Refer Darfur violations to the ICC, senior UN official urges

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, on Wednesday recommended that the UN Security Council refer reports of human rights violations in the western Sudanese region of Darfur to the International Criminal Court (ICC), a statement from the UN in New York said. "The Commission held the view that referral to the ICC was the only credible way of bringing alleged perpetrators to justice and advised against other measures," Arbour said as she presented the findings of the UN appointed Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, to the Council. She said crimes such as murder, torture, enforced disappearances, destruction of villages, rape and forced displacement had been perpetrated on a widespread and systematic basis. "What is most urgently needed are concrete measures to bring the current violence to an end and restore security and dignity to the people of Darfur," Arbour noted. "The Commission, in my view, eloquently and powerfully argues that referral to the ICC is the best means by which to halt ongoing violations and prevent future ones," she added. The United States, which opposes the first permanent global criminal tribunal, had proposed an ad hoc war crimes tribunal be set up, arguing that it could begin operating quickly by sharing infrastructure with the Rwanda tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania. The UN Commission, however, argued against the possibility of either establishing an ad hoc international tribunal or expanding the mandate of an existing tribunal, saying it was likely to prove time-consuming and expensive. The Commission's report noted that despite the magnitude of the crisis, the Sudanese government informed it of very few cases of individuals who had been prosecuted or even disciplined in the context of the situation in Darfur. This led the Commission to observe that measures taken so far had been grossly inadequate and ineffective. The report concluded the Sudanese government and various militias carried out mass killings and probably war crimes in Darfur, but said this did not amount to genocide because the crucial element of "genocidal intent" appeared to be missing. "Nothing in the Commission's report precludes the possibility of individuals being convicted of acts of genocide in relation to the events in Darfur," Arbour said. "Personal criminal responsibility is not determined by government policy." The Commission reviewed steps taken by the Sudanese Government and judicial authorities to address crimes and concluded that they were both unwilling and unable to act, adding that many victims had little confidence in the impartiality of the justice system and feared reprisals if they resorted to it. It stressed there were other immediate actions to be taken, including granting full and unimpeded access by the International Committee of the Red Cross and UN human rights monitors to all those detained by the Sudanese authorities in relation to the situation in Darfur. The protection of witnesses and victims of human rights violations was also urgently needed. UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, told the Council that the report of the Commission of Inquiry was one of the most important documents in the recent history of the UN. "It makes chilling reading," UN News quoted Annan as saying. "And it is a call to urgent action. The international community, led by the Council, must immediately find a way to halt the killing and protect the vulnerable." The report demonstrated that the last two years had been little short of hell-on-earth for our fellow human beings in Darfur, Annan noted, adding that despite the attention the Council had paid to that crisis, that hell had continued. The war in Darfur pits Sudanese government troops and militias, allegedly allied to the government, against rebels fighting to end what they have called marginalisation and discrimination of the region's inhabitants by the state. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and up to 1.85 million internally displaced or forced to flee to neighbouring Chad.