Sudanese civic body for prosecution of war criminals

NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 18, 2004 (PANA) — A civic group, Sudanese Civil Society, has urged the ongoing United Nations Security Council meeting in Nairobi to investigate and recommend the punishment of individuals who acquired wealth through corruption in that country.

Sudanese refugees in Kenya demonstrate outside the U.N. compound during the Security Council meeting in Nairobi November 18, 2004. Staking its prestige on Sudan’s troubled peace process, the U.N. Security Council met away from its New York home for the first time in 14 years on Thursday to try to end two decades of war in Africa’s biggest country. Meeting the 15 ambassadors of the world’s top security body, Sudan’s government and southern rebels promised to complete a peace accord as soon as possible to end a 21-year-old civil war and resolve reconciliation efforts dogged by innumerable delays. (Reuters).

The society also asked the UN to consider imposing an
arms embargo on parties that have committed atrocities
and violated human rights during Sudan’s long running civil
conflicts.

The UN Security Council is holding a two-day meeting
in Nairobi with a view to fast-tracking the resolution
of conflicts in the vast eastern African nation.

At a news conference here Thursday, the society’s co-ordinator,
Suzanne Jambo, asked the council to consider putting in place
north to north and south to south dialogue mechanisms with a
view to seeking peaceful solutions to conflicts in Sudan.

Jambo also emphasised the need for gender sensitivity
in the African Union Peacekeeping force.

She said the peacekeepers should be sensitive to the
plight of girls and women who make 60 percent of the
Sudanese population, adding that their rights had
been terribly violated during the conflicts.

“The population has suffered enough .Women and girls
have been systematically raped; generations have been
born to wars and are neither able to access education
nor peace among other basic rights,” Jambo added.

She urged the negotiating parties to revisit the
reasons that brought them to the negotiation table and
resolve to accelerate the peace process for the good
of the entire Sudan.

Jambo noted with regret that Sudanese people had
suffered for more than 35 years due to civil wars that
have killed over three million dead.

She estimated that the conflicts had displaced over five
million people. Jambo urged the council to adopt a final
resolution that would oblige the Sudan Government,
Sudanese People Liberation Movement to sign a
comprehensive peace agreement.