US knocks Russian sale of MiGs to Sudan

Sudanese Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Mohammed Hussein has said that during a visit to Moscow, Sudan bought 12 MiG-29 fighter jets from Russia.

The United States criticized this sale that Russia made to Sudan.

Russia has been accused before by Amnesty International last year of violating a UN resolution by supplying Sudan with arms that were used in the war-torn region of Darfur.

"Sudan is a poor country and to go out and buy MiGs, obviously that's something we don't think is a positive step," US State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood told reporters. "It's the last thing that country needs," Wood said.

Sudan's Beshir declared a ceasefire in Darfur and called for disarming militias, the question is will he follow through?

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more about this:

• Sudan buys Russian MiG fighter jets
• Sudan: Russian Fighter Jets Purchased
• Sudan buys 12 Mig-29 Fighters
  

Sudan police detain 63 journalists

On Monday a total of 63 journalists were detained for several hours and forced to attend a court hearing for protesting against draconian censorship.

Over a 150 journalists met later and stated that they would down tools on Monday as 12 representatives of independent newspapers declared that they would not be publishing editions on Tuesday in protesting the arrests.

Journalists rallied outside out of the parliament building condemning the censorship which affronts the freedom of expression that is supposed to be preserved in Sudan's interim constitution following the end of a north-south civil war.

The United States condemned the arrests that happened and called for a end on the media censorship as part of the CPA, especially with the upcoming run-up to elections.

"The US government condemns today's detentions and continues to deplore infringements by the government of Sudan upon freedom of the press and expression," said the embassy in Khartoum.

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More articles about this:

• Sudan police arrest scores of journalists
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Photographs and Poems

Darfur is located in Western Sudan.
Shamal Darfur (North Darfur)
Gharb Darfur (West Darfur)
Janub Darfur (South Darfur)

And right now a genocide is taking place there.

Displaced Persons Camp in Darfur
by Yala Korwin

Please follow me and watch that woman bent,
as willows bend, face hidden in her hand.
A picture of despair, to say the least.
That other one is hiding in her tent.
She was tortured and raped, here on the sand.
The Devil on Horseback did it. A beast.
For her it was a shame. For him -- a feast.
Now she’s ostracized. Custom of this land.
These orphaned children sit. They never play.
They seem to be so scared. They sit and they
just stare at nothing. They look so spent …
Their future? Who knows? Let’s hope -- not all gray
This boy is maimed. His sister’s womb is rent.
The men do battle. They kill. The children pay.

A Child's Epitaph
by Michael R. Burch

I lived as best I could, and then I died.
Be careful where you step: the grave is wide.

Black Climate of Change
by Zyskandar Jaimot

gone into giant swirling whirlwinds of khamseens
gone into vicious sprawling outbursts of tribal revenge
mothers, babes all bundled together in refuge
mothers calling, praying to strange foreign deities for succor
their voices unheeded in all the world
their DNA gone – vanished amid waves of bloody sand
never replaced – never thought of – never considered
their DNA unimportant
their DNA inconsequential
their essence gone






















Help stop the suffering by going to eyesondarfur.org

What Can You Do?

Save Darfur is one of many organizations to help raise awareness, raise funds and campaign for Darfur. Their main goal is to get millions of regular people to join the movement.

Save Darfur helps the people of Darfur by reaching out to the media, public education, targeted coalition building and grassroots mobilization to pressure policymakers and other decision-makers in the United States and abroad to help the people of Darfur.

Save Darfur responded to the rebellion that happened in 2003, from the government onto the people of Darfur.

“People in Darfur are alive today who otherwise would not be,” he says, “because this growing constituency of conscience cried out. But still the suffering remains.”

Their main goal is to continue to help end the violence against civilians, facilitate adequate and unhindered humanitarian aid; establish conditions for the safe and voluntary return of displaced people to their homes; promote the long-term sustainable development of Darfur; and hold the perpetrators accountable.

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Save Darfur

Other Ways To Help

• HELPSudan
• 24 Hours for Darfur
• Samaritan's Purse International Relief
  

Darfur activists pitch tents to influence Washington

350 tents are set up in front of the United States Capitol building by activists trying to re energizer the U.S. Darfur movement and the president-elect.

The tents will be shipped to Darfur to be used as classrooms for kids and as symbols of hope for the people of Darfur.

Organizers envisioned that the painted tents would help to raise awareness and funds to address the conflict in Darfur.

The leaders of the movement expect the president-elect to prioritize the issue and hope that when handling the Sudan policy a figure of high stature will be placed.

“It will be critical that this individual has the ear of the president and the appropriate members of the National Security Council, and that he or she be in frequent communication with a principal member of the National Security Council as designated by the president,” said Save Darfur in a plan for the Obama administration issued on Tuesday.

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Other Articles...

• Local groups dive into Darfur protest
• Help end suffering in Darfur, activist urges
• A Dallas Darfur activist reports back from Washington
  

Sudanese president calls ceasefire in Darfur

Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir called a unilateral ceasefire in Darfur today, but he Justice and Equality Movement dismissed the announcement. He was recommended to do this after his arrest in July.

Whatever the motivation, the ceasefire is a positive action as the government has been behind the aggressors in Darfur.

Analysts are cautious because of past ceasefire agreements that have failed.

"Both the Sudan People's Forum and the ceasefire are good and necessary moves, although we still need to see what happens on the ground. Bashir also needs to go further by ordering a complete review of the security management operation in Darfur."

Bashir will continue to get to decision postponed from the ICC and try and do anything to help make the decision favor on his side.

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Other Articles

• Sudanese President Calls for Cease-Fire in Darfur
• Sudan president offers Darfur ceasefire
• Sudan's president announces ceasefire in Darfur

Tracy McGrady's Darfur Documentary

The first viewing of Tracy McGrady's documentary on his 2007 trip to Darfur refugee camps in Chad, was a great success.

The film shows McGrady grow from naive and arrogant to educated and motivated after visiting refugees from the genocide in Darfur.

McGrady along with six others made the trip in August 2007 traveling and visiting the camps for six days filming what they encountered and the stories the refugees told.

“The most important thing is the message,” McGrady said. “That all we want from this film, to get the message out and get people to want to get involved.”

There are ongoing talks with groups like CAA to distribute the film to cable television and to film festivals. Along with the film, McGrady and Derek Fisher are trying to recruit other NBA players for the “Darfur Dream Team Sister School Program” to help raise money for the schools that McGrady wants to build in the refugee camps.

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More Information

• Tracy McGrady's Darfur Documentary Makes its Debut
• McGrady's Darfur Speech
  
• Tract McGrady's toughest point is about the genocide in Darfur