Darfur rebel NRF welcomes UN rights panel report
March 13, 2007 (LONDON) — The National Redemption Front (NRF) has hailed a UN human rights mission report accusing the Sudanese government of direct involvement in war crimes in the troubled Darfur region.
The rebel NRF spokesperson, Ahmed Hussein Adam, welcomed a report of a UN rights team headed by Nobel peace laureate Jody Williams. He told Sudan Tribune that despite Khartoum’s obstruction, the UN team succeeded to produce an authoritative and honorable report. The report urged the international community to move now to protect civilians against a Sudanese government-orchestrated campaign.
Ahmed said “People of Darfur are became a symbol of the tragedy of humanity”, adding, but “the question now what is next?”
He further appealed “to the international community members to adopt the adequate measures against the Sudanese government in order to stop war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on daily basis by Khartoum.”
Ahmed urged the Arab and Islamic countries to not hinder a strong resolution that the UN rights body could adopt to sanction human rights violations committed by Khartoum. He also called on the Security Council to take measures against the Sudanese government.
The Sudanese justice minister Ali al-Mardi opposed the validity of the report because it was written without the team having visited Darfur. The team said it had to proceed that way because Sudan refused to grant them visas.
Sudan’s government has “orchestrated and participated in these crimes,” said the long awaited UN panel report. “The situation is characterized by gross and systematic violations of human rights and grave breaches of international law.
Sudan denies responsibility for abuses, and blames them on rebel groups which refused a 2006 peace deal. It also says the death toll is exaggerated and that Western media have blown the conflict out of proportion.
The International Criminal Court has implicated two Sudanese officials for involvement in the humanitarian crisis in the western region of Darfur that has claimed at least 200,000 lives and displaced 2.5 million others.
(ST)