Sudanese president sees separation of South Sudan possible

Via Sudan Tribune Cairo, April 1, 2005 (KUNA):

Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir said it was possible that the southern part of his country would decide to separate by the end of the current transition, but underlined his confidence that residents of the south would favor to remain united with Sudan.

Bashir told the Cairo-based "Al-Ahram Al-Arabi" Magazine in an interview to be published Saturday that Arab joint action would remain targeted, noting the activities underway in southern Sudan indicate that the Arab nation was always targeted (by enemies).

He mentioned that the war in southern Sudan started in 1955, one year ahead of Sudan's independence in 1956.

The Sudanese leader accused Israel of exploiting of the situation in the Sudanese troubled region of Darfur, to interfere in his country through alleging the Darfur issue was Jewish-related.

Al-Bashir, whose country will host the next Arab summit, said the Arab nation was passing through difficult circumstances and that Arab leaders' only option was unity. He praised their support to Sudan in resolving the Darfur issue and in creating peace in the south.



Photo: SPLM leader John Garang (left) shakes hands with Sudanese president Omar El Bashir (right), in the presence of Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki (centre) Wednesday April 2, 2003.
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UN urges Sudan to cooperate in trying Darfur suspects

A spokeswoman of the top UN envoy to Sudan said that officials of the criminal court will visit Sudan soon to try to start consultation with Sudanese government, says China View April 3, 2005.

Note, international donors meet for a conference in Oslo, Norway on April 13. It is unclear if the Sudanese president, who has been invited, will attend.
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Sudan's president rejects handing over Darfur suspects

Several news reports say Sudan sees hypocrisy in UN Darfur ruling.

Sudanese President Al-Bashir told a meeting of the ruling National Congress Party that his government will not hand over a single Sudanese to be tried in an international tribunal called for by UN Security Council Resolution 1593.

He described the resolution as "null and void, serving colonialist objectives," and insisted that those who issued the decision were "traitors."

The president added he did not believe the resolution would adversely affect the peace process and treaty reached with rebels in southern Sudan and called for "cooperation and solidarity to overcome the dangers and challenges facing our nation." - via UPI Khartoum April 2, 2005.

[He must wonder if he is on the UN's sealed list of 51 people suspected of crimes against humanity]
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Sudanese students march against UN

Yesterday, April 2, Reuters reports that hundreds of Sudanese students have gathered to denounce a UN decision to refer those accused of war crimes in Darfur to the International Criminal Court.

A government-dominated student union organised the march, which began on Saturday with speeches in Martyrs Square outside the Republican Palace denouncing the US and France, and was to follow on to the French and British embassies and finally to the UN building in central Khartoum. A few dozen students were wearing red scarves around their heads signalling jihad, or holy war.

Some 200 students chanted "down, down USA", and called for the cutting of diplomatic relations with France. There were almost as many security and police as students. Organisers said the poor turnout was due to the holidays as most students had gone home to their villages outside Khartoum.

"This UN resolution is not helping anyone solve the problem in Darfur," said Haitham Osman, the executive head of the Sudan student's union. "We totally reject it," he said.

Students carried banners saying "Death and blasphemy to America" and slamming the UN resolution. Some shouted over loud speakers: "The USA is the daughter of the devil" and "The Muslim people will never surrender".

Students stopped traffic to give out leaflets saying the Security Council was following the "agenda of international Jewry to create disunity in Sudan". - via Reuters South Africa, April 2, 2005.
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Chad and Sudan accuse each other of arming rebel groups

Idris Deby, the Chadian president, has accused Sudan of harbouring and arming the Chadian opposition in western Sudan to destabilize his regime. This came during a meeting in Chad between him and Sudan's vice president Taha on March 18, 2005.

Sources said Deby specified the Alliance Nationale de la Resistance (ANR), an umbrella of armed Chadian political forces, and mentioned the name of Mohamat Sileck the leader of the ANR and his military commander Mohamat Nour.

In the same meeting Taha, accused Deby of arming Darfur rebels groups. He indicated that all the rebels' arms, logistics and munitions are from the Chadian army. - via SudanTribune Mar 24, 2005.

Sudan: Libyan leader Gadhafi receives John Garang's delegation

Copy of report via Sudan Tribune - TRIPOLI, Libya, Apr 2, 2005 (PANA):

Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi on Saturday received in Tripoli a high-level delegation of the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) which handed him a message from John Garang, the organisation's leader, Libyan officials said here.

Led by James Wani Igga, the movement's vice-chairman and secretary- general, the delegation includes Nhial Deng Nhial, secretary in charge of foreign relations, and Yasser Arman, the SPLM's official spokesman, the officials added.

During the audience attended by Said Hefyana, Libyan vice- minister in charge of foreign affairs and international cooperation, the SPLM number two handed to Colonel Kadhafi a message from Garang.

In his message, Garang said that he was pleased about the quality of "historical relations" between his movement and the 1 September Libyan Revolution, and Tripoli's "support and backing" of the Sudanese people as a whole in order to achieve justice, peace and stability within a single nation made up of all Sudanese."

The SPLM leader also expresses his desire to visit the Libyan Jamahirya to meet Colonel Muammar Gadhafi and work with him in order to complete global reconciliation, peace, security and stability in Sudan.

The SPLM chairman talked with the Libyan leader on the phone on Friday, namely to brief him on the follow-up of the measures intended for the implementation of the global peace agreement signed between his movement and the Sudanese government.

Garang also laid emphasis during that discussion on the importance of the Libyan leader to continue his efforts in order to preserve Sudan's stability and unity for peace to be definitely established in the country.
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Former southern rebels in Khartoum for peace implementation talks

Note this report reveals SPLM arrived in Khartoum on a Libyan aircraft:

A large delegation of former south Sudanese rebels arrived in Khartoum Sunday for talks with the government on implementing the peace accord. SPLM spokesman said the delegation arrived in the Sudanese capital on a Libyan aircraft and was headed by the group's secretary general, James Wani.

The 106-strong delegation will have talks with officials of the government and (ruling) National Congress on preparations for implementing the peace agreement, including drafting a transitional constitution. The talks, the most comprehensive since the January 9 peace agreement, will also include members of the National Democratic Alliance, an opposition umbrella group now mainly confined to northern political parties.

As the rebel group SPLM/A transforms itself into a political party, it has established several offices in the capital as well as the provinces. Full Story at Sudan Tribune April 3, 2005.



Photo: Taha and Garang after the signature of thr Agreement on Security Arrangements, September 26, 2003.
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Libyan leader comments on Security Council's resolution on Darfur

Today, April 3, a Libyan news report says:

The Leader of the Revolution has made a statement to Jana News on Security Council's resolution which prosecute Sudanese war crimes suspects before the International Criminal Court.

"I found my self obliged to comment on the so-called Security Council which always proves that it's against the security of other non-founding states (It's resolution on Darfur), with confirmation that the so-called international courts are not legitimate." The Leader says.

"What is important here is that this council is not specialized in intervening in the internal affairs of the countries, so what do you think of intervening in the executive and legislative bodies of any country, the Leader wonders.

The Leader said that that sovereignty of Sudan is the only one in its land, and that Sudanese laws are the only ones that are applied on that Sudanese people, and that Sudanese courts are the only ones that are specialized in trying those who are in Sudan.

He emphasizes that the so-called Security Council is not specialized in Darfur problem, and its resolution is ineffective according to UN treaty and the 6th and 7th chapters. He said that the resolution will inflame the conflict in Darfur and will not help to calm it.

"This resolution is of no benefit to the parties of conflict in Darfur. It's just an insult to all Sudanese, and it's a flagrant intervention in the independence of Sudan and no one should think that the resolution is against his rival because it will hurt all parties." The Leader says.

"And thus, in every step we take towards a peaceful solution, the foreign intervention plant a bomb to halt all peaceful initiatives, and it seems it's an intended act to realize some things of no business to Darfur." The Leader added.
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Libya differs with Kofi Annan over Darfur

Here is a copy of a report via Sudan Tribune - TRIPOLI, Libya, dated March 10, 2005 (PANA):

Libya bitterly criticised UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Wednesday for suggesting that an international force be sent to Darfur, where the situation is horrible and dangerous.

"Through his statement, Annan gives the expression of trying to undermine the African efforts intended to settle the Darfur crisis," the Libyan Foreign Affairs Committee said in a statement.

"They are also prejudicial to efforts by Nigerian President and AU current Chair Olusegun Obasanjo, and those of Moammar Kadhafi who were entrusted with the issue by the five African-country (Nigeria, Egypt, Chad, Libya and Sudan) summit and the African Union Commission," the statement observed.

The Libyan Foreign Committee says that Annan's comments are "a breach to Abuja meetings on Darfur and efforts, which are being made to hold the second session of the five African-country summit on that province in southern Sudan".

It accuses Annan of attempting to "block the African efforts aimed to settle the crisis."
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Sudan wants Libya's help

Back in August of last year, the Sudanese President asked the Libyan leader Colonel Gadhafi to help settle the escalating crisis in Darfur, and assist in repatriation of refugees. Here below is a copy of a report and photo published at Middle East Online August 17, 2004:



TRIPOLI - Sudan asked Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi Tuesday to "intervene personally" in the escalating crisis in Darfur, Libya's official JANA news agency reported.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail delivered the request from President Omar al-Beshir at a meeting with Kadhafi in the central town of Sirte, the news agency said.

