Then the United States hosted this Arria style meeting because we wanted the Security Council, who recently traveled to the region, to hear the articulate voices of NGOs who are following this terrible situation, to hear their stories so the urgency can be brought home. Bottom line, if we continue to do what we’ve done, the genocide in slow motion in Darfur will continue, the insecurity and tragedy, such as Abyei between the North and the South, will continue and we will fail to get the full implementation of the CPA. We must do more, we must change, and the eloquent voices of some of the NGOs who told their stories today powerfully brought this home to the members of the Security Council.

President Bush is committed to alleviate the suffering and make progress. These individuals among the NGO community gave eloquent voice to the same concerns, and I am hopeful that the response will be positive and progress will be made. I am, with your indulgence, going to allow each of the four that participated earlier to speak briefly, then we’ll take your questions.

Mia Farrow: Thank you for this, it was a very welcome opportunity for me and I think my colleagues would say likewise. I told the members of the Security Council, I too have recently returned from the greater Darfur region, my ninth visit since 2004, and I wear always around my neck an amulet, a hijaab, given to me by a woman in Darfur in 2004. Her name was Halima, and she described the morning her village was attacked, and how the morning skies filled with attack helicopters and bombers, raining bombs upon families as they slept, as they prayed, as they were going out to their fields, and she gathered her children and tried to run, but then militia on horseback and on camels arrived and tore her baby son from her arms and bayoneted him before her eyes. Three of her five children were similarly killed on that day. She held my hands and said, “Tell people what is happening here. Tell them we will all be slaughtered. Tell them we need help.” Now that was 2004. 2005, 2006, 2007-- here we are in 2008, and no protection has come for Halima or any of the courageous people in Darfur, the two and a half million people who have been driven into camps.

I showed the Council two of the items I brought back from Darfur on a couple of the trips. One is what has happened to the sheeting over the five years plus that people have been in the camps. In some of the camps, this is all they have for protection from the sun, from the wind, from the sandstorms. The sheeting has literally been shredded. There is no replacement for that, and there is no safety, even in the camps. I also showed a little shoe, which I think tells the story of a child fleeing- I found it in the still smoldering ashes of a village- a burned child’s shoe.

The five years represent a failure of this body, of the United Nations Security Council, to adequately or effectively address the needs of an imperiled population. The United Nations is mandated to protect those civilians, defenseless civilians imperiled by ethnic cleansing, mass atrocities, genocide. So we really- the meeting was about discussing the aspects of the failure, illustrations of the failure, illustrations of acquiescence to the government of Sudan, perpetrators. Any questions?

Niemat Ahmadi: As a person who fled the genocide in Darfur and ended up luckily in the United States, I’m feeling a huge responsibility to be a voice for those whom left behind. I’m here today to speak about the firsthand information and testimonies that I collected from my family, friends who continue to be suffering. I am waiting for this Council to make the right decision to stop their suffering. Now, six years, and our people continue to endure unimaginable pain. Killing, burning, looting, raping women and children as young as six and seven years old, continue to be. The Sudan government is undermining the authority and the ability of this Council. I hope today the Council will stand for Darfur and make the right decision, before it is too late.

John Prendergast: John Prendergast, from the ENOUGH project. As we stand here today, the Khartoum regime is arming and organizing a force, a proxy force, to overthrow the neighboring government of Chad. This comes a month after this very same government in Sudan burned a town to the ground and- called Abyei, on the border between the North and the South, that threatens to spark a new war in southern Sudan. This government is throwing gasoline on the fire of Sudan. The Security Council, who we had a chance to spend some time with today, by not imposing consequences for these kind of actions, for this kind of destruction and obstruction, emboldens the Sudanese government further to continue to burn Darfur, the south, and the neighboring region. But it isn’t as if the Council has ignored this crisis in Sudan. Since the war erupted in 2003, the Security Council has passed nine resolutions, nine major resolutions, and passed nineteen Presidential Statements. However, not one of these resolutions or statements has been imposed. Not one of them has been implemented. Not one of them has been enforced. Let’s be clear. Between them, the countries of this United Nations Security Council, these fifteen governments whom we just spoke with, have the influence to end the crisis in Sudan. The buck is supposed to stop right here. But it hasn’t. The time has come to impose consequences. UNAMID must be deployed, or there should be consequences. The ICC’s mandates should be allowed to be executed, or there should be consequences. A peace process, an effective peace process must be mounted, or there should be consequences. Otherwise, the blood of southern Sudanese and Darfurians will continue to wash up and around the hands of this United Nations Security Council. Thanks very much.

