Officials arrested in Sudan

2005-03-29 11:59

Nairobi - Authorities in Sudan have arrested 15 members of the country's security forces, accusing them of murder, rape and the burning of villages in the western Darfur region, news reports said on Tuesday.

The announcement came ahead of Wednesday's expected vote in the United Nations Security Council on a French-drafted resolution suggesting suspected Sudanese war criminals should be sent to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

Sudanese Justice Minister Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin was quoted by the British Broadcasting Corporation as saying a government committee had arrested 14 people in West Darfur and one in North Darfur.

But, said the minister, the committee had not completed its work.

"They are going to investigate... rape crimes, human rights violations, crimes against humanity and war crimes," said Yassin.

This is the first time that members of the Sudanese security forces have been detained over the widespread atrocities reportedly committed against civilians in Darfur since the conflict broke out two years ago.

A UN-appointed commission said earlier this year that the atrocities committed in Darfur could amount to crimes against humanity, and recommended that suspects should be tried at the ICC.

But government in Khartoum has said it intends to reject any Security Council vote which would refer war crimes suspects to the ICC, claiming the country?s own courts can handle such cases.

Tens of thousands of people are believed to have been killed in the Darfur conflict, and nearly two million have fled from their homes. - dpa

- SAPA