26 QUESTIONS HER MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT MUST ANSWER ON DARFUR

1) What is the their latest estimate of the number of people dependant on food aid in Darfur; how does this compare with the number requiring food aid this time last year; are they confident that sufficient food is in place to enable those who are dependant on food aid to survive the rainy season.
2) What assessment have they made of the level of malnutrition and risks to personal health of the displaced people of Darfur.
3) What has been done to implement the UN Security Council resolution of March 29th 2005 to freeze the assets of and restrict the travel movements of the architects of the genocide in Darfur.
4) When they expect to complete the arrangements for the UK mortality survey in Darfur; and whether they accept the most recent estimates that 500 people die every day in Darfur.
5)Whether they concur with the assessment of Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United nations, made in May 2005 that Darfur is “little short of hell on earth”; and what protest they have made to the Government of Sudan following Mr Annan’s latest complaint that the 10,000 mainly Sudanese humanitarian Aid workers in Darfur, face constant harassment and interference.
6)Whether they will institute a regular system of reporting to both houses of Parliament the accounts of African Union monitors of Arial attacks, beatings, rape, and killings in Darfur; and to detail such incidents for April and May 2005.
7) What assessment they have made of the 10,000 photographs taken by Mr Brian Steidre , serving with the African Union, of gross violations of Human Rights in Darfur and of the nine boxes of statements collected durng his time in Darfur
8) What assessment they have made of evidence collated by the International Crisis Group that the government of Sudan is incorporating members of the Janjaweed militia into formal security structures such as the popular defence force, the border intelligence guard, the popular police and the nomadic police.
9) Have they asked the Government of Sudan to clarify the assertion of Musa Hilal, leader of the Janjaweed militia, that he had been promoted to the position of Brigadier General in the general security Service of Sudan and that all top army commanders in the Janjaweed militia receive their orders from Khartoum and that the Government of Sudan directs all military operations and activities by the Janjaweed militia.
10) Have they assessed the validity of the work undertaken by the Coalition for International Justice and Tufts University in the US that 400,000 people have died in Darfur in the last two years and that 90% of Darfur’s villages have been destroyed.
11) In establishing the UK government’s position that what is happening in Darfur is not genocide, will they list the criteria they used and state in what ways the criteria differed from those used by the US State department and the Governments of Canada and Germany.
12) What is their estimate of the number of African Union troops required to secure Darfur; how many are there at present.
13) Whether they agree with the UN high Commissioner for Human Rights that “the Janjaweed have operated with total impunity and in close co-ordination with the forces of the Government of Sudan.”
14) Will they discount suggestions that their policy in relation to Darfur has been unduly influenced by a) A desire to use the Government of Sudan as a conduit for intelligence gathering in relation to Al-Qaeda. b) Oil interests elsewhere in the country; and c) fears that the comprehensive peace settlement in the south might be destabilised.
15) What account they took of genocide in Darfur when they supported the decision by the International Community in April 2005, in Oslo, to pledge more than $4 Billion in Aid and debt relief to Sudan; and whether the meeting of G8 finance ministers in London on June 12th Considered the Government of Sudan’s role in Darfur as a factor when including Sudan on the list of countries whose debts could be cancelled in the future.
16) What is being done to implement the Security Councils resolution of July 30th 2004 to disarm the Janjaweed militia.
17) What is the position of Her Majesty’s Government in relation to the application made by Belarus to the UN sanctions committee seeking permission to sell arms to Sudan.
18) What estimate they have made on how long it will take before the first indictments are handed down to the 51 names on the International Criminal Court’s list of alleged perpetrators of War Crimes in Darfur.
19) What is their response to the calls of a group of Former foreign ministers, including Madeleine Albright, Robin cook, Lloyd Axworthy and Lamberto Dini, calling for an international peacekeeping force from NATO countries to be deployed in Darfur.
20) Does the View of Mr Chris Mullen M.P., when minister responsible for Africa, that the deployment of an International Peacekeeping force in Darfur represents “an invitation to every jihadist in the region to go there” Still represent the thinking of Her Majesties Government?
21) What representations they have made to the Arab league about the killing of African Muslims in Darfur.
22) What are they doing to establish a No-Fly zone over Darfur.
23) What plans are being developed to repatriate the displaced people of Darfur to their homes and to provide the necessary Security for them to live in safety and without fear of molestation
24) What assessment they have made of the statement by Jan Egeland, the UN’s under secretary for Humanitarian affairs that 10,000 people will die every month in Darfur if insecurity leads to humanitarian organisations suspending their operations there.
25) What discussions have been held between the Foreign office and the Home office about the position of Sudanese refugees facing torture in Sudan, such as Dr Musa Saadeldin.
26) What assessment they have made of the assessment of CARITAS and CAFOD that one in three of the children in receipt of food aid at their feeding stations in El Dhein are malnourished.