With 2.7 million IDPs and refugees from the Darfur conflict living in desperate conditions, Williamson questioned the U.S.'s current approach to the Government in Khartoum in relation to a pattern of grave human rights violations. The Obama Administration's approach is characterized by current Special Envoy, Scott Gration's, recent comments: "Kids, countries -- they react to gold stars, smiley faces, handshakes, agreements, talk, engagement." In response to a question about Gration's comments, Williamson observed, "Making nice with a government that has already made the decision to play hardball despite international opprobrium is not going to change their behavior."

The former Special Envoy expressed serious concern about the violent conditions in the IDP and refugee camps in Darfur and across the Chadian border, recommending that the African Union send troops to police the camps and establish education and centers for women. Williamson touched on the fact that the violence in Darfur has recently decreased but only because there are now fewer targets to be attacked.

The ambassador stressed the importance of the Obama administration remaining engaged in the Sudan peace discussions and taking a larger diplomatic role in the peace processes. He recommended that human rights advocates target key members of Obama's cabinet including Vice President Joe Biden, General Jim Jones, head of the NSC, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The former Special Envoy spent a substantial amount of time discussing the mounting tensions in Southern Sudan saying it was a "rich agricultural land" that is in dire need of capacity building and infrastructure, including the development of schools and roads. Southern Sudan receives less humanitarian aid than other regions of Sudan but has recently seen more international attention due to the dramatic increase in violence that has occurred over the last several months.

Ambassador Williamson touched on other nation's relationships with Sudan including China -- which imports six percent of its oil from Sudan , France -- which uses land in neighboring Chad for military training, Russia -- which is involved in military sales , and Egypt -- which has concerns over the control of the Nile.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has been instrumental in advocating for the prosecution of these abusive employers and is confident their work will improve relations between workers and employers.

The coalition has composed a Code of Conduct to support workers rights and is campaigning to get companies to sign on to it. The code of conduct calls for companies to raise wages one cent per pound of tomatoes, improve working conditions and include farm workers themselves in decision making. Yum Brands, the owner of KFC, Pizza Hut and other popular fast-food restaurants has signed the code. The company is now in the process of improving standards for its workers.

Aramark, the food supplier of the University of Minnesota has yet to sign this Code of Conduct. The Coalition is looking for on-campus support to pressure the company to do so and ensure that the tomatoes on the plates at the University of Minnesota are picked by workers who are paid a fair wage and work in suitable conditions. If you are interested in getting involved please contact:

Coalition of Immokalee Workers
PO Box 603, Immokalee, FL 34143
(239) 657-8311
workers@ciw-online.org

The group of interns was able to ask Dr. Samar about the feasibility of universal birth registration in Southern Sudan, an issue they have been studying for the last 6 months as a possible deterrent to child abductions. Dr. Samar agreed that birth registration is an important step, but there are many other steps that must precede it, such as the development of infrastructure and a sound judicial system.

Dr. Samar provided many examples from her work with women and children in Afghanistan as a model framework for possible action in Sudan. She noted that it would be effective for CPI to work in partnership with local civil society group working to end child abductions. In addition, she strongly encouraged the group of interns to advocate their cause to the U.S. Government.

Although her work in Southern Sudan and with the Human Rights Council has proven to be frustrating at times, Dr. Samar argued that "Southern Sudan does not have a choice, the international community does not have a choice, we must be engaged."

For more information about the meeting and to read the memo submitted to Dr. Sima Samar, please visit the Child Protection International section of this website.

Difficulties with disarmament and the integration of small militias into the Sudan's People Liberation Army (SPLA), South Sudan's military, has created great tensions that could reignite into a civil war. In addition to intertribal conflict, South Sudan continues to be attacked by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), another key perpetrator of child abductions in South Sudan.

CPI interns had an opportunity to gather for a celebration in early June when Dan Bernard, a founding member of the Save Yar Campaign, returned to Minnesota on vacation from Cairo, Egypt where he is now working for USAID .

The student-run organization has more than a dozen active volunteers. Another CPI, Kou Solomon, testified June 10 at a Washington, D.C., roundtable discussion hosted by US Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, to recognize the World Day against Child Labor. Kou talked about the need for international action to prevent abductions, like those suffered by his family in 2007, when his two nieces were forcibly abducted by members of a different ethnic group.

Many of the founding members have continued to stay involved in CPI's work as they pursue human rights issues around the world. Each person brings a unique perspective to the table and strengthens the campaign as it moves forward to combat child abductions in South Sudan.

