Sudan expert accuses UN official of concealing information on Darfur

August 10, 2008 (WASHINGTON) – The UN is withholding information on the current humanitarian situation in Darfur, a leading Sudan expert said in an article today.

Eric Reeves a professor at Smith College in Massachusetts who has published extensively on Sudan accused Ameerah Haq, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, of “emboldening Khartoum”.

“Ms. Haq is the UN official most responsible for allowing the Khartoum regime to quash publication and dissemination of numerous reports on malnutrition, by both the UN and international nongovernmental humanitarian organizations (INGOs)” Reeves said.

“By remaining silent about such actions, officials such as UN humanitarian coordinator Ameerah Haq succeed only in convincing Khartoum that it can continue its brutal ways with impunity” he added.

This month the under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, John Holmes, called on Khartoum to take action to protect humanitarian aid workers in Darfur, where the deteriorating security situation has forced aid agencies to reduce rations for hordes of hungry people there.

Last June Hussein Abu Sharati, the spokesperson of Darfur displaced and refugees told Sudan Tribune that IDP’s are facing water shortages due to the lack of fuel for the water pumps.

Abu Sharati also spoke about the shrink of milled grains distributed to the displaced in Darfur. He said in addition to the cut planed by the UN humanitarian body, the WFP, the lack of fuel expose the camps population to a starvation.

Professor Reeves also blamed Ashraf Qazi the head of the UN mission in Sudan (UNMIS) and AU-UN Joint Special Representative for Darfur, Rodolphe Adada for not speaking up on the situation.

“Ashraf Qazi, UN special representative of the secretary-general to Sudan, has been no better in speaking with sufficient urgency about humanitarian or political developments… Rodolphe Adada, AU/UN Joint Special Representative for Darfur, has also been almost completely useless and is far out of his diplomatic depth” he said.

The Sudan expert warned that Darfuris “have entered the most perilous season of destruction since the advent of major humanitarian operations in summer 2004…. Significant malnutrition is already in evidence according to numerous confidential reports from the ground in Darfur and from well-informed humanitarian officials”.

UN experts estimate some 300,000 people have died and 2.5 million driven from their homes. Sudan blames the Western media for exaggerating the conflict and puts the death toll at 10,000.

(ST)