Black News: Sudanese Soldier Says He Was Told to Rape Children

The story

I wanted to believe the man in front of me wasn't a rapist. I knew he was a former Sudanese soldier, I knew he wanted to talk about rape in Darfur. A humanitarian group working on Darfur issues had introduced him to us. They told us his testimony was important to hear.

Last year in Darfur aid workers told me children as young as five were being raped in the huge displacement camps that are home to several million Darfuris. In some camps, they told me, rape had become so common that as many as 20 babies a month born from rape were being abandoned.

As I sat inches from Adam --not his real name -- I feared the revulsion I knew I would feel at my own questions as I asked about rape and his involvement. I have interviewed rape survivors in Darfur. I have two daughters. I am a human being with a conscience. It would be hard to listen to his replies.

 

Click to read.

Technorati Tags: sudan,black news,black global news

Mugabe Criticized for Lavish Birthday Party

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe was celebrating his 85th birthday with a lavish all-day party Saturday despite the fact that the country is gripped by an economic and health crisis.

President Robert Mugabe and his wife, Grace, attend a cake-cutting ceremony for his birthday Saturday.

Mugabe's ZANU-PF party said it raised at least $250,000 to hold the party in Mugabe's hometown of Chinhoyi, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) outside of the capital, Harare.

Critics of the president say the country is desperate for that amount of money to be spent instead on its citizens, who are suffering from a cholera outbreak, food shortages, and spiraling hyperinflation. On Friday, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai visited a hospital's closed intensive care unit that he said needed $30,000 to resume operating.

During the celebrations, Mugabe announced that his controversial land reform would not be reversed. The program is designed to have white-owned farms given to blacks, and there have been violent seizures of such farms since the program began in 2000.

He emphasized that the country's "indigenization program" -- which forces all major foreign companies operating in Zimbabwe to have at least 51 percent black ownership -- will be carried out. It began last year and hasn't been implemented yet.

Mugabe's birthday falls on February 21 but his party loyalists postponed the celebrations as they were raising money for the event.

Click to read.

Technorati Tags: mugabe,zimbabwe,black news headlines,african news,black global news

Thousands of Liberians to be Deported Soon

There is a deep sense of anxiety these days in Liberian community all around the United States. About 10,000 Liberians could face deportation come march 31, this year when a temporary protection status that allows them to stay here expires unless President Obama or Congress intervenes. The U.S. government contends Liberia is now a stable country and these migrants should return home.
Liberians have lived in the U.S. since the early 1990’s under a temporary protected status. Now that the Liberian government is showing some signs of stabilization, the U.S. government is trying to lift the temporary protected status and deport many of the 20,000 Liberians who are now living in the U.S.

I watched in complete disbelief Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform on CNN talking about how "It is time for people to go back and rebuild their country,"He said for Liberians to stay when their country is at peace would be an abuse of U.S. hospitality.

"It makes a mockery of the concept of short-term temporary humanitarian protection." he went on to say.
I would like to point out to Mr Stein however,that the State department own travel advisory is warning Americans to avoid travel to the country, because of serious security concern. so my question is, if its not safe for Americans to go there, how is it safe for thousands of Liberians with their U.S born children, who are U.S citizens to go there?

Click to read more.

 

Technorati Tags: liberia deportation,africans,african americans,black news,african american news

YourBlackGlobal: Africa Aid from US Becoming More Military

U.S. aid to Africa is becoming increasingly militarized, resulting in skewed priorities and less attention to longer-term development projects that could lead to greater stability across the continent, according to a report released Thursday by the advocacy group Refugees International.

The report warns that the planned U.S. Africa Command, designed to boost America’s image and prevent terrorism, is allowing the Defense Department to usurp funds traditionally directed by the State Department and U.S. aid agencies.

A Pentagon spokesman did not return a call requesting comment. But Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates warned this week against the risk of a “creeping militarization” of U.S. foreign policy and said the State Department should lead U.S. engagement with other countries.

The Pentagon, which controlled about 3 percent of official aid money a decade ago, now controls 22 percent, while the U.S. Agency for International Development’s share has declined from 65 percent to 40 percent, according to the 56-page report.

“The danger is this strategy will not achieve the security objectives of addressing the root causes of terrorism,” said Mark Malan, author of the report. “And it certainly won’t address the developmental objectives of U.S. foreign policy.”

Refugees International, based in Washington, provides aid to refugees and advocates for solutions to end conditions that create displacement.

Malan said the militarization has been driven by the U.S. focus on counterterrorism, though the trend dates to the Cold War era. The more fundamental problem, he said, is a lack of consistent, coherent U.S. foreign policy attention to Africa…

Click for additional info

Bush Says Zimbabwe Election a Sham

 

 

Bush: U.S. pushing for Zimbabwe sanctions - Zimbabwe- msnbc.com

 

HARARE, Zimbabwe - The United States is developing penalties against the government of Zimbabwe, President Bush said Saturday, in response to the country's widely-condemned runoff election.

 

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe is accused of using violence to coerce people to vote for him in Friday's runoff, which was held after opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of the running amid cries of intimidation.

 

Bush, who called the election a "sham", said he is instructing his secretaries of state and treasury to develop penalties against Zimbabwe's government and its supporters.

 

 

Click to Read More

Zimbabwe Faces An Uproar From Post Elections

April 27, 2008 - Many voters fear the outcome of the 2008 Zimbabwe's Presidential Elections. For over 28 years, Former President Robert Mugabe's and the ZANU-PF party have ruled Zimbabwe. As a result, the country has suffered from economic and political turmoil. His opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai and his party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) wanted to put a end to the corruption by running up against the ZANU-PF party. After waiting for a week for the 2008 election results, the opposionist party and the voters became very concerned that there were no announcements. Presidential candidate, Tsvangirai, believed that Mugabe strategically planned to delay the results. The following week, Tsvangirai and MDG party issued a complaint to the court as a way to force out the results of the March 29 election. Tsvangirai announced that he is not suprised that President Mugabe would try to use a presidential runoff vote to reverse its defeat in elections.

On Sunday, a recount of votes alledgely confirmed that Morgan Tsvangirai party won full control of the parliment. According to tally results, the Zimbabewan Sunday newspaper claimed that the election authorities confirmed that Tsvangirai won the majority. However, Zimbabwe election authorities will not reveal the results until later on this week.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission called for a regional meeting with both parties to discuss the post-election crisis. Before the new results are released to the public, both parties will be able to scrutinze the entire recount.

At the same time, violent uprises continues to spread riots. Hundreds of MDG supports have been attacked and burned out of their homes. About 250 law enforcement officers raided MDG party's headquarters in Harare. Several people have suffered from head injuries. Only 10 have been murdered.

The 2008 Zimbabwe Elections created a huge international outcry. Tsvangirai and his party called for the United Nations for further investigation. So far, Britain urged the UN Security Council to take part in the human rights abuse and to urged Mugabe to resign.