Wire Story
Sen. Brownback calls for U.N.’s. Annan to ‘lead or leave’ over Sudan
By Logan C. Adams -- Scripps Howard Foundation Wire, Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON- Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., criticized the United Nations Tuesday for failing to recognize atrocities in Sudan as genocide.A U.N. commission concluded Monday that genocide was not occurring in Sudan, only what might be considered “crimes against humanity.”
“The toleration of genocide will mark us ‘failures’ in the history books,” Brownback said.
More than 70,000 people have died and 1.8 million have been driven from their homes since the violence began in the country’s Darfur region in February 2003. The victims are members of black African tribes who are being targeted by government-supported Arab militia known as the Janjaweed.
Brownback said that Secretary General Kofi Annan must lead the Security Council to action to deal with the genocide or resign in protest.
“We cannot wait any longer for credible action in Darfur,” Brownback said. “The time is now for Secretary General Kofi Annan to lead or leave. Inaction will ensure that tens of thousands more Darfurians will die, and the sequel to ‘Hotel Rwanda’ will occur before our very eyes.”
He was referring to the movie starring Don Cheadle as Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager who saved more than 1,000 people from the ethnic violence that gripped Rwanda in 1994. Cheadle, who has been nominated for an Oscar for his role, spoke to lawmakers last week about the violence in Sudan after he visited the country.
The senator also said the secretary general must see that Sudan is removed from the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, calling its membership a “travesty.”
Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., who traveled to Darfur with Brownback last summer, joined him for the announcement. Both lawmakers disagreed with the commission’s conclusion and called for the United Nations to take action, including sending more troops from the African Union and for sanctions against the Sudanese government.
Wolf recalled the trip in response to the commission finding that refugee camps set up as a result of the violence were acceptable. “I beg to differ, having been in the camps,” he said. “I've walked in the feces and seen the children too sick to eat.”
By Logan C. Adams -- Scripps Howard Foundation Wire, Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON- Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., criticized the United Nations Tuesday for failing to recognize atrocities in Sudan as genocide.A U.N. commission concluded Monday that genocide was not occurring in Sudan, only what might be considered “crimes against humanity.”
“The toleration of genocide will mark us ‘failures’ in the history books,” Brownback said.
More than 70,000 people have died and 1.8 million have been driven from their homes since the violence began in the country’s Darfur region in February 2003. The victims are members of black African tribes who are being targeted by government-supported Arab militia known as the Janjaweed.
Brownback said that Secretary General Kofi Annan must lead the Security Council to action to deal with the genocide or resign in protest.
“We cannot wait any longer for credible action in Darfur,” Brownback said. “The time is now for Secretary General Kofi Annan to lead or leave. Inaction will ensure that tens of thousands more Darfurians will die, and the sequel to ‘Hotel Rwanda’ will occur before our very eyes.”
He was referring to the movie starring Don Cheadle as Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager who saved more than 1,000 people from the ethnic violence that gripped Rwanda in 1994. Cheadle, who has been nominated for an Oscar for his role, spoke to lawmakers last week about the violence in Sudan after he visited the country.
The senator also said the secretary general must see that Sudan is removed from the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, calling its membership a “travesty.”
Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., who traveled to Darfur with Brownback last summer, joined him for the announcement. Both lawmakers disagreed with the commission’s conclusion and called for the United Nations to take action, including sending more troops from the African Union and for sanctions against the Sudanese government.
Wolf recalled the trip in response to the commission finding that refugee camps set up as a result of the violence were acceptable. “I beg to differ, having been in the camps,” he said. “I've walked in the feces and seen the children too sick to eat.”
posted by Logan C. Adams at 2/02/2005 06:49:00 PM
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