By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent

United Nations -- The United States September 9 formally presented to members of the Security Council a draft resolution on Sudan that asks the United Nations to establish an international commission to investigate whether acts of genocide have occurred in Darfur. The United States also endorsed an expanded, "proactive" monitoring of the situation by the African Union (AU).

After a three-hour closed council meeting, U.S. Ambassador John Danforth said that negotiations on the text will continue and he hopes "that we will pass a resolution next week."

"I think time is of the essence," Danforth said. "Every day counts, and I think that the Security Council should be heard from."

The ambassador stressed that the U.S. goal in presenting the resolution is to change the situation on the ground and improve the lives of the people of Darfur, not to impose sanctions or legally classify the situation in the region as genocide.

"What we have to do ... [is] to save people's lives. There are people dying. They are dying by the day and we have to try to save their lives," the ambassador told journalists outside the council's chambers.

The ambassador said: "First of all, as soon as we can, we have to get as many African Union monitors [as we can] on the scene in Darfur. ... Secondly, the peace process has to be concluded. It has dragged on too long. If it is concluded, that would have a very positive effect with respect to Darfur."

"Finally is humanitarian support," he said. "This means we can't just hector one another about the need to supply humanitarian support. We've got to actually come up with the dollars to do it. That is very, very important."

In testimony before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee September 9, Secretary of State Colin Powell said that a U.S. investigation of events "concluded that genocide has been committed in Darfur and that the Government of Sudan and the Jingaweit bear responsibility and that genocide may still be occurring."

"We believe in order to confirm the true nature, scope and totality of the crimes our evidence reveals, a full-blown and unfettered investigation needs to occur," Powell said. "Sudan is a contracting party to the Genocide Convention and is obliged under the convention to prevent and to punish acts of genocide. To us, at this time, it appears that Sudan has failed to do so."

The draft resolution also demands that Sudan submit the names of Jingaweit militia and others arrested for human rights abuses as proof that it has complied with Security Council Resolution 1556. It calls on all Sudanese parties to take the necessary steps to ensure that human rights violations reported by the African Union monitors are addressed immediately and those responsible are held accountable.

If adopted, the resolution would provide for international overflights and ground reconnaissance to monitor the situation in Darfur and encourage the African Union "to enhance and augment its monitoring mission and ... proactive monitoring, especially quick, investigative responses to alleged violations as well as ongoing visits to internally displaced persons' locations." The draft declares that the council will take further actions, including an oil embargo and sanctions against members of the Sudanese government, if Khartoum doesn't comply with the council's previous resolution or fails to cooperate with the African Union monitoring mission.

Danforth said that the threat of sanctions or similar measures "is essential" because "the government is not going to respond if there is no pressure.

"Nobody wants to impose sanctions just for the pleasure of imposing sanctions," the ambassador said, "... but the Government of Sudan must act in an appropriate way to save the lives of these people. If they don't, if they stiff [ignore] the African Union, or if they go through a long delaying dance, there has to be some possibility of taking some actions that they will notice."

The draft resolution also expresses the council's grave concern that Sudan has failed to fully comply with Resolution 1556, passed on July 30. In that resolution, the Security Council said that Khartoum must disarm the Jingaweit militia, responsible for the violence and human rights abuses against the people of Darfur, and protect civilians or face the possibility of sanctions. It also imposed an arms embargo on the Jingaweit, required Sudan to expedite humanitarian aid, and asked the secretary-general to report in 30 days on how the resolution was being implemented.
 
In the 30-day report, Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his special envoy for Sudan, Jan Pronk, said that although Khartoum has taken steps to allow humanitarian aid to reach Darfur quickly, it has failed to disarm local militias in Darfur or stop attacks against civilians by the Jingaweit, two of the main Security Council requirements.