The main rebel group in Darfur on Friday welcomed a United Nations Security Council resolution clearing the way for war crimes committed in the war-torn Sudanese region to be brought to the International Criminal Court.
”This resolution is a victory for humanity and the Sudan Liberation Movement [SLM],” the movement’s spokesperson Mahjoub Hussein said in a statement that also called for international arrest warrants to be issued for those who had carried out such crimes.
The resolution is a ”condemnation of the Khartoum government’s inhumane and immoral political project,” he added.
Sudanese troops and proxy militias known as Janjaweed, have been accused of widespread murder, rape and other human rights abuses in Darfur, where the combined effect of war and a dire humanitarian crisis have killed some 300 000 people and displaced 1,8-million.
The United States has described the killings in Darfur as genocide.
”The SLM welcomes the Security Council resolution and trusts the council’s role in establishing international peace and security in Darfur,” the statement went on.
After intense diplomatic haggling, the council voted 11-0 overnight for the resolution clearing the way for Darfur atrocities to be referred to The Hague-based court, breaking months of political deadlock.
The move is chiefly aimed at making Khartoum accountable for its repression of the rebel uprising in Darfur that erupted more than two years ago.
”The SLM calls on the Security Council to immediately set up the international court and issue an international arrest warrant against criminals in order to bring them to justice,” the statement added.
On Tuesday, the Security Council had passed another resolution imposing sanctions on rights violators in Darfur that the SLM had described as insufficient. — Sapa-AFP