New violence in Darfur requires international action

Contact: Ann-Louise Colgan (202) 546-7961

May 25, 2006 (WASHINGTON, DC) — As new reports from the United
Nations (UN) this week confirmed a spike in violence and deterioration
in the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, the government of Sudan continued
this morning to refuse access to a UN assessment team to Darfur. A UN
Security Council deadline passed on Wednesday for a UN team to be
allowed to enter Darfur and begin planning for a transition from the
African Union (AU) mission there to a larger UN peacekeeping mission in
Darfur. Two days of negotiations between top UN officials and the
Sudanese government failed to gain Sudan’s agreement to allow the
technical team entry to Darfur.

Ann-Louise Colgan, Acting Co-Executive Director of Africa Action, said
today, “The partial peace deal signed in Abuja on May 5th is already
unraveling in Darfur. Reports this week confirm new violence, including
new and horrific attacks against civilians perpetrated by the government
of Sudan. The international community appears paralyzed in the face of
Khartoum’s objections to a UN force. But the government of Sudan – the
author of the ongoing genocide in Darfur – cannot continue to dictate
the international response to this crisis. There must be relentless
pressure and new action to ensure a UN force is deployed to provide
protection to the people of Darfur.”

Africa Action today emphasized the need for the U.S. and the
international community to do everything necessary to ensure the rapid
deployment of a robust international peacekeeping force to Darfur. The
organization notes that Khartoum’s failure to meet the UN Security
Council deadline to allow the UN assessment team access to Darfur this
week represents only the latest example of the Sudanese government’s
flouting international will on Darfur. A report issued by the UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan this week, accused the Sudanese government
of violating international humanitarian law by imposing restrictions on
supplies and relief workers in Darfur. Another report by the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights warned this week that the Sudanese
government is failing to protect civilians from attacks in Darfur.

Africa Action today urged the international community to stand up for
the people of Darfur, and to leverage all necessary pressure on Khartoum
to overcome its objections to a UN peacekeeping mission for Darfur on an
urgent basis. Africa Action notes that UN Under-Secretary-General for
Humanitarian Affairs, Jan Egeland, recently warned that conditions in
Darfur have deteriorated so severely that international assistance
efforts now face collapse. Egeland described “relentless” attacks
against aid workers, which threaten humanitarian operations in many
areas, and noted the need to take immediate and concrete steps to
integrate the small AU force into a larger UN force.

Marie Clarke Brill, Acting Co-Executive Director of Africa Action, said
today, “The international community has a responsibility to protect the
people of Darfur, and this means taking every step necessary to put a UN
peacekeeping force on the ground immediately. The recent mobilizations
across the U.S. raised public pressure for greater U.S. action on this
crisis, but nothing has changed on the ground in Darfur. Without strong
and concerted pressure on the government of Sudan to accept a UN
peacekeeping force, the Abuja peace deal will be meaningless and the
people of Darfur will continue to be abandoned in the face of worsening
attacks on the ground.”

Africa Action notes that the Sudanese government had previously
indicated that it would allow an international peacekeeping force into
Darfur upon the signing of a peace deal in Abuja. The organization
emphasizes that a UN peacekeeping force is now necessary to help
implement the recent and partial peace deal, and to provide protection
to civilians and humanitarian operations in Darfur.

This week, Africa Action updated its “Talking Points on How to Stop
Genocide in Darfur”, and these are now available at:
http://www.africaaction.org/newsroom/docs/TPs0605.pdf .

For more information and analysis on Darfur, see
http://www.africaaction.org/darfur