By Nwachukwu Egbunike

A group of students and alumni linked to the privately-owned Madonna University in the Niger Delta, Nigeria, risk up to seven years in jail over social media posts denouncing poor conditions and mistreatment of students and staff at the university.

The group, known as the #Madonna7, includes four students;  Benedict Amaechi, Badaziri Owhonda, Chijoke Nnamani and Nwokeoma Blackson; and former staff members Anthony Ezeimo and Jonathan Abuno, also university alumni. A seventh man in the group, Nnamdi Opara, a friend of Ezeimo, is also named in the case.

On March 28, 2019, the group was arraigned before the court under section 27(1) (b) of the Nigerian cybercrime law of 2015 [Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015] for offenses allegedly committed between January 1 and December 31, 2018. Police brought the charges against the group following a complaint submitted by the university.

Vivien Douglas, a communications consultant acting on behalf of the Madonna 7, shared the charge sheet (FHC/FHC/C/03/2019) with Global Voices via email. The group is accused of sending “false messages” through social media which caused “annoyance, inconvenience, danger, insult, injury, criminal intimidation…” to Madonna University and its chief security officer, Titu Ugwu.

On July 3, a Federal High Court in Awka, the capital city of Anambra State in southeast Nigeria, granted the men release on bail. Although the application for bail for the group was filled and heard on February 19, they remained in prison for five months.

Chinedu Igwe, the head of the legal team for the accused, stated that the court was supposed to grant them bail in March but the court clerk could not perform an address verification of the sureties, which stalled their release.

The case was adjourned to October 7, 2019.

A Catholic university above criticism?

Madonna University is a private Catholic University that runs three campuses in Nigeria. The Madonna 7 allegedly committed their cybercrimes on the Okija campus located in the Anambra State, southeast Nigeria. The university has two other campuses located in the city of Elele, River State (southern Nigeria) and Akpugo in Enugu State (southeast Nigeria).

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Edeh founded Madonna University in 1999 and also founded another university and a polytechnic. Edeh is the second richest Nigerian pastor with charities and investments estimated to be within 80 and 100 million United States dollars.

Online, Edeh and his university faced backlash for not tolerating criticism from students and staff:

Madonna University is still a glorified secondary School.
You will never see a graduate of Madonna University talk good about his or her alma mata. Sad.
In case you don’t know, the institution locked 6 students and a lecturer up since February for their opinion on Facebook.😭😭😭

— Artist extraordinaire (@AlphabetPrize) July 4, 2019

What did Madonna 7 say about their university?

Anthony Ezeimo, Jonathan Abuno, and Chijoke Nnamani are among those who got into legal trouble for their comments about the university and its administration online.

According to the charge sheet, Ezeimo, a former lecturer and dean of students’ affairs of the university, posted a message on an unspecified social media network describing Madonna University as a “death trap” and its administration as ”evil” after alleging that the Okija campus locked a group of students in a room and denied them access to food and water for two days.

Douglas, the communications consultant, clarified to Global Voices that Ezeimo posted claims in an alumni Whatsapp group that school security had locked Abuno, a former spokesman of the university, in a school cell at the Elele campus for allegedly starting a Facebook group called “It’s Madonna,” which was critical of conditions at the university.

The charge sheet refers to a group on an unspecified social media network called “Itz Madonna.” But, according to the sheet, students Amaechi and Owhonda created the group — not Abuno.

Allegations of Ezeimo’s mistreatment by school security generated a fury of reactions from alumni members who condemned the arrest — and also narrated their unpleasant experiences while students at Madonna.

Nnamani, a Madonna University graduate who had previously defended his alma mater against the social media backlash, is among those arrested. Prior to his arrest, he urged the university to be ”nice to its lecturers” because ”good lecturers are scarce” in a Facebook post.

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He was arrested on February 4 in Delta State where he was serving obligatory time in Nigeria’s National Youth Service Corps.

#FreeMadonna7Now campaign

Online activists welcomed the release of the Madonna 7. The #TakeItBack Movement, a campaign for social justice, started by human rights activist Omoyele Sowore, also expressed solidarity.

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Nwachukwu Egbunike — I’m a Nigerian. I write poetry and essays. My research interests are social media, youth political participation, politics and ethnicity I blog at FEATHERS PROJECT

Top image: A graduation ceremony at a Nigerian university. Photo by Rajmund Dabrowski/ANN, via Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, June 7, 2009.

This article was sourced from GlobalVoices.org

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By Kudzai Chimhangwa

Millions of Zimbabweans will remember January 2019 for spiraling prices for basic commodities, a massive fuel price hike, and multiple unexpected internet disruptions which lasted for several days.

When protesters took to the streets of Harare, the capital, to speak out against the dramatic 150 percent fuel price hike, the military responded with a brutal clampdown that took many by surprise. Clashes left scores of protesters injured or tortured and at least 12 dead.

As activists turned to social media to mobilize the protests and draw attention to Zimbabwe’s deteriorating economy, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration responded with restricting access to social media and entire networks in certain areas of the country on the grounds of national security.

Between January 14-21, citizens had difficulties accessing their bank accounts or communicating effectively with friends and family. All businesses and shops shut down as soldiers patrolled the streets.

The government issued directives from the president’s office, channeled through the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) toward mobile and fixed telephony companies to restrict access to entire networks until further notice.

According to Netblocks internet shutdown observatory, the January disruptions included total network shutdowns that took Bulawayo, and Harare, the capital, offline, and restrictions on access to social media platforms and messaging apps including Facebook and WhatsApp.

The disruptions were partially lifted a few days later, but a ban on accessing certain social media services remained until it was lifted on January 21, hours after the country’s High Court deemed the ban ‘’illegal’’.

Zimbabweans now live in fear that a shutdown can happen again at any time on the government’s whim; authorities seem to view digital rights as a favor granted to citizens rather than a constitutional right.

‘Digital rights thwarted’

While Mnangagwa’s administration made a public commitment to opening up the media, he seems to follow in the footsteps of former President Robert Mugabe, who was also intolerant of freedom of expression and freedom of information before the military deposed him in November 2017 — effectively ending his 37-year rule.

Government officials have repeatedly described access to social media as a potential threat, hinting that similar actions to the January shutdown would not be ruled out.

In fact, in the aftermath of last January’s disruptions, Energy Mutodi, the Deputy Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, said that the government would not hesitate to shut down the internet in the future, referring to citizens as “primitive people (…) who don’t understand the meaning of peaceful demonstrations.”

In early July, the Minister of Information Communication Technology, Kazembe Kazembe, issued a warning on what he termed abuse of the internet and social media in The Herald:

There is a lot of photoshopping and negative falsehoods which are being peddled on social media. What really has gotten into us as a people? … Let’s be very careful with what we see on social media. Not everything that we see on social media is true.

Such statements by government officials demonstrate the fragile state of digital rights in Zimbabwe, activists said.

Internet Society of Zimbabwe chapter president, Solomon Kembo, pointed out that the disruptions experienced are an indication that ”the authorities would violate digital rights in future if they sense a security threat as a result of protests”.

“The fact that the government was compelled to lift the ban on a technicality and not on the basis of infringing [upon] digital rights gives credence to the assertion that in the future, the government will possibly issue another blanket internet shutdown using the ‘correct’ office”, he told Global Voices in an interview.

