Press Release: Darfur Peace and Development
-To: Richmond Dispatch News
Darfur Peace and Development is a non-profit organization with offices in the United States of America, Europe, the Gulf States and Africa the Operation Office in Sudan, and Chad. The mission of Darfur Peace and Development, working in coordination with 34 grass roots organizations in Sudan and Chad, is to supports and initiate all substantive efforts to restore peace and achieve sustainable development and coexistence in the Darfur Region of Western Sudan.
Ten years ago in Rwanda nearly one million people were killed in a massive genocide within 100 days while the international community stood by without acting to intercede to save these lives.
For the last two years, the Darfur region in Western Sudan has been facing a similar tragedy the systematic genocide and organized destruction of lives and properties of the indigenous African natives of the region and again the international community is standing by without an action..
It is important to take note of the fact that as of today, 2,812,740 out of 6.5 million inhabitants in Darfur are already negatively affected by war and alarmingly high percentage which includes far too much death, disease, starvation, and destruction. Approximately 35,000 defenseless civilians have been killed and several thousands more will die due to the deliberate actions and non-non-action of the government of Sudan and its Militia ( Jengaweed) against its own indigenous African people in Darfur. 1,822,820 have been internally displaced and 180,310 have been forced to flee to the neighboring country Chad, 90% of the victims’ widows and orphaned children and malnutrition rate of between 35%- 40%.
The situation in Darfur is devastating and seriously deteriorating and extremely precarious. 8921 of African indigenous villages nearly all in the Darfur region have been burned through a systematic scorched -each policy of destruction adopted by the current Sudanese government and executed by the government military forces and Jengaweeds.
This is an emergency situation of enormous proportions. Residents of these villages in Darfur have been brutally killed, or forced to flee in a desperate attempt to save their lives. More than 2000 people will die every day and human rights violations are rampant. Men are killed or tortured, children are abducted and/or tortured. Women and girls are raped on continuous and daily basis. On February alone 2856 rape cases were reported in Darfur of which over 300 with girls between 7 to 11 of age, and we know that many more than that number have gone unreported.
On example of the human rights abuses being perpetrated in Darfur stands to illustrate thousands and thousands of others, as follows: on Saturday, May 30,2004, Khadiga Adam Abdalla, along with other two girls from the Mangory Village in North West Kuttum were gang raped and the murdered. To add extra humiliation and to stymy attempts at indentification, these women’s faces were skinned off.
This is an emergency, which the world must respond. The innocent people of Darfur are in immediate need of Protection security, food, water, shelter, clothing, blankets, medicine and plastic covers for rain.
Darfur Peace and Development, on behalf of thousands of people being killed and millions of war victims in Darfur, stands in Support of the peace agreement in Southern Sudan and in Chad and further as of the visits of Mr. Kofi Annan the Secretary General of United Nation and State Secretary, Mr.Powell to Sudan and Darfur we:
1- Call for International Community (UN) to take immediate action and deploy peacekeeping forces to protect the people of Darfur and to ensure the immediate implementation of and compliance with the ceasefire agreements.
2- Call for the United Nation to form an International Criminal Tribunal for Darfur to bring Jengaweed leaders and the Government Executives who engineered human destruction in Darfur to the Justice.
3- Call for the government of Sudan to Disarm its Militia Jengawwed
4- Call the fighting parties (the rebels and the Sudanese Government) to allow humanitarian access to the region.
5- Call the United States of America, the United Nation, African Unity and other international organizations to obligate the government of Sudan through International Observers to rebuild the villages, hospitals and Schools burned during the war.
6- Call for the reinstatement of the war victims and for compensation for the loss of their lives and properties.
7- Call for immediate peace conference sponsored by UN and world community to resolve the conflict.
We urge all international organization to extent more effort to help defenseless civilians in Darfur who are so deserving of our support and the world’s intervention on their behalf. We also express our undying appreciation to the international organizations already working in Darfur.
Darfur Peace and Development
[email protected]