Although the past week saw a number of positive steps taken towards providing meaningful security for the people of the Darfur region of Western Sudan, the United States has failed to use its month-long presidency of the United Nations (UN) Security Council to use that opportunity to gain support for new international action to address the ongoing genocide in this troubled region. While President Bush has made a $389 million supplemental funding request for Darfur peacekeeping and humanitarian aid and called Friday for additional NATO involvement, February passed without any concrete response to the immediate need for protection for civilians and humanitarian operations in Darfur. Attacks on civilians by government-backed Arab militias continue and chaos in Darfur has now spilled across the border into neighboring Chad, deepening one of the world’s worst refugee crises. It is encouraging to see American leaders authorize contingency planning for a possible future UN peacekeeping operation in Darfur, yet the people of Darfur find themselves no closer to seeing the resolution of a conflict that has killed more than 200,000 people and driven up to two million villagers from their homes.
As the only government to have publicly acknowledged the genocide in Darfur, the U.S. has a unique obligation to bring about international action. As Ann-Louise Colgan, Director of Policy Analysis & Communications at national advocacy organization Africa Action, said on Wednesday, “The U.S. must work at every level to promote a Security Council resolution authorizing a robust UN mission in Darfur without delay. New reports of strong opposition to a UN force from the government of Sudan are a cause for grave concern, and the U.S. must redouble its diplomatic efforts, and work with the African Union, to ensure broad and committed international support for a UN mission for Darfur”. Public pressure moved the Presidential Administration to focus on Darfur in February and it is essential that such efforts continue on both a national and local level if the U.S. is to reestablish the momentum of its diplomatic efforts and initiate the UN resolution that will change the reality on the ground in Darfur.
Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd (D) deserves praise for his co-sponsorship of Senate Resolution 383, a resolution calling for significant NATO assistance to the AU peacekeeping force in Darfur, including the enforcement of a no-fly zone for Darfur, and for a quick transition to a capable UN peacekeeping force with a sufficient complement of troops and a Chapter 7 “peace enforcement” mandate to protect civilians. Connecticut constituents must also question why Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman (D) has not yet co-sponsored this legislation and escalated pressure in order to make this a reality.
The people of Darfur cannot be abandoned to a double standard that makes genocide acceptable in Africa. In Connecticut and throughout the country, citizens must push for the swift passage of both President Bush’s Emergency Supplemental Funding Request and Senate Resolution 383. Wesleyan Students Take Action Now: Darfur implores you to call your senators and ensure the passage of these vital legislative measures. We must hold both our leaders and ourselves accountable to the pledge that genocide will not continue on our watch.
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