Human Rights First calls for high-level envoy for peace in Darfur
Human Rights First
– Contact: Kirsten Powers at (212)845-5260 or [email protected]
Jan 12, 2006 (NEW YORK) — Human Rights First today called on the United Nations Secretary-General to appoint a new high-level Envoy for Peace in Darfur, where millions of innocent people are suffering in a human rights crisis.
“The situation in Darfur is rapidly deteriorating, and there is an urgent need for greater action by the United Nations and its members, including the United States, to work to end the conflict. Since 2003, civilians in Darfur have been victims of mass killings and rape, villages have been burned, and people have been forced to flee for their lives. Millions of men, women and children are living in fear. It is a moral imperative that the international community takes action now,” said Maureen Byrnes, Executive Director of Human Rights First.
Byrnes continued: “A high-level envoy would greatly strengthen the diplomatic process, and refocus public attention on efforts to end the killing in Darfur. Such an appointment would be a visible symbol of renewed and heightened political and diplomatic will to resolve the Darfur crisis.”
The U.N. Security Council will be meeting Friday, January 13, to discuss the situation in Darfur. Secretary General Kofi Annan set a deadline of the end of December 2005 for the conclusion of peace talks in Abuja. The deadline has not been met – while the conflict in Darfur continues.
Many prominent individuals in the United States and around the world have called for greater urgency in the international response to the Darfur crisis. Former speaker of the United States House of Representatives Newt Gingrich and former majority leader of the Senate George Mitchell have written that in Darfur “it is clear that international action is still urgently needed.” United States Senators Joseph Biden, Christopher Dodd, Russell Feingold and Barack Obama have also written to President George Bush to call for enhanced diplomatic efforts to bring peace to Darfur. The high-level Envoy for Peace would address these concerns.
In a detailed proposal for the envoy, Human Rights First today outlined the criteria for a successful envoy to Darfur:
– The new envoy should have both the stature and international support to enable him or her to engage in dialogue with all parties to the Darfur conflict.
– The envoy should open talks with leaders of all communities in Darfur, as well as the leaders of rebel groups, Janjaweed and other militia, and the Sudanese Government.
– The envoy should be impartial and should work to re-establish peaceful inter communal relations through dialogue.
– The special envoy should be equipped to undertake these efforts directly, in Darfur and elsewhere in Sudan, and on a sustained basis.
– The envoy should closely coordinate with the African Union and United Nations missions in Sudan, as well as Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sudan Jan Pronk.
– The envoy should harness and build upon the many existing diplomatic efforts concerning Darfur from the African Union, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, the League of Arab States, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom.
– The envoy should build focused international and regional support for his or her efforts to move all parties in Darfur toward a lasting peace agreement.
The African Union Mission in Sudan is unable to impose peace and security in Darfur, and the African Union-sponsored political talks are stalled. An estimated two million people remain unable to return to their homes because of the ongoing violence. The Janjaweed militia, with support from the Sudanese Government, continues to attack civilians and the Sudanese government is continuing to conduct helicopter gunship attacks in Darfur in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1591. The upturn in violence has now severed more than 500,000 people from access to international humanitarian aid. United Nations personnel have withdrawn from parts of the region because of increased violence, the humanitarian relief work of international nongovernmental organizations has been greatly restricted, and the civilian toll is again climbing.
The high-level Envoy for Peace in Darfur would not replace the African Union mission on the ground in Darfur, and it would build on the efforts undertaken to date to bring the parties to the negotiating table. It would not delay or impede the work of the International Criminal Court with respect to Darfur. It would instead harness current efforts in a comprehensive initiative with the weight and resources to make a difference.
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