Darfur Needs More Than Words
Darfur Needs More Than Words
Sudan’s Calamitous Civil War: A Chance to Draw Back from the Abyss
Sudan’s Calamitous Civil War: A Chance to Draw Back from the Abyss
Op-Ed / Africa 2 minutes

Darfur Needs More Than Words

For more than three years, Europe has utterly failed to take any effective steps to pressure the Sudanese regime to stop the systematic war crimes and crimes against humanity being committed by its troops and proxy Janjaweed militias in western Sudan – and during this time millions have been forced from their homes and more than 200,000 have died from the conflict.

It is not as though European leaders are oblivious to the state-sponsored devastation. In May 2006, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said: “The long-suffering people of Darfur need help – not next week, or next month, but today. The violence that has long terrorised the civilian population is persisting. Extreme human rights violations are continuing... consequently, the humanitarian situation is the worst on the planet.” Many other European leaders – from UK Prime Minister Tony Blair to Commission President José Manuel Barroso have decried the atrocities in similar terms.

Yet, since the conflict started in early 2003 the EU has sanctioned only four individuals: a former Sudanese air force commander, one Janjaweed militia leader and two rebels. It has also imposed a weak and ineffective arms embargo on the warring parties. And that’s it.

There are a number of compelling reasons why forceful measures, including tough, targeted sanctions, are needed. First, the Sudanese regime has not been serious in negotiating a peace deal, as its objective is to wipe out the rebel groups in Darfur, at almost any cost, because it does not wish to share power or wealth with them. European sanctions would significantly increase the costs of Khartoum’s intransigence. Second, until significant costs are imposed on it, the regime will continue to renege on its commitments to disarm the Janjaweed, implement ceasefires and allow the deployment of a more robust peacekeeping force. Third, Khartoum, despite its blustering, has a history of responding to international pressure, most notably signing up to the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, ending the 20-year-old civil war with the South, in part because of demands from the international community, backed up by forceful measures.

Finally, if Europe does not act soon, it may well find itself having to intervene with others on a much grander scale, and much more forcefully, before the year is out. The already horrendous situation in Darfur has been further deteriorating in recent months and has been spreading to neighbouring Chad and the Central African Republic, where Khartoum is actively fuelling rebellions. In mid-January aid agencies in Darfur warned that their relief operations would collapse unless security improved.

European leaders need to translate their rhetoric into effective action. Darfur is on the agenda of the next meeting of foreign ministers on 5 March. The European Parliament has called for sanctions. Foreign ministers should heed this call and take the opportunity to impose travel bans and asset freezes on all the individuals named in the UN’s own report from the Commission of Inquiry and Panel of Experts. They should look at measures specifically targeting revenue flows from the petroleum sector and foreign investment in, and supply of goods and services to, it and associated sectors. And they should authorise a forensic investigation of the offshore accounts of government majority party-affiliated businesses, to pave the way for sanctions against the regime’s commercial entities, the main conduit for financing militias.

The Darfur conflict is not going to be resolved without robust and co-ordinated action from the international community. Wishful thinking on Europe’s part – that Darfur will somehow resolve itself – is not going to stop the atrocities.

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