UN rights forum endorses probe of reported abuses in Sudan

GENEVA -- The UN Commission on Human Rights overwhelmingly adopted a resolution yesterday expressing concern about the scale of reported abuses in Sudan's Darfur region and agreed to appoint its own investigator.

But the United States -- the only member in the 53-state forum to vote against the resolution brought by African states -- slammed the text for failing to condemn ''ethnic cleansing."

UN officials have accused Sudanese troops and Arab militias of raping, torturing and killing black Africans in the western area, equating such abuses with ethnic cleansing.

The commission, acting on the last day of its six-week annual session, overwhelmingly adopted the African text that had been endorsed by the European Union after negotiations.

The vote was 50 countries in favor, with the United States against. Two countries, Australia and Ukraine abstained, Australian chairman Mike Smith announced.

The commission later voted to shelve debate on a separate EU resolution that would have called on the Sudanese government to ensure attacks against civilians and ''forced depopulations" are halted.

US Ambassador Richard Williamson took the floor to denounce ''horrific events" in the western region of Darfur, in which he charged that 30,000 people had been killed in ''racial and ethnic targeting."

''We fear a terrible famine to come when tens of thousands may well perish," the US envoy added. ''The commission so far has failed to meet its responsibility today."

The UN food agency appealed yesterday for hundreds of thousands of people it said were threatened by famine in Darfur, where rebels opened a new front against the government in February 2003. Some 900,000 people have been displaced internally and more than 110,000 have fled to Chad.

The diplomatic clash in Geneva coincided with UN human rights investigators holding talks in Khartoum with Sudanese officials before making a promised visit to the Darfur region.

The team, which interviewed refugees in Chad earlier this month, said in a report leaked Wednesday that crimes against humanity were apparently being committed in a ''reign of terror."

Williamson said yesterday the United States would call for a rare special session of the commission when the UN investigators reported back on their latest findings.