UN criticizes Sudan over war crimes suspects

UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. Security Council called Monday on Sudan to arrest and hand over two Darfur war crimes suspects for prosecution by the International Criminal Court.

Sudan has repeatedly rejected U.N. demands to hand over Ahmed Harun, a Cabinet minister, and Ali Kushayb, a militia commander. The two face 51 charges, including murder, rape and forced expulsions in 2003 and 2004 in Darfur. They are accused of organizing a system to recruit, fund, arm and command a militia that terrorized villages in the western Sudanese region.

Monday's action was notable because it was backed by both China, a strong protector of Sudan, and the United States. It occurred during the month when the U.S. holds the council's rotating presidency.

Council members in a 15-0 vote issued a statement Monday that "urges the government of Sudan and all other parties to the conflict in Darfur to cooperate fully with the court ... to put an end to impunity for the crimes committed in Darfur."

The council voted in 2005 to refer Darfur to the International Criminal Court, in a resolution that gave the ICC prosecutor authority to investigate and prosecute war crimes committed in Darfur. Such a referral was required to give the court jurisdiction over Sudan, because the nation is not a party to the treaty establishing the court.

Richard Dicker, director of Human Rights Watch's international justice program, cited China's sensitivity to world opinion ahead of this summer's Beijing Olympics and a loosening of ideology by the U.S., which was among several nations that had abstained from the 2005 vote, as factors in the passage of the council's presidential statement.

As many as 300,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced since the war erupted in Darfur in 2003. Sudan denies backing the janjaweed militia of Arab nomads accused of the worst atrocities in the conflict.

ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said in a June 5 report to the council that "the whole state apparatus" of Sudan is implicated in crimes against humanity in the Darfur region, linking the government directly with the janjaweed.

The court, which lacks police to enforce its warrants, was set up in 2002 as the first permanent war crimes tribunal.

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