The U.N. Commission on Human Rights undercut international pressure to end impunity in Darfur by adopting a weak resolution on the human rights situation in Sudan, said Human Rights First. The resolution is disturbingly silent regarding the responsibility of the Sudanese government for grave crimes in Darfur and the government’s inability or unwillingness to hold accountable individual perpetrators of such crimes. The resolution, taken without vote on Thursday, April 21, 2005, does condemn in general terms “the continued, widespread and systematic violations of human rights and international humanitarian law” in Darfur.
“The Commission lets Sudan off easily with this resolution,” said John Stompor, Senior Associate in the International Justice Program at Human Rights First. “It backs away from the findings by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and the International Commission of Inquiry that crimes against humanity were committed in Darfur and the Sudanese government bears responsibility.”
Also absent from the resolution is any mention of Sudan’s obligation to cooperate with the International Criminal Court, said Human Rights First. On March 31, 2005, the Security Council adopted resolution 1593, which authorizes the International Criminal Court to hold accountable those responsible for grave crimes in Darfur and obliges the Government of Sudan and all other parties to the conflict in Darfur to cooperate fully with the Court and its prosecutor.
One positive development in the resolution is the Commission’s appointment of a special rapporteur on human rights in Sudan, said Human Rights First. This human rights investigator is tasked with monitoring the situation of human rights in Sudan and reporting to the U.N. General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights.
