Sudan: Powell Should Insist on Civilian Protection

(New York, June 29, 2004) – U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell,
traveling to Sudan today, should make it clear to the Sudanese
authorities
that the international community will protect the civilians in Darfur
if the
Sudanese government fails to do so, Human Rights Watch said today.
Powell has called the situation in Sudan’s western Darfur region “a
catastrophe.”

“The Sudanese government’s campaign of ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Darfur is
the root cause of this humanitarian crisis,” said Jemera Rone, Sudan
researcher for the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch. “Powell
should press the Sudanese authorities to reverse this ‘ethnic
cleansing’ and
permit full humanitarian access.”

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has estimated
that 350,000 persons may die in the next few months if aid is not
substantially increased. The humanitarian emergency has resulted from
the
Sudanese government’s campaign of “ethnic cleansing” against civilians
of three ethnic groups—the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa—from which the
two rebel groups in Darfur draw their recruits.

On April 8 the Sudanese government signed a ceasefire agreement with
the two rebel groups in which it agreed to “neutralize” the Janjaweed,
a
militia created and supported by the government, and not to commit acts
of violence against the civilian population. It also agreed to permit
full
humanitarian access.

So far, the Sudanese government has not lived up to its agreement. The
United States should marshal all its diplomatic resources to gain the
support of the U.N. Security Council to invoke Chapter VII of the U.N.
Charter to take all actions necessary to ensure that both the human
rights
and humanitarian concerns in Darfur are urgently addressed. The U.N.
Security Council should also do what is necessary to maintain or
restore
international peace and security.

The one million people who have been forcibly displaced from their
homes and farms in Darfur are still being persecuted by the same people
who displaced them. The Janjaweed continue to loot, rape, and kill them
in the displaced camps. Women and girls are raped by both government
soldiers and Janjaweed, especially if they venture out of the camps for
food or medicine.
 
“Only by addressing the human rights crisis can the United States and
United Nations hope to solve the humanitarian disaster,” Rone said.
 
Despite hard evidence produced by nutritional surveys and satellite
photos, the Sudanese government has stated that there is no emergency
in
Darfur and that the catastrophe is a creation of the international
media.
However, the U.S. government has produced satellite photographs
showing destroyed villages, showing even the numbers of huts burned to
the ground where the targeted groups used to live before they were
expelled by the Janjaweed.

Human Rights Watch welcomed the naming by the U.S. State Department
of seven Janjaweed commanders as responsible for abuses in Darfur, but
urged that the government officials implicated in the atrocities also
be
named and held accountable.

The United States has insisted that the Sudanese government disarm the
Janjaweed and reverse the effects of “ethnic cleansing.” Human Rights
Watch urged the U.S. government also to seek the withdrawal of the
Janjaweed from the areas they have occupied, so that the displaced may
return home voluntarily and in safety. The Sudanese government has made
efforts to present a false picture of ‘normalcy’ for the international
visitors, including payments to displaced to return home and rehearsed
‘testimonies’ from people who are not displaced.
 
Humanitarian agencies have seen some restrictions removed, only to face
new obstacles as to the use of vehicles and radios placed in their
paths by
the government. Aid workers are under close surveillance by Sudanese
security agents in Darfur, where many are not allowed to talk in
confidence to the displaced.

In the April 8 ceasefire agreement, the parties tasked the African
Union
with creating a commission to monitor the ceasefire, but the accord did
not
give it a specific mandate to protect civilians. Last week some 120
ceasefire monitors reportedly were deployed in Darfur, consisting of
lightly armed African, European and U.S. military personnel under the
command of a Nigerian general. They are to be protected, if necessary,
by
an additional 270 armed troops under the African Union banner.
 
In the past year, the Sudanese government has armed, trained and
deployed Janjaweed militias who have attacked and burned to the ground
hundreds of villages, killed thousands of civilians, looted hundreds of
thousands of animals and destroyed farming supplies and water sources.
Khartoum has backed up the Janjaweed with Sudanese army forces and air
support from Antonov airplanes and attack helicopters.
 
The Sudanese government began the campaign in Darfur in early 2003 in
response to surprise rebel attacks on its military garrison in El
Fashir, the
capital of North Darfur. The rebels destroyed at least seven military
planes
on the ground, inflicted casualties, including civilian and military
deaths,
and held Sudanese military personnel captive.

=