Global Policy Forum

By Evelyn Leopold

The U.N. Security Council delayed for more than three months setting up a system to impose sanctions on individuals in Sudan's Darfur region because of a dispute over a required panel of experts, diplomats said on Tuesday. Greece's U.N. ambassador, Adamantios Vassilakis, announced at a news conference on Tuesday that a panel of experts, which would help identify perpetrators, had been named and would travel to the region and prepare an initial report. The experts are from Ireland, the Netherlands, Jamaica and Zambia.

On March 29, the Security Council voted 12-0, with China, Russia and Algeria abstaining, to impose a travel ban and an asset freeze on those responsible for atrocities against civilians in Sudan's Darfur region. No list of perpetrators has been drawn up yet. The sanctions were to come into effect in 30 days after a list of offenders had been agreed on by a Security Council committee that Vassilakis heads.

At first the U.N. Secretariat had problems identifying experts, with two of those chosen turning down the offer, two council diplomats said. Then they said China objected to candidates on various grounds, including lack of experience. In one case Beijing turned down a Briton for being too critical of Sudan.

The council's resolution, drafted by the United States, called for the experts to travel regularly to Darfur and other places in Sudan and to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where the African Union is based, to monitor requirements in the resolution. The resolution also bars militia and rebel movements from bringing weapons into Darfur. It requires the Khartoum government to ask the sanctions panel for permission to ship any military equipment or supplies into Darfur.

The Sudan delay was first noticed last month by Human Rights Watch, which said in a statement, "Why is the Security Council committee lagging behind in its work? The committee needs to ensure that those responsible for atrocities and arms flows in Darfur are identified and sanctioned."

At least 180,000 people in Darfur have died from violence, hunger and disease and 2 million have been driven out of their homes, most into squalid camps. The Darfur conflict broke out in early 2003 after rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated government, complaining of discrimination. Khartoum is accused of retaliating by arming local Arab militia, who burned down villages and slaughtered and raped civilians. The Security Council has asked the International Criminal Court to begin an investigation of the main perpetrators and bring them to trial.

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