US may risk China, Russia vetoes on Sudan sanctions
April 18, 2006 (UNITED NATIONS) — The US is prepared to risk Chinese and Russian vetoes on a Security Council resolution that would impose sanctions on four Sudanese accused of rights violations in Darfur, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said Tuesday.
Bolton said, however, that he first wants to discuss the issue with other diplomats and hear a briefing, scheduled for the afternoon, from the African Union’s mediator on Darfur.
On Monday, Russia and China had blocked U.K. efforts to impose the penalties through a Security Council committee that handles Sudan sanctions. The U.S. resolution would circumvent that committee and force the two to choose whether to cast vetoes, which carry political risks.
“What I’d like is unanimity, obviously, not a veto, so I’m prepared to have consultations and discussions. And that’s appropriate,” Bolton told reporters. “But I’m also prepared to proceed. We think the moment is right to implement these sanctions.”
Russia and China, which traditionally resist Security Council sanctions, say the timing of the draft could hurt negotiations underway to end the three-year conflict in Darfur. The violence has left about 180,000 dead – most from disease and hunger – and displaced another 2 million.
The African Union set April 30 as the deadline for a peace agreement, and the Security Council has endorsed that target date.
The names of the four haven’t been made public, but council diplomats said they include one member of the Sudanese government, two rebel figures, and a member of the government-backed Janjaweed militia. The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity.
Decades of low-level tribal clashes over land and water in the Darfur region erupted into large-scale violence in early 2003 when ethnic African tribes took up arms, accusing the Arab-dominated central government of neglect. The government is accused of responding by unleashing Arab tribal militias known as Janjaweed to murder and rape civilians and lay waste to villages – a charge it denies.
A U.N. panel that investigated the Darfur conflict recommended last year that 51 people be prosecuted for war crimes, including senior government officials. But council members haven’t been able to agree on any names to put on a U.N. sanctions list.
The U.K. list that Russia and China blocked was the first attempt, and it drew support from other council members, including Argentina, Denmark, France, Japan, Peru and Slovakia.
(ST/AP)