Two emails

As I have been in bed with a terrible flu I have not had the possibility to read my email, this last week.

But when today I opened it, there were two emails that have made my day a happy one.

The first was from The European Human Rights Center:

I came across your site while searching the net for some quality websites. I think you did a great job with your site.
My name is Daniel. I work for The European Human Rights Centre (EHRC).
I would like to add your site to our usefull links page ( http://www.ehrcweb.org/links.php )
and I was wondering if you can post a link with our site in your  website.
For your convenience  I send you bellow the code for our website:
<a href=”http://www.ehrcweb.org/”>EHRC</a>
We are Nonprofit organization .

Of course, Daniel, you can. And I will right away add your link to my blog.

The second was from Blogger News Network:

I am the editor at Blogger News Network (www.bloggernews.net). BNN is a group blog on a massive scale, with 100+ contributors. It is our aim to be the Daily Kos of the blogosphere’s political center – minus 80% of the adolescence and 90% of the crazy, and with some common sense thrown in. BNN presents news, analysis and editorial writing from contributors all over the world, and attempts to give space to multiple responsible points of view. Vitriolic sites have a place and they certainly spice up the debate, but they also coarsen the discourse. BNN aims to counter that trend by being a place for respectful discussion and commentary on the events of the day.
The purpose of this e-mail is to invite you to use BNN as a resource in your own blogging. Our high post volume and breadth of coverage means that if you are looking for a blogger’s take on an issue, the odds are pretty good you’ll find what you want and more. (You can access our search box on the BNN main page, or you can just type in http://www.bloggernews.net/index.php?s=Your Search Text) You can find a post to cite with approval, and probably one to heap scorn on, too. We invite both! (We also invite you to consider writing for the site – see “Writing for BNN” at the very top of all BNN pages.

Well, this is so good I cannot even believe it. Altough it’s an honor, I cannot blog in more places or I would have to give up sleeping, something I am not going to do. But I encourage you to go there, because th web page is very good.

It’s raining but these are the kind of emails that make me smile very wide .

Para mis amigos de la comunidad Anti-ZP: esta semana no he podido bloguear porque he tenido un gripazo impresionante. Como no he hecho mucho, esta semana que viene tengo que recuperarlo. Pero espero bloguear un poco el fin de semana que viene.

Eso sí, esta semana me han llegado dos emilios que me han hecho feliz, a pesar de la mala semana que he llevado.

El primero me lo han mandado de European Human Rights Center. En el me preguntaban si podían linkar mi blog en su página web, “porque estaba haciendo un gran trabajo en el blog”. Por supuesto les he dicho que sí.

El segundo es del editor del Blogger News Network, que “aspira a ser el Daily Kos del centro de la blogosfera pero sin el 80% de su adolescencia y el 90% de su locura y con algo de sentido común”. Incluso me invitan a escribir allí. Por supuesto, es un honor, pero no tengo tiempo suficiente, así que les he escrito dándoles las gracias por el ofrecimiento. Eso sí, la página es realmente buena, así que os animo a todos los que podais leer inglés a pasaros por allí.

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Sudan, the UN ambassador, the rebels: why it is necessary a general denounce of the silence of the MSM on the Darfur crisis?

So Darfur is even worse that it was some days ago. NYT looks very unhappy because the Southern rebels are trying to defend themselves from the Government forces. The article runs:

Instead Mr. Kabir, a field commander of the Darfur rebels fighting the Arab-dominated Sudanese government, found among the Sudanese soldiers his men had felled only the dark-skinned faces of southern Sudanese and Darfurians. He looked away in disgust.

“You see, they send black men to kill black men,” he said. “We are waiting for them to send Arabs for a real fight.”

This is the new battlefield in Darfur, a blood-soaked land in which at least 200,000 people have died since early 2003, many of hunger and disease, as a result of a campaign of violence the Bush administration and others have called genocide.

For the first time in more than two years, rebels fighting the government for more autonomy are making brazen, direct and successful attacks on soldiers, and are declaring that all previous cease-fires are no longer in effect.

The latest peace agreement, signed in May and heavily backed by the United States but approved by only one rebel faction and the Sudanese government, is in disarray.

The government vows to crush the rebellion, and as its military struggles to fend off attacks, it will likely turn again to Arab militias called janjaweed to wage its counterinsurgency campaign, analysts say.

Look that the Southern-Darfurians rebels are insurgents just as the terrorists in Iraq, accordingly to NYT. After all the people dead in those fields -some because of real blood-for-oil reasons, which has not been protested by any anti-war leftists-. The new Sudanese Government strategy is to send black Southern-Darfurians to battle agaisnt other Sothern-Darfurians. So the rebel commander is very clear:

“All of them are Sudanese, they are black people, they are our brothers,” Mr. Kabir said. “The government sent them here to kill us, but we pity them. The janjaweed don’t like to die and make war with us. They are cowards attacking women and children.”

