August 12, 2006

Darfur: “From Really Bad to Catastrophic”

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darfur2.jpg

“Peace” brings only war to Darfur.

“The signing of the peace agreement unfortunately took a lot of effort from large parts of the international community and very little after that in terms of monitoring, pushing for implementation and holding parties accountable,” said Dave Mozersky, Sudan analyst for the International Crisis Group.

But what the world has agreed to call peace, still looks very much like war.

In July Darfur saw the bloodiest month for the world’s largest aid operation since the conflict began 3-1/2 years ago with eight humanitarian workers killed. Access to the 3.6 million dependent on aid is at its lowest ever level.

Government planes are again bombing rebel factions who rejected the deal, U.N. officials say. Rebel leader Minni Arcua Minnawi, who signed the accord, is accused of torturing his opposition, and other rebels have factionalised. A new alliance has declared renewed war with the government.

U.N. emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland said in Geneva on Thursday: “It is going from really bad to catastrophic in Darfur.”

(Reuters)

Click on the image for more information on the Darfur crisis.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

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And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

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