The technicality is based on Zimbabwe’s High Court ruling that the state security minister had no authority to order mobile operators to restrict internet access to customers during the January 2019 protests. Internet services were restored after this ruling.

“The shutting down of the internet in January this year set a bad precedent which will ensure this continues to happen in the future. Digital rights are being thwarted in Zimbabwe,” Fidelity Mhlanga, a journalist with the Zimbabwe Independent told Global Voices.

Centralized internet, criminalized speech

The Zimbabwean government continues to push for measures that would tighten its control over the internet.

In March 2018, Mnangagwa launched the National Policy for Information and Communications Technology, initially introduced by Mugabe’s administration in 2015, which sets out to centralize control over the country’s internet backbone.

Currently, the ICT market in Zimbabwe is diverse with various privately-owned service providers. However, the government maintains some level of control over the market through its ownership of two international gateways for internet traffic and three out of the five mobile service providers operating in Zimbabwe: TelOne, Telecel, and NetOne.

In addition, the government asserts its control through POTRAZ, a government parastatal tasked with the regulation of telecommunications and postal services, including the internet. This means they depend on the government for directives.

During the disruptions, these companies all operate under orders from POTRAZ to terminate internet services. Media and ICT consultant Koliwe Majama noted that it remains a matter of concern that privately-owned Econet, the largest mobile telephony and internet service provider, is always quick to abide by any directives to shut down the internet, especially when they government-issued.

If the Mnangagwa administration moves forward with its National Policy for Information and Communications Technology, it will only further assert state control over the ICT market, making it easier for the government to order and impose internet disruptions and restrict access to the internet and mobile networks. In a 2018 Freedom on the Net Report, Freedom House noted:

Section 7 on ‘ICT Infrastructure’ details plans to establish a single national ICT backbone to be owned by various public and private shareholders but ultimately controlled by the government. The section also mandates infrastructure sharing among telecoms, which private telecoms that have invested heavily in their own infrastructure have decried as a form of ‘backdoor nationalization.’ Most troublingly, Section 23.3 creates ‘The National Backbone Company,’ defined by the document as ‘one Super Gateway’ which shall be the entry and exit point for all international traffic.

Additionally, Mnangagwa’s administration is pushing for the legislative enactment of the Computer Crime and Cybercrime Bill, which will place restrictions on freedom of expression online —  if successfully passed. The bill was first introduced in August 2015. Its third edition, published in 2017, contains vague provisions that would greatly restrict freedom of expression online if adopted.

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For example, Section 16 penalizes the dissemination of communications “with intent to coerce, intimidate, harass, threaten bully or cause substantial emotional distress” with a fine, prison of up to 10 years, or both. Section 17 penalizes the spread of false information “to cause psychological or economic harm” with fines, up to five years in prison, or both.

Zimbabwe has one of the most expensive mobile data in the world. Between October 23 and November 28, 2018, 1 gigabyte cost $75 USD per month, way beyond the reach of ordinary working Zimbabwean citizens who on average earn $50 USD per month.

The Mnangagwa administration’s ICT policies and strategies are bound to further thwart Zimbabweans’ right to access the internet: It will make it harder for citizens to express themselves and access and exchange information online, particularly with disrupted internet access.

For Mhlanga, the Zimbabwe Independent journalist, awareness-raising is key in the battle for an open and free internet in the country.

“I strongly believe digital rights are just as important as socio-economic rights. However, most Zimbabwean citizens are not aware of their digital rights thus the need to raise awareness going forward,” he said.

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Kudzai Chimhangwa — I am an investigative and business journalist with years of experience. I have worked in Zimbabwe and Namibia with independent publications and also participated in international media training programs in Germany and Belgium under the auspices of DW Akademie. I enjoy the thrills and spills that come with media work.

This article was sourced from GlobalVoices.org

Image: Zimbabwe’s January internet disruptions sent a chilling message to citizens that internet access is a favor, not a right. Here, two men in Harare, Zimbabwe, rest on a ledge mid-day. Photo by Ethan Zuckerman via Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0.

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By Steven MacMillan

Africa is set to become a major theatre of war in the near future, as the scale of US military involvement will continue to increase on the resource-rich continent.

In October of last year, the general public was given a glimpse into the degree to which US forces are operational in Africa, when four US soldiers were killed in Niger after being ambushed by militants whilst on a training mission with Nigerian troops.

This incident came only a few months after China opened its first overseas military base on the African continent, setting up a naval base in Djibouti, a strategically important country in the Horn of Africa. It is no coincidence that the US has increased its military footprint on the continent in line with Africa becoming increasingly important for China, both strategically and economically.

Despite the US being active in Africa for years now, US military presence is only going to increase in the months and years to come. The 2011 war in Libya was only the tip of the iceberg as far as military engagement is concerned.

In fact, the hawkish US Senator, Lindsay Graham, said last October that Africa was going to increasingly become a theatre in the war on terrorism, with the Senator warning the American public that the US military will conduct “more actions in Africa.”

Although the Middle East will continue to be a region plagued by warfare (especially if the US is reckless enough to launch a full-scale attack on Iran), there will be somewhat of a shift in focus from the Middle East to Africa.

A Decade of AFRICOM

Since 9/11, Africa has gone from being regarded by the US as a region that is of relatively little strategic value to Washington, to being of such importance that in 2007, President George W. Bush announced that the US was going to create a specific command for the entire African continent; namely, US Africa Command (AFRICOM).

Prior to the establishment of AFRICOM, US operations in Africa were split between three US commands: US European Command (EUCOM), US Central Command (CENTCOM) and US Pacific Command (PACOM). AFRICOM operations began in 2007, with the command becoming fully operational by October 2008. The official mission statement of AFRICOM states that:

U.S. Africa Command, with partners, disrupts and neutralizes transnational threats, protects U.S. personnel and facilities, prevents and mitigates conflict, and builds African partner defense capability and capacity in order to promote regional security, stability and prosperity.

With Pentagonspeak out of the way, we can now move past the public relations department of the US military and onto discussing the reality of AFRICOM’s inception and role.

AFRICOM: A Neoconservative Imperial Project

AFRICOM was created during the George W. Bush administration, an administration that was completely stacked with neoconservative actors. One of the key meetings that helped bring AFRICOM into reality was convened by then Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, in 2006. As Stephanie Hanson wrote in a 2007 article on AFRICOM for the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR):

Former Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, convened a planning team for such a command in mid-2006, and in December, President Bush authorized its creation.

Rumsfeld of course was heavily involved with the neoconservative group the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), which stated in its September 2000 report, titled: ‘Rebuilding America’s Defenses – Strategy, Forces and Resources for a New Century,’ that US grand strategy should aim to maintain US supremacy in the world through having a “globally preeminent military capability:”

At present, the United States faces no global rival.  America’s grand strategy should aim to preserve and extend this advantageous position as far into the future as possible… Preserving the desirable strategic situation in which the United States now finds itself requires a globally preeminent military capability both today and in the future (p. i).

