Clashes between militias, civilians in Sudan’s Upper Nile region: report
NAIROBI, Nov 9, 2004 (IRIN) — At least three people have been reportedly killed in clashes between armed Sudanese militias and civilians in an area controlled by the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) near Nasir town in eastern Upper Nile, sources in the area told IRIN on Tuesday.
The clashes, the sources added, occurred after a disagreement over territory. The militias had wanted to secure a newly constructed airstrip, but allegedly met resistance by armed civilians from Mandeang locality, southeast of Nasir. The militias were later driven back, the sources added.
The US-funded Civilian Protection Monitoring Team (CPMT) had in October reported that armed groups, including the Sudanese national army, military intelligence and various armed militias – purportedly aligned to the government – mistreated civilians on several occasions in southern Sudan.
CPMT cited abuses in Malakal, the headquarters of Upper Nile, where nearly 35,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) live. The IDPs fled instability in Shilluk Kingdom, which started in 2003 when Lam Akol defected from the government-allied SPLM-United [SPLM break-away faction) to the SPLM/A. He later became chairman of SPLM-United, but signed an agreement with the government in 1997 when he was appointed transport minister.
According to the CMPT, the armed groups “shot at, intimidated and threatened civilians in areas around Malakal, causing fear among local residents and in most cases, forcing them to abandon their life-sustaining economic activities such as fishing, collecting firewood and charcoal burning”.
Meanwhile, a UN-appointed commission arrived in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, to investigate whether genocide has taken place in the strife-torn western region of Darfur, George Somerwill, deputy spokesperson of the UN Advance Mission in Sudan (UNAMIS), told IRIN on Monday.
The commission was due to meet government officials in Khartoum on Tuesday, before flying to Darfur on Wednesday for a 10-day investigation, Somerwill said. The five-member panel has three months to reach a conclusion.
The panel is mandated to investigate reports of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law in Darfur by all parties; determine also whether or not acts of genocide have occurred; and identify the perpetrators of such violations with a view to ensuring those responsible are held accountable.
Last Thursday, Jan Pronk, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Sudan, said Darfur could fall into anarchy unless the UN Security Council took bold action. He said the government appeared to be losing control in some areas, with militias and the military making their own decisions. The Sudanese government denied the claims.
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF-Spain), the Dublin-based agency GOAL and members of the Danish Refugee Council withdrew their staff from the Jebel Marra area in western Darfur last week after the security situation had substantially deteriorated.
“The combat came so close that our staff were blocked from coming to the hospital,” Aitor Zabalgeazkoa, head of the emergency unit of MSF-Spain, told IRIN on Monday evening. “Our humanitarian team and relief supplies were not directly targeted by acts of aggression.”
The staff returned to the area on Monday, Amalia Sparsa, spokeswoman for MSF-Spain, told IRIN by telephone from Barcelona. Sudanese rebels distanced themselves from the attacks, Reuters reported.
The conflict in Darfur pits the Sudanese government troops and militias, allegedly allied to the government, against rebels fighting to end what they have called marginalisation and discrimination of the region’s inhabitants by the state.
It has displaced about 1.45 million people and sent another 200,000 fleeing across the border into Chad. The UN has described the Darfur situation as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
The Security Council is expected to meet in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on 18 and 19 November to discuss the situation in Sudan.