ACTION
ALERT - HUMANITARIAN
CRISIS IN
SUDAN
Situation
-
The conflict in the Western Sudan region of Darfur is
longstanding and complex. At root it is about both the ethnic
identity of the
Sudanese and the nation's resources, particularly its abundant oil
reserves. The details of a permanent
settlement to southern Sudan's 21-year civil war remain to be settled, perpetuating the nation's instability.
-
In February
2003, the Sudan
Liberation Army, a rebel group in the Darfur region of Sudan, took up arms against the Sudanese government,
protesting the lack
of government protection for their people and the government's failure
to develop the
region economically.
- In reaction, the Sudanese government has
supported and collaborated with an armed ethnically Arabian militia
known as the Janjaweed
that has killed, raped and
abducted
the Black Sudanese population of Darfur, and destroyed their
homes, property, water sources and livestock. An estimated three
hundred thousand have died as a result of the conflict, and
over two million have been forcibly displaced.
WFM ANALYSIS
World
Federalists
support institutions of global governance that are democratically
accountable and based
on the
rule of law. WFM – Canada and the international World Federalist
Movement seek to broaden international acceptance of
the "'The Responsibility to
Protect.” Largely in response to the failure
to protect in Rwanda, the principles and norms of the "The Responsibility to
Protect” were articulated in 2001 in a
report of the International
Commission
on Intervention and State Sovereignty. Among other
recommendations, the report calls for humanitarian intervention by the
international community in the most serious national (domestic)
situations and subject to strict criteria.
“Grave crimes, of a widespread
and systematic nature,
continue in Sudan,” says WFMC President, Hon. Warren
Allmand.
“The Sudanese government is demonstrably unable or unwilling to put an
end to
these crimes. The case for humanitarian intervention in Sudan is unavoidable.”
It is WFM-C's position that Canada and the international community
must act now.
For
additional background information on Sudan:
Citizens for
Global Solutions
http://www.globalsolutions.org/programs/peace_security/peace_ops/conflicts/conflicts_sudan.html.
Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/sudan0504/2.htm#_Toc71531687
ReliefWeb.net
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/dbc.nsf/doc108?OpenForm&emid=ACOS-635PJQ&rc=1
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