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The Oscar-winning actor George Clooney was arrested this morning, after he and supporters, including congressmen stepped onto the grounds of the Sudanese embassy in Washington D.C. Clooney's publicist Stan Rosenfield tells TMZ, "They were protesting the violence committed by the government of Sudan on its own innocent men, women and children. They were demanding they allow humanitarian aid into the country before it becomes the largest humanitarian crisis in the world."
Sources connected with George tell us he feels good about the arrest because it puts the spotlight on the crisis. Moments before the arrest, George was mobbed by reporters (below) -- claiming, he was protesting to raise awareness about the "Sudanese government committing atrocities on their own people." The arrested protesters included congressmen, human rights activists and faith leaders. "We are here really to ask two very simple questions," Clooney said moments before his arrest. "The first question is something immediate -- and immediately, we need humanitarian aid to be allowed into the Sudan before it becomes the worst humanitarian crisis in the world." The second thing, he said, "is for the government in Khartoum to stop randomly killing its own innocent men, women and children. Stop raping them and stop starving them. That's all we ask."
Protesters had begun gathering in the street before the protest began and converged on the Embassy once Clooney and the others arrived, holding signs reading "Stop Bombing Civilians Now!" and "End the silence stop the violence." Those arrested included United to End Genocide President Tom Andrews; Democratic Reps. Jim McGovern, Al Green, Jim Moran and John Olver; Martin Luther King III; and NAACP President Ben Jealous. CNN iReporter films Clooney arrest Jealous directed a message to the Sudanese president: "This is what beginning of the end looks like."
"We are protesting to make sure the Sudanese government knows that the world is watching," McGovern said. "The United States Congress is watching. And we will be back again and again until they stop using food as a weapon; stop slaughtering innocent men, women and children; and stop spitting in the face of the world community." After speeches by several of the protest leaders, a police officer told the group she was giving them a third warning, after which they would be arrested.
A few moments later, the arrests began. The group stood calmly as they waited for the police to apply plastic handcuffs as the crowd of protesters chanted "al-Bashir to the ICC," referring to the International Criminal Court, where Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has been indicted. Clooney was charged with disorderly crossing of a police line, a misdemeanor, Secret Service spokesman Max Millien said. The Secret Service is responsible for security at foreign diplomatic missions in Washington. He paid a $100 fine, choosing to forfeit that money to avoid a court appearance, said Gwendolyn Crump, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police Department.
Clooney met with President Obama on Thursday to discuss his concerns about Sudan. He testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week about violence in the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan, a state in Sudan near its border with newly independent South Sudan. Clooney and other activists blame the Sudanese government for attacks there that have injured and killed civilians. Clooney told the Senate committee that the attacks are being orchestrated by Sudan's government, led by al-Bashir, government official Ahmad Harun and Defense Minister Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein -- the same three men, he said, who orchestrated long-documented attacks in Darfur.
"What you see is a constant drip of fear," testified Clooney, who just returned from a trip to Sudan. "We found children filled with shrapnel, including a 9-year-old boy who had both of his hands blown off." This month the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Hussein, listing 41 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed in the Darfur region of Sudan. Al-Bashir and Harun are also facing war crimes charges involving Darfur. Clooney is co-founder of the Satellite Sentinel Project, which uses satellite imagery to watch for aerial attacks and troop movements in Sudan and South Sudan, which became a separate country last year.
March 15, 2012 (JUBA) — A United Nations special envoy on Thursday warned of the possibility of “large scale humanitarian crisis” in the word’s newest nation, unless resources are mobilized to ensure protection and safety of children returning from neighboring north.
Radhika Coomaraswamy, the Special Representative to the Secretary General (SRSG) on Children and Armed Conflict said UN humanitarian partners are deeply concerned about the numbers of returnees, anticipated to drastically increase in the next few weeks.
“The international community must be on alert for the possibility of a large scale humanitarian crisis and resources should be mobilized to ensure that children returning from Sudan are given the proper care and protection,” she said.
Currently on a South Sudan visit as part of follow-on signing of the action plan between the UN and the Sudan People Liberation Army (SPLA), Coomaraswamy also held talks with President Salva Kiir, at which the latter re-affirmed the army’s commitment to release all children from their ranks.
The SRSG on children and armed conflict, on Wednesday, visited Renk in Upper Nile state to obtain first hand assessment on the status of returnee children from Sudan to South Sudan. While in Renk, she reportedly met with the local commander of the SPLA and reinforced the message of the revised action plan, which was signed in Juba on Monday.
During her visit to Jonglei state, Coomaraswamy decried the high level of child abductions in the region, which she said was fuelling the conflict between Lou Neur and Murle communities.
“It is important that the best interest of the child is at the heart of any reconciliation,” she told local leaders, UN partners and representatives from non-governmental organizations.
Coomaraswamy urged South Sudan government to take education as a priority in the new austerity budget, which was introduced in the wake of the current oil crisis.
“For this new nation to flourish, it is essential that education is made a priority, even with an austerity budget,” she said, while emphasizing the importance of effective social programmes that will prevent children from being lured into armed militias.
