KHARTOUM, 14 October 2004 — The European Union warned Sudan yesterday it would impose sanctions if security in the conflict-torn Darfur region did not improve within two months.
Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot, representing the rotating EU presidency, welcomed Sudan’s acceptance of up to 4,000 African monitors and a promise of cooperation with a UN investigation into whether genocide has taken place.
But he said more action was needed on disarming militias, bringing human rights abusers to justice and returning home an estimated 1.5 million people driven from their villages.
“Not sufficient progress has been made on the protection of civilians in Darfur. The situation in the field is not yet satisfactory,” Bot told journalists after talks in Khartoum with his Sudanese counterpart Mustafa Osman Ismail.
“If it turns out that in the next two months nothing has happened ... the situation is worsening, then there is no other option for us than to apply sanctions and we have made that crystal clear,” he said.
Bot said pressure, including possible sanctions, should also be applied to rebel groups in the region.
The conflict follows years of skirmishes between Arab nomads and mainly non-Arab farmers over scarce resources in Darfur, an arid western region bordering Chad.
Rebels took up arms last year, accusing Khartoum of neglect and of using mounted Arab militias known as Janjaweed to loot and burn non-Arab villages and kill their inhabitants.
Khartoum denies the charge, calling the Janjaweed outlaws and saying it is doing what it can to restore stability.
“We feel the government is fully cooperating, then why the threatening of sanctions? We think that the threatening of sanctions we left with the colonialisation era,” Ismail told a news conference with Bot.
The United Nations, which calls the situation in Darfur one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, puts the death toll at up to 50,000 from violence, hunger and disease.
Bot said Sudanese officials stressed the need for outside help in improving security in Darfur and urged the African Union to provide the promised troops as soon as possible.
He reiterated the EU was willing to contribute financially and with logistics for the AU mission.
The AU’s Peace and Security Council is due to make a final decision on Oct. 20 on the duties and numbers of its force which will monitor a shaky ceasefire in Darfur.
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution last month threatening Sudan with oil sanctions over Darfur. A UN panel is set to investigate whether genocide has taken place there and is due to report in three months.
Bot also expressed hope for peace talks in Kenya on the civil war in Sudan’s south, adding this should also help efforts to resolve the Darfur crisis.
“I am very hopeful after the discussion we had today that the resumption of the peace negotiations in Kenya will lead to a successful outcome,” he said.
