A peace deal to end Darfur's three-year civil war was signed nearly two weeks ago, yet thousands of people in Sudan remain enslaved, without shelter, and forgotten.

|TOP|The U.N. Security Council, which expressed "utmost concern" over the impact on civilians of the civil war, unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday that would accelerate planning for a United Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur, according to The Associated Press.

Anyone who stands in the way of a May 5 peace agreement signed by the Sudanese government and Darfur's main rebel group would be met with "strong and effective measures," the resolution stated.

The African Union, which agreed this week to transfer authority for its peacekeeping force in Darfur to the United Nations by the end of September, demanded that rebel groups that have yet to sign the peace deal do so by the end of the month. Two rebel movements, a splinter faction of the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement and the rebel Justice and Equality Movement, held out on joining the agreement.

Other groups including China, Russia and Qatar signed on after learning the African Union supported the resolution and asked them to join.

In the meantime, conditions in the Darfur region remain desperate with no signs of improvement since the peace deal was made. Seven members of the Congressional Black Caucus were arrested Tuesday during their protest against the atrocious conditions.

Former Sudanese slave Simon Deng, who had visited Southern Sudan and Darfur earlier this month, described the living situation as "hell."

|AD|"Many are Darfurians who are flooding into South Sudan and live in the severest conditions," he said in a released statement.

"They are forgotten refugees who call the trees their home and the leaves their food. They have no shelter, no food, little water, and no medicine. I saw starvation, disease and destruction everywhere. With no hope in sight, the death rate will be catastrophic in a few months."

Deng, who suffered abuse and exhaustion for over three years as a Christian, had ended a 300-mile Sudan Freedom walk in Washington, D.C. on April 30.

The walk began in New York City to raise awareness on the severe Sudan situation and concluded with a rally that drew tens of thousands of demonstrators and prominent Christian leaders.

Joining a team of human rights activists on a fact-finding mission, Deng's trip to Sudan in the last two weeks exposed a genocide that continues to affect thousands, many of whom are Christians.

"What we saw in Darfur and Southern Sudan is the continuance of genocide without bullets," said Joe Madison, who was emcee for the Save Darfur Rally.

"The thugs in Khartoum continue to try and impose an Islamic culture on Christians and others observing traditional African religious practices. All of us need to monitor this situation and pressure the U.S. government to guide the Sudanese government impulses toward peace and self-determination for the Southern Sudanese and Darfurians."

Christian Solidarity International points to a genocide that continues in both Northern and Southern Sudan, a rainy season that could endanger the lives of hundreds of thousands amid the violence, and promised "peace dividends" that have not been delivered by the world's powerful and rich nations to Southern Sudan.

Violence in Darfur has left over 400,000 dead since 2003 and has driven millions into hunger and displacement. The U.N. Security Council is demanding that an assessment team deploy to Sudan within a week to prepare for the transfer of control of the peacekeeping mission in Darfur.






Lillian Kwon
Christian Today Correspondent