UN seeks independent probe of Darfur killings
October 9, 2006 (GENEVA) — Sudan should order an independent investigation into reported massacres in southern Darfur by ethnic Arab militia who may have had the government’s support and were seeking to drive ethnic Africans from the area, U.N. human rights officials said Monday.
The Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said the attacks, which were carried out between Aug. 28 and Sept. 1 by up to 1,000 armed ethnic Arab militia, targeted civilians from tribes of African origin in Buram, in southern Darfur.
“The attacks resulted in a death toll that could amount to several hundred civilians,” according to a U.N. report, and appeared “to have been conducted with the knowledge and material support of government authorities,” OHCHR said in a statement.
Previous accounts of the attacks had given a figure of 38 dead and 23 injured.
The Geneva-based office urged the Sudanese to “establish an independent national inquiry to investigate the events in the area of Buram and bring to justice those responsible for conducting the attacks.”
The government should also help with the delivery of humanitarian aid and medical assistance to those who have fled the region and grant permission for African Union peacekeeping troops to deploy there to protect returning civilians, OHCHR said.
The report, which is based on evidence collected from local people by U.N. observers, concludes that militia members from the Habbania and government-aligned Fallata tribes attacked a total of 47 localities in the Buram region, 120 kilometers (75 miles) southwest of Nyala in western Sudan.
Those fleeing the fighting were also attacked.
According to OHCHR, most of the villages are under government control, with little or no rebel activity reported, and the area was now deserted.
The report cites one witness as saying that many people who have fled are “hiding in the bushes.” The witness told of injured and sick people being caught up in the fighting and said many had gone missing.
Local reports suggested the motive for the attacks was “to change the demography of the region before the arrival of international troops,” as any outside force would likely “focus on maintaining the status quo in the area.”
“The attacks appeared to have targeted civilians from tribes of African origin in what appeared to be an attempt to drive them from the Habbania homeland and therefore completely change the ethnic balance in the area,” the U.N. report said.
At least 200,000 people have died and some 2 million have been displaced since rebels from Darfur’s ethnic African population revolted in 2003. The U.S. accuses the Sudanese government of complicity in genocide.
Khartoum government is alleged to have unleashed Arab militias, known as Janjaweed, against the ethnic African villagers.
In Buram, the attackers were reported to have worn khaki uniforms similar to those of government forces, and had heavy weapons –including vehicle-mounted machine-guns — not normally owned by tribal militias.
According to the report, in early September a Sudanese government representative in the region said the attacks in Buram had been carried out by militia “because of earlier attacks by the (Sudan Liberation Army) rebels.”
Other officials interviewed by U.N. observers in Sudan said the attacks were caused by tribal conflict and that the government had not provided any material or manpower support.
Sudanese officials at the U.N. office in Geneva were not immediately available for comment.
Saturday, Sudan’s ambassador at the U.N. in New York accused the global body of using fabricated data from non-governmental groups in reporting widespread rights abuses in Darfur.
Last week, U.N. Secretary-general Kofi Annan sent a report to the U.N. Security Council saying Sudan’s armed forces, as well as rebel factions and the militias, continue to violate international human rights law with impunity. The report said violence was on the rise and humanitarian access in Darfur was at its worst since 2004.
(AP/ST)