A Timid Compromise

The indecision, the pondering and the struggle to reach an agreement has been costly. Some 200,000 people have lost their lives and more than 2 million became refugees as a result of the genocide that's been taking place in the crisis region of Darfur in western Sudan.

Countless attempts were needed in the UN Security Council to -- finally -- adopt a resolution that's been described as "historic" by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. A peacekeeping force of 26,000 soldiers is now meant to put an end to the Darfur genocide. It's a mission that completely overwhelms the underfinanced and badly equipped African Union troops that are currently stationed there.

But despite the "historic" praise by the highest body of world diplomacy, the resolution can only be called a timid attempt as it is a compromise.

It's an agreement with concessions that all 15 members of the UN Security Council managed to unanimously agree on. Britain and France cleared the way for a watered-down draft that no longer talks about continuing attacks of Sudanese government troops and janjaweed militia.

It's also a compromise because the peacekeeping forces will not be able to confiscate illegal weapons. The existing arms embargo against Sudan is weak and is circumvented by countries such as China and Russia.

The resolution also stops short of far-reaching sanctions against the African state. Security Council veto power China had opposed the enforcement of sanctions. The Chinese government called them "unfair and untimely" and had repeatedly prevented a resolution by abstaining from the vote.

Again and again, human rights organizations have presented evidence of genocide and the Sudanese government's responsibility -- without success.

While the tragedy continues in its fourth year in Darfur, the timid implementation of a UN peacekeeping mission is hard to understand. More than 50 previous declarations were necessary that expressed "collective concerns," "continuing grave concerns," or "great fear." This was cynical diplomatic terminology while women, children and elderly were dying in misery at the same time.

Even Sudan's UN ambassador, Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad, seems happy with the agreement that has been reached. Last week, the country's president, Omar al-Bashir, had shrugged off the genocide as propaganda by western media after visiting the crisis region for three days. Al-Bashir so far has prevented every attempt to station a hybrid force of UN and African Union soldiers -- despite showing signs of cooperation from time to time.

That's why the UN resolution has to be seen as nothing more than a signal of western diplomacy for the time being. It does not represent an end to genocide. People are still killed on a daily basis, thousands fell from the crisis region to neighboring Chad and the Central African Republic and still are not protected from attacks by the janjaweed militia. Experts think that it will take a year until the biggest UN mission ever is ready.

Fearfully it's a year during which masses of people will continue to die.

Stefanie Duckstein works for DW-RADIO's Africa and Middle East programs (win)