70 Darfurians sentenced to Death in Khartoum!

http://www.javno.com/en-world/darfur-rebels-sentenced-to-death-for-attack_252892
Published: April 22, 2009 15:49h

A Sudanese court on Wednesday sentenced 11 members of the Darfur rebel Justice and Equality Movement to death for a 2008 attack on the Sudanese capital.
Five other defendants were acquitted and will be freed, the court said.

More than 70 rebels have now been sentenced to death for the bold attack in which more than 200 people were killed, including JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim's half brother Abdel Aziz el-Nur Ashr. None of those sentenced has yet been executed.

The rebels drove hundreds of miles across desert and scrubland to reach the capital and were only a few kilometres from the presidential palace when government troops halted them.
"We sentence them to the death penalty by hanging," judge Issam Ismail said on Wednesday after the individual verdicts were read out, to shouts of protest from the condemned men.
The men were found guilty of 12 charges, including treason, violence against the state and illegal possession of weapons.
Their lawyer launched an appeal against the verdict and questioned the legality of the specially created terrorism courts.

http://www.sudaneseonline.com/ar2161/publish/_1/Sudan_News_A226.shtml

السودان: الحكم بإعدام 11 من «العدل والمساواة» بتهمة الهجوم على مدينة أم درمان

الخرطوم: إسماعيل آدم حكمت محكمة مختصة بقضايا الإرهاب في الخرطوم، أمس، بالإعدام شنقاً حتى الموت على 11 من منسوبي حركة العدل والمساواة المسلحة في دارفور، بعد أن أدانتهم بالتورط في الهجوم الذي شنته قوات الحركة على مدينة «أم درمان» في مايو (أيار) العام الماضي، أدى إلى مقتل أكثر من 200 شخص، وإصابة المئات، إلى جانب خسائر مادية في مختلف أحياء وأسواق «أم درمان». كما أحالت المحكمة أحد المتهمين إلى محكمة الأحداث لصغر عمره (17 عاماً)، وبرأت 4 متهمين، وأرجات محاكمة أحد المتهمين إلى حين

التعافي من مرض ألّم به قبل جلسة النطق بالحكم

also, more at Sudan Tribune: http://sudantribune.com/spip.php?article30964

ABC Channel 40 interview

Local Man Reacts to Charges Against Sudanese President
March 4, 2009 06:08 PM EST
By Marci Izard

AMHERST, Mass. (Abc40)-- On Wednesday, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The news has comes as a relief to Amherst resident Mohamed Elgadi.

Elgadi arrested in Khartoum, Sudan in 1992 for his human rights work. Government officials held -and tortured him- for four months.
"It's a long time but it's still painful. They did everything from electric shocks...beating ... everything, including rape," he says.
Elgadi was finally released under the condition that he work as a Government informant. He consented - then fled.

He and his family have lived in the United States for over fifteen years but they still are active in the fight for justice in Sudan. He says the atrocities in Darfur have put an international spotlight on the violence, which he says, is going on across the country.

Three powerful women

from the website of our sister org Darfur Alert Coalition

These three women hold in their hands the future of Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir, and of Darfur. They are the pretrial judges of the International Criminal Court -- Akua Kuenyehia of Ghana (left), Sylvia Steiner of Brazil (center) and Anita Usacka of Latvia -- who are ruling whether to issue an arrest warrant for Bashir for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Their historic ruling will be announced to the world Wednesday, March 4, and the reaction will be immediate and worldwide

ICC Judges issued the Arrest Warrant

from the New york Times http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/world/africa/12hague.html?_r=2

2/11/2009

THE HAGUE — Judges at the International Criminal Court have decided to issue an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan, brushing aside diplomatic requests to allow more time for peace negotiations in the conflict-riddled Darfur region of his country, according to court lawyers and diplomats.

It is the first time the court has sought the detention of a sitting head of state since opening its doors in 2002, and could further complicate the tense, international debate over how to solve the crisis in Darfur.
Ever since international prosecutors began seeking an arrest warrant last year, opponents have pressed the United Nations Security Council to use its power to suspend the proceedings. But a majority of council members have argued that the case should go forward, saying Mr. Bashir has not done enough to stop the bloodshed in Darfur to deserve a reprieve.
Many African and Arab nations counter that issuing a warrant for Mr. Bashir’s arrest could backfire, diminishing Sudan’s willingness to compromise for the sake of peace. Others, including some United Nations officials, worry that a warrant could inspire reprisal attacks against civilians, aid groups or the thousands of international peacekeepers deployed there.

