Sudan needs human rights monitors, British Intl Devt Secy says

LONDON, June 07, 2004 (AP) — International human rights monitors should be sent to western Sudan , where hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes during 15 months of fighting, a senior U.K. official said Monday.

International Development Secretary Hilary Benn said killings of civilians in the Darfur region “may constitute war crimes, and/or crimes against humanity.”

An estimated 1 million people have been made homeless during an insurgency that has drawn charges of ethnic cleansing of mainly African tribes by government-backed Arab militias.

“I think the government of Sudan has been in denial about what has been happening,” said Benn, who is on a visit to the east African country. “They have undoubtedly not faced up to the scale of the catastrophe on their doorstep.”

Benn said the international community had to do more to avert a “major humanitarian emergency.”

“We have got to act now if we are going to save people’s lives,” he told British Broadcasting Corp. radio.

“People need water, they need sanitation, they need somewhere to live. They need medicines and health care because if we don’t do those things, there is a risk that a lot of people are going to die.”