Four CPI interns in collaboration with the Human Rights Program at the University of Minnesota are busy preparing for their meeting with Dr. Samar. CPI plans on using this opportunity to discuss the issue of child abductions in South Sudan and gather information on how this issue has been affected by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of 2005. The interns are working hard to become experts on all aspects of Sudan, including ethnic conflicts and how they play into the continuation of internal violence, disarmament and the issue of security for specific groups and the history of cattle raids as they are used as a method for child abductions.

CPI hopes to use this information to enforce their campaign for birth registration in South Sudan and in their ultimate goal of eradicating child abductions from South Sudan.

Nora Radtke, CPI Intern, explains the importance of birth registration, "A birth certificate is the door to all other rights, such as identity, education and healthcare." Having a legitimate birth certificate also protects children from sexual, economic, and military exploitation and is a fundamental step toward protecting children from disappearing.

To frame the issue of universal birth registration, students provided a case study of a successful birth registration campaign in Sierra Leone carried out by UNICEF and Plan International. Although Sudan and Sierra Leone are quite different in many respects looking to Sierra Leone, another African nation, provides a useful model for future projects in Sudan. Many of the experts emphasized the importance of Sudan's political instability, with special attention to President Omar Al Bashir, in implementing a birth registration campaign. Without government backing, local, national and regional support, such a campaign would be short lived and ineffective.

The question of US government aid in Sudan was a hot topic among attendees. Students presented an argument as to why USAID should adopt birth registration as an integral part of their agenda. Already spending millions of dollars on Education, Health Care and Security, it is essential that USAID include birth registration in order to assure these rights for their beneficiaries after they have left the country.

Sima Samar, UN Special Rapporteur on Sudan, will be visiting Minneapolis on June 22, 2009 as part of the Human Rights Law and Policy Conference. To prepare for this event students have written her a memo underlining the importance of birth registration in South Sudan to end child trafficking and other larger issues that a Special Rapporteur may be concerned with. Attendees stressed that Sima Samar is incredibly burdened with the Darfur situation, therefore the issue of birth registration must be argued within the larger context of issues within Sudan.

Overall the event was a great success allowing students, faculty and experts to question, brainstorm and strategize future goals for CPI's campaign for universal birth registration.

For more information on CPI's birth registration campaign and to access presentations please visit the CPI section of the HRP website.

To read the full article please click on the following link:
http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2009/04/23/8283/states_human_rights_advocate

In the past 15 years, Rosenthal's organization has documented violations in many countries, using video evidence of the severe mistreatment of individuals in state institutions, including extended isolation, restraints and shock therapy. MDRI was a key advocate in the elaboration and adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006), a treaty which, according to Rosenthal, has guarantees for mentally disabled persons that are broader than almost any government currently has in its own national laws.

Rosenthal and MDRI will receive the 2009 Human Rights Award of the American Psychiatric Association for "overall career and life achievement as a champion of human rights."

Rosenthal's advice to emerging human rights advocates is to do field work ("Get as close to the problem as you can"), and to address real human suffering by finding a problem that compels you, determine what skills you need to address the problem and then gaining those skills.

Dean Brian Atwood of the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute for Public Affairs, a long time
friend and colleague of President Johnson Sirleaf, set the tone for the President's address by
explaining the very special relationship shared between the U.S. and Liberia, and the
extraordinary improvements that the President has brought to her post-conflict country.
The transformation Liberia has undergone over the past three years includes a two billion
dollar international debt reduction, strong efforts to fight corruption, restoration of
infrastructure, scholarships for young girls to attend school and the planned construction of
a new University and three community colleges.

"Perhaps the best progress we have achieved is in restoring hope....the future is ours to
reclaim", President Johnson Sirleaf said to the inspired crowd.

Although President Johnson Sirleaf called upon the large population of Liberians in
Minnesota to return home, she understands the difficulties of repatriation, and would like to
establish some form of permanent status for the Liberians living abroad.
When asked what her secret was to becoming such a powerful, strong willed and determined
woman who has accomplished so many great things, the President responded with "Every
rung on the ladder gives you inspiration that there's another step to reach."

In 2008, Mexico amended its Constitution to require a dramatic reform to the penal procedure, including a shift from an inquisitorial, or written procedural, to an oral adversarial procedure with stricter requirements to protect due process. Whether those reforms are implemented in a manner which truly protects human rights is a concern that our Mexico-Minnesota collaboration seeks to address. Over the next year, the Human Rights Program and FLACSO-Mexico faculty will put together a program of research and training on how judicial power in Mexico can be used to ensure due process in the criminal justice system, especially in the face of public security concerns.

