UN rights official says Darfur civilians assaulted by Sudan

June 17, 2009 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese government forces continue to target civilians in the war torn region of Darfur, a UN rights officials said today.

The UN special Rapporteur on human rights in the Sudan Sima Samar said in a report that fighting in Darfur took a heavy toll on civilians in terms of casualties, displacement and destruction of property.

“Land and air attacks by government forces on civilians in Darfur took place during the reporting period” she said in the report.

Samar said that in South Darfur “ground offensives and indiscriminate aerial bombardments by government forces in some instances, which failed to distinguish civilian communities, properties and objects from military targets”.

She also reported that cases of sexual violence continue to be received in Darfur and cautioned that the exact figures would not be known because such incidents are not regularly reported.

Furthermore Samar said that access to justice is limited outside main urban areas and added that human right activists in Darfur and throughout Sudan are targeted by security services particularly after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir last March for seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Darfur.

On the South Sudan situation, Samar expressed concern at the inefficiency of the judicial system to address issues of coverage, illegal adult and juvenile detention.

The UN human right official also recounted events that led to “Large-scale loss of life” in Jonglei and Malakal earlier this year during inter-tribal clashes.

However, Samar said that “positive steps” have been taken in the area of law reform by the Government of National Unity and Government of Southern Sudan.

Abdel-Dayem Zumrawi, Sudanese undersecretary at the Ministry of Justice, said that Samar’s report fails to give a true picture of human rights in the country.

Zumrawi urge the Human Rights Council to end her mandate saying that it is based on legacy.

But Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that the council must reject Khartoum’s request.

“Sudan is enduring a massive human rights crisis that affects millions of people,” said Julie de Rivero, Geneva advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.

“For the council to drop its special scrutiny of Sudan at this crucial time would be to duck its responsibility to monitor and address major human rights violations” she added.

In Geneva, a Sudanese human right activists echoed HRW call.

“Without Sima Samar, [President] Bashir will be handed carte blanche to do whatever he wants without serious monitoring of the situation,” Sudanese human rights activist Osman Humaida told reporters.

(ST)