Germany must do more to protect the civilian population

Germany must do more to make sure that the civilian population threatened by genocide is properly protected. This was the demand of the Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) on Tuesday when Parliament began a two-day debate on the Sudan mission of the army. „There is at present only one soldier in Darfur, and so Germany’s support of the UNAMID peace force in the west of Sudan is threatening to turn into a farce”, said the GfbV Africa expert, Ulrich Delius. „Even if in the coming months the German army sends as planned seven members more of the armed forces it is nevertheless a miserable contribution to the ending of the largest genocide which is taking place in the world today.”

The concept of „responsibility for the protection of the civilian population” in cases of genocide, expulsion and crimes against humanity, which is gradually receiving more recognition in international law and also from the German government, calls for considerably more dedication. There is in Berlin a lack of active measures in dealing with the violence and most dreadful breaches of human rights. „In the light of the continuing attacks of the Sudanese army on villages and refugee camps in the west of the country it is not enough just to wait until German soldiers and logistics experts are called for by the UNAMID from the envisaged contingent of some 250 members of the armed forces”, said Delius. It is clear that this offer serves merely to indicate the preparedness to help, although this is quite unsuitable from a military point of view. A serious resolve to end the genocide in Darfur must be geared to the requirements of the UNAMID and the needs of the suffering people in Darfur.

It has been clear for months that the UNAMID has been stymied above all for transport, which the German army is evidently not able to provide. It is quite unfathomable why the German government does not take more active steps in Europe and in the NATO to make sure that the UNAMID is given the transport which it so urgently needs with new helicopters.”

Two weeks ago Sudan launched a major offensive against liberation movements in Darfur, which is further increasing the difficulty of sending aid into the region. Thousands of people have once more been forced to flee from their villages. More than 4.2 million must rely now on humanitarian aid.