It is clear that the establishment of AFRICOM was part of the grand strategy outlined by the neoconservatives in 2000 to maintain US supremacy in the world, through having a “globally preeminent military capability.” Hence, one aspect of AFRICOM is to project US power in Africa and compete with the growing influence of China on the continent. Another important reason for AFRICOM is to help secure access to oil and other resources that are so abundant. As Hanson wrote in her 2007 article:

Many of the experts who heralded the command’s creation seem to validate African concerns. Writing in World Defense Review, J. Peter Pham, director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs, calls AFRICOM’s creation ‘long overdue’ in light of U.S. dependence on Africa’s oil, its concern over radical Islamist groups targeting the region, and the continent’s identity as ‘an arena for intense diplomatic competition with other states with global ambitions, like China.’ Others note that AFRICOM will help the United States secure vital sea lanes.

“Terrorist Image-Making” to Justify AFRICOM

The threat of terrorism is once again being used by the US and wider Western war machine to justify a major military footprint in Africa. This issue was addressed by Horace G. Campbell, a Professor of African American Studies and Political Science at Syracuse University, in a 2008 article, titled: ‘Remilitarisation of African societies: Analysis of the planning behind proposed US Africa Command.’

In the article, Campbell (2008: 13 & 30) further details the fact that many leading neoconservatives were instrumental in creating AFRICOM, before moving on to argue that the threat of terrorism has often been exaggerated, and even fabricated, in order to justify a US military presence on the continent. Africa became the target of what Campbell (2008: 7) calls “terrorist image-making,” designed to create the perception that Africa was a major source of global instability and terrorism. This perception management campaign included subcontracting scholars within African studies departments to write books and editorials which placed significant emphasis on the threat of terrorism from Africa.

The Current State of Affairs

Just this year so far, US forces have conducted numerous airstrikes in Somalia under the pretext of targeting al-Shabaab militants, with the number of covert, classified missions on the continent no doubt much higher. For example, there was indications that AFRICOM was involved in engineering a military coup attempt in Burkina Faso back in 2015, designed to protect US military bases in the country.

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The situation in Africa is another demonstration of how the nonsensical ‘War of Terror’ is a perfect justification for perpetual warfare. The US can essentially conduct military operations in any region of the world, and as long as they issue a press release stating that it is in the name of countering terrorism or fighting extremism, there is virtually no outrage or legal ramifications for their actions. Much of the world has become numb to the belligerence of the US and her allies.

Africa is set to become a major new theatre of war in the near future, starting a new phase in the neoconservative strategy of perennial warfare.

Steven MacMillan is a freelance writer and editor of  The Analyst Report.

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Photo Credits 1: U.S. Navy photo by Roderick Eubanks

Photo Credits 2: US DOD

Top Image Credit: Anthony Freda Art

Children vaccinated  in Africa were severely harmed by vaccines

Christina England
Activist Post

In December 2012, vaccine tragedy hit the small village of Gouro, Chad, Africa, situated on the edge of the Sahara Desert. Five hundred children were locked into their school, threatened that if they did not agree to being force-vaccinated with a meningitis A vaccine, they would receive no further education. These children were vaccinated without their parents’ knowledge. This vaccine was an unlicensed product still going through the third and fourth phases of testing.

Within hours, one hundred six children began to suffer from headaches, vomiting, severe uncontrollable convulsions and paralysis. The children’s wait for a doctor began. They had to wait one full week for a doctor to arrive while the team of vaccinators just carried on vaccinating others from the village. More children became sick.

When the doctor finally came, he could do nothing for the children. The team of vaccinators, upon seeing what had happened, fled the village in fear.

Fifty children were finally transferred to a hospital in Faya and later taken by plane to two hospitals in N’Djamena, the capital city of Chad. After being shuttled around like cattle, these sick, weak children were dumped back in their village without a diagnosis and each family was given an unconfirmed sum of £1000 by the government. No forms were signed and no documentation was seen. They were informed that their children had not suffered a vaccine injury. However, if this were true, why would their government award each family £1000 in what has been described as hush money?

Interestingly, during the time the children spent in the hospital, two more children joined them from another village.

To read the full stories of this tragedy, please see references at the end of this article from previous Vactruth world-exclusive reports. [1,2,3,4]

Since this time, Vactruth has been passed a series of secret documents, which fill in some missing gaps in this story and expose just how corrupt the organizations behind this tragedy really are.

The Exclusive, Heartbreaking Details

On January 14, 2013, arrangements were made for seven female patients between the ages of 8-18 to be evacuated from the Hospital of Mother and Child (HME) and the General Hospital of National Referrals (HGRN) in N’Djamena and transferred by air to a clinic in Tunisia. This was scheduled to take place between January 16 and 22.

The documents in our possession state that the Chadian government arranged for the patients to be accompanied by Dr. Joseph Mad-Toingue, Chief Service of Infectious Diseases of the National General Referral Hospital; Dr. Moumar Mbaileyo, anesthesiologist employee of the National General Referral Hospital; and Mr. Dihoulne Kakiang, state-certified nurse, employee of the National General Referral Hospital.

On January 29, 2013, a letter passed between The Chief Service of Infectious Diseases of HGRN-N’Djaména and Mr. Director General of the National General Referral Hospital, stating:

Mr. Director General, 

Herewith I have the honor of putting into your hands the report of the mission completed in Tunisia between 15 and 22 of January 2013 regarding the medical evacuation of 7 patients. 

The Chief of Service.

Vactruth now has this report.

A Parent’s Worst Nightmare

The report states that seven female patients between the ages of 8 and 18 had suffered adverse reactions after receiving the meningitis A vaccination during a national campaign, which took place on December 11, 2012, for the prevention of this illness. These patients had originally been taken to the Regional Hospital of Faya, before being transferred on December 26, 2012, to the Hospital of Mother and Child (HME) and the General Hospital of National Referrals (HGRN) in N’Djamena.

Arrangements were later made for a medical evacuation to transfer these patients to Tunisia for further tests and treatment.

According to the report, the departure took place in N’Djaména on January 15, 2013, at 10:50 pm after a long wait at the Hassan airport in N’Djamena because of the late arrival of the plane.

The journey took place on board a Tunisian plane chartered by the International Medical Society (SMEDI). The party consisted of seven patients, three members of the medical team and seven parents (two men and five women) who accompanied the sick children.

Interestingly, the document states that the party did not fly alone.

The government report states that twenty other passengers traveling to Tunisia for the same reason (medical evacuation) also joined the party. Sadly, there were no further details on these patients in the report.

Were these patients also vaccine-damaged by the meningitis A vaccination, and where did these twenty other sick patients come from?

Just before the plane took off, an 18-year-old patient had what the report describes as a ‘shaking episode,’ and was given a 10 mg vial of diazepam before boarding the plane. Other than this incident, the flight went well.

The Specialists Say “Case Closed”

The group arrived in Tunisia on January 16, 2013, and was received by SMEDI agents who took care of the police formalities (entry visa) before dividing the group into three parties. The patients were transported by ambulance to the clinic, the medical staff was taken to a hotel, and the patients’ parents were taken to a center.

On the afternoon of January 16, the three medical staff were introduced to SMEDI’s Director General, M. Ghazi Mejbri, to get acquainted. This was followed by a work session with the medical coordinator, Dr. Folla Amara. In the course of this meeting, the condition of the patients was discussed and plans were arranged for their care.

The patients were taken to the neurological department of SMEDI’s La Sourka clinic. The clinic had received the children’s medical records in advance and was reported to have conducted their own clinical and biological tests on the patients before meeting with the medical team that had accompanied them.

