Peer to press Government over Darfur
-06/06/05
A Christian Peer is to press the Government in the House of Lords tomorrow over the continuing failure of the international community to stop the killing in Darfur.
Lord Alton of Liverpool, a former MP who is well known for his Catholic faith, will contrast the arrest of aid workers in Khartoum with the failure to bring to justice those responsible for the killings.
The independent peer told the Ekklesia news service that although he welcomes today’s moves by the International Criminal Court to start proceedings against some of those responsible, he believes that the failure of the Security Council to implement its resolutions on prosecution, sanctions, and the disarming of the Janjaweed militia does not bode well.
In a recent speech in the House of Lords, Lord Alton suggested that Darfur was ‘becoming another Rwanda’ and that the international community was ‘sleepwalking while Darfur was dying’.
The peer travelled to Darfur last October to witness first hand what has been going on.
Ekklesia has learned that in a question to the Government tomorrow, Lord Alton will point to the deep incongruity between the arrest of aid workers, including the head of MÈdecins Sans FrontiËres in Khartoum, Paul Foreman, for exposing the systematic rape of countless women, the burning of villages and the laying waste of vast areas of land in Darfur, and the Security Council’s failure to arrest any of those responsible.
On March 29, the U.N. Security Council authorized sanctions on individuals responsible for violating international law in Darfur, with penalties including the freezing of assets and travel restrictions. Within 30 days of the passage of Resolution 1591, the U.N. secretary-general was required to appoint a panel to investigate the identify who had been responsible for the human rights atrocities in Darfur.
“What is the point of such resolutions when 2 months later nothing has still been done? Does this not simply add to the general belief in Khartoum that we will appease while they continue to kill with impunity?” Lord Alton told Ekklesia.
Peer to press Government over Darfur
-06/06/05
A Christian Peer is to press the Government in the House of Lords tomorrow over the continuing failure of the international community to stop the killing in Darfur.
Lord Alton of Liverpool, a former MP who is well known for his Catholic faith, will contrast the arrest of aid workers in Khartoum with the failure to bring to justice those responsible for the killings.
The independent peer told the Ekklesia news service that although he welcomes today’s moves by the International Criminal Court to start proceedings against some of those responsible, he believes that the failure of the Security Council to implement its resolutions on prosecution, sanctions, and the disarming of the Janjaweed militia does not bode well.
In a recent speech in the House of Lords, Lord Alton suggested that Darfur was ‘becoming another Rwanda’ and that the international community was ‘sleepwalking while Darfur was dying’.
The peer travelled to Darfur last October to witness first hand what has been going on.
Ekklesia has learned that in a question to the Government tomorrow, Lord Alton will point to the deep incongruity between the arrest of aid workers, including the head of MÈdecins Sans FrontiËres in Khartoum, Paul Foreman, for exposing the systematic rape of countless women, the burning of villages and the laying waste of vast areas of land in Darfur, and the Security Council’s failure to arrest any of those responsible.
On March 29, the U.N. Security Council authorized sanctions on individuals responsible for violating international law in Darfur, with penalties including the freezing of assets and travel restrictions. Within 30 days of the passage of Resolution 1591, the U.N. secretary-general was required to appoint a panel to investigate the identify who had been responsible for the human rights atrocities in Darfur.
“What is the point of such resolutions when 2 months later nothing has still been done? Does this not simply add to the general belief in Khartoum that we will appease while they continue to kill with impunity?” Lord Alton told Ekklesia.