U.N. Human Rights Council Will Dispatch Mission to Darfur
13 December 2006
United States says all options remain open to help restore peace, human rights
Geneva -- The U.N. Human Rights Council agreed December 13 to send a high-level mission to report on human rights abuses in Darfur, where violence, killings and rape have caused an estimated 2 million people to flee their homes over the past four years.
After hours of difficult closed-door negotiations, the 47 member states of the council adopted a consensus resolution expressing concern over “the seriousness of the human rights and humanitarian situation in Darfur.” The decision came at the conclusion of a two-day special session, the first meeting convened by the new human rights body to deal specifically with violations of human rights in Darfur. (See related article.)
Five “highly qualified persons” selected by the president of the council, Mexican Ambassador Luis Alfonso de Alba, in consultation with council members, will travel to the region. They will be accompanied by the U.N.’s special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Sudan and will report their findings to the fourth session of the Human Rights Council, which opens in March 2007.
Ambassador Warren W. Tichenor, permanent representative of the United States to the United Nations in Geneva, said the council’s action on Darfur was a “positive first step that we can build on to address the suffering and violence,” although the United States would have preferred a more strongly worded resolution.
“What we are most concerned about is the suffering of the people of Darfur. This is not a perfect resolution. I don’t think anyone would come in here and tell you that it is,” Tichenor told journalists after the conclusion of the special session. “It is the result of a deliberative, consensual process … but it is nonetheless a welcome first step.”
Asked about press reports that the United States is weighing a military option in Sudan, Tichenor said he was not aware of any plan to intervene militarily. He said President Bush’s special envoy for Darfur, Andrew Natsios, currently is in Khartoum, Sudan, and added: “Without prejudging what we might or might not do, let me just say that given our urgent concern about the situation, we are studying a number of actions we might take. All options are open in our continuing efforts to bring stability, a lasting peace and a restoration of basic human rights to the people of Darfur.”
Natsios met with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir December 13. The leaders discussed the need to accelerate implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, a document signed in January 2005 laying out a democratic framework for the nation. Natsios emphasized the need to implement agreements reached recently in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Abuja, Nigeria, which call for an expanded peacekeeping force, and the need to enforce immediately a cease-fire agreement made with the government of Chad. (See related article.)
As an observer at the council, the United States co-sponsored the call for a special session and the first draft of the resolution to address the situation in Darfur. Tichenor expressed satisfaction that the council, which is concluding its first year of operation, had “reacted to the calls of the suffering in Darfur.” Three previous special sessions of the council focused on Lebanon and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and produced outcomes the United States considered unbalanced.
Asked whether the United States now might consider running for membership in the United Nations’ top human rights body, Tichenor said many factors would have to be taken into account. “We will take the decision we feel is in our best long-term interests as a human rights leader,” he said.
The United Nations and the Human Rights Council were founded on "high ideals about human rights and the dignity of human life," he said. “The Human Rights Council, to date, has not yet lived up to the high ideals upon which it was founded.
“But looking at today alone, I would have to say that we, nonetheless, with all the imperfections, find today’s action a welcome first step, and we hope it will lead to positive action that can be built upon to address the human suffering and violence put upon the people of Darfur.”
For more information on U.S. policy, see Darfur Humanitarian Emergency.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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