On January 17, a meeting took place with Professor Rachid Namai (“chef de clinique”), Dr. Kefi and Dr. Mabet. It was concluded that the children’s ‘shaking attacks’ or convulsions were of no consequence. On the paraclinical level, the report stated that the liquor tests of five patients did not reveal any anomalies, nor did the EEG of six patients.

The EEG of the seventh patient showed minor anomalies in the immediate post-critical phase, but was reported to have stabilized. An MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) was to take place of all seven patients. After the meeting, the team visited the patients who were all reported to be well, except for one child who had developed tonsillitis and had to receive appropriate treatment.

On January 19, a second meeting took place at the La Soukra Clinic during which they examined the patients’ medical records that gave the results of all the medical tests that had taken place. Among the biological perturbations there was reported to be one case of persistent thrombopenia (a lower than normal number of blood cell fragments called platelets), two cases of of elevated immunoglobulines E (Ig E) and five cases of gram negative bacteria directly upon examination — culturing has not been contributory.

The report stated that, generally speaking, the patients showed a raised tendency for hypoalbuminemia (swelling), hypo creatininemia (renal dysfunction), and hyper glucorrhagia (no definition found).

The MRI results showed no anomalies, and the HIV and hepatitis serologies were negative. The medical team found the children’s health to be satisfactory. The report states that the children had no infectious cause for their illness and the hypothesis of an immuno-allergic reaction was deemed to be more probable.

At this point, it was decided to close the investigation due to the advice from specialists and followed up with epidemiological and pharmacodynamical studies.

No Reason For Concern?

On January 21, the mission members visited the clinic at La Soukra for a last time. They found all patients waiting for their stay to end. The report states that a short meeting took place with the chief of service who promised to give his medical report shortly. The mission ended with a visit to the Dr. Naoui Mohamed Néjib’s laboratory where the biological tests of all the patients had been performed.

The mission members left Tunisia on January 22, 2013, around 2:00 pm and arrived in N’Djaména at 4:00 pm.

They concluded that the medical evacuation to Tunisia had given them the opportunity to investigate more thoroughly seven patients who had developed post-vaccination reactions during the national vaccination campaign against meningitis.

It was stated that, generally speaking, the clinical state of the patients did not give any reasons for concern and that the paraclinical balance of the majority did not show major perturbations.

The mission was deemed a success.

The report was signed by Dr. Joseph Mad-Toïngé in N’Djaména on January 28, 2013.

Determined Parents Won’t Give Up

The parents tell a very, very different story. According to parents and relatives, these children were locked into their school, threatened with no education and forcibly vaccinated without their parents’ knowledge.

They state that the children are still desperately ill and that they have no way of getting any medical care. After the mission, they were left in Faya and had to make their own way back to the village.

The children are still suffering severe convulsions. One relative told me:

The children drop suddenly to the ground and shake violently before going paralyzed. We do not know what is wrong and we want answers. No one will help us. Our children were well and fit, we have never had meningitis in our area, so why did they vaccinate our children with this vaccination? 

Our children have since become aggressive in their behavior and have a rash all over their bodies. They are having terrible frightening convulsions. Why won’t anyone help us?

I have been informed that the parents have formed an activist group to put out their plea to the world.

Unanswered Questions

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The parents ask:

• Were the vaccines used on our children out-of-date?


• Had some of the batches used been spoiled in the heat?


• Did the vaccinators vaccinate our children inadvertently with an unsafe product?


• Was the maximum duration of four days without refrigeration respected and adhered to?


• Were the vaccinators adequately trained?

They state:

All this disturbs us and makes us fear the worst effects for the future. We do not know what is going on behind the scenes and what the Minister of Health, the organizations involved with the tragedy (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, PATH WHO, MVP and UNICEF) are saying or are going to do. As parents, our priority is to get back the health our children. We feel that it is very sad that [our] entire city is paralyzed and is suffering from epilepsy. We were hoping that our government would make a stand and save our children but it has so far failed to do so. Therefore we call assistance for everyone in the world to intervene.

Our needs as listed below:

• A health specialist, an organization or an individual to assist the sick children, who are innocent victims and help them to get their health back.


• Human rights organization or an individual lawyer who could help the parents‘ association with legal issues and get justice for the children against the Chad government, WHO, MVP, PATH, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Indian company Serum Institute of India Ltd.


• Parents need independent and freelance journalists to help them to get media coverage and tell the world what has happened to the children of Gouro, Chad.

Conclusion

The parents’ requests are simple and the same as any other parent left in this impossible situation. They feel deserted and betrayed by the Chadian government, who have left their children to die, while at the same time announcing the vaccination program to be a success. All the parents are very angry and are pleading with the world to help. They state they need lawyers, doctors, medication and above all, support.

This whole debacle has been a coverup from the very beginning. One of the children’s relatives has told me that there has never been a case of meningitis in this part of Africa. So, why vaccinate children needlessly for a disease that does not exist in this area? Worse still, according to my source, this particular part of Chad is not even on the meningitis belt, and yet this vaccine was given to these children. He could be right, as according to a map attributed to the Gates Foundation, it is not. [5]

The abnormal tests demonstrate that the vaccines caused these problems (especially the abnormal immunoglobin levels). Had the doctors done more specific tests proving vaccine damage (especially anti-myelin antibodies), they would have found abnormal levels, which indicate vaccine injury. Did they avoid doing these tests on purpose?

It seems very likely that these children, who are now sick and vulnerable, were used as lab rats and have since been left to die by some of the biggest organizations known to mankind. Five months have passed and a lot of covering up the truth has gone on and still, the world waits for answers. The children of Gouro and their parents want the following organizations – PATH, WHO, UNICEF, and the Gates Foundation — to make a public apology and to own up to what has happened. They want and need accountability.

This is a violation of the Nuremberg code and these government “officials” are guilty of crimes against humanity.

Acknowledgement

VacTruth wishes to thank medical research journalist and author Desiree Rover who translated all reports and documents from French.

References:

1. http://vactruth.com/2013/01/06/paralyzed-after-meningitis-vaccine/
2. http://vactruth.com/2013/01/13/children-paralyzed-by-vaccine/
3. http://vactruth.com/2013/01/25/paralyzed-symptoms-in-head/
4. http://vactruth.com/2013/02/12/vaccine-cover-up/
5. http://www.flickr.com/photos/gatesfoundation/583

This article originally appeared at VacTruth.com 
http://vactruth.com/2013/05/19/menafrivac-nuremberg-gouro/

Christina was born and educated in London, U.K. She left school to work in a children’s library, specializing in story telling and book buying. In 1978 Christina changed her career path to dedicate her time to caring for the elderly and was awarded the title of Care Giver of the Year for her work with the elderly in 1980. In1990 she adopted the first of two disabled boys, both with challenging behavior, complex disabilities and medical needs. In 1999 she was accused of Munchausen by Proxy after many failed attempts to get the boys’ complex needs met. Finally, she was cleared of all accusations after the independent psychologist Lisa Blakemore-Brown gave both boys the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD as part of what she described to be a complex tapestry of disorders. During the assessments Ms Blakemore-Brown discovered through the foster care diaries that the eldest boy had reacted adversely to the MMR vaccine. After taking an A Level in Psychology and a BTEC in Learning Disabilities Ms. England spent many years researching vaccines and adverse reactions. She went on to gain a Higher National Diploma in journalism and media and currently writes for the American Chronicle, the Weekly Blitz, VacTruth and Namaste Publishing UK on immunization safety and efficacy whilst continuing to study for a BA Honors degree in English Literature and Humanities. England’s main areas of expertise are researching false allegations of child abuse and adverse reactions to vaccines. Her work is read internationally and has been translated into many languages. Ms England has been a guest on many radio shows and has spoken at seminars worldwide. She is the co author to the book ‘Shaken Baby Syndrome or Vaccine Induced Encephalitis – Are Parents Being Falsely Accused?’ with Dr Harold Buttram.

