ArmenPress
July 19 2004
ACHENBACH AND ARMENAL TO SIGN MODERNIZATION AGREEMENT IN AUTUMN
YEREVAN, JULY 19, ARMENPRESS: A spokesman for Armenal aluminum
foil factory in Yerevan told Armenpress that a German Achenbach that
has won a tender to modernize Armenal is expected to sign an
agreement in autumn with Rusal aluminum company, that owns all shares
in Armenal, to carry out the factory’s modernization program, aimed
at the creation of full-cycle production and quality improvements.
The spokesman said the program is likely to cost $40 million. He said
it also calls for the installation of modern equipment. The
modernization is expected to increase the profitability rate by 1.5
times.
Armenal was founded in 2000 on the site of the Kanaker aluminum
factory as a joint venture between RusAl and the Armenian government.
Since 2003, the factory has been owned by RusAl. The modernized
factory will produce 25,000 tons of aluminum foil against 10,500 of
2003.
Achenbach is one of the world leaders in production of foil and
non-ferrous metallurgy equipment. Since 1888 the company has provided
services in the area of production and installation of equipment for
aluminum, copper and zinc processing.
RusAl, created by Sibneft stockholders and entrepreneur Oleg
Deripaska, is the source of 75% of Russian and 10% of world supplies
of first-stage aluminum.

ArmenPress
July 19 2004
NUMBER OF MARRIAGES AND DIVORCES GROW
YEREVAN, JULY 19, ARMENPRESS: An estimated 8,245 marriages were
performed in the first half of 2004 against 7,101 of the same period
of time last year. The marriage growth rate made 1,144. According to
a special department of the justice ministry, registering marriages,
5,601 marriages were performed in the regions and 2,644 marriages in
the capital city of Yerevan.
Also 1,042 divorces were granted in the same time, out of which
543 in Yerevan and 499 in regions. In the first six months of 2003
951 divorces were granted.

ArmenPress
July 19 2004
900 HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES IN KARABAGH WANT TO GET EDUCATION AT LOCAL
UNIVERSITY
STEPANAKERT, JULY 19, ARMENPRESS; Some 900 high school graduates
in Nagorno Karabagh will have their first university entrance
examination on July 20, like in Armenia, in an effort to be eligible
to study at the local university, the only higher education
establishment. The university provides free tuition to 200 students
and other 500 will have to pay for it.
The most highly rated departments are applied mathematics,
history, linguistics, foreign languages. Not only local
school-leavers, but also some from Armenia, Russia, Turkmenistan,
Belarus and Ukraine have applied.
Also some 100 local high school graduates want to get education at
Yerevan-based universities. Thirty-five of them will be selected from
a pool of applicants to get it free. Students at Stepanakert
University major in 30 specialties. The university management has
risen this year tuition fee explaining that it needs extra money for
the repair of the building, upgrading the technical base and
installment of new modern laboratories.
From: Baghdasarian

ArmenPress
July 19 2004
TWO EXPEDITIONS TO SEEK NOAH’S ARK
MOSCOW, JULY 19, ARMENPRESS: A Russian expedition left last
Saturday for the upper reaches of Mount Ararat where organizers hope
to prove an object nestled amid the snow and ice is Noah’s Ark.
Before setting out the expedition got the blessing of Russian
Patriarch, Alexis II. The Russians have taken with them the icon of
George the Triumphant, who is thought to be the protector of
Caucasian Mountains to present it to Turkish authorities. This will
be the second ascension of the head of the expedition, Andrey
Polyakov, to Mount Ararat.
Also another, joint U.S.-Turkish team of 10 explorers plans to
make the arduous trek up the mountain this summer to enter what they
believe to be a mammoth structure some 45 feet high, 75 feet wide and
up to 450 feet long that was exposed in part by last summer’s heat
wave in Europe. Explorers have long searched for an ark on the high
slopes of Mount Ararat, where the biblical account of the Great Flood
places it.
In 1957, Turkish air force pilots spotted a boat-shaped formation
in Agri province. The government did not pursue the sighting,
however. The entire area, including Mount Ararat, was off limits to
foreigners because of Soviet complaints that explorers were U.S.
spies.

