GENEVA - The U.N. Human Rights Council rejected on Tuesday an attempt to hold the Sudanese government responsible for halting atrocities in Darfur, | ... opting instead for a less-pointed resolution calling on all warring parties to end abuses. |
The council, which took over from the discredited U.N. Human Rights Commission June, is dominated by African and Muslim countries that have sided with China, Cuba and other countries in preventing criticism of any government but Israel.
The council voted 22-20 against a resolution from the European Union and Canada demanding the Sudanese government prosecute those responsible for killing, raping and injuring civilians in the Darfur region of western Sudan. The showdown followed months of negotiations between the European Union and the council's African group on what approach to take toward Darfur, which the United Nations has called the world's worst humanitarian disaster.