US to demand emergency session on Sudan at UN Human Rights Commission
GENEVA, April 23, 2004 (AP) — The U.S. Friday said it would demand an emergency session of the top U.N. human rights body to hold Sudan ‘s government to account over violations in the conflict-ravaged Darfur region, as new allegations of ethnic attacks emerged.
U.S. Ambassador Richard Williamson said the U.N. Human Rights Commission had failed the victims of ethnic cleansing in Darfur during its regular meeting, as the annual six-week session ended. Williamson said Washington would seek a special sitting of the 53-nation watchdog after the return within several days of a U.N. investigation team which currently is in Sudan .
“We must stand up and be strong, condemning unconscionable acts,” Williamson told the commission, reacting after the U.N. body voted 50-1, with two abstentions, to express concern about the overall situation in Darfur but stopped short of formal condemnation of Sudan .
“The commission has failed to meet its responsibilities today,” Williamson said.
The decision resulted from last-minute negotiations between African and European governments on the commission. European diplomats said they were far from happy with the final document but that it was the only option to win support of African nations, who normally vote as a bloc and had been expected to defend Sudan from tough criticism over its handling of a rebellion in the western region.
Washington had submitted an alternative text, with stronger language, which was defeated 27-7, with 19 abstentions.
Human rights campaigners slammed commission members.
“They are trying to accommodate the government, when there’s slaughter on the ground,” said Joanna Weschler of New York-based Human Rights Watch.
In a study released Friday, Human Rights Watch said Sudanese government troops working with Arab militias detained 136 African men whom the militias massacred hours later. Investigators from the group worked discreetly in the region for the past month and have just left Darfur, said Weschler.
The militias are tightly linked to the Sudanese military, the study said, noting that their fighters are organized into battalions that have the same structure as those in the government army and wear similar uniforms. During their operations, they often enjoy government air support from the government of Sudan , both aerial bombardment and helicopter reconnaissance, it claimed.
The Sudanese government has consistently denied such allegations.
The 13-page report was the latest expression of U.N. alarm about indications that thousands of civilians had been killed and hundreds of thousands driven from their homes in the Darfur rebellion.
The revolt was launched last year to demand a greater share of power and wealth from the Arab-dominated central government in Sudan .
The report, by a U.N. team of experts who recently visited Sudanese refugees in neighboring Chad, detailed atrocities against Africans allegedly committed by government forces and Arab militias.
The U.N. report, based on interviews with some of the estimated 110,000 Sudanese refugees in Chad earlier this month, said the government’s campaign to put down the rebellion has intensified since early last year.
The campaign led hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes, it said. Besides the refugees already in Chad, 700,000 people were believed to be homeless in Darfur, the report said.
There has been little progress in peace talks between the Sudanese government and two rebel groups, meeting in Chad.
A 45-day cease-fire was signed April 8 to allow U.N. and humanitarian agencies access to the region, but so far the government has allowed only a handful of aid workers into the area and have banned journalists.