Sudanese parliament supports decision to end UNAMID presence in Darfur
November 25, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – The speaker of the Sudanese parliament, al-Fatih Izz al-Din, has asked the foreign ministry not to back down from its decision to end the presence of the hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) had it continued to violate its mandate.
UNAMID official spokesperson, Ashraf Eissa, confirmed in statements to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) on Saturday that the mission had “received a note verbal from the government of Sudan referring to the need for an exit strategy”.
Eissa added that consideration of an exit strategy is already contained in UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution 2173.
The move came in the wake of a crisis between the Sudanese government and UNAMID on investigating mass rape claims in a village in North Darfur state.
Social media has extensively circulated testimonies of victims from Tabit, a village 45km south-west of North Darfur capital El-Fasher, claiming that 200 women, including minors, were raped by soldiers from the Sudanese army (SAF).
On November 9th, a UNAMID verification team investigated the rape allegations in Tabit and said it found no evidence proving the rape claims.
However, recent media reports quoted UN officials as saying that the mission said in a secret report to the UN headquarters that witnesses were intimidated by the heavy presence of the Sudanese army during the investigation.
Sudan has refused to allow the mission access to Tabit to conduct another investigation despite repeated calls from the UN chief and the UNSC.
Izz al-Din said in a parliamentary session on Tuesday that the decision to expel UNAMID will remain in place unless the mission abides by its mandate.
The deputy speaker, Samia Ahmed Mohamed, for her part, called for reconsidering the work of the mission, saying that reports about mass rape in Tabit were nothing but “media lies”.
She accused the mission of failing to carry out its work, wondering where had they been when they failed to protect civilians and protect themselves.
“UNAMID should focus on playing its role instead of looking for media lies. We have to reconsider the work of this mission and it must seek to achieve peace instead of tearing up the social fabric”, she said.
CRITICISM FOR RADIO DABANGA
Meanwhile, several MPs have harshly criticized Radio Dabanga, accusing it of involvement in reporting claims of mass rape in Tabit.
They also criticized government officials and MPs of dealing with Radio Dabanga, urging the concerned bodies to jam its broadcast.
MP, Abdel-Jabar Abdalla Hassab Alla, urged the parliament to issue a clear warning against government officials who deal with Radio Dabanga, saying the information ministry must bring the radio’s broadcast to an end.
MP Hussein Jibril Abdalla strongly attacked Radio Dabanga, describing it as “traitor radio” which continued to promote rumors.
MP, Musa Madebo, for his part, said that Radio Dabanga has big influence on the people in Darfur, pointing that he had warned against the danger posed by the radio but to no avail.
“I toured around the internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps and I noticed that the people are gathering to listen to Radio Dabanga”, he said
Radio Dabanga is a radio station headquartered in the Netherlands with a team of local reporters in Darfur. It was the first media outlet to report the mass rape allegations.
(ST)