U.S. and European media

February 5, 2023

Agence France-Presse: EU to send observers for Sudanese election.  The European Union will send its biggest ever observer mission for Sudan's key elections in April, an EU foreign affairs spokesperson said Thursday. "The mission will be deployed on the ground in late February," said the spokesman for EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton.  The 130-strong mission will be led by an as yet unnamed member of the European parliament, the spokesman added.  "It will be the biggest observation mission" for the European Union, he added.  The African giant is emerging from two decades of civil war.

Bloomberg News: African Union Says ICC's Decision on Al-Bashir May Dent Peace.  The African Union said a decision by the International Criminal Court to review a decision not to charge Sudanese President Umar al-Bashir with genocide in the western region of Darfur may undermine peace in the country.  "The AU reiterates that the search for justice should be pursued in a manner not detrimental to the search for peace," the 53-member nation group said in an e-mailed statement today. "The latest decision by the ICC runs in the opposite direction."

Reuters: Darfur rebel infighting drives 10,000 from their homes. Infighting in one of Darfur's rebel groups has driven at least 10,000 people from their homes in the restive Jabel Marra area, deepening the humanitarian crisis in Sudan's west, officials said.  Darfur's rebels have fractured into dozens of groups since their rebellion began in early 2003, hindering peace efforts and increasing insecurity in Sudan's west, where the United Nations estimates a humanitarian crisis has claimed 300,000 lives.

The following commentary is by Nicholas D. Kristof in the New York Times: Is It Ever O.K. to Name Rape Victims?  Some readers have asked, in the context of my recent Congo columns, why I have named rape victims, including the name of a 9-year-old girl. Let me say at the outset that it's the policy of the Times not to name rape victims and that making exceptions requires consultation with a senior editor. That's a policy that makes sense to me; I didn't consult but should have (and will in the future). In any case, let me explain my thinking here.

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 [email protected].