Statement on Darfur: UUSC calls on international community
to act decisively to end Darfur genocide

December 7, 2005
Cambridge, Mass.

In Sudan's western region of Darfur, attacks against the civilian population continue. Sudanese government participation in and support for these attacks has been evident to a wide range of observers. Credible accounts suggest that at least 200,000 people are dead from violence, disease, and starvation. Human rights organizations concur with the U.S. State Department's assessment that the violence in Darfur constitutes genocide.

According to the United Nations, 210,000 Darfuri civilians have fled to refugee camps in Chad. A much larger number have taken refuge in resettlement areas within Darfur under the control of the same military authorities implicated in the violence.

The international community has mounted a humanitarian response to the crisis, and this intervention has definitely saved lives. It has not, however, led to an end to the violence or a marked improvement of the security situation inside Darfur.

In this context, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) President Charlie Clements and Program Director Atema Eclai joined Rev. Bill Sinkford, president of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) on a fact-finding delegation, November 8-15, 2005. The group visited some of the camps housing Darfuri refugees in neighboring Chad.

During the visit, the group gathered powerful testimony regarding the violence in Darfur. The testimony contained convincing evidence that this violence has a powerful gender aspect that is receiving relatively little attention. This gender violence includes the use of rape as a weapon of war.

The primary responsibility for peacekeeping in Darfur rests with troops from the African Union (AU). A lack of resources and an overly restrictive mandate make it impossible for this force to stop the violence. UUSC therefore recommends decisive action to

a) decrease gender-based violence in Darfur;
b) enhance the peacekeeping mandate and capacity of the African Union force; and
c) seek a negotiated solution to the violence in the region.

Recommendations

1. Media and other organizations communicating about violence in Darfur should give special attention to the often-ignored themes of violence against women and rape as a weapon of war in Darfur.

2. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations should immediately act to improve the security conditions for Darfuri refugees, especially women, in the camps in Chad. At a minimum, firewood or other fuel sources should be available in the camps so that women do not have to regularly leave the camps, thus exposing themselves to violence.

3. The United States and the United Nations must act quickly to convince the Sudanese government to accept a broader mandate for the African Union protection force.

4. Western governments and other donors must provide additional resources to enable the African Union force to do its job. The U.S. Congress must immediately reverse its decision to withhold the $50 million already appropriated by Congress to support the AU force.

5. The United States and the United Nations should jointly appoint a peace envoy charged with facilitating a negotiated solution to the conflict with the active participation of traditional Sudanese tribal leaders.

Background

Since early 2003, indiscriminate attacks on villages in Darfur by militia groups — with the support and assistance of the Sudanese military — have resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of men, women, and children. These attacks are confirmed by satellite-gathered information, refugee accounts, and other eyewitness testimony. Tens of thousands more have died from hunger and disease after being forced from their homes. The approximately 210,000 Darfuri refugees in Chad provide living testament to the extent and brutality of the violence.

New refugee flows and increasing pressure on international workers in recent months suggest a possible resurgence of violence in Darfur. The scope of this violence and the active involvement of the Sudanese government — under the guise of eliminating an antigovernment insurgency — are indisputable. No cause can justify this extreme violence against civilians.

Women are targets
The violence in Darfur has a strong gender element, including the use of rape as a weapon of war — now recognized as a crime punishable in international court. Women and young girls are routinely captured, raped, and at times held for ransom in livestock.

Women and girls continue to face the threat of rape in the refugee camps in Chad, especially when they must leave their camps to gather firewood. This gender-based violence is part of an attempt to destroy the culture of the Zagawa, Fur, and Masalit ethnic groups, which have suffered most from the attacks.

International action needed
While the West has launched a belated humanitarian response to this tragedy, we fear that the international community offers 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 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 influence the actions of armed groups. Today, approximately 5,000 ill-equipped troops are spread across a theater of operations the size of Texas. With Sudan assuming the chair of the African Union in January 2006, improving the protection capacity of the AU force will require a strong expression of political will by the international community.

The International Criminal Court has assumed a quiet presence in and around the refugee camps in Chad. Investigators are gathering information on conditions inside Darfur from refugees fleeing the violence. We hope this initiative signals the determination of the international community to identify and prosecute those responsible for genocide in Darfur. Any such investigations must include review of the evidence on the use of rape as a weapon of war.