Strasbourg, 28/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - Given the return to violence and the upsurge in human rights violations in Southern Sudan, it is essential to convince Khartoum that it must accept UN Security Council Resolution 1706 on launching a UN peace operation in Darfur. Such was the plea made with one voice during Wednesday afternoon's plenary sitting by the President of the EU Council, Paula Lehtomäki, and European Commissioner Franco Frattini, as well as the MEPs who took part in the debate. It is a positive thing that the African Union (AU) Mission has, in the meantime, decided to extend its mandate till the end of the year, but, as Michael Gahler (EPP-Ed, Germany) pointed out, a United Nations Mission is needed right now. Eoin Ryan (UEN, Ireland) asked how it was that a UN force could be set in place for Lebanon within thirty days whereas, in Sudan, it has proved impossible in three years. British Labour member Glenys Kinnock reproached the Council and the Commission with “complacency”. In response to Franco Frattini, who announced that José Manuel Barroso and Louis Michel would soon be in Khartoum in order to meet President Bashir, she said: “one cannot speak of working with General Bashir”, there can be no talk of a peace agreement, “it is finished”, and the “the first genocide of the 21st century” is now before us. (The president of the Commission and the European Development Commissioner will also be in Addis Ababa next weekend for a meeting of the African Union: see related article and EUROPE 9267). It is absolutely necessary to impose a “no fly zone” over Sudan, the former co-president of the Joint ACP/EU Parliamentary Assembly also stressed. Marielle de Sarnez (ALDE, France) hammered out: “Europeans have a political and moral obligation to impose peace”, the refugee camps in Sudan are “open air prisons”, and everyone is fully dependent on international aid which is not very generous (and which often does not even get there). The more time passes, the more these “criminals, which are also getting quite rich” are harboured in impunity, French Green member Marie-Hélène Aubert said indignantly, going on to point out that we are now calling on China and Russia to develop a positive role in this crisis, even though they are not really examples of countries that respect human rights. All the more as China has large interests in the oil sector, and the role that oil plays in this conflict cannot be underestimated as it provokes conflict and is the object of desire.
The president-in-office of the Council, Finnish Minister for European Affairs and Trade, Paula Lethtomäki, recalled for her part that the EU Special Representative in Sudan, Pekka Haavisto, when speaking in New York last week on the fringe of the United Nations General Assembly, expressed the Union's concern for this dramatic worsening in the situation just four months after the signing of the peace agreements. Three hundred thousand people have died in this conflict, 2 million have been displaced and humanitarian relief has only reached 5% of those for whom it is intended, she exclaimed, saying it is essential to have a UN presence on the ground. The humanitarian tragedy is growing worse, Commissioner Franco Frattini put in, fearing the risk that, “at any moment”, there could be generalised war in which countries like Chad, the Central African Republic and Uganda but also Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo could suffer from the after-effects. When one calls for a UN presence, Khartoum speaks of “western plot” and sometimes even of “Zionist” plot, but, Frattini said, that “is not our hidden agenda” as “we only want to prevent the worst” and reactivate the peace process.
In a resolution from all groups except IND/DEM, the Parliament recalls the commitments taken by the UN after the Rwandan genocide to shoulder its political responsibility in Africa better, and invites all parties, including the Sudanese government, to immediately put an end to any military action in Darfur. Also, it calls on Khartoum to accept a UN peace-keeping force (any failure in its duty to allow its effective functioning will be sanctioned), and on China and Russia to play a positive role at the UN to ensure this force is deployed, as well as on China to use its influence on Sudan to persuade it to finally agree to this deployment. It also calls on the EU and on the other international players to work alongside the UN and the African Union to ensure that the peace-keeping forces have the ability to react rapidly (the Arab League is invited to stop being complacent about Sudan's persistent intransigence over the sending of this force). The same players are urged to carry out any action that will help to put an end to impunity through the application of a sanctions regime adopted by the Security Council. Also, the EU is expected to call for the urgent establishment of a no-fly zone in Darfur, as stipulated by Resolution 1591, and international humanitarian aid should be significantly stepped up.