"President Beshir is pleased with Colonel Kadhafi's opposition to foreign intervention in Darfur and asks him to help settle the crisis in the region and assist in the repatriation of refugees," JANA quoted Ismail as saying.

African Union-sponsored peace talks between the Sudanese government and the Darfur rebels are supposed to be taking place in Nigeria next Monday.

But last week, Libya hosted informal talks in Sirte which brought together Khartoum and the two Darfur rebel movements as well as representatives of the African Union and neighbouring Chad, which hosts the lion's share of Darfur refugees.

At the time, a Chadian source expressed concern Libya might be trying to seize a bigger role in the peace process.

"We are afraid it will be taken over by Kadhafi at the expense of the African Union," the diplomat said.

Libyan has strongly opposed foreign intervention in Darfur warning last week that it could spark another Iraq-style conflict.

Oil found in South Darfur - Oil issues threaten to derail Sudan hopes for peace

Once again, here is another report that says it was the discovery of oil in southern Sudan in 1979, often under land close to the historical border between north and south, that led to the start of the second bloody civil war in the south in 1983.

The report also reveals that the president of Sudanese oil exploration company Advanced Petroleum Company (APCO), Salah Wahbi, told The Sunday Business Post that oil had been found in South Darfur. He said that oil had been found in south Darfur and he urged the rebels to return to the negotiating table. It quoted Mr Wahbi as saying:

The people of Darfur will benefit from sharing the oil wealth locally under a future peace agreement. Why delay by continuing fighting?

The following is a copy of the report titled Oil issues threaten to derail Sudan hopes for peace by Pieter Tesch in The Sunday Business Post, 3 April 2005:

The arrival of a delegation of the southern Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) in Khartoum last week marked another step in the normalisation of relations between north and south Sudan. The delegation arrived to discuss the implementation of the January 9 comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) that officially ended the 22-year civil war in the south of the country.

The SPLM and the government of Sudan are expected to reach agreement on the formation of a government of national unity, the new government of the south and the government of the states, but proposals to share the country's oil wealth on a 50/50 basis may lead to further friction.

In early March, shares in the newly-formed London oil exploration company, White Nile, rose on the London Stock Exchange from 10p to 13.85p after news broke that the firm had signed a deal with the SPLM for block B in the south.

However, the Khartoum government said the deal was not valid, as the deal made in 1980 between French oil giant Total and the Sudanese government had been renewed last December, before the signing of the CPA.

"The deal between the SPLM and White Nile over block B had no standing in international law, as the CPA clearly stated that all existing oil agreements superseded the clauses of the CPA," Salah Wahbi, president of Sudanese oil exploration company Advanced Petroleum Company (APCO), told The Sunday Business Post.

"Total has been paying the government rent and I believe has no intention to give up its concession for block B."

Wahbi said that the SPLM should realise that it was part of the future government of Sudan and should act accordingly. Under the CPA, a commission was to be set up to deal with such matters, and the dispute over block B should be left to the commission, he said.

It was the discovery of oil in southern Sudan in 1979, often under land close to the historical border between north and south, that led to the start of the second bloody civil war in the south in 1983.

Much of the fighting centered on oilfields like Bentiu and Abyei and the war spilled over into the nearby Nuba mountains in the South Kordofan state. It is officially part of northern Sudan, but is mainly inhabited by the Nuba, an ancient African farming people who sided with the SLPM, while the local Arab nomads allied themselves with the Khartoum government.

A ceasefire for the Nuba mountains was concluded more than two years ago in Kenya. With the help of the UN, a ceasefire monitoring framework was set up with the aim of preventing renewed conflicts over land and water.

At a press briefing in Khartoum last Sunday, UN special envoy Jan Pronk, who had just returned from a trip to the Nuba mountains, hailed the area as an example of how the peace process could create new opportunities for the rest of Sudan. He said there were similar problems between Arab nomads and Africans in Darfur.

Irish aid agency Goal, which is working in the Jebel Mara mountain range in the heart of Darfur, is one of the few agencies that has provided health programmes to local nomads, while assisting the local Fur people to build up their lives after the area was devastated by the civil war in 2003 and 2004.

But peace in Darfur seems as far away as ever, with negotiations stalled between the Sudanese government and Darfuri rebels, who have attacked oil installations on the southern borders of Darfur and Kordofan.

Wahbi said that oil had been found in south Darfur and he urged the rebels to return to the negotiating table. "The people of Darfur will benefit from sharing the oil wealth locally under a future peace agreement. Why delay by continuing fighting?"

Eastern Sudan rebels prepare for war with show of force

Supporters of rebels from Sudan's Eastern Front parade during a conference held by the Front north of Kassala town, near the Eritrean border on Friday April 1, 2005. The rebels denounced marginalisation of their region by Khartoum and say they are ready to resume fighting. Full Story: Sudan's next hotspot.

As mentioned in a recent post here, this is the group that last week admitted their objective is to overthrow the regime in Khartoum. The authors of The Black Book describe themselves as "Seekers of Truth and Justice". No doubt they see themselves as freedom fighters who believe the West is on their side, no matter what the cost in terms of suffering and lives lost. The only solution for the regime in Khartoum and other warring parties is to cease violence and work out a political solution.

Having written several posts over the past year on oil and Darfur, I am pleased to have found another article mentioning that oil has been found in the region. See next post here above.

The Black Book: Imbalance of Power and Wealth in Sudan

Note The Black Book authored by Sudan's rebels some five years ago, in 2000.

UK: Aegis applauds historic Darfur referral to the ICC by UN - 'Protect Darfur' campaign launched in House of Commons

The UK Aegis Trust, which coordinated yesterday's launch of the 'Protect Darfur' campaign with genocide survivors and senior MPs in the House of Commons, applauds this morning's historic UN Security Council referral of the situation in Darfur to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which passed with four abstentions.

The vote followed a compromise which will enable the United States, opposed to the ICC in principle, to bar the court from prosecuting US citizens in Sudan.

"As one of the first organisations to campaign for such a referral - starting in May 2004 - the Aegis Trust is absolutely delighted at this result," said Chief Executive Dr James Smith. "This is the most positive action on Darfur taken by the United Nations to date, and is a credit not least to the British Government, which was instrumental in creation of the ICC and has staunchly supported it throughout.

"It will send a strong signal to the perpetrators of mass murder in Darfur that they will be brought to account, and is a great leap forward for the strengthening of the rule of international law.

"Now we can only hope that Security Council members will be equally robust in helping to protect the people of Darfur. A new resolution, mandating peace enforcement operations in Darfur, to be led by AU forces with logistical and financial support from wealthy nations, must follow as a matter of urgency."


Photo: UK's House of Commons International Development Select Committee

Captain Brian Steidle, former US Marine and former advisor to the AU Observer Mission in Darfur, in London for the launch of the 'Protect Darfur' campaign, commented: "That's awesome. Now we know where people are going to be tried, let's move on to stopping it so they can be tried."

The Rt. Hon. Clare Short MP, former International Development Secretary stated: "This is welcome news but it won't stop the killing, raping and displacement. The members of the Security Council must mandate and fund a peace enforcement force, otherwise they are continuing to collude in genocide."

Tom Brake MP, shadow International Development Spokesperson with the Liberal Democrats said: "This is welcome news on both Darfur and American opposition to the International Criminal Court. The key next step for the international community is that a large African Union force authorised with a peace enforcement UN mandate be dispatched to the region as soon as possible."

Click here to visit Protectdarfur.org and see Protect darfur campaign.
Press Contact: David Brown, Aegis Trust Communications Office: 07812 640 873
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'Protect Darfur' campaign launched in House of Commons



Today, 31 March 2005, a cross-party group of senior MPs met with genocide survivors form the Holocaust, Rwanda and Bosnia and a former advisor to the AU Observer Mission in Darfur, Brian Steidle, to launch the Protect Darfur Campaign at the House of Commons.

Protect Darfur calls for protection of civilians at risk of genocide in Darfur, through a UN mandate for peace enforcement operations in the region, to be led by the African Union with financial and logistical support from wealthy nations. A parliamentary statement calling for such a mandate has now been signed by over 100 MPs and Peers. This follows the release of the International Development Select Committee Report into Darfur, which stated that 300,000 civilians have died in the crisis.

Dr Stephen Smith, Chairman of the Aegis Trust, which is coordinating the campaign stated: "For a long time now, non-governmental organisations have been writing their reports on the Darfur crisis. There is a wide consensus that protection of civilians is the priority, and has been ignored for too long. Today we have brought the voices of that consensus together, from across the political spectrum - and from the survivor communities of three previous genocides."

Voices:

Capt. Brian Steidle, former US Marine and Technical Advisor to the AU Observer Mission, Darfur, said: "There are people being killed and burned right now. This is a deliberate effort to wipe out the Black African tribes of Darfur, and I have extensive evidence to that effect. We can stop it; more troops and a peace-enforcement mandate are needed, but we can't wait another six months."

The Rt Hon. Clare Short, former International Development Secretary "If Darfur goes on escalating, any kind of realistic north south peace just isn't going to happen. The UN needs to take strong action now, not just on justice but on stopping the violence. A Chapter VII resolution is needed immediately."

