Open letter from women of Sudan Liberation Movement to UN Secretary General and members of the Security Council

1 January 1970
In Press releases

On the day of Peace; A call to action

Ban Ki Moon
The Secretary-General of the United Nations,
304 E 45th Street,
New York, NY 10017, USA

21 September 2008

Dear Ban Ki Moon,

After six years the terrifying war in Darfur continues. There is no need to be reminded of the thousands of people killed; or millions of people chased from their homes, their villages burned, women and girls raped and men humiliated. There is also no need to recall the many Security Council resolutions on Darfur; they simply remain as intentions, not to be taken seriously. Moreover, we do not need to remind you that the Human Rights Day on 10 December 2007 began the start of a year-long commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with the theme for 2008 “Dignity and justice for all of us”. But we do have questions to you:

1. “We know that human rights are essential to peace,”. These are your exact words said this year to mark the day of peace on the 21 September. When will the people of Darfur celebrate the Day of Peace? Or should peace, dignity and security be wishful thinking for Darfuris?

2. The Preamble to the UN Charter seeks “to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small…” Are we correct in assuming that this does not apply to Darfur? Its people patently excluded from the ‘us’ in the declaration “Dignity and justice for all of us”?

3. Why is the UNAMID force shamefully feeble, unable to protect itself, let alone the people of Darfur? The attack on Kalma camp on August 25, 2008 is yet another example of UNAMID’s impotence. Why did your organization allow the government attack in northern Darfur on 9 and10 September 2008 which killed innocent people. And why is deployment of a strengthened UNAMID force postponed repeatedly?

4. Why so many resolutions and none is applied or honored?

5. Why is the UNSC looking into ways to defer the ICC indictment of the President of Sudan Omar al-Bashir? Why do you obstruct or delay justice? If Omar al-Bashir is not responsible for the killings in Darfur, who is? Or does the UN prefer not to answer this question?

We had hoped that the UN learnt from its failure to protect civilians in Rwanda and Bosnia. We are disillusioned with your organization’s repeated statements of good intention that help no one or anything. It is time for action. We look forward to see bold and effective measures that bring peace and justice in Darfur. When that day comes, we will indeed mourn our dead, but we will also move on to embrace the future and all the good people of Sudan.

Sincerely

Habiba Abdalla Dawod
[email protected]

Mashaer Fadl Adam
[email protected]

Aziza Ibrahim
[email protected]