As part of this collaboration, the Human Rights Program is pleased to host a visit in July-August 2009 by FLACSO Political Science Professor, Karina Ansolabehere. Professor Ansolabehere is an expert on the political culture of the Mexican judiciary. In addition, Hollie Nyseth, a Human Rights Minor from the University of Minnesota, will spend six weeks in Mexico this summer at the Mexico City Human Rights Commission researching the human rights impacts of the criminal justice reforms.

Vorgetts' passion for the women of Afghanistan shone through as she addressed the problems outlined by Professor Ní Aoláin. In 1986, Vorgetts was exiled from her home country of Afghanistan. Returning years later, she found her country devastated by war in which the status of women had greatly deteriorated. "You can never bring peace by gun or bomb", explained Vorgetts as she discussed the consequences faced by the women of Afghanistan as a result of the mujahedeen/Taliban take over and the subsequent invasion by U.S. forces. Vorgetts highlighted the important issues the women of Afghanistan must battle on a daily basis; the lack of girl's education, domestic violence, impunity for abusive husbands and imprisonment for leaving the home. Fahima Vorgetts' organization, Women for Afghan Women (WAW), has been working to help the women of Afghanistan through community outreach and human rights advocacy. WAW has built schools, offered classes for parents, started sewing initiatives to provide economic independence, and offered vocational training.

After the opening ceremony the crowd dispersed to enjoy the day's activities which included various workshops, films and art exhibits that addressed issues concerning young Latina leadership, immigration policy and its affect on children and families, sex trafficking in Minnesota, reproductive rights in light of the new administration, HIV/AIDS, women's activism in the Muslim world and many more issues facing women today.

"Seeing people being open about things that are important in women's lives that we aren't allowed to talk about where I'm from or in my family was empowering for me and enabled me to see what I can be like someday -- an advocate for these wonderful causes" - Participant

Our 2009 theme, Transforming the World through Women’s Voices, highlights the critical role women play in creating a world of equality, non-violence and justice for all. We will raise our voices in song with two local musicians as we begin the day and continue to speak out in the many workshops addressing human rights issues of women and girls. At the end of the day, we will view a segment of “We Will Harbor You,�? a locally-produced film that portrays the activism of Minnesota women who broke the silence around domestic violence and gave birth to the battered women’s shelter movement.

Some of the workshops include:

Women’s Activism in the Muslim World

The typical image of the Muslim woman in Western media is veiled, quiet, married very early in life, and lacking decision-making power. The media concentrate stories on the veil and female genital cutting, but not on the diversity of views that Muslim women hold on these topics. Women’s agency in many Muslim societies often goes under-reported. However, there are a number of women’s organizations in Muslim countries that seek to place women’s rights on the public agenda. This workshop seeks to contrast the Western media portrayal of women in the Muslim world with the varying forms of activism which currently exist.

Dr. Leila DeVriese, Hamline University

A New Era for Reproductive Rights Here and Abroad:
The Obama Administration, the Supreme Court and Health Care Reform

Lifting the global gag rule, reinstating $235 million in family planning funding to the UNFPA, and moving forward with stem cell research are just a few reversals with the change from the Bush to the Obama administrations. But in light of the current make up of the Supreme Court, do we still need to be concerned about the future of Roe v. Wade? A huge population of young women uses family planning clinics as their primary care provider in lieu of a personal or family doctor. Where do these young women and their reproductive health fit into the new models of health care reform? This workshop will take an overall look locally, nationally and internationally at the new future of reproductive health.

Sarah Craven, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Tim Stanley, Planned Parenthood of MN, ND, SD
Representative Erin Murphy, Minnesota House Health & Human Services Committee
Kathleen Murphy, Midwest Health Center for Women

¡Ubícate! Engaging Young Latinas in Leadership

This workshop, presented by Casa de Esperanza’s Latina Youth Peer Educators, is an opportunity for organizations that work with Latina youths or are interested in creating a peer education program for Latino youth to learn firsthand the issues affecting young Latinas in Minnesota and the impact that participation in this program has had on Latina youth. The Peer Education Initiative is a tool to encourage the self-development of Latina youth through peer education by enhancing their abilities to identify their own strengths and talents and to use them in educating other youths about topics important to Latino youth, including healthy relationships, teen dating violence, self-esteem and body image and gender roles in the media.

