I've tried to post fairly regularly on the situation in the Sudan. People always ask if the Rwanda genocide could happen again. Of course it can. In fact, in the Sudan, genocide isn't an event, it's a pattern of behavior for the government.

Well, Ethiopia is one country that I haven't kept up with, but there are increasing indications of genocide in that country as well. Luckily, there's a blog following the story. Read and learn.
posted by Noah at 7:49 PM

Sudan

Here's a great example of African solidarity in action:

African nations have ensured that Sudan will keep its seat on the U.N. Human Rights Commission, a decision that angered the United States and human rights advocates who cited reports of widespread rights abuses by the Khartoum government.

A coalition of 10 organizations concerned with human rights issues went further Monday, complaining that too few democracies are being nominated for seats on the commission.

In elections Tuesday for 14 seats on the main U.N. human rights watchdog, the coalition said three out of four African seats will be filled by non-democratic regimes -- Sudan, Guinea and Togo.

Oh, I'm so thankful that the honorable gentlemen from Khartoum have been spared the ignominy of being kicked off the human rights commission. And it's heartwarming how well African nations stick together.

I really wonder though.... where are the African democracies in all of this? If I'm not mistaken, each nation votes on which countries to nominate for the commission. I wonder what South Africa was doing when all of this was under discussion. Ghana? Senegal? Mali? Benin?

I'd like to think that they fought Sudan's nomination tooth and nail. Sadly, my guess is that African solidarity trumps all.
posted by Noah at 7:22 PM

Libyan Outrageousness

Is Qaddafi once again thumbing his nose at the West? Looks like it to me:

A Libyan court has sentenced five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor to death for infecting hundreds of children with the AIDS virus in an attempt to find a cure for the disease.

Bulgaria condemned the "unfair and absurd" verdicts delivered on Thursday and called for a strong reaction from its Western partners -- the European Union, NATO and the United States.

I last blogged about this case way back here. It's yet more evidence that Qaddafi, even if disarmed of his weapons, is still not an ally.

posted by Noah at 7:12 PM

Nigerian Sharia

If there's anything to this story it's a confirmation of a lot of people's worst fears over the meaning of sharia in northern Nigeria:

Governor Ahmed Sani of Zamfara State, has ordered the demolition of all churches in the state, as he launched the second phase of his Sharia project yesterday.

Speaking at the launch in Gusau, the state capital, Governor Sani disclosed that time was ripe for full implementation of the programme as enshrined in the Holy Quran.

Adding to the trouble was this attack by Christians against Muslims in Plateau state, apparently killing 300. Now there's no indication that this attack had anything to do with the new sharia laws in Zamfara, nor was it necessarily motivated solely by religious differences. Still, I think there's little doubt that religious strife in Nigeria is getting more serious, not less.

If you need convincing, look no further than this article where a Christian leader in Lagos notes that a "state of war" effectively exists between Nigerian Christians and Muslims.

At some point, the national government will have to put a stop to this. I only hope they do something before a full-blown civil war begins.

posted by Noah at 6:51 PM

New Blogger...

is nice, I think. This will take some getting used to, though.
posted by Noah at 6:50 PM