*EPF413 04/22/2004
Commission on Human Rights Urged to Strong Stand on Sudan
(Ambassadors Williamson, Moley at press conference in Geneva) (410)

By Wendy Lubetkin
Washington File Correspondent

Geneva --Ambassador Richard Williamson, head of the U.S. Delegation to the 60th session of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, says the United States believes the commission has a "moral obligation" to pass a strong resolution condemning the ethnic cleansing under way in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Debate on the situation in Sudan is scheduled for April 23, the last day of the commission's six-week session.

Speaking at press conference April 22, Williamson said there have been significant successes at the commission this year. He noted the passage of resolutions on the human rights situations in North Korea, Belarus and Cuba, as well as a resolution on the interdependence of democracy and human rights.

But Williamson said failure to speak out on the abuses in Darfur could overshadow the session's successes in the eyes of history and that is something every delegate should be considering in the final hours of the session.

"Ten years from today the only thing that will be remembered about this 60th Commission on Human Rights is whether we stand up on the ethnic cleansing going on in Sudan," Williamson said.

Speaking at the same press conference, Ambassador Kevin E. Moley, U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, said there was a risk that the statements being prepared on Sudan might actually be weakened. "That is why we think it is important to stand up and make it clear that our position is for a stronger, not a weaker, statement in respect to Sudan," he said.

"The other day we talked about having fidelity with 800,000 Tutsis who were massacred," Williamson said, referring to a commemoration of the anniversary of the massacre in Rwanda held earlier during the 60th Session. "We should have the same fidelity with the 10,000 black Sudanese who have been victims of ethnic cleansing. If we don't, questions of this commission's efficacy will be the result of the 60th Commission on Human Rights."

"The commission should do what it can do, and what it can do is stand up against the ethnic cleansing that is going on. It has a moral obligation to keep the faith with those victims, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and stand up tomorrow with a strong resolution on Sudan."

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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