Background
In March 2005 the report Darfur, Sudan: The responsibility
to protect[1] was published
by this Committee in the previous Parliament. The report followed
a three month inquiry and a visit to Darfur in February. It set
out the true extent of the international community's failure to
protect the people of Darfur from the atrocities committed against
them. Although the blame lay primarily with the Government of
Sudan (GoS), there had been major failings by the international
community — by governments, including that of the UK; by
the humanitarian system; and by the United Nations Security Council.
Early warnings about the emerging crisis were ignored; humanitarian
agencies were slow to respond; responsibilities for helping displaced
people and managing camps were unclear; and the UN suffered from
an avoidable leadership vacuum in Sudan at a critical time. We
welcomed the involvement of the African Union (AU) in Darfur,
but argued that much stronger political pressure on all sides
was needed if civilians were to be protected, security enhanced
and a political solution found. Although we agreed that the AU's
role ought to be supported, we were concerned that this should
not become an excuse for inaction by others.
The Government responded to our report on 7 June
2005[2]. But we did not
let the issue of Darfur rest there. In September we sent a list
of follow-up questions to the Department for International Development
(DFID) and on 8 November the Committee held an oral evidence session
with Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP, Secretary of State for International
Development and Lord Triesman, Parliamentary Under-Secretary at
the FCO as well as with Suliman Baldo of the Crisis Group and
Dr James Smith of the Aegis Trust. We also received written evidence
from the Government of Sudan (GoS) and the Darfur Centre for Human
Rights and Development. Our initial intention was to publish the
transcript and the written evidence and not to report. In the
light of the evidence we received, however, we considered it appropriate
to make some brief comments on the evidence session in the form
of this short report.
1 Darfur, Sudan: The responsibility to protect,
Fifth Report of Session 2004-05. HC 67 Back
2
Cm 6576 Back
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