A resolution which would have held Sudanese officials publicly and individually responsible for the ongoing genocide in Darfur got blocked by China and Russia at the United Nations yesterday, leading to a public escalation by Ambassador John Bolton. The so-called silence process would have approved sanctions against four Sudanese government officials without requiring a Security Council vote if the member nations had not objected to the resolution. When China objected and Russia supported the objection, Bolton decided to force the proposal into the open:

John R. Bolton, the United States ambassador, said Monday that he intended to offer a Security Council resolution on Tuesday that would publicly identify four Sudanese individuals responsible for atrocities in Darfur and possibly force a vote on whether the panel would impose sanctions on them. ...

He said he decided on the move after learning that China and Russia had objected to action against the four individuals. Their names were circulated among Council members last Thursday under a so-called silence procedure that would have applied the sanctions unless they met opposition.

On Monday, China said it opposed the sanctions, and Russia said it backed China's view. Wang Guangya, the Chinese ambassador, said that taking action now would complicate African Union-sponsored peace talks on the conflicted Darfur region under way in Abuja, Nigeria. "At this sensitive moment, to publish the list of names will have a negative effect on the negotiations there," he said.

The four — including a member of government, as well as fighters from pro- and anti-government militias — are charged with committing atrocities and undermining peace efforts in Darfur. The sanctions include travel bans and freezes on assets.

The sanctions proferred by the US would have avoided sanctioning the entire Sudanese government. Instead, the UN would have meted punishment individually, allowing the government itself to conduct the negotiations without the stigma it richly deserves in an effort to prod them into ending the genocide against Christians, animists, and non-Arab ethnics. China and Russia could not even bring themselves to offer even the mild consequences offered in this resolution to those who have caused and/or allowed genocide to occur in the African nation. Instead, as it did for Saddam Hussein throughout the twelve years of Turtle Bay quagmire, both nations have stood between genocidists and whatever measure of justice the world wishes to impose.

Bolton should be congratulated for his attempt to work quietly and modestly in his quest to hold these Sudanese officials responsible for the tragic and horrific events in Darfur. Now Bolton has made the right decision to escalate the issue into a full-scale political battle at the UNSC so that the world can recognize that China and Russia have yet to meet genocidists they won't defend. The US should force the two nations to use their veto to protect murderers and thugs yet again in order to demonstrate Turtle Bay's uselessness to their dwindling circle of supporters.

We castigated ourselves for not intervening in the Rwandan massacre before it turned into the horrid genocide that left hundreds of thousands dead. Now we find out that even had we wanted to get action in the UNSC, the genocide enablers would likely never have allowed any action at all. Perhaps someone can craft a rationale for the continued existence of the United Nations, but the pursuit of peace and justice can't possibly be one of the components for such an argument.

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» China and Russia Support Genocide from The Colossus
Via Captain Ed, come this bit of stomach-turning news from the Security Council meeting discussing Darfur. There are some people who like to think the vile regimes in Russia and China have some kind of moral equivalency to the West. Those people are wr... [Read More]

Tracked on April 18, 2006 1:10 PM

» China and Russia Support Genocide from The Colossus
Via Captain Ed, come this bit of stomach-turning news from the Security Council meeting discussing Darfur. There are some people who like to think the vile regimes in Russia and China have some kind of moral equivalency to the West. Those people are wr... [Read More]

Tracked on April 18, 2006 1:12 PM

» “Russia and China Protect Genocidists — Again” from TruePress
Captain Ed on Russia and China’s blocking of UN action in Darfur. He concludes; We castigated ourselves for not intervening in the Rwandan massacre before it turned into the horrid genocide that left hundreds of thousands dead. Now we find out... [Read More]

Tracked on April 18, 2006 3:42 PM