Media: Featured Articles
February 1, 2010-New SPLM Chair Elected, Sets Stage for Future Elections
Bloomington, MN-The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) held its national elections this
week in Bloomington, Minnesota. Mississippi’s delegate, Mangok Mangok Mayen, succeeded in his bid for the chairmanship of the SPLM. Previous leader, Muammar Gaddafi, failed in his bid to stay on as president of the SPLM for another year. More than 400 American-Sudanese attended the conference, with many driving more than 10 hours.
Prior to the conference, the role of the SPLM representative and the US envoy of the Government of South Sudan had been filled by the same man, Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth. At the Biennial conference of the SPLM-USA these positions were split. 126 votes were cast by Sudanese from 50 states. Among six other national candidates biding for the positions of leadership
Mangok Mayen overcame all of his opposition.
Mayen will represent the United States Sudanese diasporas, and will be supported by a six member secretariat. Major challenges that Mayen and his staff will face will be facilitating the Sudanese Americans participation in the April presidential election in South Sudan, as well as the 2011 referendum on the succession of South Sudan from the North. Along with facilitating the Sudanese Americans Mayen will lead correspondence with the US government during the two upcoming elections in Sudan.
One man, Cong Steven, when asked of the election result insisted that: "They cannot take me back to Arabs. I'm a separatist, and I won’t go back." Tensions ran high after the election, but all delegates insisted that only by cooperation could they bring the SPLM community together for Sudan.
One delegate, Kenneth from Chicago, sent his officers to offer his congratulations in his stead, causing audible murmurs through the crowd.
Overall, the voting went smoothly, ending at 3:35 A.M. If this event in Bloomington foretells the crucial year ahead in Sudan, there is little doubt that the future elections will be a success.
The future elections in Sudan are crucial not only for Sudan but also for the entire region. Previous conflicts in Darfur and South Sudanese provinces have spilt over into the neighboring nations of Chad, Uganda and Ethiopia.
Tensions remain high ahead of the country's first genuine multi-party national elections since 1986, which are due in April.
The South, which currently has a semi-autonomous government, is likely to vote to secede from the north in the 2011 referendum.
On the point of succession the SPLM Chairman was clear, "Yemen divided some years ago, and now it is back together. If the South secedes, then Darfur will too. If Darfur goes than Blue Nile, Algazir and the Nuba Mountains will go. After that what is left? Khartoum? We can secede and then come back together. Any way unity will come about, division might just happen first."
Join Us for an Invisible Children Screening of "Together We Are Free"
Wed. November 18th, 2009
7:00-9:00pm
Oak Street Cinema, 309 Oak Street SE, Minneapolis
Free and Open to the Public!
CPI is sponsoring a screening of "Together We Are Free" a film about "The Rescue" where international youth "abducted themselves" in order to represent the injustice that has been unleashed on east African children who have been taken from their families and forced to become soldiers.
The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with the director of Child Protection International, Kori Tudor, members of Invisible Children and other community leaders with expertise on the issue and region. Other sponsors include the University of Minnesota Human Rights Program, the African Student Association, the Christian Student Fellowship and the Physicians for Human Rights.
For more information on Invisible Children click here.
October, 2009- CPI Plans to meet with Former US Special Envoy to Sudan, Richard S. Williamson
Child Protection International will meet with former US Special Envoy to Sudan, Richard S. Williamson early in October. CPI plans to discuss its work to stop child abduction in the region and the current situation in Southern Sudan. There will be more information to come concerning schedule and attendance.
August 20, 2009 - CPI Takes Action to Stop Child Abductions in Southern Sudan
Minneapolis, MN-Child Protection International (CPI), a Minneapolis-based non-governmental organization (NGO), is taking action to stop child abductions in Southern Sudan. Child Protection International has drafted an open letter to Southern Sudanese President Salva Kiir to focus attention on the rights of Southern Sudanese children. Child Protection International is urging the government of Southern Sudan to ensure the rights of children by strengthening their national laws concerning child protection and to implement universal birth registration.
