Darfur’s protection needs abandoned by International Community

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

African Union Decision to Extend Operation, Delay UN Transition Reveals Broader International Failure;
Global Desertion of “Responsibility to Protect” Means Genocide will Continue in Darfur

Mar 13, 2006 (WASHINGTON, DC) – In the aftermath of the
African Union (AU) Peace & Security Council meeting on Darfur last
Friday, Africa Action today expressed its deep concern regarding the
ongoing failure of the international community to take steps to address
the immediate security needs on the ground in western Sudan. As the
genocide continues in Darfur, Africa Action asserts that the inadequacy
of U.S. and international efforts to respond to this crisis contributed
to the AU’s decision to merely extend its own beleaguered operation in
that region, and reveals a deep failure to assert the global
responsibility to protect the people of Darfur.

Salih Booker, Executive Director of Africa Action, said today, “By
deferring to the Government of Sudan on the timing and the terms of a UN
operation in Darfur, the African Union and the larger international
community are essentially granting veto power to the very author of this
genocide. It is deeply disturbing to consider the degree to which this
dynamic, and Khartoum’s increasing audacity, have been facilitated by
Washington’s relationship with the government of Sudan and by the
successive failures of the international community to hold Khartoum
accountable for the crisis in Darfur.”

Africa Action notes that the Communique from Friday’s AU meeting
expressed support “in principle” for a transition from its own mission
in Darfur to a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operation, essentially
reiterating its January statement to the same effect, but agreeing on no
firm plan for such a transition nor on immediate measures to protect the
people of Darfur. For the last two years, the AU mission in Darfur has
lacked the capacity, the troop strength and the mandate to stop the
genocide, and there are no indications that this will change in the
coming months.

Ann-Louise Colgan, Director of Policy Analysis & Communications at
Africa Action, said today, “The recent consensus around the need for a
robust international protection force in Darfur cannot be trumped by the
manipulations of the government of Sudan. The U.S. and the international
community must prioritize the people of Darfur, and must expend every
effort to overcome the obstacles to a UN force on an urgent basis,
asserting the responsibility to protect and establishing the precedent
that genocide will not be tolerated.”

Marie Clarke Brill, Director of Public Education & Mobilization at
Africa Action, said today, “The need for international action to protect
the people of Darfur is clear, and this continues to be a rallying
principle for growing numbers of Americans. The pressure of recent weeks
and months has forced new action on Darfur but the only important
measure of any new action is the level of protection it brings to the
people of Darfur. Until the reality on the ground changes, people across
the country will continue to assert this urgent priority.”

Africa Action notes the AU’s focus on the importance of a peace
agreement on Darfur being concluded in Abuja, Nigeria, where talks
continue in their seventh round. But the organization notes that an
international peacekeeping presence in Darfur cannot wait six months,
and emphasizes that such a presence can enhance the possibility for such
an agreement by maintaining the cease fire and establishing a climate of
security in Darfur. Africa Action also notes the need for the United
Nations to proceed as quickly as possible beyond the stage of
contingency planning on Darfur toward a formal commitment to establish a
peacekeeping presence in Darfur.

– For more information and analysis from Africa Action, as well as
highlights of recent activism on Darfur, see
http://www.africaaction.org/darfur