My second week of training in Ottawa has been somewhat torturous. My troop and I still have no clue as to what are duties will be in Sudan either which is somewhat disconcerting. We were exposed to some of the issues we might face while on mission, however, which we all found to be useful information. Nobody really has the answers we want to hear including what our job functions will be and exactly where we will be posted. As well, no one really ha.JPG)
s a solid insight into the recent conflict between the Sudanese military and rebels near Khartoum which is where we are to land. My troop and I fly out on Sunday from Ottawa to Frankfurt, Germany. We arrive at approximately 0630 and are there until about 10:30 when we finally fly out to Khartoum, Sudan arriving at 17:15. The bonus is that we fly first class all the way. I will be taking full advantage of this and I mean FULL.
My troop and I were basically told that we were guinea pigs for an outside independent contracting company for peacekeeping training, whose name I will not mention, to promote their curriculum for a possible future contract with the RCMP. It has been more of a hardship than I think Sudan will be. Basically, maybe 25% of the training has been relevant and/or useful this second week. Between the painful training this second week and getting the last minute packing and administration matters completed, the week has been dragging along very slowly. We are all ready to fly out...the sooner the better.
In addition, we have not been told exactly what our duties will be or where we will be posted in Sudan. So far the rumour is we will spend anywhere between 5 days, 2 weeks, or 5 weeks in the capital of Khartoum training with the UN (United Nations). Upon completion of our training, we may or may not be deployed to southern Sudan for the start of our mission which may or may not include the duties of community policing, police training, and human rights investigations. Also, once an appropriate assessment of the region of Darfur is completed, we may or may not be re-deployed into the Darfur region. We are going in blind to say the least.
We were given the opportunity to watch a video with respect to the current civil/political unrest, genocide, and other human rights violations that have occurred and continue to occurr in Sudan. The video was more focused on the Darfur region of Sudan, however, I am sure it will apply to other regions of Sudan as well, in one respect or another. We saw the results of the massacre of African tribal groups by the Janjaweed (Sudanese government supported Arab rebels) and listened to some of the African tribal women speak of seeing their husbands and children be killed in front of them. In the majority of situations, these women were then raped by the same men that had killed their families. The killing of the men weakens any potential threat of successful uprising and rebellion by the Darfurians. The rapes, we have been told, has nothing to do with sex, but more with breaking the spirit of the people. The totality of which is considered an act of genocide under International Law.
In addition to these atrocities are the resulting issues of starvation as well where children are dying daily of malnutrition. This was good insight to some of the things we may be exposed to while on our mission. It was heart wrenching to see how much these people have suffered and continue to suffer. One of the last scenes of the video was the Sudanese Police, who we are to mentor, being established in the Darfur region at one of the large IDP (Internally Displaced People) camps which can have populations of 50,000 to 75,000 people. (It is important to understand that these police officers are basically the military who are controlled and run by the Sudanese government). As a show of force, the Sudanese police threw a live chicken in the air while a group of police officers dove in, arms extended, trying to grab onto any part of the chicken they could hold on to and literally tore it to pieces. They then shoved the freshly torn flesh into their mouths and banged on their chests as if they were animals claiming their territory. I can see that police training, investigation, and the semantics of "Community Policing" will not be the same in Sudan as it is at home.
At the end of the day...,I can't believe I just typed that (inside joke), my troop and I are all very excited to head on our mission and look forward to receiving our duties which may or not be community policing, police training, or human rights investigations, and may or may not be in the southern Sudan or Darfur region. In addition, we have been exposed to some of the atrocities and conflict we may have to deal with. We have a positive outlook on the mission and look forward to doing our part in ,and hopefully be a positive influence to, the country and the people of Sudan.
.JPG)
s a solid insight into the recent conflict between the Sudanese military and rebels near Khartoum which is where we are to land. My troop and I fly out on Sunday from Ottawa to Frankfurt, Germany. We arrive at approximately 0630 and are there until about 10:30 when we finally fly out to Khartoum, Sudan arriving at 17:15. The bonus is that we fly first class all the way. I will be taking full advantage of this and I mean FULL.My troop and I were basically told that we were guinea pigs for an outside independent contracting company for peacekeeping training, whose name I will not mention, to promote their curriculum for a possible future contract with the RCMP. It has been more of a hardship than I think Sudan will be. Basically, maybe 25% of the training has been relevant and/or useful this second week. Between the painful training this second week and getting the last minute packing and administration matters completed, the week has been dragging along very slowly. We are all ready to fly out...the sooner the better.
In addition, we have not been told exactly what our duties will be or where we will be posted in Sudan. So far the rumour is we will spend anywhere between 5 days, 2 weeks, or 5 weeks in the capital of Khartoum training with the UN (United Nations). Upon completion of our training, we may or may not be deployed to southern Sudan for the start of our mission which may or may not include the duties of community policing, police training, and human rights investigations. Also, once an appropriate assessment of the region of Darfur is completed, we may or may not be re-deployed into the Darfur region. We are going in blind to say the least.
We were given the opportunity to watch a video with respect to the current civil/political unrest, genocide, and other human rights violations that have occurred and continue to occurr in Sudan. The video was more focused on the Darfur region of Sudan, however, I am sure it will apply to other regions of Sudan as well, in one respect or another. We saw the results of the massacre of African tribal groups by the Janjaweed (Sudanese government supported Arab rebels) and listened to some of the African tribal women speak of seeing their husbands and children be killed in front of them. In the majority of situations, these women were then raped by the same men that had killed their families. The killing of the men weakens any potential threat of successful uprising and rebellion by the Darfurians. The rapes, we have been told, has nothing to do with sex, but more with breaking the spirit of the people. The totality of which is considered an act of genocide under International Law.
In addition to these atrocities are the resulting issues of starvation as well where children are dying daily of malnutrition. This was good insight to some of the things we may be exposed to while on our mission. It was heart wrenching to see how much these people have suffered and continue to suffer. One of the last scenes of the video was the Sudanese Police, who we are to mentor, being established in the Darfur region at one of the large IDP (Internally Displaced People) camps which can have populations of 50,000 to 75,000 people. (It is important to understand that these police officers are basically the military who are controlled and run by the Sudanese government). As a show of force, the Sudanese police threw a live chicken in the air while a group of police officers dove in, arms extended, trying to grab onto any part of the chicken they could hold on to and literally tore it to pieces. They then shoved the freshly torn flesh into their mouths and banged on their chests as if they were animals claiming their territory. I can see that police training, investigation, and the semantics of "Community Policing" will not be the same in Sudan as it is at home.
At the end of the day...,I can't believe I just typed that (inside joke), my troop and I are all very excited to head on our mission and look forward to receiving our duties which may or not be community policing, police training, or human rights investigations, and may or may not be in the southern Sudan or Darfur region. In addition, we have been exposed to some of the atrocities and conflict we may have to deal with. We have a positive outlook on the mission and look forward to doing our part in ,and hopefully be a positive influence to, the country and the people of Sudan.
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