Darfur letters

The Independent reports that a coalition of European intellectuals have written to the leaders of the EU delivering a critique of the EU's failure to stop the violence in Darfur.

The letter itself is a damning criticism of the EU for its failure to act. Its accuses the EU of impotence, turning a blind eye and being hypocritical.

The writers point out that the EU born out of the atrocity of World War II in an attempt to prevent such atrocities happening again is avoiding its responsibilities. Comparison is made to the lack of EU action in Srebrenica where 8000 men were massacred by Serb paramilitaries.

At this time of celebration of 50 years of the EU how can we drink champagne and celebrate our triumphs whilst quietly brushing problems under the carpet.

"Has the European Union - born of atrocity to unite against further atrocity - no word to utter, no principle to act on, no action to take, in order to prevent these massacres in Darfur? Is the cowardliness over Srebrenica to be repeated? If so, what do we celebrate?"

The letter goes on to say what it believes Europe is about, a common shared purpose that puts the rights of mankind first:

"It [Europe] is an inherited culture which sustains our shared belief in the value and dignity of the human being."

In stating their convictions in this shared culture of European nations the writers call on the leaders to live up to those values and give no quarter to any person who would carry out such brutal actions. They call for immediate stringent sanctions upon the leaders of the Sudanese regime.

They finish the letter by saying that only when we have done this will we truly be able to celebrate.

"Let this action be our gift to ourselves and our proof of ourselves. And when it is done, then let us celebrate together with pride."

The letter was written and published in the Independent by:

Umberto Eco
Dario Fo
Günter Grass
Jürgen Habermas
Václav Havel
Seamus Heaney
Bernard Henri-Levy
Harold Pinter
Franca Rame
Tom Stoppard

Brief Darfur update:

The situation in Darfur has not eased since I last wrote. The Khartoum government continues to refuse to hand over the alleged war crimes suspects and government forces continue to restrict humanitarian aid agency access to refugees (Source: BBC).