Approaching two hundred protesters, many from the Sudan, gathered opposite Downing Street yesterday (Sun 25 May, 2008) for a noisy protest before marching to a rally held adjoining the Sudanese Embassy opposite St James's Palace in London.
Pictures (C) 2008, Peter Marshall, all rights reserved.
Pictures (C) 2008, Peter Marshall, all rights reserved.
Stop targeting innocent people in Khartoum
Opposite Downing St
Marching past Trafalgar Square
At the Sudanese Embassy
The 'Justice for Darfur' campaign was launced a month ago, one year after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against Sudan’s former State Minister of the Interior Ahmad Haroun and Janjaweed leader Ali Kushayb (Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-al-Rahman) on 51 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity arising from persecution, rapes and murder of civilians in four West Darfur villages.
The Sudanese government has refused to hand over the men; Haroun has even been promoted to be responsible for humanitarian affairs, and Kushayb, who was being held in jail on other charges at the time the ICC warrants were issued has been released due to "lack of evidence."
Demonstrators also carried placards asking for other Sudanese war criminals to be brought to justice, including Saleh Gosh, head of Sudan’s National Security and Intelligence Service, Sudan President Omar Al Bashir, the Minister of the Federation Government Nafi Ali Nafi and former Foreigh Minister Mustafa Osman, who were all among the 52 listed for investigation by the UN Commission of Inquiry into war crimes in 2005.
Fresh reports of beatings, detentions and shooting of Darfuri civilians in Khartoum and Omdurman have been received earlier this month, but the situation in Darfur seems now to attract relatively little attention in the mainstream press - who sent no reporters or photographers to Sunday's event.
The Justice for Darfur campaign is supported by around 30 organisations including the Aegis Trust, Amnesty International and Darfur Union UK who organised this event along with Aegis Students.
Justice for Darfur Launch
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2008/04/24/darfur18640.htm
Aegis Trust report
http://www.aegistrust.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=750&Itemid=88
More pictures from Sunday's event in London
http://mylondondiary.co.uk/2008/05/may.htm#darfur
The Sudanese government has refused to hand over the men; Haroun has even been promoted to be responsible for humanitarian affairs, and Kushayb, who was being held in jail on other charges at the time the ICC warrants were issued has been released due to "lack of evidence."
Demonstrators also carried placards asking for other Sudanese war criminals to be brought to justice, including Saleh Gosh, head of Sudan’s National Security and Intelligence Service, Sudan President Omar Al Bashir, the Minister of the Federation Government Nafi Ali Nafi and former Foreigh Minister Mustafa Osman, who were all among the 52 listed for investigation by the UN Commission of Inquiry into war crimes in 2005.
Fresh reports of beatings, detentions and shooting of Darfuri civilians in Khartoum and Omdurman have been received earlier this month, but the situation in Darfur seems now to attract relatively little attention in the mainstream press - who sent no reporters or photographers to Sunday's event.
The Justice for Darfur campaign is supported by around 30 organisations including the Aegis Trust, Amnesty International and Darfur Union UK who organised this event along with Aegis Students.
Justice for Darfur Launch
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2008/04/24/darfur18640.htm Aegis Trust report
http://www.aegistrust.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=750&Itemid=88 More pictures from Sunday's event in London
http://mylondondiary.co.uk/2008/05/may.htm#darfur
e-mail:
Homepage:
Comments
Hide the following comment
Press coverage of Darfur rallies
26.05.2008 19:09
A brief summary should include the news and humanitarian value of having held the rally, how many came, who spoke, and highlights of their remarks and of the placards people were carrying, and the writer's disappointment that such a hugely important issue did not elicit press. In short, we need to keep the media accountable for their choices of 110 minutes/year of Brittney vs. 2 minutes/year on Darfur (as was the case for CBS-TV in the U.S in 2007!) Letters to the Editor are a powerful way to keep the media's "feet to the fire," as it were. In the case of broadcast media, emails to the Assignment Desk with a cc to the Managing Editors or News Producers, though not as effective, are certainly better than doing nothing.
If the media can't find a creative way to make the event palatable or "fun" to their listeners, they must be held accountable.
As activists, the onus is on us as well, to make these events as creative and "media-friendly" as possible, with Photo Opps and Audio Opps clearly defined in the press releases. And if "zany" gets us 30 seconds of air time, then that's what we've got to deliver.
Sonia Katchian
e-mail:
sk@photoshuttle.com
Homepage:
http://www.photoshuttle.com www.alifolio.com