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Articles: UN threatens sanctions against Sudan

Posted by admin on Friday, July 23, 2004 - 12:27 AM

Now to Africa, and with a growing humanitarian crisis continuing to develop in the Darfur region of Sudan, the United Nations is set to impose sanctions on the African nation if it does not move immediately to put an end to the violence there.
So far the Government of Sudan has remained defiant in the face of international pressure, telling the UN it will not tolerate meddling in its internal affairs. But with hundreds of thousands of Sudanese fleeing a campaign of ethnic cleansing being conducted by pro-Government militias, aid organisations say a humanitarian catastrophe is developing in the crowded and squalid refugee camps inside Sudan and across its border in neighbouring Chad. Nick Grimm reports. NICK GRIMM: It's taken well over a year of conflict in Sudan to reach the point where the international community is almost ready to act to stop the killing... almost. There have been the deaths of an estimated 30,000 people. One million Sudanese are believed to have been forced to flee their homes, and in all, two million are said to lack adequate food and medicine. The ethnic conflict began in February last year in the largely black African region of Darfur, with a rebel uprising against the nation's Arab Government, which they had accused of ignoring their needs. In retaliation, pro-government Arab militias, including the feared group known as the "Janjaweed", unleashed a brutal and systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing. Now, the international community is telling Sudan's Government it has one last chance to put an end to the violence. COLIN POWELL: No, it's not nonsensical at all, since they turned it on, they can turn it off. The reason is – is there enough incentive for them to turn it off? And we're making it clear to them that there'll be consequences if it is not turned off. NICK GRIMM: In the UN's New York headquarters the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, met with the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, to discuss the crisis, and afterwards the pair spoke to the media. KOFI ANNAN: The international community must insist that the Sudanese Government honours the commitments it gave when we both visited Sudan. It is important that the internally displaced people and the villages be protected. It is a sacred responsibility of the Government of Sudan to do that, and eventually disarm the Janjaweed and the other militia in the region. COLIN POWELL: They have been supporting and sustaining some of these Janjaweed elements. This has to end. We have made this clear to the Sudanese leadership. We still know that there are bombings that take place, there are helicopter gunships in Darfur region. I don't know why Darfur region needs helicopter gunships, and believe they should be removed in order to help remove the spectre of fear and danger from the skies that affects the people in Darfur. NICK GRIMM: Colin Powell says he believes a resolution to adopt unspecified sanctions against Sudan is almost certain to be passed by the UN Security Council. It's likely those sanctions would include an arms embargo, but so far the United States, and the rest of the international community for that matter, are unwilling to commit troops to an intervention force. Earlier this month, Sudan had promised Kofi Annan that it would punish those responsible for carrying out atrocities, disarm the militias, and allow humanitarian organisations into the region to deliver aid. Mustafa Osman Ismail is the Sudanese Foreign Minister. MUSTAFA OSMAN ISMAIL: We don't need any resolutions. What we think is that Sudan should be given time to implement the agreement signed with the United Nations on the 3rd of July, and that the African Union should be given also time and to be helped and support in order to find a political settlement to the problem. NICK GRIMM: And the Sudanese Government remains defiant in the face of international pressure, warning that any foreign military intervention in Sudan would prove disastrous. MUSTAFA OSMAN ISMAIL: Our answer will be – we will withdraw our troops and we will give them the chance if they can keep the security in Darfur.

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