ArmenPress
July 19 2004
ARMENIAN TENNIS PLAYERS DEFEAT BOTSWANA, MALTA AND MAURITIUS
CHISINAU, JULY 19, ARMENPRESS: Eight nations were competing in the
Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Europe/Africa Zone Group IV event last week
in Chisinau, Moldova. Armenia defeated all his rival – Botswana,
Malta, Mauritius- and won the first place in its subgroup. Moldova,
who also plays in Group 4 defeated Rwanda and Uganda and lost to
Bosnia and Herzegovina.

A Nation So Strange Albeit With A Bizarre Mentality
Muslim World Today
Friday, July 16, 2004
By Jamal Hasan
One may surmise that the information superhighway is like a double-edged
sword. While Internet is being utilized as a powerful tool to break
age-old religious dogma, its Midas touch can very well be exploited by
would-be Islamic terrorists who mastered the art of sending encrypted
messages with a very familiar method of up-linking. Lest we forget, the
perpetrators of September 11 tragedy successfully took advantage of this
modern invention with disastrous result, to put it in milder terms.
For the last seven years I had been an avid reader of a superb
non-conformist e-journal from Bangladesh, the News from Bangladesh.
During this period I contributed my write-ups on myriad topics. The 1971
Bangladesh genocide issue had always been the focus of my writings since
I am an unabashed pro-1971 activist. Even five years ago, I remember
that we had quite a few receptive readers who would comment in the
Readers’ Opinion column about the need for war crime tribunal, the need
for Pakistani regime’s apology for the crime they had committed in
occupied Bangladesh, etc.
But lately, when I open the same Opinion column n, I am not only stunned
I am totally dumbfounded. What is going on with the new trend of
Bangladesh born readers? Why not a single voice among Bangladeshi
Muslims wants to talk about 1971? Let us take into account the last
three four days’ postings in NFB Readers’ opinion section. Four letters
came from countries like Austria, USA and UK. Three of the writers were
women and one was a man. But the comments about 1971 episode coming from
their computer keyboard were quite shocking! One lady wrote, “Bangladesh
can’t go with the inane discussion about 1971. It has hardly produced
any intellectual vigor into Bengali culture.”
Another lady lamented, “I want to stop creating hatred between us over
1971.” A cavalcade of ladies comes in the forefront to denounce
discussions on 1971. The other individual of fair sex commented, “We
know your are all hung-up over 1971 and all that.” Of course man should
not be left out of this unique cacophony. One gentleman felt the urge of
giving his vacuous opinion by saying, “1971 means little to me just as
the World War I and WW2 mean little to the generation before me.” What a
banal comment!
Who are these people? Where they all are coming from? Are they the
perfect example of a Munafeq (treacherous) nation? Or, are they so much
Islamized that they do not want to discuss the name of an in-law, in
Bangla whom we call Bhashur? Remember, most of these individuals came
to the West in search of greener pasture where they live now but they
fail to see a la proverbial ostrich the on going debates the westerners
have to dissect the past mistakes or tragic events. The West is making a
conscious effort to make morrow a better day. Yet, why are they (the
Bangladeshi expects) so much nonchalant? There are different theories
for this sordid state of affairs. One theory some analysts say that this
happened due to heavy dosage of Islamization in Bangladesh in their
formative years.
Some analysts would argue in the realm of political Islam, if a Muslim
becomes a vicious killer and killed another Muslim there is scope for
forgiveness. That is not so in case of infidels versus Muslims, though.
So, the 1971 Liberation War and the crime against humanity perpetrated
by Yahya junta and theirs Jamaati cohorts is now diluted to be like a
friendly wrestling match between two Muslim brothers. That is why 1971
appears to be like a World War I to some Bangladeshi Muslims, which
happened eons ago.
We can cite many examples where genocide issue is still very much alive
in civilized nations’ collective psyche. For example the Armenian
Genocide perpetrated by the Turkish Sultanate more than 113 years ago.
