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United States propagates U.N. sanctions against Sudan
The United States is a key voter in deciding what action the United Nations will take against Sudan allegations of crimes against humanity in
Darfur, Sudan.
By EDITH M. LEDERER
The Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS, March 23-- The United States circulated three Sudan resolutions Tuesday in hopes of breaking a deadlock in the U.N. Security Council and moving to impose sanctions and deploy peacekeepers in the region, which has suffered two years of devastating conflict.
Ret. U.S. Marine Capt. Brian Steidle talks to reporters in Washington about the state of the people of Darfur, Sudan during the time he spent with the African Union Mission monitoring the Western region of Sudan. (AP Photo/Linda Spillers)
By breaking up the single resolution it has been pushing since mid-February, Washington would set aside the divisive issue of punishing atrocities.
The council has been under mounting international pressure to act quickly, particularly in western Darfur, where a two-year conflict has escalated and where a U.N. commission has said crimes against humanity have occurred. But members are divided over sanctions against the Sudanese government and how to prosecute those accused of atrocities.
Acting U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson said the United States decided to break up the single resolution to get council action on "the two critical issues that we have to resolve that we think there's broad agreement on ... peacekeeping and sanctions."
Nine of the 15 council members want prosecutions to be conducted at the International Criminal Court. That was the recommendation of a U.N. Commission of Inquiry that said crimes against humanity , but not genocide, probably occurred in Darfur.
The United States, however, opposes the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal and wants trials held at a new tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania.
The council will discuss the newest proposals on Wednesday.
"We must get those peacekeepers in there and we must get some kind of sanctions regime in place," Patterson said.
She said the United States was pushing for a vote on those two resolutions by Thursday.
Brazil's U.N. Ambassador Ronaldo Mota Sardenberg, who supports the latest proposal, said the council has "to start taking action, even if it is a modest action" to maintain its credibility.
The initial thrust of the resolution was to deploy a 10,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force to help monitor a peace accord ending the 21-year civil war between the government and southern rebels, a key provision in the peacekeeping resolution.
But with the number of dead in Darfur now estimated at 180,000 and the conflict forcing more than 2 million people to flee their homes, the United States and other members insisted that the deteriorating situation there must also be addressed.
Conflict has engulfed Darfur since February 2003, when two non-Arab rebel groups took up arms against the Arab-dominated government to win more political and economic rights for the region's African tribes.
Sudan's Arab government is accused of responding by backing Janjaweed militiamen who have carried out rapes and killings against Sudanese of African origin. The government denies backing the Janjaweed.
Patterson said the peacekeeping resolution, which council members are largely in agreement with, also asks U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to make recommendations on strengthening the 2,200-strong African Union force in Darfur.
The sanctions resolution would also impose a travel ban and asset freeze against those who block peace efforts, threaten stability in Darfur, violate international, humanitarian or human rights law, or are responsible for military overflights.
Diplomats said it's still unclear whether Beijing or Moscow would veto a sanctions resolution. China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya has said his government has problems with sanctions.
Story Produced by: Doug Bell
