UN Human Rights Council sends a fact-finding mission to Darfur

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Source: CCTV.com | 12-14-2006 08:55

The United Nations Human Rights Council has decided to send a high-level mission to assess the human rights situation in the strife-torn Sudanese region of Darfur. After two days of discussion and debate, the 47 member states of the Council in Geneva adopted a resolution on Wednesday.

The resolution authorized the sending of five "highly qualified" team members along with the world body's special Sudan investigator to assess the human rights situation in Darfur and the needs of Sudan in this regard.

This is the first time that the Human Rights Council, launched in June as part of UN reform replacing the Human Rights Commission, has held a special session on Darfur, where the UN said some 200,000 people have died since the conflict between Khartoum and local rebels began in 2003.

Idriss Jazairy, Algerian ambassador to the UN, said, "This is the message of hope for the people of Africa, this is a message of hope for the people of the world. I think we have risen to our responsibilities."

The United States, which has been heavily critical of the Council for focusing on Israeli violations on Arab lands and avoiding situations like Darfur and has so far declined to join the Geneva-based body, gave guarded approval to the Council.

Top UN officials, including Secretary-General Kofi Annan, had pleaded with the Council, to send a clear message that it was ready to act on Darfur.