Brussels, 06/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - Rather than paper lamentations, action is what is really needed to put a halt to the violence and protect civilians in Darfur! This demand was on the lips of all attending the conference of presidents' debate on Darfur held on 5 June at the European Parliament. Alejo Vidal-Quadras (EPP-ED, Spain), president of the conference had called for all MEPs and two senior guests, both Nobel Prize winners: South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, awarded for his struggle against apartheid, and Jody Williams from the US (1997 prize winner), a passionate supporter of the campaign against anti-personnel mines and author of the report on the human rights situation in Darfur on behalf of the UN Human Rights Commission. On the eve of the G8 summit in Heiligendamm, which is expected to debate the Darfur situation, all the participants vigorously condemned international inaction. They said that the EU had no need to wait for the UN Security Council to impose targeted sanctions on its own against those responsible for the tragedy in Sudan. All of them criticised the inability of the world to ensure responsibility for the protection of a decimated people, the victim of systematic rape, mass displacements and for those that have spoken of genocide, deliberate “ethnic cleansing”. With the exception of Daniel Cohn-Bendit, no-one appealed for humanitarian areas made secure by the armed forces, an idea put forward by the French foreign affairs minister Bernard Kouchner but which had sharply been decried by the international community to the point of that idea could be abandoned and replaced with an international conference that would put pressure on the belligerent parties in an effort to obtain a negotiated political settlement between all the different parties as a guarantee for lasting peace. Finding a peaceful solution and deploying a joint African Union/Un force for stabilising Darfur won the support of all MEPs.
At the opening of the debate, Desmond Tutu paid homage to the EU leaders and MEPs for their, “concern about the tragic situation” that constituted “the most ghastly example of our inhumanity towards one another” and which threatened to destabilise the whole of the continent. The Archbishop also thanked MEPs for not giving up on Africa - and for not succumbing to what he referred to as “Afro-pessimism”. He pointed out that apartheid had not ended in a blood bath or a spirit of revenge in South Africa. Nonetheless, he did add that “faced with the intransigence” of the Sudanese authorities, he wholeheartedly supported “specific, targeted sanctions against Khartoum”. He also highlighted the importance of strengthening the African Union and UN, which would get peace-keeping measures respected and persuade those responsible for the conflict to work in the same direction. He said that he believed that there was a chance to make progress with China, which “had demonstrated with the climate, that it could be reasonable”. The Archbishop said that the EU should send Khartoum three demands: allow unimpeded access into Darfur both for UN forces and humanitarian aid, “disarm the Janjaweed militia”, and honour a non-negotiable ultimatum for respecting these conditions. If Khartoum fulfils these conditions by the deadline, sanctions could be lifted, “change can happen”.
Jody Williams was much more virulent and called on the EU not to believe Khartoum because Sudanese leaders were “very sophisticated in the art of promising things that never happen”, such as the refusal to grant a visa to a high level mission of the UN human rights committee, which had never been able to enter Darfur despite twenty attempts, even though President al Bashir had claimed to support the mission. Denouncing the failure of the international community's inability to protect the people of Darfur (the first responsibility of the state against war crimes and genocide), Ms Williams called on the EU to speak with a single voice when calling on international actors to draw up “a single, coordinated peace initiative”, accompanied by “mediation, funding and consistent diplomatic intervention”. She said that the EU should not hesitate to speak of the advantages of the Olympic Games in order to put pressure on China and isolate China economically and politically without “waiting for the elusive consensus in the Security Council”. It should also place forces on the Chad border to prevent increasing incursions from the neighbouring country and provide a place for the rebels to meet and define a negotiating position. Williams warned that “if you're not prepared to protect the people of Darfur…more words on paper are not relevant”. Daniel Cohn Bendit (Greens, Germany) said that it was necessary and possible to “genuinely threaten the Olympic Games if the Chinese government does not revise its relations with Khartoum” and help refugees as soon as possible by setting up a cordon sanitaire, without waiting for approval from Khartoum. He said that the French government's proposal went in this direction and called for a ban on Sudanese government and militias flying over Darfur. Glenys Kinnock (PES, United Kingdom) spoke about a “scorched earth policy”. She called for a renewed and immediate cease-fire and targeted sanctions, like those imposed by the EU in Belarus, Burma and Moldavia. Graham Watson (ALDE, United Kingdom) said that nobody was doing anything and this was unacceptable. He appealed for a direct ban now and that “Europe…should be leading a Marshall Plan for Africa, starting with Darfur”. Speaking on behalf of the GUE, Luisa Morgantini also supported pressure on China. Mr Tsaniki (UEN) said that due to the failure of all attempts to resolve the conflict on the ground, they needed to bolster the UN's role: “Europe cannot afford to wait because our lack of a response is shameful”.
Speaking on behalf of the Council, Gernot Erler said that the global peace agreement on Sudan contained the final recipe for ending the conflict in the whole country and that its implementation would allow for a solution to be found to the Darfur conflict. He explained that this would involve a negotiated political solution with all the different actors. While recognising the need to get a cease-fire, he said that setting up a “robust peace mission to supervise any forthcoming peace process” was needed. He said that the EU would continue to fund operations by AMIS, while awaiting the deployment of a joint UN/AU mission. (an)