Save Darfur Issues Urgent Call to Halt Hostilities in Sudan

Coalition calls for peace, protection of civilians as violence escalates

WASHINGTON – Save Darfur Coalition president Jerry Fowler today issued the following statement after Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir signaled new attacks in Darfur and after new clashes between al-Bashir’s military and former southern rebels in the flashpoint town of Abyei:

“Civilians throughout Sudan face new peril as the peace agreement that ended the two decade war in southern Sudan seems increasingly fragile and new violence in Darfur appears imminent. The United States and the international community should take immediate steps to halt the fighting in the south and deter al-Bashir’s planned assault on Darfur.

“First, world leaders – led by the United States and other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council – should make clear that there will be real consequences for further attacks on civilians in Darfur and throughout Sudan in the form of sanctions targeted at those individuals who authorize violence.

“Second, U.N. member states should accelerate and intensify the deployment of the UNAMID civilian protection force to Darfur. To that end, the United States should use its June presidency of the U.N. Security Council to hold a special meeting of the Security Council, the Friends of UNAMID working group of nations, and the U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations to resolve all of UNAMID’s outstanding logistical issues. Further, the United States should introduce a resolution in the Security Council to impose targeted sanctions against those individuals in and out of the Sudanese regime who are responsible for attacks on civilians and for defiance of previous Security Council resolutions.

“Third, the United States and the international community should take immediate steps to launch and sustain an all-encompassing peace process that addresses the local and national issues that are fueling conflict in Darfur and threatening a return to all-out war in southern Sudan.”

The Save Darfur Coalition and the ENOUGH Project provided recommendations for revitalizing the peace process in a joint report, Creating a Peace to Keep in Darfur, available at http://www.enoughproject.org/reports/creatingpeacedarfur.