The Darfur Consortium

An African and International
Civil Society Action for Darfur

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July 17

Associated Press: U.N. Chief Urges Darfur Action This Week. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the U.N. Security Council on Monday to authorize a 26,000-strong peacekeeping force for Darfur this week and called for a faster timetable to get troops on the ground and combatants to the peace table. A draft resolution circulated last week by Britain, France and Ghana that would approve the ''hybrid'' African Union-United Nations force has run into strong opposition from some council members and Sudan. The draft threatens ''further measures'' against combatants who obstruct peace efforts and raises other humanitarian and political issues. South Africa's U.N. Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo called the draft ''totally unacceptable,'' accusing the sponsors of throwing in everything -- ''the sink, the kitchen.'' Sudan's U.N. Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad said the resolution should be ''more Sudan friendly'' and drop ''irrelevant'' and ''alien'' issues like the threat of ''other measures,'' which usually means sanctions. Ban sidestepped the differences over the draft, telling reporters ''I sincerely hope the Security Council will take the necessary action within this week.'' The secretary-general said he has been told that several hundred international troops will be ready to deploy to Darfur by October. ''I'll push for September,'' he said. ''Above all we must remember that a peacekeeping force is only a first step,'' he said. ''It must be accompanied by an enduring political agreement, and any political agreement must in turn be followed by development programs that go to the root causes of the conflict. Otherwise there can be no lasting solutions.''

Reuters: Fountain In Geneva to Be Lit Red For Darfur. Geneva's landmark Jet d'Eau (Water Fountain) will be lit up in red for several hours on Tuesday to draw attention to the bloodshed in Sudan's Darfur region, the city's mayor said on Monday. The centre-left city council took the decision following a proposal from an international lawyers' group, TRIAL, which campaigns for political leaders accused of genocide and other crimes against humanity to be brought to justice. "We believe this action will prick some consciences and help break the silence around the drama in Darfur," Mayor Patrice Mugny said. "We hope that other major European cities will do something similar." The Jet d'Eau, on an artificial promontory in Lake Geneva, has been a feature of the city skyline since 1891 and is illuminated after dark. It rises about 140 meters and is visible from the nearby Alps and Jura mountains. Geneva, home to the European headquarters of the United Nations, the offices of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and the U.N. Human Rights Council, is often dubbed the world human rights capital.

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