The Darfur Consortium (An African and International Civil Society Action for Darfur) sent two messages, the first addressed to Mr. Alfa Omer Konare, the Chairman of the African Union Commission, and the other to presidents of States member in the Peace and Security Council of the African Union, enclosed therewith were recommendations of the workshop on “Justice and Peace in Darfur” held under the auspices of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) in Casablanca, Morocco on June 16th-17th 2006, in cooperation with the Moroccan Organization for Human Rights, the Center for Studies on Human Rights and Democracy in Morocco and the Darfur Consortium.
The two messages commended efforts undertaken by the African Union (AU) during the Abuja talks as well as the role the AU Mission played in Darfur. However, the messages called for supporting the delegation and extending its jurisdictions – especially in light of the continued fragile security situation and lack of control in Darfur, despite the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) signed between the Sudanese Government and one of the armed factions- until the United Nations Peace- Keeping forces are deployed in Darfur.
The two messages reported that Darfur is undergoing a serious historical turning point. On the one hand, the DPA can establish peace if the demands of armed movements rejecting the agreement are dealt with positively and sufficient guarantees are provided for the implementation of its articles. On the other hand, there is a possibility that the entire situation would collapse if these movements are persistently eliminated and their requests disregarded, given the absence of guarantees for the enforcement of the DPA. The Darfur Consortium called upon the African Summit, scheduled to take place in Gambia on 1-2 July 2006, to condemn the continued violation of human rights in Darfur and to promptly take action to bring violence in this province to an end.
Furthermore, the two messages urged the African Summit to take the necessary measures to eliminate security tensions on the Chad- Sudan borders, and appealed to governments of the two states to cease armed escalation, and to refrain from terrorizing civilians, and urged them to provide protection for refugees, and to respect the Tripoli Agreement concluded between them.
The Darfur Consortium representative to the African Summit will hold several meetings with delegations and presidents of some African States in order to exchange views over the Darfur question and to deliver the recommendations of the “Justice and Peace” workshop. It is also anticipated that a letter, recommendations appended therewith, will be addressed to the UN Secretary General during his presence in the Summit.
– For further information on the Darfur Consortium, see the following website: www.darfurconsortium.org
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