The rebels had picked the camp clean of matériel, carrying off several senior Sudanese field commanders as prisoners, they said, as well as caches of heavy weapons, machine guns, fuel tankers and pickup trucks.

At a hide-out a few miles away, soldiers preened with their new weapons:Chinese-made rockets, grenade launchers and antitank guns.

“We took this from Sudan, and we will use it to kill them,” boasted Salah Arjah Boush, a rebel fighter, cradling a small gray rocket like a baby in his arms.

Chinese rockets! What a surprise! [Well, not for me at least] Sudanese Governement is also being helped by Chadian rebels, while Chadian Government is helping Sudanese rebels.

Because Sudan’s large army is mostly made up of non-Arab foot soldiers who are unwilling to carry out brutal counterinsurgency tactics on fellow non-Arabs, the government has used Arab militias as ground troops in Darfur, paying them in cash and loot from the villages they raid. But now the fighting appears to be entering a new phase, in which the rebel groups, somewhat unified militarily under the banner of the National Redemption Front, are making increasingly brazen direct attacks on government troops.

The government is likely to respond to this new boldness with familiar tactics, said Colin Thomas-Jensen, Africa advocacy and research manager at the International Crisis Group, an independent organization that seeks to resolve armed conflict.

“Clearly Khartoum is still intent on pursuing a military solution, and just because the latest offensive seems to have hit a roadblock doesn’t mean they are going to give up,” Mr. Thomas-Jensen said. “The strategy in the past has always been to arm and train and support local militia groups. In all of this the consequences from a humanitarian standpoint are devastating. In Darfur it is ultimately among the civilians that there will be the greatest cost.”

And what will be that military solution? The events which have happened on the latest hours show that it is going to be really hard. Khartoun has expelled Jan Pronk, the UN envoy who -for once- has had a very important role in denouncing the atrocities at Darfur (Sudan Watch):

The highly unusual expulsion of a UN official is likely to sour relations between Khartoum and the UN, which were already tense because of Sudan’s refusal to accept a security council resolution calling for 20,000 troops to move into Darfur to protect civilians. Ironically, Mr Pronk had made it clear he personally agreed with Sudan’s position that African Union troops could do the job just as well, provided they had proper funds and equipment. He was also a critic of the Bush administration for its confrontational line towards Khartoum.

Mr Pronk, 66, had a reputation for being outspoken as a minister in two Dutch governments but he took the unusual step of writing a regular weblog after his appointment as Mr Annan’s special representative in Khartoum two years ago. This seems to have been his main sin. The weblog in which he often described the war in Darfur in graphic terms without the usual caution of a diplomat became required reading for everyone watching Sudan’s war-torn western region closely. […]

The Sudanese government has admitted suffering two recent setbacks on the battlefield, at Um Sidir to the north of the main town El Fasher, and again near the Chadian border two weeks ago. But Mr Pronk’s weblog gave new details. “The losses seem to have been very high,” he wrote.

“Reports speak about hundreds of casualties in each of the two battles with many wounded and many taken as prisoner. The morale in the government army in north Darfur has gone down.

Foreign ministry spokesman Ali al-Sadiq explained the expulsion as resulting from “the latest statements issued by Mr Pronk on his website regarding severe criticism of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the fact that he said the government of Sudan is not implementing the Darfur peace agreement“. [NOTE: see he has been expelled BECAUSE he critisized the Government!!!!].

Mr Sadiq said rebels would consider Mr Pronk’s comments as encouragement to continue their military campaign.

Mr Pronk also annoyed the army by crossing frontlines and meeting rebel leaders in Darfur this month, although he made it clear on his weblog that he urged them to accept a ceasefire and think about signing the peace deal brokered in May.

Koffi Annan has asked Pronk to return to USA for consultations, and while the Sudanese Governemnt has asked Pronk to go before next Wednesday,

Jajweeds have begun to attack villages yesterday and reaped two girls, aged 16 and 18. “Government troops are also mobilising in this area, and we are prepared for an attack” (from Sudan Watch). Darfur rebels have added this will began a new campaign: this time using chemical weapons.

