MINUTE ON DARFUR APPROVED AT RICHMOND MONTHLY MEETING
Eleventh Month 19, 2006
The Richmond (Virginia) Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
unites with the Baltimore Yearly Meeting and the Statement of the Friends
Committee on National Legislation on Darfur: “Ending
Genocide in Darfur, Promoting Peace in Sudan – FCNL
Recommendations for U.S. Policy, January, 2006”
(Note: It was
requested that the Clerk send a letter about this concern and a copy of the
above-referenced FCNL recommendations to our members of Congress and encourage
all Richmond Friends to take like action)
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Full text of FCNL recommendations - http://www.fcnl.org/issues/item.php?item_id=1695&issue_id=104
Summary of “Ending Genocide in Darfur, Promoting Peace in Sudan - FCNL Recommendations for
US Policy January 2006”:
On July 22, 2004, Congress declared
that genocide was underway in the Darfur region of
Sudan. The Bush administration soon followed with its own declaration of
genocide. Despite a number of steps by the U.S. and the international community
in response to the crisis in Darfur, more than two
years after the conflict erupted the killing continues and violence has
recently escalated.
Immediate and longer-term steps by the international community are needed to
help protect human life, de-escalate violence in Darfur,
and resolve conflicts throughout Sudan in a more comprehensive manner. Toward
that end, FCNL urges Congress and the administration to:
* Press all parties to the conflict to abide by existing ceasefire
agreements, commit to seeking a political settlement, and negotiate in good
faith.
* Provide high-level political and financial support to a comprehensive
peace process for Sudan.
* Increase humanitarian and development funding to meet basic human needs in
Darfur, the wider Sudan, and throughout the Horn of
Africa
* Support African Union peacekeepers in Darfur
and an expanded international peacekeeping presence under UN authorization with
a clear mandate to protect civilians. (In particular, the Administration
and Congress should provide adequate funding for AMIS and UN peacekeeping in Darfur through State Department foreign assistance accounts
in future supplemental requests and FY07 appropriations. Such funding should be
in addition to, not earmarked from, amounts
appropriated to pay all assessed dues for other UN peacekeeping missions.)
* Share information with the International Criminal Court and support its
investigation into atrocities in Darfur.
* Maintain and strengthen the arms embargo and U.S. prohibitions against
military aid to Sudan.
* Support a comprehensive and lasting peace for all people of the region as the
highest priority for U.S. policy toward Sudan.