Millions of civilians are paying the price for nearly four years of unkept promises and empty commitments. Darfur, is long calling for the imposition of strong economic, legal and military measures. Bathed in the blood of more than 200,000 innocents, Darfur has finally put the ’super power’ at shame.

Stringent Sanctions

President Bush is all set to make 1997 sanctions tougher against Sudan, later today. The US will also push for a stronger UN Security Council resolution punishing Khartoum over the ongoing violence. It plans to ban more companies from US trade and crack down on individuals suspected of violence in Darfur.

Strategic Importance of Dafur

Darfur is of great strategic importance as it straddles Libya, Egypt, Chad etc. It is indeed matter of grave concern for the international community that more than 200,000 people have already been killed and about two million were forced to leave their homes amid fighting by government-backed Arab Janjaweed militias and rebel groups in Darfur.

Oil Interests of US & China

The oil interests of the US may again come to the fore though there are doubts about presence of any real oil reserves in Dafur. China is importing 6% its oil from Sudan and thus its support to the tougher sanctions may come with conditionalities.

Non Consensual Deployment of UN Forces

It has also been suggested by some experts that Sudan should either accept the robust force stipulated in UN Security Council Resolution 1706 (31 August, 2006) or face non-consensual deployment of the forces required to protect civilians and humanitarians. But then such a non-consensual deployment may be termed as an act of aggression that impinges on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sudan. Should human rights concerns prevail over the claims of the national sovereignty is a key issue in this debate. As a matter of fact any deployment of foreign peacekeeping troops must have prior explicit approval of Sudan as the experience of US-led military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq only aggravated the situation in the respective countries and led to more chaos and loss of human lives.

Verdict-

Sanctions alone have not led to any positive results in Cuba , Libya, Iran, Iraq etc. By imposing sanctions, we punish the innocent people and not the governments or rulers who are inclined to violate all principles of international law and human rights with impunity. Do not punish nations, punish the guilty. Let Sudanese not be punished for the wrongs of their President Omar al-Bashir.