Amnesty urges deployment of more AU troops in Darfur

Amnesty International has called for the rapid implementation of a plan to enhance the African Union mission in the western Sudanese region of Darfur, saying this would improve the its capacity to protect civilians and investigate violations of the ceasefire and humanitarian law. "The monitors and troops are already said to be taking a more proactive role in protecting civilians [and] patrolling in areas where there have been clashes in order to try to build confidence," Erwin van der Borght, deputy director of Amnesty’s Africa programme, said in a new report. "But their deployment has been slow, their recommendations are not acted on, and even their reports on ceasefire violations are usually blocked by the parties to the conflict." According to Amnesty, the mission's speedy deployment throughout Darfur would enable it to act more effectively in fulfilling its mandate. "The displaced, who have already fled several times, continue to be attacked where they have sought refuge and continue to flee from one place to another," it said. "Those in camps find that the government and police who should be protecting them are the ones who are bulldozing their shelters and expelling them." The report: "Sudan: Darfur: What hope for the future? The need to protect civilians", describes examples of attacks against civilians in camps, villages or towns after the signing of the humanitarian and security protocols by the parties to the conflict in Abuja on 9 November. It called for an increase in the number of UN human rights monitors in the region. "They have been able to follow up many cases of arrests and rape, but number only nine in the vast region of Darfur," Amnesty said. It also called for a police component, set up in October by the African Union Peace and Security Council, to be attached to Sudanese police forces to assist, monitor and act as a visible presence and give confidence to the displaced. Amnesty’s report was released as Germany announced it would provide three military transport planes to help deploy more African Union troops to Darfur. The planes would transport 200 Gambian soldiers to the area, bringing the overall force to at least 1,000 out of the authorised strength of 3,000. In New York, the UN under Secretary-General for humanitarian affairs, Jan Egeland, told the Security Council in a briefing on Tuesday that the role of the African Union in Darfur was critical. "As humanitarian organisations with 7,000 international and local staff on the ground in Darfur, we are struck by the fact that only one-third of the promised African Union troops have been deployed," Egeland said. "This is despite months of promises to increase the capacity of the African Union to help it establish its presence on the ground. "The regional dimension of armed conflict is well understood and the need for a regional approach to address and respond to the civilian consequences of armed conflict well recognised," he added. On Thursday, the UN said it had suspended its relief operations in parts of South Darfur due to fighting between government and rebel forces, and a reported build-up of armed groups in the area. Radia Achouri, spokesperson for the UN Advance Mission in Sudan, told IRIN that fighting between government troops and the rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) had continued in areas east and southeast of Nyala town. The war in Darfur pits the Sudanese government troops and militias, allegedly allied to the government, against rebels fighting to end what they have called marginalisation and discrimination of the region's inhabitants by the state. The conflict has displaced an estimated 1.45-million people and sent another 200,000 fleeing across the border into Chad. The UN has described the Darfur problem as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.