Lumarie Orozco and peer educators Kimberly Cedillo, Jessica Limontitla, Alejandra Mejia, Alejandra Ortiz, Chelsea Spellerberg and Erika Vasquez, Casa de Esperanza

Here’s Where We Start: How Men Can Help Prevent Sexual and Domestic Violence.

This workshop will explore the environment in which sexual and domestic violence flourishes and identify five social norms which support it. Using a public health model of primary prevention, the presentation will provide participants with opportunities for action and suggestions for solutions. It will also explain how the Minnestoa Men’s Action Network is working statewide to involve men in this effort.

Frank Jewell, Men as Peacemakers, and Chuck Derry, Gender Violence Institute

Sex Trafficking in Minnesota: Past, Present and Future

This interactive session will discuss historical and recent responses to prostitution and what we now call sex trafficking in Minnesota by comparing and contrasting responses at the federal and state levels. It will also explore current grassroots and legislative advocacy on this issue in Minnesota. Presenters will equip participants with tools to dispel myths about sex trafficking and prostitution, to raise awareness of the needs of trafficked and prostituted persons, and to prevent this grave human rights violation.

Mary C. Ellison, The Advocates for Human Rights, and Angela Bortel, The Bortel Firm, LLC

Join us as we celebrate the many signs of hope and strength that women’s voices bring to a world yearning for peace and justice.

Saturday, March 14th 2009
8:00am-3:30pm
Coffman Memorial Union – University of Minnesota
300 Washington Avenue SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455

http://www.theadvocatesforhumanrights.org/International_Women_s_Day6.html

The report found that while many American companies use weak U.S. laws to stop workers from organizing, the retail giant stands out for the sheer magnitude and aggressiveness of its anti-union apparatus. Many of its anti-union tactics are lawful in the United States, though they combine to undermine workers' rights. Others run afoul of soft U.S. laws.

"I like to think about it as a 'death by small cuts' strategy," Pier told the audience gathered at the University of Minnesota Law School. "And the effect is devastating."

In the course of her research, Pier interviewed dozens of current and former Wal-Mart "associates" (the term the company uses for its employees) and supervisors in six states and pored through thousands of pages of material from the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency that enforces U.S. labor law.

Wal-Mart uses a subtle form of union-busting that starts with new employee orientation, where training includes watching an anti-union video, Pier said. The corporation has a 24-hour hotline for managers to report any signs of union organizing activity and a "labor relations team" is quickly dispatched to assess the situation.

Depending on the level of union activity, workers may be subjected to mandatory "captive audience" meetings where they are lectured on the evils of unionism. In some stores, Wal-Mart has crossed the line from subtle to heavy-handed by conducting surveillance on employees, disciplining and firing some.

When those actions are taken – clearly in violation of U.S. labor law – the failings of the system become clear, Pier said. Wal-Mart takes advantage of the exceedingly slow NLRB process to draw out cases for years. When a worker finally wins a case, the company faces no penalty – other than the requirement to reinstate the worker with back pay (minus anything he or she earned in other employment) and to post a notice saying "they won't do it again."

With nearly 1 million employees in the United States, Wal-Mart is the country's largest private employer. Yet none of these workers belongs to a union. Employees at two stores in Quebec, Canada, finally won union representation, but both stores have been closed – the second one earlier this month.

The International Labor Organization has cited the lack of penalties – and the fact that workers can be "permanently replaced" if they strike – as reasons that U.S. labor law fails to meet international human rights standards, Pier said.

The proposed Employee Free Choice Act – supported by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and many Congressional Democrats – would address some of the shortcomings in U.S. labor law by levying fines of up to $20,000 for each violation and permitting workers to choose union representation by signing cards, bypassing the drawn-out NLRB election process during which many employer violations occur.

Still, Pier worries the new law would not be effective without a broader campaign to improve people's knowledge of unions. Companies like Wal-Mart could still continue the kind of early union-busting – such as showing videos during employee orientation – that create a chilling climate for organizing.

"EFCA will help," Pier said of the proposed legislation. "EFCA's necessary. I don't think it's the fix."

Pier's talk was sponsored by The Institute for Global Studies and the University of
Minnesota's Human Rights Program and co-sponsored by the Labor Education Service, publisher of Workday Minnesota.

