Johannesburg

Monday

Scattered showers. Morning clouds. Mild.

15°C
26°C

7 day forecasts

Darfur: No proof of genocide

2004-09-30 22:02

Paris - The only detailed study into the toll from the violence in Sudan's Darfur region says fleeing families continued to suffer grievous losses after they arrived in displacement camps, and the bloodshed amounts to "a demographic catastrophe".

The research established there were extremely high death rates among families who had fled their homes in West Darfur - and the mortality remained very high after they had arrived in displacement camps, leaving many households bereft of adult males.

Before displacement, the death rate was between six and 9.5 per day per 10 000 people, it found.

Violence accounted for between 68-93% of deaths, with males aged over 15 the biggest number of casualties.

They were between 29 and 117 times likelier to be killed than women or children.

After displacement, the death rates remained extremely high, being between three and 10 times higher than the comparative rate elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa, the study found.

According to the UN, about 50 000 people have been killed and 1.4 million driven from their homes in the 19-month conflict that began when rebels rose up against Khartoum to demand an end to alleged marginalisation of their region.

Sudanese army troops and a pro-government Arab militia, the Janjaweed, have led an anti-rebel offensive.

They have been blamed by villagers for carrying out murder, rape, kidnapping, looting and burning.

Genocide

The European Parliament, German defence minister Peter Struck and US secretary of state Colin Powell, among others, have described these attacks as genocide.

"Our findings do not in themselves substantiate claims that events in Darfur amount to genocide, not least because this would require demonstration of such an intent on the part of the perpetrators, which is clearly beyond the scope of an epidemiological survey," the study says.

"Nevertheless, we believe that, in the four sites we surveyed, high mortality and family separations amount to a "demographic catastrophe".

The study, published online on Thursday by the British journal The Lancet, was led by Evelyn Depoortere of the French medical survey group Epicentre, and include experts from the humanitarian group Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF, Doctors without Borders).

It comprised interviews that were carried out between April and June 2004 among 3 175 sampled families.

Respondents were asked to detail family losses, giving the age of the person who had died, the location and date when it had occurred and the cause of death.

- AFP

inside news24

Cpt: 14-18°C Showery. Morning clouds. Mild. Pta: 17-29°C A few showers. Broken clouds. Pleasantly warm.
Jhb: 15-26°C Scattered showers. Morning clouds. Mild. Bloem: 13-25°C Heavy rain. Morning clouds. Mild.
Dbn: 19-31°C Rain late. More clouds than sun. Warm. PE: 15-22°C Numerous showers. More clouds than sun. Mild.
7 day forecasts...
Western Cape Eastern Cape Kwazulu Natal Gauteng

Germiston - 18:42:48 PM The bridge over the N12 Highway is closed for roadworks until 17th January 2010 - traffic is being re-routed to cross the Highway via the Sam Green Street bridge or the Kraft Road Interchange More traffic reports...

Here are the winning Lotto numbers from the Saturday, November 7 draw.

18, 24, 25, 31, 35, 42 Bonus 38

Lotto plus: 4, 14, 17, 20, 21, 34 Bonus 3

SMS the word Lotto to 31222 to get lotto numbers sent directly to your phone. The service costs just R10 per month. 
More lotto numbers...

Jobs - Find your dream job

Data Analyst

Western Cape
MC²
R25,000-30,000 Per Month

Finance Director

Western Cape - Cape Town
Hire Resolve

Management Accountant

Gauteng - Johannesburg
Network Finance Menlyn
R400,000-450,000 Per Month

Cars - Search 1000's of new and used cars

AUDI

2008 A4 1.8T Multitronics from R 269 000

VOLKSWAGEN

CitiGolf 1.6i 5-dr MY04
2002
R 44,999.00

AUDI

A4 1.8T FSi Ambition MY09
2009
R 309,899.00

TOYOTA

Yaris T3 1.3 5-dr
2008
R 117,900.00

Property - Find a new home

SAFARI GARDENS EXT 8

Single Residential R1,194,000

KLEINBAAI

Single Residential R1,530,000

DIAS

Multiple Unit R1,465,000

Travel - Look, Book, Go!

Free Games - TOO MUCH NEWS? TAKE A BREAK!