Mr. John Bercow MP (Con) member of the International Development Select Committee said: "Should the AU be left to deal with Darfur on its own? No! The UN is supposed to be the guardian of international security, and it should take a lead on this. We cannot go on equivocating as we are. If we do, there will scarcely be a Black African left in Darfur to protect. We need decisive action not next month, not in three months, but now."

Mr. Tom Brake MP, Lib Dem Spokesman on International Development: "This is an all-party event, it has all-party support, and it is beginning to snowball. Clearly what we need is decisive action - ten thousand more troops, and a strong, clear mandate. We have got to take the energy that we focused on responding to the Tsunami and apply that to Darfur. Prevarication is costing lives."

Mr. Adam Hussein, refugee from Darfur: "One day I was in town with my uncle and my sister. Suddenly we saw airplanes come through the town and start bombing. After a few minutes we saw Janjaweed. They killed my sister and uncle. I saw other Janjaweed catch a young girl, ten or thirteen years old; one was standing by his gun while the other raped that girl. She was a friend of my sister. After that, my father started fighting with the Janjaweed. He said to me, "Be strong, my own son. Be strong ... Today some things will be difficult."

Mr. Anwar Bakar, asylum seeker from Darfur: "The killers have bad things in their hearts Can you imagine someone kills your family, destroys your village; how could you in the future, even for generations, stay with them? And you can't make your life better because you have sadness in your heart. The situation when I left Darfur was absolutely dangerous, and I don't think any of my people are still alive. Why do people hate us like this? I came Britain just to save my life."

Mr. John Fransman, Chairman, Child Survivors Association, survivor of the Holocaust and Belsen Concentration Camp: "If we don't learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it. I have a picture of my cousin Helena, taken in Belsen after liberation. Eleven days later, she was dead. You've only got to change the colour of her skin, and you see so many like her in Darfur today. It's time to make 'never again' mean something."

Mrs. Beatha Uwazaninka, survivor of the Rwandan genocide: "When the UN walked away from the situation we faced in Rwanda, a million people were murdered. Why do we have to be here today, talking about another crisis like this? Is anybody learning? It is like banging a drum in the marketplace. I am always willing to tell my story. But is anybody listening? We died in full view of the whole world, and the world turned away. Now Darfur is happening. Men are killed, women raped. It is shocking, it is sad beyond explanation. I am asking for the protection of Darfur today - if we have learned anything."

Mr. Kemal Pervanic, survivor of Omarska concentration camp, Bosnia: "Almost the same things that happened to us in Bosnia are happening in Darfur now. Whenever I hear the phrase 'never again' these days, I wish I was deaf. We should not pretend we care if we are willing to stand by and let mass murder such as that in Darfur take place unhindered. I speak not as a Bosnian, not as a Muslim, but as a human being. What troubles me today is that people are being killed. It must be stopped, and the only way it can be done is with a UN peace-keeping mandate."

CONTACT:
Mr. David Brown, Communications Officer Aegis Trust: 07812 640 873
Mr. Hratche Koundarjian, Parliamentary Advisor Aegis Trust: 07905 911 039

UN voted 11-0 to send Sudan war crime suspects to world court - UK welcomes the vote

Yesterday, the UN Security Council voted to send any Sudan war crime suspects to the International Criminal Court (ICC). With Secretary-General Kofi Annan looking on, the council voted 11-0 with four abstentions, the United States, Algeria, Brazil and China. The vote came at 10:30 p.m. EST after hours of delay.

The New York Times March 31 explains:

The vote followed days of trans-Atlantic negotiation involving Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the British foreign secretary, Jack Straw, and France's foreign minister, Michel Barnier, and produced an 11th-hour maneuver that secured agreement when Britain replaced France as the sponsor of the measure.

The outcome spared the United States the onus of casting a veto and seeming to block the arrest and prosecution of war crimes suspects, steps it has been insisting are essential to begin reining in the violence in Darfur.

According to UPI:

The final negotiations hinged on the language in paragraph six of the resolution, which had nothing to do with Sudan itself. It says citizens of countries that have not ratified the treaty establishing the court may only be prosecuted by their own national courts. Some countries object to that because their laws allow for the prosecution of foreign nationals suspected of committing a crime against their citizens. Several diplomats said they objected because they feared paragraph six seriously weakened the criminal court.

"Operative paragraph six subsumes the independence of the ICC to the political and diplomatic vagaries of the Security Council," Philippines UN Ambassador Laoro Baja said. "Nevertheless, this eventually may well be worth the sacrifice if impunity is ended in Darfur."

See more reports here below that describe the United States gaining a paragraph in the brief measure. It said "nationals or current or former officials or personnel from a contributing state outside Sudan which is not a party to the Rome Statute" establishing the ICC should come under the "exclusive jurisdiction of that contributing state" in any allegations arising from operations sanctioned by the African Union or UN in Sudan.

"This resolution marks a turning point, for it is sending the message beyond Darfur to all of those criminals responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes who all too often believed that they were beyond the pale of justice," France's UN Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere said.

France, Britain and seven other Security Council members have ratified the ICC statute, while two more have signed and are expected to ratify. In total, 98 countries are parties to the treaty and 139 are signatories.

A Reuters report today explains:

The next step is for ICC prosecutors to begin investigations and report to the Security Council in June. They will be given a list of 51 names, drawn up by a UN panel of experts who reported to the Security Council in January.

Richard Dicker, counsel for Human Rights Watch and an expert on the ICC, said he expected the tribunal to prosecute only about 15 top offenders. The others, he said should be tried by Sudan but with international supervision.

China View says the ICC will not start investigation or prosecution within one year after the adoption of the resolution.

Here follows a selection of this morning's news reports on the story from around the world.
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UK welcomes Sudan war crime vote

Straw welcomes Sudan war crime vote says a report in the Scotsman by John Deane, PA Chief Political Correspondent, April 1, 2005. Copy:

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw today welcomed the United Nations Security Council's approval of a resolution to prosecute Sudanese war crimes suspects before the International Criminal Court.

The Council moved after the United States, which has not signed up to the international court, reversed a long-standing policy and agreed not to veto the resolution.

The US abstained in yesterday's vote, along with Algeria, Brazil and China, after securing several concessions, including ironclad guarantees it sought that Americans working in Sudan would not be handed over to either the ICC or any other nation's courts if they commit crimes in Sudan.

With UN Secretary General Kofi Annan looking on, the Council voted 11-0 for the resolution.

An earlier Council resolution established a set of sanctions to be imposed against those in Darfur responsible for the continuing conflict and humanitarian crisis there.

In a statement issued from the Foreign Office in London this morning, Mr Straw said: "I am very pleased that the UN has together taken a strong stand on addressing the situation in Darfur, and in the wider Sudan.

"I have always made clear that the international community must be ready to take clear and decisive action to address both past and continuing actions contributing to the current situation in Darfur.

"It is right that we should now see those responsible for atrocities indicted and tried before an international court."

Mr Straw praised what he called the "constructive approach" shown by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Mr Straw added: "This, the first ever Security Council referral to the International Criminal Court, is a further step forward in the development of international justice and the fight against impunity for the perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

"The UK is a firm supporter of the Court, so we are glad that the Council was able to reach agreement on a referral. The ICC was established precisely for this kind of purpose - to ensure that those individuals responsible for committing heinous crimes will be held accountable."

And he stressed: "We support the imposition of sanctions against all those - both government and rebels - who continue to violate the commitments they themselves have made to end the conflict in Darfur.

“This has been long threatened by the UN, and it is right that the international community is now seen to hold by its word.”

Mr Straw called for both sides in the Darfur conflict to return to the negotiating table.

The Council's resolution refers Darfur cases since July 1 2002 to the court - a move in line with the recommendation of a UN panel that concluded in January that crimes against humanity, but not genocide, occurred in the vast western region of Sudan.

The document is the last of three resolutions aimed at putting pressure on Sudan to stop the crisis in Darfur.



Photo: Janjaweed fighters ride their horses in western Darfur
[Courtesy Middle East Online report on Security Council's move clear way to ICC to prosecute those responsible for atrocities in Darfur.

The ICC is based at The Hague in The Netherlands which is in Holland, Europe. Pretty flat and cool compared to the Sudan. Janjaweed appearing before the ICC would think they were on another planet. Hopefully, this resolution, is the thing that will knock all of their heads together in Sudan and stop the violence and start sorting a poilitical solution. Ultimately, it's the only way.

Further reading:

April 1 BBC UK: UN backs Darfur war crimes move. A UN report two months ago said attacks on civilians in Darfur could amount to crimes against humanity. The report said such cases should be tried at the court in The Hague. "It is important that the international community speak with one voice in order to help promote effective accountability" said Anne Patterson, US deputy ambassador to the UN.
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April 1 India UPI: UN OKs Sudan prosecution resolution.
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April 1 Canada AP: The document is the last of three Security Council resolutions aimed at putting pressure on Sudan to stop a crisis in Darfur. The US decision to allow the court to prosecute war crimes perpetrators could raise hackles among conservatives for whom the court is an unaccountable body that cannot be trusted. They include John Bolton, the undersecretary of state for arms control and international security and the nominee to become the next US ambassador to the United Nations.
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March 31 New York Times: John R. Bolton, President Bush's nominee to be ambassador to the United Nations, was the official who signed the letter abrogating the American signature and he said afterward that the experience had afforded him "the happiest moment in my government service."

