Sudan accuses UNAMID of impeding its probe into Darfur university havoc
December 03, 2010 (NAIROBI) – Sudan’s Justice Minister Mohamed Bushara Dosa has castigated the UN-AU Hybrid Peacekeeping Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) for what he described as frustrating his government’s efforts to investigate the deadly incidents that took place early December in Zalingi University in Western Darfur.
The unrest started when Sudanese police fired gunshots in the air to disperse a crowd of students who gathered outside the university campus after the meeting ended to speak with Bassole.
Two students were killed and several others sustained injuries as a result.
When he presented a report on his ministry’s performance to the parliament yesterday, Sudan’s Justice Minister Dosa said that the committee formed by his ministry to investigate the incidents has received little cooperation from UNAMID.
According to Dosa, UNAMID had refused to comply with a request for information before consulting with its headquarters in Khartoum, adding that up to this date UNAMID had not responded.
Furthermore, Dosa blamed UNAMID for choosing the “wrong place” to hold the meeting between the mediators and civil society representatives, claiming that the mission had brushed off all warnings by the authorities in Darfur against holding the meeting at Zalingei University.
Dosa pointed out that the investigation committee had so far interviewed 30 witnesses; however, he admitted that the committee could not interrogate the students suspected of instigating the violence because they had fled to IDP camps around the town.
UNAMID officials declined to respond to the minister’s statements when contacted by Sudan Tribune.
Sudan’s western region of Darfur has been steeped in an eight year conflict when rebels took up arms in 2003 against the Sudanese government, accusing it of marginalizing the region.
The UN estimates that the conflict killed 300,000 people and displaced more than 2 million.
(ST)