HIRAM9571's Blog

For more information about what we're doing...visit: www.olympicgenocide2008.com

Here's a partial listing of the scumbag corporations that are currently sponsoring the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, which IN TURN, are sponsoring the mass genocide of tens of thousands of people in the Darfur, Sudan region:

COCA-COLA

ATOS ORIGIN

GENERAL ELECTRIC

JOHNSON-JOHNSON

KODAK

LENOVO

MANULIFE

MCDONALDS(WHAT A SURPRISE)

OMEGA

PANASONIC

SAMSUNG

VISA

UPS

BUDWEISER

SNICKERS

ROYAL FURNITURE

STAPLES

VOLKSWAGEN

REEBOK

GENERAL MOTORS

HEINEKEN

ACER

XEROX

PROCTOR AND GAMBLE(WHO OWNS LIKE...HALF THE WORLD)

ERICSSON

NESTLE

JOHN HANCOCK FINANCIAL

JP MORGAN CHASE

TEMPLETON ASSET MANAGEMENT

FIDELITY

**BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY**(OWNED BY THE BIGGEST HYPOCRITE, WARREN BUFFET, WHO'S COMPANY IS THE 2ND LARGEST SHAREHOLDER IN A COMPANY CALLED PETROCHINA, WHICH IS A SUBSIDIARY OF CNPC(CHINA NATIONAL PETROLEUM COMPANY, WHO'S THE #1 SHAREHOLDER), WHO PURCHASES 70% OF SUDAN'S OIL AND FOSTERS THE ENTIRE GENOCIDE OF OVER 400,000 PEOPLE SINCE 2003!! ALL THE WAY DOWN TO BUILDING WEAPON'S MANUFACTURING FACILITIES THAT'S KILLING THE DARFURIAN PEOPLE!!

TIME WARNER/SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

WESTFIELD

IBM

SWATCH

The list goes on, and as we learn more companies, YOU'LL know! I'm even going to post each individual company's MAIN HQ information, so we can have a MASS e-mail, letter writing, and phone banking project under way and let them KNOW how we feel and tell them to reconsider directly/indirectly sponsoring genocide!!

But again, make sure you all visit: www.olympicgenocide2008.com for more information about the petition that WE'RE sponsoring. We need your individual and organizational support on this!!

Peace and Ancestral Blessings upon you ALL!!

Sincerely and Democratically,

Bro. Hank.....

Contact your elected representative - Write a letter or email to advise your elected representative of your views of the Darfur crisis. A selection of countries with links to their governing institutions and contact details are listed here.

Write to your newspaper - Write a letter to the editor of your national newspaper urging your support for increased international engagement in Darfur. A selection of international newspapers is listed here, with email addresses to their letters pages.

Post a blog comment - Share your opinion about the situation in Darfur on a weblog (or blog). You can post a comment of your own to raise awareness about Darfur or contribute to an ongoing discussion about the conflict. You can write directly to the author of the blog or the blog itself. Click here for a list of blogs that include commentary on international issues.

Tell a colleague - Email your friends and colleagues about the conflict. Click here to go to our "tell a colleague" page. Insert a message, or copy our message at the top of this page and email it. The more people who are aware of deteriorating situation in Darfur, the better our ability to get the international community to respond.

Inform yourself about the crisis - Read Crisis Group's publications and other reporting on Sudan, details of which are set out below.

Donate to organisations working in Sudan - A selection of aid and humanitarian organisations working in Sudan is listed here with links to their websites, where you can donate to their efforts to deal with the humanitarian problems in Sudan. The list is not exhaustive, and is not intended as an endorsement of any particular organisation. You are of course also very welcome to make a donation to our own International Crisis Group: we are an analysis and advocacy organisation rather than an aid-delivery one, but we depend very much on public support, as well as grants from governments and foundations, to carry on our work of conflict prevention and resolution. For more information about what Crisis Group has been doing, click here.

See also this recent op-ed on what you can do to make a difference in Darfur:

• Comment by Colin Thomas-Jensen (Crisis Group), "How John Q. Citizen Can Affect Darfur", Fort Worth Star Telegram, 9 January 2007

General recommendations

In our July 2007 report, Crisis Group focused on the lessons for building a comprehensive peace throughout Sudan.

