The opening
dialogue gave a brief and very general overview of the current conflict in
Sudan, related to the recent independence of South Sudan and the consequential
continuous human rights violations being committed there since.
Although this event was framed as a
symposium on the crisis in Sudan, it was evident in the unfolding of the
presentations that it was more of an impressive demonstration intended to
recruit support of surveillance and intervention by NGOs in Africa.
Following President Calareso’s
introductory remarks, Susan Swanberg, an international law instructor for the
American Red Cross in Massachusetts, gave an educational history of the
organization and also provided some general background of the Red Cross’ role
in the formation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in relation to their
contribution to the Geneva Conventions which legally allows for non-governmental
groups to operate without interference anywhere in the globe under the banner
of “humanitarian aid.” Swanberg briefly
discussed how the International Red Cross
and Red Crescent Movement is thriving in South Sudan.
After the Red Cross’ presentation, The Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) was
introduced by
Nathaniel Raymond, its current director, who provided some
background information of the initiative.
The SSP utilizes constant satellite surveillance and other information (including every single world-wide press
releases involving Sudan in real time!) to produce up-to-date reports on
the security situation in the newly-independent South Sudan. The project is supposedly
sponsored entirely by American actor George Clooney, and is coordinated through
the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.
Mr. Raymond
introduced his colleagues who took part in discussing and demonstrating how SSP
detects and documents actions in Sudan to focus world attention to the region’s
need of humanitarian aid.
Throughout the discussion, remarkable
satellite images were displayed and the panel took turns explaining how the
images are analyzed. They revered that
in 2011, the Satellite Sentinel Project detected images of freshly-dug mass
grave sites in the Southern Kordofan state of South Sudan, where Sudan’s
military has been targeting an ethnic minority. They explained how the SSP could
use their intelligence to cite violations of International Humanitarian Law,
although there were no mentions of such specific legal actions being pursued
presently.
The presentation concluded with an
invitation to Worcester College Consortium students to pursue an internship
with The Satellite Sentinel Project who are incidentally actively looking to
recruit a current Worcester college student.
I left the symposium contemplating
the abundant conflicts, genocides, brutal tyrants, tribal wars and human rights
calamities that have been occurring all over Africa going back since the days
of European colonization yet the focus of attention has only shifted to this
region recently (e.g. Hosni Mubarak, Muammar Gaddafi, Omar al-Bashir, Kony). It is evident through sudden interests that
the oil, agricultural and pharmaceutical industries see massive potential in
Africa. (Sudan is oil rich,
the UN is privatizing supply and production of seeds in Sudan,
and Red Cross vaccinated over one million cattle.)
Considering that wars and conflict
are what the media make them, I guess it’s fitting to employ America’s bestknown and romanticized actors to be the face of surveillance efforts in Africa. Framing these actions under the banner of
humanitarian aid manufactures consent and exemption from much interference and
SSP Director, Nathaniel Raymond specifically said that “their surveillance does
not fall under international laws of espionage simply because they are using
satellite imagery located way above any claimed national airspace.”
There was no mention of Sudanese
rights to privacy or any mention of problems and hostility to Western
involvement from citizens there either. I
found that peculiar considering that many Africans perceive their modern
problems as results of Western policies past and present. Much to their chagrin since 2006, The United
States Africa Command, (USAFRICOM or
AFRICOM) in concert with other U.S. government agencies and international
partners, conducts sustained security engagement through military-to-military
programs, military-sponsored activities, and other military operations as
directed to promote a stable and secure African environment in support of U.S. foreign policy.
Writer and Director Zamo Mkhwanzi is one such
critic of foreign intervention into Africa who put it most eloquently:
“No to aid, no to intervention. Leave Africa
alone. That’s what we really want. Stop stealing our raw materials, stop coming
here to trade your guns, stop using us to provide employment for your own
people who come here as aid workers. No thanks UNICEF and Amnesty International
and Angelina Jolie. Stop sending food packages that put our farmers out of
work. In fact leave, leave Africa, never come back here again and we will be
ok. We like you, so we’ll come and visit you if you like. But we can live without
you. Every time you come here you leave us worse off, so thanks – but no
thanks.”
Further Reading:
According to The Sentinal Project’s website,
Clooney’s running mate in this Sudanese mission is John Prendergast. Mr. Prendergast is not only a human rights
activist as head of the NGO Enough Project, but perhaps more notably he is a
former member of the National Security Council and State Department. Prendergast left government in 2001 to become
Special Adviser to the President of the International Crisis Group on Africa
issues. The International Crisis Group is a branch of the World Bank who advises The U.N.
Read this insightful article that
argues the Enough Project actually made life harder in Congo:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2011/11/02/enough-project-and-global-witness-killing-people-in-congo/
For some further insight into the
abuses of the Red Cross:
http://www.rense.com/general28/ddosb.htm
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