For more information
Read Pier's report, "Discounting Rights: Wal-Mart's Violation of U.S. Workers' Right to Freedom of Association," http://hrw.org/reports/2007/us0507/

This article was taken from Workday Minnesota

On Thursday October 16 Human Rights Program Director Barbara Frey joined a panel of experts to discuss the legal issues involved in the proposed Arms Trade Treaty being considered by the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN Professor Frey has worked extensively on the issue of small arms control and is the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Prevention of Human Rights Violations Committed with Small Arms and Lights Weapons. More information on Small Arms and Light Weapons is available on the Human Rights Program’s website, accessible by clicking here.

The UN panel was sponsored by Amnesty International as an effort to understand the issues involved in drafting a treaty to establish common international criteria for arms exports. Since 2003 Amnesty International, Oxfam, and International Action Network have spearheaded the Control Arms Campaign, an international movement in support of the Arms Trade Treaty.

The Control Arms Campaign states that its ultimate goal is to reduce the human causalities associated with the proliferation of small arms. The proposed Arms Trade Treaty looks to create international standards on the use, management, and transfer of arms, based on the following “5 Golden Rules:�? “States shall not authorize international transfers of conventional arms or ammunition where they will:
(i) be used or are likely to be used for gross violations of international human rights law or serious violations of international human rights law.
(ii) have an impact that would clearly undermine sustainable development or involve corrupt practices;
(iii) provoke or exacerbate armed conflict in violation of their obligations under the UN Charter and existing treaties.
(iv) contribute to an existing pattern of violent crime.
(v) risk being diverted for one of the above outcomes or for acts of terrorism.�?

Barbara Frey was joined on the panel by Clare de Silva, a lawyer from Amnesty International, and Robert M Young from the International Committee of the Red Cross. Professor Frey’s briefing focused on the human rights obligations of states who export arms into situations where there is a high probability that they will be used to commit atrocities.

Currently, the Arms Trade Treaty is gaining traction in the General Assembly. Several countries have recently finished drafting an Arms Trade Treaty resolution, which includes the mandate for an Open Ended Working Group that will meet in 2009 to discuss how to best formulate and implement an arms control treaty in the framework of the UN. For further information about the Control Arms Campaign and the Arms Trade Treaty visit their website.

Sudan’s Vice President Ali Osman Taha speaks in parliament in the capital Khartoum on July 14 2008 (AFP)

In a meeting held Monday evening on the sideline of the United Nations Assembly General meeting, Taha urged the regional body to strongly request the UN Security Council to defer the prosecution and the investigation by the ICC.

"We hope that your meeting today comes out with strong and clear request to the Security Council to rectify the situation and overcome the request of the International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor" Taha said today in New York.

"We also hope that the meeting of the General Assembly provides an opportunity for the Council to coordinate in this regard with all regional and international organizations that rejected the ICC prosecutor move, to work with it and the African countries members of the Security Council to achieve what is requested according to a clear mechanism and timeframe for action." Taha stressed.

The African Union had asked the U.N. Security Council to invoke article 16 of Rome Statue and suspend any indictment of Sudan’s head of state.

Libya and South Africa sought to force a suspension in the UNAMID extension resolution adopted on July 31 but failed to get the required number of votes and instead accepted a watered down paragraph taking note of the African Union (AU) concern regarding the ICC move.

Since the issue was not raised by any delegation.

Hopes for the introduction of an Article 16 resolution appear to be fading primarily due to the stances of the veto wielding Western members of the UNSC namely US, UK and France.

UK and France diplomats hinted to their desire to see concessions from Sudan before they would consider supporting such a resolution.

But the US, which had long standing opposition to the ICC, appeared uncompromising on bringing war crimes perpetrators to justice. Washington abstained from voting on the UNAMID extension resolution over the text which included reference to the AU concern over Bashir’s indictment.

Taha also urged the AU peace and Security Council to ensure the collaboration of "all the concerned parties" to bring rebels to the table of negotiations, saying government efforts to end the crisis could not be successful without reaching a peaceful solution with them.

He also spoke about Khartoum efforts to implement Abuja peace agreement particularly the deal reached with the former rebel leader who returned to Darfur to protest the ill implementation of the 2006 peace deal.

(ST)

http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article28715

Dawes, professor of U.S. and Comparative Literature at Macalester College and author of That the World May Know: Bearing Witness to Atrocity, and Hampl, a creative writing professor in the Department of English at the University of Minnesota and author of the memoir, The Florist's Daughter, among several other award-winning books, engaged in a thoughtful discussion about exposing human rights abuses using the written word.

