The United States secretary of state, Colin Powell, dramatically increased pressure on the Sudanese government on Thursday by declaring the killings and destruction in its Darfur region to be genocide.
Powell, directly blaming the Sudanese government, said: ”This was a coordinated effort, not just random violence.”
The US now has an obligation under international law to act. Labelling violence as genocide is relatively rare.
Powell’s declaration follows a report from US state department investigators who spent five weeks taking evidence from 1 136 refugees attacked by the government-backed Janjaweed militia.
British Foreign Office minister Chris Mullin said on Thursday night that events in Darfur ”may well be genocide”.
”What would have to be demonstrated in order for the Sudanese government to be accused of genocide was that they had the intent to commit genocide, and that hasn’t been demonstrated yet,” Mullin said on Channel 4 news. ”Whatever you call it, there is no doubt that grave crimes against humanity have been committed in Darfur.”
The US and British governments have been reluctant to declare the destruction of lives and villages in Darfur to be genocide because of the international legal obligations and to avoid unnecessarily antagonising the Sudanese government.
Powell is to press the UN to set up an international commission ”with a view to ensuring accountability”. The foreign secretary, Jack Straw, is backing the commission proposal.
Powell said: ”I concluded that genocide has been committed in Darfur and that the government of Sudan and the Janjaweed bear responsibility and that genocide may still be occurring.”
The Sudanese government rejected the charge. Najeeb al-Khair Abdel-Wahab, the deputy foreign minister, said he expected the international community to assist, ”not put oil on the fire”.
An estimated 40 000 people have been killed and 1,2-million have fled their homes as a result of the violence.
Genocide is defined under a law drawn up after the second world war as ”acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”.
Powell said the evidence corroborated the specific intent of perpetrators to destroy a ”group in whole or part”.
Powell said: ”There is nobody prepared to send troops in there from the United States or the European Union or elsewhere to put it down in the sense of an imposition force.”
The preferred option in Washington and London is to expand an African Union monitoring force already in Darfur.
The state department report, released on Thursday, said there was a ”consistent and widespread pattern of atrocities committed against non-Arab villagers”.
The report said: ”Most respondents said government forces, militia fighters, or a combination of both, had completely destroyed their villages.”
It said 61% witnessed the killing of a family member, and 16% said they had been raped or had heard about a rape victim.
The Sudanese government claims it is simplistic to portray the violence as between Arab Janjaweed and black African villagers, and blames much of the trouble on anti-government rebels in Darfur.
The UN security council is discussing a draft resolution on Darfur calling for an expanded African Union mandate.
The US and British governments will include in the draft the setting up of the international commission. – Guardian Unlimited Â