Rice Calls for Government of Sudan to Accept U.N. Peacekeepers
27 September 2006
If not, secretary of state says, Khartoum regime "will be held responsible"
Washington -- "The government of Sudan must immediately and unconditionally accept a U.N. peacekeeping force into Darfur," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said September 27.
"The time for stalling has passed," Rice told the Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa in Washington. The address, delivered at the headquarters of the Academy for Educational Development, followed the August 31 decision by the U.N. Security Council to "re-hat" (convert) an African Union peacekeeping force in the Darfur region of Sudan into a U.N. peacekeeping force.
Security Council Resolution 1706, which contained that decision, also called for an increase in the U.N. peacekeeping force, to include 20,000 new troops and police. Rice noting the main opposition to this decision has come from the Sudanese government, stressed the urgency of the recent action. (See related article.)
"Since the Sudanese government will not save the lives of its own people, then the United Nations must act, " Rice said.
The secretary of state described the situation in Darfur as not only a "humanitarian crisis," but also a "political problem rooted in the historic challenge of governing Sudan."
From the beginning of this conflict, she said, the most urgent international priority has been to ease the suffering of the people of Darfur. The United States, she reminded her listeners, has led the international humanitarian response there by providing more than 60 percent of the food distributed by the U.N. World Food Programme and by dedicating more than $1.3 billion in assistance in each of the last two years to Darfur and the people of southern Sudan. However, she warned, to create lasting peace for Darfur, the fundamental political problems must be addressed in addition to the humanitarian conditions.
"We will continue to bend every fiber of our being to ease the suffering of people in Darfur, but our goal … must be even more ambitious," Rice declared. She went on to cite President Bush's recent appointment of Andrew Natsios, a former administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), as his special presidential envoy for Sudan. (See related article.)
Rice cited three additional steps that must be taken to help the people of Darfur:
• Acceptance by the Sudanese government of a U.N. peacekeeping force,
• An immediate cease-fire, and
• An eventual transition from a humanitarian effort to a reconstruction effort in Darfur.
An intervention of U.N. peacekeepers, she said, leaves the Sudanese government with a clear and consequential decision: cooperation or confrontation. According to Rice, if the Sudanese government chooses to cooperate, "it will find a dedicated partner in the United States" that is willing to work toward a common goal of a unified, peaceful and democratic Sudan. The U.N. deployment, she said, would secure the area, stabilize the country, benefit the Sudanese people and thereby serve the interests of the Sudanese government.
However, "if the Sudanese government chooses confrontation," Rice said, "then the regime in Khartoum will be held responsible, and it alone will bear the consequences."
Rice called for an immediate cease-fire between the government and the rebels who are nonsignatories to the Darfur Peace Agreement, a pact signed in May between the Sudanese government and the Sudan Liberation Movement. (See related article.)
Although Rice said that there will be no renegotiation of the agreement, which outlines the principles of peace and creates a political framework, she said the concerns of the rebels who want peace will be taken into account. She warned, however, "If the rebels refuse, then they will face serious consequences, including targeted U.N. sanctions."
Rice termed the final step, the rebuilding of Darfur, a "monumental undertaking." She said there would need to be a "transition from a humanitarian effort to a reconstruction effort in order to best help the people of Darfur return to their homes and rebuild their lives." Considering that most victims have little or nothing to which to return, a total transformation of Darfur is needed, she added.
The rebuilding of Darfur is contingent on the arrival of U.N. peacekeepers, she said. At that point, she said, "Sudan will lead its own development effort. We will support them."
"It is not our intention to impinge on Sudan’s sovereignty," Rice added. "We will stand firm in our conviction that sovereignty must be rooted not merely in control, but in responsibility."
The decision of the Sudanese government should reflect the role Sudan wishes to play in the world, Rice said. "If the Sudanese government wishes to become a respected member of the international community, then it must act like one and behave responsibly," she said.
For more information, see, Darfur Humanitarian Emergency.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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