Sudan: Congressional Black Caucus calls for fair agreement to end genocide in Darfur

Congressional Black Caucus Calls for Fair Agreement to End Genocide in Darfur

Congressional Black Caucus (Washington, DC)
PRESS RELEASE
May 2, 2006
Posted to the web May 2, 2006
Washington, DC

After more than three years of suffering at the hands of the Government of Sudan and the Janjaweed, the people of Darfur are faced with a proposed peace agreement which falls short of the aim to end the violence and create a just and lasting peace in the region.

The seventh round of the African-Union brokered peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria are coming to a close and the April 30 deadline for a signed peace agreement was extended to midnight tonight. The draft peace agreement is skewed to benefit the Government of Sudan and penalize the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM)- the only voices for the people of Darfur.

"We must ensure a just and equitable agreement which will bring an end to the genocide", Congressman Donald M. Payne (D-NJ) said on Tuesday, just hours before the deadline expires.

"Putting undue pressure on the SLA and JEM is not the way to reach a fair agreement. The international community has failed to end the genocide in Darfur and we should not betray them again by forcing them to sign an agreement they feel is unjust."

In the proposed agreement the SLA and JEM were denied their requests for a vice presidency and the proposal to unite Darfur's three states as one region, while many of the provisions affirm the status quo. The agreement repeats the call for the disarmament of the Janjaweed, despite the fact that the Government of Sudan has deliberately ignored Security Council resolutions requiring the militias' disarmament and other calls for the same by the international community. Meanwhile, the agreement calls for the disarming, and essentially the surrender, of the liberation movements to the Government of Sudan; the same government committing genocide against the people these groups took up arms to protect.

Congressman Mel Watt, Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, concluded by saying, "The Congressional Black Caucus strongly urges the Government of Sudan to immediately end the genocide in Darfur. Every day's inaction causes more needless deaths and destruction."