Report: Children In Darfur Tortured, Raped

[oberliner]

Children in Darfur, according to a new report, are enduring "unspeakable acts of violence and abuse" from killing and rape to abduction, torture and recruitment as fighters in the escalating four-year conflict in Sudan's vast western region.

The Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict report released Wednesday accused the Sudanese government of "apparent deliberate efforts ... to suppress information and prevent agencies from collecting and disseminating details on attacks against children and their protection needs, particularly in Darfur" and eastern Sudan.

The group's findings were made public a day before the issue was to move into the spotlight at the United Nations.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/19/world/main2704000.shtml

[Monkeyman]

1. Dam Shit when are we going to step up

[illinoisprogressive]

2. While all this administration wants to do is piss around iraq, this is what is really important.

[shenmue]

3. When are we going to help these people?

:cry:

[aikoaiko]

4. I would have thought the UN would have been in there by now.

Are they there? And if not, why the hell not? This is their raison d'etre

[oberliner]

5. Darfur: Keep Up International Pressure on Sudan (Human Rights Watch)

(New York, April 17, 2007) – Concerned governments should impose targeted sanctions against Sudanese officials unless Khartoum immediately agrees to the full deployment of the proposed 20,000-member hybrid international peacekeeping force for Darfur, Human Rights Watch said today.

According to media reports, the Sudanese government has signed off on the second phase of a proposed three-stage “hybrid” African Union-United Nations force for Darfur. The second phase includes 3,000 additional military police and additional equipment, while the third stage – the full hybrid force – would include more than 20,000 additional troops.

“Sudan’s green light for only part of the peacekeeping force is too little, too late, and is aimed only at defusing international pressure and heading off sanctions,” said Peter Takirambudde, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Governments should keep the focus on the full international force, which could really help to protect civilians in Darfur.”

The second-phase agreement follows months of negotiations, and Khartoum continues to resist the deployment of the third, most substantial, part of the proposal.

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/04/17/sudan15724.htm

[bling bling]

6. Horrifying.

I don't even know what to say.