New violence deepens crisis in desperate Darfur
By Nima Elbagir
KHARTOUM, Aug 11 (Reuters) – Helicopter attacks, raids on refugee camps and rapes carried out by Sudanese forces and Arab militiamen have worsened an already desperate situation in Darfur, humanitarian and rights groups say.
The United Nations has told Khartoum to curb marauding Janjaweed militia or face sanctions, but Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday fresh atrocities disproved Sudanese government claims that security was returning to the western region.
“In many rural areas and small towns in Darfur, government forces and the Janjaweed militias continue to routinely rape and assault women and girls when they leave the periphery of the camps and towns,” the New York-based group said in a report.
Human rights groups and Darfur rebels say Khartoum has used the militia, who Darfur residents call Janjaweed, meaning “devils on horseback”, in a campaign to crush a rebel uprising and drive the region’s non-Arabs from their land.
In a statement from Geneva on Tuesday, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs accused Sudanese forces of new helicopter attacks, denied by Khartoum, and the Janjaweed of raids on the ground.
“Fresh violence today (Tuesday) included helicopter gunship bombings by the Sudanese government and Janjaweed attacks in South Darfur,” the U.N. agency said.
“Janjaweed attacks on internally displaced persons in and around IDP settlements continue to be reported in all three Darfur states.”
In a July 30 resolution, the Security Council gave Khartoum 30 days to take measures against the Janjaweed, or face unspecified sanctions. Khartoum denies using the Janjaweed as a proxy force and says they are outlaws.
“SAFE AREAS”
The Sudanese government says it has deployed 10,000 police to Darfur and last week pledged to set up safe areas for the one million people the United Nations says have been uprooted.
“In response to the Security Council’s demand that Janjaweed militia members be disarmed, the Sudanese government has instead begun to incorporate them into official state security units,” Human Rights Watch said.
The group said Khartoum was absorbing the Arab militia into its security forces instead of disarming them and was not prosecuting their leaders.
Janjaweed had raped six girls aged 13 to 16 and beat other women at a militia checkpoint in Western Darfur in July, the report said. It also documented the case of a 17-year-old girl who was raped several times by a Janjaweed militiaman near the border with Chad.
In Khartoum, Sudanese officials were not immediately available for comment. Sudan’s ambassador to Britain, Hassan Abdin, told Channel Four News his government was committed to disarming the Janjaweed militias and denied reports of bombings.
“Sudan has already been delivering on some of the promises it made. There is no bombing now, it has stopped long ago. After the ceasefire in April, the Sudanese government observed the ceasefire.”
Civilians have previously said Sudan used aircraft to attack villages in Darfur, but there have been fewer reports of such attacks since rebels and the government signed an April truce.
SUDAN HAMPERED ACCESS, UN SAYS
Despite recent pledges to cooperate to end the humanitarian crisis the U.N. has called the worst in the world, the U.N. said the Sudanese government has hampered access to hungry Darfuris by restricting relief flights and aid workers’ movements.
The African Union has deployed observers to Darfur to monitor the ceasefire and the Netherlands will begin to fly 154 Rwandan troops to act as a protection force for the monitors on Saturday.
Sudan has rejected the idea of African Union peacekeeping forces. It says peacekeeping is its responsibility.
The rebel Justice and Equality Movement and Sudan Liberation Army took up arms against the central government in early 2003. The U.N. estimates that Darfur violence has killed 50,000 and made two million short of food and medicine. Khartoum disputes the death toll.
(Additional reporting by Tom Perry and Opheera McDoom in Cairo, Madeline Chambers in London, Katie Nguyen in Nairobi, Tsegaye Tadesse in Addis Ababa and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva)