Africa Action Press Release
For Immediate Release
Contact Michael Swigert: (202) 546-7961
Africa Action Demands International Community Uphold Promises to Stop Genocide in Slow Motion
Wednesday, June 18, 2008 (Washington, D.C) – Yesterday, the United Nations (UN) Security Council convened a special session focused on the crisis in Darfur. There, U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan Richard Williamson and activists testifying before the Security Council decried the international community’s failure to stop Darfur’s “genocide in slow motion” and protect the people of Sudan. Today, Africa Action urged the U.S. to lead the international community in galvanizing this response from empty commitments to robust leverage on Khartoum and other parties fomenting violence and insecurity in Sudan.
Recent weeks have seen a series of devastating challenges to peace and human security for Darfur, Sudan, and the region, most recently a renewed offensive in the Sudan-Chad proxy war. 50,000 people remain displaced due to a wave of violent conflicts in May that demolished the town of Abyei along Sudan’s North-South border, seriously jeopardizing the future of 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).
“The blunt acknowledgments of the international community’s failures at this meeting should be a wake-up call followed by immediate action,” said Gerald LeMelle, Executive Director of Africa Action. “The UN Security Council must impose consequences on Khartoum for refusing to comply with its resolutions. Without a sustained escalation of U.S. leadership and diplomatic engagement on this issue, other critical players like China will not be pushed to act, leaving the government of Sudan free to continue to terrorize its people and wreak havoc in the region.”
Africa Action called for both the crisis in Darfur and Sudan’s fragile North-South peace to be top priorities for U.S. diplomacy.
“Achieving peace and human security for the people of Sudan requires nuanced yet concerted international engagement, reflecting the complex relationships between the North-South conflict, Darfur, and the Chad-Sudan proxy war,” said Michael Swigert, Policy Associate for Africa Action. “Progress is possible, but the lack of muscle behind international commitments to date has led to predictably poor results, and threatens the credibility of future international peacekeeping and peacebuilding initiatives.”
On May 22, Africa Action held a rally at the U.S. Mission to the UN calling for increased leadership on this issue during the June U.S. Presidency of the Security Council and delivered a statement outlining necessary policy steps during this period. For this and other Africa Action resources on how to protect the people of Darfur and promote peace for Sudan, please visit www.africaaction.org.
