UN: Janjaweed crimes in Sudan’s Darfur continuing

KHARTOUM, Oct 20 (AFP) — The United Nations charged that pro-government Arab militias were continuing to commit crimes in Sudan’s crisis-hit western Darfur region and urged Khartoum to crack down on them.

Sudanese policemen patrol the Internally Displaced Persons camp of Krinding near the border with Chad. The UN charged that pro-government Arab militias were continuing to commit crimes in Sudan’s crisis-hit western Darfur region.(AFP).

“Although I do not have a precise figure, rape cases are in the hundreds and are continuing,” said Radhia Achouri, spokeswoman for UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk.

“Those crimes are going on and are committed by the Janjaweed,” she said.

The UN Security Council, which has threatened oil sanctions on Sudan, wants Khartoum to “clear the mist shrouding the Janjaweed question and start arresting everyone who has committed a crime of looting, robbery, burning or rape whether the culprit is from the Janjaweed or the Popular Forces leaders,” she said.

“We must have a list of the suspects as agreed upon by the UN and the government.”

The Janjaweed are state-sponsored Arab militias which have been used as proxies by the Sudanese government to crush a rebellion by non-Arab ethnic minorities in Darfur and have been accused of atrocities against the civilian population, including massacres and rape.

The UN envoy’s criticism of the government’s failure to prevent civilians casualties in Darfur coincided with the release of statements Wednesday by the governmental advisory council for human rights (ACHR) listing several measures taken by Khartoum against the Janjaweed.

A special court in South Darfur handed down death and prison sentences to six militiamen for killing 23 people, injuring nine others and looting and burning down a number of houses, a statement said.

The six included two policemen who had their immunity lifted before the trial, it continued.

In another statement, the ACHR said a man it identified as a Janjaweed leader for the Arab Awlad Zeid tribe was sentenced in West Darfur province to three years in jail and fined for leading a militia which looted and burnt down another village.

The same organisation also confirmed that the government was investigating five cases of abduction and rape of girls aged 11 to 16 by members of Darfur rebel movements.

A statement said the girls were snatched as they were collecting wood outside their village in West Darfur and questioned by rebels about the location of government forces in the area.