UN Official: UN actions causing increased tension in Sudan

By EDITH LEDERER

UNITED NATIONS, May 13, 2005 (AP) — UN resolutions authorizing sanctions and prosecutions against perpetrators of violence in Sudan’s conflict-wracked Darfur region have led to protests and increasingly dangerous tensions in the region, a UN official said Thursday.

A displaced Sudanese woman carries her belonging as a U.N. vehicle passes at the Abu Shouk camp, in north Darfur, Sudan, Aug. 27, 2004. (AP).

Assistant Secretary General for Peacekeeping Hedi Annabi said the two resolutions adopted by the Security Council in late March could provoke violence against UN staffers, noting an increase in rapes, kidnappings and attacks on civilians in Darfur last month.

“We believe that the government of Sudan must give its unequivocal support to both resolutions to minimize any risk of hostile action by these individuals and their followers against the United Nations in Sudan,” he told the council.

The vast western Sudanese region of Darfur is the scene of one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. An estimated 180,000 people have died in the upheaval – many from hunger and disease – and about two million others have been displaced since the conflict began in February 2003.

The conflict erupted when rebels took up arms against what they saw as years of state neglect and discrimination against Sudanese of African origin. The government is accused of responding with a counterinsurgency campaign in which government-backed Arab militiamen known as Janjaweed committed wide-scale abuses against the African population.

One resolution calls for the International Criminal Court to try suspects of violence in Darfur. The other strengthens an arms embargo and imposes an asset freeze and travel ban on those who defy peace efforts.

“In addition to protests in Khartoum,” Annabi said, “the two resolutions resulted in increased tensions in the Darfur region among those who perceive themselves to be implicated by the council’s action.”

He didn’t elaborate but soon after the resolutions were adopted the UN gave the court a list of 51 people that a special UN commission that investigated mass killings and atrocities in Darfur recommended should stand trial. UN officials have said the list includes Sudanese government officials, rebels, and Janjaweed.

The African Union, which has deployed about 2,400 troops and 244 civilian police in Darfur to try to restore peace, agreed April 28 to more than double the force to 6,171 military personnel and 1,560 police by the end of September.

The Security Council applauded the AU’s leadership in Darfur and its decision to expand the force.

Annabi said that while violence continued throughout April, there was no progress in peace talks which Nigeria has brokered. The last round took place in December.