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02 September 2004

U.S. Seeking Expanded African Union Protection for Darfur

U.N. report cites Sudan's failure to curb Jingaweit

By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent

United Nations -- The United States September 2 called for an expanded international force to help protect the people of Darfur from continuing attacks by Jingaweit militia and Sudanese government forces.

U.S. Ambassador John Danforth said "the most practical thing that can be done for the people of Darfur is an expanded international presence, particularly by the African Union. That is essential," he said, and should not be conditioned on a request from Khartoum.

"I believe that all of the international pressure on the Government of Sudan right now has to be focused on the expanded AU (African Union) presence," the ambassador said. "Without that kind of pressure the government of Sudan will do its usual job of trying to float through this thing."

Speaking with journalists after a closed Security Council meeting, Danforth disagreed with U.N. special representative Jan Pronk's report, presented during a public Security Council meeting, which said that Khartoum had stopped its attacks against civilians in Darfur.

Pronk told the Council that while Sudan has not met two of its main commitments to the United Nations -- disarming local militias in Darfur and stopping attacks against civilians by the Jingaweit -- there was no evidence of attacks by government planes since the signing of a joint communiqué with Secretary General Kofi Annan in July.

Danforth told journalists "the African Union Cease-fire Commission reported that on August 26 -- a week ago -- there was an attack by helicopters of the Government of Sudan on two villages in Darfur." The African Union's report was also confirmed by USAID workers in Darfur and reported in newspapers, the ambassador said.

A recent survey of Sudanese now in Chad found that 25 percent of the refugees said they had been attacked only by the military of Sudan and another 50 percent said that they were attacked by a combination of the military of the government of Sudan and the Jingaweit, Danforth said.

Pronk also reported there is "still much insecurity" in the region and the number of people fleeing their homes and villages continues to increase. While Sudan's "disarming part of the Popular Defense Force is a laudable step," he said, "it is not the same as disarming all militias, including Jingaweit, which are under the influence of the government.

"Second, no concrete steps have been taken to bring to justice or even identify any of the militia leaders or the perpetrators of these attacks, allowing violations of human rights to continue in a climate of impunity," Pronk said. Some individual offenders have been arrested, he said, but there is no "active and systematic strategy to bring to justice Jingaweit leaders and their associates."

Noting that the failure of a government to protect its people against attacks is a violation of human rights, Pronk suggested that the United Nations follow up its discussions with Khartoum on the issue with an urgent "message" that if Sudan is unable to fully protect its citizens by itself then it should "seek, request, and accept assistance from the international community."

About 100 AU monitors are currently in the region along with 300 troops, which are mandated only to protect the observers.

Danforth countered that an increased international presence should not be conditioned "on whether the government of Sudan concludes that it can't do the job by itself.

"The fact of the matter is ... the citizens of Darfur have absolutely no confidence that the government of Sudan will protect them and therefore the presence of substantial numbers of monitors -- substantial numbers -- is absolutely essential," the U.S. ambassador said.

"What kind of protection is it," Danforth asked, "if the job of providing security for the people of Darfur is to be provided exclusively by people who have been dropping bombs on the people of Darfur."

On July 30, the Security Council passed resolution 1556, which requires Sudan to undertake a series of measures to protect civilians in Darfur and allow humanitarian aid to reach Darfur within 30 days or face the threat of sanctions.

"Sanctions are still on the table," Danforth said. "They are still going to be there this week, next week, the week after, a month after. So they are still going to be available" if Sudan doesn't cooperate, the U.S. ambassador said.

Pronk also said that Khartoum has made some progress in meeting other requirements of the Security Council's resolution. It has improved security in some specific areas where internally displaced persons are concentrated, deployed additional police, begun negotiations with rebel movements, accepted international human rights monitoring, and lifted restrictions on humanitarian aid.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)