Mr. Chair, I will be splitting my time with the member for Davenport.
I am rising in the House tonight to address the very serious humanitarian crisis that is taking place in Darfur. Since 2003, there has been an escalation of violence taking place in the western region of Sudan. Thousands of people have been killed. Thousands more are dying from malnutrition and disease. More than two million people have been displaced and live in horrific conditions in refugee camps. The atrocities are so serious that in my view, what is taking place against the black African population in Darfur amounts to genocide.
The government in Khartoum, through its militia, specifically the Janjaweed, are targeting and killing the black African population. Therefore, there is no other way to describe the situation other than as a genocide.
The first thing that springs to my mind, when I hear about such atrocities, is the concept that Canadians have championed, and that is the responsibility to protect. If the situation in Darfur does not justify the need for the international community to act under this principle, then I cannot even imagine of a situation that will.
The responsibility to protect is an evolving framework, stipulating when an international community should take multilateral action to stop the large scale humanitarian crisis. The principle argues that the international community has a collective responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity when the presiding government is unwilling or unable to stop it themselves.
In Darfur there is a genocide taking place and the government in Khartoum, led by President Omar al-Bashir, has been unwilling to stop it. President al-Bashir has the ability to stop it, but he refuses to do so. He has allowed a force of 7,000 African Union troops to be stationed in Darfur, but they have proven to be ineffective. He is now preventing a contingent of 20,000 United Nations troops from being deployed to the region. Without these troops there can be no security in that region.
The responsibility to protect evolved from the fact that about 11 years ago, the international community stood by and watched the savage genocide take place in Rwanda. Half a million people, half a million Tutsis, were killed by the Hutu extremists. After the dust settled, the international community said “never again”. Yet here we are watching history repeat itself.
The international community, through the United Nations, has taken action, but more needs to be done. The international community originally viewed the African Union leadership as the best way to resolve the crisis, and we have heard that tonight from the government. However, the African Union has proven to be incapable of deterring further attacks.
Hindsight is always 20/20, so I will not stand here tonight and criticize what has taken place in the past, but we need to be strategic going forward.
The United Nations Security Council resolution 1706 ordered a force of 20,000 UN troops to be deployed to the region. As of today, they still have not arrived because of the resistance of the Sudanese government. The UN action is a right one, but a UN Security Council resolution is meaningless unless the political will exists to make sure it is enforced.
Therefore, the international community needs to exert more pressure on the Sudanese government. The UN could start by getting its member states to strictly enforce the oil embargo that was ordered by the Security Council. The United Nations could also rush forward trials, arrest individuals and start the trials for the individuals who were responsible for the genocide. I believe putting government officials on trial is an important exercise and has proven to be effective in the past with the trials in Rwanda.
The international community has to let the leaders around the world know that crimes against their population are not acceptable. The Government of Canada has supported the will international community up to this point. We have spent millions of dollars on providing logistical and tactical support to the African Union to better equip them to stop the fighting. We have also provided millions of dollars in aid to help provide shelter, food and medicines, which are badly needed to improve the overall humanitarian situation.
Yet in the face of the present situation, we must also ask ourselves if we could do more to stop this conflict. I believe Canada should take a leadership role in Darfur.
In conclusion, two things are clear. First, a genocide is taking place in Darfur. Second, the United Nations peacekeeping force is the only way to stop it. If Canada and the international community does not come together now to implement the responsibility to protect, then when.