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This article is actually from August but it’s more relevant today. There is a rotten stench behind the roll-out of the “Ebola” crisis.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeCOVkD2upA]
Source: Liberian Observer

Kimberly Paxton
Activist Post

Although some might call it a conspiracy theory, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the United Nations have been accused for decades of trying to secretly reduce the world’s population by hiding contraceptives in vaccines that are purported to be for other purposes.

In 1992, during a meeting at the UN headquarters in Geneva, scientists and “women’s health advocates” discussed the use of “fertility regulating vaccines, particularly the anti-Human Chorionic Gonadotropin vaccine. (source)

If you had any doubt in your mind that this was true, doctors at a Catholic hospital in Kenya are out to prove that millions of girls have been tricked into receiving an injection that will render them sterile for years.

Independent laboratory testing has confirmed that a tetanus vaccine given to over 2.3 million young women in Kenya contained the HCG antigen.

HCG was developed by the WHO as a long-term contraceptive. It causes the body to attack a fetus through an antibody response, and can cause spontaneous abortions for 3 years after the woman is injected with the drug.

Dr. Muhame Ngare of Mercy Medical Centre in Nairobi said:

We sent six samples from around Kenya to laboratories in South Africa. They tested positive for the HCG antigen. They were all laced with HCG.

This proved right our worst fears; that this WHO campaign is not about eradicating neonatal tetanus but a well-coordinated forceful population control mass sterilization exercise using a proven fertility regulating vaccine. This evidence was presented to the Ministry of Health before the third round of immunization but was ignored. (source)

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Kenyan health ministry has denied that this is the case, offering up claims that many women who received the vaccine became pregnant afterwards. But Dr. Ngare (who, incidentally, is pro-vaccine, just not pro-secret-sterilizing-additive) stands firm in his assertion and provides a convincing argument.

Either we are lying or the government is lying. But ask yourself, ‘What reason do the Catholic doctors have for lying?’ The Catholic Church has been here in Kenya providing health care and vaccinating for 100 years for longer than Kenya has existed as a country.

Usually we give a series three shots over two to three years, we give it anyone who comes into the clinic with an open wound, men, women or children. If this is intended to inoculate children in the womb, why give it to girls starting at 15 years? You cannot get married till you are 18.” The usual way to vaccinate children is to wait till they are six weeks old.

The only time tetanus vaccine has been given in five doses is when it is used as a carrier in fertility regulating vaccines laced with the pregnancy hormone, Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) developed by WHO in 1992. (source)

Hmmm…so why would this vaccine only be given to young, fertile women? Since tetanus is a type of bacterial infection that occurs after a person is wounded with a rusty or dirty object, wouldn’t it stand to reason that this vaccine, if given in the interest of protecting patients from the infection, be given to both genders, and people of a variety of ages? Are girls at the height of fertility somehow more likely to injure themselves in such a way?

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The Kenyan government has a glib answer. Apparently, they wish to proactively inoculate babies in the womb against tetanus, which causes 550 deaths per year.

Catholic priests across Kenya are advising their congregants to refuse these vaccinations.

Kimberly Paxton, a staff writer for The Daily Sheeple, where this article first appeared, is based out of upstate New York. You can follow Kimberly on Facebook and Twitter.

By Maggie Martin

Mosquitoes are once again in the news … and so are vaccines. Angola, Africa is the site of the latest “outbreak,” this time yellow fever. So far, at least 225 people have died, with over 1,600 reported cases. The outbreak is of particular concern as it first took hold in the nation’s capital of 6 million people, Luanda, in December of last year.

Yellow fever – similar to Zika, chikunguya and dengue – is carried by the now globally dreaded Aedes aegypti mosquito.  Unlike the knowingly inflated numbers of the mass hysteria that surrounded Zika, yellow fever has long been recognized as a source of mass casualties in the 40+ countries where it has appeared, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths annually.

While the illness and deaths unfolding across Angola are horrific for those currently in yellow fever’s path, it is notable that the mainstream media is pushing the apparently much larger question: Could yellow fever return to the USA?  On cue, stories are beginning to emerge about “migrant Chinese workers” who could ultimately take the virus out of Africa and back to their home country, while the general question about global travel routinely invokes the question about when, not if, a formerly eradicated disease might make its return to the First World via global transportation. Maybe the EU?

Naturally, the touted solution coming from officialdom is a ramped-up vaccine initiative between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI).

Readers might recognize this partnership as the source of mass corruption and cases of paralysis and mortality that includes the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as backers of multiple vaccine programs in Africa and other Third World countries. Before proceeding please read the following in-depth articles to refresh your memory or to share the information with others who may not be familiar:

• Pediatrician Says 5-in-1 Vaccine Pushed by Bill Gates’ GAVI, WHO Will Kill 3,125 Babies


• Study finds one-third of malaria drugs ‘fake’


• United Nations and Bill Gates Foundation Push Deadly HPV Shots on Poor Nations Under ‘GAVI Alliance

With this as a backdrop, we can retain a healthy skepticism when looking at the “problems” that are being identified by these organizations. Namely:

1 – There is currently a vaccine shortage.

By Jesse Tremblay

The New York Times has reported that “a panel of French judges has decided not to bring charges against soldiers accused of having sexually abused children while on a peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic.”

The accusations have a troubling backstory that is detailed in a December 2015 independent report on the situation. The 170-page report heavily scrutinized not only the possible role of UN peacekeepers in child abuse cases in the ailing African nation but also the failure of UN officials to react in a proper manner. Among those accused of failing in their role in this situation were the head of the UN mission in CAR, UNICEF and the UN Human Rights staff in CAR – page 2.

There were inadequate measures taken to protect the children before the event and an absolute failure to consider their health after the event. Allegedly, no one within the organization wanted to take responsibility for the issue, and as such, it infringed on the victims’ human rights. The report impugned the bureaucratic nature of the United Nations.

Failures at all levels have led to citizens in CAR to protest the presence of the UN in their country, which led to 4 deaths and 14 injured.

Even more troubling is the fact that the Central African Republic has one of the lowest ratings on the UN’s human development index.

These children were the most helpless kind of victims, and it could be a sign that the UN was hoping to ride this situation out with the hope that no one would pick up the story. In fact, the report notes that the head of the HRJS “encouraged the SRSG [Senegalese Army General] of MINUSCA to keep the Allegations quiet” due to the political sensitivity of the allegations –page 7.

