US wants sanctions on anyone responsible for Darfur War Crimes
April 26, 2006 (WASHINGTON) — The United States will seek more U.N. sanctions against individuals responsible for war crimes against the people of Darfur, the State Department said Wednesday.
Spokesman Adam Ereli said criteria for being on a list is evidence that implicates a person in war crimes that would hold up in court when challenged.
“Regarding future designations, we will act upon the evidence that is available,” Ereli said. “We will follow that evidence where it leads, and when it is firm and conclusive we will take action. So it does not rule out further sanctions.”
The U.N. Security Council voted Tuesday to impose sanctions on four men _ a Sudanese air force officer and three other Sudanese nationals _ for their involvement in the Darfur conflict, the first such penalties imposed in the violence that the United States has described as genocide.
The four who face sanctions are accused of helping orchestrate and carry out killings, rape and other human rights abuses in the western Sudan region.
“There are other names being looked at by the experts, by the sanctions committee,” Ereli said.
He said it was a “gross oversimplification” to say, as some human rights groups did, that the United States was opposed to putting four additional people on Tuesday’s list because they were needed as allies in the war on terror.
He said as far as he knew the United states removed no any names from a longer list.
“The criteria for being on the list is, do you have evidence that can hold up in court when challenged that implicates these people in crimes,” Ereli said. “And these four individuals are on the list; the evidence was that good, and the information was that firm.”
He said that it took 13 months to get sanctions on four people shows how committed the United States is to seeing justice done.
“And having devoted this level of effort and diplomatic muscle, we’re not about to let up,” Ereli said.
He also welcomed a comprehensive draft of a peace agreement between the rebels in Darfur and the Sudanese government put forward by the African Union mediator at peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria.
“This is an important and welcome step in our collective efforts to bring peace to that conflict,” Ereli said. “For the first time in one document there is a proposed solution to all the issues: wealth-sharing, power-sharing and security.”
The 3-year-old conflict in Darfur between rebels and government-backed militias has caused about 180,000 deaths — most from disease and hunger — and displaced 2 million people.
(ST/AP)