“ Darfur: Stop the killing, or pay the price”

The Darfur crisis has already claimed between 70,000 and 400,000 lives. It can only be solved through a political accord that targets the cause of the conflict and that is supposed to be the objective of those gathered in Abuja, Nigeria. The United Kingdom supports the peace process and it has financed the ongoing meeting with one million pounds, but the advancement of negotiations is quite slow, while negotiating parties do not respect the deadline set for December 31, 2005 as the moment to have reached agreement. The Jartum regime violates the ceasefire every day while the people of Darfur suffers from that. The only people capable of stopping the massacre are now in Abuja and they must take decisions that allow the reconstruction of Darfur.
_Five decisions should be taken immediately:

– Negotiators should state forth their positions and the commitments they are willing to undertake.
– The respect for the ceasefire: the Jartum regime is the major responsible for the safety of Sudanese citizens and must stop offensives by the janjaweed militias. However, the rebel movement is the major responsible for the latest attacks.
– The cease of all attacks by African Union troops.
– The boosting of work by humanitarian agencies.
– Those responsible for the violent actions should be faced with justice.
At the same time, negotiating parties must reach agreement to establish true peace. It is not a normal fact that rebel leaders are not attending negotiations, while Sudanese government officials are. If an accord is not reached the number of deaths could only increase. The international community will not tolerate the impunity of those who could hamper negotiations. Resolution 1591 allows for sanctions against those individuals.