See: []
[] Even today, Armenian Diaspora
scattered all around the globe keep the memory of the Armenian Genocide
victims alive.
In USA, the Armenian-Americans became such a powerful lobby that they
can influence U.S. Congress in decision-making. Armenian Genocide issue
is a widely talked about subject in U.S. Capitol. Already the very
significant lobby of the Armenian Diaspora initiated a number of U.S.
Congressional Hearings on Armenian Genocide. I am very much aware of the
activism of this very proud nation. I have serious doubt if a single
individual of Armenian descent would ever comment anything close to an
outrageous remark by Bangladeshi Muslims as displayed in the Readers’
Opinion page of NFB.
Yes, the situation in Bangladesh is extremely in dire strait. Two
Islamist military dictators changed the course of the nation to Ummatic
Utopia. That is why, as time goes by, Bangladeshi Muslims are becoming
more and more intolerant and communal. In an Ummatic world view, all
crime committed by a Muslim brother has to be forgotten. That is why
crime against humanity committed by Jamaat-i-Islami war criminals has
become a taboo subject amongst Bangladeshi Muslims.
But should the Jamaati criminals get off the hook from international
public opinion so easily? They are the perpetrators of crime against
humanity. Still now, many of the victims are alive who can testify
against the criminals. Their misdeeds can still be traced in various
documents scattered all around the world. See:
[]
If we look into the history of genocidal maniacs or mass murderers
worldwide, we may find a few examples where the criminal admitted his or
her crime and showed remorse. A few years ago one military guard in
Chile expressed his deep regrets for killing innocent people in a
stadium. We also see examples where offspring of killers admitted their
parents’ crime openly and expressed deep regrets for the victims. A few
years ago, ABC News’ Nightline program showed a group of visitors from
Germany who were on a tour in Israel. They were the children of Nazi
officers. We know, unlike Bangladesh, Israel is a nation, which
cherishes the memory of Holocaust victims greatly.
The German visitors on the record expressed their emotional outburst for
the crime their forefathers had committed some sixty plus years ago from
now. They even apologized to the Israeli people. Could this ever happen
in Bangladeshi Jamaatis case? It is most unlikely. Maybe pigs will fly
if Delwar Hussain Sayedee or Ashrafuzzaman Khan will say they are sorry
for they killed or were instrumental in killing many innocent civilians.
In political Islam, there is no scope for such remorse when it is well
established the killer committed the crime to save Islam. The war
criminals of Bangladesh Jamaat-i-Islami were convinced whatever killing
they did was to save the religion of peace. They believe in the axiom
“end justifies the means.” In 1971, their conviction was to save
Jinnah’s Pakistan, which was analogous to saving Islam. They wanted to
save Pakistan by hook or by crook. So, Ashrafuzzaman Khan, who killed
seven Dhaka University teachers in cold blood in December of 1971, could
have a sound sleep in his modest house in Queens, New York. Such is the
result of a dogmatic mindset!
See: []
Let me go back to the young generation of our native land once again. I
mentioned in the beginning a few individual’s strange psychological
outburst on the pages of NFB.
In my opinion they are the product of a dogmatic political entity.
Today’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party is not a secular nationalist
organization. It has been hijacked by the nemesis of Bangladesh
liberation – the notorious Jamaat-i-Islami party. No wonder an average
BNP supporter would be very defensive of Jamaati war criminals. In this
case, I want to make a parallel with the September 11 hijackers. The
9/11 hijackers did not have remorse knowing that their action could
result in numerous losses of civilian lives. Similarly, the defenders of
Jamaati war criminals would not care if someone describes them the
gravity of the crime committed by their favorite godfathers. Their
immediate attitude would be to push the issue under the rug. They do not
want to be hung-up over 1971, do not want to go with inane discussion
about 1971 or do not like to create hatred between them over 1971.
