U.S. seeking U.N. resolution to pressure Sudan
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK/KHARTOUM, July 01, 2004 (dpa) — The United States on Wednesday floated a resolution to the U.N. Security Council calling for an arms embargo and travel restrictions on militias in Western Sudan, the latest escalation of international pressure on the issue.
The document, which has been sent to several members of the 15- member council, also calls upon the Sudanese government to disarm militias in the western region of the country responsible for violence against civilians, the U.S. State Department said Wednesday.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is wrapping up a visit in Sudan after touring the affected Darfur region – the most important U.S. official to visit the country in more than two decades.
Tens of thousands have been killed and 1.2 million people have been displaced over the past months in the Darfur region. Another 320,000 people face starvation and death from illness in the coming months unless aid is imminent, international aid organizations have said.
Powell and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan met at the Khartoum airport Wednesday evening with Sudan’s First Vice President Ali Osman Taha, who pledged that Sudan would dismantle and demobilize militia that have been terrorizing the civilian population, and provide visas and fast clearance for international aid workers and vehicles that are speeding help to a starving population.
“It’s important that all members of the international community move now and move quickly to address the human rights and humanitarian catastrophe that is under way in Darfur,” State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said.
The draft resolution asked the council to call on governments to prevent the sale or supply of arms to the Janjaweed, a militia group of Arab ethnics hired and trained by Khartoum, or groups related to the Janjaweed, which are fighting in Darfur.
The draft asked governments to prevent their nationals from supplying arms, equipment and aircraft to the Janjaweed and that measures should be taken to bar the Janjaweed from crossing into their territories.
The draft asked that the government in Khartoum “immediately fulfil all” commitments it made publicly to cease all military attacks in Darfur, disarm and neutralize the Janjaweed militias, and take measures to protect the civilian population.
Khartoum would also be asked to provide “unrestricted and sustained access” for the provision of humanitarian supplies to civilian population affected by the fighting and that visas should be given to relief workers.
Khartoum would be asked to provide unfettered access to Darfur for African Union-led monitors and to begin investigating violations of human rights and international humanitarian laws.
The draft also urged speedy resolution of the 20-year conflict in southern Sudan between government troops and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement. The two sides recently signed peace agreements, but have not effectively implemented them, and there is concern that the new conflict in Western Sudan could derail the process.
The draft asked the council to set up a committee to monitor the arms embargo and seek information about suppliers of arms to the Janjaweed.
The U.N. has accused the Khartoum government of setting up the Janjaweed in order to crush the rebel groups in Darfur and of allowing atrocities against civilians in that region.
A U.N. human rights investigator said this week that there was “ample evidence” that Khartoum helped perpetuate the human rights violations in the region.
Relations between the United States and Sudan have thawed since President George W. Bush took office. Washington has cited Sudan’s cooperation in the war on terrorism, and pressed the ceasefire agreement earlier this year in a separate conflict between the government in the north and southern, Christian rebels.
The United States has hinted at normalizing relations with Sudan, but Bush has said the Darfur conflict must be resolved before the United States takes significant strides.