UN should extend arms embargo on Khartoum, says HRW
DAKAR, Senegal, Sep 13, 2004 (PANA) — New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has in a letter to the UN Security Council
urged an immediate increase in international presence
in Darfur and an extension of arms embargo to stop
continuing atrocities in the troubled western
region of Sudan.
The rights group also called on the Security Council
to establish an accountability mechanism and address
serious concerns posed by “safe areas” proposed for
the region.
In Resolution 1556, a month ago, the Security Council
demanded that the Sudanese government “disarm the
Janjaweed militias and apprehend and bring to justice
Janjaweed leaders and their associates who incited and
carried out human rights and international humanitarian
law violations and other atrocities.”
The resolution also stated that further action should be
considered in the event of non-compliance.
But HRW said in spite of its repeated pledges to disarm
the Janjaweed, “the Sudanese government has failed to do
so.”
The rights group claimed “some Sudanese government forces
share camps with the Janjaweed and continue to direct and
support their atrocities.”
“The Security Council must make good on its threat and
impose further measures on Sudan,” said Peter
Takirambudde, executive director of Human Rights Watch’s
Africa Division. “The international community must
demonstrate that it will not tolerate continuing
atrocities committed by Sudanese armed forces and
allied Janjaweed militias.”
The Khartoum government has repeatedly denied backing
or arming the Janjaweed.
In its letter, HRW urged the Security Council to extend
the arms embargo imposed on the Janjaweed in Resolution
1556 to the government of Sudan and to establish a
sanctions committee to enforce these measures.
The Security Council should also endorse the plans for a
significant increase in African Union personnel on the
ground in Darfur and give it a mandate to protect
civilians, under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, the
letter added.
“Given Sudan’s failure to provide security in Darfur, its
refusal to accept help from international forces to stop
the atrocities increases the likelihood that individual
officials could be held responsible for the atrocities
committed. The Security Council must make this clear,”
said Takirambudde.
The US government recently declared that the atrocities
being committed by Sudan and the Janjaweed militias
it supports amounts to genocide, HRW noted.
“The (President George W) Bush administration has
concluded that the atrocities in Darfur are genocide,
but without calling for an arms embargo against the
perpetrators, such talk is all bark and no bite,”
said Takirambudde. “The bark is important, but now it’s
time for some bite.”
HRW is also concerned that the Secretary General’s report
to the Security Council 2 September failed to attribute
responsibility for the atrocities in Darfur to the
Sudanese government.
The letter urged the Security Council to establish an
international commission of inquiry to collect, preserve
and examine evidence concerning allegations of crimes
against humanity, war crimes, genocide and other serious
violations of international humanitarian law committed
by all parties in Darfur since 2003.
The letter also charged that proposed “safe areas” could
impede the return of civilians to their homes and
consolidate forced displacement and “ethnic cleansing”
initiated by Sudan.
HRW urged the Security Council to address these concerns
and review the plan to establish “safe areas” and to
ensure that, if they are established, they should not be
controlled or secured by the Sudanese forces.
The Darfur crisis has killed several thousands and displaced
more than one million Sudanese, with thousands forced into
neighbouring Chad.
Darfur rebel movements and the Khartoum government are
negotiating peace at African Union-brokered talks in the
Nigerian capital, Abuja.