Victims of sexual assault in Darfur need deeds, not words!

A rape victim from Darfur appeals in a half-page advertisement, which is to appear on Thursday (14.12.) in the Süddeutsche Zeitung to Chancellor Angela Merkel to do more for the protection of millions of civilians threatened by violence in western Sudan. The Chancellor, who on 1st January 2007 takes over the chair of the Council of the European Union, is urged to press for the increase of pressure on the Sudanese government at the summit meeting of the heads of the EU state which begins tomorrow in Brussels. This is the only way to ensure that an international peace-keeping force is sent quickly to Darfur and that the women are effectively protected against rape, says the appeal. The African Union soldiers already stationed in western Sudan must have more support to be better able to protect the women. Those responsible for the sexual assaults must at last be brought to justice.

The doctor, Halima Bashir, describes in the appeal how she was captured and many times raped in Sudanese custody following her report on the attack of Sudanese soldiers and allied Janjaweed militiamen at a primary school. In the attack many girls aged 8 to 13 years were raped.

"The women in Darfur threatened with rape need from Europe at last deeds instead of words”, said the GfbV Africa correspondent Ulrich Delius. For this reason the appeal is supported by the Society for Threatened Peoples (Göttingen), Wadi e.V. (Verband für Krisenhilfe und solidarische Entwicklungszusammenarbeit, Frankfurt), the Darfur-Gruppe Berlin and the Darfur-Hilfe Verein (Munster).

The advertisement is part of a world-wide campaign of human rights organisations, which is striving to bring the international community to come to the help of the civilian population in western Sudan. Hundreds of thousands have already fallen victim to the militia and the military. "Europe can take the lead in putting the Sudanese government under pressure to end the war crimes and acts of violence in Darfur. Halima and thousands of people can wait no longer”, said a spokesperson for Globe for Darfur.