The slave and sudanese slaves’s rwanda genocide

When the abolitionists arrived, each of the 106 slaves were asked a
series of questions, starting with: When were you taken into
captivity? What was your master’s name? Did you have family?

Some of the men had been in captivity for more than 20 years, captured
by the Janjaweed (Arab for “Devil on Horseback”) and Arab slave
raiders during the so-called civil war.

Another man said he’d been a slave for 15 years, and had seen at least
three slaves killed for trying to escape.

This organized rescue of slaves was begun about 20 years ago by the
Sudanese themselves. The Arab/Dinka Peace Committee is a grassroots
organization that liberates Sudanese slaves. The covert operation
generally begins in cattle camps in the north, where the underground
network trades slaves for cattle vaccine. Each vaccine is worth about
$40, and it costs one or two vaccines per slave. Livestock is much
more valuable to the Arab slave masters than are human beings.

Pastor Heidi McGinness, Denver-based director of outreach for CSI-USA,
has made the journey to Sudan many times. “I live to see family
reunions,” McGuiness said. “Mothers, fathers reunited with sons and
daughters taken into slavery, thought dead but returned alive, is the
greatest joy one could observe.

“This abolitionist work fuels my passion to see each slave freed,” she
added. “There are still tens of thousands in slavery. I will not
abandon them.”

In Germany in the 20th century, it was the Holocaust. Some 50 years
later in Rwanda, genocide again. And now, in the 21st century, as we
talk about smart cars that can park themselves and sending people to
Mars, we still allow the barbaric treatment of humans. Genocide rears
its ugly head again. We’re a society with short-term memory and
information overload.

If slavery and genocide can go unchallenged on the other side of the
world, it will continue to fester, and then when it comes knocking on
our own door here in the U.S., in Denver, we will have only ourselves
to blame.

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Yalini, the protagonist of my novel “Love Marriage,” turns 25 this
month. “I was born in the early hours of the morning, on a day in late
July,” she says in the book. “And as I entered this new world, my
parents’ old one was being destroyed.” Moments after she is born, her
Sri Lankan father watches on television as the country he left erupts
into violence — the anti-Tamil riots known as “Black July.” With the
anniversary of those 1983 riots, Sri Lanka’s war also turns a quarter-
century old this month — and I find myself still debating how to
describe it. In practically every interview I give about the book, I
am asked an unanswerable question. This morning, in San Francisco, the
interviewer is Aimee Allison of radio station KPFA. We’re live,
talking about Sri Lanka.

I never have more than a few minutes to capture decades — centuries?
— of labyrinthine history. In recent years, especially following the
2004 tsunami and the collapse several months ago of a tattered cease-
fire between the government and the , a separatist militant group, Sri
Lanka has appeared in the news slightly more than usual. But even this
isn’t very much, so I can understand why the question is asked. Who’s
willing to give it more than those few minutes? I’m never sure, and so
I find myself wrestling to construct responsible boilerplate that at
least suggests Sri Lanka’s historical and political complexity. Of
course, when I wrote the book, this was not a job I aimed to do.

An island about 25 miles off the southern tip of India, Sri Lanka is a
complex place, with multiple ethnicities, religions, languages,
loyalties and histories. In July 1983, long-simmering tensions there
exploded into ethnic riots. An ambush of 13 soldiers from the
country’s ethnic Sinhalese majority by militants from its Tamil
minority ushered in days of anti-Tamil violence in which the
Sinhalese-dominated government was obviously complicit. Voter lists
made it easy to find Tamil citizens, Tamil stores and homes were
destroyed, and thousands of Tamils were killed. In the aftermath, many
Tamils emigrated, finding refuge in Western countries, including
Australia, Britain and Canada. Today, in those Western countries, the
players in Sri Lankan politics are generally characterized as the
Tamil Tigers, a militant separatist group fighting for a Tamil
homeland in the northern and eastern parts of the island, and the
government, which has discriminated against Tamils for decades.

