Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

As many of you may know, two weeks ago Sunday marked the final leg of the Ride Against Genocide to raise awareness of the atrocities continuing to take place in Sudan at the hands of the Sudanese government and its surrogates, the janjaweed militias. It was also to offer a petition to the Canadian government, which has now been sent to Paul Martin, in which the signatories from Canada and the U.S. voice their concern about the massive human rights abuses, especially in the area of Darfur.

 

Why do Western governments – in particular our own, when so many expected Canadians to take a catalytic role – find it so difficult to demonstrate effective leadership on the ongoing catastrophe in Darfur? The essentially tokenistic gestures by the West, the African Union and the United Nations have all failed to end the ongoing violence in Darfur. It’s saddening to see our leaders willing to allow another Rwanda or Bosnia to take place while we stand aside and watch. Why does “Never Again” not seem to mean anything in capitals like Ottawa?

 

The Martin government’s continuing pursuit of “constructive engagement” with Sudan’s military rulers is probably worse than useless. Constructive engagement has never produced results when dealing with genocidal dictatorships. In such a context, our Prime Minister’s message of concern for Sudan’s victims cannot be taken seriously by other Canadians or international observers.

 

During the Second World War, the Swede Raoul Wallenberg helped save the lives of an estimated 100,000 Jews in Hungary. Although he made use of his diplomatic status, it is also true that he selflessly took considerable personal risks to make a difference in the lives of these thousands of strangers. He was eventually captured by the Russian Army in 1945 for allegedly being an American spy. The point I want to make here is that we all have the capacity to make a difference. If everything we do accomplishes nothing, we are nothing more than silent partners in genocide. Abhorrent violations of human rights must not continue because we did nothing.

 

Since 1983, roughly three million people have been killed in Sudan, including an estimated 400,000 in Darfur. The janjaweed militia has conducted a calculated campaign of slaughter, rape, starvation and displacement since February 2003. More than 2.5 million have been forced from their homes into internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in the desert, and in refugee camps across the borders in Chad, Uganda, the DRC and Kenya.

 

Justin Laku, a Sudanese Canadian and founder of Canadian Friends of Sudan, spent time in the Darfuri IDP camps of Al-Shuko, Zam Zam and Tuwela. As he wrote in Embassy magazine, these camps are nightmares – one of which holds about 230,000 women and children. Consider just three of his observations:

 

·        The camps, ostensibly run by the Sudanese Red Crescent/Red Cross, are in reality run by Sudanese security forces working hand in hand with the janjaweed militias, which have “ethnically cleansed” Darfur.

·        The janjaweed control all entrances to these camps and thus also the flow of humanitarian aid sent to the camps.  Nightly, they “search the camps, round up women and commit mass rapes”.

·        The African Union soldiers presently have no mandate from the Khartoum regime to do more than observe; they can neither stop crimes nor investigate them, and have no power to arrest or detain janjaweed militiamen. At night, they leave their observation posts.

 

The appointment of Dr. John Garang as vice president of a government of national unity was seen as providing an opportunity to resolve the bloody conflict in Sudan, including the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. He was seen as a beacon of real hope for peace in Sudan. The peace agreement signed in January between Garang and Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir ended 21 years of war by providing for power sharing between the Khartoum government and Garang's southern-based forces. With the unfortunate news of his death, the possibilities for an end to the bloodshed might well elude our grasp even further.

 

Violence Continues

 

In light of the fact that the violence and injustice continues in Sudan, the Canadian government and the international community as a whole must take real and effective steps in order to ensure that human rights are respected in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.

 

International cooperation to end the atrocities in Sudan is imperative. As Susan Rice stated in a recent Washington Post article, the African states cannot do it alone, despite their desire to do so, due to the lack of robust military capacity. She also notes there may be a general sense of scepticism among African leaders about an international role involving the West, as well as some fear of antagonizing the Sudanese government by inviting Western powers.

 

Senegal’s Foreign Minister, Cheikh Tidiane Gaido, disagrees that Africa alone can end the suffering in Darfur. Correcting US Secretary of State’s suggestion that a humanitarian disaster had been avoided, Gaido said recently:  “those militias, they’re still very active… killing people, burning villages, raping women”. Declaring the situation in Darfur “totally unacceptable” he believes “the UN Security Council, the European Union, the African Union, the United States – we should all come together in a new way of dealing with the suffering of the people of Darfur… We have to do something”.

 

The International Crisis Group has made a number of recommendations recently on the role of the international community. The present response is wholly inadequate. More courageous thinking is needed by the African Union, NATO, the EU, the UN, the US, and Canada. The present African Union force is limited in its ability to protect civilians and humanitarian operations through its limited size, capacity and resources, and its political constraints. If we are truly serious about saving lives in Sudan, the International Crisis Group puts forward the following recommendations:

 

·        The African Union’s mandate must be strengthened to enable it to take all necessary measures to end the genocide.

·        The consensus for a doubling of African Union troops to just below 8,000 by September is not nearly strong enough – at least 12,000 to 15,000 troops are needed – now!

·        We must provide strong international support immediately – for instance in force preparation, deployment, sustainment, intelligence, command and control, communications, and tactical mobility.

·        Develop a Bridging Force Option. If the African Union force cannot immediately meet their objectives, NATO would provide the force and keep it in place until the African Union can perform the mission on its own.

·        Lastly, the Security Council ban on offensive military flights should be strictly enforced.

 

But whatever the international and regional political nuances, or organizational mechanics and resources, or logistics, or any other number of unpersuasive excuses – no one can deny that we all have a responsibility to protect. Genocide is not simply a regional or domestic issue. As Rice rightly notes, “A government that commits or condones [genocide] is not on par with one that, say, jails dissidents, squanders economic resources or suppresses free speech, as dreadful as such policies may be. Genocide makes a claim on the entire world and it should be a call to action”.

 

It is time for the impunity with which crimes are committed by government security forces to end. The Sudanese government must prove their commitment to the safety of IDPs by ensuring their voluntary return to their homes, safe passage, compensation for the loss of livelihood caused by the arbitrary seizure of lands, and return of the lands seized. An independent and impartial commission of inquiry into the acts of genocide must be immediately established, and the commission’s findings public upon their completion.

 

Thank you.

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