Sudan 'fails to protect' people

2004-04-02 09:35

New York - Sudan supports "massive human rights violations" committed by militias against non-Arab civilians in the conflict in its western Darfur region, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Friday, urging Khartoum to disarm and disband the militias.

The report, "Darfur in Flames: Atrocities in Western Sudan," claims Khartoum backs a scorched-earth campaign in the region and that government forces and militias of Arab descent have joined together to kill, rape and loot African civilians.

The civilians targeted are from non-Arab ethnic communities from which the two main rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) draw members.

The rights group notes that current talks between Sudan's government and rebels focus only on southern Sudan, not on Darfur. It urges UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to send a mission of inquiry to Darfur, and for a special rapporteur for human rights to be named for Sudan.

Disarm and disband

Human Rights Watch "called on the government of Sudan to immediately disarm and disband the militias, and allow international humanitarian groups access to provide relief to the displaced persons."

The group said Khartoum would "have to answer for crimes against humanity that cannot be ignored," saying it had armed up to 20 000 of the militiamen.

The report appears as initial indirect talks began in Chad between the warring sides in the conflict estimated to have killed more than 10 000 people and displaced one million in a year.

It describes how Sudanese government forces permit militias, known as janjaweed, to "operate with full impunity."

Sudan's military is "indiscriminately bombing civilians," while government and militia forces are "systematically destroying villages and conducting brutal raids against the Fur, Masaalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups."

"Government forces fail to protect civilians even when these unarmed people have appealed to the military and police forces, warning that their villages were about to be attacked," it said.

- AFP