UN rights experts say Sudan should be accountable on Darfur
June 11, 2007 (GENEVA) — UN human rights experts warned the Sudanese government on Monday that it will be judged by improvements on the ground in Darfur within months and not by its pledges to improve the situation.
In a report, the group of experts asked the UN’s top human rights assembly to adopt what amounted to a draft code of conduct Khartoum should follow immediately to halt massive violations in the Darfur region.
They also urged the 47-nation Human Rights Council to review Sudan’s implementation of the set of measures to halt violations in Darfur within three months, and said many of them could be completed within that timeframe.
The experts highlighted “the seriousness of ongoing violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Darfur as well as the lack of accountability of perpetrators of such crimes.”
Their report urged Khartoum “to implement without delay the recommendations it committed itself to put into practice.”
“While the commitments of the government and the measures taken are crucial, it is the human rights situation on the ground which will provide the measurement of any improvement,” it added.
The UN Council is due to debate the report this week.
The experts asked it to adopt more than 30 detailed “recommendations” or targets that Sudan should meet — including clear orders to stop attacks on civilians, disarming militia, and full cooperation with the International Criminal Court — in the short term — three months — and the mid term.
It also included indicators — such as the numbers of attacks in Darfur or the number of people handed over to the ICC — that would allow an assessment of progress, and a list of practical assistance or equipment Khartoum would need to carry out the recommendations.
The group led by Simi Samar, the UN special rapporteur on Sudan, was set up by the Human Rights Council in March, following a report by Nobel laureate and anti-landmines campaigner Jody Williams which sharply criticised Sudan’s role in human rights abuses in Darfur.
Williams and her team concluded that Sudan’s government had “orchestrated and participated in” war crimes and human rights abuses such as rape and torture across the region.
The recommendations released Monday also included the repeal of emergency laws and abolition of legal immunity for Sudanese state agents, as well as the full investigation and prosecution of seven listed attacks on civilians since late December 2006.
The report demanded that Khartoum issue tangible orders to its armed forces to stop rapes, disappearances and torture warning that “they may amount to war crimes” and in some instances crimes against humanity.
It also urged immediate protection and unimpeded access for humanitarian workers.
The seven UN human rights experts said Monday that their meetings with Sudanese ministers and officials in Geneva in recent weeks had achieved “a degree of progress” and produced some commitments by the Sudanese.
“Opinions converged on a number of issues, while there was less convergence – or even clear differences – on others which will necessitate ongoing dialogue,” the report said.
(AFP)