US rights report condemns Sudan’s Darfur ‘genocide’
Mar 8, 2006 (WASHINGTON) — The United States condemned Sudan for a genocidal campaign in the Darfur region and Zimbabwe for political violence but pointed to progress elsewhere in Africa in an annual human rights report.
There is “evidence of continuing genocide in Darfur, for which the government and Janjaweed continued to bear responsibility,” the State Department report said, referring to the mounted Arab militia deployed by the government against rebel forces.
The report blamed Sudanese government forces for “killing hundreds of civilians, razing villages of African tribes and committing acts of torture and violence against women” in the Darfur conflict, the report said.
The State Department also condemned the obstruction of humanitarian aid deliveries in Darfur and violence against children and ethnic minorities.
The report listed Zimbabwe as one of the world’s worst human rights violators, calling the regime’s rights record “very poor”.
“The government continued to interfere with campaign activities of the opposition,” employing “politically motivated killings and kidnapping, torture, rape and abuse of persons perceived to be opposition supporters by security forces,” the report said.
The country’s economy was deteriorating amid hyperinflation and shortages “primarily due to the government’s command and control economic policies.”
In other parts of Africa such as the Great Lakes region, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda, the report noted a decline in violence overall in 2005.
Tens of thousands of displaced people have returned to their homes and child soldiers have been demobilized in the region, it said.
Uganda had restored multi-party politics after years of one-party rule and Liberia took an important step towards democarcy by organizing peaceful, free elections, according to the report.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, “the human rights record remained poor and numerous serious abuses were committed” but there were “some improvements during the year” with elections scheduled for June.
In Ivory Coast, a power-sharing agreement remained stalled and the “government’s human rights record remained poor.” The situation in the north was markedly worse, with rebel forces carrying out killings of civilians and arbitrary detentions, the report said.
(ST/AFP)