Damanga Calls for Immediate Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1769

August 3, 2007

The Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy supports the UN Security Council Resolution number 1769, passed on July 31, 2007. Resolution 1769, which invokes Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, authorizes up to 26,000 UN peacekeepers and police for Darfur and approves the use of force to protect civilians in Sudan. The Damanga Coalition hopes that this resolution will be implemented immediately and with the full mandate defined by Chapter 7 of the UN Charter. As Darfurians, the Damanga Coalition believes that implementing the full mandate of 26,000, within the proposed time frame, will make a difference. The organization is very optimistic about this initiative and believes that this will protect the innocent people of Darfur who have suffered despite all the other initiatives and resolutions that were attempted in the past three or four years. Damanga hopes this resolution will end a chain of empty promises to the people of Darfur and they hope the United States and the UN, and the rest of the international community will keep to this resolution. The Damanga Coalition sees this as a time to take advantage of this great opportunity and make history by ending this genocide. The UN has failed in the past during the Holocaust and in Rwanda and Cambodia. This is the only genocide taking place in the 21st century and it is immoral if it is not stopped immediately. The Damanga Coalition finds this to be a true test for the international community. The Janjaweed militias, supported by the Sudanese government, are still violating the rights of human beings – displacing and raping women and children, destroying villages, and looting the properties and animals. Importantly, the aid workers are restricted from doing their job to feed and help those injured medically and to support them by all needs. The aid workers are also still at great risk, and this must be stopped now. The Damanga Coalition wants to stop worrying about more destruction in the future and want these groups to be held accountable by the ICC. There is no peace without justice.