The international community must continue to press for the establishment of a functioning ceasefire and the deployment of the AU/UN hybrid force, but of equal importance is the revitalisation of the moribund peace process. Necessary new peace talks would be best served by freezing further efforts to apply the DPA's political and wealth-sharing provisions. The AU/UN mediation team should prepare for the next round of talks by building international consensus, working to unify the rebel movements, broadening participation from key Darfur constituencies and drawing lessons learned from the mediation process on the CPA.

However, for this mediation approach to work, a fundamental adjustment is required in the international approach to Khartoum. The U.S., China, other members of the UN Security Council and member states of the AU and UN should now:

• apply effective pressure on all sides - but particularly on the NCP - to abandon attempts to achieve a military victory;
• support the AU/UN mediation as the sole international forum for pursuing a peaceful Darfur settlement;
• develop consensus for a political strategy, including the application of punitive measures against those responsible.

In our April 2007 report focused on the Darfur conflict, we recommended that the same international actors continue to follow Crisis Group's existing recommendations, that is:

• apply targeted sanctions, such as asset freezes and travel bans, to key NCP leaders who have already been identified by UN-sponsored investigations as responsible for atrocities in Darfur and encourage divestment campaigns;
• authorise through the Security Council a forensic accounting firm or a panel of experts to investigate the offshore accounts of the NCP and NCP-affiliated businesses so as to pave the way for economic sanctions against the regime's commercial entities, the main conduit for financing NCP-allied militias in Darfur;
• explore sanctions on aspects of Sudan's petroleum sector, the NCP's main source of revenue for waging war in Darfur, to include at least bars on investment and provision of technical equipment and expertise; and
• begin immediate planning for enforcing a no-fly zone over Darfur by French and U.S. assets in the region, with additional NATO support; obtaining consent of the Chad government to deploy a rapid-reaction force to that country's border with Sudan; and planning on a contingency basis for a non-consensual deployment to Darfur if political and diplomatic efforts fail to change government policies, and the situation on the ground worsens.

On the role of the ICC

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against Ahmed Harun and Ali Kushayb on 27 April, 2007. When the UN Security Council referred the Darfur case to the ICC, it recognized that lasting peace requires justice. The international community must maintain a consistent approach and include justice in any comprehensive solution in Darfur. It must therefore call upon Sudan to enforce the arrest warrants. It is time to stop impunity in Darfur.

• United Nations Security Council Resolutions
  • 1593 (S/RES/1593) referring the situation in Darfur to the International Criminal Court (31 March 2005)
  • 1591 (S/RES/1591) extending the arms embargo (29 March 2005)
  • 1590 (S/RES/1950) establishing United Nations Mission in Sudan (UMIS) (24 March 2005)
  • 1564 (S/RES/1564) (September 2004)
  • 1556 (S/RES/1556) (30 July 2004)
    
• Reports of the UN Secretary-General on Darfur
  • 16 November 2005 (S/2005/719)
  • 14 October 2005 (S/2005/650)
  • 19 September 2005 (S/2005/592)
  • 11 August 2005 (S/2005/523)
  • 18 July 2005 (S/2005/467)
  • 9 June 2005 (S/2005/378)
  • 10 May 2005 (S/2005/305)
  • 12 April 2005 (S/2005/240)
    
• Reports of the UN Secretary-General on Sudan
  • 23 June 2005 (S/2005/414)
  • 4 February 2005 (S/2005/68)
  • 31 January 2005 (S/2005/57) and Addendum (1 March 2005)
    
• Report of the UN Secretary-General on the African Union Mission in Sudan (S/2005/285) (3 May 2005)
• Report of the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur to the United Nations Secretary-General (25 January 2005) (in PDF)
  
• Communiqu s of the African Union's Peace and Security Council (in PDF):
  • 10 January 2005
  • October 2004 (with AU force description)
  • September 2004
  • August 2004
    
