U.N. Security Council threatens Sudan on Militias
By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS, July 31, 2004 (AP) — The U.N. Security Council threatened Sudan on Friday with diplomatic and economic punishment unless the government fulfills a pledge to disarm Arab militias responsible for atrocities in the Darfur region, and it gave Khartoum 30 days to prove itself.
The Sudanese government swiftly rejected the U.S.-drafted resolution, which was approved 13-0, with China and Pakistan abstaining. Sudan has insisted it is trying to curb the militias and that threats of sanctions would not help.
“Sudan expresses its deep sorrow that the issue of Darfur has quickly entered the Security Council and has been hijacked from its regional arena,” Information Minister El-Zahawi Ibrahim Malik said in a statement issued after the vote.
At least 30,000 people have been killed and more than 1 million displaced in a 17-month conflict in Darfur, where pro-government Arab militias known as Janjaweed have waged a brutal campaign to drive out black African farmers, torching villages, gunning down residents and raping women. The U.S. Congress has called the campaign genocide.
The violence has continued despite a cease-fire called in July and Sudanese promises of a crackdown. According to an African Union monitoring team, militias “believed to be Janjaweed” chained civilians together and set them on fire in an attack on a village earlier this month.
The United States didn’t specify what sanctions might be considered but said the resolution was a tough warning to Sudan.
“The resolution in stern and unambiguous terms puts the Sudanese government on notice,” that it must fulfill its commitments, U.S. Ambassador John Danforth said. “Sudan must know that serious measures – international sanctions – are looming if the government refuses to do so.”
Sudan defended its efforts and said what it really needed from the international community was more humanitarian assistance.
“Sudan reaffirms its absolute rejection of threats,” Malik said in reference to the talk of sanctions and military intervention that has occurred in Western capitals since it became obvious that the government was failing to curb the Janjaweed.
To win support on the council, the United States revised its resolution four times, finally dropping the use of the word “sanctions” after several countries objected to the explicit threat.
The move overcame opposition from Russia and several other countries to help gain the minimum nine “yes” votes needed.
“We supported this resolution because it is a clear message to the parties involved to do everything in order to stop these atrocities,” Russia’s new U.N. Ambassador Andrei Denisov said after casting his first Security Council vote.
The resolution instead referred to an article of the U.N. charter that threatens measures including “complete or partial interruption of economic relations and of rail, sea, air, postal, telegraphic, radio, and other means of communication and the severance of diplomatic relations.”
Still, the United States and the resolution’s supporters insisted the sanctions threat remained even if the word did not. France, Spain, Britain, Chile, Germany and Romania co-sponsored the resolution.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed the resolution and said he looked forward to the “swift and sustained implementation” by Sudan of its commitments.
“Meanwhile, he hopes that the resolution will ensure that concerted action is taken to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur,” Annan’s office said in a statement.
Sudan promised Annan in a July 3 agreement that they would crack down on the Janjaweed militia and other outlawed rebel groups, but humanitarian groups and U.S. officials say they have failed to honor that pledge.
Nomadic Arab tribes have long been in conflict with their African farming neighbors over dwindling water and usable land in the vast western region, which is the size of Iraq and has a population of about 6 million. The tensions exploded into violence in February 2003 when the two African rebel groups took up arms over what they regard as unjust treatment by the government. Both sides are Muslim.
The African Union in May approved sending 150 unarmed military observers to Darfur, but so far only 80 observers have been deployed. African leaders agreed on July 5 to send another 300-member force to protect the observers and civilians, but that team has not yet arrived.
Aid and human rights groups criticized Friday’s resolution, saying it was too weak.
“We feel the Security Council is abdicating its role as a protector of the people of Darfur,” Amnesty International spokesman Adotei Akwei said.
Sudan’s U.N. Ambassador Elfatih Mohamed Erwa said his government was working to end the violence and such warnings would only harm its efforts. “The United Nations by adopting this resolution does not serve the humanitarian case,” he said.
China said it believed the Sudanese government was trying to honor its commitments and needed more time. “We think … the Sudanese government remains the main actor in solving this issue,” China’s deputy ambassador Zhang Yishan said.
The resolution calls on Sudan to disarm the Arab militias and imposes an arms embargo on individuals, groups or governments that supply the militias or the rebel groups in Darfur.
It requires Annan to report every 30 days and “expresses its intention to consider further actions, including measures as provided for in Article 41 of the (U.N. Charter) on the Government of Sudan in the event of noncompliance.”