Tomo Križnar (born 26 August 1954) is a

peace activist A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world p ...

, notable for delivering video cameras in

Southern Kordofan South Kordofan ( ') is one of the 18 wilayat or states of Sudan. It has an area of 158,355 km2 and an estimated population of approximately 2,107,623 people (2018 est). Kaduqli is the capital of the state. It is centered on the Nuba Mountain ...

to the local ethnic

Nuba The Nuba people are indigenous inhabitants of southern Sudan. The Nuba are made up of 50 various indigenous ethnic groups who inhabit the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan, South Kordofan state in Sudan, encompassing multiple distinct people that ...

civilians in order to help them collect the evidence of North Sudan military's

war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...

against them. He wrote several books. He was also a special envoy of then

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

n president

Janez Drnovšek Janez Drnovšek (; 17 May 1950 – 23 February 2008) was a Slovenian liberal politician, President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia (1989–1990), Prime Minister of Slovenia (1992–2002, with a short break in 2000) and President of Slovenia (20 ...

for

Darfur Darfur ( ; ) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju () while ruled by the Daju, who migrated from Meroë , and it was renamed Dartunjur () when the Tunjur ruled the area. ...

Private life

Born in

Jesenice, Jesenice Jesenice (, ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru'', vol. 6: Kranjsko. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 144.) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, tenth-largest town in Slovenia, located i ...

(

SR Slovenia The Socialist Republic of Slovenia (, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Slovenija, Социјалистичка Република Словенија), commonly referred to as Socialist Slovenia or simply Slovenia, was one ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

), he lived in Naklo in northwestern Slovenia. He studied

economic sciences Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyses ...

and

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

. Now he and his wife live in

Postojna Postojna (; , ) is a town in the traditional region of Inner Carniola, from Trieste, in southwestern Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Postojna.

Peace missions

2006 Darfur mission

In 2006, Križnar entered the

region with the help of Darfur rebels during the

War in Darfur The War in Darfur, also nicknamed the Land Cruiser War, was a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan that began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equalit ...

. He entered without a valid visa via the neighbouring

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

. On 20 July 2006, he was arrested. On 14 August 2006, he was convicted of "publishing false news, espionage and entering Sudan without an entry visa" and the criminal court of

Al-Fashir Al-Fashir or El Fasher () is the capital city of North Darfur, Sudan. It is a city in the Darfur region of southwestern Sudan, northeast of Nyala, Sudan. "Al-Fashir" (description) ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 2007, webpage: A historical ...

in Northern Darfur sentenced him for two years imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 dinars (US$2,400). His photography equipment and films were confiscated. The Slovene government urged Sudan to pardon Križnar. Then president of Slovenia,

, addressed a special letter to

Omar Hasan Ahmad al-Bashir Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir (born 1 January 1944) is a Sudanese former military officer and politician who served as Sudan's head of state under various titles from 1989 until 2019, when he was deposed in a coup d'état. He was subsequently i ...

and sent another special envoy to Sudan. On 2 September 2006, al-Bashir agreed to pardon and release Tomo Križnar. Križnar returned to Slovenia on 5 September; but he had to leave photography equipment and films – that contain documentations of mass graves according to him – in Sudan.

2011 Southern Kordofan mission

In 2011, Križnar delivered video cameras in

to the local ethnic

civilians in order to help them collect the evidence of North Sudan military's

against them. In 2012, world premiere of the ''

Eyes and Ears Of God – Video surveillance of Sudan ''Eyes and Ears of God: Video Surveillance of Sudan'' is a 2012 documentary film by Tomo Križnar and Maja Weiss. It shows the ethnic Nuba civilians defending themselves with the help of over 400 cameras distributed by himself and Klemen Miheli� ...

'' film on YouTube. The documentary film shows the ethnic

civilians defending themselves with the help of over 400 cameras distributed by himself and Klemen Mihelič, the founder of humanitarian organisation H.O.P.E., to volunteers across the war zones in the Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile, and Darfur, documenting the (North) Sudan military's

against local populations. On his website there are quotes from media news about the "refugees in Blue Nile (...) starve highly of no food, medicine and insecurity from the continual aerial bombardment" and "starving families hiding in caves to escape bombing by Sudanese warplanes".Media quotes
on Križnar website

Documentary films

*2012

- available on YouTube *2008 DAR FUR - War for Water - available on YouTube *2001 Nuba, voices from the other side *2000 Nuba, pure people - available on YouTube *1995 Lonely paths

Books

Books are in Slovene only. *1999 Nuba, pure people *1996 Mana, by Bicycle among Indians *1994 Lonely paths *1993 Shambala - to Tibet by Bicycle *1990 On Search for Love or Around the World by Bicycle

References

Sources

Dodging Bombers in Sudan, 22 February, 2012
report from

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

columnist Nicholas D. Kristof
Sudan Tribune of 15 August 2006
about Tomo Križnar
Sudan Tribune of 15 August
about Slovenian protests
Sudan Tribune on 16 August
Pressure on Sudanese government
Sudan Tribune of 22 August
Further developments; Križnar's arrest as warning to the international community
Sudan Tribune of 3 September
Release of Tomo Križnar
Sudan Tribune of 6 September
Tomo Križnar returns to Slovenia

External links

Tomo Kriznar - official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kriznar, Tomo 1954 births Slovenian writers Living people Slovenian anti-war activists People from the Municipality of Naklo Slovenian documentary filmmakers