am i not human? wanted ahmad haran & ali kushayb for crimes against humanity

Ahmad Harun is currently Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs of Sudan. From 2003 to 2005 he was Minister of State for the Interior. In this capacity he was in charge of the management of the “Darfur Security desk” and coordinated the different bodies of the government involved in the counter-insurgency, including the police, the armed forces, the National Security and Intelligence Service.

Ali Kushayb was an important leader of the Janjawid militia and a member of the Popular Defence Force. He was the aqid al-uqada (“colonel of colonels”) in the Wadi Salih locality of West Darfur. By mid-2003 he allegedly commanded thousands of Janjawid militia.

After 20 months of investigation, the International Criminal Court formally charged Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb for crimes against humanity and war crimes. In the February 2007 indictment, the Prosecution concluded that reasonable grounds to believe that Ahmad Muhammad HARUN and Ali Muhammad Ali ABD-AL-RAHMAN (better-known as Ali KUSHAYB) bear criminal responsibility in relation to 51 counts of alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes.

In reaching this decision, the Prosecution conducted interviews with Darfurian victims and witnesses. For their protection, victim and witness interviews were conducted outside of Darfur in 17 countries resulting in nearly 100 statements. The Prosecution stated: It is interesting to remark that many findings were consistent with findings by the UN Commission of Inquiry. We reviewed a report by the Minister of Defence of the Sudan and obtained information from high Sudanese officials.

The ICC evidence concludes that Harun and Kushayb acted together, and with others, with the common purpose of attacking the civilian populations of the village of Kodoom, and the towns of Bindisi, Mukjar, and Arawala in West Darfur between August 2003 and March 2004.

Our evidence shows that they committed crimes against humanity and war crimes including: Rape and other form of sexual violence; murder; persecution; torture; forcible transfer; destruction of property; pillaging; inhumane acts; outrage upon personal dignity; and severe deprivation of liberty.

Although the 2005 Rome Statute, UN Security Council Resolution 1593, requires Sudan to cooperate fully with the Court and provide any necessary assistance to the ICC and its Prosecutor the Sudanese Government has refused publicly to surrender either Ali Kushayb or Ahmad Harun to the Court.

THE CALL TO ACT:

Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb are wanted for trial at the ICC to establish their guilt or innocence concerning multiple counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Please write to the United Nations Security Council, urging it to:

• condemn Sudan’s refusal to arrest and surrender Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb to the ICC;
• call on Sudan to enforce all ICC arrest warrants immediately;
  if the men travel outside Sudan, call on those states to arrest and surrender them to the ICC;
• take other effective measures to ensure that the two men are arrested and surrendered to the ICC

References & Resources

Amnesty International

International Criminal Court

Roots of Humanity

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner('s Place) ain't got nothing more to say. ~~SjP

apology not accepted!

Nope! Not this time!

As Sojourner Lisa commented on the previous post:

"We can not be outraged and then DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING...If you are SERIOUS about expressing your rage as a collective, then please, by all means, let it rip! Rather than spewing highly emotional rants, let each of us pour out a serious warning that is constructive and will be taken seriously."

Lisa graciously provided the contact information below. Email, Fax, Call, or Mail your message to Mr. Lewis. I'm hoping that he does not offend my by not firing this woman yesterday!

Brian Lewis
Executive Vice President, Corporate Communications
FOX News
1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036
Phone: 212-301-3000
Fax: 212-301-8588
E-Mail: brian.lewis@foxnews.com

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner('s Place) ain't got nothing more to say. ~~SjP

they just keep pulling me back in!

I promised myself that I would not do another post on HRC or Fox! But, then, I stop by Electronic Village to hear his most recent drumbeats. What do I see but another "call" for the most despicable act one can imagine. And, once again, JUST WHEN I THOUGHT I WAS OUT I GET PULLED BACK IN!

You'll just have to listen this short clip of Liz Trotta, former New York Bureau Chief of the right-wing newspaper The Washington Times for yourself, cause you'll have to hear for yourself the words that came out of her mouth.

Now that you've seen it, DO SOMETHING! CALL FOX RIGHT NOW! LET THEM KNOW THAT WE ARE MAD AS HELL AND WE'RE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE! TROTTA SHOULD BE FIRED AND FOX SHOULD BE TAKEN OFF THE AIR!

Call Fox News at 1-888-369-4762

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner('s Place) ain't got nothing more to say. ~~SjP

the price of freedom

The day began like any other day. People navigating the snow-filled streets going about their daily business buying and selling goods, doing working, discussing politics, the future, and the presence of an unwanted military regime.

But as late afternoon approached, a Private standing watch over the governmental seat, found himself being surrounded by a group of about 100 insurgents. Realizing he needed assistance, the Private called for and received assistance from nine other Soldiers being led by their Captain. Yet, the reinforcements did not phase the group of insurgents as they continued harassing and insulting the soldiers. Then, using the only weapons immediately at hand, the insurgents fashioned balls from the snow and began throwing them at the symbols of an unwanted military evasion of a foreign government.

Suddenly someone - no one knows who - yelled FIRE! Shots rang out hitting 11 insurgents, of which 3 died at the site and 2 others later.

This insurgent activity, more commonly known as the Boston Massacre, took place on March 5, 1770. It is said that the Boston Massacre served as a galvanizing agent for the colonies to seek independence from Britain. The first to die is known the first hero of the American Revolution.

On this Memorial Day, when we remember the men and women who gave of themselves for our Democratic Republic, let us not forget that the first blood shed for American freedom was by the first hero of the Crispus Attucks, a BLACK MAN!

Is it not ironic that we would shed the first blood, build with our blood, challenge with our blood, and prove with our blood that We, Too are AMERICANS - but that our blood is never enough?

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner('s Place) ain't got nothing more to say. ~~SjP

sunday inspirations...take a step and shake it off

One day a farmer's donkey fell into an abandoned well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway; so it just wasn't worth it to him to try to retrieve the donkey.


He invited all his neighbours to come over and help him. They each grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. Realising what was happening, the donkey at first cried and wailed horribly. Then, a few shovelfuls later, he quieted down completely.

The farmer peered down into the well, and was astounded by what he saw. With every shovelful of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing some thing amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up on the new layer of dirt. As the farmer's neighbours continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up.

Pretty soon, the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off, to the shock and astonishment of all the neighbours. Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to not let it bury you, but to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up!

And finally, the donkey gave the farmer who tried to bury him a good kicking. Which brings me to another moral for this story - When you try to cover your ass, it always comes back and gets you.

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner('s Place) ain't got nothing more to say. ~~SjP

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