UN denies peacekeepers’ abuses in Sudan north-south border state
June 19, 2011 (NAIROBI) – The UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) has categorically denied allegations of misconduct against its peacekeepers in the country’s war-stricken state of South Kordofan, and complained that the closure of airspace and restrictions on access are undermining its humanitarian operations there.
With a current strength of 10, 420 military personnel, UNMIS is mandated to monitor ceasefire along border areas between North and South Sudan which voted under the CPA to declare full independence on 9 July.
The oil-producing state of South Kordofan lies within the Arabised north Sudan but it is home to the African Nuba population which largely sided with the south during the war.
Fighting in South Kordofan erupted two weeks ago as the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) of North Sudan moved to carry out its earlier threats to disarm armed groups affiliated with South Sudan’s ruling, and also northern opposition party, Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM). The fighting later escalated into artillery and aerial bombardment which, according to UN estimates, has so far displaced 60, 000 people and may have killed another 64.
The SPLM has accused UNMIS’s Egyptian peacekeepers of complicity with SAF and of raping local women under UN protection.
“We are investigating serious accusations against the Egyptian forces, and we have doubts on its role, especially that its history in the region shows that they are not straight and have abnormal and criminal tendencies,” the SPLM’s leader in South Kordofan Abdul Aziz Adam Al-Hilu said earlier this month.
Gamar Dalman, an adviser to Al-Hilu, told Sudan Tribune on 10 June that UNMIS Egyptian peacekeepers had raped six women who sought refuge at the mission’s headquarters.
But UNMIS spokesperson Kouider Zerrouk, speaking over the phone with Sudan Tribune on Sunday, said that the mission had probed these allegations and concluded they were “absolutely” unfounded.
“As a mission we take seriously all the reports about the mission’s activities and mandate…Our primary inquiry concluded that this did not happen, absolutely did not happen,” Zerrouk said.
The UN official reported continuation of fighting in various parts of South Kordofan State despite the fact that AU mediators, led by former South African president Thabo Mbeki, announced last week that the warring sides had agreed to cease hostilities and initiate negotiations, though without elaborating on a timeframe.
According to Zerrouk, aerial bombardment and artillery are still continuing in South Kordofan and that the situation is “quite worrying” despite a lull in the fighting yesterday.
Zerrouk went on to say that the mission’s humanitarian operation continue to be adversely affected by restrictions on access to affected areas, reiterating calls for opening up of airspace over South Kordofan.
“It (airspace) is extremely important because it is affecting humanitarian operations,” he explained, adding that the government “needs to act on this request.”
UNMIS, which recently said it had relocated a 120-strong infantry of peacekeepers from South Sudan capital Juba in order to enforce the protection perimeter outside its headquarters in Kadugli, was also said to have been unable to provide the required protection of civilians under its mandate, which authorizes it to “take the necessary action to protect civilians under imminent threat of physical violence.”
“There are numerous cases of abductions, forced disappearances and summary executions, including of local staff of the mission, which allegedly took place inside and outside the premises of the mission, suggesting a complete state of paralysis in terms of UNMIS capacity to conduct core functions,” Sudan Democracy First Group (SDFG), a coalition of local Sudanese activists, said in a press release dated 13 June.
According to SDFG, UNMIS has reacted with silence or refusal to a number of requests to evacuate individuals who were in danger on the pretext of “the mission mandate does not allow.”
Zerrouk, however, defended the mission against these accusations, saying that UNMIS was doing everything in its power and within its mandate to protect, and ensure deliver of aid to, a number of 4000 to 8000 civilians sheltered around the mission’s headquarters.
The UN spokesman was keen to mention that the primary responsibility to protect civilians lies with the government of Sudan.
“It is extremely important to remember that the primary responsibility lies with the government…they are responsible for the protection of civilians regardless of their color, religion etc whether in South Kordofan or elsewhere.”
(ST)
