UN Security Council passes resolution on Sudan’s Darfur

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 18, 2004 (AP) — The U.N. Security Council approved a resolution Saturday demanding that Sudan rein in Arab militias attacking villagers in western Darfur and threatening sanctions if the government doesn’t act quickly to end the 19-month conflict.

The vote was 11-0 with four abstentions. China, Russia, Pakistan and Algeria opposed sanctions and several other provisions which they said could antagonize the Sudanese government and lead it to end its cooperation with international efforts to cope with the massive humanitarian crisis in Darfur.

The United States, which introduced the resolution, revised it three times, each time softening language to try to get broader support and avert a Chinese veto. It was only after a last-minute meeting between U.S. Ambassador John Danforth and China’s U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya, who unsuccessfully sought additional changes, that Beijing decided to abstain rather than exercise its veto power. To pass, resolutions by the 15-member council need nine “yes” votes.

The resolution strongly endorses the deployment of a beefed-up African Union force with an expanded monitoring mission that would actively try to prevent attacks and mediate to stop the conflict from escalating. More than 50,000 people have already died and over 1.2 million have fled their homes to escape the violence.

It also authorizes Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who was in the council chamber for the vote, to rapidly appoint an international commission to investigate reports of human rights violations in Darfur and determine “whether or not acts of genocide have occurred.”