Some people do, I’m sure. At readings around the country, I’ve met Sri
Lankans, immigrants and their children, who thank me for writing about
the conflict. But while I’m proud of my book, it certainly doesn’t
represent the voices of all Sri Lankans. It’s the story of one family.
Still, I know that some people at my readings may never hear much more
about Sri Lanka than what I say. All I can do is try to understand why
these questions are asked, be as reasonable and careful in my answers
as I can, clarify that I am a novelist and emphasize that I am only
one person answering — while still being as complete and thorough as
possible.

The threat followed quickly on from the announcement that Condoleezza
Rice signed a formal agreement with the Czech Republic to host the
radar for the controversial project.

Moscow argues that the missile shield would severely undermine the
balance of European security and regards the proposed missile shield
based in two former Communist countries as a hostile move.

“We will be forced to react not with diplomatic, but with
military-technical methods,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said
in a statement.

Dr Rice, the US Secretary of State, hailed the agreement as a step
forward for international security.

After 14 months of negotiations, the US is struggling to clinch
agreement with its other proposed partner – Poland – where it hopes to
locate the interceptor missiles designed to shoot down any incoming
rockets.

Poland’s tough negotiating position has even led to a threat from the
Pentagon to find an alternative site in the Baltic state of Lithuania.

“We were in the past in a similar situation and then we failed. We did
not accept the Marshall Plan…we should not allow a second error of
this kind,” he said.

“We have said both Georgia and Russia need to avoid provocative
behaviour but frankly some of the things the Russians did over the
last couple of months added to tension in the region,” Dr Rice said.

“Georgia is an independent state. It has to be treated like one. I
want to make very clear that the US commitment to Georgia’s
territorial integrity is strong.”

The radar agreement still has to pass through the Czech parliament
where the government only has a slim majority.

Terry L. Walker, Ladson, SC / USA – Sorry, they did not publish my
answer. Next, I think we pay too much attention to that game. It is
obviously on the one hand the present-day US does not have money to
accomplish such expensive project and is just puffing up. On the other
hand Russia perceives that and opposes urging Americans forward to
start the project ASAP ruining their economy.

If Russia wants the US to cancel plans of setting up missile defense,
then Russia needs to help the USA in dealing with Iran. But instead,
Russia is making Iran a stronger threat and that is why a missile
defense may be necessary for Europe’s security.

to Gerald Baxter: not you should mention functionality of brain cells.
Modern americans are descendants of bushrangers from Europe who tried
to escape punishment for crimes in motherland and killed indians to
occupy their territories. Nothing has changed since then. There’s
nothing to do with genes.

Alexy, Moscow–You didn’t mention Russian tanks rolling into
Czechoslovakia in August 1968 and turning what had been the “Prague
Spring” back into a Communist winter. Same people, or their proteges,
run Russia today as then. The Russian anti-missile argument simply has
no merit.

Arthur Simply put Russia is a threat to global stability,basically
their government does not want to respect human rights,there is too
much coruption and irresponsability at high levels of the govt.And
their handling of nuclear technologies is very controversial.

Orientalist, Historian, Political Scientist, Dr. Megalommatis, 51, is
the author of 12 books, dozens of scholarly articles, hundreds of
encyclopedia entries, and thousands of articles. He speaks, reads and
writes more than 15, modern and ancient, languages. He refuted Greek
nationalism, supported Martin Bernal´s Black Athena, and rejected the
Greco-Romano-centric version of History. He pleaded for the European
History by J. B. Duroselle, and defended the rights of the Turkish,
Pomak, Macedonian, Vlachian, Arvanitic, Latin Catholic, and Jewish
minorities of Greece. Born Christian Orthodox, he adhered to Islam
when 36, devoted to ideas of Muhyieldin Ibn al Arabi. Greek citizen
of Turkish origin, Prof. Megalommatis studied and/or worked in Turkey,
Greece, France, England, Belgium, Germany, Syria, Israel, Iraq, Iran,
Egypt and Russia, and carried out research trips throughout the Middle
East, Northeastern Africa and Central Asia. His career extended from
Research & Education, Journalism, Publications, Photography, and
Translation to Website Development, Human Rights Advocacy, Marketing,
Sales & Brokerage. He traveled in more than 80 countries in 5
continents. He defends the Right of Aramaeans, Oromos, Ogadenis,
Sidamas, Berbers, Afars, Anuak, Darfuris, Bejas, Balochs and Tibetans
to National Independence, demands international recognition for
Kosovo, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and Transnistria,
calls for National Unity in Somalia, and denounces Islamic Terrorism.

