The political and humanitarian situation in Sudan’s western region of Darfur was again in the spotlight on Tuesday, thanks to a visit to south Sudan and Chad by United States Senate majority leader William Frist.
”What is going on there [in Darfur] is genocide. I disagree with the statement made by the EU [European Union] yesterday [Monday] saying this is not genocide. The international community must not turn its back on this crisis,” the Republican senator from Tennessee told journalists at a press conference in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
A campaign of terror in Darfur by Arab militias who are reportedly backed by government has displaced 1,2-million people, of whom about 200 000 fled to neighbouring Chad.
The crisis began last year when rebels from the Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement took up arms to protest against the alleged neglect of Darfur by authorities.
Khartoum is accused of providing support to the Arab paramilitaries — known as the Janjaweed (”men on horseback”) — who have been implicated in killings, rapes and abductions. They are also held responsible for torching houses, stealing cattle and destroying crops that belonged to three tribes suspected of supporting the rebels.
Certain governments have been cautious about using the term ”genocide” to describe events in Darfur, as the admission that this is occurring would require them to take preventive measures in the region.
But Frist, who visited refugee camps in Chad to interview Darfur residents, said their testimony provided sufficient evidence that genocide is under way in western Sudan.
”The US and UN [United Nations] have people on the ground who have interviewed the refugees and have reported these happenings. Again, for myself as someone who has been on the ground and informed of what is happening, there is a clear-cut goal of extermination of the civilians,” he noted.
These statements come after last month’s resolution by the US Congress declaring that genocide was taking place in Darfur. However, the administration of US President George Bush denies there is proof of genocide.
On July 30, the UN passed a resolution to impose sanctions on Sudan by the end of August if its government fails to disarm the Janjaweed (Khartoum has denied any involvement with the militias). Speaking on Tuesday, Frist said he doubts whether sanctions will have any effect on Khartoum.
The deployment of foreign troops to re-establish security in Darfur has also been discussed — although Sudanese officials and the Arab League have rejected this proposal.
Ministers from this organisation — who met in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on Sunday to discuss the crisis in Darfur — stated that such a deployment will have a negative impact on the people of Sudan, and worsen the situation in Darfur.
Khartoum has been less resistant to moves by the African Union to send about 2 000 soldiers to the region, to protect AU observers who are monitoring a ceasefire signed in April 2004 between government and rebel forces.
Last month, the AU made a failed attempt to bring both parties to the negotiating table to end the rebellion. The rebels have demanded that the Janjaweed first be demobilised, and human-rights abuses prosecuted.
However, the AU announced on Monday that the parties had since agreed to hold talks in Nigeria on August 23.
Developments in Darfur have undermined the optimism sparked by efforts to resolve another conflict in Sudan, in the south of the country.
Since 2002, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army has been holding talks with Khartoum in Kenya to end the 20-year civil war — this under the auspices of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development. About two million people have died and more than four million been displaced by the conflict, which has pitted Islamic authorities against Christian and animist rebels.
Negotiators in Kenya have already reached agreement on key issues, including the distribution of revenues from oil resources in southern Sudan, the creation of a joint army and the formation of a government of national unity. A final and comprehensive ceasefire was to have been signed last month. However, discussions on the accord stalled.
”We differed on finer details on this matter, but we hope it will be resolved soon,” SPLA spokesperson Samson Kwaje said on Tuesday.
However, Frist sounded a cautionary note.
”An overall agreement of the peace talks between north and south would provide an end to war in Sudan. But, I sense that now things are moving more slowly than any of us would have liked,” he said.
”We encourage the two sides to reach an agreement as aggressively as possible,” Frist added. — IPS
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