Now, the question arises about the hatred between whom? If a serial
killer kills 12 people, even after 20 years the perpetrator gets the
punishment. Isn’t it so? Today the Roman Catholic Church in USA is
facing a serious financial melt down. This is due to the paying for
litigation of a number of Catholic priests’ pedophilic behavior. Many of
those crimes were committed more than thirty years ago. In Bangladesh’s
case, the Jamaati apologists become very nervous when somebody wants to
expose the dirty laundry of their religious heroes.
I had no idea that Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat-i-Islami are
now more than a conjoin d twin. I did not have any idea that BNP is like
the sugarcoated cover of a capsule and the Jamaat-i-Islami is the main
bitter ingredients until I encountered an interesting fellow on the Net.
This person like many other Bangladeshis are openly BNP activists who
would jump to defend Jamaatis in a second. This is a very unique
situation. I doubt if a typical Awami Leaguer would be any degree
defensive for Rashed Khan Menon’s Worker’s Party or Dr. Kamal Hossain’s
Gono Forum.
Anyway, going back to the young gentleman who claims to be
non-fundamentalist and a follower of Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Two
years ago, I used to post messages in different forums, some of which
were critical of Jamaati war criminals. Once I put a short comment
about the notorious war criminal Abdul Kader Molla who was planning to
visit USA. This is the same Kader Molla who was alleged to be the
ringleader in killing innocent Bengalis in Mirpur area.
[] This young man, a Ph.D.
student at a prestigious Ivy League college in USA jumped from nowhere
and attacked me viciously, of course on the Net. First I was surprised
to see the person lives in USA and apparently did not look like a
typical molla (his image was very much visible on his website). I did
not understand why he had to be so much defensive about a mass murderer!
I did not realize the person is a die-hard supporter of
BNP/Jamaat-i-Islami.
I was far from being aware that Bangladesh has become enough Talibanized
nowadays. I then became more and more interested in knowing more about
this apparently modern young man from Bangladesh. He is a web maker and
I visited the site he used to advertise in all his postings. When I
first visited the site, I was startled. It was a unique creation. There
was sound animation, cartoon and the whole nine-yards. Nonetheless,
there was an interesting slant in content management. The characters he
chose to caricature are not known to be Islamic fundamentalists, nor any
of them had any reputation of being war criminals. Rather quite a few of
the subjects gained fame to uphold the causes of Bangladesh Liberation
War.
More surprisingly, the website had a computer game which allows the
players to “kill” Indian Border Security Force personnel. I thought this
could be an ideal creation of a typical young Bangladeshi whose hatred
towards India (read Infidel) is so much so that they hate anything and
anybody dealing with “embarrassing” 1971 genocide issue. After all, the
1971 issue cannot be a part of any Ummatic mindset. The web maker and I
recently communicated. We had quite a few lengthy exchanges. In some of
my communications I tried to feed him information about the crime
committed by Jamaati war criminals. Later on, I realized I was talking
to a wall.
Bangladesh has been a breeding ground of confused young generation who
does not want to listen anything derogatory about Jamaati leaders, who
are in great reverence. In this context one Bangladeshi Ummah watcher
sarcastically commented, “If Jamaatis were Hindus or Jews, I bet my
bottom dollar, most young die-hard Islamists would curse them to the
hell”. I thought maybe he is right.
The mindset I have been witnessing among young Bangladeshis is
symptomatic of a sickening state of mind. With each passing day, the
country is proceeding to another step towards darkness. Death threat
against liberals by the Islamic fanatics has been jumping up in
geometric progression.
In a sense, Bangladesh is becoming an emerging neo-Taliban factory. The
secular voice is becoming marginalized. Once dominant, the secular
people are now laughing stock amongst young generation, who are becoming
more and more religious zealots. Anybody who wants to raise the war
crime issue of 1971 is taunted as a “Chetonized” person. Such sick
nation is sending young people abroad.
Many of them came here to stay in Western countries for the rest of
their life dreaming of settling in those infidel lands someday. But will
they ever change their infirm mindset or would they driven by their
Ummatic zeal continue to be a security threat in their adoptive lands,
is everybody’s guess. In the television advertisement to get more
funding for Black universities the slogan says, “Mind is a terrible
thing to waste.” Now I see what has happened to zillions of post-Zia
generations. Lord have mercy on them.
