U.N. Report Says Darfur Violence Is Not Genocide

UNITED NATIONS — A U.N. commission on Sudan has concluded that systematic, government-backed violence in the western region of Darfur was not genocide, but that there was evidence of crimes against humanity with an ethnic dimension.

The report documents violations of international human rights law, incidents of war crimes by militias and the rebels fighting them, and names individuals who may have acted with a "genocidal intention." But there was not sufficient evidence to indicate that Khartoum had a state policy intended to exterminate a particular racial or ethnic group, said diplomats familiar with the report.

It recommends referring the cases to the International Criminal Court, but leaves other options open. The United States, which opposes the court, has proposed a war crimes tribunal in Tanzania to prosecute atrocities committed in Darfur.

The report was submitted Thursday to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan by a five-member independent commission he assigned in October to investigate violations of human rights in Darfur, determine whether acts of genocide occurred and identify the perpetrators. It is not expected to be made public until Sudan has a chance to review the assessment, and until it has been presented to the Security Council, expected next week.

The commission, headed by Antonio Cassese, an Italian judge, had to reconvene after the report was completed because of disagreements over whether to identify implicated government officials who may be in charge of implementing Sudan's new peace plan with its southern rebels, said diplomats familiar with the discussions. Sudan's ambassador to Washington, Khidir Haroun Ahmed, said he understood that the names would not be disclosed until a court had concluded that there was evidence for prosecution.

"It would not be in the benefit of peacemaking to jump to hasty conclusions and blame the government without 100% evidence because that will weaken the government as a partner for peace," he said.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in Darfur and nearly 2 million have been displaced since rebel groups took up arms against government forces in early 2003. Militias linked to the government are accused of numerous killings and rapes in the rebels' region.

The U.S. State Department concluded in September that genocide had occurred in Darfur based on interviews with about 1,800 refugees in neighboring Chad. Their accounts indicated a pattern of targeted violence coordinated by the Sudanese government and state-backed militias, the State Department said.