Letter to African Union Leaders
Letter to African Union Leaders
The full text of the letter sent to African Union leaders follows:
Dear Mr./Madam President:
As you know the African Union (AU) will be conducting a vote for its chairmanship on January 29, 2007. We write to encourage you to consider all appropriate diplomatic means to prevent Sudan from gaining the chairmanship due to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
Since the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region ignited in early 2003, it is estimated that nearly 450,000 Sudanese have died from combat, hunger, and disease and more than 2 million people have been displaced. This atrocity has also had a profound effect on volatile regions across Sudan's western border, where flows of Sudanese refugees and insurgents exacerbate existing security and humanitarian crises in Chad and the Central African Republic.
African governments' concern over Khartoum's continuing role in abuses in Darfur led the AU to defer Sudan's chairmanship in 2005 and again in 2006. The situation in Darfur deteriorated substantially in the past year, largely due to the Sudanese government's continuing policies of arming abusive militia forces, attacking civilians, and ensuring that perpetrators of abuses enjoy complete impunity from prosecution.
The under-staffed African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) is currently the only protection being provided to the people of Darfur, and its troops and operations are increasingly vulnerable due to rising insecurity. Despite the passage of the United Nations (UN) Resolution 1706 in August 2006, which authorized a sizeable UN force to be deployed, the government of Sudan has continued to resist international efforts to create a more robust peacekeeping mission in Darfur. If Sudan assumes chairmanship of the AU, AMIS will lose local and international legitimacy, endangering its own security and that of the civilians they were sent to protect. In a worst-case scenario, Sudan's oversight of AMIS could clear the war for a "second wave" of genocide in Darfur.
Allowing Sudan to chair the AU would put into question the AU's commitment to addressing conflict, human rights abuses and genocide. As you know, the AU has a responsibility to set a precedent and send a message to Sudan that the genocide is unacceptable and there will be consequences if more aggressive measures to stop the killing are not taken. The international community must not let the first genocide of the 21st century continue unabated. We urge you to set an example for the rest of the AU members by standing up for the people of Darfur and preventing Sudan from becoming the chairman of the AU.
Sincerely,
Russell D. Feingold (D-WI)
Norm Coleman (R-MN)
John F. Kerry (D-MA)
Richard J. Durbin (D-IL)
Christopher J. Dodd (D-CT)
Joseph I. Lieberman (ID-CT)
Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)
Sam Brownback (R-KS)
Susan Collins (R-ME)
Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Ron Wyden (D-OR)
Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
Patty Murray (D-WA)
Blanche L. Lincoln (D-AR)
http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=268159&&