The NRF strongly denounces the callous decision of the Government of Sudan to expel UN Envoy Jan Pronk from Sudan. It is not a simple coincidence that this decision has been made at the very moment when the new offensive of the Khartoum regime in Darfur has been launched. Following successive defeats of its forces at the hands of NRF, the Regime in Khartoum is now resorting to the use of chemical warfare to reverse its luck. Few days ago, a Janjaweed led battalion moved out of Alfahir heading towards Tina. The force consists of over 60 vehicles armed with chemical weapons. In line with his cruel habit of sending poorly trained troops to their early graves, Albashir’s new militias are to use chemical weapons that they have never seen before. This is what explained the rush to drive Mr. Pronk out of Sudan. Having neutralized the AU, the Government is now determined to render the people of Darfur totally voiceless. Mr. Pronk’s departure will enable the Regime in Khartoum to carry out its genocidal acts behind a thick curtain.

The Government of Southern Sudan has also protested the expulsion claiming the Sudanese Government has not consulted them on this issue. US has protested the action by the Sudanese Government.

If you want to view his blog, click here.

This is a post made to denounce even more -if it can be- the outrageous situation Darfur is now in, without any type of support from the world and, of course, Europe. Some days ago, Mauro, from Italian blogs from Darfur, wrote a comment here about an important campaign Italian Blogs are making: they are denouncing the MSm for not giving any information about the tragedy that it is developing there. Go there and read it. It will worth your time.

Los últimos hechos en Darfur se están desarrollando muy deprisa. Durante el último mes, los rebeldes han infrigido al Gobienro sudanés 2 derrotas consecutivas en las que ha habido muchos muertos, heridos y mutilados. El Gobierno sudanés ha recurrido a otra estrategia: mandar a gente de Darfur a luchar contra sus propios vecinos. Pero como eso no ha resultado ha expulsado a Jan Pronk, el enviado de la ONU en Darfur.

El diplomático holandés había cometido el terrible disparate de contar la verdad en su blog particular, sobre las derrotas sudanesas, lo que le ha valido la expulsión por “criticar al gobierno sudanés”. SI quereis verlo aún está operativo aquí. Son muy interesantes sus fotografías.

Y la venganza del Gobierno sudanés no se ha hecho esperar: ayer ya atacaron de nuevo los janjaweeds una aldea y violaron a dos niñas una de 14 y otra de 16. Los rebeldes afirman además que el Gobierno sudanés ha enviado camiones con armamento químico hacia Darfur.

Por eso, es importante que denunciemos lo que está ocurriendo en Sudán. El blog Italian Blogs for Darfur tiene por misión criticar la cobertura mediática del conflicto, que como no es Irak, y EEUU no se ha metido allí, no es interesante. Así, señalan:

300 mil muertos, 2 millones de personas sin hogar, 200 mil refugiados

Una tragedia que dura más de 3 años. Pero los muertos de Darfur no llenan los titulares.

Firma la petición on-line para que la RAI, Mediaset y La7 den más espacio televisivo para la ifnormación sobre Darfur y otras crisis humanitarias.

“Escribo para protestar por el poco espacio dedicado por su televisión al genocidio que está teniendo lugar en Durfar (Sudán).

En Darfur, durante más de 3 años, las personas están mueriendo pero la alarma que ha sido declarada por organizaciones humanitarias y militantes por los derechos humanos siguie sin ser oída por mucha parte de los medios italianos. Hata ahora, 300 mil muertos, 2 millones y medio de personas sin hogar, 200 mil refugiados han sido contabilizados, pudiéndose considerar la crisis tan grave como para considerarla un genocidio.

Todos los días las TVs alcanzan a mucha parte de la población de la península como la primera fuente de información, si no la única. La TV retiene el poder de información, incluso los periódicos pueden, aunque en una más pequeña proporción, contribuir a informar a los italianos sobre lo que está pasando en Darfur. Normalmente lo que no se dice en los medios de comunicación de masas no existe para una gran parte de las familias italianas.

Si los medios estuvieran informando conscientemente del genocidio de Darfur, esto ayudaría a parar las atrocidades que están teniendo lugar en la región.

POr esta razón, os pedimos un incremento en el espacio de información del genocidio de Darfur, para parar así las graves acciones contra los Derechos Humanos y la dignidad de la humanidad.

Como un consumidor de estos servicios públicos y privados, le pido por favor que de más importancia a esta tragedia actual, mediante programación que dé espacios, incluso diarios, sobre dossiers e informativos sobre el genocidio de Darfur.

Apreciaría inmediata atención en la materia”.

¿Qué tal una carta parecida para Telecinco, A3, Pedrojota, Luis María Ansón, Prisa, etc…? Es una proposición, pero creo que merecerá la pena. También podríamos hacer un blogroll o algo parecido. Si alguien tiene alguna idea -a ver si alguien comenta algo…. 😉 – que la ponga en comentarios.

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