Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jody Williams, who led a UN Human Rights Council mission to Darfur but whose team was denied admission to the country, submitted her report to the UN on 12 March. Based on evidence collected in nearby countries and refugee camps in Eastern Chad, the report comprehensively condemns the Sudanese government for its failure to protect its civilian population, accusing it of acting in concert with its proxy militias in human rights abuse in Darfur where some 200,000 people have died since the revolt began in 2003.

The UN Human Rights Council held a special session on 12 December 2006 to discuss the human rights crisis in Darfur. Thirty member states, forty observer states and 20 NGOs spoke at the session, which had to be extended for a second day. IHEU main representative Roy Brown was the only speaker to discuss one of the underlying causes of the conflict - rapid population growth - and of the need to address this issue in seeking any long-term solution to the conflict.

According to Sima Samar, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Sudan, the people there have seen little change in their everyday life since the formation of the Government of National Unity. In Darfur, she said, the Government had failed in its responsibility to protect the population from attacks in areas where it had control.

ASSOCIATION FOR WORLD EDUCATION

STATEMENT: Representative David G. LITTMAN. Monday (3:45pm) 14 August 2006
[Main text drafted by René Wadlow, in collaboration with DGL, who delivered the statement for AWE]

IHEU and 42 other NGOs represented at the United Nations have written to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. In their letter, the NGOs call for the High Commissioner to appoint a team of human rights monitors large enough to ensure that the ceasefire becomes truly effective and refugees can safely return to their homes. The letter goes on to say that the new Human Rights Council will, in part, be tested by the way it deals with the Darfur conflict.

Written statement submitted by the Association for World Education
E/CN.4/2006/NGO/3 [5 January 2006]

URGENT APPEAL TO STOP CRIMES IN DARFUR BY THE GENOCIDE CONVENTION

IHEU and 16 other NGOs have written to the UN Commissioner for Human Rights to express serious concern at the General Assembly's decision to take no action and prevent debate on the European Union's resolution concerning the tragic situation in Darfur, Sudan. IHEU and the other NGOs called on the Commissioner to find other ways of dealing with serious and persistent human rights violations such as those in Sudan.

In a joint statement with the Association for World Education, Representative David G Littman spoke at the UN Commission on Human Rights on 15 April 2005. He gave the results of a survey of 51 female slaves over the age of 11.

UN Commission on Human Rights

I wish to open my remarks by expressing my profound gratitude to the International Humanist and Ethical Union, the Association for World Education, and the Association of World Citizens for their invitation to me to address this conference at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.