First Day of School in a Strange Land

Decatur, Georgia ( Lat: 33.7743 / Long: -84.256 )
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Many children show up on the first day of kindergarten scared of a new place, a tall new teacher and strangers sitting in the desks next to them.  But imagine how overwhelming it might be if that child had just come from a war zone in Sudan, and didn’t even speak the language class was being taught in.

In a touching post on the New York Times’ Lesson Plans blog, Christina Shunnarah, a kindergarten teacher at the International Community School in Decatur, Georgia, shares the story of Luca, a young Sudanese refugee who showed up in her class last year and promptly ran out the door.

Read the full story here:  Student in a Strange Land

Changing the world, student to student

Washington, DC ( Lat: 38.898 / Long: -77.047 )
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Interview:  Listen to the amazing story of how a group of American students connected with a Sudanese student to build a better future. 

ALERT: 30,000 Civilians Threatened by Attacks on Muhajeriah

Muhajeriah, Sudan ( Lat: 11.9907 / Long: 25.6074 )
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The civilian population of Muhajeriah, a village in South Darfur, is trapped between government forces and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), a Darfur rebel group.  According to the AFP, fighting started up in the area last month, leaving 17 dead and 27 wounded, mainly civilians.  Neither group currently appears to be heeding international appeals to prioritize the protection of civilians.  From UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay:

The fighting is reported to have involved ground offensives and indiscriminate aerial bombardment by Government forces that failed to distinguish between civilian communities and military targets,” Ms. Pillay said. “JEM forces are also reported to have deliberately placed themselves in areas heavily populated by civilians, thereby jeopardizing their safety.

Activist groups are calling for UN peacekeepers to fulfill their mandate to protect civilians.

More information:

*Ban Calls on Sudan, Rebels to Halt Fighting Near Darfur Town
*U.S. concerned about bombing of Darfur town
*Khartoum asks UN to withdraw from flashpoint town

Darfur Destroyed: Sudan’s Perpetrators Break Silence

Khartoum, Sudan ( Lat: 15.542 / Long: 32.446 )
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Darfur Destroyed: Sudan’s perpetrators break silence from Aegis Trust on Vimeo.

In a shocking new video released by Aegis Trust, defectors from the Sudanese regime explain their role in the Sudanese Government’s planning and execution of mass atrocities in Darfur, implicating members of the regime at the highest level.

The International Herald Tribune covers it here.  Read more about the genocide prevention activities of Aegis Trust by visiting their website, and learn about the current situation in Darfur on the Museum’s main genocide prevention site.

GENOCIDE WARNING: SUDAN

Khartoum, Sudan ( Lat: 14.9023 / Long: 31.8603 )
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Sudan is Africa’s largest country and has been at war with only a brief reprieve (1971-1982) since its independence from Great Britain in 1956. With power centralized in the north around its capital Khartoum and natural resources concentrated in the South, Sudan is further divided by religion, ethnicity, tribal differences, and economic disparities. Lasting over two decades, the second civil war between the North and South resulted in the deaths of an estimated 2 million people and displaced 4 million others. An on-going conflict in the western region of Darfur was marked by a period of intensive, systematic targeting of the civilian populations from the Fur, Zaghawa, and Masaalit ethnic groups. In 2004, the Museum issued a genocide emergency in response to this violence.

Today, Sudan’s entire civilian population faces enormous threats from continuing and potentially new violence. The country’s future is at stake with upcoming national elections (April 2010) and a referendum for southern independence (2011), as stipulated in the increasingly fragile Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended the civil war in 2005. These major political events will take place amid ongoing conflict in Darfur, sporadic incidents of violence in the South, uncertainty about the status of key transitional regions between the north and south, and rumblings of discontent in the east. Half of Darfur’s six million people are dependent on a precarious international aid effort, as displacement and insecurity continue.

The Museum’s warning for Sudan stems from the Sudanese government’s established capacity and willingness to commit genocide and related crimes against humanity. This is evidenced by actions the government has taken in the western region of Darfur, the Nuba Mountains, and the South that include:

· Use of mass starvation and mass forcible displacement as a weapon of destruction;

· Pattern of obstructing humanitarian aid;

· Harassment of internally displaced persons;

· Bombing of hospitals, clinics, schools, and other civilian sites;

· Use of rape as a weapon against targeted groups;

· Employing a divide-to-destroy strategy of pitting ethnic groups against each other, with enormous loss of civilian life;

· Training and supporting ethnic militias who commit atrocities;

· Destroying indigenous cultures;

· Enslavement of women and children by government-supported militias;

· Impeding and failing to fully implement peace agreements.

While rebel groups in the south and Darfur have also committed abuses, the Sudanese government, led by Omar Al-Bashir, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity, bears primary responsibility for atrocities against and continued danger to civilians.