Georgette Gagnon: Georgette Gagnon from Human Rights Watch. Our message to the Council today was very clear. The failure to sanction Sudanese leaders for atrocities and commanding atrocities for some six years now has simply encouraged the Sudanese government and its militias to continue to kill, loot, and rape with impunity, and they do that as we speak. There has simply been, as John said, no consequences, no sanctions, for the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity. So today we called on the Council to take very firm action, finally, strong, united, concerted action. All Council members need to step up. Sanction leaders for atrocities that have been committed and also sanction the government for failure to abide by Security Council Resolutions. It has defied every resolution that’s been passed by this body. Also, we’re very concerned that following a May 10 attack in Omdurman which is a neighborhood in Khartoum, by a rebel movement, the government arrested and detained illegally hundreds of men, women, and children, mainly from Darfur. All these people remain in detention, in Khartoum. Most have been disappeared, meaning they are unaccounted for, and these include children. So we urged the Council to press the Sudanese government to release the names of all those it’s holding in detention, and provide an accounting for where all these people all. So that was our message. The entrenchment of impunity has occurred in Darfur, it’s deepening, and without real consequences it will become even deeper.

Jerry Fowler: Thank you Mr. Ambassador. We appreciated the opportunity today to speak to the Security Council but, to emphasize the message that has already been delivered by my colleagues; there has been enough talk in the Security Council, but not enough effective action. In particular, the deployment of UNAMID is in the process of failing. So we have come today with petitions signed by 53 activists and 25 leading organizations asking that during this time of the U.S. Presidency of the Security Council that the Security Council act on the swift and effective deployment of UNAMID, ensure that all of the equipment that is necessary for it is committed, including helicopters, trucks, and logistics units, and that Sudanese obstruction of the deployment of UNAMID stops or is met with real consequences. As all of the testimony today has indicated, as the testimony of the chief prosecutor of the ICC last week documented, the situation continues to be urgent, civilians continue to be in peril, and the United Nations Security Council has a responsibility to follow through on the force that it authorized, and see that UNAMID is deployed.

Ambassador Williamson: Thank you. Let me just add something that I think is important as someone who personally believes in the promise of the U.N. The United Nations, through the World Food Program and other organizations, is providing enormous humanitarian relief, health care assistance, and other things which are allowing the 2.5 million displaced IDP and refugees to survive in desperate conditions. Also, the Security Council has taken actions that if fully implemented, would be helpful. The U.S. message in our luncheon today with the ambassadors from the Friends of UNAMID, and the U.S. message in this session with the NGOs, was that it was important to hear from the voices of those who have been involved on the ground, so they can have an urgency instilled in them to take steps so that promise can be realized. So the death and destruction and deep despair can finally come to end. Again, if we just do what we’ve been doing, we can not achieve that. To do anything less is unacceptable. I’ll take questions.

Reporter: What should be done differently Mr. Williamson, if I could ask you that? What are you saying should be done differently? And to Mia Farrow if I could ask why do you think nothing has happened over five years in the Council?

Ambassador Williamson: I think one of the most urgent things is to get fuller deployment of UNAMID. As I said, there is close to seven thousand African Union troops that have been re-hatted under UNAMID under the hybrid force, but there’s only 585 new U.N. troops. The United States has committed one hundred million dollars, we are training and equipping African troops in Rwanda, Ghana, Tanzania enough to double the size this year. But as we sit here the U.N. doesn’t have the capacity to accept them. Even though its budget for UNAMID this calendar year that ends the end of June is 1.27 billion dollars, less than three hundred million of which has been spent, approximately 970 million have been committed. The thirty camps now used by peacekeepers were all build by United States taxpayers, and so there are thirty camps, they were built by U.S. taxpayers for the African Union troops that have now been transferred. We must do a better job of spending the existing allocated resources so more troops can get on the ground. It’s not the answer, but it is an answer that will begin to crowd out insecurity, which is absolutely unacceptable today. The insecurity that exists within camps, the insecurity that’s resulted in twenty seven humanitarian workers being kidnapped this calendar year as they led conveys of humanitarian assistance, the constant banditry that is robbing that humanitarian assistance so the people of Darfur in desperate need don’t get them. These are simple things that need to be done. Secondly on the humanitarian side, we have to be more forward leaning. We have to demand that such things as genetically modified products, like the corn-soy product which is used all over the world to help feed mal-nutritioned children, it is not allowed in today to Sudan, can get to the children that need it. So there’s a number of steps that can and should be taken, and we can not accept no as an answer.