By Catherine J. Frompovich

The Roman Catholic Church has strict rules and unyielding dogma regarding religious beliefs and congregants practices but, unfortunately, seems to turn a deaf ear and a blind eye and subscribes to “going along to get along” especially regarding the pseudosciences regarding GMO ‘phood’ [1], and what the medical industry submits as ‘gospel truth’ when it comes to pharmaceutical vaccines!

Regarding GMOs:

The same Congregation also decided that Eucharistic matter made with genetically modified organisms can be considered valid matter (cf. Letter to the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 9 December 2013, Prot. N. 89/78 – 44897). [1]

Relating to vaccines, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI (2005-2013), sent a request to investigate vaccines to the Sacred Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith in order to answer questions posed by Mrs. Debra L. Vinnedge, Executive Director of Children of God for Life, in Largo, Florida.

In June of 2005, Mrs. Vinnedge received a reply on the letterhead of the Pontificia Academia Pro Vito saying [5]:

On June 4, 2003, you wrote to His Eminence Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, with a copy of this letter forwarded to me, asking to the Sacred Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith a clarification about the liceity [sic] of vaccinating children with vaccines prepared using cell lines derived from aborted human fetuses.

As part of Mrs. Vinnedge’s answer, included was the English translation of “MORAL REFLECTIONS ON VACCINES PREPARED FROM CELLS DERIVED FROM ABORTED HUMAN FOETUSES,” which ended with this seemingly “politically-correct” babble:

In any case, there remains a moral duty to continue to fight and to employ every lawful means in order to make life difficult for the pharmaceutical industries which act unscrupulously and unethically. However, the burden of this important battle cannot and must not fall on innocent children and on the health situation of the population – especially with regard to pregnant women.

To summarize, it must be confirmed that:

• there is a grave responsibility to use alternative vaccines and to make a conscientious objection with regard to those which have moral problems;

[CJF: Aren’t the RC Church and its congregants included in “those which have moral problems”?]

• 
  as regards the vaccines without an alternative, the need to contest so that others may be prepared must be reaffirmed, as should be the lawfulness of using the former in the meantime insomuch as is necessary in order to avoid a serious risk not only for one’s own children but also, and perhaps more specifically, for the health conditions of the population as a whole – especially for pregnant women;

[CJF: apparently the Holy See is into Big Pharma’s consensus science!]

• the lawfulness of the use of these vaccines should not be misinterpreted as a declaration of the lawfulness of their production, marketing and use, but is to be understood as being a passive material cooperation and, in its mildest and remotest sense, also active, morally justified as an extrema ratio due to the necessity to provide for the good of one’s children and of the people who come in contact with the children (pregnant women);  [CJF emphasis]

[CJF: The Vatican demonstrates an obvious disregard for what has been reported to the CDC’s VAERS system about spontaneous abortions and miscarriages [2] after pregnant women are receiving vaccines! [3] ]

• such cooperation occurs in a context of moral coercion of the conscience of parents, who are forced to choose to act against their conscience or otherwise, to put the health of their children and of the population as a whole at risk. This is an unjust alternative choice, which must be eliminated as soon as possible.

[CJF: However, the Vatican and the RC Church have not been outspoken about nor instituted an alternative choice campaign, which could have dramatic impact considering the RC Church has a global membership/congregation of approximately 1,253,926,000 [4].  That represents almost one-seventh of the world’s population, which could make a significant difference regarding vaccine pseudoscience IF the RC Church were to act upon legitimate science and not “go along to get along.”  The Kenya hCG-laced-TT-vaccine problem should have been a huge wakeup call for the RC Church, but apparently Church fathers decided it wasn’t.]

However, the hCG issue resurfaced recently, which could propel the Vatican to act if parishioners demand corrective actions from the Vatican and the Church’s hierarchy based upon real, not pseudoscience generated by vaccine manufacturers.

An October 27, 2017 paper titled “HCF Found in WHO Tetanus Vaccine in Kenya Raises Concern in the Developing World” DOI: 10.4236/oalib.1103937  Open Access Library Journal was published, which confirmed what Roman Catholic Bishops in Kenya were reporting, i.e., an infertility ingredient in the tetanus vaccines being given to child-bearing-age females in Kenya!

Abstract

In 1993, WHO announced a “birth-control vaccine” for “family planning”. Published research shows that by 1976 WHO researchers had conjugated tetanus toxoid (TT) with human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) producing a “birth-control” vaccine. Conjugating TT with hCG causes pregnancy hormones to be attacked by the immune system. Expected results are abortions in females already pregnant and/or infertility in recipients not yet impregnated. Repeated inoculations prolong infertility. Currently WHO researchers are working on more potent anti-fertility vaccines using recombinant DNA. WHO publications show a long-range purpose to reduce population growth in unstable “less developed countries”. By November 1993 Catholic publications appeared saying an abortifacient vaccine was being used as a tetanus prophylactic. In November 2014, the Catholic Church asserted that such a program was underway in Kenya. Three independent Nairobi accredited biochemistry laboratories tested samples from vials of the WHO tetanus vaccine being used in March 2014 and found hCG where none should be present. [CJF emphasis]

[CJF: Why the RC Church didn’t pursue the above infertility ‘subterfuge’ in WHO-sponsored vaccines further for definitive action should be considered, in my opinion, a “sin of serious omission,” which needs to be accounted for and by the Vatican and the Church hierarchy.  Can that omission be considered in the same probability as sweeping Church clergy pedophilia under various ‘clerical rugs’ for decades?  Where’s accountability on the part of the RC Church with regard to an apparent New World Order pro-eugenics strategy for population control?]

The Conclusion section of the newly-published research paper states:

5. Conclusion

Laboratory testing of the TT vaccine used in the WHO Kenya campaign 2013- 2015 showed that some of the vials contained a TT/βhCG conjugate consistent with the WHO’s goal to develop one or more anti-fertility vaccines to reduce the rate of population growth, especially in targeted LDCs such as Kenya. While it is impossible to be certain how the βhCG got into the Kenya vaccine vials testing positive for it, the WHO’s deep history of research on antifertility vaccines conjugating βhCG with TT (and other pathogens), in our opinion, makes the WHO itself the most plausible source of the βhCG conjugate found in samples of “tetanus” vaccine being used in Kenya in 2014. Moreover, given that all vaccine manufacturers and vaccine testing laboratories must be WHO certified, their responsibility for whatever has happened in the Kenyan immunization program can hardly be overemphasized. [CJF emphasis]

Since mainstream news agencies and media currently are extremely willing to expose the “Harvey Weinstein” syndrome and the medical profession and Big Pharma’s “opioid dependency creation,” what’s preventing them from declaring “open season” on the World Health Organization’s hidden vaccine agendas for global population control?
If the above WHO agenda seems unconceivable, then how about considering this:

From page 51 [of the 1968 yearly Rockefeller Foundation report] onward we read:

“(…) several types of drugs are known to diminish male fertility, but those that have been tested have serious problems of toxicity. Very little work is in progress on immunological methods, such as vaccines, to reduce fertility, and much more research is required if a solution is to be found here.” [6] 

[….]

It wasn’t long before all the Foundation’s efforts began to have effect. In its annual report of 1988, The RF was happy to report the progress made by the Foundation’s Population Division in the field of anti-fertility vaccines:

“India’s National Institute of Immunology successfully completed in 1988 the first phase of trials with three versions of an anti-fertility vaccine for women. Sponsored by the government of India and supported by the Foundation, the trials established that with each of the tested vaccines, at least one year of protection against pregnancy could be expected, based on the levels of antibodies formed in response to the immunization schedule.”

