Africa Union says Arab militia burned Darfur villagers alive
NAIROBI, July 28 (AFP) — Government-backed Arab militiamen chained and burned alive civilians in a raid on a market in Sudan’s Darfur region in violation of a ceasefire signed in April, African Union monitors said.
“The attackers looted the market and killed civilians, in some cases chaining them and burning them alive,” said a report released here by AU ceasefire observers in the region.
But in a visit to the region Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier was told by the deputy head of the ceasefire monitoring mission that it would be extremely difficult to disarm the militias because they are so mobile.
The report said the African Union monitors went to Suleia village, where the militia raid occurred July 3.
It said the raid was carried out by “militia elements believed to be Janjaweed,” the name given to the horse-riding Arab irregulars that have been fighting alongside regular Sudanese forces following an uprising by two rebel groups in Darfur last year.
The fighting has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with up to 50,000 civilians killed, according to the UN, and 1.2 million driven from their homes.
The AU monitors also found that in another reported atrocity early this month, “the entire Ehda village had been burnt and deserted, except for a few men.”
“This was an unwarranted and unprovoked attack on the civilian population,” the report said. However, it could not substantiate allegations that Sudanese government forces took part in the raid alongside the Janjaweed.
The African Union, together with the European Union and the United States, has contributed men and means to the 118-strong ceasefire monitoring group set up after a ceasefire brokered by President Idriss Deby in April.
That ceasefire has however largely been ignored.
The Sudanese government faces international sanctions under the terms of a draft resolution presented to the UN Security Council by the United States.
But French army Colonel Georges Davoine, the second-in-command of the monitoring group, told Barnier, “the Janjaweed are horsemen who move around, and it will be difficult for the Sudanese government to disarm them.”
Despite the reports of atrocities on a major scale, Davoine said: “We do not have any concrete element to be able to say that genocide is taking place in Darfur.”
Nevertheless, when Barnier went to neighbouring Chad on Tuesday night, he was told by President Deby that if the conflict continues, more refugees from Darfur could be expected to cross into his country, in addition to the 200,000 already there.
Deby accused the Sudanese government not only of supporting the Janjaweed, but of arming people in his own country to fight on its side.
The head of the monitoring mission, Nigerian General Festus Okonkwo, told Barnier that the ceasefire was not being properly observed. “There are violations,” he said.
Barnier said following a meeting with Deby that “the threat of sanctions may be useful but it is necessary to put pressure on all the parties.
Barnier said France was working to obtain an “equitable” resolution at the UN.
“We have to be careful,” he said. “The situation is fragile and Sudan is an important country.”
The Sudanese government on Tuesday it would face down any foreign military intervention in the crisis.
“The government will appropriately deal with any soldier who sets foot on Sudanese territory,” Agriculture Minister Majzub al-Khalifa Ahmed told reporters after an emergency cabinet meeting.