Open Letter to the Security Council on the Situation in Libya
Royce-McGovern Introduce Legislation on Sudan’s Involvement with the Lord’s Resistance Army
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Royce-McGovern Introduce Legislation on Sudan’s Involvement with the Lord’s Resistance Army
Certification Must Come to Congress before Sudan can be Removed from Terrorism List
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), who have collaborated on past legislation on Africa, today introduced the “Sudan Cessation of Support for the Lord’s Resistance Army Certification Act of 2011.”
This legislation requires the Obama Administration to certify to Congress that the Sudanese government is “no longer engaged in training, harboring, supplying, financing, or supporting in any way the Lord’s Resistance Army, its leader Joseph Kony, or his top commanders” before Sudan could be removed from the state sponsor of terrorism list.
“Last year, bipartisan legislation was signed into law requiring the Administration to devise a strategy to end the LRA’s atrocities. The strategy promises to ensure the LRA ‘receives no support or safe haven.’ I view this legislation as part of that effort,” said Royce, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade.
Historically, Sudan has backed the LRA with arms and supplies, making Khartoum the only documented state-supporter of the group, which is on the State Department’s “Terrorist Exclusion List.” Joseph Kony, its leader, has been named a “specially designated global terrorist.”
“I’m very pleased to continue this important, bipartisan effort with Ed Royce,” Rep. McGovern said. “The LRA and the Sudanese government need to know that the U.S. Congress – and the world – are watching.”
For over two decades, the LRA has terrorized northern Uganda and central Africa. Its followers have mutilated, abducted and forced individuals into sexual servitude, forcing as many as 65,000 children to fight as part of the rebel force. Last Congress, McGovern and Royce led efforts in the House to pass the Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act, which was signed into law on May 24, 2010.
The “Sudan Cessation of Support for the Lord’s Resistance Army Certification Act of 2011” is supported by Resolve, Enough and Invisible Children, advocacy groups dedicated to ending the LRA’s atrocities.
International Community Condemns Deadly Protests in Syria
By Eileen Gould
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
DERA’A, Syria – Syrian military troops opened fire on protestors who were demonstrating peacefully, killing a number of them. This prompted tens of thousands of protestors in cities and towns around Syria to gather to challenge the government.
Since the protests began a week ago in the southern portion of Syria, 38 people have been killed by government forces and many more were killed on Friday. Because the government refused to let reporters into the country, exact details about the incident are difficult to obtain.
Protestors apparently set fire to a statue of President Bashar al-Assad’s father, former President Hafez al-Assad. Security forces then fired into the crowd and threw tear gas canisters.
A spokeswoman for the President stated that the government had not ordered the troops to fire on the protesters.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke out against the Syrian authorities’ actions and called upon them to refrain from the use of violence. In a statement issued on March 23, he also stated that those responsible must be held accountable.
The U.S. has also expressed concern over the situation in Syria. “We urge on the government of Syria what we have urged on the governments in other regions: that they pursue a peaceful course here, that they participate in a political dialogue with their people, because that is the better path,” stated White House spokesman Jay Carney.
Human rights organizations have also condemned the manner in which authorities responded to the protestors.
Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, stated, “The Syrian authorities must cease the use of excessive force to crush protests and immediately release all of those detained for the peaceful expression of their beliefs.”
Authorities also closed roads to the town of Dera’a and detained as many as 93 people, including a man who had been appointed as a community leader to negotiate with the authorities. Recent reports indicate that almost all of these people, ranging in age from 14 to 45 and including students and journalists, have been released.
On Thursday, the government of Syria stated that it would consider reforms, including a possible end to the emergency law, which were passed in 1963. This law permits the government to override the constitution and penal code statutes and also allows authorities to make preventive arrests.
According to a representative of Amnesty International, it is questionable as to whether the government will keep their promises to reform the law. “The government has made similar statements before, yet the repressive state of emergency has endured with little tolerance for dissenting views for nearly half a century.”
Amnesty further called upon the Syrian government to stop the use of excessive force and to allow peaceful protestors to assemble freely.
For more information please see:
AFP – US condemns new Syria violence – 25 March 2011
Amnesty International – Syria Death Toll Climbs As Protests Spread – 25 March 2011
UN News Centre – Syria: UN human rights office voices concerns about situation – 25 March 2011
Amnesty International – Spiralling Syria Death Toll Reports ‘Disturbing’ – 24 March 2011
UN Secretary-General – Secretary-General Condemns Violence in Southern Syria, Urges Investigation – 23 March 2011
Students Sew Lips Shut During Hunger Strike
By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America
CARACAS, Venezuela—A hunger strike in Venezuela has escalated as four university students sewed their lips together while demonstrating to demand more funding for public universities.
The initial hunger strike began on February 23; it was started by five students and quickly grew to about 55 protesters. The hunger strikers argue that Venezuelan universities are in danger of shutting down and that the government should give satisfactory funding to keep them in operation.
Administrators from various universities in the country have announced that by early next month, over two dozen public universities may be financially unable to continue operating cafeterias or buying supplies.
Government officials have responded by denying the claims. They have stated that the protesting students are being influenced by President Hugo Chavez’s political opponents.
During a program televised in Bolivar state, Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said: “If they want to walk naked through the street, let them do it. If they want to sew whatever they want to sew, let them sew it, but . . . we’re going to keep working for our homeland.” Maduro went on to attribute the hunger strike to the Venezuelan right wing, which “continues with its madness.”
One protester, 18-year-old Gabriela Torrijos, took the hunger strike to an alarming level on Friday as she and other students demonstrated near the United Nations Development Program office in Caracas. Torrijos, a political science student at the Central University of Venezuela, sewed the left corner of her mouth shut. Following her example, three other students partially stitched their mouths shut as well.
Enduring the pain of the improvised stitching, Torrijos told the Associated Press, “After seeing my friends take this action, I did it in solidarity with them.”
28-year-old Villca Fernandez had a more sever reaction to his stitching: his face ballooned out and remained puffy for three days. He said he had not eaten solid food for 30 days and would not resume regular eating habits until the government increased the universities’ budgets. “I’m willing to die for my university,” he declared. “I’m willing to die for my country.”
On Tuesday, President Chavez stated that he would increase students’ stipends and review universities’ budgets. The striking students, however, have not yet taken those promises seriously.
For more information, please see:
Press Association-Students stitch lips in protest-26 March 2011
AP-4 Venezuelan students partially sew lips together demanding university funding-25 March 2011
Seattle Times-Venezuelan students stitch lips in protest-25 March 2011