The United States Secretary of State, Colin Powell, said on Wednesday that the militias which have terrorised western Sudan ”must be broken”, and described conditions in the region as a ”humanitarian catastrophe”.
After visiting a refugee camp in northern Darfur, Powell warned that the United Nations will take action if Sudan fails to disarm the Janjaweed militias, which are accused of driving more than one million people from their homes.
”The Janjaweed must be controlled. They must be broken. They must be kept from perpetrating acts of violence against the Sudanese population.”
Powell said he had given Sudan a timetable to rein in the militias and resolve the crisis. ”We are talking within days and weeks,” he said.
On Wednesday night, the US proposed a UN security council resolution imposing an arms embargo and travel ban on the Janjaweed. The draft resolution would have the security council state ”its determination to do everything possible to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe, including by taking further action if required”.
It does not propose action against the Khartoum government, which is accused of supporting the militias, but diplomats said there was an implied threat of extended sanctions if there was no improvement.
It says the security council will decide within 30 days of the resolution being adopted whether the sanctions should be applied ”to any other individuals or groups responsibility for the commission of atrocities in Darfur”.
At a news conference with Powell, the Sudanese foreign minister, Mustafa Osman Ismail, said police and military units would be sent to Darfur to ”combat the Janjaweed”, but the government has spoken of incorporating the Janjaweed into its security forces.
Last week, aid workers at the Mornay refugee camp in western Darfur pointed out Janjaweed troopers on camels, wearing military fatigues and carrying long whips, patrolling in the heart of the camp.
Witnesses have told human rights organisations that government forces backed up the Janjaweed’s raids on villages with aerial bombardment and ground troops.
It is suspected that the camp visited by the US delegation may have been ”sanitised” by the Sudanese government. One aid worker told the Reuters news agency that Powell was taken to a ”show camp.”
Powell spoke of encouraging the refugees to return home and his spokesperson Richard Boucher, said people in the camps ”were telling us they wanted to go home”.
But refugees have consistently told journalists that they have no desire to return home because of their fear of the Janjaweed.
Earlier this week refugees in Abu Shouk told the Washington Post that Sudanese government agents had warned them to keep quiet about their experiences when Powell visited them.
Powell’s visit coincides with that of the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, who is due in Darfur on Thursday.
”I think we should be able to make some real progress in the next 24 to 48 hours,” Annan told senior Sudanese ministers on Wednesday.
A diverse US constituency, combining the Christian right, African-Americans and Jews, has taken an interest in the wars in Sudan.
The Bush administration played a significant role in resolving the civil war in southern Sudan. In a peace deal signed last month, the government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army agreed to share oil revenues and power.
Britain has been criticised by aid agencies and human rights groups for being ”too soft” on the Sudanese government.
An aid agency spokesperson said: ”While [Britain] has been very generous with humanitarian aid, their lack of tough political action at the UN security council has contradicted this. Their diplomatic approach clearly hasn’t worked.” – Guardian Unlimited Â