U.N. Council OKs Sudan Resolution

The U.N. Security Council adopted a U.S.-authored resolution Friday threatening action if the Sudanese government fails to rein in rampaging Arab militias within 30 days.

The resolution passed 13-0 after the U.S. changed the language Thursday, dropping the term “sanctions” to win over countries reluctant to back an explicit threat. At the same time, the resolution includes an implicit warning of penalties if the government does not cooperate.

Pakistan and China nonetheless abstained, saying that Khartoum needs more time to stop the attacks and that penalties might antagonize or destabilize the government. Sudanese officials, meanwhile, sharply criticized the measure and gave mixed signals about whether they would comply.

The resolution aims to give teeth to an agreement Khartoum signed with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in early July, in which Sudan pledged to disarm Arab militias blamed for killing thousands of black farmers; to protect the more than 1 million people who have been driven from their land by the attacks; and to help them return home safely.

“The resolution, in stern and unambiguous terms, puts the government of Sudan on notice that it must fulfill the commitments it made on July 3,” U.S. Ambassador John C. Danforth told the Security Council after the vote. “Sudan must know that serious measures -- international sanctions -- are looming, if the government refuses to do so.”

The conflict in Sudan’s western region of Darfur began in February 2003, when the government-backed Arab militias known as janjaweed began to suppress an uprising by rebel groups who wanted a greater share of the nation’s oil wealth. The government is using the janjaweed to drive villagers from their land and hand it to tribes loyal to Khartoum, exploiting a long-term territorial rivalry between Arab herdsmen and predominantly black farmers.

At least 30,000 people have died and more than a million displaced in a brutal and systematic campaign that the U.N. has called “ethnic cleansing” and the U.S. Congress has branded as genocide.

“The last thing we wanted to do was lay the groundwork for sanctions,” said Danforth, who had served as special envoy to the country for the Bush administration. “But the government of Sudan has left us no choice. It has done the unthinkable. It has fostered an armed attack on its own civilian population. It has created a humanitarian disaster.”

The resolution demands that the Sudanese government prosecute militia leaders, resume peace talks with the rebel groups, guarantee access for relief groups that it has prevented from delivering aid and allow international observers to monitor the cease-fire and watch for human rights violations. It also imposes an arms embargo to cut off the flow of weapons to both the militias and the rebel groups.

Danforth rebuffed calls for more time by China and Pakistan, noting that since the July 3 agreement, the Sudanese government has failed to fulfill many of its pledges and that an estimated 11,000 more people have died as a result.

“It’s time to start the clock ticking on the government of Sudan,” he said.

Sudanese Ambassador Elfatih Mohammed Ahmed Erwa, speaking in the Security Council, lashed out at the U.S., as well as the African nations of Algeria, Angola and Benin, which voted for the measure. He contended that his government was making progress and that the Bush administration was pushing the resolution to win votes during election season. Washington, he said, is using the crisis as an excuse to topple one more Muslim government after “raining fire” on Afghanistan and Iraq.

Erwa, who wore a gray suit instead of his usual white robe and turban, promised that Sudan would “fully comply” with the resolution. “We started implementing, and we will keep implementing,” he said. “We will do the right thing, regardless of the way we have been treated.”

Meanwhile, in Sudan, Information Minister Zahawi Ibrahim Malik sounded less cooperative, according to Associated Press.

“Sudan reaffirms its absolute rejection of threats,” Malik said. “Sudan expresses its deep sorrow that the issue of Darfur has quickly entered the Security Council and has been hijacked from its regional arena.”

U.N. officials agree that there has been some progress in the last month, especially regarding access for relief workers. In a marked change from June, the Sudanese government has granted visas to aid agencies and allowed the delivery of food and medicine.

But security and protection are still inadequate for displaced civilians, who continue to show up at temporary camps with tales of rape, mass killings and devastation of their villages by government gunships and janjaweed on horseback.

Several dozen women have recently reported that they were raped when they left the camps to collect firewood. Men who have ventured to their devastated villages have been killed, U.N. officials say.

“We’re very concerned about the lack of security and protection of [internally displaced people], with continued attacks in most parts of Darfur, and very worrying reports of intimidation by government security personnel,” said Oliver Ulich, the U.N. humanitarian affairs officer in charge of Sudan.

Sudanese and U.N. monitors assessing the government’s performance will report their findings Monday.