Annan calls on U.N. to investigate Darfur
Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, December 12, 2006
GENEVA – His time at the helm of the world body nearing an end, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan stepped up his efforts Tuesday to force a halt to atrocities in Darfur, demanding the U.N. Human Rights Council send an independent team of investigators to the volatile Sudanese region.
“It is urgent that we take action to prevent further violations, including by bringing to account those responsible for the numerous crimes that have already been committed,” Annan told the 47-nation council’s emergency session on Darfur. The body is expected to decide today whether to pass a resolution, which would be nonbinding but would increase political pressure.
Annan said militias were attacking defenseless civilians in Darfur and that “large numbers of women” were being raped.
“I urge you to lose no time in sending a team of independent and universally respected experts to investigate the latest escalation of abuses,” Annan said in a recorded video address opening the meeting.
Louise Arbour, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, cited “credible evidence” that the Sudanese military was responsible for ground attacks and aerial bombardments of civilians.
The Sudanese government also is accused of unleashing the janjaweed militia to help its forces counter ethnic African groups who rebelled in 2003. More than 200,000 people have been killed and about 2.5 million people have fled their homes, according to U.N. estimates.
Meanwhile, actor George Clooney arrived in Egypt on Tuesday, campaigning to raise awareness about killings in Darfur.
Clooney was joined by fellow actor Don Cheadle, Kenyan Olympian Tegla Loroupe, who serves as a U.N. ambassador of sport, and American speed skater and Olympic gold medal winner Joey Cheek.
Clooney organized the trip to make a personal plea to officials to use their ties with the Sudanese government to help stop the violence, said Stan Rosenfield, his publicist.
Clooney was expected to meet Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit today.
