France calls for inquiry in Sudan’s Darfur
PARIS, France, Sep 11, 2004 (PANA) — France said on Friday that it backs
the creation of an international commission of inquiry into
the prevailing situation in western Sudan’s troubled Darfur
region, official sources told PANA here Saturday.
A French foreign ministry splesman said the objective of
this commission would be to “buttress, impulse and exert
pressure to move the political process forward and also
improve security conditions”.
Quai d’Orsay hailed the report presented by Jan Pronk, the UN
secretary general’s special representative last week before the
UN Security Council.
“Some progress has been made. A lot more needs to be done even if
the situation has improved. Progress has also occured in the
humanitarian situation. These efforts should be sustained and the
international community is mobilised to deal with this dangerous
crisis”, the spokesman said citing a government report.
Unlike the US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who has affirmed
that genocide has occurred in Darfur, France insisted that UN
secretary general Kofi Annan and his special representative to
Khartoum Jan Pronk were “better placed to make a judgement”.
In his report, Jan Pronk used the expression “serious and massive
violation of international humanitarian and human rights” had
occurred in Darfur.
Meanwhile, France urged the international community to be
actively involved in the resolution of the current crisis and to
be politically mobilised, adding that Paris backs the Abuja
Plan.
“We shall continue to support the African Union’s efforts. The
decision by the AU to appropriate the resolution of the Darfur
conflict is absolutely essential for us. This means we should
continue exerting pressure on the parties within the framework of
the Abuja talks”, Quai d’Orsay said.
Paris also called for increased support towards the AU cease-fire
monitoring commission dispatched to western Sudan last July and
and pleaded for the extension of its mandate and uplifting the
number of personnel.
France said that all those found to have massively violated human
rights in Darfur region must be prosecuted.