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Press Release: How to Protect Civilians in Eastern Chad

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Press Release: How to Protect Civilians in Eastern Chad

Posted by Enough Team on August 2, 2007

For Immediate Release

Contact: Julia Spiegel at [email protected] or (202) 777-0132

HOW TO PROTECT CIVILIANS IN EASTERN CHAD

(Washington, D.C.) August 2, 2007: The aim of the proposed EU force for eastern Chad must focus on civilian protection, according to an ENOUGH Project strategy briefing released today.

“Chadian civilians have been suffering in silence for far too long,” said co-author, actress and UNICEF Goodwill ambassador Mia Farrow. “We must live up to our international responsibility to protect these vulnerable communities.”

While international consensus around the deployment of a force to eastern Chad has begun to crystallize, the authors of the ENOUGH briefing assert that key military and non-military elements remain essential to the force’s success.

Militarily, the authors argue that the United Nations Security Council must authorize a robust Chapter VII operation aimed at protecting vulnerable civilians, with sufficient resources and mobility to secure at-risk areas. Non-military elements include the deployment of human rights and civil affairs officers to collect information and promote local, national and regional political talks.

“This is only the beginning of what must be a comprehensive strategy to protect civilians, stabilize the security situation and facilitate the return of displaced persons to their areas of origin,” said co-author and ENOUGH co-chair John Prendergast.

Although France and the EU are spearheading current efforts to deploy a force to eastern Chad, the paper argues that the U.S. has a critical role to play in support of this mission – diplomatically at the UN and in responding to requests for logistical support.

The primary instigating factor of growing instability in eastern Chad, the authors explain, is the Khartoum regime’s genocidal counter-insurgency strategy in Darfur.

“Without a resolution across the border in neighboring Darfur,” cautions ENOUGH policy adviser Omer Ismail, “efforts to staunch the bleeding in Chad will remain threatened by the destabilizing policies of the regime in Khartoum.”

To read “How to Protect Civilians in Eastern Chad,” go to www.enoughproject.org.

The ENOUGH Project is an initiative to end genocide and crimes against humanity.