The Oscar-winning actor George Clooney was arrested this morning, after he and supporters, including congressmen stepped onto the grounds of the Sudanese embassy in Washington D.C. Clooney's publicist Stan Rosenfield tells TMZ, "They were protesting the violence committed by the government of Sudan on its own innocent men, women and children. They were demanding they allow humanitarian aid into the country before it becomes the largest humanitarian crisis in the world."
Sources connected with George tell us he feels good about the arrest because it puts the spotlight on the crisis. Moments before the arrest, George was mobbed by reporters (below) -- claiming, he was protesting to raise awareness about the "Sudanese government committing atrocities on their own people." The arrested protesters included congressmen, human rights activists and faith leaders. "We are here really to ask two very simple questions," Clooney said moments before his arrest. "The first question is something immediate -- and immediately, we need humanitarian aid to be allowed into the Sudan before it becomes the worst humanitarian crisis in the world." The second thing, he said, "is for the government in Khartoum to stop randomly killing its own innocent men, women and children. Stop raping them and stop starving them. That's all we ask."
Protesters had begun gathering in the street before the protest began and converged on the Embassy once Clooney and the others arrived, holding signs reading "Stop Bombing Civilians Now!" and "End the silence stop the violence." Those arrested included United to End Genocide President Tom Andrews; Democratic Reps. Jim McGovern, Al Green, Jim Moran and John Olver; Martin Luther King III; and NAACP President Ben Jealous. CNN iReporter films Clooney arrest Jealous directed a message to the Sudanese president: "This is what beginning of the end looks like."
"We are protesting to make sure the Sudanese government knows that the world is watching," McGovern said. "The United States Congress is watching. And we will be back again and again until they stop using food as a weapon; stop slaughtering innocent men, women and children; and stop spitting in the face of the world community." After speeches by several of the protest leaders, a police officer told the group she was giving them a third warning, after which they would be arrested.
A few moments later, the arrests began. The group stood calmly as they waited for the police to apply plastic handcuffs as the crowd of protesters chanted "al-Bashir to the ICC," referring to the International Criminal Court, where Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has been indicted. Clooney was charged with disorderly crossing of a police line, a misdemeanor, Secret Service spokesman Max Millien said. The Secret Service is responsible for security at foreign diplomatic missions in Washington. He paid a $100 fine, choosing to forfeit that money to avoid a court appearance, said Gwendolyn Crump, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police Department.
Clooney met with President Obama on Thursday to discuss his concerns about Sudan. He testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week about violence in the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan, a state in Sudan near its border with newly independent South Sudan. Clooney and other activists blame the Sudanese government for attacks there that have injured and killed civilians. Clooney told the Senate committee that the attacks are being orchestrated by Sudan's government, led by al-Bashir, government official Ahmad Harun and Defense Minister Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein -- the same three men, he said, who orchestrated long-documented attacks in Darfur.
"What you see is a constant drip of fear," testified Clooney, who just returned from a trip to Sudan. "We found children filled with shrapnel, including a 9-year-old boy who had both of his hands blown off." This month the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Hussein, listing 41 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed in the Darfur region of Sudan. Al-Bashir and Harun are also facing war crimes charges involving Darfur. Clooney is co-founder of the Satellite Sentinel Project, which uses satellite imagery to watch for aerial attacks and troop movements in Sudan and South Sudan, which became a separate country last year.
March 15, 2012 (JUBA) — A United Nations special envoy on Thursday warned of the possibility of “large scale humanitarian crisis” in the word’s newest nation, unless resources are mobilized to ensure protection and safety of children returning from neighboring north.
Radhika Coomaraswamy, the Special Representative to the Secretary General (SRSG) on Children and Armed Conflict said UN humanitarian partners are deeply concerned about the numbers of returnees, anticipated to drastically increase in the next few weeks.
“The international community must be on alert for the possibility of a large scale humanitarian crisis and resources should be mobilized to ensure that children returning from Sudan are given the proper care and protection,” she said.
Currently on a South Sudan visit as part of follow-on signing of the action plan between the UN and the Sudan People Liberation Army (SPLA), Coomaraswamy also held talks with President Salva Kiir, at which the latter re-affirmed the army’s commitment to release all children from their ranks.
The SRSG on children and armed conflict, on Wednesday, visited Renk in Upper Nile state to obtain first hand assessment on the status of returnee children from Sudan to South Sudan. While in Renk, she reportedly met with the local commander of the SPLA and reinforced the message of the revised action plan, which was signed in Juba on Monday.
During her visit to Jonglei state, Coomaraswamy decried the high level of child abductions in the region, which she said was fuelling the conflict between Lou Neur and Murle communities.
“It is important that the best interest of the child is at the heart of any reconciliation,” she told local leaders, UN partners and representatives from non-governmental organizations.
Coomaraswamy urged South Sudan government to take education as a priority in the new austerity budget, which was introduced in the wake of the current oil crisis.
“For this new nation to flourish, it is essential that education is made a priority, even with an austerity budget,” she said, while emphasizing the importance of effective social programmes that will prevent children from being lured into armed militias.