(Jamal Hasan writes from Washington DC. His email address is
[email protected])

Asia Pacific Media Network, UCLA, California
July 19 2004
RUSSIA: Russian editor murdered; second in two weeks
The editor of a Moscow arts magazine has been found stabbed to death,
less than two weeks after the murder of a foreign journalist which
raised questions about the political and economic changes in Russia
The Straits Times
Monday, July 19, 2004
MOSCOW – The editor of a Moscow arts magazine has been found stabbed
to death, less than two weeks after the murder of a foreign
journalist which raised questions about the political and economic
changes in Russia.
‘The body of journalist Pail Peloyan, with knife wounds to his chest
and bruises on his face, was found on Saturday,’ the RIA Novosti news
agency quoted a police spokesman as saying.
RIA said prosecutors were treating the death as murder. The body had
been found lying at the side of a highway.
Mr Peloyan was the editor of Armyanski Pereulok (Armenian Lane), a
Russian-language magazine specialising in literature and the arts. It
was not clear whether the killing had any connection with his work.
On July 9, American Paul Klebnikov, 41, editor of the Russian Forbes
magazine, was shot to death as he left his Moscow office.
The authorities have described his death as a contract killing and
have said it might be connected to his work. His murder raises the
disturbing question of how far and how fast can Russia’s post-Soviet
disarray go?
‘The country can build skyscrapers and solve international conflicts
and even win tennis tournaments,’ said Mr Peter Klebnikov, Paul’s
brother.
‘But so long as it’s considered completely normal to resolve disputes
and kill a person who is interfering with the way you want to live,
this country is ailing.’
Foreign investor William Browder said: ‘If somebody feels safe enough
to kill the editor of a major Western magazine, we have anarchy in
Russia.’
Mr Klebnikov had called him for articles about corruption at oil
giant Surgutneftegaz and natural-gas monopoly Gazprom.
Mr Klebnikov’s work – informed and sometimes brazen – put him
squarely into the worlds of Russian business, crime, power and wealth
where 36 billionaires control about US$110 billion (S$187 billion).
Their assets are equal to a quarter of the nation’s gross domestic
product, according to the magazine Mr Klebnikov produced.
The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists has called on President
Vladimir Putin to move against the ‘climate of lawlessness’ in which
15 journalists have been killed in Russia in four years.

The Hill, DC
July 19 2004
Hastert slices Turkey bill
By Jonathan E. Kaplan

House GOP leaders are vowing to kill a controversial amendment that
chastises a key U.S. ally following a successful Democratic maneuver
to pass the bill late last week.
Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Appropriations Foreign
Operations Subcommittee, exasperated House leaders last Thursday when
he accepted a Democratic amendment, which would bar Turkey from
lobbying against a Republican-backed resolution that would call the
Ottoman Empire’s killings of 1.5 Armenians during World War I
`genocide.’

patrick g. ryan
Turkey would be barred from lobbying against a bill sponsored by Rep.
George Radanovich (Calif.) under a foreigh-operations amendment.
—————————————————————-

Rep. Adam Schiff’s (D-Calif.) amendment would deny Turkey the use of
U.S. foreign aid money to lobby against the Armenian genocide
resolution sponsored by GOP Rep. George Radanovich (Calif.). If
enacted, Radanovich’s resolution would be the first time Congress
formally marked the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and
1923.
But House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) said he will not schedule
Radanovich’s bill for a vote this Congress even though the Judiciary
Committee has passed it.
Schiff, who represents one of the highest concentrations of Armenians
in the United States, said he used the appropriations process because
Hastert has not scheduled a vote. `Leadership understands the House
will vote overwhelmingly to recognize Armenian genocide. … They chose
wisely to let it be voice voted,’ he told The Hill.
Radanovich told The Hill: `I think [the amendment] was a good way to
keep Armenian genocide in front of people,’ adding that his bill will
never be passed because `of the force of the Turkish lobby.’
Turkey has tapped former House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bob
Livingston, a lobbying powerhouse, as its Washington representative.
