SAVE DARFUR

The Darfur Crisis � A Timeline of Key Events in 2007

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January 1, 2007	Original deadline for implementation of U.S. “Plan B” sanctions on Sudan if President al-Bashir continued to obstruct deployment of hybrid UN-AU peacekeeping force. This deadline was not met.
January 10, 2007	New Mexico Governor Richardson, acting as a private citizen, visits Sudan and negotiates a 60-day ceasefire and other conditions with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. Bashir subsequently ignores this agreement.
February 2007	UN Human Rights Council deploys an investigative mission to Darfur, is subsequently barred entrance to Darfur by the Sudanese government, and instead interviews recent Darfuri refugees in eastern Chad and elsewhere.
March 7, 2007	UN Human Rights Council issues its report, which states that “the situation in Darfur is characterized by gross and systemic violations of human rights and grave breaches of international humanitarian law.”
April 18, 2007	President George W. Bush announces his intention to consider implementing the previously threatened economic and diplomatic “Plan B” sanctions against Sudan over the Darfur situation.
April 27, 2007	President al-Bashir rejects the deployment of the majority of the expanded African Union – United Nations hybrid peacekeeping force as originally agreed to.
May 2, 2007	International Criminal Court (ICC) issues arrest warrants for suspected Sudanese war criminals, including Ahmed Haroun, the former Minister of State for the Interior of the Government of Sudan and current Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs.
May 3, 2007	Sudan rejects the ICC’s indictments and refuses extradition.
May 3, 2007	Chad and Sudan sign an agreement in Saudi Arabia, aimed at reducing tensions between their countries.
May 10, 2007	In response to mounting international criticism, China appoints a Special Envoy for Sudan: longtime Africa expert Liu Guijin.
May 18, 2007	In its seventh report on the human rights situation in Sudan, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reports on aerial attacks conducted from January to March 2007 against Darfuri civilians.
May 29, 2007	President George W. Bush, in a speech at the White House, announces the implementation of the twice-threatened economic and diplomatic “Plan B” sanctions against Sudan.
June 5, 2007	UN Secretary General and African Union chairperson release a report on the hybrid operation in Darfur. UNAMID’s eventual mandate is derived from this report.
June 9, 2007	UN Special Envoy Jan Eliasson, engaged in intensive shuttle diplomacy, presents his road map towards peace in Darfur to the UN Security Council.
June 17, 2007	UN Security Council meets with President al-Bashir, seeking explicit acceptance of all elements of a hybrid force.
June 17, 2007	Oxfam temporarily withdraws from Sudanese refugee camp, citing violence against humanitarian workers.
July 1, 2007	African Union summit in Accra, Ghana debates the fate of Darfur.
July 13, 2007	U.S. Special Envoy for Darfur, Andrew Natsios, tells reporters that “after a halt in the bombing between the beginning of February and the end of April 2007, the Sudanese government has resumed bombing in Darfur.”
July 21, 2007	UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy launch a bid to halt the bloodshed in Darfur, offering to go together to the region if a ceasefire can be agreed upon.
July 31, 2007	UN Security Council approves UN Resolution 1769, authorizing a 26,000-strong force for Darfur. Sudan says it will cooperate with the UN-AU Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).
August 3-5, 2007	A UN-led meeting of many, but not all, Darfuri rebel leaders in Arusha, Tanzania, takes place with the goal of building a joint commitment to a common platform for power-sharing, wealth-sharing, security arrangements and humanitarian issues in advance of the resumption of formal peace talks with the Sudanese government.
August 23, 2007	Nuala Lawlor, the acting chargé d’ affaires for Canada in Sudan, and her European Union counterpart are expelled from Sudan.
August 24, 2007	Amnesty International releases photographs that show continued deployment of military equipment by the government in Darfur in defiance of a UN arms embargo.
August 31, 2007	The first deadline set within UN Resolution 1769, for finalization of UNAMID troop commitments, is missed.
September 5, 2007	UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon travels to Darfur region to meet with stakeholders.
September 30, 2007	A breakaway faction of rebels kill at least 10 peacekeepers at an African Union base near the town of Haskanita in the deadliest attack yet on the peacekeeping force in its 3-year mission.
October 1, 2007	The Sudanese military attacks the town of Haskanita, burning it to the ground, killing and wounding an unknown number of rebels and civilians in the process, and displacing thousands of people.
October 6, 2007	Nobel peace laureate and South African archbishop Desmond Tutu leads a group of elder statesmen to Darfur to talk to government officials about stabilizing the crisis
October 27, 2007	Peace negotiations begin in Libya, but a lack of participation creates need to rebrand event as “advanced consultations.”
November 14, 2007	Nine rebel Darfur factions reunite their political organizations and military structures, indicating their willingness to meet with AU and UN mediators.
November 17, 2007	President al-Bashir reiterated his rejection of Western countries contributing troops to the UNAMID force.
December 3, 2007	U.S. Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad threatens future UN Security Council consideration of sanctions against Sudan if it continues to obstruct deployment of the UNAMID peacekeeping mission.
December 31, 2007	UN Resolution 1769 states that UNAMID must be operational by this date, including the assumption of command-and-control of, and funding responsibility for, the African Union peacekeeping force currently in Darfur.