Mia Farrow: To pick up on one thing that Ambassador Williamson said about acute malnutrition, the last credible report that we had on the acute malnutrition, general acute malnutrition in the camps, was last September. Analyses have been done, but they have not been allowed to release them, the NGOs have not been allowed to release them. So, the last statistics were from September, and they said that some thirty percent of the population in many of the camps was already suffering from acute malnutrition. Add to this the fact that food rations have, as you know, now been halved. And convoys, that would have carried the food by road, can not do so because there is no protection for those convoys. So, to address your problem, why, why? What is necessary, twofold. The will of the international community to make Darfur and south Sudan top tier, top priorities, top tier issues. That has not really happened. I think Ambassador Williamson is going to push to make that happen. But thus far, we’ve seen more than five deplorable years. We can only feel an abysmal sense of failure and shame that people have been suffering and people have been slaughtered for five full years. We look to the Security Council itself and the permanent five members. One of the root causes for, I think, international inaction is one of the members of the permanent five that has vetoed or placed conditions on almost all of the resolutions and, now that the government of Sudan finally did sign on, last July, to U.N. resolution 1769 which authorized the deployment, as you know, of twenty-six thousand protection force for Darfur, the scant numbers are there, and somehow the wording of that document which was that the force should be predominately African in character, has been twisted, the clear meaning of that has been twisted, into exclusively African. And if we were to accept that, which apparently we have, we would like to suggest an expansion of the partnering initiative that we are now seeing in its embryonic stages, with the United States and a few European countries who, since they can’t, troops can not go into the ground except when agreed to by the government of Sudan, if militarily capable countries could partner with those African battalions in need of assistance, training, and essential logistical support to bring them up to speed in every crucial way, so that when they go into Darfur they can defend themselves and defend the people and the humanitarians who are doing what the world has turned away from doing. I don’t think that the government of Sudan could have continued in this way for more than five years without the knowledge that is has the support of a giant, and that giant is China. Everyone I think of has- there is a larger monopoly game going on here in which the people of Darfur apparently are just expendable chips. And that’s deplorable and something must be done.

Ambassador Williamson: If I could just add, again the U.N. is playing a function there is no substitute for, but it has to do better. And going back to your question, we spend a billon dollars a year for UNMIS. I was in Abyei town less than two weeks ago. I toured a town where fifty-two thousand people’s lives were shattered in a matter of days, where ninety-five plus percent of the homes have been burnt to the ground, where all you see are charred remains of bed frames, water barrels, etc. And some of that carnage happened twenty five feet from the UNMIS garrison, where the U.N. peacekeepers stayed inside, as opposed to protecting the civilians in danger, as required in their mandate. We can do better, we must do better.

Reporter: Ambassador Williamson, to my knowledge there is no draft resolution pending before the United Nations Security Council at the moment on sanctions or anything else, nor one about to be launched. What is the next step for the U.S. in terms of taking any kind of action that people would like to see?

Ambassador Williamson: There is, as I’m sure you know, some consideration going on in the sanctions committee. Two, we are looking about, and I raised both at the luncheon and in the meeting with the Security Council moments ago, that we should be looking at the existing mandate of UNAMID and UNMIS to get them more proactive. It is a disgrace, it is a disgrace for three hundred U.N. peacekeepers to cower in their garrison while 52,000 lives are shattered. So we’re looking at those, we may take steps, but the most important thing is to make sure they do the job they’re doing with respect to sanctions, I’ve made reference to that.

Reporter: We’ve listened to the six of you speaking, but with all due respect we haven’t heard any of you mentioning the rebels group, and how they are behaving with impunity. We all remember what happened in Askanita and the killing of the African Union soldiers and the maiming of these soldiers. Don’t you agree that the approach that must be a multi-faceted approach, not only pressure, nobody wants to exonerate the Sudanese government from its responsibility to protect its people, but how about the rebels, who have enjoyed immunity of sanctions abroad in foreign countries, and they are acting now, it seems, with impunity, just like the Sudanese government.

Ambassador Williamson: A couple observations for myself--and my colleagues may not agree with me entirely. The United States made statements when the JEM attacked Omdurman, which had not been made previously, condemning the Justice and Equality Movement for that raid. The United States made statements condemning JEM afterwards, the United States has made its strong views known to the country of Chad and others who may be supporting that rebel movement. The fact is that the insecurity in Darfur is coming from a variety of sources including armed militias, some of whom are still uniformed, some of whom are independent operators and bandits. It’s coming from some of the rebel activity, it’s coming from the government’s activity. The United States government tried to make clear statements, which I’m sure you’ve seen or you can pull up, at the time of the assault on Omdurman. The United States has talked to those countries that appear to be giving support to that rebel movement, and the United States has raised questions of sanctions with some of those players you allude to. But let my colleagues, if some of them want to make comments.