Obama's visit to Darfur reguees (video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTTNz9mt8Ow
Finally we put our hand on this important and powerful video of the visit of then Senator Obama to one of the Darfur refugees camps in 2006. Thanks to Salah Bandar who re-posted it on Sudaneseonline yesterday.

"I came here to learn from you and listen to what needed to happen... I will report back on what I heard here from you... I'm gonna be working hard when I go back to the United State... you are not going to be forgotten"

Listen to this 9-min video

W. Mass. Darfur Coalition-WMDC: Interview with co-founder of WMDC

W. Mass. Darfur Coalition-WMDC: Interview with co-founder of WMDC

Interview with co-founder of WMDC

Amherst Bulletin interviewed the co-founder of W. Mass Darfur Coalition, and the co-chair of Amherst Human Rights Commission
photo from UMASS archives (CIE website)
Magda Ahmed of Amherst is co-chair of the town's Human Rights Commission, which holds a free potluck brunch Dec. 13. "Human rights should be part of the elementary school curriculum. Young students need to learn to respect and tolerate differences of other people, that's the bottom line," Ahmed said in an interview.

A backstop for human rights
By Phyllis Lehrer Staff Writer, Amherst Bulletin
Published on December 12, 2008

http://www.amherstbulletin.com/story/id/121000/

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. That's the first of 30 articles in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Humans Rights, adopted Dec. 10 1948. In Amherst, a group works to help residents safeguard those rights, in areas such as education, property, justice, employment and family.

"Residents new to the area may not be aware they have particular rights that are protected. Rights can be trampled on. Our history demands and compels us to protect those rights," said Reynolds Winslow, co-chair, with Magda Ahmed, of Amherst's Human Rights Commission.
Eunice Torres, the town's human rights/human resource director, said the mission is to ensure that no power goes unchecked and that all citizens are afforded equal protection under the law.
Each year, the commission celebrates the anniversary of the UN declaration's adoption. This year, the community is invited to a free potluck brunch Dec. 13 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Town Hall. The event includes speakers and entertainment.

The Human Rights Commission was born out of the Civil Rights Review Commission established in 1970 by Town Meeting. In 1997, Town meeting authorized a full-time human rights director and Shen Titus was hired.
Torres explained the roles in an email message. "The office of the Human Rights Director, in conjunction with the Human Rights Commission and town government, seeks to promote economic and social justice for all citizens through means of mediation, education and enforcement of local state, federal and International human rights laws," she wrote. "Ultimately, its aim is to move toward compliance with the standards set by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document increasingly referred to as customary international law, which we must all abide."
The director, in collaboration with the commission, pursues investigations into alleged civil and human rights violations, with both public and private sectors of Amherst.

Recent work
Winslow and Ahmed described some of the commission's recent activities, such as investigating complaints at the Amherst Survival Center, which led to positive changes at the center. The commission worked with Asian students at the University of Massachusetts who were being assessed a fee unfairly. The issue was brought to the Select Board and the university rescinded the fee.
The commission held an information session on the PATRIOT Act, celebrated the legality of same-sex marriage and participated in a Darfur event with the Northampton Human Rights Commission. The panel also offers the Junior Heroes Award for students and is part of the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast.
The two said the commission's goal is to act, not wait for people to come to them with problems, and to increase educational outreach. They agreed that it is one of the most diverse committees in the community. Members include Frank Gatti, secretary; and Lois Raj, Kathleen Anderson, Samia Eshallagli and Cecilia Darby. There are two vacancies.
Both leaders have experience with rights issues. Winslow, who joined eight years ago, said work on the commission was a natural fit with his civil rights work, including being a charter member of the Amherst NAACP chapter and the Sojourner Truth Committee in Florence. He is a founding member of the Amherst Education Foundation. He is retired from UMass, where he was director of the minority engineering program and a development officer.
Ahmed, who is a regional coordinator for the state Department of Health's Bureau of Clinical Disease Control, has served on the commission for five years. She is active with Amnesty International because it took on her husband's case when he was the victim of torture.
Ahmed, who came to Amherst in 1994, holds an undergraduate degree in agricultural economics from Cairo University and a master's in development. She spent 12 years with the Ministry of Agriculture in her native Sudan. She earned a doctorate from the UMass in 2004.
"Human rights should be part of the elementary school curriculum. Young students need to learn to respect and tolerate differences of other people, that's the bottom line," she said, "to be able to tolerate people not like you, who don't have the same beliefs or ideas to be more humane. If you start when young when you are an adult, it's part of who you are."
"We have to respect the rights of each other, otherwise we will not be who we are as American citizens," Winslow said. "With respect we can know each other. We can help each other if we know each other, that's why I keep active."