U.S. and European media

December 18, 2022

OneWorld: Sudan Lays Groundwork for Elections, Peace.  After a series of protests and arrests in Sudan's capital city last week, officials finally agreed Sunday on guidelines for both the national elections in April and a vote on southern independence in 2011. But concerns remain about the humanitarian situation in the country.  The demonstration was organized to protest the government's handling of next year's elections and demand that Parliament change laws restricting political rights such as free speech and the freedom to assemble. Although the detained SPLM leaders were released later that same day, the Sudanese government's response to a rally demanding political freedom reinforces why change is needed, said the Save Darfur Coalition.  "These events make clear that, for all its rhetoric over the last few months, the Bashir government will not tolerate peaceful dissent in Sudan nor is it willing to create the conditions necessary for credible elections in April," said Save Darfur president Jerry Fowler.

New York Post: Celeb couple set for holidays.  David Arquette said: "A year and a half ago I started this California-based clothing line with friends. It's called Propr. So tonight (that was yesterday) we're launching original T-shirts with a Save Darfur label. The design's an image of Africa with sun radiating out from it. The money goes to help raise awareness and hopefully stop the atrocities. The idea came when a small home-decorating shop near ours in Venice made candles to help Darfur. They filled me in with facts, and the more I learned the more I wanted to help.  These shirts are now in Bloomingdale's."

The following blog by Francois Grignon appeared in Reuters UK: Sudan: Preparing for a peaceful southern secession.  Four years ago, the Sudanese people were promised a brighter future. But today, that bright future is looking decidedly tarnished, and Sudan is sliding towards violent breakup.  The referendum on independence for the South, a key pillar of the arrangement, is due in January 2011. Before that referendum takes place, Sudan must hold national elections.  But President Omar al Bashir's government has failed to pass key democratic reforms promised by the Agreement, and without these reforms, there is no way the results of the elections will be accepted and offer a milestone for the peace process.  On the contrary, fraudulent elections engineered to strengthen Bashir's National Congress Party (NCP), close the doors to political negotiations in Darfur and undermine the southern-based Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) both in the South and in national institutions.  A sham poll would most likely lead to a new escalation of violence in Darfur and compromise the holding of the referendum. And if the referendum does not go ahead on schedule, the South will probably declare unilateral independence, plunging Sudan back into civil war.

The following op-ed by Nicholas D. Kristof appeared in the Seattle Times: Lost boy's gift of education changes lives in Sudan.  Here's a story for the holiday season. A 30-year-old former refugee is putting together a most extraordinary Christmas present - the first high school his community has ever had.  Valentino Deng, 30, is the central figure in the masterful 2006 best seller, "What Is the What," by Dave Eggers. The book records Valentino's life after the Sudanese civil war strikes his remote town in South Sudan. He and Eggers channel every penny made from "What Is the What" to a new foundation dedicated to building a high school in his hometown in Sudan.  That's what I find so inspiring about Valentino. For a quarter-century, world leaders have averted their eyes from horrors in Sudan - first the north-south civil war that killed 2 million people (more than died in all the wars in America's history), then the genocide in Darfur and now the growing risk of another civil war. In that vacuum, moral leadership has come instead from university students and refugees like Valentino.

The Darfur Daily News is a service of the Save Darfur Coalition. To subscribe to the Daily News, please email [email protected]. For media inquiries, please contact Ashley Roberts at (202) 478-6181 or        (202) 478-6181, or [email protected].