On the Need for Action in Sudan
The following resolution was adopted by the DNC Resolutions Committee at its meeting on February 1, 2007, in conjunction with the meetings of the Democratic National Committee, February 1-3, 2007.
Submitted by:
Susan W. Turnbull, DNC Vice Chair/Maryland
Linda Chavez-Thompson, DNC Vice Chair/Texas
Mark Brewer, DNC Vice Chair/Michigan
Hon. Lottie H. Shackelford, DNC Vice Chair/Arkansas
Hon. Mike Honda, DNC Vice Chair/California
Alice Germond, DNC Secretary/West Virginia
Andrew Tobias, DNC Treasurer/Florida
Phil Murphy, DNC Finance Chair/New Jersey
Rachel Binah, California
Constance Borde, Democrats Abroad
Mitchell Ceasar, Florida
Chris Gallaway, President, Young Democrats of America/Virginia
Renee’ Gill Pratt, Louisiana
Marcel Groen, Pennsylvania
Ben Jeffers, At-Large/Louisiana
Carol Khare Fowler, Vice Chair, South Carolina
Terry Lierman, Chair, Maryland
James Metcalfe, Chair, Alaska
Mary Jo Neville, At-Large/Maryland
John A. Perez, California
Karren Pope-Onwukwe, Maryland
Alan D. Solomont, At-Large/Massachusetts
Richard N. Wiener, Michigan
Lauren Wolfe, President, College Democrats of America/Michigan
James Zogby, At-Large/DC
Resolution on the Need for Action in Sudan
WHEREAS, the Democratic Party denounces the genocide that continues to be perpetrated in the Darfur region of Sudan; and
WHEREAS, the Democratic Party supports the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; and
WHEREAS, the UN treaty defines genocide as “any of the number of acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group; killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group, and forcibly transferring children of the group to another group;” and
WHEREAS, both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate unanimously passed Resolutions terming the tragedy in Sudan “genocide,” and calling for action by the United Nations under the Genocide Convention; and
WHEREAS, the Sudanese Government is supporting militia groups that are engaged in genocidal practices in communities of black African farmers in the Western province of Darfur; and
WHEREAS, with the support of the Sudanese government warplanes and army troops, these militias are razing villages, systematically raping women and girls, specifically targeting and destroying food and water supplies, and massacring communities; and
WHEREAS, in the last four years the conflict has taken the lives of more than 400,000 civilians; and
WHEREAS, more than 2 million civilians have been displaced within Darfur or fled into neighboring Chad; and another 3.5 million have been left to rely on humanitarian aid to survive; and
WHEREAS, the United Nations Security Council passed resolution 1706, authorizing deployment of up to 22,500 UN peacekeepers with a mandate to use all necessary means to protect civilians, gradually taking over the African Union Mission’s under-funded efforts to cease the violence and killings; and
WHEREAS, the Security Council’s resolution is contingent on the Government of Sudan consenting to the deployment of troops; and
WHEREAS, the Sudanese Government has firmly rejected the Security Council resolution and has hindered some international relief efforts throughout the region; and
WHEREAS, the genocide in Darfur has severely escalated in the last six months, with a continuous loss of almost 20,000 civilian lives each month, and the possibility that the under-funded African Union troops may be forced out of the region, leaving no peacekeeping force in Darfur; and
WHEREAS, in early January 2007 several representatives of humanitarian organizations received a promise from Sudan President Bashir for a temporary cease-fire and a pledge to hold an international peace summit before March 15, 2007; and
WHEREAS, President Bush pledged, but failed to make the Darfur humanitarian crisis a priority;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Democratic Party stands in full support of taking immediate action to help end the genocide in Darfur and calls on President Bush and Congress to take immediate action to prevent further atrocities; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Democratic Party urges the President to act quickly to ensure that Sudan honors its promise for a 60-day cease fire and an international peace summit; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Democratic Party urges the Presidential Special Envoy to Sudan to work diligently with international partners to support a long-term peace process in Darfur; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Democratic Party urgently calls for Congress to reintroduce a bill similar to the one it failed to pass in the last session, Darfur Act (S.3801), and that the President immediately sign it into law; and reintroduce a measure in the Department of Defense Appropriations bill authorizing funds that will bolster the African Union Mission until United Nations peacekeeping forces can be deployed; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Democratic Party calls on the President to apply diplomatic political pressure on the Government of Sudan to ensure that humanitarian organizations maintain access to the region, including inviting the United Nations Peace Keeping troops into the country without restrictions; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Democratic Party calls on President Bush and Congress to increase humanitarian aid to the Darfur region, providing crucial resources to the hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians.