Livingston’s associate referred calls to the Turkish Embassy,.
`There is a Turkish-American presence here. [But] the Turkish lobby
is not considered a very strong lobby,’ said Timur Soylemez, a
Turkish Embassy official. `We are not putting [this issue] at heart
of the Turkish American relationships. Some on the Hill are trying to
poison that relationship. I would very much doubt either the
Armenians or Turks would call it symbolic.’
Schiff had redrafted his original proposal, which could not have been
considered under the House rules. But his redrafted account caught
House leaders off guard. During the debate, Kolbe said that was the
first time he had seen the amendment and complained that the language
was not clear.
Republican sources told The Hill that they did not think the House
parliamentarian was going to make Schiff’s amendment `in order’ and
were surprised when the parliamentarian decided it was. With a few
minutes’ notice, appropriators and their aides chose to accept the
amendment. The alternative choice was to risk losing a roll call
vote.
In a harshly worded statement, Hastert, Majority Leader Tom DeLay
(R-Texas) and Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) acknowledged their
displeasure with Kolbe and the amendment.
`We are strongly opposed to the Schiff Amendment to the
foreign-operations appropriations bill, and we will insist that
conferees drop that provision in conference. We have also conveyed
our opposition to Chairman Kolbe, and he has assured us that he will
insist on it being dropped in the conference committee,’ Hastert
said.
Kolbe said, `I allowed this because I determined that the amendment
had no practical effect. … As the chair of pending conference
committee on the Foreign Operations bill, I will insist this
meaningless language be removed in conference.’
Armenian genocide has flummoxed Hastert and House Republicans over
the past several years. Many lawmakers want the House to acknowledge
the genocide even though Turkey, a longtime U.S. ally and NATO
member, objects to any such legislation.
In 2000, Hastert promised Schiff’s predecessor, then GOP Rep. Jim
Rogan, a vote on a resolution condemning the genocide. But the
Clinton administration lobbied against a vote and Hastert yanked the
bill minutes before its consideration.
Also that year, George W. Bush said that as president, he would
`ensure that our nation properly recognizes the tragic suffering of
the Armenian people.’
The White House was less involved this time, said John Feehery,
Hastert’s spokesman, simply because House leaders knew the
administration’s position.
Even if GOP leaders strip his amendment in a conference committee,
Schiff said:
`I think amendment succeeded in drawing out opposition into the open.
The battle has been joined.’
Debate over spending bills has grown increasingly bitter as lawmakers
push their own projects or gain political points. On the foreign aid
bill, lawmakers used the process to object to Bush administration
policies toward Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Rep. Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) introduced an amendment that would bar the
government from using taxpayer money to have United Nations officials
monitor the 2004 elections.

The Scotsman, UK
July 20 2004
Living with the legacy of rape and genocide
JAMES SMITH
THEIR faces told the story. Three women with covered heads sitting on
a straw mat, eyes conveying a truth that words cannot express.
Nineteen days earlier, they had arrived in the tiny border village
riding donkeys, one with a two-year-old child.
I sat with the women and we looked across the border to the mountains
of Sudan, the country they had been forced to flee.
“They killed my husband when they raided the village,” 26-year-old
Fatima told me. “We could not count but it seemed like a thousand of
them came, riding horses and camels. They had guns and swords. The
government also came. They rode in cars and fired Dushka guns.”
Fatima fled to El Geneina, a large town in western Sudan.
“I went out of the town to find wood and was stopped by three Arabs
on horseback,” she said.
She was repeatedly raped before finding her way back to the shack
where she stayed with her two children – a girl, Najat, 7, and a boy,
Mohammed, 2.
Now five months pregnant as a result of the rape, she could no longer
bear the uncertain future: “It was risky travelling here to Chad, but
what would happen if I stayed in Sudan?”
She decided to leave.
The other women – a 48-year-old, also called Fatima, and Zenaib
Suleiman, 30, told similar stories. Fatima had eight children, all of
whom were killed with her husband as they ran during the raid.
“There is nothing left anymore. They burned the village to the
ground,” she said.