[….]

Part 2: Global Distribution of Rockefeller-Funded Anti-Fertility Vaccine Coordinated by WHO

In addition to the recent PrisonPlanet-exclusive Rockefeller Foundation Developed Vaccines For “Mass-Scale” Fertility Reduction- which outlines the Rockefeller Foundation’s efforts in the 1960s funding research into so-called “anti-fertility vaccines”- another series of documents has surfaced, proving beyond any doubt that the UN Population Fund, World Bank and World Health Organization picked up on it, further developing it under responsibility of a “Task Force on Vaccines for Fertility Regulation”.

Just four years after the Rockefeller Foundation launched massive funding-operations into anti-fertility vaccines, the Task Force was created under auspices of the World Health Organization, World Bank and UN Population Fund. Its mission, according to one of its members, to support:

“basic and clinical research on the development of birth control vaccines directed against the gametes or the preimplantation embryo. These studies have involved the use of advanced procedures in peptide chemistry, hybridoma technology and molecular genetics as well as the evaluation of a number of novel approaches in general vaccinology. As a result of this international, collaborative effort, a prototype anti-HCG vaccine is now undergoing clinical testing, raising the prospect that a totally new family planning method may be available before the end of the current decade.”  [CJF emphasis]

[….]

One of the Task Force members, P.D. Griffin, outlined the purpose and trajectory of these Fertility Regulating Vaccines. Griffin:

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“The Task Force has continued to coordinate its research activities with other vaccine development programmes within WHO and with other international and national programmes engaged in the development of fertility regulating vaccines.”

Griffin also admitted to the fact that one of the purposes of the vaccines is the implementation in developing countries. Griffin:

“If vaccines could be developed which could safely and effectively inhibit fertility, without producing unacceptable side effects, they would be an attractive addition to the present armamentarium of fertility regulating methods and would be likely to have a significant impact on family planning programmes.” 

If the Vatican, RC Church and its hierarchy are so concerned about the practice of birth control by its congregants, then shouldn’t they be looking into and doing something about “fertility regulating methods” that would likely have significant impacts upon family planning—something they cannot not afford to oppose, since it would decrease membership, especially in developing countries?

References:

[1] http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/07/08/letter_to_bishops_on_the_bread_and_wine_for_the_eucharist/1323886
[2] http://www.drbuttar.com/4250-increase-in-fetal-deaths-reported-to-vaers-after-flu-shot-given-to-pregnant-women/
[3] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/09/13/researchers-find-hint-of-a-link-between-flu-vaccine-and-miscarriage/?utm_term=.4b3a1b947a51
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_by_country
[5] https://cogforlife.org/vaticanresponse.pdf
[6] https://www.infowars.com/three-articles-for-mass-distribution-rockefeller-depopulation-plans-exposed/

Catherine J Frompovich (website) is a retired natural nutritionist who earned advanced degrees in Nutrition and Holistic Health Sciences, Certification in Orthomolecular Theory and Practice plus Paralegal Studies. Her work has been published in national and airline magazines since the early 1980s. Catherine authored numerous books on health issues along with co-authoring papers and monographs with physicians, nurses, and holistic healthcare professionals. She has been a consumer healthcare researcher 35 years and counting.

Catherine’s latest book, published October 4, 2013, is Vaccination Voodoo, What YOU Don’t Know About Vaccines, available on Amazon.com.

Her 2012 book A Cancer Answer, Holistic BREAST Cancer Management, A Guide to Effective & Non-Toxic Treatments, is available on Amazon.com and as a Kindle eBook.

Two of Catherine’s more recent books on Amazon.com are Our Chemical Lives And The Hijacking Of Our DNA, A Probe Into What’s Probably Making Us Sick (2009) and Lord, How Can I Make It Through Grieving My Loss, An Inspirational Guide Through the Grieving Process (2008)

Catherine’s NEW book: Eat To Beat Disease, Foods Medicinal Qualities ©2016 Catherine J Frompovich is now available

Image Credit: Pixabay

Nile Bowie, Contributor
Activist Post

Following the United Nations’ recent approval of Resolution 2046 threatening the nations of Sudan and South Sudan with sanctions [1], the success of international attempts at conflict aversion in the region appear to be in question. Hostilities between the two nations have climaxed since South Sudanese forces captured the region of Heglig, an oil-producing site 70 kilometers into Sudanese territory [2].

South Sudanese forces have also maintained a presence in the long disputed border region of Abyei in Southern Kordofan, where Juba has recently vowed to withdraw its personnel from [3].

In 2006, the Sudanese government barred 20,000 UN troops from running peacekeeping operations in Darfur, as then-Presidential Advisor Mustafa Osman Ismail argued that the UN mandate’s goal was the implementation of “regime change” in Khartoum [23]. The sources of weaponry and covert assistance received by rebel groups in Sudan are rarely a subject of speculation among religious and political organizations who have long supported the international campaign to pressure Sudan. In 2007, the American Jewish World Service and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum launched a “Save Darfur” coalition, which gained the support of adherents to intervention in Iraq, such as right-wing evangelical Christian groups and major organizational affiliates of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) [24]. According to The Jerusalem Post, the Save Darfur coalition launched a high-profile advertising campaign that included full-page newspaper ads, television spots and billboards calling for the imposition of a no-fly zone over Darfur with financial assistance the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan, United Jewish Communities, UJA-Federation of New York and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs [25].

While the blame for violence in Sudan is laid squarely on Khartoum’s shoulders, Israeli-led foreign elements have contributed to the training, financing, and arming of rebel militias and forces opposed to the Sudanese government within Sudan. Since 1969, Israel has reportedly trained recruits, shipped weapons, and offered support to South Sudanese SPLA rebels [26]. Prior to South Sudan’s independence, Israel relied primarily on a flight route to Entebbe, Uganda to supply SPLA with weapons [27], however Tel Aviv nowtransfers missiles, military equipment, and even mercenaries to Juba quite openly [28]. As Israel covertly operates in East Africa immune from international criticism following their bombing of Sudanese convoys in 2009 [29], the influence of Israeli think tanks such as The Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies (IASPS) toward the creation of AFRICOM, the US Africa Command, remains a significant indication of the foreign policy directives being taken by Tel Aviv and Washington in Africa [30].

The Sudan exists as sub-Saharan Africa’s third largest oil producer with over 6.6 billion barrels of proven oil reserves [31]; an estimated 85% of those reserves have been ordained to Juba, in the Republic of South Sudan [32]. As China exists as Sudan’s largest trading partner by purchasing 40% of Sudan’s oil with the excess majority largely designated to Asian markets [33], reordering and monopolizing Sudan’s vast oil fields and mineral wealth is the capital incentive behind the unwavering support for the secession of South Sudan shown by US, EU, and Israeli officials. Members of the Sudanese opposition and various rebel separatist groups often visit Tel Aviv, Sudan’s main SPLA opposition even opened an office in Israel to promote its “policies and vision” in the region [34]. In reflection of Israel’s active support for the Southern opposition, South Sudanese citizens were seen waving Israeli flags during their Independence celebrations in July 2011 [35].

