Genocide Intervention Network Praises AU’s Bold Decision to Welcome UN
Peacekeepers
by _SOPnewswire_ ( OPnewswire)
WASHINGTON, May 19, 2006 – The Genocide Intervention Network,
( bw7ubab.yxaevtbab.1&p=3Dhttp://www.genocideint ervention.net/)
today commends the African Union’s decision to transfer control of the
peacekeeping mission in Darfur, Sudan, to a United Nations force. The
transfer is a positive step toward ensuring that the civilians in
Darfur are finally provided with adequate protection from a genocide
that has continued for more than three years, GI-Net says. A UN force
is therefore essential to ensuring that the recently-signed peace
agreement is actuallyenforced on the ground.
Because of its limited capacity and mandate, the AU has been unable to
stop hundreds of thousands of deaths and the displacement of millions
of people,’ says GI-Net Executive Director Mark Hanis. `While the AU
is currently the only force willing and able to protect Darfurians,
they must be reinforcedby the UN.’
Sam Bell, GI-Net Director of Advocacy, notes that a UN force has been
instrumental in securing peace elsewhere in Sudan. `Concerns over
security and adherence to the peace deal are just as real in Darfur as
they were in Southern Sudan, where the government approved a UN force
to help keep the peace,’ he says.