The key concession to the Americans was a clause giving exclusive jurisdiction to troop-contributing states over any of their citizens arrested abroad. This posed a problem for the French sponsors because France had opposed the same language in a previous resolution sending peacekeepers to Liberia. The solution Thursday was to have the British insert that language and take over the sponsorship of the resolution.
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March 31 Xinhua China View: Under the resolution, war crimes and crimes against humanity taking place in Darfur since July 1, 2002, will be dealt with by the ICC. But the ICC will not start investigation or prosecution within one year after the adoption of the resolution. The court is the world's first permanent tribunal, which has the right to try suspects of war crimes and crimes against humanity when a government is unable or unwilling to do so.

The resolution stipulated that personnel from states which are not a party to the Rome Statute of the ICC shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of their own governments for all alleged acts in Sudan. It called on the Sudanese government and all other parties to the Darfur conflict to cooperate fully with the ICC. The United Nations will not bear the cost for prosecuting Darfur suspects, which will go to the parties of the Rome Statute. Among the 15 council members, only the United States and China are not parties to the ICC's Rome Statute.

In a statement issued through his spokesman, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan hailed the resolution, saying it provided "an appropriate mechanism to lift the veil of impunity that has allowed human rights crimes in Darfur to continue unchecked." Stressing lasting peace in Darfur can "only be based on a negotiated settlement," he urged Khartoum and rebels in Darfur to return to negotiations in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.
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April 1 Guardian UK AP: "This resolution marks a turning point, for it is sending the message beyond Darfur to all of those criminals responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes who all too often believed that they were beyond the pale of justice," France's UN Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere said.

The draft refers Darfur cases since July 1, 2002, to the International Criminal Court. That was the recommendation of a UN panel that had concluded in January that crimes against humanity - but not genocide - occurred in the vast western region of Sudan.

"Operative paragraph six subsumes the independence of the ICC to the political and diplomatic vagaries of the Security Council," Philippines UN Ambassador Laoro Baja said. "Nevertheless, this eventually may well be worth the sacrifice if impunity is ended in Darfur."
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March 31 New York based Human Rights Watch: Historic Step Toward Justice. "The Security Council's action signals that those most responsible for mayhem and murder in Darfur will be brought to justice," said Richard Dicker, director of Human Rights Watch's International Justice Program.

"This historic step by the Security Council offers real hope of protection for people in Darfur." "We now look to the ICC prosecutor to respond swiftly and assume the responsibilities entrusted to him," said Dicker.  "The resolution's exemption is offensive, and it sets no precedent for the future," said Dicker. "We oppose this exemption giving non-ICC states exclusive jurisdiction over personnel they contribute to Security Council or African Union operations in Sudan."
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April 1 Ireland: UN votes to prosecute Sudan war crimes in world court. The US, which abstained with three other countries, got significant concessions yesterday, including ironclad guarantees it sought that Americans working in Sudan would not be handed over to either the ICC or any other nation's courts if they commit crimes in Sudan. The resolution refers Darfur cases since July 1, 2002, to the court - a move in line with the recommendation of a UN panel that had concluded in January that crimes against humanity - but not genocide - occurred in the vast western region of Sudan.
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April 1 News From Russia: The approval of UN resolution turned to stop a crisis in Darfur. The United States, which abstained with three other countries, won significant concessions, including ironclad guarantees it sought that Americans working in Sudan would not be handed over to either the ICC or any other nation's courts if they commit crimes in Sudan. Acting U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson said the United States still "fundamentally objects" to the court but was determined to get something done on Sudan, reports the Houston Chronicle.

According to ABC News, the document is the last of three Security Council resolutions aimed at putting pressure on Sudan to stop a crisis in Darfur, where the number of dead from a conflict between government-backed militias and rebels in c is now estimated at 180,000. The United States itself has declared genocide has occurred in Darfur and demanded swift action. A veto could have also been politically damaging exactly because of those American demands, and the impression that a veto would have made it look like the United States was stalling. The Bush administration had wanted an African court to try those accused of war crimes, but the U.S. proposal had little support among the 14 other Security Council nations. The U.S. decision to allow the court to prosecute war crimes perpetrators could raise hackles among conservatives for whom the court is an unaccountable body that cannot be trusted.
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April 1 Reuters report by Evelyn Leopold via Wired News: The resolution marked the first time the council referred a case to the ICC, which opened its doors a year ago. It is the first permanent global criminal court, set up try individuals accused of genocide, war crimes and mass human rights abuses.

The 11 "yes" votes came from France, Britain, Russia, Denmark, Greece, Argentina, Benin, Tanzania, Romania, the Philippines and Japan. The US stance, negotiated by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, represented a compromise, if not a switch in position. The Clinton administration had signed the 1998 Rome Treaty creating the court but the Bush administration rescinded the signature through a letter signed by John Bolton, the new US nominee for UN ambassador.

France and Britain gave each other credit for negotiating Thursday's resolution. French Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere had initiated the text but left it to his British counterpart, Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry, to sponsor it because of misgivings about the US exemption. Sudan's UN ambassador, Elfatih Erwa, said the resolution showed how the ICC was used as a weapon against poor nations and that "those with muscles can get whatever they want of exemptions."

The next step is for ICC prosecutors to begin investigations and report to the Security Council in June. They will be given a list of 51 names, drawn up by a UN panel of experts who reported to the Security Council in January.

Richard Dicker, counsel for Human Rights Watch and an expert on the ICC, said he expected the tribunal to prosecute only about 15 top offenders. The others, he said should be tried by Sudan but with international supervision.

"This is a historic step. The council has acted to provide real protection to the people of Darfur," Dicker said. "But it comes at a heavy price -- the unlawful exemption the US imposed on the referral."
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Quotation of the Day

Sudan's U.N. ambassador, Elfatih Erwa, said the resolution showed how the ICC was used as a weapon against poor nations and that "those with muscles can get whatever they want of exemptions." - extract from Reuters report April 1, 2005.

UN mandate under chapter seven allows UN-approved military intervention without the consent of a state

The Times reports that Clare Short, former British international development secretary, said on Wednesday that the debate about how war criminals should be prosecuted detracted from the more urgent question of how to stop the killings in Darfur.

"There's all this talk of UN resolutions, but there's a failure to act, to give a big enough force powers to stop the killing," she said.

"The UK should immediately be calling for a UN mandate under chapter seven (of the UN charter that allows UN-approved military intervention without the consent of a state) so that the African Union force can be much longer, and much larger," Ms Short said.

"We're focusing on that, not because the other things don't need doing, but let's do that first, and urgently."
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Steidle speaks to House of Commons meeting in London

The Times March 31 report excerpt:

Yesterday, Captain Brian Steidle, a former US marine officer attached to the African Union monitoring mission, who was a military observer in southern Darfur from last September until February, told a House of Commons meeting that he saw villages burnt to the ground, people who had been killed, evidence of torture - "people who had had their ears cut out, their eyes plucked out of their heads, men who had been castrated and left to bleed". He was in no doubt about the complicity of government forces in the attacks. He said that the Janjawid militia received weekly supplies of military equipment from the authorities. He found evidence that Sudanese helicopters fired anti-personnel rockets at civilian targets that contained flashettes, nail-size shrapnel designed to kill and maim.

Further excerpt:

Bringing successful prosecutions at the ICC will be far more difficult. The court, based in The Hague, was created less than three years ago and has yet to try a single case. It has a limited budget and no powers of arrest and will therefore rely on the international community to bring suspects to court. In January a UN inquiry into the Darfur violence produced a sealed envelope containing the names of 51 suspected war criminals. But Khartoum has shown clearly that it will not co-operate with any international criminal investigation.
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Rectitude for Darfur

The international community wants to see a deeper commitment by the Sudanese authorities to punish the perpetrators of human rights abuses in Darfur, writes Gamal Nkrumah in Al-Ahram Weekly.
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China to join UN peacekeeping in South Sudan

UPI report via World News Beijing, March 31, 2005:

China will send military and medical personnel to join U.N. peacekeeping operations in Sudan, the Foreign Ministry has announced. Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in a statement Wednesday that China would join the international community in helping bring peace and stability to Sudan.

China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, voted on March 25 in favour of Resolution 1590, which authorised the deployment of peacekeeping forces in Sudan to implement a peace agreement.

Liu said his country would send military engineering, medical and transport teams, plus military observers, civilian policemen and political officials as part of the UN mission.
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Japan to offer $7 million to help remove land mines in Sudan

April 1, 2005 Tokyo - Japan will give the UN Mine Action Service a $7 million emergency grant to remove land mines in southern Sudan planted in decades-long conflicts, Japanese government sources said Thursday.

In addition, the Japanese government is considering sending demining experts to a peacekeeping operation the United Nations plans to launch in the African country, the sources said. (Kyodo News)

UK Protect Darfur Campaign calls for UN intervention in Darfur, Sudan

Today, an alliance of British MPs, human rights groups and survivors of the conflict in Darfur launched a campaign for bolder international intervention to stop the bloodshed.

Excerpt from today's Guardian UK:

More than 100 MPs and peers have signed a parliamentary statement calling for the UN to authorise peace-enforcement operations to be led by African Union troops, supported by wealthy countries.

