Last Sunday, activists around the world once again organised demonstrations and public events in nearly 30 cities around the world to keep the human rights crisis in Darfur on the global agenda. Celebrities like Matt Damon, Desmond Tutu, Cate Blanchett and many others joined activists in sustaining international pressure for a ceasefire in Darfur, to speed up deployment of a UN force and to highlight the systematic murder and rape of women in Darfur.

The Darfur conflict began in 2003. It is an environmental war, a fight over the twin resources of land and water. When rebel groups began attacking government targets, they met fierce retaliation from government forces and their sponsored Arab 'janjawid' militias. It has left 200,000 civilians dead and two million displaced.

Vicious factional fighting grips refugee camps and there is little or no policing on the ground to protect the vulnerable. Peace deals signed in 2004 and 2006 have failed. Resistance by China and the Arab League as well as hesitation from some African and Asian countries have weakened the sanctions against Khartoum.

After continued pressure from activists and the UN, Sudanese President Omar El Bashir agreed in June this year to a UN resolution to send 26,000 peacekeepers to Darfur. The UN troops will join the over-stretched and ill-equipped 7,000 African Union peacekeepers presently on the ground in Darfur to form a 'hybrid' army with a mandate to intervene with force if necessary. Now the Sudan government must work with the UN to speed up the deployment of the UN force and ensure logistical support for these troops.

The Sudanese government must also fulfil its legal duty to arrest International Criminal Court (ICC) suspect Ahmed Haroun, who is currently the state minister for humanitarian affairs. He is wanted by the ICC on 42 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes. ICC judges found 'reasonable grounds to believe' that Haroun is responsible for persecuting, raping, attacking and killing civilians in four western Darfur villages in 2003 and 2004. Evidence indicates Haroun recruited, paid and supplied arms to the government-backed 'janjaweed' militias which carried out the attacks.

The meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week is a critical opportunity for the international community - including Malaysia - to raise these issues with the Sudanese delegation who will be led by its Foreign Minister Dr. Lam Akol. Malaysia, who is currently a member of the UN Human Rights Council and who has offered peacekeepers, must urge Sudan to speed up the deployment of the UN peacekeeping force and to bring perpetrators of human rights abuses to justice.

The slogan for Sunday's protests was 'Don't Look Away'. I think the international community, despite calls from activists and those suffering in Darfur, has looked away from the tragedy for far too long allowing unspeakable atrocities to occur. It is time they turned around and demanded clear action from the Sudanese government.