The slave and sudanese slaves’s beatings

Michael was one of the first slaves to tell his tale. His eyes were
red, fatigue showed on his weathered face. Scars marked the places
where wounds from beatings have never healed. He said his wife was
stabbed to death by their master’s wives, four Arab women who were
angry she was at the water well with them. Michael was beaten
unconscious because he charged his master when he heard the news of
his wife’s death.

Some of the men had been in captivity for more than 20 years, captured
by the Janjaweed (Arab for “Devil on Horseback”) and Arab slave
raiders during the so-called civil war.

The younger slaves, children like Ahkmed, were born into slavery. His
mother was killed by her master. Ahkmed has no idea where his father
is, no clue of his age. The reddish tint in his hair shows how
malnourished he is. His clothes were ripped and dirty, barely hanging
on him.

All of these people had lost hope they would ever be free to live
their own lives and have their own families.

There are reports of tens of thousands of men, women and children
still enslaved in Darfur and Kordofan.

A group of abolitionists, under the banner of Christian Solidarity
International based in Zurich, has been working quietly since 1995 to
free the slaves in Darfur as well as provide them with humanitarian
aid.

This organized rescue of slaves was begun about 20 years ago by the
Sudanese themselves. The Arab/Dinka Peace Committee is a grassroots
organization that liberates Sudanese slaves. The covert operation
generally begins in cattle camps in the north, where the underground
network trades slaves for cattle vaccine. Each vaccine is worth about
$40, and it costs one or two vaccines per slave. Livestock is much
more valuable to the Arab slave masters than are human beings.

In Germany in the 20th century, it was the Holocaust. Some 50 years
later in Rwanda, genocide again. And now, in the 21st century, as we
talk about smart cars that can park themselves and sending people to
Mars, we still allow the barbaric treatment of humans. Genocide rears
its ugly head again. We’re a society with short-term memory and
information overload.

Sudan and slavery are invisible to the Western world. Few if any
American journalists are telling the slaves’ stories. Why does CSI go
into Sudan? Because no one else will. It’s remote, it’s hot, and it’s
desolate, with no electricity, running water or cellphone or Internet
service in most places.

And, let’s face it. These victims are black. Politically, Darfur is in
bed with China, which is in bed with the United States. Slavery in
Sudan is a three-pronged issue: race, religion and politics.

There may be tens of thousands of slaves still in captivity in Darfur.
If after you read this you decide to do nothing, then at least you can
not say you didn’t know.

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Yalini, the protagonist of my novel “Love Marriage,” turns 25 this
month. “I was born in the early hours of the morning, on a day in late
July,” she says in the book. “And as I entered this new world, my
parents’ old one was being destroyed.” Moments after she is born, her
Sri Lankan father watches on television as the country he left erupts
into violence — the anti-Tamil riots known as “Black July.” With the
anniversary of those 1983 riots, Sri Lanka’s war also turns a quarter-
century old this month — and I find myself still debating how to
describe it. In practically every interview I give about the book, I
am asked an unanswerable question. This morning, in San Francisco, the
interviewer is Aimee Allison of radio station KPFA. We’re live,
talking about Sri Lanka.

“Can you lay out what the landscape is there, and what is the source
of the conflict?” she asks.

The conflict has cost about 70,000 lives, and counting. Both sides
have long been criticized for their human rights violations. On the
government side, there are mysterious disappearances and killings of
mostly Tamil civilians, journalists and aid workers and the long-
simmering but never-concluding investigations into those incidents.
Other evidence suggests that the government colludes with
paramilitaries who have conscripted child soldiers. The Tigers, too,
have a stained history: They have used suicide bombers and child
soldiers and have killed elected politicians, dissenting Tamils and
civilians. Many governments, including the United States, list them as
a terrorist group.

