The United States Accuses Sudan of Committing Genocide in Darfur

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said on September 9 that the campaign of violence against civilians in the Sudanese region of Darfur constituted genocide – the first time that any official of the U.S. government or any leading international statesman has made such a statement. Powell made his comments as the United States attempts to win support for a draft resolution that it has introduced in the United Nations Security Council threatening sanctions against the Sudanese government if it does not do more to end attacks by against civilians by the militia groups known as Janjaweed.

In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Powell said that the evidence compiled by a U.S. team that interviewed refugees from the region led him to conclude “that genocide has been committed in Darfur and that the government of Sudan and the Janjaweed bear responsibility, and that genocide may still be occurring.” In the 1948 Genocide Convention, genocide is defined as murder or other acts of violence intended “to destroy in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such.”

The Convention – to which both Sudan and the United States are parties – requires signatories to “prevent and punish” genocide. Some legal scholars believe the Convention places states under an obligation to take action to prevent genocide being committed by other countries, if it is within their power to do so. During the Rwandan genocide of 1994, the U.S. State Department avoided the use of the word “genocide” to describe what was happening out of concern that it would put greater pressure on the United States to intervene.

Nevertheless there is far from a general consensus at the moment that a legal obligation exists for states to prevent genocide outside their own borders. Few people would disagree, however, that the Genocide Convention places a moral and political responsibility on its signatories to attempt to prevent genocide from taking place or to deal with it when it occurs.

In a statement released after Colin Powell's testimony, President Bush issued a statement that said, “We urge the international community to work with us to prevent and suppress acts of genocide.”

The U.S. attempt to have the Security Council pass a new resolution on the situation in Sudan follows an earlier resolution voted by the Council on July 30 by a margin of 13-0 (with China and Pakistan abstaining). That resolution – Resolution 1556 – demanded that the government of Sudan disarm the Janjaweed militias and apprehend and bring to justice Janjaweed leaders and associates who had incited or carried out violations of international humanitarian law. These requirements matched a series of commitments that the Sudanese government had undertaken to meet in a joint communiqué signed with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in Khartoum on July 3. The resolution effectively set a thirty-day compliance period for Sudan, asking the Secretary-General to report back after that period on the progress that Sudan had made in meeting these commitments, and expressed the intention of the Security Council to consider further measures – including economic sanctions – if there was not sufficient progress.

Following the expiration of the thirty-day period, Annan reported to the Security Council on September 1. In a statement based in part on the findings of his special envoy, Jan Pronk, who had recently returned from the region, the Secretary-General charged that the government of Sudan was not yet doing enough to meet its commitments. “Attacks against civilians are continuing,” he said, adding that “the vast majority of armed militias” had not been disarmed.

Annan also warned that “no concrete steps have been taken to bring to justice or even identify any of the militia leaders or perpetrators of these attacks, allowing the violations of human rights and the basic laws of war to continue in a climate of impunity.”

The Sudanese government took issue with the report's findings in a letter to the Security Council from the country's Foreign Minister, Mustafa Osman Ismail. He said Sudan had made “relentless efforts” to meet the commitments it had made to the United Nations. Among the steps taken by the Sudanese government, according to the letter, were the conviction of 12 Janjaweed militia members, the donation of large amounts of food aid, stepping up access for those affected by the fighting to hospitals and health centers, and ongoing peace talks with rebel groups in Darfur .

An estimated 50,000 people have been killed and more than 1.2 million displaced from their homes by militia attacks since an uprising began in Darfur a year and a half ago. Government forces have collaborated in Janjaweed attacks, according to reliable accounts, and provided arms and other support for the militia groups. The Janjaweed are composed of fighters regarded as “Arab” and their attacks have been directed at black African civilians; the uprising in Darfur was launched by African fighters to protest at the discriminatory treatment they received from the Sudanese government.

The new draft resolution that the United States is pushing in the Security Council would threaten sanctions against Sudan 's oil industry, call for the expansion of an African Union force that is monitoring the situation in Darfur , and set up a commission to investigate whether genocide had occurred. There are now 300 African Union troops in Sudan , though their mandate is currently limited to monitoring a notional ceasefire agreed between rebel forces and government troops. The U.S.-sponsored draft resolution would set another thirty-day deadline for the Sudanese government, with a more explicit threat of sanctions “including to the petroleum sector” if Sudan continues to fall short of its commitments. It also calls for a ban on Sudanese military flights over Darfur (there have been many reports of government planes launching attacks on civilian villages in conjunction with Janjaweed fighters).

At a meeting of the Security Council on Thursday September 10, there appeared to be a good deal of support for extending the number of African Union troops, but more resistance to a stronger threat of sanctions. One of the countries currently opposed to sanctions is China , which would be able to veto any resolution.

Related chapters from Crimes of War: What the Public Should Know:

Genocide

Related Links:

Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide

Testimony Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Secretary of State Colin Powell

September 9, 2004

Documenting Atrocities in Darfur

U.S. State Department

September 2004

Sudan Internet Resources

Rift Valley Institute

Preventing Genocide

Stockholm International Forum 2004

Back to Top