A steady stream of action and advocacy
UUSC’s Drumbeat for Darfur campaign raises the consciousness of
U.S. citizens about the Darfur crisis. And it increases the
decibel level of the voices urging the Bush administration and
Congress to make this humanitarian crisis one of their highest
priorities.
Join us in a steady stream of action and advocacy to:
1. Protect civilians – especially women – from the ongoing
violence.
2. Promote a just and peaceful resolution to the conflict.
3. Hold perpetrators of the genocide
accountable for crimes against humanity.
Protect civilians – especially women – from the ongoing
violence.
In August 2006, the U.N. Security Council passed Resolution 1706
to authorize a U.N. peacekeeping mission of more than 20,000 to
cover the vast Darfur region. This resolution authorizing a
force with a strong mandate to protect Darfur’s civilians from
assault must be fully implemented.
The United States must press for the full deployment of such a
peacekeeping force.
A no-fly zone must be established and enforced to stop the
Sudanese military from using helicopter gunships and planes to
bomb villages in Darfur.
Women in refugee camps must be protected against rape. They are
especially vulnerable when they venture outside their camps to
gather firewood.
Intimidation, detention, and arrest of aid workers has led some
nongovernmental organizations to pull their staff from the
region. Aid delivery has been hampered in areas of heavy
fighting. The United States must demand that humanitarian aid
workers and delivery routes be respected and protected.
Promote a just and peaceful resolution to the conflict.
In May 2006, the Sudan government signed the Darfur Peace
Agreement in which it promised to disarm the Janjaweed militia
and honor a ceasefire, only to go back on its word and escalate
the violence.
The Khartoum-based government must know that the U.S. government
is serious about achieving a negotiated settlement to the
conflict.
The United States must enlist the support of allies and trading
partners to increase diplomatic and economic pressure for a
negotiated settlement.
The U.S. special envoy must be directed to search for long-term
solutions that include all parties to the conflict.
Hold perpetrators of the genocide accountable for crimes
against humanity.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) was established in 2002
as the world’s first permanent court to hold people criminally
responsible for genocide and crimes against humanity.
In March 2005, the U.N. Security Council agreed to Resolution
1593 calling for the chief prosecutor of the ICC to investigate
cases of murder, rape, and pillage in Darfur. The United States
abstained from voting because the Bush administration objects in
principle to the ICC and does not want to be subject to its
investigation in other cases.
In December 2006, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC prosecutor,
informed the U.N. Security Council that the investigation into
the worst crimes committed in Darfur will be completed and the
results announced in early 2007.
Pressure is needed to see that the Sudanese government
cooperates with the judicial proceedings. The United States must
share intelligence with the ICC to assist in the prosecutions
and help protect witnesses and victims.