She, too, was gang-raped by the Janjaweed Arab militia on the
outskirts of El Geneina, having been bound and badly beaten.
Zenaib, like her younger companion, is also pregnant from rape.
The three women waited in El Geneina, fearing what would happen next.
Five months after arriving they found donkeys and rode west. Far from
the reach of international aid workers, they found hospitality in
their Chadian neighbours.
Further into Chad, people from western Sudan are gathering in
makeshift camps. Each has their own sad story. Many are widows and
fatherless children. During the past six months, a million people
have been forced to move to conditions that defy survival. Thousands
have been killed.
Aid agencies are battling appalling conditions to save hundreds of
thousands of lives. The World Food Programme is stepping up food
delivery before the roads are cut off by the rainy season that has
already started. I witnessed a food truck stranded in water on one
road.
“This river eats vehicles,” an Oxfam worker told me. Three others
broke down at the same spot during the past week.
Breidjing camp, in the centre of eastern Chad, has swollen from 5,000
to 30,000 people in the past six weeks. Saidi Kagaba of CARE
International, managing the camp, says that if they do not install
clean water and sanitation soon, epidemics are a high possibility. At
least 60 per cent of the refugees are children. They laugh, despite
their ordeals. It is hard to imagine them in a few months time on the
edge of death.
The immediate plight of the refugees overshadows the underlying
problem – a crime of huge proportions. Despite conflict between the
Sudanese government army and the rebel groups, black Darfurians are
not fleeing war or natural disaster. The refugees I met are victims
of plans to rid the region of its black population altogether.
Militias, trained and armed for the crime, had Sudanese government
support all the way. “The government and militia are the same,” every
refugee said when I tried to define the relationship between the two.
One question is asked in the West as if everything hinges on it: “Is
this ethnic cleansing or genocide?” The assumption is that if it is
genocide, international law obliges nations to intervene.
The term “genocide” was coined by Raphael Lemkin, a Jewish refugee
from Poland who lost his family in the Holocaust. He understood that
different methods are used to destroy groups of people. The Nazis
used guns, gas and even lethal injections to destroy the Jews. They
also used the environment, through starvation in ghettos and camps,
and through exposure and exhaustion during death marches.
Lemkin was also aware that the Turks had destroyed a million
Armenians a generation earlier by driving them into a wilderness to
die in what they called a famine. So he made it clear that intent to
destroy a group “in whole or in part” constitutes genocide, even if
cunning methods are employed.
This includes “deliberately inflicting on a group conditions of life
calculated to bring about its physical destruction”.
The definition was enshrined in international law when the United
Nations’ Convention to Punish and Prevent Genocide entered into force
in 1951. The difficulty of proving a government’s intent to commit
genocide is used as a reason to refrain from significant action.
However, the UN’s genocide convention was adopted both to punish and
prevent genocide. If nations are obliged to prevent genocide they
must act when the signs are present, not after it has happened. By
the time we know for sure, it will always be too late.
The convention is vague about the point at which nations should act.
However, if the legal obligation is ambiguous, the convention
reinforces the moral and political obligation – action must take
place when the indicators of genocide are present.
I have seen and heard first-hand reports of systematically burned
villages, expulsions and summary killings in Darfur. That is evidence
enough for referral to the Security Council and action.
Preventing genocide is no longer about international law, but about
political will.
An invasion of Sudan is not necessary at this stage. The UK
government is prudent to pursue a political solution, but the
perpetrators must know the international community has the resolve to
follow through. They may think twice if they know they will be
pursued through the International Criminal Court. Sadly, the nations
who sit on the council have historically dithered at times like this,
putting national interests above the security of the vulnerable they
are supposed to protect.
Meanwhile, Fatima sits with her friends on the border. Two things are
on her mind. What will she do with her unborn baby? “It is not easy,
but the child has not committed a crime and my community know I did
not do this to bring shame,” she says.
She looks out to the hills and plains of Sudan, wondering if they
will ever go back. “How can I go home? Masseleit and other [black
tribal groups] are not wanted anymore. We cannot go back until there
is justice and security.”
