1/30/2005 4:30:00 PM GMT
In what could possibly cause a major falling out between the United States and the UN, a report is due next week in which the organisation will state that no genocide took place in the Sudanese western region of Darfur.
Conservative estimates put at least 70,000 have been killed and nearly 2 million are now refugees due to the outbreak of fighting between the people of Darfur and militiamen known as the Janjaweed. However, other estimates put the number of those killed from the fighting as high as 370,000.
Washington last year declared that a state of genocide existed in the region of Darfur following a visit to the area by the former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.
However, the UN described the situation in Darfur as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
Following up on that statement, the UN Special Commission on Sudan in its report to the organisation's Secretary General will not declare genocide in Darfur.
It's believed the decision to not declare Darfur an area of genocide is due to immense pressure from the Security Council (SC) permanent members China and Russia. China has invested heavily in the country's newly discovered rich oil fields while Moscow has a large arms contract with the government in Khartoum.
The UN Commission report was ordered by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in order to determine whether acts of genocide actually occurred in Darfur.
A declaration of genocide would compel the UN to take military action against the Sudanese government - as decreed by the body's charter.
International Criminal Court
Talks aimed at achieving peace in the Darfur region are due to restart this week in Abuja, Nigeria. However, there are doubts over the attendance of one or two Darfurian rebel groups.
The African Union monitoring mission in Sudan has expressed concern over the fragmentation of two of the main Darfur groups. There are now four known armed factions in the region, as well as several unidentified armed groups.
According to the UN report there is "not sufficient evidence to indicate that Khartoum has a state policy intended to exterminate a particular racial or ethnic group." But the report does concede that there are "individuals who may have acted with a genocidal intention."
One recommendation by the report is to name the individuals so they can be brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, a move which could further antagonise the tense relationship between the organisation and the U.S.
The U.S. has vehemently opposed the ICC since its inception and has made several moves to marginalise it on the grounds that it could be used to bring politically motivated prosecutions against American personnel abroad.
According to a report in the U.S. media, a senior British diplomat said the UK and three other EU countries on the SC, namely France, Denmark and Greece, want to avoid a confrontation over the report and its recommendations. But he added "If the commission recommends a referral to the ICC, the Europeans would be likely to strongly support it."
But Pierre-Richard Prosper, America's ambassador at large for war crimes, warned ambassadors at the UN, "We don't want to be part of legitimising the ICC."
Richard Dicker, director of the international justice programme at Human Rights Watch said, "To put it bluntly, the ICC was created precisely for situations like Darfur. Let's focus on what's really at stake here. Any delay will lead to the loss of innocent lives in Darfur."