Posted on 02/17/2005 8:40:23 PM PST by NormsRevenge
UNITED NATIONS/N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) called for immediate action on Wednesday to end what he termed a near hell on earth in Sudan's western Darfur region.
But African leaders warned against sending non-African troops to Darfur, where the United Nations (news - web sites) estimates a two-year conflict between Sudan's government and rebels has killed at least 70,000 people and driven some 2 million from their homes.
Annan backed a call by President Bush (news - web sites)'s administration for a travel and assets freeze on those violating a ceasefire in Darfur.
He said the U.N. Security Council should consider a full range of options -- targeted sanctions, stronger peacekeeping efforts, new measures to protect civilians and pressure on all sides for a lasting political solution in the western region.
"While the United Nations may not be able to take humanity to heaven, it must act to save humanity from hell," Annan said at a meeting called to review a report submitted earlier this month by a U.N.-appointed commission on Darfur.
The report accused the Sudanese government and militias of "heinous crimes." It said rebels were responsible for serious crimes but its chief criticism was directed at the government's inability to stop marauding Arab militiamen.
"This report is one of the most important documents in recent history of the United Nations. It makes chilling reading. And it is a call to action," said Annan.
"The report demonstrates beyond all doubt that the last two years have been little short of hell on earth for our fellow human beings in Darfur."
AFRICAN UNION PEACE EFFORTS
The African Union (AU) has some 1,400 troops in Darfur and expects the force to eventually grow to more than 3,000.
Many see it as ill-equipped to stem the killings, prompting some talk of sending in peacekeeping troops from outside Africa.
But at a meeting in Chad's capital N'Djamena, African leaders, including Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, urged the international community not to send non-African troops to Darfur and not to impose sanctions.
"The heads of state called on the international community to continue to give its support to African efforts already under way and to abstain from all action which could harm these efforts, including the imposition of sanctions and all deployment of non-African forces," they said in a statement.
The talks in N'Djamena involved Bashir, his Chadian counterpart Idriss Deby, the leaders of Gabon and Congo Republic and AU Commission chairman Alpha Oumar Konare.
The leaders called for a "total and definitive ceasefire" in Darfur and urged the AU to transform its mission into a real peacekeeping operation, respecting Sudan's sovereignty.
After years of tribal conflict over scarce resources, Darfur's rebels took up arms in February 2003, accusing Khartoum of neglect and giving preferential treatment to Arab tribes.
They say the government mobilized Arab militias, known as Janjaweed, to loot and burn non-Arab villages. The government says it recruited militias to fight the rebellion but not the Janjaweed, whom it has called outlaws.
Previous agreements to stop the fighting and disarm have been repeatedly flouted by both sides and there have been close to 100 confirmed truce violations since late last year.
Bashir said after the talks in Chad that he would respect all previous ceasefire accords.
"We want this problem to remain African, in the hands of the African Union, that the AU assumes its responsibilities and has the confidence of the international community," he said.
The U.N. Security Council is also considering trials for perpetrators of atrocities who have been named on a sealed list drawn up by the U.N.-appointed commission.
But Annan and Louise Arbour, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said on Wednesday that any meaningful prosecution had to be handled by the International Criminal Court, an institution which Washington opposes.
FMCDH(BITS)
Many see it as ill-equipped to stem the killings, prompting some talk of sending in peacekeeping troops from outside Africa.
Better lock up your womenfolk. "Help" is on the way.
Well, at least it's not a genocidal Hell. Then we might have to shame China into spanking their oil baby.
/sarc
Calling for immediate action more than a year after this mess started... brilliant strategery!!!!!
Operative words, "we want this problem to remain". Authentic genocide. Affirmative evil for the entire family. No torturer left behind.
"The report demonstrates beyond all doubt that the last two years have been little short of hell on earth for our fellow human beings in Darfur."
Two years worth of report and now Kofi is saying something must be done. Presumably by the U.S. since the U.N. is worthless. What a dufus.
The UN Responds to the Crisis in Darfur: A Timeline
2003
March – Fighting breaks out in the Darfur region of western Sudan between Government forces and rebels from the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).
17 September – Tom Eric Vraalsen, Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan, announces the Greater Darfur Initiative, appealing for $23 million to help those most in need.
9 December – Secretary-General Kofi Annan expresses alarm over human rights violations and the lack of humanitarian access. More than a million people estimated to need aid, including about 600,000 displaced persons.
2004
3 April – In a joint statement, the Secretary-General and the heads of all UN agencies, funds and programmes express their deepest concern over the serious human rights and humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
25 May – Expressing its deep concern about reports of human rights abuses, the Security Council issues a presidential statement calling on Khartoum to neutralize and disarm the Janjaweed.
21 July: Mr. Annan says the UN has received just $145 million of the $349 million it has requested to help the people of Darfur . He tells press conference that Khartoum has not taken “adequate steps” to meet its pledge to disarm the Janjaweed.
30 July – Security Council adopts resolution, 13-0 with China and Pakistan abstaining, paving the way for action against Sudan if it does not make progress on the pledges it made in the communiqué. Mr. Annan immediately welcomes the move.
25 August – Declaring its operations in Sudan are “grossly under-funded,” UN humanitarian agencies say they have received only $288 million of the $722 million it needs.
3 September – In his latest report to the Council, Mr. Annan says the international presence in Darfur must be enlarged as soon as possible because the “vast majority of militias” have not yet been disarmed. The report concludes a “scorched-earth policy” by the Janjaweed is responsible for most of the violence .
24 September – Mr. Annan tells Security Council meeting that the “terrible violence” in Darfur means the crisis there is a global issue, and “not simply an African problem.” Nigerian President and AU Chairman Olusegun Obasanjo says the AU force needs greater international funding and logistical support if it is to expand to a size of about 3,000 troops and take on new responsibilities. Mrs. Arbour and Mr. Méndez complete mission to Darfur...
And so on and so forth. Expressions of deep concern, requests for more millions, zero results. What a worthless organization.
If the U.N. actually wanted to have some teeth in situations like this (which, judging from their slowness to react and their whinyness when they finally do, they do not), they would employ Gurkha soldiers as the official U.N. peacekeeping force. The average Gurkha would mop the floor with this kind of scum. "Keep it African," indeed! Keep it going is more like it ... as someone already pointed out....
hell on earth? that is where-ever I am after eating white castles and onion chips.
"Famous Anus"
H.R. 1146 will withdraw the USA from the United Nations’ madhouse/cesspool.
Go to: http://www.getusout.org/un/index.html . Then go lobby at http://www.conservativeusa.org/megalink.htm . Email President Bush at president@whitehouse.gov . White House comment line is 202-456-1111.
The United Nations is a corrupt disgrace and it is time for the USA to WITHDRAW from and defund the United Nations. Please tell your senators, congressmen and everyone you know to support H.R. 1146 which would WITHDRAW the USA from the United Nations, prohibit US funds going to the UN and prohibit US troops serving under UN command. H.R 1146 is the American Sovereignty Restoration Act.
The whole mission of the UN is to take power, money and national sovereignty from the USA. Thus the United States must withdraw from and defund the UN, a worthless organization, and if we go, if we are lucky, the whole thing will implode.
Already done!
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