The Protect Darfur campaign, which is being coordinated by the Aegis Trust a charity that campaigns to prevent genocide, was launched at the House of Commons.

Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, and Clare Short, a former international development secretary, are among politicians from across all parties who are backing the campaign.

Mr Kennedy said political or economic interests could not be allowed to cause "further delay" to intervention in the region.

Ms Short said: "It would not be difficult to stop the killing - a much larger African Union force with peace enforcement powers could do it.

"Instead, the great powers squabble and posture in New York while another genocide is allowed to develop."

The launch of the campaign comes after the release of a report yesterday by the cross-party international development committee that the death toll in the region had been substantially underestimated and was likely to be around 300,000. This figure is more than four times higher than the fatalities estimated by the World Health Organisation.

A member of the international development committee, the Conservative MP John Bercow, said today: "Too many people in Darfur have suffered too much for too long with too little done about it.

"The international community must now act through the UN by imposing sanctions on the Sudanese government, extending the arms embargo and providing the African Union force with the troops and mandate necessary to enforce peace in the region."
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Gunmen ambush African Union monitors in South Darfur

Yesterday, there was news that two of the AU force had been attacked and wounded by unidentified gunmen on Tuesday near the town of Niteaga, northwest of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state. Radhia Achouri, a UN official in Sudan, said two monitors and one Sudanese translator had been hurt in the attack. She did not know who had been responsible. AU monitors have already come under fire several times in Darfur. via (IRIN) March 30, 2005.

Great Britain Parliament House of Commons International Development Committee Report: "Darfur, Sudan: the responsibility to protect"

Much has been written in the world's press over the the past 24 hours about the release yesterday, of a hard-hitting report by British MPs titled "Darfur, Sudan: the responsibility to protect" dated March 30, 2005.

News of the 93-page report hit the wires an hour before Reuters reported the outcome of the UN Security Council's vote on sanctions. Here follows a summary and further news on Sudan.

Darfur, Sudan: the responsibility to protect fifth report of session 2004-05. Vol. 1: Report, together with formal minutes.

The Committee's report examines the effectiveness of the international community's response to the crisis in Darfur, in terms of providing security for civilians through political pressure, and in meeting humanitarian needs, and to ensure that lessons are learned from the situation for the shared responsibility to protect and to promote sustainable peace and development. The Committee's report finds that, although the Government of Sudan bears the primary responsibility for the atrocities carried out against its own citizens, the international community also has a responsibility to protect these people. However, early warnings of the crisis were ignored by the international community and the initial humanitarian response, from donors and the UN was too slow. Two years after the crisis began, the international community is still failing to protect the people of Darfur, and the UN Security Council, driven by national interests, has been divided, weak and ineffective. The matter should be referred to the International Criminal Court, with targeted sanctions and an extended arms embargo placed on the Sudanese Government. The atrocities, which the Committee describes as "no less serious and heinous than genocide" have resulted in more than two million people having fled their homes and needing humanitarian assistance; with the numbers of deaths likely to be several times the official estimates.

House of Commons papers 2004-05 67-I
Price: GBP 14.50 ISBN: 0215023420
Corporate Author: Great Britain Parliament House of Commons International Development Committee
Author: Baldry Tony chairman. Publication Date: 30th March 2005. Format: Paperback.
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Darfur, Sudan: the responsibility to protect fifth report of session 2004-05. Vol. 2:
Oral and written evidence.
House of Commons papers 2004-05 67-II
Price: GBP 18.50 ISBN: 0215023439
Incorporating previously unpublished HCP 67-i to -vi session 2004-05.
Corporate Author: Great Britain Parliament House of Commons International Development Committee
Author: Baldry Tony chairman
Publication Date: 30th March 2005. Format: Paperback
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Sudan: Darfur death toll at least 300,000, British MPs say

The above report by British MP's who had visited Darfur in February, credited the British government on Wednesday for reacting more quickly than most international powers but faulted the world for its slow response to what had become one of the world's greatest humanitarian crises.

Excerpt from AFP report via ReliefWeb Mar 29, 2005:

More than 300,000 people have died as a result of the conflict in Darfur, they said in a House of Commons committee report Wednesday - a figure more than four times greater than an official UN estimate.

"We think that is a conservative estimate," Tony Baldry, the chair of the House of Commons' international development committee, told AFP.

The MPs firmly backed the move to see Darfur war criminals tried at The Hague court, and said the Security Council should push through debate even if it faced opposition from permanent veto-wielding members the United States and China.

"It's worthwhile to try to get agreement on stronger action, and absolutely force the issue on the Security Council," committee member John Bercow told AFP.

It would "put other governments on the spot", he said, referring to objections by the United States, which opposes the ICC, and China, which has interests in Sudan's large oil reserves.

If those countries continue to oppose strong measures against Sudan, "let them be named and shamed in the most public, damning way," Bercow said.

"Darfur is a real test for the international community and civilization as a whole at the start of the 21st century," Baldry added. "If we can't resolve the situation in Darfur it bodes pretty badly for the coming millenium."



Photo: Official figures were a gross underestimate: 300,000 killed in Darfur, say MPs. "We think that is a conservative estimate," Tony Baldry, the chair of the House of Commons' international development committee, told AFP.
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Report puts primary blame on Khartoum but criticises aid agencies as well as governments and UN for responding inadequately

The report released on March 30, 2005 by British MPs puts the primary blame on the Sudanese government but criticises aid agencies as well as governments and the UN for responding inadequately to Darfur, writes Ewen MacAskill, diplomatic editor at the Guardian - excerpt:

The British government and the wider international community were much too slow to react to the Darfur crisis which, beginning two years ago, has cost 300,000 lives and displaced about 2 million people, a Commons select committee report published today says.

MPs on the international development committee, who visited Darfur this year, say the response, especially that of the UN security council, has been largely ineffective, divided and weak.

"Governments and politicians must not wait to act until images of death and destruction are on the TV screens. By then, it is too late," they say

Their 93-page report, "Darfur, Sudan: The responsibility to protect", calls on security council members, particularly China and Russia, to put aside oil exports, arms trade and other interests in Sudan, vote in favour of targeted sanctions against the Sudanese government, and refer the perpetrators of the violence to the international criminal court.

The council is due to vote today on a French draft resolution calling for a referral to the ICC. Britain hopes that the US, which favours punitive action but is opposed in principle to the ICC, will allow the resolution to go through by abstaining rather than using its veto.

The MPs say the international community was too engrossed in securing an end to the Sudanese north-south civil war and failed to respond fast and seriously enough to the developing crisis in Darfur, in the west of the country.

They say: "Governments ... failed to speak out about Darfur at an early stage; failed to get the UN security council to adopt a resolution about Darfur until July 2004; failed to put concerted pressure on the Sudanese government to allow humanitarian access; and failed to make the government take seriously its responsibilities for protecting the people of Darfur and for complying with ceasefire commitments and legal obligations."

They call on the Department for International Development to find ways to attract media attention to such crises.

The MPs put the primary blame on the Sudanese government but criticise aid agencies as well as governments and the UN for responding inadequately.
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World is acting on Darfur says Benn

The British Government tonight defended the international community's response to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, writes PA correspondent Jamie Lyons in the Scotsman Mar 30 - excerpt:

A committee of MPs today accused the world of a "scandalously ineffective response" to the situation in Sudan.

International Development Secretary Hilary Benn tonight said the world was now acting. He said countries - including the UK - were backing the African Union's support operation. And the UN yesterday instituted a sanctions regime. The UK was also providing humanitarian aid and urging a political solution to the conflict.

"Of course while people continue to die in Darfur the problem hasn't been solved," he told Channel Four News.

"And as far as those people are concerned, yes they want the international community to be doing more. But above all what they want are the people who are doing the fighting and the killing ... to bring an end to the conflict."

Mr Benn was speaking after the House of Commons' International Development Committee said governments across the world - including the UK - were guilty of a catalogue of failings in dealing with the crisis.

It also warned the death toll had been massively underestimated and is likely to reach 300,000.

Mr Benn said the "honest truth" was that nobody knew the real death toll.



Photo: Internally displaced children in Kalma camp near Nyala in Sudan's southern Darfur region.
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British MPs rap UN over Darfur death toll

Excerpt from BBC UK Mar 30 on the British Parliamentary report:

The committee added that other countries and the UN Security Council must also take some of the blame for the situation. This was because:

Early warnings about the crisis were ignored.

Humanitarian organisations were slow to respond.

Guidelines for managing the camps were unclear.

The UN suffered from an "avoidable leadership vacuum" in Sudan at a crucial time.

Priority given to Sudan's north-south peace process was "misguided" and had "predictable and deadly" consequences for Darfur.

"After the genocide in Rwanda, the world said 'never again'," committee chairman Tony Baldry MP said. "President Bush said that genocide would not be allowed to happen 'on his watch'. These words should mean something. "The international community must now fulfil its responsibility to protect the people of Darfur. We demand that there is action now."

The committee recommended that the situation should be referred to the International Criminal Court and said that there should be sanctions and an extension of the arms ban to cover the Sudanese government.

A spokesman for the Department for International Development said: "There are many lessons for all the international community in the way that it has handled the crisis in Darfur."

