Anti-Genocide Group condemns African Union’s delay on Darfur
Genocide Intervention Network
Genocide Intervention Network Criticizes Decision to Put Off Transition to UN Peacekeepers
This ?Appears to Be a Decision to Placate a Genocidal Regime,’ Chief Executive Says
Mar 14, 2006 (WASHINGTON) — The Genocide Intervention Network today expresses its deep concern over the decision by the African Union to postpone a final determination on whether to transfer its peacekeeping force in Darfur, Sudan, to a United Nations operation.
The government of Sudan, currently supporting genocidal militias in the Darfur region, has issued repeated statements detailing its strident opposition to a UN force being deployed in Sudan. This opposition, GI-Net argues, represents another phase in the government’s systematic efforts to deny peace and security to the people of Darfur.
“After weeks of inciting protests and threats against the proposed UN force, the Sudanese government’s lobbying efforts within the AU seem to have been effective,” says GI-Net Chief Executive Mark Hanis. “We are deeply displeased with what appears to be a decision to placate a genocidal regime. It is now up to the United States and NATO to support the AU financially and strategically.”
Last Friday, the African Union decided they would support a UN transition “in principle,” without authorizing the UN to actually being forming this force. They subsequently chose to extend their own mission in Sudan for another six months.
“Taking into account the time it could take to organize a UN force,” Hanis says, “it could be nearly a year before the UN force actually begins protecting civilians in Sudan.”
Hanis encourages the United Nations to begin making concrete plans for their mission, and called on international governments to increase their support of the “drastically under-funded African Union peacekeepers.”
Concerned Americans should also take action, GI-Net says.
“We encourage American citizens to call their representatives,” says GI-Net Director of Advocacy Sam Bell. “The representatives need to know that Americans support funding the AU peacekeepers in full, with $200 million allocated as soon as possible.”
The Genocide Intervention Network works to mobilize an anti-genocide constituency in the United States and Canada to raise the costs for inaction by politicians in the face of genocide. Accessible online at GenocideIntervention.net, GI-Net empowers its members with the tools to support initiatives that prevent and stop genocidal violence, in particular by protecting civilians in Darfur, Sudan.