Next steps on Darfur: UN peacekeeping mission needed now

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

June 7, 2006 (WASHINGTON) — Despite the apparent progress
of recent weeks, the situation in Darfur grows worse by the day. The
partial peace deal signed in Abuja on May 5th by the Sudanese government
and one of the rebel groups from Darfur is already unraveling, amid new
violence and in the absence of effective implementation mechanisms. A
United Nations (UN) Security Council resolution passed on May 16th
authorized the deployment of a technical assessment team to plan for a
possible future UN peacekeeping mission in Darfur, but Khartoum’s
opposition stalled this effort and the team only arrives in the region
this week. Meanwhile, thousands of people have been displaced by new
violence, and the humanitarian crisis in Darfur and eastern Chad
threatens massive loss of life with the imminent arrival of the rainy
season.

The crisis in Darfur requires new and urgent action from the
international community. Africa Action urges the immediate deployment of
a robust UN peacekeeping force to enforce the cease-fire and the Abuja
peace deal, to protect vulnerable civilians and to create a secure
environment for humanitarian operations. Despite a broad international
consensus around the need for a UN peacekeeping operation in Darfur,
such a mission has yet to be authorized or initiated. The government of
Sudan is still dictating the pace and the extent of the international
response to this crisis. The Bush Administration continues to express
its commitment to peace in Darfur, but its policies have yet to achieve
an improvement in the situation on the ground, and the genocide continues.

This month, the international community has a new opportunity to take
specific actions to address the urgent protection needs of the people of
the Darfur. The UN Security Council meets in Khartoum this week to
underscore support for the new peace agreement and to seek the Sudanese
government’s support for a UN mission in Darfur. The African Union (AU)
and the Arab League have both recently expressed official support for
such a UN mission. The visit to Sudan this week of the joint AU-UN
technical assessment team marks an initial exploratory step towards the
possible future creation of a UN peacekeeping mission in Darfur, but the
government of Sudan still expresses opposition to this notion. The UN
Secretary-General will this month be tasked with responding to the
assessment team’s findings and proposing next steps to the Security
Council. In the U.S., pressure is building on the Administration to take
new action to stop the ongoing genocide in Darfur.

Africa Action emphasizes the following clear and specific steps that
must be taken this month to address the urgent security needs in Darfur:

* The U.S. and other members of the UN Security Council must exert and
sustain maximum pressure on the government of Sudan to overcome its
objections to a UN peacekeeping force and to pave the way for the rapid
authorization and deployment of such a force to bolster the Darfur peace
agreement and to provide security on the ground.

* The U.S. must engage in every diplomatic effort necessary to secure
the support of all members of the UN Security Council for the rapid
deployment of a robust peacekeeping operation in Darfur.

* The U.S. must introduce and secure passage of a new Security Council
resolution authorizing a UN peacekeeping operation for Darfur with a
Chapter VII mandate to enforce the cease-fire, protect civilians and
humanitarian operations, and oversee the security arrangements of the
peace agreement. The U.S. must provide all necessary financial and
diplomatic support to ensure that this UN mission in Darfur comprises at
least 20,000 troops, possesses all requisite logistical capacity, and is
deployed to the region to reinforce the AU mission in Darfur by early
Fall at the latest.

* The same Security Council resolution must authorize the immediate
re-hatting of the African Union mission in Darfur as a UN force,
providing the AU troops with international authority and support, with a
more robust mandate to protect civilians and enforce the cease-fire, and
with new financial and logistical support to strengthen their efforts
until a larger UN operation is deployed, of which they will form a core
component.

* The U.S. must provide significant new resources and logistical
assistance to the re-hatted AU mission and to the future UN peacekeeping
operation in Darfur. The U.S. must also continue to provide generous
support to humanitarian assistance programs in Darfur and throughout the
region to meet the urgent needs of the people on the ground.

Africa Action condemns the slow response of the U.S. and the
international community to the protection needs of the people of Darfur,
and emphasizes the need and opportunity for new action on this priority
in the coming weeks. The organization emphasizes that the swift
deployment of a capable UN peacekeeping mission in Darfur will provide
stability and security in the immediate term and lay the groundwork for
further progress towards peace.

Africa Action continues to advocate for a UN mission in Darfur in
recognition of the UN’s responsibility to respond to genocide and crimes
against humanity, and in acknowledgment of the UN’s role as a
representative body of the international community. UN action on Darfur
can and must be driven by the U.S., as a powerful permanent member of
the Security Council and as the only government to have publicly
acknowledged that what is happening in Darfur constitutes genocide.
Africa Action also emphasizes the practicability of rapid and effective
UN action on this crisis, with strong leadership from the U.S. and the
Security Council, and notes precedents of efficient and successful UN
missions in Africa in its earlier analysis “How the UN Can Stop Genocide
in Darfur.”
(http://www.africaaction.org/newsroom/docs/DarfurStatement1205.pdf)

As the situation in Darfur deteriorates by the day, it is clear that
nothing short of a robust UN peacekeeping mission can provide protection
to civilians and humanitarian operations on the ground. The
establishment of such a UN mission in Darfur has now received the
support of the U.S., the UN Secretary-General, most members of the
Security Council, the African Union, the Arab League, and dozens of
organizations and millions of public citizens. New action is required
this month towards this goal, if the international community is serious
about protecting the people of Darfur.