Further reading:

Mar 30 Mirror UK: MP's fury at Darfur killing: MPs yesterday condemned Britain and the UN for failing to stop the slaughter in Sudan - after revealing the death toll had reached 300,000. They labelled the killing of civilians by government-backed militias in rebellious Darfur "genocide". International Development Committee chairman Tony Baldry said: "The failure to protect the people of Darfur from atrocities committed by their own government is a scandal." "President Bush said genocide would not be allowed on his watch. That should mean something." The MPs want more troops to be sent to the area, strong action from the United Nations and more pressure on the Khartoum government. Britain and France are pressing for war crimes suspects to be tried.

Mar 30 China News: Russia continues to oppose tough sanctions against Sudan - "We find it counter-productive to introduce tight restrictions against the government of Sudan which will affect its capabilities in ensuring the security of the civilian population in Darfur, sustaining order in the conflict zone, disarming non-governmental groups and detaining those who violate international humanitarian law," the Interfax news agency quoted the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying. However, Interfax reported that the ministry said Russia is ready to support the measures contained in the resolution which target individuals who have impeded the Darfur peace process or have posed a threat to the region's stability. The Interfax report of the ministry's comments made no mention of the aspect of the resolution covering the expansion of the existing UN arms embargo on Darfur. Russia has been a traditional arms supplier to Sudan.

Mar 30 News From Russia: UN Security Council peace measures: arms embargo on Darfur region ... British lawmakers said in a report Wednesday that the death toll has been grossly underestimated and is likely to be around 300,000, calling attacks against civilians in the region "no less serious and heinous than genocide.'' China's U.N. ambassador, Wang Guangya, told reporters the sanctions would not contribute to peace. "Our concern is that when we apply measures, if the measures are not positive in the sense of being constructive, we find it difficult" to vote in favor, Wang said.

Mar 30 Ireland News: The UN Security Council has voted in favour of targeted sanctions against those responsible for atrocities against civilians in Darfur and those who violate a ceasefire there. None of the 15 members voted against the American-sponsored resolution but China, Russia and Algeria abstained. The sanctions, which involve an asset freeze and a travel ban, will come into effect in 30 days, after a list of offenders has been drawn up by a Security Council committee. The resolution also strengthens an arms embargo on Sudan and forbids the Khartoum government from offensive military flights into Darfur.

Mar 30 AP Guardian UK: Security Council tightens Sudan embargo: "What we're trying to do is apply consistent pressure on Darfur, specifically in a way that will actually curtail the violence," U.S. Deputy Ambassador Stuart Holliday said after the vote. Sudan's U.N. Ambassador Elfatih Mohamed Erwa criticized the sanctions resolution, saying it was orchestrated by the U.S. Congress. "We don't like the council to take a series of resolutions that are not wise and might make this situation worse,'' Erwa said. "The more sticks you bring to solve this problem, you are not going to solve this problem. You are going to make it more complicated.''

Mar 30 Australia News: More than 300,000 people have died as a result of the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region say British lawmakers, four times the official United Nations estimate. A House of Commons report, compiled after interviews with non-government organisations, found the estimated death toll could be far above the World Health Organisation's figure of 70,000. The UK report faulted the WHO for grossly underestimating the toll after two years of conflict in the region. Chair of the House of Commons' international development committee said the faulty WHO figures are due to "statistical anarchy in the way the figures were collected", speaking to AFP. He said the figures account for deaths in refugee camps but fail to take into account violent deaths that occur in villages across Darfur. The WHO figures also only span the months from March to mid-October 2004, but the MPs say the alleged atrocities began much earlier.

"Our hope for this report is that it will jolt people's attention to the scale of the crisis in Darfur, the numbers of people who are continuously, silently suffering in Darfur, and will be yet another call to the UK government and the international community that we have a collective responsibility to protect," said Mr Baldry. The resolution also forbids the Sudanese government from launching offensive military flights into Darfur. The sanctions will begin in 30 days time, against unnamed people.

Mar 30 India News: UN Council sanctions peace offenders in Sudan: “We are pleased that 12 members of the council voted to adopt this resolution,” U.S. envoy Stuart Holliday told reporters. “We hope it will put the appropriate pressure on all the parties to the Darfur conflict to end this tragic chapter.” “It’s disheartening to see the United States stand in the way of justice for the people of Darfur and risk prolonging their suffering,” said John Stompor, Senior Associate in the International Justice program of Human Rights First. “Months of delay at the Security Council have already contributed to a worsening of the situation in the region.” Almost two months have passed since the U.N.-appointed International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur completed its report, which strongly recommended the immediate referral of the situation of Darfur to the ICC.

Mar 30 New York Times: U.N. Council Approves Penalties in Darfur: It did not contain an oil embargo, a step that probably would have brought a veto from China, which is a principal buyer of Sudanese oil. The Darfur sanctions resolution said the people subject to its terms would be those who were found to "impede the peace process, constitute a threat to stability in Darfur and the region, commit violations of international humanitarian or human rights law or other atrocities." In statements by their ambassadors, the three abstaining countries said they felt that putting pressure on Sudan would be counterproductive. "You may end up complicating the situation and making it more difficult to resolve," said Andrei Denisov, the Russian ambassador. Passage of the measure brought a rebuke from Elfatih Mohamed Ahmed Erwa, the Sudanese ambassador, who complained that the real impulse had come from members of the United States Congress who he complained were beholden to "pressure groups and drum-beaters." He charged that American lawmakers knew nothing about his country and never visited or read about it, a critique that brought a rejoinder from Mr. Holliday. Saying he had not meant to make a statement, Mr. Holliday asked for the floor to "defend the honor of the United States Congress." He told Mr. Erwa that, contrary to his assertion that the lawmakers ignored his country, many of them had gone there to see the situation firsthand.

Mar 30 Financial Times : The failure of western nations to respond swiftly to the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan has been condemned as "a scandal" by a cross-party committee of MPs. A report published today lists a catalogue of failings. It says early warnings about the crisis, in which 300,000 people are estimated to have died, were ignored and criticises the UK for not speaking out quickly enough. The MPs urge Britain to "stand firm" against the US, which does not want the court to deal with Darfur. Today's report condemns the Sudanese government for its policy of limiting humanitarian access to Darfur and applauds the UK for its efforts to get the restrictions lifted. But it says the international community "chose to ignore the early warnings" of non-governmental organisations, ensuring the initial humanitarian response to the crisis was "a staggering failure". Members of the UN Security Council are accused of putting their own interests before those of refugees. "It is a scandal that interests in oil and arms exports can prevent the Security Council from acting firmly," the report says. "It shames those countries which, fuelling the crisis in Sudan, are happy to turn a blind eye to crimes no less serious and heinous than genocide." Britain's prompt response is praised but the report says the government failed to speak out on Darfur at an early stage and should have done more to raise news coverage of the crisis in 2003 and early 2004.

Mar 30 BBC UK : UN imposes sanctions over Darfur: How Many Deaths In Darfur? - In a separate development, British MPs have criticised previous death toll estimates for the war-torn region. They decried the international response to the genocide as "scandalously ineffective", and warned that the death toll might reach 400,000 - five times more than previously estimated by the World Health Organization.

Mar 30 ePolitix UK: British MPs slam 'scandalous' Darfur response: The international community's response to the crisis in Darfur has been "scandalously ineffective", the Commons international development committee has said. In a hard-hitting report published on Wednesday, the MPs also warned that the death toll in the crisis hit region of Sudan is set to reach around 300,000. "The world's failure to protect the people of Darfur from the atrocities committed against them by their own government is a scandal," said committee chairman Tony Baldry. "Crises such as Darfur require the world to respond collectively and effectively. Passing the buck will not do. "Attacked by the government which is meant to protect them, the people of Darfur, whom we have collectively and demonstrably failed, deserve no less. "We demand that there is action now." A spokesman for the Department for International Development said there were "many lessons" to be learned from how the crisis has been dealt with. "The report recognises the lead role that the UK has played from the outset of the crisis," he added. "We have contributed a total of over £66 million to the humanitarian relief effort. "We were instrumental in negotiating the comprehensive North-South peace agreement which brought an end to the longest-running civil war in Africa in which two million lives were lost. "We have also been giving practical support to the African Union ceasefire monitoring force which is doing an increasingly effective job in Darfur."
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Quotation of the Day

"The world's failure to protect the people of Darfur from the atrocities committed against them by their own government is a scandal" - Tony Baldry, Chair of the House of Commons' international development committee.

UN passes Resolution 1591 on Sudan - Sudan vows to put 164 on trial for Darfur atrocities

Yesterday, the UN Security Council decided to freeze assets and impose a travel ban on those believed to have committed human-rights abuses, or violated the ceasefire agreement in Darfur.

Excerpt from UN News via IRIN March 30, 2005:

Tuesday's resolution also extended the current ban on the sale or supply of military equipment to non-governmental entities or individuals involved in the Darfur conflict to include the Sudanese government. It further demanded that the government immediately cease conducting offensive military flights in the region.

Security Council had adopted an "unwise resolution" says Khartoum

The Sudan's UN Ambassador, Elfatih Mohamed Ahmed Erwa, said the Council had adopted an "unwise resolution" that might aggravate the situation in Darfur.

A UN committee, consisting of all Council members, was established to specify which individuals would be subject to the restrictive measures, and to monitor their implementation.