Since January of 2009, over 300 children have been abducted from their homes and families and the number is growing. The rise in child abductions has followed an increase of intercommunal violence throughout the region, violence that is threatening the peace and fragile stability of Southern Sudan. Child Protection International has written to President Kiir with the hopes of bringing international attention to this violation of child rights. Local Minnesota officials are also concerned with the situation in Southern Sudan, such as Congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota) who recently visited the region.
To read the full letter, click here. Please sign our petition to stop child abductions today!
July 7,2009 - Meeting with UN Special Rapporteur for Sudan Provides Insight and
Direction
On Sunday, June 21st a group of CPI interns met with Dr. Sima Samar, UN Special Rapporteur for Sudan. Fresh with knowledge from her recent trip to Sudan from May 25 to June 4th, Dr. Samar provided the group of interns with great insight and important information about issues on the ground.
Although Dr. Samar expressed disappointment in the recent decisions of the Human Rights Council to replace the Special Rapporteur for Sudan with an Independent Expert, she was glad to see that a group of young students and graduates were working on such significant and critical issues, as she remarked, "The young generation are the ones that own the planet."
Dr. Samar noted that the issue of child abductions is a recurring problem across many different tribes in South Sudan. Attacks from the LRA have only made issues worse by making it increasingly difficult to identify the perpetrators of violent child abductions. Dr. Samar remarked that the Government of South Sudan has little capacity to hold perpetrators accountable for their actions, a critical problem to the successful implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).
The group of interns was able to ask Dr. Samar about the feasibility of universal birth registration in Southern Sudan, an issue they have been studying for the last 6 months as a possible deterrent to child abductions. Dr. Samar agreed that birth registration is an important step, but there are many other steps that must precede it, such as the development of infrastructure and a sound judicial system.
Dr. Samar provided many examples from her work with women and children in Afghanistan as a model framework for possible action in Sudan. She noted that it would be effective for CPI to work in partnership with local civil society group working to end child abductions. In addition, she strongly encouraged the group of interns to advocate their cause to the U.S. Government.
Although her work in Southern Sudan and with the Human Rights Council has proven to be frustrating at times, Dr. Samar argued that "Southern Sudan does not have a choice, the international community does not have a choice, we must be engaged."
June 15, 2009 - CPI in Full Swing Over the Summer
This summer CPI interns are preparing for their meeting with Dr. Sima Samar, UN Special Rapporteur for Sudan, on Sunday June 21st. The students will present their research on child abductions in Southern Sudan, and will ask Dr. Samar to support CPI's efforts to ensure birth registrations for all Sudanese children so that they have clear identification in the event of an abduction.
Recent intertribal violence in South Sudan has spurred an increase in abductions which has resulted in over 300 children being forcibly taken from their parents since the beginning of March 2009. Many reports indicate that the violence occurring in South Sudan is worse than that of the conflict in Darfur.
Difficulties with disarmament and the integration of small militias into the Sudan's People Liberation Army (SPLA), South Sudan's military, has created great tensions that could reignite into a civil war. In addition to intertribal conflict, South Sudan continues to be attacked by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), another key perpetrator of child abductions in South Sudan.
CPI interns had an opportunity to gather for a celebration in early June when Dan Bernard, a founding member of the Save Yar Campaign, returned to Minnesota on vacation from Cairo, Egypt where he is now working for USAID .
The student-run organization has more than a dozen active volunteers. Another CPI, Kou Solomon, testified June 10 at a Washington, D.C., roundtable discussion hosted by US Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, to recognize the World Day against Child Labor. Kou talked about the need for international action to prevent abductions, like those suffered by his family in 2007, when his two nieces were forcibly abducted by members of a different ethnic group.
Many of the founding members have continued to stay involved in CPI's work as they pursue human rights issues around the world. Each person brings a unique perspective to the table and strengthens the campaign as it moves forward to combat child abductions in South Sudan.