BRUSSELS/ABUJA, 14 September 2004 — European Union foreign ministers renewed yesterday a threat of sanctions against the Sudanese government unless it takes action to disarm militias threatening refugees in the Darfur region. The EU welcomed some progress toward improving the humanitarian situation with the distribution of food, but lamented that security remained a “major challenge” for the Khartoum government.
Since black African rebels began an uprising against the Arabic-speaking Sudanese government in February last year, Khartoum and a proxy militia force have been accused of atrocities and scorched-earth tactics against Darfur’s population, leading to a massive refugee and humanitarian crisis.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said he was “pretty confident” that a UN Security Council resolution being drawn up in New York will maintain the threat of sanctions against Khartoum. “The government of Sudan needs to understand that the prospect will come much closer and turn into a reality unless we see very much better cooperation by them on this crucial issue of law and order and safety in Darfur,” he said.
Germany’s Joschka Fischer, also attending a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, also pressed for Sudan to do more. “Above all the pressure should not be released now,” he told reporters. “There has been progress but in particular parts it has not been fully implemented,” he said, noting that there were “widespread humanitarian concerns about the situation on the ground.”
In Abuja, slow-moving African Union-brokered peace talks for Darfur have been complicated by last week’s declaration by the United States that Khartoum and allied militia are committing genocide there. “The American declaration was very destructive and it has created a very negative impact on the climate of the negotiations,” said Sudan’s ambassador to Nigeria, Rahim Khalil.
“The rebels are now more intransigent, more demanding. America should have respected the efforts of the AU, which is trying to find a solution to what is happening in Darfur,” he said. The talks have made little progress since they began three weeks ago, bogging down first on what should be on the agenda and then again last week when the Khartoum delegation rejected AU proposals on re-establishing security in Darfur.
Khartoum gave an Arab militia group, the Janjaweed, a free rein to crack down on the rebel groups. The ensuing violence has claimed some 50,000 lives and forced 1.4 million people from their homes, according to the United Nations.
The two rebel groups — the Sudan Liberation Movement and Justice and Equality Movement — have called Powell’s indictment “a welcome development.” “This has been our position all along, that the Sudanese government and its militia, the Janjaweed, have continued to kill innocent civilians in Darfur,” spokesman for the SLM, Abdelhafiz Mustafa Musa, said. “The verdict has debunked the lies, the insincerity of the Sudanese government to the peace process.”
