Four years after Sudan still waging war in Darfur
Dec 24, 2006 (NAIROBI) — Almost four years after conflict broke out in Darfur, calls are being made for greater efforts to resolve the predicament in this western region of Sudan.
During an event marking International Human Rights Day Dec. 8, outgoing United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan reiterated that the world can, and must intensify the drive to address violence in Darfur.
Renewed fighting has been taking place in the region over the past two months, and aid agencies warn that this is causing thousands of civilians to flee into mountainous areas where they are cut off from assistance. Sudan’s government has clashed with a coalition of rebels that failed to sign the Darfur Peace Agreement in May 2006 in the Nigerian capital, Abuja — the National Redemption Front.
The accord followed African Union-led talks between Sudanese authorities and the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). One of the factions of the SLM signed the accord; however, it was rejected by another SLM faction and the JEM.
The National Redemption Front is active mainly in northern Darfur, where civilians have been victims of indiscriminate bombing carried out by government forces, says the New York-based Human Rights Watch.
Conflict in Darfur has been characterised by campaigns against the Fur, Masaalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups — viewed as being sympathetic to the rebels, who took up arms to protest against alleged neglect of the region. Both government forces and Arab militias known as the “janjaweed” (“men on horseback”) stand accused of attacking civilians. There are longstanding tensions in the region stemming from competition over land resources between the settled Fur, Masaalit and Zaghawa — and nomadic Arabs.
Humanitarian workers have also found themselves targeted, leading to the relocation recently of 71 staffers from the town of Gereida in southern Darfur. Armed men reportedly entered the compounds of several aid organisations where they harassed staff, confiscated communication equipment, and stole vehicles and money.
With these workers now unable to provide assistance to growing numbers of displaced persons, there are fears of worsening humanitarian conditions. Some 130,000 people have congregated in the town, giving Gereida the largest population of displaced people in Darfur.
In all, about 400 aid workers have been relocated because of security reasons this month. This is said to be the largest monthly relocation of such staffers since humanitarian work began in Darfur.
Between July and September 2006, eleven aid workers were killed in the region, say aid agencies.
More than 200,000 people, mainly civilians, have died during the conflict in Darfur, while about 2.5 million have fled their homes since fighting began, according to U.N. figures. The United States has said that genocide is occurring in Darfur.
Sudanese authorities have been accused of doing little to bring stability to the region, despite their endorsement of the May peace deal.
While officials have reportedly agreed in principle to the deployment of a U.N. force to assist overstretched African Union (AU) peacekeepers already present in the area, they previously rejected this proposal, saying it would amount to interference.
Just 7,000 under-resourced AU forces are on the ground in Darfur, which is the size of France. Nonetheless, government wants the AU to remain in command of the expanded force. To date, authorities have failed to specify how many U.N. troops will be permitted to join the AU contingent.
“Officials responsible for orchestrating the conflict since 2003 appear to fear that a major body of U.N. troops in Darfur itself might eventually enforce International Criminal Court (ICC) indictments,” Human Rights Watch said in an October report. This was in reference to the U.N. Security Council’s recommendation that the ICC indict governors and senior commanders in Darfur, and further investigate leading officials in Khartoum as concerns developments in Darfur.
Efforts to get comment on events in Darfur from the Sudanese embassy in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, proved fruitless — as the deputy ambassador, Abdalla Omar, said he could not give statements about the region. Khartoum has previously denied involvement in the fighting, saying it is working to end conflict.
The Security Council imposed a no-fly zone over Darfur last year in an effort to block Khartoum’s air raids against civilians. Travel sanctions on senior Sudanese government officials are also in effect — at least in theory.
“Individuals who were threatened to be sanctioned have not been. A ban on military flights in Darfur was put into place by the U.N. Security Council: this has been constantly flouted by the government of Sudan, with no repercussions,” Sally Chan, an analyst of events in the Horn of Africa with the International Crisis Group, told IPS. This think tank is based in Brussels.
(IPS)