For the likely guarantee of support, the South Sudanese government in Juba applied for IMF membership in April 2011 before it had even officially gained independence from Sudan [36].

As Israel and Washington offer their support to the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in Darfur and various rebel militias opposed to the Sudanese government, China’s interests in the region come under direct attack from these very rebel groups, most prominently in JEM’s October 2007 attack on the Greater Nile Petroleum Company in Defra, Kordofan [37]. The World Bank has recently warned that South Sudan may collapse by its two-year anniversary, due to the ramifications of halting production of at least 75% of the regional oil in frustration with Khartoum’s claims on oil-transit debt and revenue [38]. Apparently, authorities in Juba are either unprepared politically for independence or lacking the appropriate guidance to effectively manage its internal affairs. In a recent meeting between Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping and Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Karti, China urged the warring neighbors to settle their differences and negotiate [39].

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As China would prefer to align with its traditional approach of non-interventionist diplomacy, Beijing has an opportunity to exploit its influence in the region to not only further its own interests, but to defer criticism from parties loyal to Washington who credit China with sponsoring bloodshed through its business interests [40] and political positions [41]. By pursuing the role of a mediator, China can preserve its interests by overseeing negotiations on trade regulations, citizens rights, demarcation and territory status between the neighboring Sudans’. As Juba depends on oil exports for 98% of its income [42], it must negotiate with Khartoum to settle its debts and agree on a mutual per-barrel fee for its use of the Greater Nile Oil Pipeline, as construction of a new pipeline from oil fields in South Sudan to a theoretical end point at the Kenyan port of Mombasa would take years to construct. While the current US Vice President Joseph Biden once called on the US to exert military force against Sudan [43], it remains crucial for the leaders of both Sudanese nation states to come to an agreement regarding the status of the Heglig region and other disputed areas claimed by both sides, lest peacekeeping forces internationally administer these contested zones.

Any attempts at imposing an arms embargo throughout the Sudan would be entirely disregarded by both sides, which are already adequately armed. While attempts to rally public support behind Western intervention in Sudan rely on emphasizing the human rights violations of Khartoum, claims of 6,000 people being slaughtered by Gaddafi used to justify NATO intervention in Libya remain unverified [44]. Given the distinct ethno-religious differences of South Sudanese society and long history of striving for autonomy, their existence as a nation state is warranted. It is irresponsible to deny both Khartoum’s unwarranted and brutal treatment of civilians within its territory and the US-Israeli policy of inflaming national and regional antagonisms in Sudan by arming rebel militias, to the benefit of corporations seeking to control and develop oil fields and mineral deposits.

While the allied powers in Washington and Tel Aviv would prefer to advocate aggressive policy to ensure against the survival of the regime in Khartoum, the institutional influence of Russia and China in the UNSC provides an opportunity for emerging powers to exert an alternative model of non-aggressive crisis aversion. China may thinly support future economic sanctions on the Sudans in hesitation to involve itself in the domestic issues of other nations, however Beijing could best exercise its influence by urging Khartoum to meet with tribal leaders to guarantee a ceasefire and develop a true federal system that would allow for local autonomy. As the Sudanese leadership in Khartoum projects itself as an Islamic nation, it should recall the final great address of the Islamic Prophet at Mount Arafat, who called for the rejection of social distinctions based on ethnicity and color.

Notes:
[1] U.N. Resolution Threatens Sanctions Against Sudan and South Sudan, The New York Times, May 3, 2012
[2] Sudan mobilises army over seizure of oilfield by South Sudan, The Guardian, April 11, 2012
[3] South Sudan police to withdraw from Abyei, Sudan Tribune, April 29, 2012
[4] Sudan refuses to stop fighting with South Sudan, Russia Today, May 5, 2012
[5] New official S. Sudan map to include disputed border region, Russia Today, May 5, 2012
[6] China ‘offers South Sudan $8bn for projects’, Al Jazeera, April 29, 2012
[7] Sudan inflation up by 21% in Q1 2012, Sudan Tribune, May 4, 2012
[8] Focus on diplomacy and Sudan, APS Diplomat News Service, August 15, 2008
[9] Sudan inflation up by 21% in Q1 2012, Sudan Tribune, May 4, 2012
[10] Bashir says wants warm relations with South Sudanese, Chicago Tribune, May 6, 2012
[11] Ibid
[12] In Sudan, Give War a Chance, The New York Times, May 4, 2012
[13] Omar al-Bashir charged with Darfur genocide, The Guardian, July 10, 2010
[14] The Peoples of Darfur, Cultural Survival, 2010
[15] Sudan: Israel arming Darfur rebels, PressTV, February 2, 2009
[16] U.N. report: Darfur not genocide, CNN, February 1, 2005
[17] Darfur Redux: Is ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ Occurring in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains? TIME, June 14, 2011
[18] George Clooney Witnesses War Crimes in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains, Enough Project, March 14, 2012
[19] About Us, Enough Project, 2012
[20] John Podesta, Shepherd of a Government in Exile, The New York Times, November 6, 2008
[21] Hired Guns: The City’s 50 Top Lobbyists, Washingtonian, June 1, 2007
[22] John Podesta, Center for American Progress, 2012
[23] Sudan says AU can stay in Darfur but not under UN, Sudan Tribune, September 4, 2006
[24] Darfur Advocacy Group Undergoes a Shake-Up, The New York Times, June 2, 2007
[25] US Jews leading Darfur rally planning, The Jerusalem Post, April 27, 2006
[26] Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), Global Security, 2012
[27] Israeli weapons ‘bound for rebels’ in southern Sudan: Arms may be destined for SPLA fight against Khartoum, The Independent, March 19, 1994
[28] Report: Israelis arming South Sudan with missiles, YNet News, April 5, 2012
[29] U.S. Officials say Israel Struck Sudan, The New York Times, March 26, 2009
[30] AFRICOM: Control of Africa, VoltaireNet, 2012
[31] BP Statistical Review of World Energy, British Petroleum, June, 2008
[32] The secession of South Sudan, Tehran Times, July 11, 2011
[33] Oil for China, Guns for Darfur, BusinessWeek, March 14, 2008
[34] Sudan’s SPLM reportedly opens an office in Israel – statement, Sudan Tribune, March 5, 2008
[35] Israeli Flags at South Sudan Independence Celebrations, Al Jazeera, July 9, 2011
[36] South Sudan formally applies for IMF membership, Sudan Tribune, April 21, 2011
[37] Darfur rebels spurn Chinese force, BBC, November 2007
[38] South Sudan Experiment Headed Toward Failure, OilPrice, May 08, 2012
[39] China / Politics Xi pushes for Sudanese talks, China Daily, February 29, 2012
[40] China defends arms sales to Sudan, BBC, February 22, 2008
[41] Hillary Clinton lambastes ‘travesty’ of UN veto on Syria, MSNBC, February 5, 2012
[42] Juba could face blackout in days – minister, Sudan Tribune, March 29, 2012
[43] Biden calls for military force in Darfur, MSNBC, April 11, 2007
[44] Israel and Libya: Preparing Africa for the “Clash of Civilizations,” Centre for Research on Globalization, October 11, 2011

Article originally posted Nile Bowie’s blog here. Nile Bowie is a syndicated freelance writer and photojournalist based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

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