Video:Darfur Genocide Exposed-Four Sudanese men admit that they participated in violence and massacres

A video recently released by Aegis Trust shows the testimony of four men who state they actively participated in the violence and massacres on Darfur, and who are not afraid to call it genocide. The video was uploaded on The Hub and it is hoped that people will pass it on to others in order to spread this information:

The men - whose identities are obscured - are former members of the Sudanese military and the Janjaweed militia: one was a senior officer in the Sudan Army Finance, one a high-ranking Janjaweed commander, another a Janjaweed footsoldier, and the last a Sudanese soldier.
On the video, you can hear their testimonies of how the Sudanese government recruited the Janjaweed militias, gave them weapons and supplies and whenever they attacked villages, the government would cover it up and state that the attack had been done by the military against rebels, and not by militias attacking civilians. The video is available with German subtitles, Arabic subtitles and French subtitles.

According to Aegis Trust's press release on Human Rights First, this video could assist in the International Criminal Court's decision to issue an arrest warrant against Sudan's president, General Omar al-Bashir:
Since 2003, at least 300,000 civilians have died in Darfur and millions have been displaced from their homes, many of them at the hands of militia nicknamed the ‘Janjaweed' ('devils on horseback'). Time after time, survivors stated - and international observers confirmed - that as they murdered, raped, looted and burned village after village, the Janjaweed was backed by the Sudanese army and air force. Yet the Sudanese Government has consistently denied responsibility for atrocities in Darfur and to this day, says it has nothing to do with the Janjaweed.
However, the defectors in this film - some of them speaking publicly for the first time - tell a very different story.(Source: Global Voices)

Repression of bloggers and political opponents continues in Burma, China and Tibet (Call for Reporters and Bloggers to Boycott Beijing Olympics)

Sometimes I think Europeans and Americans are too inclined to take democracy for granted.
In the run in to the Beijing Olympics there has been a huge crack down on dissidents by the Chinese authorities. Meanwhile the level of Chinese repression has accelerated in Tibet. China supports the repressive regimes in Burma, Zimbabwe and Sudan.

During the Saffron Revolution in Burma in September- spearheaded by Buddhist monks- the Tyrants of Rangoon shut down the communications systems. Frequently courageous bloggers were the only reliable source of information. Many of these were arrested and disappeared.
Nay Phone Latte, a young blogger who has been held since 29 January in the notorious Insein prison, is facing a possible seven-year sentence.

Saw Wai, a poet who was arrested on 22 January for criticising junta chief Gen. Than Shwe in coded message in a poem published in the weekly Achit Journal, appeared before the Insein prison special court for the third time on 8 July. He is now also facing a possible seven-year jail sentence.

During the Saffron Revolution the brutality of the Burmese regime was flashed around the world. The international media has now moved on to pastures new. Once more the Tyrants of Rangoon are free to repress the opposition and to stamp out all vestiges of free speech.
The following message from a blogger and Buddhist monk called Ashin Mettacara has appeared in opednews under the heading "Calling Reporters and Bloggers to boycott Beijing and to declare one day period of media mourning"

"Dear Reporters and Bloggers,
I am a 27-year-old Buddhist monk from Burma, currently studying is Sri Lanka. While I was studying in the Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka in September 2007, there was a Saffron Revolution in Burma. The military regime cracked down on the peaceful protestors who mostly were Buddhist monks. As I could not reconcile myself with the current military regime's human right abuses, I became a blogger. I am not a political monk nor reporter. My wish is just to use the freedom I have out of Burma to help people of my country to get freedom and be away from the unbearable pain they have to endure for too many decades.
Coming 08-08-08 is the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics in China and the 20th anniversary of the 08-08-1988 popular demonstration in Burma, when many thousands of people were killed under the military junta's brutal crackdown.

China is a major trading partner, major weapons supplier and major defender of the Burma military junta in the United Nations Security Council. Because of China's support, the military junta in Burma is still in power to this day.

I would like to call on each and every reporter and blogger around the world to boycott, without reporting information, photo and video footage of Olympics ceremonies.

I also think it would be righteous to declare 08-08-08 as a day of media mourning for the thousands who died in 1988 demonstrations in Burma, and to raise awareness of China's policies concerning Burma, the Falun Gong, Darfur and Tibet."
Will his appeal fall on deaf ears?

Burma-Callous Regime is impervious to plight of victims of cyclone Nargis. It is time for international intervention

One week has elapsed since cyclone Nargis devastated the heavily populated Irrawaddy Delta and on up to the capital Rangoon. Little foreign aid has reached the country testimony to the obduracy and paranoia of a regime which fears that foreign aid workers might contaminate the minds of a cowed populace.

The death toll from the Cyclone is estimated at 60,000 to 140,000 lives. Oxfam, which has staff on the ground, has witnessed the early outbreak of disease amongst the displaced population. It estimates that the death toll could rise to 1,500,000 in the coming weeks if immediate action is not taken.

The border has been opened for one overland convoy, but the regime is still blocking the delivery of the bulk of desperately needed medical and food supplies.
The tyrants of Rangoon have systematically stymied efforts from the international community to provide humanitarian aid to the estimated two million cyclone victims.

China a staunch supporter of this discredited regime has behaved irresponsibly and has done little to ease the situation. Chinese influence could ensure an immediate policy change. Unfortunately Chinese foreign policy- in relation to countries such as Burma and Sudan- is governed by the need to advance Chinese economic interests at all costs. A death toll of 100,000 means little to China- a country whose foreign policy lacks a moral base. It is time to treat China as an international pariah unless it alters its policy in Burma and Sudan.

The US, UK and France amongst others must use whatever means are necessary to ensure humanitarian aid reaches the affected areas. If military intervention is deemed necessary so be it. To hell with the junta. Is the world prepared to stand by and allow 1,500,000 people to perish?