In addition, the resolution requested UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to appoint a four-member panel of experts based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to assist the committee for six months.

Once again, the Council condemned the failure of the Sudanese government to disarm Janjaweed militias and bring to justice their leaders and associates who had carried out human-rights violations and other atrocities.

Unless the Council determines that the parties in the conflict have complied with certain demands and commitments, the measures set out in the text will be enforced 30 days from the adoption date.

These commitments were set out in previous Council resolutions in 2004: the April N'djamena Ceasefire Agreement and the November Abuja Humanitarian and Security Protocols, signed by the Sudanese government and the two main rebel groups - the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), and the Justice and Equality Movement.

The Council emphasised that there could be no military solution to the conflict in Darfur, and urged the government and the rebels to resume the Abuja talks without preconditions, and to negotiate in good faith to reach an agreement quickly.
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US agrees to use UN Court for Darfur Cases

Today, in New York, the UN Security Council is expected to vote on a resolution put forward by France that would authorise the prosecution of Sudanese war crimes suspects by the international criminal court (ICC). But there may be further delay.

This morning, Fox 23 News was the first to break with the news - followed by Associated Press via LA Times - that Washington approves Sudan trials by International Criminal Court, and in return, Americans are exempt from any prosecution.

But the latest this evening from Reuters says France is still engaged in last minute talks with the United States to avoid a US veto. "We are trying to find language that we would find acceptable. We're trying to make the resolution work so that we can avoid a train wreck," said one US official.

See here below an East African news report that explains Kenya signed US immunity yesterday. Perhaps other signatures have been garnered to provide the US with more assurances that its citizens won't get hauled up in front of the ICC on frivolus charges.
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UN Security Council passes Resolution 1591 on Sudan

On Tuesday, the UN Security Council approved what The Economist terms as "mild sanctions" against those carrying out "ethnic cleansing" in Darfur.

The council voted to impose a no fly zone over Darfur; a travel ban and an asset freeze on those responsible for atrocities in Darfur and on individuals who impede the peace process or commit human rights violations in Darfur. The council also voted to strengthen an arms embargo in Darfur that encompasses the Sudanese government.

Last week, the Security Council passed another resolution to deploy nearly 11,000 UN peacekeepers to South Sudan to monitor a peace deal between the Government of Sudan and southern rebels that ended a 21-year civil war.

Sudan Tribune has published the full text of UN Security Council resolution 1591 on Sudan, along with a copy of "Explanations after Vote".
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Kenya to sign US immunity agreement

Copy of an East African news report by Evelyn Kwamboka re the UN's ICC and Kenya's signing of a US immunity agreement:

The Government is today expected to sign an agreement offering the US bilateral immunity in the International Criminal Court (ICC).

But 12 human rights groups yesterday opposed the move, saying it would make Kenya to not only violate international law but also facilitate the protection of foreign criminals.

If it signs the agreement, Kenya will not surrender any US citizen to the ICC, however serious the crime committed.

The move comes barely a month after Kenya joined ICC, which aims at ending war crimes.

On March 9, Attorney-General Amos Wako gave UN officials in New York a document containing the statutes signed by the Foreign Affairs minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere.

Yesterday, the International Commission for Jurists (ICJ) Kenya Executive Director Philip Kichana urged Parliament's Legal Affairs and Administration of Justice Committee to discuss the issue before the agreement is signed.

"They should bear in mind the national interest despite the huge sums of money that may be offered by US in terms of aid," he said.

The ICJ, the Law Society of Kenya, the Kenya Human Rights Commission, the East African Human Rights Institute, Release Political Prisoners and the Legal Resources Foundation signed yesterday's statement.

The US refused to sign the ICC treaty in 2002, saying it feared its soldiers and officials could be targeted by "frivolous" lawsuits.

A UN-appointed commission has recommended that ICC tries those accused of abuses in Sudan's Darfur region but Washington opposes the move, fearing it would legitimise the court.
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Khartoum slams UN sanctions - rebels demand more

The regime in Khartoum says the new UN resolution unfairly puts the government's rights and duties on an equal footing with the rebellion.

Copy of report from Aljazeera March 30, 2005:

The Sudanese government reacted with anger to the UN's Security Council sanctions over violations in Darfur. But in direct contrast the rebels argued the move was too timid to yield a breakthrough in the conflict.

The Sudanese foreign ministry issued a statement which called the U.S. sponsored resolution as "unbalanced and inappropriate" and "ignored the government's efforts in addressing the political, security and humanitarian aspects of the Darfur conflict."

The Sudanese government hinted in its statement that it would not consider itself bound by the resolution.

"The government will also seek to lift any sanctions that the UN will impose based on false information," it said. "The resolution unfairly puts the government's rights and duties on an equal footing with the rebellion."

The main rebel group in Darfur, the Sudan Liberation Movement, said it was disappointed by the scope of the sanctions, arguing they would do little to encourage resolve.

"We support the resolution, although we do not feel that it is strong enough," SLM spokesman Mahjub Hussein said.

The group said it would have preferred a resolution strengthening an arms embargo against Sudan, imposing restrictions on the movement of government officials and the freezing of their assets.

Furthermore, the SLM believes the resolution would have carried more weight if it had obliged the pulling out of armed forces from Darfur and the handing of security responsibilities in the region to an international force.

Under the resolution, backed 12-0 with abstentions from Algeria, China and Russia, any movement of military equipment and supplies into the Darfur region will require the prior approval of the Security Council.
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Sudan says UN sanctions bad for Darfur security

Sudan said on Wednesday a U.N. resolution imposing sanctions on those responsible for violence in Darfur would make it harder to disarm combatants and would endanger lives in the remote region.

Excerpt from Reuters report March 30, 2005:

"We think the resolution is unbalanced and unfortunate," Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail told reporters in Khartoum in reference to a Security Council resolution passed on Tuesday that imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on some involved in the Darfur conflict.

"It will reflect negatively on the security in Darfur because it will jeopardise and limit the capability of the government to fight outlaws."

He said the resolution, which also strengthens an arms embargo on the government and prevents hostile flights over Darfur, would put the lives of the Darfuri people at risk as well as the thousands of foreigners working in the region.

"It will also reflect negatively on the security of non-Sudanese who are supposed to move freely and to feel in full security," he said.

There are around 1,000 foreign aid workers in Darfur and more than 2,000 African Union (AU) troops in Darfur.

Three members of an AU team were injured in an attack on Tuesday, and last week a U.S. aid worker was shot in the face when gunmen ambushed an aid convoy in Darfur.

The United Nations says the government has done little to try to disarm Arab militias, but Ismail said the rebels had caused delay through intransigence and said the government needed more time.

"We are doing our best but this is an area larger than France. Weapons are everywhere. Rebels are not cooperating," he said. "We need time in order to deal with this."



Picture: A Darfur rebel. The main Darfur rebel group, SLM, believes the new UN resolution would have carried more weight if it had obliged the pulling out of armed forces from Darfur and the handing of security responsibilities in the region to an international force. [Perhaps that's on the table for when UN peacekeepers start assisting the African Union troops in Darfur]

The Sudanese government hinted in its statement that it would not consider itself bound by the resolution and said "the resolution unfairly puts the government's rights and duties on an equal footing with the rebellion."

Further reading:

Mar 30 Xinhua China news: UN official denies Resolution 1591 against Khartoum. A UN official said in Khartoum Wednesday that a recent UN Security Council resolution is aimed to press the conflicting sides.

Mar 31 The Daily Star Lebanon: Khartoum rejects 'unbalanced' UN resolution.
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Sudan vows to put 164 on trial for Darfur atrocities

Sudan has for the first time arrested military and security officials accused of raping and killing civilians and burning villages in Darfur.

Excerpt from the Scotsman March 30, 2005:

Khartoum repeated its insistence yesterday that none of its citizens would be tried outside its borders, in direct defiance of a call by the UN earlier this year for 51 Sudanese - including some high-ranking government officials - to be tried by the international community.

The foreign minister, Mustafa Osman Ismail, reiterated on state television yesterday: "We will never hand over any Sudanese national - whether he is an outlaw, an army officer, or a government official - for trial outside Sudan."

Here is a report by Ophera McDoom in Khartoum via the Scotsman Mar 29:

Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin said a government committee had arrested 15 members of the police, military and security forces in Darfur for human rights abuses and they would immediately be sent to court.

"They are military people ... from army, military and security," Mr Yassin said, adding all the accused were from these "disciplinary forces".

"[They are accused of] different crimes. It includes rape, killing, burning and other things - different kinds of atrocities," he said.

The UN Security Council is expected to vote tomorrow on a French-drafted resolution which would send those responsible for war crimes in Darfur to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Sudan rejects referring any of its nationals to a court outside its borders, saying its judicial system is able to prosecute those guilty of crimes.

"Now it is high time for us to prove ourselves and to prove how genuine we are and how seriously the Sudanese judiciary can do the job," Mr Yassin said.

"This is a start; it is not the end of it - they are progressing and doing a good job."

Mr Yassin said 14 members of the police, the army and security forces were under arrest in West Darfur state and one in North Darfur state.

