Darfur - UN is all words, no action

Call for peace-keepers, sanctions & no-fly zone

Arab Islamists guilty of ethnic cleansing black Africans

London, UK – 4 February 2005

“The new UN report on Darfur is all words and no action. It is a cruel betrayal of black Africans who are being slaughtered by Arab Islamists. These killings are racially motivated and the UN’s failure to condemn them as genocide is craven appeasement of the Sudanese government and the Janjaweed militia,” said human rights campaigner, Peter Tatchell, a member of the ad hoc Darfur Solidarity Campaign.

“The UN’s condemnation of the mass killing, torture and rape in Darfur doesn’t go far enough. Saying the human rights abuses merit prosecution by the International Criminal Court at some point in the future does nothing to halt the current massacres. The UN must initiate an immediate four-point action plan to stop the slaughter and starvation:

• “Enforce a no-fly zone over Darfur to halt the Sudanese bombing of African villages
• “Send into Darfur a 15,000-strong peace-keeping force to protect the civilian population and aid workers, and to keep the warring factions apart
• “Provide food, clothing and shelter to the victims of the conflict
• “Impose sanctions against the Sudanese government leaders and the leaders of the Janjaweed militia, including an arms embargo and an assets freeze

“Islamist Arab racists are responsible for the genocide in Darfur. They are slaughtering black Africans in a deliberate policy of ethnic cleansing.

“The best hope for Darfur is ending the Islamist military regime in Khartoum. Without a government committed to democracy and human rights, there can be no freedom and social justice for the people of Sudan and Darfur. All Sudanese - Arabs and Africans, northerners and southerners - have a common interest in overthrowing the Islamist military dictatorship.

“It is time the international community stopped wringing its hands and started taking action to halt the mass killing and starvation in Darfur.

“Darfur is a needless, preventable humanitarian tragedy, caused by the complacency and inaction of the United Nations, the African Union and European Union.”

“It is estimated that 50,000 African Sudanese have been murdered since 2003 by the Sudan armed forces and the Arab Janjaweed militia. A further 1.5 million have fled their homes, fearful of being massacred,” said Mr Tatchell.