US students urge intl community to send troops to Darfur

WASHINGTON, September 19, 2006 — Today STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition, announced a new policy, developed in response to recent events in Darfur and at the United Nations. STAND is calling for the immediate deployment of a force to Darfur, regardless of whether or not the Sudanese government grants its consent. .

The conflict in Darfur, which the U.S. Congress and President George W. Bush declared to be state-sponsored genocide in 2004, has claimed the lives of more than 400,000 civilians and displaced at least 2.5 million people.

Experts point out that the situation in Darfur continues to deteriorate, and in the past two weeks, there is strong evidence of increased Sudanese government offenses in Darfur. The consensus from the international community is that a peacekeeping force needs to be deployed immediately

STAND believes that a genocidal government should not have the right to decide whether international troops can intervene in its country. It appears that Sudan’s government is becoming more emboldened in the face of international inaction. Recently, the government threatened to expel the existing African Union peacekeepers from Darfur. This behavior cannot continue, as thousands of Darfurians die each month.

On August 31, 2006, the UN Security Council approved a resolution to send peacekeepers into the region. However, the UN has given every indication that it will only actually deploy troops if the Sudanese government grants its consent.

In recent months, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir stated that Sudan is “strongly opposed to any foreign intervention in Sudan.” Despite a recent visit to Sudan by Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer, Sudan’s leadership does not appear to be close to changing its mind. Until this occurs, the UN will not send peacekeeping troops to Darfur.

“Given that the African Union mandate in Darfur expires on September 30th, an international peacekeeping force must enter the region in the near future,” says STAND Advocacy Director, Alexa Malishchak, “The people of Darfur cannot afford to wait for their government to give consent for such a force.”

In the upcoming months, STAND chapters will urge the United States government to utilize its power to help support the deployment of a multinational, robust peacekeeping force led by a NATO member state in Darfur.

“The international community can and must end this genocide now, ” says Malishchak, “We urge countries to support, logistically and financially, a multinational force in Darfur. Troops should be deployed to the region with or without the consent of Sudan.”

STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition is comprised of over 500 high school and college chapters throughout the United States and Canada. Its new “Time to Protect” campaign will organize students to urge elected officials to take concrete steps to end the genocide. Students will also fundraise for a civilian protection force in Darfur. STAND recently launched its new website at www.TimeToProtect.org.

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Scott Warren,
National STAND Coalition,
Media Director,
Brown University ’09,
cell: (908) 279-3287, email:
[email protected] website:
www.standnow.org