Mr. Chair, last week we heard across the world echoes of “never again” as we remembered the Holocaust and yet all of us in the House know that “never again” has occurred time and time again, from Angola to Liberia, Sierra Leone to the Congo, and now to Darfur.
The United States has called this a genocide. The United Nations has called Darfur the worst humanitarian catastrophe in the world today. Despite a dizzying array of treaties and conventions to protect innocent civilians, we have failed to put action behind those treaties and conventions and failed to make them live, breathe and function as they were intended to.
Right now we are seeing peace negotiations take place in Abuja, but if we look at Khartoum's behaviour, the conflict in the south and what has been done in Darfur, a leopard does not change its spots and Khartoum will not change its. Khartoum is engaged in a very clever and cynical game of engaging in false peace negotiations with the international community, leading all of us down a garden path in the hope that peace can come and that Khartoum will live up to the obligations it signed on to. However, in reality, it will not do that.
Over the last year and a half, despite signing on to other peace agreements, Khartoum has failed to disarm the Janjaweed and it continues to support them. The Janjaweed continue to maintain their state-sponsored terrorism of the people in Darfur and it continues to murder, rape and pillage innocent civilians.
Khartoum has led us all down the garden path and I have very little hope that it will live up to the obligations that no doubt will be signed on to in Abuja. This is something the Minister of Foreign Affairs must be very cognizant of. I agree with allowing the negotiations to finish but we need to determine, in a short period of time, whether Khartoum is living up to these obligations.
The ask is simple. First, Canada should call for and lead a chapter 7 peacemaking initiative into Darfur to protect civilian lives. We will not and cannot do it alone. We must ask the United Nations, which has agreed to take this one. We must ensure the peacemaking mission goes in now and not later, as Khartoum desires, if at all, and if we work with the African Union, NATO and other partners, we can and should make this happen. The legal obligations are there.
Why should we do this now? Three things happened over the last week that should change everything.
First, last Tuesday, Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini met with Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir. The purpose was for Iran to share nuclear technologies with Sudan. Sudan said that it needed it for electricity. What a crock. Sudan is sitting on a sea of oil. The only purpose for this meeting was the exchange of nuclear technologies for terrorist activities, full stop. If that cannot shake the international community out of their torpor, nothing will.
Second, the World Food Programme, as has been said before, has cut food rations by 50% to the some 3.5 million refugees who are currently in camps. Two thousand calories is the minimum requirement. One thousand calories in a stressed population will result in starvation and death, which is something we cannot sit by and allow.
Third, we have seen that the conflict has expanded into a regional conflict into Chad. This is no longer within the borders of Sudan.
First is the ask is for the chapter 7 peacemaking force. Second is that we make the contributions to make-up the $500 million deficit that the World Food Programme needs for foods. Third, we need to challenge Islamic nations to make the contributions that they have not made. And fourth, we need to support the International Criminal Court to arrest and prosecute the 51 people identified by the United Nations for crimes against humanity.
We champion our responsibility to protect. We need an obligation to act. We need to put teeth into that. Darfur is the challenge before us. We have the ability to lead and I would inspire and challenge the Minister of Foreign Affairs to do that because he will see widespread support for that in the House.
I want to congratulate and thank Senator Roméo Dallaire, Senator Mobina Jaffer, David Kilgour and the Canadian Jewish Congress for their support and that of many others in our country toward developing and promoting a resolution to this genocide.
Canada can do it. We can lead and should lead. I challenge the Minister of Foreign Affairs to do that. We will work with the government to make this happen.