Amnesty warns of new human rights crisis in Darfur

Aug 28, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan is engaged in a military build-up in its remote Darfur region despite a May peace deal, threatening to create a new human rights catastrophe unless U.N. troops are deployed soon, rights groups Amnesty said on Monday.

Sudanese army soldiers patrol on camels outside the Mornay camp in western Darfur, Sudan.

The Security Council will on Monday discuss a draft resolution proposing deployment of around 20,000 U.N. troops and police, despite Khartoum’s rejection of any Darfur mission.

But Amnesty International in a statement on Monday supported U.S. claims that the government was preparing a new offensive in Darfur against some rebel factions who did not sign the May peace deal.

“Eyewitnesses in el-Fasher in North Darfur are telling us that Sudanese government military flights are flying in troops and arms on a daily basis,” said Kate Gilmore, Amnesty International’s executive deputy secretary general.

“Displaced people in Darfur are absolutely terrified that the same soldiers that expelled them from their homes and villages may now be sent supposedly to protect them.”

Khartoum submitted a plan to the Security Council which would send 10,5000 more government troops to Darfur to stop the violence instead of a U.N. force.

But Amnesty and Washington say the 2.5 million war victims who fled their homes to miserable camps in Darfur viewed government soldiers as part of the problem not the solution.

“How can Sudan — which appears to be about to launch its own offensive in Darfur — realistically propose being a peacekeeper in a conflict to which it is a major party and perpetrator of grave human rights violations?” Gilbert said.

After mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003, Khartoum armed militia to quell the revolt. Those militia stand accused of a campaign of rape, pillage and murder that Washington called genocide.

Khartoum rejects the charge but the International Criminal Court (ICC) is investigating alleged war crimes in the region.

Critics say Khartoum rejects U.N. troops because it fears those soldiers would arrest any officials likely to be indicted by the ICC, even though the two institutions are separate.

But with an African Union force monitoring a shaky truce in Darfur struggling to find cash to pay its around 7,000 soldiers and failing to stem the violence, time is running out for a U.N. transition.

Rebels and the United Nations have accused Khartoum of bombing in Darfur since the May deal in violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution prohibiting offensive flights in the remote west.

(Reuters)

– AI Index: AFR 54/043/2006 (Public)
– News Service No: 223

28 August 2006 — Amnesty International today warned that the build-up of Sudanese troops in Darfur could lead to a human rights catastrophe in the very near future, and urged the UN Security Council to take immediate action to protect the people of the region.

“Eyewitnesses in al-Fasher in North Darfur are telling us that Sudanese government military flights are flying in troops and arms on a daily basis,” said Kate Gilmore, Amnesty International’s Executive Deputy Secretary General. “Displaced people in Darfur are absolutely terrified that the same soldiers that expelled them from their homes and villages may now be sent supposedly to protect them.”

The organization urged the UN Security Council to exert maximum pressure on Sudan to accept UN peacekeeping troops in Darfur — including imposing further targeted sanctions against Sudanese authorities.

The Security Council is due to meet today to discuss a draft resolution on the crisis in Darfur.

The Sudanese government has proposed its own protection plan for the people of Darfur — a plan that reportedly involves bringing up to 26,000 government troops into the region.

“The Sudanese government’s ‘protection plan’ is a sham and must be firmly rejected,” said Kate Gilmore. “How can Sudan — which appears to be about to launch its own offensive in Darfur — realistically propose being a peacekeeper in a conflict to which it is a major party and perpetrator of grave human rights violations?”

On 29 July, the Sudanese government bombed villages in North Darfur, violating a March 2005 UN Security Council resolution banning offensive flights in Darfur. Armed opposition groups have also perpetrated grave human rights abuses, including attacking humanitarian convoys.

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