Displaced Darfuris kill Arab militiaman -witnesses
By Nima Elbagir
KHARTOUM, Aug 13 (Reuters) – Displaced people in western Sudan beat and stabbed to death a man they thought was a member of an Arab militia accused of mounting a campaign of ethnic cleansing in the region, witnesses said on Friday.
They said the man, killed on Thursday, was one of a group recognised as Janjaweed Arab militiamen sent by the government to work in a camp in southern Darfur for some of the 1 million the United Nations says have been displaced by fighting in the region.
Darfur rebels and rights groups say the government has used the Janjaweed militia as a proxy force to crush a rebellion in Darfur and kill its non-Arab population. The term Janjaweed comes from Arabic meaning “devils on horseback”.
“I recognised him. He was one of the Janjaweed that burnt my village and killed my family,” one camp dweller told Reuters by telephone from the nearby town of Nyala, adding that he had taken part in the attack. He declined to be named.
Another resident of the camp, which is home to thousands of displaced Africans, told Reuters camp residents had attacked two men they recognised as Janjaweed. “The one who died was beaten and stabbed,” he said. The other was taken to hospital.
Khartoum has about 2 weeks to show the U.N. Security Council it is serious about disarming the Janjaweed and prosecuting their leaders or face unspecified sanctions. Khartoum calls the Janjaweed outlaws.
Human Rights Watch this week said Khartoum was absorbing the militiamen into its regular forces rather than disarming it. Rebels, who began their uprising in early 2003, make the same accusation.
The official SUNA news agency said an armed group had attacked the camp, east of Nyala, killing one and causing camp residents to flee. “The armed group mutilated his corpse,” SUNA quoted government sources as saying.
“The group that attacked the camp attacked it on the basis of the belief that those present in it were Arab,” SUNA added.
After years of conflict between Arab nomads and African farmers over scarce resources in Darfur, rebels launched a revolt in early 2003. The rebels accuse Khartoum of neglecting development in Darfur.
The United Nations says violence in Darfur has caused the world’s worst current humanitarian crisis. It estimates the fighting has killed 50,000 and made 2 million short of food and medicine. Khartoum disputes the death toll.