• Sudan Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) - Key provisions (9 January 2005)
• Ceasefire Agreement (31 December 2004) (in PDF)
• Report of the Ceasefire Commission on the Situation in Darfur Conflict at the Joint Commission Emergency Meeting in Abuja, Nigeria (December 2004) (in PDF)
• Protocol between the Government of Sudan, SLM/A and JEM on the Enhancement of the Security Situation in Darfur in Accordance with the N'Djamena Agreement (9 November 2004) (in PDF)
• Protocol Between the Government of Sudan, SLM/A and JEM on the Improvement of the Humanitarian Situation in Darfur (9 November 2004) (in PDF)
• UN Secretary General progress report pursuant to UN Resolution 1547 (concerning Naivasha peace process) S/2004/710/Corr.1 (September 2004)
• UN report on Sudan's compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 1556 (30 August 2004)
• Plan of action agreed between Government of Sudan and UN (5 August 2004)
• Joint communiqu of Government of Sudan and UN Secretary General (3 July 2004)
• Humanitarian cease-fire agreement in Darfur (8 April 2004)

UN Security Council Resolution 1706, passed on 31 August 2006, extended to Darfur the mandate of the UN mission in Sudan (UNMIS), which currently has 10,000 in-country personnel monitoring the North-South Comprehensive Peace Agreement. The resolution "invited" Khartoum's consent to the deployment of 20,600 UN peacekeepers to the region - a consent which Khartoum refused to give. A reinforced UNMIS would take over from the African Union's (AU) currently overstretched African Mission in Sudan (AMIS). A compromise was reached in November 2006, which consisted of three phases of UN assistance to AMIS - a light support package, a heavy support package, and eventually a "hybrid" AU-UN force. On 16 April 2007 the Government in Sudan in Khartoum accepted the UN heavy support package - allowing up to 3,000 UN personnel in Darfur to assist the AU troops, as well as helicopters and armoured personnel carriers, and on 12 June 2007, they accepted the proposal for the AU-UN hybrid force. Despite these acceptances, there is much skepticism around whether the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) will allow timely implementation.

The security, human rights and security situation in Darfur has deteriorated since Sudan's government and one of three rebel factions signed the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) on 5 May 2006. Conflict has intensified, with further government reliance on aerial bombardment and on its allied - and "re-supplied and rearmed", according to the AU Ceasefire Commission - Janjaweed militia. Aid agencies warned that attacks by armed groups had destabilised the region further in December 2006 and forced the evacuation of up to 400 staff, while up to 100 were killed and thousands displaced after mid-February 2007 tribal clashes in South Darfur. With support from Chad and Eritrea, elements of the rebel groups that did not sign the DPA regrouped as the National Redemption Front (NRF) and since late June 2006 have launched a series of attacks. UN Special Envoy Jan Pronk was expelled from Sudan after making comments noting that the Sudan Armed Forces was suffering from defeats and low morale. The lone rebel signatory of the DPA - the Sudan Liberation Army faction of Minni Minnawi (SLA/MM) - has been increasingly acting as a paramilitary wing of the Sudanese army. Internal displacement continues, with more than 250,000 more internally displaced persons registered in January 2007 than a year previously. Violence against women has surged, with more than 200 instances of sexual assault in five weeks around Kalma camp in South Darfur alone in September/October 2006. April 2007 was the bloodiest month for AMIS since 2004 deployment, with seven soldiers killed. The human security consequences of the Darfur conflict have extended well beyond its borders with hundreds killed in the east of neighbouring Chad and another 120,000 displaced.

The international community must think creatively to secure a lasting settlement. More peacekeepers on the ground and an effective ceasefire are essential but so is revitalising the neglected political process. This should be done through a joint AU/UN mediation which needs to unify the rebels so they can negotiate coherently; broaden participation in negotiations; and strengthen the negotiating structure. In addition, implementation of the DPA must be frozen, pending new negotiations. Khartoum will continue to pursue a military solution and defy its obligations unless it is forced to change its calculations. The only way that will happen is through multilateral punitive measures. Without intense international engagement and cooperation, the crisis will continue ravaging Darfur and destabilising the entire region.