UN urges probe into attacks on Darfur civilians

The United Nations human rights agency urged the Sudanese government on Monday to launch an independent probe into alleged militia attacks in South Darfur, saying the raids may have left hundreds of civilians dead.

An estimated 300 to 1,000 armed militia from the Habbania Arab group attacked 45 villages in the Buram locality of South Darfur in late August, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in a report. It added that the raids were reportedly marked by widespread targeting of civilians of "African" origin, indiscriminate torching of villages, looting and forced displacement.

The targeted villages were mainly inhabited by members of the Zaghawa, Massalit and Misserya Jebel ethnic groups, OHCHR said.

"The attacks, spearheaded by Habbania militia, were massive in scale, involving a large number of villages, and were carried out over only a few days.

Government knowledge, if not complicity, in the attacks is almost certain," the agency added.

The OHCHR report, prepared with the UN Assistance Mission in Sudan after interviews with survivors of the attacks and other sources, says the large-scale assaults resulted in displacement, widespread separation of families and scores of missing children. Subsequent attacks on internally displaced persons fleeing the fighting, carried out by militia from the government-allied Fallata grouping, caused the displaced population to scatter even further, hampering efforts to deliver aid to those affected, it says.

An independent investigation should be aimed at bringing to justice those responsible for the attacks, facilitating delivery of humanitarian and medical assistance to those displaced and supporting the reunification of families, OHCHR said.

Conditions should also be created to allow the return of IDPs by ensuring better protection in the area and more frequent police patrols, it added. It also recommended that the African Union Mission in Sudan work with the Sudanese government to prepare for the deployment of protection forces in the affected area.

At least two million people have been driven from their homes in three years of fighting in Darfur, western Sudan, between the government, allied militias and rebel forces. The Darfur conflict began in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the government, saying the remote region remained undeveloped due to Khartoum's neglect.

The government has been accused of arming militias known as the Janjawid to crush the rebellion using a campaign of rape, murder and displacement.

The government denies these charges.

[The full OHCHR report]

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