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04/24/2004: "The United Nations: leadership incarnate"
AFP reports that the UN Commission on Human Rights stood up for truth, justice, and peace in Sudan–sometime in the next few years:
Sudan escaped heavy criticism at the United Nations' top human rights forum as countries adopted a softly worded text on atrocities allegedly committed in the western Darfur region.
As a UN team travelled to Darfur to probe what is described as the world's worst ongoing humanitarian disaster and the warring sides began delayed peace talks in the neighbouring capital of Chad, 50 countries approved the mildly-worded decision on the last day of the Commission's six-week session.
Since erupting in February 2003, the Darfur war has displaced about one million people within Sudan and forced more than 100,000 others to flee to neighbouring Chad, according to UN estimates.
The decision requests the appointment of a special human rights envoy to Sudan who will report to the commission in one year and it encouraged the government to promote human rights protection under international law.
A draft resolution originally introduced by the European Union and co-sponsored by the United States, however, gave the Khartoum government a long list of challenges to stop the attacks against civilians which have led to "the forced depopulation" of entire areas.
"We do not believe the... text of the current decision is in any way adequate to reflect the seriousness of this situation," said Peter Heyward, the head of the Australian delegation, which abstained from voting.
Lest you think the EU was displaying much backbone here, the story also notes that the resolution that passed was "drawn up as a compromise between the European Union and a bloc of African nations."
But Congo's top diplomat, Roger Julien Menga, speaking on behalf of the African group, said the text provided the only chance to monitor the situation.
Its approval would "allow us today to leave this room with our conscience eased knowing that we have done what we could as a Commission," he said.
And what, pray tell, could possibly be more important for a bunch of UN diplomats than to leave the room with their consciences eased? As for the poor Sudanese who will be dead a week from now, much less a year, victims of Arab genocide–well, if they have a problem with the decision, they can just get themselves to Turtle Bay and lodge a strongly worded protest.
