Darfuri people must not be forgotten.

The UN Secretary General also said in his August 8th address that “turning a blind eye is unacceptable”—let this serve as a challenge for us all to not turn a blind eye to this decade’s biggest silent genocide and give the Darfuri people the justice, protection and freedom that they so deserve.

Would you be a voice for Darfur?

It has been eleven since the genocide began in Darfur and 7 years since the international criminal court issued the arrest warrant for Omer Al-Bashir for the world worse crimes – genocide, war crimes and crimes against. Unfortunately the situation for the people of Darfur remains shattering. Excessive force, death, displacement and brutal rape that is being used as the weapon of war has devastated the lives and the livelihood of the people of Darfur. With the focus shifted others crises from region of the Middle East to the corners of Ukraine where massive human rights violations are escalating. And yet, Darfur today inspite being the worse is no longer in the news while women and children are enduring unspeakable suffering amidst the toil in the world, it is a struggle to even bring awareness to the situations in which women and children are mercilessly murdered under oppressive governments and restrained media sets.

It is a privilege to live in a world in which the media is something one has a choice to, and yet, the choice in this world is all too often focused on the flashing dreams that we chase.

As shown by the Radio Dabanga, massive street protests have continued across the world in protests to the ongoing government restrictions and genocide in Darfur where human rights violations spill across the surfaces and into the deep crevices. Darfuri students have and still are being targeted, attacked and injured for the mere usage of demonstrations/protest to make their case against the escalating violence, rising subsidies and injustice in its their region.

For this reason, DWAG is striving to keep the attention on the forgotten plight, keeping hope for the suffering and reminding the world that in the face of genocide they can’t turn a blind eye to slaughter. DWAG and its volunteers like myself are fighting to give a voice to those whose voices have been oppressed, appeal to its members as well as share knowledge of the ongoing crises in Darfur to help empower our members and supporters to begin to step forward to speak up, and bear witnesse to the horrors to do what they can to end the longstanding suffering in Darfur.

It’s quite disappointing with several UN resolutions and instruments that demand that rape is not to be used as a tool of war and it’s immediate recognized as a crime against humanity. Sadly, its being completely ignored in Darfur today. It’s worth noting that women inspire being the most affected have begun to step out of the dark and into the stage of political reform and protest.

As a Bosnian woman who myself have understood the horrors of war, I have made a commitment to lift up the voices of Darfuri women and continue to shed lights to the plight of the uncounted numbers of men, women and children who have long cried for justice through the development of these blogs and news articles that we may show our readers to seek ways in which anyone can help and do their part in bringing awareness to Darfur and contribute to the end of its long-waged war that has spread far beyond simple conflict.

Genocide is genocide, whether it be in Bosnia, Darfur, Syria. And it is our job to see it. My name is Merima Tricic and I am a voice for Darfur.

About the Writer

Merima Tricic is a current student at the University of California, Los Angeles and studying political science, world culture, and Middle Eastern studies. She is currently pro-active on campus with creating events open to the public about Islam and the ways in which it empowers women. She also is a martial artist who competes at an international basis and has taken 3rd place in international competitions within the United States. She enjoys reading and pursuing new interests within social justice as well as presenting at undergraduate research conferences.

Survivor Voices

“The daily horror of genocide in Darfur”

Darfur Women Action Group would like to share with our readers heart-breaking stories and reports from our sources on the ground in Darfur. They will be depicting exactly what life is like in Darfur. The individuals there are constantly under attack and innocent men, women, and children lose their lives without any notice taken from the outside world.

Sharing these reports is not about us; it is about those who have been forced to live in concentration-like camps because their homes are no longer safe or no longer standing. They have been systematically targeted for killing, rape and humiliation for more than a decade. Upon reading this we ask for your help to speak up, spread the word, and to support DWAG to be able to help our people by providing them with tangible, life-saving assistance. We want to bring this to the attention of the world community and urge them to help end it.

We are still working out some of the details of the Survivor Voices series, so some of the information may be delayed, however, the accounts will be accurate and straight from the conflict.

Below are real stories from witness and survivors:

Reports from July 2014

July 11:

A man was shot and injured after his car was stolen and was the forced to pay 20,000 Sudanese pounds as a random.

The Rapid Support Forces shot Ibrahim Mekail. About 5 militiamen in a Land Cruiser vehicle with Doshka machine guns shot Ibrahim. He said he was threatened and his car was stolen a week ago, and then the militants contacted him and asked him to pay 20,000 Sudanese pound if he wanted to have his car returned to him. He agreed, and collected the money with the help of families and friends, and went to meet the militia. After Ibrahim paid the 20,000, the Janjaweed shot him and took his money without returning the car.

Ibrahim was severely injured and then transferred to Nyala Hospital. The incident has been reported to Nyala Wasat Police, however, they have done nothing to return the car or the money or hold the militia accountable for stealing and shooting Ibrahim. Ibrahim said he knows the militia members who are responsible, but he declined to mention their names for fear of retaliation from them toward him or his family.

July 13:

Janjaweed militia members rode on camelback (while wearing Border Intelligence Guards uniforms) at about 8:00am and attacked Alsalam residents on their way to the market. They killed two brothers: Abdel Razek (42 years old, married, and lived in the Alsalam Camp Center) and Mohammed Ahmed Baba (30 years old, married and lived in the Alsalam Camp-block 4).

Their bodies were taken to Nylay hospital and then were sent back to Alsalam camp. Their relatives buried them near the camp. Some were silent and some cried, but they all felt overwhelming helplessness.

July 19:

A car was bombed near Elfasher, an area in the North Darfur region, where nearly 17 people were killed and only three survived including two severely injured American citizens: Noah Eisa and Omer Eisa. The two men are from New Jersey.

Noah, and his nephew Omer, who is 10 years old, left the US on July 5th to visits their old and ill grandmother who was separated from them during an attack on their village near Kabkabiya, in 2003.

Noah, his two brothers and one of his brother’s wife fled Darfur in beginning of genocide, to Eygpt and then were luckily relocated as refugees in the United States. Since 2006, they have lived in Flemington, New Jersey. They work hard and have established a decent life for themselves and have become American citizens. But everyday they feel regret and saddens because they left many of their loved ones behind, including Noah’s sisters and their grandmother who raised them up after the death of their mother. This year they decided to visit their grandmother who has been ill and who is getting very old. She is currently living in a camp in Kabkabiya City, North Darfur State. They thought since they are American citizens they may be able to visit and return back safely. On July 18th, while on their way to Kabkabiya, the militia, Rapid Support Force or RSF, bombarded their car with machine guns.

They are still hospitalized in Sudan and their family is anxiously waiting for them to return back to the States safely.

July 21:

Two men were killed and one woman was injured In Kass City, a city in the South Darfur area. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a violent militia gang, were wearing Sudanese military uniforms and riding in a passenger vehicle when they attacked a home near the Alsalam area in the northern district around 11:00pm. They entered the family’s home and demanded money from them. When the family refused and said they did not have any money, the militia shot the two male members (Ishag Suleiman, 36, and Idris Elfaky, 25) and injured the female (Mariam). Mariam was in ciritical condition and has been transferred to Nyala Teaching Hospital, but her family cannot afford to pay for her medical care.

Note: This attack was also reported on Radio Dabanga on the 22nd.