African Leaders cry out for YOUR Heroism

Full article at AfricaAction.org October 4, 2006

Archbishop Desmond Tutu emphasized, “The world can’t keep saying 'Never again' [about Darfur]... The harsh truth is that some lives are slightly more important than others... If you are swarthy, of a darker hue, almost always you are going to end up at the bottom of the pile.” Archbishop Tutu asserted that the international community should make clear to the Sudanese government that it must accept UN peacekeepers or face serious consequences.

H.E. Nana Effah-Apenteng, Ambassador of Ghana to the United Nations, invoked Article 4 of the Constitutive Act of the African Union, which asserts the right to intervene in a member state in cases where crimes against humanity are taking place. He expressed his concern about the urgency of the situation in Darfur, and asserted that the international community could not allow Khartoum to delay action endlessly, but must move forward to protect the people of Darfur.

First Vice President in the Government of National Unity in Khartoum, Salva Kiir, offered his support for an international peacekeeping mission in Darfur, stating, “The aggravation of the humanitarian and security situation in Darfur necessitates intervention of international forces to protect civilians from the atrocities of the Janjaweed militias so long as the government is not capable of protecting them.”

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told reporters, "I have urged the Security Council to act…without delay, and to be united as possible in the face of the crisis.” He added, “It is urgent to act now. Civilians are still being attacked and fleeing their villages as we speak.”

Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, addressed the General Assembly the following week on September 19, saying, “The world must not allow a second Rwanda to happen.” She added, “My government therefore calls on this General Assembly and the Security Council to exercise the Chapter VII authority to restore peace, security and stability to Darfur.”

Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka was quoted in the South African newspaper Business Day challenging the legitimacy of Khartoum’s opposition to a UN force for Darfur, saying, “When a deviant branch of that family of nations flouts, indeed revels in the abandonment of, the most basic norms of human decency, is there really justification in evoking the excuse that protocol requires the permission [for UN deployment of force] of that same arrogant and defiant entity?”
Africa Action Stands with African Voices Calling for International Intervention in Darfur

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