Peace talks urged to give priority to protection of civilians
NAIROBI, Aug 20, 2004 (dpa) — As a new round of peace talks between the government of Sudan and the rebel groups in the western Darfur region are set to start in Nigeria on Monday, a rights groups said the protection of civilians must be at the top of the agenda.
“Civilians in Darfur urgently need and deserve protection right now. (Nigerian) President Obasanjo should ensure that the size and mandate of the African Union protection force are on the table in Abuja”, the HRW Africa director Peter Takirambudde said in a statement.
In spite of the Sudanese government’s repeated assurances that the situation in Darfur is improving, refugees and displaced people have told the U.N. and other organizations of continued atrocities by the Janjaweed militia in Darfur in recent weeks.
According to the African Union (A.U.) ceasefire monitors in Darfur, Sudanese forces harassed displaced civilians and looted a camp in the region last week.
They had reached their conclusion after an investigation at the Kalma camp for displaced people in southern Darfur, U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters in New York late Thursday.
A fight among displaced people at Kalma on August 12 had prompted the Sudanese military to step in. For the following three days, aid workers were banned from the camp and relief distributions were stopped. They have since resumed.
It was during those three days Sudanese forces reportedly harassed camp residents and looted their belongings.
The A.U. observers are charged with monitoring a ceasefire signed between Khartoum and the two main Darfur rebel groups in April.
Last week, 155 Rwandan troops, the first half of a protection force for the monitors, arrived in Darfur. They are to be followed by the same number of Nigerian troops.
Even though the protection force has no mandate to protect civilians or attempt to disarm militias, Rwandas president Paul Kagame has said his troops would not stand by if they witnessed abuse of civilians.
The U.N. envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk, has said a force of 300 is far from enough. Pronk said earlier this weed that thousands of monitors and support troops would be needed if they are to properly cover the entire region of Darfur, an area roughly the size of France.
Plans by the A.U. to increase the force to 2,000 and give it a peacekeeping mandate has so far been rejected by the Sudanese government, which says it can solve the situation in Darfur without foreign intervention.
However, Nigeria decided this week to put an additional 1,500 troops at the disposal of the A.U. Both the A.U. and Sudan would need to agree prior to a deployment.
Sudanese government officials said on Thursday disarmament of militias had begun in Darfur and safe zones for displaced civilians were being set up.
Up to 50,000 people have died from violence, starvation and disease since the inception of the 18-month conflict in Darfur. At least 1.2 million people have been forced to flee from their homes, while two million are in acute need of food and medical attention.