United States ambassador calls for sanctions on Sudan

GENEVA, Nov 30 (AFP) — The Sudanese authorities are unmoved by international pressure over the deeply troubled western Darfur region and sanctions should be imposed and more troops sent, a US ambassador said Tuesday.

“We need a lot more pressure put on the governement of Sudan,” Tony Hall, US ambassador to the UN’s food and agriculture agencies said in a video-conference from Rome.

“Just the way I look at it and the people that I talked to, people, the police, the government of Sudan, the rebels, they kind of look at us like: ‘we’re gonna do what we wanna do’,” Hall said.

The crisis in Darfur began in earnest in February 2003 when rebels launched an insurrection to protest what they allege is the political and economic marginalisation of black Africans by the Arab-led government.

Khartoum unleashed the Arab Janjaweed, who have been blamed by officials and aid workers for killings, rape and widespread violations of human rights.

Since then, more than 70,000 people have been killed or have died from hunger and disease in the area, according to the United Nations, and another 1.5 million have been displaced.

The United Nations has described the situation in Darfur as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, while the United States has accused Khartoum of carrying out genocide through its proxy militias.

“People need to know that those who commit crimes against humanity will be punished and we must let them know that we’re not going to forget this,” said Hall.

“We need a lot more troops from the AU” — the African Union which has deployed a 3,000-strong force in Darfur to monitor a shaky ceasefire — he said. “They’re not too worried about outside pressure right now.”