So far there is little sign of either. International effort is
focused on keeping the refugees alive, no referral has been made to
the ICC and the government responsible for these crimes is the one
asked to restore security. The architects of this genocidal crime are
content to know that, so far, they have got away with murder.
– James Smith is executive director of the UK-based genocide
prevention organisation, the Aegis Trust.
TALES OF HORROR
AMNESTY International yesterday accused Arab militias in Darfur of
gang-raping and abducting girls as young as eight and women as old as
80, systematically killing, torturing, or using them as sex slaves.
Cases of women and girls having their legs broken to stop them
running away have also been reported to the group.
In a report called Rape as a Weapon of War, Amnesty outlines the
sexual violence against women it says is happening on a massive
scale. It says Khartoum is actively violating its legal obligations
to protect civilians.
“Soldiers of the Sudan government army are present during attacks by
the Janjaweed and when rapes are committed, but the Sudan government
has done nothing so far to stop them,” Amnesty researcher Benedicte
Goderiaux said.
Darfur’s rebels accuse the government of arming the Arab Janjaweed to
loot and burn African villages in a campaign of ethnic cleansing.
Khartoum denies the charge.
The Amnesty report, launched in Beirut and Nairobi, details gang
rapes, public rapes, killings of those who resist rape and abductions
for sexual slavery.
It is based on hundreds of testimonies collected from refugees in
camps in Chad. Although the sample of victims was limited, Amnesty
said it pointed to widespread abuse.
The London-based group said rebels fighting the Janjaweed may also
have raped civilians, but facts were limited.
Efforts to end the crisis through negotiations are in tatters after
rebels stormed out of peace talks last week.
Amnesty called for an end to the conflict, better protection of
civilians, Janjaweed disarmament, trials for those carrying out the
attacks and an international commission of inquiry to examine war
crimes in Darfur.
– A Sudanese court sentenced ten Arab militiamen to amputation and
six years in jail yesterday in the first conviction of Janjaweed
fighters for looting and killing in the Darfur region, it was
reported yesterday.
The court in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, also said
proceedings would begin to try other Janjaweed militia accused of
burning a village.

Philippine Daily Inquirer
July 19, 2004
RAOLA KEEPS ARMENIAN GM WITHIN REACH
Standings after round 4:
4.0 pts.-GM Karen Movsziszian (Armenia); 3.5-NM Yves Raola
(Philippines), GM Aleksander Delchev (Bulgaria), GM Vladim Burmakin
(Russia), GM Mikhail Suba (Romania), IM Yuri Gonzales (Italy), IM
Fernando Braga (Italy), IM Ioan Cosma (Romania), IM Petr Velicha
(Czech Republic), IM Herman Van Riemsdijk (Brazil), IM Bernd
Kohlweyer (Germany); 3.0-GM Lazaro Bruzon (Cuba), IM Ronald Bancod
(RP), IM Jayson Gonzales (RP).
FILIPINO National Master Yves Raola outplayed Spain’s Jose Luis Ramon
Perez in the third round and then halved the point with Cuban
International Master Yuri Gonzales in the fourth to share second
place with 10 others yesterday in the Balaguer International Open
chess tournament in Spain.
Raola, the former national junior champion who is eyeing his third
and final IM norm in the event, pushed his output to 3.5 points, half
a point behind undefeated pacesetter Grandmaster Karen Movsziszian of
Armenia.
Raola shared second place with super GM Aleksander Delchev of
Bulgaria, GM Vladim Burmakin of Russia, GM Mihkail Suba of Romania,
IM Fernando Braga of Italy, Ioan Cosma of Romania, IM Petr Velicha of
Czech Republic, IM Herman Van Riemsdijk of Brazil and IM Bernd
Kohlweyer of Germany.
The bunch stood another half point in front of a big group that
includes Filipino IMs Jayson Gonzales, who drew his third- and
fourth-round matches, and Ronald Bancod, who lost his fourth-round
match to Delchev.
Filipina Winona Tan shared 56th place with 37 others at 2.0
points.Marlon Bernardino