Gov't "largely responsible" for abuses in Darfur, says watchdog

There is "compelling evidence" that the government of Sudan is "largely responsible" for the abuses and humanitarian crisis in Darfur, western Sudan, said rights group Amnesty International (AI) in a statement on Thursday. Arab militia groups responsible for attacks on farming communities which have killed thousands, contained well armed and uniformed elements of the Sudanese army, AI researcher Benedicte Goderiaux told IRIN. Following interviews with refugees from Darfur who have fled to neighbouring Chad, AI said it had come to the "the bleak conclusion that at least some elements in the army" were encouraging the devastation. According to the UN, 600,000 people have been displaced since February. "Refugee after refugee, in widely scattered areas, told how militias armed with kalashnikovs and other weapons, including bazookas, often dressed in green army uniforms, raided villages, burnt houses and crops and killed people and cattle," the statement said. Allegations of abductions, rape of women, and torture in detention had also been made. The Sudanese government has repeatedly denied backing the Arab militia groups in Darfur, known as the Janjaweed, but has committed itself to controlling them. At the very least, AI said it had "totally failed in its obligation to protect its own people". Goderiaux said she would be "cautious" about describing the attacks as ethnic cleansing. The attacks have mainly targeted the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups, which make up two rebel movements - the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and the Justice and Equality Movement - fighting for political and economic rights. Goderiaux warned that the conflict, which is currently centered in northern and western Darfur, had the potential to spread further and become a fullscale civil war. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) on Thursday said the security situation along the Chadian border was deteriorating, as the militias launched "bolder and more aggressive attacks". Over a three-week period, the militias had launched six raids on refugee and Chadian communities close to the border, stealing hundreds of cattle and killing a Chadian villager, the agency said. In another attack Arab militias had torched six villages over the border from Borota. Meanwhile, the lack of travel permits being granted by the Sudanese government, coupled with general insecurity, is preventing aid agencies from supplying urgently needed humanitarian aid.