Decision on the Crisis in Darfur Region of the Sudan

DECISION ON THE CRISIS IN DARFUR REGION OF THE SUDAN
DOC. EX.CL/ 106 (VI

The Executive Council:

1. EXPRESSES SERIOUS CONCERN over the prevailing situation in Darfur Region, in particular regarding the humanitarian crisis and the continued reports of violations of human rights particularly by the Janjaweed militia;

2. ALSO EXPRESSES CONCERN over the risk of regional destabilization that might result from the persistent conflict in Darfur;

3. UNDERSCORES the need to bring to justice all the perpetrators of serious human rights violations in Darfur;

4. COMMENDS the Chairperson of the Commission for his timely visit to Darfur, as part of the efforts to address the prevailing humanitarian situation and to speed up the search for a lasting solution to the crisis;

5. WELCOMES the decision of the Chairperson of the Commission to appoint, as his Special Envoy for Darfur, Mr. Hamid El Gabid, and ENCOURAGES him to pursue his efforts aimed at ending the conflict in Darfur;

6. WELCOMES the establishment of the Ceasefire Commission (CFC) in El Fashir, as of 19 June 2004, and the deployment of the Military Observer Mission in the Darfur Region;

7. NOTES WITH APPRECIATION the laudable role that continues to be played by Chad, as Mediator, the United Nations, the European Union, the USA and the entire international community and ENCOURAGES them to continue exerting their individual and collective efforts to ease the humanitarian plight of the civilian population and to bring about lasting peace to the Darfur region;

8. WELCOMES the financial contributions made so far by the British Government and the European Union, towards the deployment of the African Union mission in the Darfur, as well as the logistical support rendered by the USA;

9. URGES the Government of Sudan (GoS), the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) to respect the Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement signed on 8 April 2004 and further URGES the parties to cooperate with the CFC in order to facilitate the ongoing efforts to restore lasting peace in Darfur;

10. WELCOMES the convening in N’Djamena (Chad) on 2 July 2004 of the 1^st meeting of Joint Committee as provided for under the Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement, with the participation of all the Sudanese parties, the Chadian mediation, the African Union and the international partners;

11. ENCOURAGES the Sudanese parties to participate fully in the meeting due to be held at the Headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa on 15 July 2004, to kick-start the political dialogue that should lead to a global and definitive solution to the Darfur conflict;

12. COMMENDS the African Union Member States that have so far contributed military personnel for the establishment of the Ceasefire Commission and URGES the remaining countries that have been requested to provide military personnel to do so in the shortest period possible;

13. HAILS the efforts of the United Nations and its agencies, as well as NGOs, in providing the much needed humanitarian assistance to the people of Darfur.;

14. ALSO HAILS the recent steps taken by the Government of The Sudan to facilitate the channelling of humanitarian assistance, ensure the protection of the population and disarm and neutralize the militia.