ICG: UN must condemn Sudan
2004-05-17 10:48
Nairobi - The United Nations should threaten to use military force in Sudan's Darfur region if Khartoum refuses to respect international law and continues targeting civilians, an influential think tank said on Monday.
The International Crisis Group (ICG) also urged the UN Security Council to pass a resolution condemning the Sudan government for "violations of international humanitarian law... indiscriminate targeting of civilians," obstructing relief supplies to the war-torn western region and for backing arab militia called Janjawid.
"The UN Secretary General (Kofi Annan) should be asked to provide a further report to the Security Council within three weeks, reviewing progress," the ICG said in a statement.
"And it should be made clear beyond doubt that in the event this report indicates a continuing humanitarian crisis in Darfur, ongoing indiscriminate targeting of civilians and obstruction of humanitarian assistance by the government, the Security Council will authorise the application of military force on 'responsibility to protect' principles" it added.
Call for arms embargo
ICG also demanded that the resolution should impose an arms embargo on Khartoum should it fail to respect a ceasefire signed between the warring sides in neighbouring Chad on April 8.
UN "must impose an arms embargo, insist Khartoum disarm the Janjawid, demand respect for the 'humanitarian' ceasefire... and support internationally facilitated political negotiations between government and rebels in Darfur," the statement added.
The Darfur war erupted in February 2003 when rebels of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) launched a insurgency to end domination by successive Khartoum governments.
Up to a million people have been displaced inside the country, and a UN report has said the government was deliberately starving some of them. More than 100 000 more have fled across the border into Chad.
The government in Sudan, Africa's largest nation, is dominated by Arabs but the country is also home to large non-Arab minorities, including in Darfur.