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------Original message------ From: Eric Reeves <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Date: Wednesday, February 1, 2012 12:24:12 PM GMT-0500 Subject: "UN Chief for Darfur Attends Celebrtation Hosted by Top Janjaweed Leader" "U.N.Chief for Darfur Attends Celebration Hosted by Top JanjaweedLeader" (Enough Project, February 1, 2012) http://www.enoughproject.org/blogs/un-chief-darfur-attends-celebration-hosted-top-janjaweed-leader by Eric Reeves In March 2004 the U.N.'s IRIN newsservice reported on the events of the previous month near Tawila in NorthDarfur. It was a brutal episode, but there would be many hundreds more such: "In an attack on 27February 2004 in the Tawilah area of northern Darfur, 30 villages were burnedto the ground, over 200 people killed and over 200 girls and women raped—someby up to 14 assailants and in front of their fathers who were later killed. Afurther 150 women and 200 children were abducted." Eight years later, events of a ratherdifferent sort were transpiring. The man who hadbeen presiding over the slaughter of civilians in the Tawila area,Janjaweed leader Musa Hilal, was now presiding over the wedding of his daughterto the Chadian President Idriss Déby (January 20, 2012). There were a number ofironies in this wedding, including the fact that Déby is a member of thenon-Arab Zaghawa tribe, the same ethnic group that has been slaughtered inhorrific fashion in places such as Tawila and elsewhere in Darfur. But more than ironic, indeed deeply perverse,was the presence at this wedding party of the U.N./African Union SpecialRepresentative to the peacekeeping force in Darfur known as UNAMID: Nigeria'sIbrahim Gambari. Newswire photographs haveappeared that show Gambari in attendance, indeed chatting it up with theleader of the Khartoum regime, President Omar al-Bashir.Al-Bashir's presence was both predictable and in its grim way appropriate:It was his regime that had released Hilal from prison (he was serving time forserious felony convictions) and put him to work[LH1]creating militias from his UmJalal and other Arab tribal groups in North Darfur. The Khartoum regimeprovided him with weapons, logistics, intelligence, and most important,protection. His instructions were clear: destroy the non-Arab people of Darfur.The Janjaweed, now often recycled into other paramilitary or "police"forces, have continued their brutal predations, if now on a lesser scale; theyalso continue to enjoy complete impunity, total protection from internationaljustice efforts. So we know why Bashir was at thewedding. But why was Gambari there, photographed in animated conversation withBashir? Why would he attend the wedding festivities for the daughter of a manlinked in all credible human rights reporting on North Darfur with the veryworst atrocity crimes—in fact, responsiblefor directing these crimes? Perhaps it's appropriate to ask firsthow this question will be answered by Darfuris: already deeply mistrustful ofUNAMID and Gambari in particular, they will see him now as colluding fully withthe Khartoum regime. These photographs have rapidly spread on the Internet andwe can be sure that a great many Darfuris, both in the diaspora and within theregion itself, have seen them. They already see Gambari as responsible for theintolerable levels of insecurity that define displaced persons camps and mostrural areas. And they already see him as the man who self-servingly insiststhat violence is down dramatically, even as more than a millionDarfuris have been newly displaced since UNAMID took up its mandate onJanuary 1, 2008. Some 400,000 have been displaced on Gambari's watch alone (hetook office on January 1, 2010), including approximately 100,000 this pastyear. Gambari clearly sees it as his maintask to downplay the failure of UNAMID to protect Darfuris, to help obscurethe deepening humanitarian crisis deriving from security restrictions imposedby Khartoum on international relief organizations, including those of theUnited Nations. And there are other silences. Gambari never mentions, forexample, the continuing avalanche of rape throughout Darfur, even as Radio Dabanga provides almost dailyaccounts of one soul-destroying atta ck after another. Khartoum refusebeen an issue in Darfur, and Gambari is all toowilling to accommodate the regime's sensibilities. So what was the response of the U.N. toGambari's morally grotesque decision to attend the wedding of Musa Hilal'sdaughter? Dogged reporting by Inner City Pressfinally compelled this response: "The Department forPeacekeeping Operations (DPKO) advises the following: JSR Gambari attended thewedding [of Musa Hilal's daughter] at the invitation of President Deby of Chad,who is an important regional partner in the peace process. JSR Gambari had nocontrol over the guest list and it is contrary to basic diplomatic courtesy andAfrican traditions to ignore greeting other invited guests." But this disingenuous response ignoresthe fact Gambari certainly knew that Musa Hilal would be present at his owndaughter's wedding: does the U.N. really believe that "basic diplomaticcourtesy" or "African traditions" require that the chiefrepresentative of the protection force in Darfur be present at a socialoccasion hosted by the most notorious of Janjaweed leaders? A man who issubject to a U.N. travel ban and described by Human Rights Watch as "theposter child for Janjaweed atrocities in Darfur"? This is not an explanation; this is theU.N. protecting its own, even one of its mostincompetent. UNAMID is all too representative of theU.N.'s failure, of many years, to provide anything approaching adequateprotection for Sudanese civilians, despite extraordinary expenditures andbloated (if ill-conceived) budgets. The lack of leadership is a main reason, and Gambari's profoundlyill-considered decision to attend the wedding of Musa Hilal's daughter isemblematic of this larger failure. EricReeves is a professor at Smith College and has published extensively on Sudan,nationally and internationally, for more than a decade. _____________________________ Eric Reeves Smith College Northampton, MA 01063 [email protected] 413-585-3326 Skype: ReevesSudan www.sudanreeves.org -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. 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