|
While the West has launched a belated humanitarian response to this
tragedy, we fear that the international community is offering this
response as a face-saving alternative to the decisive political
action necessary to stop the killing and depredation of these
communities. In deploying a peacekeeping force, the African Union
(AU) has stepped forward to take on a role that other international
actors have consciously avoided.
The AU mandate, however, allows the force to act only to protect
civilians in extremely limited circumstances. Its resources are
insufficient to allow it to significantly deter the actions of armed
groups. Today, approximately 5,000 ill-equipped troops are spread
across a theater of operations the size of Texas. Improving the
protection capacity of the AU force will require a strong expression
of political will by the international community.
In January 2006, UUSC joined with 24 allies to send a letter to U.S.
Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton asking that he "assert
international leadership and obtain action on Darfur. Specifically,
we urge you to draft and introduce a resolution that would 're-hat'
the African Union mission in Darfur as a U.N. operation, granting it
a strong mandate to protect civilians and humanitarian operations,
and authorize a U.N. force to be deployed as soon as possible to the
region."
Such an international intervention is essential to accomplish
four main objectives:
1) Stop the killings, rapes, and pillaging in Darfur;
2) Provide security to facilitate humanitarian assistance programs
for internally displaced people (IDPs) and refugees;
3) Enforce the African Union cease-fire between the Khartoum
government and the rebel groups in Darfur to allow meaningful
political negotiations to move forward in Abuja, Nigeria; and
4) Facilitate the voluntary return of IDPs to their land and the
reconstruction of their homes by providing a secure environment.
A U.N. resolution to "re-hat" the AU in Darfur and to authorize a
larger multinational intervention can effectively address the crisis
in Darfur. Previous examples of successful cooperation between
African regional bodies as "first responders" to crises and the
United Nations as reinforcement include peacekeeping operations in
Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Burundi. These precedents show that, with
proper planning and coordination, a U.N. intervention in support of
an African mission can act as a deterrent to violence and as a
catalyst for successful peace talks.
Legislative action needed |
|
