International community must act on Darfur, says Rice
Sudan-USA, Politics, 4/2/2005

Calling the situation in Sudan an Òextraordinary circumstance,Ó Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice explained April 1 the United States' decision to abstain rather than veto a U.N. Security Council resolution passed on March 31 refers cases of war crimes in the Darfur region of Sudan to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

During a joint press conference with Hungarian Foreign Minister Ferenc Somogyi at the State Department, Rice Ð responding to an observation that neither the United States nor Sudan are parties to the treaty that created the ICC Ð said Òit is important to uphold the principle that non-parties to a treaty are indeed non-parties to a treaty.Ê But the international community has to act on Darfur.Ó

ÒIt is a humanitarian crisis, it is a moral crisis, and it is a crisis that is extraordinary in its scope and in its potential for even greater damage to those populations,Ó Rice said.

ÒThere are clearly crimes against humanity being committed in Sudan and there are people who have to be held accountable for those crimes,Ó she said.

The United States had pressed for Darfur war crimes cases to be referred to an African Union (AU) court that would use the facilities of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.Ê However, acting U.S. Representative to the United Nations Anne Patterson said March 31 that the United States did not veto the U.N. resolution because the measure will help promote accountability Òand because the resolution provides protection from investigation or prosecution for U.S. nationals and members of the armed forces of non-state parties."

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