Photo: "Darfur on Fire" - A Sudanese rebel watches as a village attacked by the Janjaweed militia burns. [Scott Nelson/Getty Images Tue 29 Mar 2005 courtesy Scotsman.com]

Another report in the Scotsman March 28, says with only hours to the UN Security Council vote on where to try Darfur's war criminals, the Khartoum regime says it has arrested 15 men who are accused of murder and burning villages in Darfur. The report says if past examples of Khartoum’s "justice" are anything to go by, these men - guilty or not - will be tried and executed very quickly, thus evading UN involvement.

But few news reports educate readers as to the predicament Khartoum is in over the Janjaweed. And why the UN's demands to reign in the Janjaweed were always an impossibility. Sometime last year, even Khartoum revealed in the press it fears retribution once the West got bored and turned its back, so we can't be surprised at their efforts to avoid arresting the people who are protecting them. Without the Janjaweed and Arab tribal leaders, the Khartoum regime would fall. Who else do they have on their side to squash the rebellions in the south, west and east of Sudan?

Even the rebels themselves have said their objective is to overthrow the government. Unless all sides cease fighting [which they have proved they are capable of] and work out a political situation, the conflict seems likely to go on for years. Even if the regime in Khartoum fled tomorrow, who would lead the people of northern Sudan - the one's that fought against southern Sudan's rebels for 21 terrifying years? John Garang, the leader of the southern rebels, couldn't unite them, there is too much mistrust.

Surely Khartoum can see the writing on the wall. Charismatic leadership is needed to unite the whole of Sudan. The world saw how the people in South Sudan rejoiced in the streets at the prospect of peace. If only someone within the African Union or Arab League could get all of the gangs and tribal leaders together. Maybe the Libyan leader has been trying to do something along these lines. Where are the Islamic clerics in all of this? What do ordinary Sudanese folk say? Who would the Sudanese support as a leader for a united Sudan? The media and politicians never properly explain what is really going on.

Darfur: U.N. Sudan Situation Report 29 March 2005

The following is a copy in full of an email received this morning giving the latest situation report by United Nations personnel on the ground in Sudan:

Key Developments:

On 27 Mar., two GOS police officers where killed at close range in the Zam Zam camp, allegedly following an encounter with two persons in civilian clothes who subsequently fled into the camp. As a result, all UN and humanitarian movement to and in the location were stopped with all personnel being relocated. A large quantity of WFP food about to be distributed by the SRC was guarded by AMIS to prevent theft. Following an assessment on 28 Mar., which found the situation to be stable, all humanitarian activities have resumed. The incident remains under investigation.

Security Issues:

North Darfur: On the night of 27 Mar., two persons, reported to be in military uniforms and carrying firearms, climbed the perimeter wall of the WFP El Fasher workshop. Clothes and fuel were stolen. After preliminary investigations, WFP security referred the matter to the police who have promised to increase patrols in the area. Meanwhile, WFP is improving security measures at the workshop.

On 27 Mar., a skirmish between GoS military police and regular military and police officers in the Mawashi market (southern part of El Fasher town) resulted in the killing of two military police officers. The military police were conducting routine patrols in the area to ensure that military and police officers off duty were not loitering in the location when the gunfire between the parties broke out.

South Darfur: There were unconfirmed reports of a 28 Mar. attack on the Nitega village, a well-known stronghold for nomadic militia, by rebel elements resulting in one dead and one injury. AMIS is investigating.
Tension south of Gereida continues, though the parties - GoS military and JEM - have abandoned the location over the past two weeks. Sporadic violence south and southeast of Gereida continues.

Protection Issues:

North Darfur: Humanitarian agencies in Kutum have commenced close liaison with AMIS in the last week to devise strategies for enhanced protection of IDPs in and around Kassab and Fataborno camps. AMIS has agreed to conduct regular patrols on market days on routes and in areas where the volume of incidents is particularly high. Furthermore, AMIS and humanitarian organizations in Kutum involved in protection have agreed on bi-weekly consultations to discuss the protection situation in the area.

Humanitarian Affairs:

Food/NFIs

Jongli: A WFP team in Bor has finalised headcount and registration of IDPs and returnees (totalling 35,202 with the majority being IDPs) and airdrops have now begun in the town and its surrounding villages. The targetted areas are: Bor town, Gakyom, Mamer, Garwanj, Hai flan and Haa Mashwer.

White Nile: ADRA distributed 0.26 MT of lentils, 0.286 MT of vegetable oil and 1.95 MT of sorghum among 52 IDP families in Kosti, White Nile on 24 Mar. Every household also received one plastic sheet and one mosquito net each. 20 blankets were distributed among families with newborns and ill young children. ADRA distributed 0.135 MT of Corn Soya Blend among 15 families having children under five with lactating mothers

Health

North Darfur: UNICEF conducted a visit to Abu Shouk camp on 21 Mar. to monitor water tanking and hand pump operations. Key findings were: inadequate tap stands in some blocks; five platforms for the bladders were damaged; slow water discharge into tanks; long queues at water points and non-functioning of several hand pumps. UNICEF has drawn action plan to deal with the above-mentioned problems in collaboration with the relevant INGOs.
Vector control campaigns have been interrupted in all IDP locations due to lack of pesticides. As a result, fly infestation at all the camps continues to worsen. To date, UNICEF has been unable to procure the spraying chemicals as there is only one supplier in El Fasher, while UNICEF procurement procedures require at least three quotations. A waiver for this administrative requirement has been sent, and they are awaiting response.

South Darfur: Agencies remain concerned that the targetted measles vaccination campaign carried out by MoH/EPI in the past week (reaching only 500 children in Battery camp) will not prevent the continuation of the outbreak, as Battery camp is very near other IDP gatherings and the host community in Kass. The population outside the camp shares much of the same city infrastructure, including water, schools, and the market and, as such, the possibility of spreading the virus is high. The humanitarian community continues to push for a mass campaign to cover the entire population of Kass as well as the major IDP gatherings in South Darfur before the rainy season. WHO has recommended a mass campaign both as a means of preventing further outbreaks, and for covering those who were excluded from last year’s blanket campaign due to violence.

Water

South Darfur: OXFAM completed a water and sanitation (WAT/SAN) assessment of the Tullus areas which found water shortage in the area affecting the population. The Rural Water Group, a national organization working with WES, has stated its intention to commence operations in the area but is requesting assistance from partners to be able to do so. As such, a starting date has yet to be announced.

Returns

Bahr El Jebel: There are persistent reports of population movements in Equatoria that are being investigated by humanitarian agencies. The East Equatoria HAC Commissioner reported the registration of 64 returnees, while, in Juba, the Bahr El Jebel HAC commissioner reported the registration of 458 returnees from Kajokeji and approximately 2,600 from Yei on accumulative basis. Those coming from Yei use Yei-Lainya-Wonduruba-Kuda and Juba road. They come partly on foot, bicycles or vehicles. Vehicles are available only between Yei and Wondruba or Kuda and Juba. In both Bahr El Jebel and East Equatoria, cross line movement has been going on normally. Refugees are also returning from Ethiopia to Juba. UNHCR reported that 136 refugees have arrived in Juba from Ethiopian region of Gambella within this week escaping the ethnic conflict and hunger in the area. At least 300 students have also returned to Juba, as education is a major attraction for return.

General

Bahr El Ghazal: Land has been allocated for resettlement of the IDPs settled in Rumbek about 3.5 km away from their present location. A team comprising representatives from the IDPs, OXFAM-GB, OCHA SRT and EP&R, SRRC County, local chiefs and the liaison officer of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs inspected the land on 21 Mar. OXFAM-GB and Diocese of Rumbek (DOR) have been tasked to address the water and shelter needs respectively through funds from the Liaison Office. Other needs identified by the IDPs include seeds, tools for agriculture/construction and additional IDP kits for the IDPs that arrived after the last distribution exercise.

Equatoria: Following three meetings in Rumbek by EP&R aimed at mobilizing responses for the Ezo/Tambura identified needs, the following interventions are currently underway in the target locations:
WFP started food distribution on 25 Mar. targeting 20,542 beneficiaries.

Non-Food Items from UNICEF released to EP&R are being transported from Yambio for distribution to the target beneficiaries. The items (collapsible jerry cans, blankets, cooking utensils and IDP kits) will be distributed by World Vision (WVI).

FAO will distribute seeds and tool through WVI by mid-Apr.

UNHCR is identifying implementing partners or NGOs on ground to provide assistance to the refugees in Bagima and Baikpa. Depending on gaps identified on ground, UNHCR may cover areas of water/sanitation, health, education and protection.
Preparation for the training of enumerators by SRRC/SRT for registration of returnees from CAR and DRC is ongoing and training is scheduled to start around mid-Apr. Meanwhile, WVI has carried out a registration in the Nandi and Anderi camps with the aim of assisting returnees to resettle back to their area of origin.

Bahr El Jebel: Education in Juba is already characterised by over crowding, shortages of qualified teachers, facilities, furniture and school supplies. Many schools are in very poor physical condition and in need of major rehabilitation. Student enrolment is expected to increase further following the CPA and may strain the existing facilities unless there are timely and effective interventions. Another concern is the school curriculum has to be reviewed to accommodate English-speaking students. WFP will provide cooking utensils to compliment their school feeding programme and have asked their implementing partners (Accomplish and SCC) to collect these utensils and distribute to schools before the schools re-open in Apr. 2005.