UN Imposes Sanctions on Sudan

By Impunity Watch Africa

President George Bush announced yesterday the imposition of new economic sanctions against Sudan targeting government-run companies involved in the oil industry and three individuals, including a rebel leader suspected of being involved in the Darfur conflict.   In announcing the new measures, Bush stated that the US would no longer turn its eyes from the crisis called its “rightful name” by his administration: genocide.  The United Nations has estimated that 200,000 people have been killed and 2 million made homeless since the conflict broke out four years ago.  Sudan has disputed these estimates, and claim that only 9,000 people have died.

Sudan’s government immediately criticized the action, calling it “unfair and untimely” and based solely on politics.  One official stated that Sudan was counting on its “friends” such as China, which takes sixty percent of its oil exports, to avert the economic hurt caused in the long run by the sanctions.   Sudanese officials further stated that US sanctions will have little effect due the fact that they have no direct trade ties with the US.

While many humanitarian organizations welcomed the new sanctions, they also cautioned that it might be too little, too late.  Save Darfur Coalition director David Rubenstein cautioned President Bush to “set a short and firm deadline for fundamental changes in Sudanese behavior, and prepare now to implement immediately further measures should Khartoum continue to stonewall.”  Amnesty International stated that without the support of the international community, unilateral sanctions against Sudan would do little.

Britain quickly stated that it is behind the US actions, fully supporting the sanctions and the US efforts to address the situation in the Security Council of the UN.  A UN resolution would apply new international sanctions against the government, would seek to impose an expanded embargo on arms sales to Sudan, prohibit Sudan’s government from conducting offensive military flights over Darfur, and strengthen the US ability to monitory and report any violations.  A resolution from the Security Council may take some time however, due to the longstanding opposition from China. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated yesterday that he needed more time to promote negotiations and to persuade the Sudanese government to accept more peacekeepers.

For more information, please see:

allAfrica – Sudan: US Sanctions welcome but too late – 30 May 2007

BBC – US Sanctions ‘won’t help Darfur’ – 30 May 2007

Reuters – Amensty doubts Sudan sanctions, urges Arab pressure – 30 May 2007

MSNBC – Bush imposes new sanctions on Sudan – May 2007

Yahoo – Sudan: US sanctions to have little fiscal impact – May 2007

Yahoo – Sudan shrugs off US ‘genocide’ sanctions as political – May 2007

Yahoo – Britain backs US on Darfur sanctions – May 2007

Paramilitary groups a dangerous, influential force in Colombia

In early May, Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, wrote a letter to Colombian President álvaro Uribe, explaining that “Colombian paramilitaries pose a grave threat to Colombia’s democracy, the rule of law, and human rights.”

This week, there is proof that some of Colombia’s most influential leaders in politics, business, and the military assisted with the creation of an anti-guerrilla movement “that operated with impunity, killed civilians and shipped cocaine to U.S. cities,” according to the Washington Post.

Although human rights groups have long alleged that Colombian leaders have supported paramilitaries, it was recently confirmed by several top paramilitary commanders in recent days, one even remarking to the Washington Post that “paramilitarism was state policy.” These commanders named army generals, entrepreneurs, foreign companies and politicians who worked hand in hand with fighters and bankrolled their operations.  Salvatore Mancuso, now incarcerated, testified before special tribunal that Chiquita, Del Monte and Dole paid paramilitary forces over the last several years.  Chiquita has agreed to pay a $25 million fine.

Ivan Duque, a strategist for the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), a paramilitary organization, stated that the AUC had alliances with influential people in every region they were located. He estimates that the AUC alone had 17,000 armed fighters and over 10,000 other associates.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), another paramilitary group, kidnapped former presidential candidate Ingrid Betacourt in 2002.  An escaped prisoner told the Associated Press she is chained by the neck in a cell earlier this month. FARC is also responsible for kidnapping a Swedish citizen, Erin Larson, who was working on a hydroelectric damn in Cordoba province.  This also occurred this month.

Colombia’s paramilitary movement began in the mid 1900’s to counter a growing Marxist guerilla force. It became an irregular army that funded its operations with cocaine trafficking. These groups have since been responsible for massacres and assassinations. The attorney general’s office estimates that 10,000 people were killed by paramilitary fighters from the mid-1990s until present. The AUC and FARC are on the U.S. State Department list of terrorist organizations.