According to Dawes, "human rights work is fundamentally a matter of storytelling." But, this storytelling, not just using words, but also images, can sometimes have unintended consequences. Dawes relayed once such instance that took place in Dakha, Bangladesh. A group of prisoners were massacred in front of a group of photographers in Dakha during the 1971 War of Independence from Pakistan. Two photographers, who did not intervene in the violence choosing rather to document the killings on film, were given Pulitzer Prizes for using their photography to get the stories out to the rest of the world. It could be argued that getting the story out, in this case, was a kind of complicity with the violence - that the presence of the cameras actually incited the soldiers to greater violence to create a spectacle for the rest of the world. Ultimately, it was the photos, when viewed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, that spurred the Indian Government to take action to stop the violence and future killings. However, as evidenced in this case, telling the story can sometimes be a part of the tragedy itself.

Emily Bright, the 2007-08 Scribe, contributed to the evening by reading from her writing on the student-led movement to stop child abductions in South Sudan. For several months, Emily followed the work of a group of students committed to addressing the abduction of one of the students' two young nieces. Emily spoke eloquently about observing the students doing their work, while acknowledging her own feelings regarding the abducted children, and the challenges faced as she tracked the project's progress.

Our newest Scribe, Katie Leo, is currently conducting research, volunteering, and engaging communities in dialogue to learn more about various human rights issues. Katie has spoken with local Hmong-American artists and community members regarding the desecration of Hmong burial sites in Thailand and has volunteered at the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission's public hearings in St. Paul in June. Her experience thus far has informed her about the process of community reconciliation and the importance of creating a shared group narrative. Katie is particularly interested in the power that shaping language has over human rights work, as discussed in the Dawes book. Katie will continue to write and research around these issues as a key part of her Scribes Fellowship.

As we proceed with the Scribes project we are gently reminded that there is always a story behind the stories. In exposing and reporting on human rights abuses, the writer has to come to terms with the moral and ethical questions that often arise. If the story is exposed, will people be in danger because of it? How many people are endangered if the story is not exposed? Whose story is it? Is it a writer's duty to tell the story? We are thankful to James Dawes and Patricia Hampl for allowing us to sit in on their dialogue on these very tough questions.

Since its inception in October, the Save Yar Campaign, with support from the Human Rights Program, has made strides in raising awareness about intertribal child abduction in South Sudan and influencing action by South Sudanese and U.S. officials. Much work remains in untangling the many social and economic problems that contribute to child abduction.

After a March fact-finding trip to Juba, South Sudan, Campaign members Robyn Skrebes and Kaitlin Dougherty returned to the U.S., while Kou Solomon remained. Kou met with dozens of governmental and nongovernmental officials, and pressed leaders to examine the underlying causes of violations of children's rights and to seek possible solutions. Notably, Solomon met with two top presidential advisers and held multiple interviews with Governor Juuk of Jonglei state, the epicenter of this intertribal child abduction. In conversations with Solomon, the Governor emphasized the challenges facing law enforcement and the urgent need for paved roads and walkie talkies which would make policing the area easier. The Campaign carried forward these requests, balanced with a call for development aid targeting the poverty and illness that fuel the conflicts behind child abduction.

Campaign members continue to pressure elected representative and other leaders in the U.S. to address child abduction. In June, campaign members Tracy Baumgardt and Madeline Thaden traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with international experts regarding the efforts of the Save Yar Campaign. Late in July, Daniel Lynx Bernard, traveled with Baumgardt and Solomon to D.C. for a congressional briefing sponsored by Congresswoman Betty McCollum. Joining the trio in providing statements was Eric G. Berman, managing director of the Geneva-based think tank, the Small Arms Survey. The group drew attention to the relatively unknown patterns of child abduction in South Sudan and emphasized the unique affront to human rights and the destabilizing ripple effects upon the region.

In April, Save Yar Campaign members took the next step to form an umbrella organization to carry on the initial campaign and apply its lessons to other under-examined patterns of child abduction around the world. Members are working to formalize Child Protection International (CPI), an independent nongovernmental organization. In June, CPI announced its first Steering Committee which includes HRP Director Barbara Frey, and long-time Save Yar Campaign members Bernard, Thaden, Baumgardt, and Amelia Corl. Skrebes, an Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellow with CPI, is serving as Executive Director. CPI will hold its first annual meeting in August.