Darfur rebels say will revenge for rights violations in Khartoum

May 26, 2008 (LONDON) — A Darfur rebel group has warned the Sudanese government against the arbitrary arrest and torture of Darfuri in the Sudanese capital. The group said it would carry out reprisals against authors of the violations.

The Sudan Liberation Movement-Unity Command urged the United Nations Security Council to condemn the human rights violations committed by the Sudanese security apparatus against Darfuri in Khartoum.

National and international rights groups reported since the 10 May attack that Sudanese authorities killed and tortured massively Darfuri arrested arbitrarily in Khartoum without real evidence of their involvement in JEM coup.

In a statement signed by the SLM-Unity spokesperson Mahgoub Hussein, the rebel group which didn’t support publicly JEM attack said it would not “stand idle and has taken the decision to cross inside the cells to carry out reprisals against any one who ordered or carried out the violations of human cases.”

The group also called upon Darfuri in the Sudanese army to rebel against the government.

Following the attack there have been numerous reports of a wide-scale crackdown on Darfuris residing in the capital particularly those who appear to belong to the Zaghawa tribe who form the bulk of the JEM members.

The Darfur Center for Human Rights and Development (DCFHR) based in UK issued accused the Sudanese government of arbitrarily arresting people based on their ethnicities which resulted in “3000 people have been detained, the overwhelming majority from Darfur”.

The Sudan Human Rights Organization (SHRO) issued a statement saying that ethnic persecution against Darfuris spread to the capital in the aftermath of the foiled rebel coup.

DCFHR said that most of the people detained “have no links to the group involved in the attack”.

“Once in the military prison, up to 250 individuals were held in each 50 meter square room. They were held in this condition for five days pending interrogation by the security forces. Most were been beaten, abused and provided no food or water” the report said.

(ST)