Armed militia still committing atrocities in Darfur - HRW

Armed militias have continued to commit atrocities against civilians in Sudan's troubled western region of Darfur despite claims by Khartoum that the situation had improved, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday. In a new report titled: "Empty Promises: Continuing Abuses in Darfur, Sudan", HRW said that instead of disarming the Janjawid militias, Khartoum had begun incorporating them into police and other security forces that could be used to secure proposed "safe areas" for displaced civilians. "The Sudanese government insists that it is taking significant measures, but the continuing atrocities in Darfur prove that Khartoum's claims simply aren't credible," Peter Takirambudde, executive director of HRW's Africa Division said. "If the government were serious about wanting to protect civilians, it would welcome a greater international presence." It was not immediately possible to get a comment from the Sudanese government on the report. But Khartoum strongly denies that it supports the activities of the Janjawid militias, and has committed itself to disarming them as demanded by the UN Security Council. The HRW report gives an account of how the Sudanese armed forces and the Janjawid had continued to target civilians and their livestock in villages in rural areas, towns and camps under government control. It also examines government pledges to rein in the militias, end impunity and restore security in Darfur. "Incorporating the Janjawid militias into the security services and then deploying them to protect civilian 'safe areas' is the height of absurdity," Takirambudde said. "The Sudanese government needs to bring war criminals to justice, not recruit them into positions of responsibility." Calling for increased international presence in Darfur, HRW said such a measure would improve civilian protection, monitor the government's actions and stabilise the region. "In many rural areas and small towns in Darfur, government forces and the Janjawid militias continue to routinely rape and assault women and girls when they leave the periphery of the camps and towns," the report said. It cited an incident in July when a group of women and girls were stopped at a Janjawid militia checkpoint in West Darfur. According to HRW, the militia told them that "the country belonged to the Arabs now and, as they were there without permission, they would be punished". All the women were then beaten, and six girls aged 13 to 16 raped, the report said. "Despite growing global attention to the crisis in Darfur, neither the international community nor the Sudanese government has taken the steps needed to ensure protection for civilians on the ground," Takirambudde added. "Rape, assaults and looting continue daily even as more people are being driven from their homes." HRW urged the African Union (AU), which has a small ceasefire monitoring force in Darfur, to expand its presence there. It called upon the UN Security Council, UN member states and the European Union countries to provide logistical and financial support needed to expand the AU force. The AU last week announced plans to deploy 2,000 troops in the region, but the Sudanese government has rejected the proposal. On Monday, Sudanese national television quoted the First Vice President Ali Osman Mohammed Taha as saying: "Whoever thinks that Darfur will be the opening [for foreign intervention] so that Sudan can kneel down and disintegrate is dreaming, dreaming and dreaming, God willing." HRW called for the establishment of an international commission of inquiry into abuses in Darfur, including probing allegations of genocide, and for international monitoring of any trial procedures. It said fighting had continued in Darfur between government forces and the Janjawid militias on the one hand, and two rebel groups - the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), despite a ceasefire agreement signed in April. The government and the rebel groups are due to meet in Abuja, Nigeria, on 23 August to try and find a political solution to the Darfur conflict. The 35-page report can be found at: www.hrw.org Meanwhile, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that the security situation in Darfur had remained tenuous. It said more civilians had been displaced by continuing violence in North and South Darfur. According to OCHA, militiamen suspected to be Janjawid had attacked 35 families in Tawilla, North Darfur, on Saturday. Other reports of continuing attacks by armed men on horses and camels, and backed by uniformed soldiers and military vehicles, were also being received in South Darfur, it added. The government-allied Janjawid militias are accused of committing gross atrocities against civilians and creating a humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur. The UN, which has described the current situation in Darfur as "the worst humanitarian crisis", says over 1.2 million people have been displaced in Darfur. More than 180,000 others have fled to neighbouring Chad. In a related development, the Sudanese Foreign, Minister Mustafa Uthman Isma'il, on Monday denied that there was a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" in Darfur. He told a news conference in Cairo, Egypt, that claims that the Darfur conflict was racial in origin, were "a lie". The minister, in an interview broadcast by Al-Jazeera television, said: "To say this is an ethnic cleansing battle between Arab and non-Arab tribes is a lie [...] We admit there is a problem in Darfur. There is a humanitarian, security, and political problem." He added: "The government is totally open-minded out of its feeling of responsibility towards addressing this problem. But the government is not ready to peddle the foreign and private agendas that seek to exploit a humanitarian issue to implement another political agenda." Last week, the senior UN envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk, and Isma'il signed an agreement committing Khartoum to take "detailed steps" to disarm the Janjawid militias. Under the agreement, the Sudanese government would also improve security for the 1.2 million internally displaced persons and address the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. In a resolution adopted 30 July, the Security Council said it would consider measures - including economic sanctions - if the Sudanese government did not make progress on its commitments to disarm the feared Janjawid militias and restore security in Darfur within 30 days. Thousands of people have died in the Darfur conflict, which erupted early last year when the SLM/A and JEM took up arms against the government, accusing it of marginalising the region. The government is believed to have armed the Janjawid militias to help its forces fight the rebels, but the militias stand accused of targeting unarmed civilians instead.