Diplomatic negotiation re: Sudan at the UN Security Council: time windows are set by diplomats and not by the needs of people
Sep 17th, 2004 by jimmoore
This afternoon, diplomatic negotiation is intense in New York at the
UN Security Council. US Ambassador John Danforth is working toward a
new resolution on Sudan.
Pressure is on for a resolution that will perhaps finally enable
African Union troops in large numbers to enter Sudan, and limit air
strikes and bombing raids in Darfur by the Sudanese government. Of
course this is after months and months of delay at the UN and among
world governments.
A public relations and diplomatic-process time window is in effect
this weekend, because all side hope to have an agreement in advance of
next Tuesday’s opening of the UN General Assembly. The only way to
achieve this is to have a successful resolution vote either today or
tomorrow–Saturday. Expectations are the vote will come tomorrow.
It is a shame that events on the ground in Darfur don’t set time
windows, though this week developments in Sudan seem to have raised the
concern of Secretary General Annan. Again, this seems very very late in
the game.
A variety of reports out of Sudan indicate that violence continues
to generate new “internally displaced persons” and refugees. For
example, several thousand arrived recently in El Fasher, capital of the
Sudanese state of North Darfur. A UN spokesperson said,
“They arrived about a week ago from villages south of El
Fasher and we are trying to find out what happened,” Abrahamson said.
“It is estimated that nearly 1,000 households - roughly 5,000 people,
have fled into the town.”
This and other reports indicate that the Sudanese government is not
disarming or reigning in its militia surrogates, but is continuing a
scorched earth “counter-insurgency” campaign. Diplomats and nations who
argued for trusting the Sudanese government to fix its own problem now
look foolish or (in the case of China and Egypt) possibly complicit. My
sense is that the discomfort of this perception will finally press the
Chinese and other allies of Sudan to agree to force Sudan to accept
African Union intervention.
Meanwhile, Kofi Annan continues to lead at a turtle-like
pace–appearing to respond forcefully to events, but doing so only with
meetings and reports.
In New York, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced that he was sending the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour,
and his Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Juan M