UNITED NATIONS, March 23 -- France presented a U.N. resolution Wednesday allowing for the prosecution of Sudanese war crimes suspects in the International Criminal Court, forcing the United States to either accept a body it opposes or exercise a politically damaging veto.
The Security Council has been deadlocked for weeks on the issue of holding people accountable in Sudan, drawing criticism that it has become mired in haggling while conflict continues to rage in the country's western Darfur region.
_____Crisis in Sudan_____
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Q&A: Darfur A brief explanation of the issues and current humanitarian situation in Western Sudan.
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Photos: Continuing Crisis
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Photos: Sudan's Rebels
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Sudan Leader: World Must Pressure Darfur Rebels (The Washington Post, Mar 22, 2005)
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In Rebuilding Sudan, Birth Often Brings Suffering and Death (The Washington Post, Mar 4, 2005)
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A Former Rebel's Search for Sudanese Identity (The Washington Post, Feb 11, 2005)
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Sudan Offers War Crimes Trials (The Washington Post, Feb 9, 2005)
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Lack of Access Muddies Death Toll in Darfur (The Washington Post, Feb 8, 2005)
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At a closed council meeting Wednesday, France's U.N. ambassador, Jean-Marc de la Sabliere, introduced a draft resolution that would refer Darfur cases since July 1, 2002, to the court. That was the recommendation of a U.N. panel that found that crimes against humanity -- but not genocide -- occurred in Darfur.
"We've gone to great lengths to make sure that the text on the table is one that was most likely to be acceptable, or at least not objectionable, to any colleagues," said Britain's U.N. ambassador, Emyr Jones Parry.
In a concession to the United States, the resolution said citizens of countries that have not ratified the treaty establishing the court who take part in operations in Sudan would not be subject to prosecution by the court.
The United States is not party to the court, and it objects to the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal in part because it fears that its citizens could face politically motivated prosecutions.
"The United States position on the International Criminal Court is well known and unchanged," said Richard Grenell, spokesman for the U.S. mission to the United Nations. The United States has said it opposes any variant that would refer Sudan cases to the court, even if there were an exception.
If the vote on the resolution goes ahead, the United States will have to decide whether to exercise its veto or abstain.
A veto could be politically damaging because it would give the appearance that the United States opposed the punishment of those responsible for atrocities in Darfur, where the number of dead from a conflict between government-backed militias and rebels is estimated at 180,000.
