April 24, 2004
Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail hailed a U.N. decision not to condemn his government for alleged rights abuses in pursuit of rebels in western Sudan, saying it was a victory against a "vicious" campaign. But in a rare admission about the rebellion in Darfur province, Ismail said Friday that the government may be overlooking the conduct of the militias as they were helping it fight the rebels.
Earlier Friday, the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva voted to express concern about the overall situation in Darfur, but it stopped short of formally condemning Sudan. The U.S. envoy to the commission, Richard Williamson, promptly said he would seek an emergency session of the body to hold Sudan to account for what has happened in Darfur, where the government and allied militia have been accused of waging a campaign of ethnic cleansing and village destruction. "We must stand up and be strong, condemning unconscionable acts," Williamson told the commission.
A commission report compiled by monitors who interviewed Darfur refugees in neighboring Chad details atrocities against Sudanese Africans allegedly committed by government forces and Sudanese Arab militias. Thousands of people are believed to have died since early 2003 when the rebels took up arms to fight for autonomy and greater state aid in the neglected province. An estimated 110,000 Sudanese have fled to Chad. The report says another 700,000 people are believed to have displaced within Darfur.
Speaking on Sudanese television, Foreign Minister Ismail said of the Geneva vote: "Thank God, we won." "This is the most vicious, hostile campaign this government has ever faced since it came to power" in 1989, he said. He repeated government denials that it was not involved in ethnic cleansing and said the reported death toll in Darfur was greatly exaggerated. "I would say not more than 600 people (have been killed) at most," Ismail said. "The government may have turned a blind eye toward the militias. This is true. Because those militias are targeting the rebellion," Ismail said.
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