African Union asks USA to provide evidence of genocide in Darfur

ADDIS ABABA, Sep 13, 2004 (IRIN) — The African Union (AU) urged the United
States to provide greater support in Sudan after US Secretary of State
Colin Powell described the ongoing violence in the western region of
Darfur as “genocide”. Sam Ibok, director of the AU’s Peace and Security
Council, also urged the US to detail the evidence it had to make such
claims.

“The US has been helping but that support is not commensurate with the
requirements,” Ibok told IRIN on Monday in the Ethiopian capital, Addis
Ababa. “His [Colin Powell’s] comments should be backed up. If it is not,
the Sudanese government will not take anybody seriously.”

Ibok said AU observer teams had found graves containing around eight
bodies each, but added that this did not necessarily constitute genocide.
“Those kind of grave violations could at the end of the day be termed as
genocide. If we find evidence we shall not shy away from calling it
genocide,” he told IRIN.

“But we cannot call it genocide at this point in time because we have not
fully investigated it. For now we are preoccupied with saving lives,” he
added.

The Sudanese government has rejected the description by the US of the
Darfur conflict as genocide, and has accused Washington of exploiting a
humanitarian crisis for political gain.

Presenting testimony on Darfur to the US Senate Foreign Relations
Committee on Thursday in Washington, Powell had said “genocide has been
committed in Darfur…the government of Sudan and the Janjawid [militia]
bear responsibility [and] genocide may still be occurring.”

Powell said his conclusion that genocide had been committed in Darfur was
based on testimonies recorded by US investigators from 1,136 refugees and
displaced people who had fled their villages in Darfur. “Those interviews
indicated a consistent and widespread pattern of atrocities – killings,
rapes, burning of villages – committed by Janjawid and government forces
against non-Arab villagers,” Powell said.

“Three-fourths of those interviewed reported that Sudanese military forces
were involved in the attacks [and] villages often experienced multiple
attacks over a prolonged period before they were destroyed by burning,
shelling or bombing, making it impossible for the villagers to return to
their villages,” he added. “This was a coordinated effort, not just random
violence.”

Ibok told IRIN: “In some ways Colin Powell’s comments are helpful because
it galvanises the international community. It puts more pressure on the
Sudanese government and as we have seen they react to pressure.”

Ibok noted however: “The only difficulty we have is that after designating
it a genocide what next? What is the US going to do? Is it going to take
the kind of action allowed under the UN convention? People keep talking
about increasing the size of the AU presence but the money is just not
there, people just keep talking about it and that is the frustration we
have.” The
AU currently has 310 protection officers in Darfur and 185 observers.

According to Ibok, the AU could intervene in Darfur if it were decided the
killings that have taken place there were a case of genocide. “We have the
right to intervene to take action without
any authorisation from the Sudanese government so it has profound
implications for us,” he said.

The AU was established in July 2001, to replace its predecessor, the
Organisation of African Unity, which was founded as part of the African
independence movement in 1963. The OAU was heavily criticised as a
toothless talking shop with a policy of non-intervention.

“One of our stated goals of having our deployment in Sudan is to be able
to undertake those kind of investigations to be able to unravel what is
happening,” Ibok said. “But no matter what terminology you call what has
happened in Darfur it is serious enough. We do not have to designate it as
genocide to be able to know that there is indeed a catastrophe,” he added.

At least 1.2 million people in Darfur are internally displaced and another
200,000 have fled over the border into neighbouring Chad because of
attacks by government-allied Janjawid militias and because of fighting
between government soldiers and two rebel groups.