UN says Darfur attack perpetrators could be prosecuted internationally
Sept 30, 2005 (KHARTOUM) — The United Nations has condemned the Arab militia attack on a refugee camp in Darfur, warning the perpetrators that they will be referred to the International Criminal Court for prosecution.
The Sudanese government, which the U.N. Security Council has repeatedly told to disarm the militia in Darfur, has not officially commented on the raid, which was the first armed assault on a camp for displaced people in more than two years of fighting in Darfur.
But Hussein Barqu, a senior official of the National Congress, the major partner in the coalition government formed Sept. 22, said no government troops were involved.
U.N. investigators have accused the former government of supporting Arab militia attacks on Darfur’s people of ethnic African origin, from whose ranks the rebellion began. Initially the government admitted it was sympathetic to the Arab militia, commonly known as Janjaweed, but it denied arming them and subsequently claimed these militia were beyond its control.
Describing the attack as the work of “outlaws,” Barqu told The Associated Press on Friday the raid “threatened the security of both Sudan and Chad,” which borders West Darfur. He added Sudan would consult the Chadian government about the suspected perpetrators.
The top U.N. envoy for Sudan, Jan Pronk, called on the Sudanese government and Darfur authorities “to exert all efforts” to protect the camps for internally displaced people.
In a statement sent to The Associated Press on Friday, Pronk warned that the African Union was investigating, and that “the names of the individuals responsible for the attack, when known, will be reported to the Security Council, and to the panel of experts established by the Security Council in its resolution 1991, as well as to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.”
A spokesman for the African Union, which has some 5,600 troops in Darfur, Noureddine Mezni, said the organization would reveal details of the attack at a press conference in Khartoum on Saturday.
The Security Council has ruled that those who violate human rights in Darfur can be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court.
Pronk said he “strongly condemns” the attack on Aro Sharow camp, saying it was carried out by “Arab tribesmen” who also raided the villages of Gosmeina and Ardja.
In New York, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said: “The secretary-general emphasizes the need to immediately halt the attacks and bring the perpetrators to justice.”
The Darfur conflict broke out in February 2003 when ethnic African tribesmen took up arms against the Khartoum government, accusing it of neglect and discrimination. At least 180,000 people have died from hunger and disease in the conflict and about 2 million were displaced. There are no firm estimates for the number killed.
(AP/ST)