Annan reiterates warning that Sudan will be held responsible if Darfur situation worsens by UN News / Reuters / Africa Action 12:07pm 2nd Sep, 2006   8 September 2006    Annan reiterates warning that Sudan will be held responsible if Darfur situation worsens. (UN News)    The leadership of the Sudanese Government may be held collectively and individually responsible for what happens to the people of Darfur if they allow the African Union (AU) mission there to leave and then refuse access to United Nations peacekeepers, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today.    Speaking to reporters at UN Headquarters in New York, Mr. Annan reiterated his message to Khartoum that the planned force of blue helmets in Darfur “is not coming in as an invading force, but basically to help them protect the people.”    On 31 August the Security Council voted to deploy a UN force of more than 17,000 peacekeepers to Darfur, an impoverished region on Sudan’s western flank that has been beset by brutal violence and massive displacement since 2003.    The Council resolution “invites the consent” of Khartoum, but the Sudanese Government has said on repeated occasions that it is opposed to the UN taking over the work of the AU operation, known by the acronym AMIS, which is due to end later this year.    The Secretary-General’s warning comes ahead of a high-level Security Council meeting on Monday to discuss the situation inside Darfur, which he will attend. Representatives of the Sudanese Government, the League of Arab States and the Organization of the Islamic Conference have been invited to participate.    Mr. Annan said the conditions inside Darfur have become so desperate that if there is no AU or UN presence and the numbers of people suffering or being killed continued to grow, then the Sudanese “are placing themselves in a situation where the leadership may be held collectively and individually responsible for what happens to the population in Darfur.”    Scores of thousands of people are thought to have been killed amid fighting between rebel groups, Government forces and allied militias in Darfur, and at least two million others are estimated to have had to flee their homes.    31 Aug 2006    UN votes for UN force in Darfur; Sudan says "no", by Evelyn Leopold. (Reuters)    The U.N. Security Council on Thursday voted to create a United Nations peacekeeping force in Sudan"s Darfur region to avert a new humanitarian disaster, but the Khartoum government rejected the resolution as "illegal."    The vote to send the force to Darfur once Sudan has agreed to its deployment passed with 12 votes in favor, none against and abstentions from Russia, China and Qatar, the only Arab council member.    The United Nations wants to replace and absorb an African Union force in Darfur, which has only enough money to exist until its mandate expires on Sept. 30. It has been unable to halt the humanitarian catastrophe in the west of the country.    The resolution calls for up to 22,500 U.N. troops and police officers and an immediate injection of air, engineering and communications support for the 7,000-member African force.    The measure, drafted by Britain and the United States, is designed to allow planning and recruitment of troops for an eventual handover as well as to put pressure on Khartoum.    "It is imperative that we move immediately to implement it fully to stop the tragic events unfolding in Darfur," U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said. "Every day we delay only adds to the suffering of the Sudanese people and extends the genocide."    The Darfur conflict erupted in February 2003, when non-Arab rebels took up arms against the government. In response, the government mobilized Arab militias known as Janjaweed, who have been accused of murder, rape and looting.    Fighting, disease and hunger have killed some 200,000 people and driven some 2.5 million into squalid camps.    Rebel groups have splintered and are now also conducting atrocities. Bloodshed has only increased since the government signed a peace agreement with one rebel group in May and Sudan is planning to send some 10,500 troops into Darfur, which many fear will lead to full-scale war.    In Washington, the State Department"s top official on Africa, Jendayi Frazer, who met Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir this week, said she believed he would eventually consent to the U.N. force.    But in Khartoum, Ali Tamin Fartak, a presidential adviser, told Reuters, "Our stand is very clear, that the Sudanese government has not been consulted and it is not appropriate to pass a resolution before they seek the permission of Sudan."    Another presidential adviser, Majzoub al-Khalifa, told Al Jazeera television that the resolution was "illegal."    Still, Britain"s deputy U.N. Ambassador Karen Pierce said, "The test before the council today was whether it was prepared to act to mandate that U.N. mission and assume its responsibilities to the people of Darfur. The adoption of this resolution shows that it is"    Russia and China supported the force but said Sudan"s consent was needed first. Qatar pointed to Sudan"s plan to send troops to Darfur, which it called positive.    A senior State Department official, Kristen Silverberg, said it was "inexplicable" that Russia and China had abstained "in light of the very grave and serious and deteriorating security situation."    The resolution allows U.N. troops to use force to protect U.N. personnel and facilities and prevent attacks and threats against civilians.    U.N. officials have warned of a catastrophe if help does not come soon. Jan Egeland, the emergency relief coordinator, said the people driven into camps are in danger from both pro-government militia and rebel groups. (Additional reporting by Opheera McDoom in Khartoum and Sue Pleming in Washington.    August 31, 2006 (Washington, DC)    Darfur Resolution on UN Peacekeepers Adopted at the Security Council. (AfricaAction)    This morning at the United Nations (UN) Security Council, a resolution authorizing the deployment of peacekeepers to Darfur passed with a vote of 12 in favor, with China, Russia and Qatar abstaining. This resolution, introduced two weeks ago by the U.S. and the U.K., was altered in negotiations this week to include a provision requiring the consent of the Sudanese government. Africa Action, which has been calling for the deployment of UN peacekeepers for more than two years, recognized the importance of this step and expressed concern that the resolution will be rendered useless without a diplomatic action plan that ensures Sudanese consent for a UN intervention.    Marie Clarke Brill, Acting Co-Executive Director of Africa Action, said today, “This resolution has laid the groundwork for sustained international involvement in Darfur, and the deployment of peacekeepers to the region. However, the caveat of necessitating Sudanese consent for the deployment of UN peacekeepers gives empowers the regime to hold hostage the international responsibility to protect. It is all the more urgent for the U.S. to lead the rest of the international community in diplomatic efforts to break the deadlock on Darfur and ensure the rapid deployment of UN peacekeepers in Darfur.”    As humanitarian aid access has dropped to the lowest levels since the beginning of the conflict, the Darfur region is poised for a continued degeneration of security. Reports indicate that government forces are massing thousands of troops in North Darfur, as part of a plan to quash the activities of rebel non-signatories to the Darfur Peace Agreement. While this has been cast by Khartoum as means of ensuring peace, the people in that region are now facing the imminent prospect of full-blown warfare.    With the African Union (AU) mandate set to expire at the end of September, there is a pressing need for expedited action on the part of the U.S. and other members of the international community to avoid an approaching security vacuum. Jan Egeland, UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, has warned of an impending “man-made catastrophe of an unprecedented scale,” with a death toll potentially in the hundreds of thousands.    Marie Clarke Brill went on to say, “Two years ago, the U.S. declared that what was going on Darfur was genocide, thereby assuming the responsibility to act to end the killing. In the period since, our government’s actions have been insufficient to stop the genocide. Today, the U.S. has set the stage for movement to protect the people of Darfur; it cannot afford to falter now. Activists will continue to hold the U.S. accountable to its responsibility to protect until the UN peacekeeping operation is on the ground protecting civilians.”
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