I first really tried to explain the situation last year, in a
graduate-level South Asian anthropology class at Columbia. I had
prepared to present a reading on a specific aspect of Sri Lankan
society, but the professor asked me to talk more generally about the
country instead. How would you explain it to undergraduates with no
knowledge? he asked.

I was completely thrown. I don’t even remember how I began. Perhaps I
picked up the chalk and drew the lumpy map of the country. (The
professor: Does it really look like . . . that?) Or perhaps I began by
trying to explain the ethnic conflict. (The professor: Who are these
different groups? How did they originate? Can you explain the
different groups of Tamils? What do you mean, Ceylon Tamil? And the
up-country Tamils, who work on tea estates? And are the Muslims Tamil?
No? But don’t they speak Tamil?) Whatever I did, it was wrong — or
not right enough, or not complete enough. When the class ended, I was
still trying to explain Sri Lanka. We hadn’t even gotten to the book I
had been assigned to discuss. I left the room stunned at my inability
to put the country’s history into brief, teachable terms. You’ll thank
me later, the professor said. Next year, when your book comes out,
people will ask you that question — and then they will dissect your
answer.

As a novelist, I should be free to write about whatever I want,
without worrying about the political significance people will attach
to it. Indeed, writing fiction means that I have license to diverge
from historical facts. It shouldn’t be my responsibility if some
readers have little knowledge of Sri Lanka beyond what they read in my
book or hear me say as a guest on a radio show. I also know, however,
that regardless of the caveats I put before what I say, my words may
carry the weight of an imagined community.

The threat followed quickly on from the announcement that Condoleezza
Rice signed a formal agreement with the Czech Republic to host the
radar for the controversial project.

Moscow argues that the missile shield would severely undermine the
balance of European security and regards the proposed missile shield
based in two former Communist countries as a hostile move.

“We will be forced to react not with diplomatic, but with
military-technical methods,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said
in a statement.

After 14 months of negotiations, the US is struggling to clinch
agreement with its other proposed partner – Poland – where it hopes to
locate the interceptor missiles designed to shoot down any incoming
rockets.

“There are remaining issues, but the United States has made a very
generous offer [to the Poles],” said Dr Rice.

The signing ceremony seemed to bury that idea. Addressing Russian
anxiety about the anti-missile system in what used to be its backyard,
Ms Rice added: “We want the system to be transparent to the Russians.”

In Prague, where polls consistently show a majority of Czechs opposed
to hosting the US radar, protestors from Greenpeace unrolled a large
banner proclaiming “Do not make a target of us.”

After Prague, Dr Rice will visit Bulgaria and Georgia where she will
stress US support for Tblisi’s application for Nato membership,
another annoyance for Russia.

to Gerald Baxter: not you should mention functionality of brain cells.
Modern americans are descendants of bushrangers from Europe who tried
to escape punishment for crimes in motherland and killed indians to
occupy their territories. Nothing has changed since then. There’s
nothing to do with genes.

The thing that strikes me as strange is that if this is to stop
missles from Iran why position it where they are? The US has its new
colony in Serbia. Europe tends to forget these anti missle missiles
still wont stop the warhead landing in the EU and contaminating
European soil..

This is not a MISSILE COMPLEX it is an Anti-Missile Complex. The
Russians are using this situation to gain more global influence in the
world, Why the USA does not understand this beats me. USA cannot put
this on Russian soil because it consists of technology not available
in Russia

Tuesday, July 8, 2008 :In a blatant effort to scuttle tomorrows one-
day strike by hundreds of unions, the Sri Lankan government has
mounted a terrorist scare, claiming to have information that the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) could set off bombs in the
South this week.

Media and Information Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, another
member of Rajapakses huge cabinet, was also present at the media
conference. Asked about the governments response to the strike, he
would only say: It is a secret. The government has extensive powers
under the countrys emergency regulations to suppress the strike or to
detain strikers. These include the imposition of essential services
orders to ban industrial action that is disrupting or threatening the
maintenance of supplies and services also essential to the life of the
community.

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