More on the activities of these organizations as stories develop. For more information, please see:

“

Colombia: Companies Paid Paramilitaries” United Press International: http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/05/18/colombia_companies_paid_paramilitaries/9942/. 18 May 2007

“Colombia: Paramilitaries’ Power Threatens Democracy” Human Rights Watch: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/05/02/colomb15834.htm. 2 May 2007

“Paramilitary Ties to Elite in Colombia are Detailed” Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/21/AR2007052101672.html. 22 May 2007

“Betancourt held ‘chained by neck’” CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/05/19/Colombia.betancourt.ap/index.html.
19 May 2007

“Colombia Rebels Kidnap Swedish Citizen” CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/05/18/colombia.kidnapping.reut/index.html 18 May 2007

Birth Control Subsidized in Brazil

Just weeks after Pope Benedict spoke against government sponsored birth control measures; Brazil announced on Monday that they will subsidize birth control to reduce cost for the poor.  The announcement laid out a plan to discount birth control up to 90% at 3,500 government authorized pharmacies across the country as a means to decrease unwanted pregnancies.

Brazil has programs in place to hand out free condoms and birth control at pharmacies.  However, the poor of the country do not have access to these pharmacies.  By subsidizing the pills, the government is offering them at significantly reduced prices, about 20 cents in US dollars.  Current retail price for the birth control ranges from $2.56 to $25.60.  The number of stores offering the pills is intended to reach 10,000 by the end of the year.  The government hopes to distribute 50 million supplies of pill each year, an increase from the current 20 million distributed.

The program could decrease the amount of illegal abortions performed in Brazil as a result of unwanted pregnancies.  About 4,000 women die each year from the illegal procedures making illegal abortions the fourth leading cause of maternal death in the country.  Other methods to reduce unwanted pregnancies include increasing the amount of free vasectomies performed.

Some women’s advocates worry that the government will not follow through with this new program as there is a lack of political will.  However, Brazilian president Lula da Silva favors a national debate on the issue of abortion laws and on birth control.  Congress is also expected to take up the issue in the family planning policy finding ways for women to be given the ability to decide.

The debate on birth control is also present in Argentina where recently a judge in Ushuaia prevented poor women and adolescents to have access to emergency contraceptive pills.  Opponents of the judge’s actions argue that preventing free access to the pills, while pharmacies sell the products, discriminates against poor women and adolescents.  This decision reinforced the economic constraints women face in making choices regarding their own health.

For more information, see:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/05/28/brazil.birth.control.ap/index.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/28/AR2007052800637.html

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/05/24/argent15999.htm

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N28276199.htm

Myanmar lengthens Nobel winner’s sentence

Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, will spend another year under house arrest in her Myanmar home, according to the Associated Press. After spending 11 of the past 17 years in confinement, the Myanmar government was due to release her this week.

The government has held Suu Kyi because they claim that she threatens public order. As head of the Myanmar’s National League for Democracy party, her party won the general election in a landslide in 1990. After the victory, the military government refused to hand over power.

Although the United States, the United Nations, and the European Union have strongly condemned her continued sentenced, the Myanmar’s military junta continues to hold her and approximately 1,200 other political prisoners.

This week, National League for Democracy party supporters held a 300 to 500-person rally for her release. In response, the military government stepped up security around Suu Kyi’s home.

For more information, please see:

Myanmar military rounds up Suu Kyi supporters

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/276485/1/.html

Myanmar extends Suu Kyi’s house arrest

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070525/ap_on_re_as/myanmar_suu_kyi_5

Rwandan Hutu Rebels Suspected of Killing 29 in DRC

By Meryl White
Impunity Watch Reporter

In Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, between Saturday night to Sunday morning, more than 29 people were killed by suspected Rwandan Hutu Rebels. Seventeen bodies were found in three villages in South Kivu province, while another twelve bodies were found in the forest. The murderers slashed their victims with machetes during a night attack.

Ignace Murwanashyaka, the leader of the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR) has denounced responsibility for the attacks. Furthermore, Murwanashyaka claims that it will be impossible for law enforcement to identify the perpetrators because the attack took place at night.

The United Nations Mission in DR Congo is now investigating the attack in the Kanyola district. However, locals in the South Kivu province have been disappointed by both the UN and the army. One resident said, “They roll past in their armoured vehicles here but are incapable of puttng an end to the exactions and disarming the groups that are spreading terror throughout the region.”

Saturday’s attack is the most gruesome in South-Kivu since May 23, 2005, when a militia killed 19 civilians in Nindja. On July 9, 2005, almost 40 civilians were burned to death by suspected Rwandan Hutu rebels who wanted to punish civilians for backing a UN offensive against them.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Rwanda Rebels’ in DR Congo Raid – 28 May 2007

Yahoo – UN Probes DRC Massacre of up to 30 Villagers – May 2007