DECISION ON DARFUR
The Assembly:
1. REITERATES its serious concern over the prevailing situation in the Darfur Region of The Sudan, particularly the Humanitarian crisis and the continued reports of violations of human rights, including attacks against civilians committed by the Janjaweed militia and other non regular armed groups, and reiterates the need to bring to justice all those responsible for human rights violations in Darfur;
2. NOTES THAT, even though the humanitarian situation in Darfur is serious, it can not be defined as a genocide. The Assembly further notes that the crisis should be addressed with utmost urgency to avoid further escalation;
3. WELCOMES the measures taken by the GOS to protect the civilian populations, facilitate the work of the humanitarian agencies and NGOs and provide them with unrestricted access to the affected populations. The Assembly welcomes the commitment by the GOS to disarm and neutralize the janjaweed militia and other armed groups and urges the GOS to follow through these commitments;
4. STRESSES that the African Union should continue to lead these efforts to address the crisis in Darfur and that the International Community should continue to support this efforts;
5. COMMENDS President Deby of Chad for his mediation efforts, undertaken with the support of the AU Commission and other partners. The Assembly calls on all concerned to vigorously pursue their efforts;
6. WELCOMES the establishment of the cease-fire commission in El Fashir as of 9 June 2004 and the partial deployment of the AU military observers in the Darfur Region and urges the Commission to expedite the process, including the deployment of the protection force.
7. DECIDES to increase the number of AU Observers to a minimum of 80 and decides that the protection force should be deployed immediately. In this regard, the Assembly welcomes the willingness of the GOS to cooperate with the AU Protection Force and its commitment to provide overall protection to the Mission. The Assembly urges the Member States concerned to contribute Observers and troops for the AU Mission as a matter of urgency;
8. AGREES that the rebel forces should be cantoned at mutually agreed sites and that the militia and all other outlaw groups should be disarmed by the GOS, and that these two operations shall be carried out simultaneously and monitored by the AU Mission;
9. UNDERLINES the centrality of a political solution and agrees that the political dialogue should resume on the scheduled date of 15 July 2004, at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa, with the view to reaching a political agreement. Such an Agreement would create conditions for the convening of the all party conference provided for in the N’Djamena Humanitarian Cease-Fire Agreement. The Assembly urges all parties to the meeting to participate at the highest level, to ensure that decision will be reached. In this respect, the Assembly urges the Commission with the assistance of Member States and other partners, to ensure that the rebel movements participate in the meeting at the highest level, to avoid delays;
10. URGES the parties to strictly respect the provisions of the Cease-fire agreement and create conditions for the speedy and urgent return of refugees and IDPs. The Assembly urgently appeals to the International Community and Member States to extend full support to this process by providing the much needed humanitarian assistance;
11. ACKNOWLEDGES the Agreement signed between the Government of The Sudan and the United Nations which is consistent with the AU Peace efforts;
12. REQUESTS the Chairperson of the Commission to follow this matter as a matter of a priority and report to the Peace and Security Council regularly.