John Prendergast: I think it’s clear that the rebels have been responsible for a great deal of violence in Darfur. But we’re talking about the disproportionate, the largest percentage of the violence being organized and sponsored by the government of Sudan through the militias and through direct use of the armed forces and air force of Sudan. Therefore, if we reply impartially a response, then officials mostly from the government but also some rebel officials who are responsible for violence, ought to also come under some of these sanctions. And the sanctions committee is considering that, but they’re not acting. The consideration has been stonewalled. There are certain members of the Council, of the Security Council, certain P5 members of the Security Council that have undermined the activity. And I just want to say one thing about China. China has a big problem, and a very big problem with respect to Sudan. The first problem, the big problem, is the Olympics. It remains to be seen how much of a problem it’s going to be for China in terms of a black eye, as it holds one of the greatest and biggest parties the world has ever seen in Beijing in August. But the bigger problem is one that China hasn’t fully recognized. I just came from southern Sudan in the aftermath of the burning of Abyei and the aftermath of the Chinese support for Sudan’s non-compliance with the CPA. The rebels, former rebels who have signed the peace deal in Sudan, are getting increasingly concerned that they’re going to have to go back to war, to fight for their independence referendum that is promised in 2011. If that happens, the very first target, (and we talked about this in the Security Council briefing), the very first target that the rebels are going to go after are the Chinese oil installations. They have learned a lot about how to penetrate and undertake commando operations in these last twenty years. I think it’s a very very significant concern that China is ignoring this possibility and not fulfilling its responsibilities to work with the United States, to work with other governments on the Council, to bring pressure to bear on Sudan, to end what is genocidal in scope and scale of violence in Darfur, to end this sponsorship of coup attempts across the border in Chad, to end the undermining of the CPA, of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in southern Sudan. So I think I just want to make sure that the message is heard loud and clear: that China has a disproportionate responsibility here today, and I think a lot of us brought that message, and that they in fact must fulfill that or else we’re going to see Sudan burn, and one of the first things that going to burn is China’s own economic interests.

Reporter: Do you think that France’s pretty unqualified support for Chad, even in the face of allegations that they supported the Jam attack on Omdurman, is that part of the problem of the regional part of it? And also, on these WFP truck convoys, Mr. Williamson, do you think that the existing UNAMID peacekeepers there should and could protect at least some of these trucks coming from El Obeid rather than say the Sudanese government’s not doing it?

Ambassador Williamson: First, with respect to the bleed which clearly exists between Chad and Sudan on the Darfur border, we’ve seen the damaging consequences of the bleed back and forth. The U.S. has taken a more active role in talking to friends and the Chadian government. I think some of our friends are taking a more active role as well to try to curb the mutual destruction that’s going back and forth on that border. With respect to the mutual destruction that’s going back and forth on that border. With respect to the capacity of greater security, we have pushed for six more routes to be opened up for humanitarian convoys. There’s only one now, so it results in a backlog, and one reason WFP has had to curb its delivery of assistance is because of that backlog. It could change if the other six routes were opened up by the government of Sudan. We think there also should be security escorts both by the host country and more activity for the U.N. So I guess my conclusion is, you raise a very legitimate point, I think there’s a few players that can make the contribution. My colleagues have said one more question.

Reporter: I’ve heard a lot of criticism of the U.N. from you, both with respect to UNMIS and Abyei, and you have also on numerous occasions said that the U.N. Secretariat needs to do more to get UNAMID on the ground. But the message that I was hearing from the NGOs was that the U.N. Security Council needs to do something, and the U.S. is obviously a very important member of that, and we know the government of Sudan… so, just considering sanctions, is that enough? What can the U.S. government do to push the Council to do something more?

Ambassador Williamson: Let me again emphasize, the UN is a unique institution with its universality, with its 192 members. It has a charter that reflects the values and aspirations of the American people. The United States supports the United Nations and appreciates its contribution including in Sudan. We are their partners but we are saying that more could be done. Now it isn’t going to be done by the Secretariat alone. It has to be a partnership where the 15 members of the Security Council respond to the need and make contributions. We’ve tried to lead the way by the $100 million dollars we are spending to train and equip African Union troops so they can get there but other countries also are stepping forward, helping out - various African countries. If it’s in negotiating their SOFAs, if it’s equipping and training them, etc. We are welcoming other countries, not only from Europe, but Japan and Australia and others to come in and help in this regard and the security itself has the unique obligations and opportunities. What we tried to do today, both in our luncheon of Ambassadors from the Friends of UNAMID group and in arranging for this Arria style meeting with these eloquent spokesmen for NGOs which share the thrust of out concern, though their emphasis might be a little different, is emphasize the urgency of action now--to build on the UN Security Council Mission that just came back from Sudan, to build on frankly what was alarm by some of those members of what they saw. Tomorrow you are going to have a report from the leaders of that Security Council mission--trip--to the Security Council We want momentum, we want attention, we want action and we think this ought to help contribute to it. Thank you all very much. Good day.