Keep pressure on Sudan over Darfur slaughter By Ileana Ros-Lehtinen The Miami Herald December 26, 2007 Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/456/v-print/story/357388.html Predictably, the Sudanese regime is up to its old tricks. More than four months have passed since the new United Nations/African Union peacekeeping mission was approved. And almost a year has passed since the United Nations approved funds and equipment to assist the over-extended and under-resourced African Union troops protecting the innocent in Darfur. Yet the prospects for an end to the genocide appear bleaker than ever. The Sudanese regime has rejected the deployment of non-African forces into Darfur. It has imposed restrictions on air travel for the mission, impounded equipment and asserted that it has a right to jam vital U.N. communications. Meanwhile, the military continues its genocidal attacks against the people the peacekeeping mission has been sent to protect. John Holmes, the U.N.'s under secretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief, has warned that a further deterioration in security, combined with the obstacles created by the Sudanese regime, are hindering humanitarian-aid operations in Darfur. The chief international prosecutor investigating crimes against humanity in Darfur recently suggested that the Sudanese regime's actions represent a calculated, systematic campaign to slaughter innocent people and destroy the social fabric of entire communities. Not only is the regime continuing to commit heinous crimes, but it has given even greater responsibility to key Sudanese officials believed to have orchestrated the mass killing of civilians in Darfur between 2003 and 2004. The U.N. Security Council must be prepared this month to impose additional sanctions on Sudan to force the regime to comply with its commitments and obligations under several U.N. mandates. It is time for the United Nations to take action under Article 5 of its charter and suspend Sudan's rights and privileges of membership until the regime has removed all restrictions on the peacekeeping mission and has verifiably ceased all attacks in the Darfur region. We must also hold accountable those rebel factions who also are attacking civilians, peacekeepers and humanitarian operations and refuse to participate in peace talks. According to sources in the region, people languishing in the camps have had enough. Conditions are extraordinarily difficult, and many simply want to return home. Representatives of the displaced reportedly have appealed to the increasingly fractured rebel groups, urging them to form a united front and participate in peace talks. But with unity talks among the rebels faltering, the displaced have begun organizing and are pressing to have their own voice, separate from the rebels. The international community should support this effort. We need to empower civil society, traditional leaders and representatives of the displaced so that they too can be heard. The deployment of a capable peacekeeping mission, coupled with the conduct of inclusive peace talks that address the root causes of conflict in Darfur is essential. The United Nations and responsible nations must do everything possible to ensure the immediate deployment of a credible peacekeeping force to empower those most affected by the genocide, to support inclusive peace talks and to hold accountable those obstructionists to peace. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, senior Republican, House Foreign Affairs Committee, Miami -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © 2007 Miami Herald Media Company. All Rights Reserved. http://www.miamiherald.com