Ireland must urge Sudan to co-operate on getting a UN force on the ground, writes Colm Ó Cuanacháin
While the world's attention gets drawn from crisis to crisis, Darfur in Sudan continues its accelerating slide to catastrophe. After Rwanda, where almost a million people died, the international community hung its head in silent shame. Now is the time to act if we are to stop another Rwanda. Now is the time to stop the killing and rape in Darfur.
Three years of crimes by the Sudanese government and their Janjaweed militias against their own people; of horrendous ethnic manipulation and blatant defiance of Security Council demands; of repeatedly broken promises have left Darfur and the broader region on the threshold of disaster.
The opposition Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Army took up arms against the Sudanese government in Darfur, and control significant areas north and south Darfur, where the fighting is now intensifying with dreadful consequences.
More than 85,000 people have been killed in this conflict over the last three years, while a further 200,000 have died of war-related deprivation. There is plenty of blame to be placed on all sides for crimes against humanity and war crimes, but the Sudanese government has primary responsibility.
On August 31st, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1706. Binding under international law, this decided that a UN force will be deployed to Darfur: 17,300 military personnel plus a civilian component. The Security Council urged a speedy deployment, aiming to have the force on the ground by the end of the year.
However, the resolution is dependent on the agreement of the Sudanese government, which continues to reject it, despite earlier pledges to accede after the Darfur peace agreement, signed in May 2006, and in spite of African Union backing for a UN force.
The Sudanese government must co-operate immediately with the Security Council so that the peacekeeping force is deployed promptly.
The Irish Government should urgently continue its efforts to get the government of Sudan to agree, and must be at the forefront of the international drive to get the peacekeeping mission on the ground as soon as possible.
Amnesty International warns that the build-up of Sudanese troops in Darfur could lead to a human rights catastrophe.
Sudanese government military are flying in thousands of troops and arms to north Darfur on a daily basis. Aerial bombardment by the Sudanese airforce of towns around Kulkul began last week, followed swiftly by a ground offensive involving the Sudanese army and Janjaweed fighters.
Displaced people in refugee camps in Darfur are terrified that the same soldiers who expelled them from their homes and villages may now be sent supposedly to protect them.
The Sudanese government claims to be sending its troops into Darfur in huge numbers to protect civilians, but it cannot realistically propose being a peacekeeper in a conflict to which it is a major party and the perpetrator of grave human rights violations.
In spite of the peace agreement, the bloodshed continues to force tens of thousands to seek refuge in camps. In Kalama, Darfur's biggest camp for internally displaced, more than 200 women and girls, some as young as 13, have been raped in the past month.
The Security Council's call on the International Criminal Court to investigate and indict for serious crimes in Darfur urgently needs to be acted upon. Darfur is a key test of the Security Council's commitment to the concept of "responsibility to protect".
Colm Ó Cuanacháin is secretary general of Amnesty International's Irish section