Sudan cries bias in Darfur report

GENEVA, Switzerland - Sudan yesterday accused a U.N. panel of bias and moved to block its report, which accuses Khartoum of orchestrating attacks in Darfur, from consideration by the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Sudanese Justice Minister Mohammed Ali al-Mardi said in prepared remarks to the 47-nation council that the American head of the panel, Nobel laureate Jody Williams, had taken "a preconceived and hostile attitude against Sudan."

He omitted that statement when he delivered the speech, but he accused another, unnamed panel member of making allegations of genocide in the region in "flagrant violation" of standards of impartiality and neutrality.

Mardi said Sudan "strongly and resolutely" opposes any consideration by the council of the report, which he said should be dismissed because it was written without the team's having visited Darfur. Team members have said Sudan refused them visas.

The sharply worded report, issued Monday, said the United Nations must move to protect civilians against a Sudanese government-orchestrated campaign in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been displaced by four years of fighting. Williams' panel called for U.N. Security Council intervention, sanctions and criminal prosecution.

Sudan's government "has manifestly failed to protect the population of Darfur from large-scale international crimes and has itself orchestrated and participated in these crimes," the report said, adding that "war crimes and crimes against humanity" were continuing.

Mardi contended that two of the six team members had failed to participate, invalidating the mission.

U.N. officials said Indonesian Ambassador Makarim Wibisono was the only member to withdraw. Gabonese Ambassador Patrice Tonda had to return to Geneva while the group was waiting in vain for Sudanese visas, but he remains a member of the panel, the officials said.

Mardi also complained that Mexican Ambassador Luis Alfonso de Alba, president of the Human Rights Council, failed to adequately consult countries before making appointments to the team.

Western countries vehemently opposed the inclusion of ambassadors on the panel - as demanded by Sudan's allies on the council - arguing they could not be objective. But after more than a month of protracted private negotiations on the council, Western countries agreed to the appointment of the two ambassadors to ensure that the mission went ahead.

Mardi argued that Williams had given Sudanese authorities less than an hour to issue visas Feb. 14 before calling off plans to visit Sudan.

Williams, however, wrote a letter last month to de Alba stating that more than a dozen requests for the visas were submitted to Sudanese authorities by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and others beginning Jan. 26 and continuing until Feb. 14, when, Williams said, "it was clear that the government had no intention of issuing the visas."

Mardi contended that Darfur's humanitarian situation "is much more stable now and there is a visible decrease in malnutrition and mortality rates."

The conflict began when members of the region's ethnic African tribes took up arms against what they saw as decades of neglect and discrimination by the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum. In a tactic the United States has characterized as genocidal, Khartoum is accused of unleashing a pro-government Arab militia, known as the Janjaweed, that has committed many of the worst atrocities in the conflict.

Williams told the Associated Press that "the overwhelming burden of guilt lies with the government and the militia."