Britain criticises Sudan’s “culture of impunity”

LONDON, Sept 1 (Reuters) – A British minister who recently visited Darfur accused Sudan on Wednesday of allowing a “culture of impunity” for Arab militia accused of terrorising civilians.

Foreign Minister Jack Straw, who was in the region last week as part of international efforts to end violence there, added that Britain endorsed a U.N. assessment on Wednesday that Khartoum needed to do more to end attacks by the militia.

“The report confirms what I saw firsthand during my visit to Darfur last week,” he said in a statement.

“There has been some progress in Sudan over the past 30 days, including improvements in the humanitarian situation and limited disarmament…But we need to see much more.

As a former imperial ruler of Sudan and the second-largest aid donor, Britain believes it can wield influence with the government in Khartoum, which is accused of supporting the militia attacks to harass and kill African villagers.

“The government of Sudan is still not doing enough to disarm the militias. A culture of impunity continues, with no evidence that the perpetrators of these appalling attacks are being brought to justice,” Straw said.

“I believe that the modest improvements to date have come about primarily because of the pressure exerted by the international community.”