Jody Williams forces her way into Darfur

InfoSud

Jody Williams 11 February 07 - Stuck in Geneva with the delegation mandated to assess the human rights situation in Darfur, the American and former Noble Peace Prize Winner refuses to take no for an answer. 

Juan Gasparini and Carole Vann - If they wont let us in through the front door? Well, we will get in through the window! Jody Williams is not a woman to get flustered. This American, winner of the Nobel Peace prize in 1997, should be leaving for Darfur as the head of the UN delegation in order to assess the human rights situation there. But the Sudanese mission in Geneva has objected to one of the six members of her delegation, the Latin American, Bertrand Ramcharam, who was a former interim High Commissioner for Human Rights. The lady did however not take no for an answer at the Palais des Nations on Friday afternoon, announcing that she will go with her delegation from tomorrow onwards for "two or three days" to Addis Abbaba, headquarters of the African Union. And she has asked for a visa to Khartoum!

The point of this manoeuver? That the African Union puts pressure on Sudan to accept the expert delegation appointed by the UN, with the unanimous support of the international community. Apparently, it has paid off. The Sudanese ambassador in Geneva, Ibrahim Mirghani Mohamed Kheir, cancelled his press conference, which was due to respond to that planned by the American.

Two weeks after having been appointed by the President of the Human Rights Council, Luis Alfonso de Alba, the six UN delegates could still not leave for Darfur. African sources at the UN made it known that the bone of contention was the appointment of Bertrand Ramchqram. Khartoum could not accept that he had called Darfur a genocide. There was however no objection to the inclusion of the five other delegates. As well as Jody Williams, there was also the Estonian Member of the European Parliament, the special rapporteur on human rights in Sudan, Sima Samar, and two ambassadors, Makarim Wibisono (Indonesia) and Patrice Tonda ( Gabon)

The mission had been approved by the Human Rights Council last December. President Alba, in charge of its composition, hqd thought that the six members chosen represented a good balance for the delegations double mandate: to assess the human rights situation in Darfur and to understand the needs of the various actors in the conflict. It remains to be seen if a solution will be found in Geneva before the delegation leaves for Ethiopia.