US says need ‘urgent’ for Darfur truce monitors

WASHINGTON, April 14 (AFP) — The United States urged the “urgent” creation of a commission to monitor a truce aimed at ending the conflict in western Sudan that has claimed up to 10,000 lives.

The State Department made the call after saying it was unable to confirm that the ceasefire, which took effect Sunday, was being observed and as human rights groups accused Khartoum of carrying out a “massive terror campaign” in the Darfur region.

“It does appear that the violence may have gone down but we really haven’t been able to accurately determine whether the cease-fire is holding completely,” spokesman Richard Boucher said.

“We do think there is an urgent need to set up a cease-fire commission.”

Boucher did not address the earlier accusations against the Sudanese government by New York-based Human Rights Watch and the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights.

However, the State Department said Monday it had received reports that Khartoum and government-backed militias were not respecting the ceasefire.

After denials from Khartoun, the main rebel group in Darfur and Chadian officials who mediated the truce, Washington allowed that it had not been able to confirm the reports.

The ceasefire accord called for a renewable 45-day truce, free access for humanitarian aid, the release of prisoners and the disarmament by Khartoum of armed militias fighting in Darfur.

It also mandated the setting up of a civilian commission to monitor compliance with the truce. The panel is expected to be named by the African Union at a meeting in Addis Ababa next week.

The United States has offered logistical support to the mission, which is considered key in dealing with the humanitarian crisis that exists in Darfur, where the conflict has displaced some 670,000 people in the past year.

Another 100,000 have fled across the border into eastern Chad but most of those still inside Sudan cannot be reached by foreign aid.

The rights groups urged “intense, sustained international pressure” on the Sudanese government and the militias which they said have burned villages and killed, raped and abducted hundreds of civilians and forced hundreds of thousands more from their homes.

Human Rights Watch suggested that unless Khartoum was pushed it was unlikely to disarm and disband the militias, re-establish security in rural areas or guarantee the safety of displaced persons returning to their homes.

Boucher said Washington would continue to apply pressure on the Sudanese government, which is it also pressing to conclude a peace agreement with rebels in the souths.

“We would expect the government … would continue to use its influence (with the militias) over the long term to make sure that the violence does not recur,” he said.