UN should impose arms embargo on both gov't and militias, says AI

Amnesty International (AI) has called on the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo on the Sudanese government and militias allied to it, who Amnesty said were deemed to be responsible for many of the atrocities committed in western Darfur region. In a report released on Friday, AI urged the UN to impose the arms embargo on the government and the Janjawid militia "until full respect for human rights can be ensured". The report, it added, was based on satellite images showing the scale of the destruction of villages in Darfur. It was not immediately possible to get a comment from the Sudanese government on the AI report. The London-based human rights watchdog welcomed a Security Council draft resolution proposed by the US calling on the Sudanese government to fulfil the commitment it had made publicly to cease military attacks in Darfur and to protect civilians. "We have seen ample evidence that the Janjawid are armed, funded and supported by the Sudanese government. Therefore, any resolution for the suspension of transfers of arms used to commit human rights violations must be directed not only against militias, but also against the Sudan government. This suspension should be imposed immediately and should continue until human rights are secured," AI stressed. AI said the satellite images of a small area in Western Darfur taken in March 2003 and May 2004, "vividly demonstrate the pattern of destruction of villages in Darfur by the Janjawid". In the photos, at least 155, or 44 per cent, of the villages show signs of having been burnt between March 2003 and May 2004. It added that over the past 15 months it had interviewed hundreds of villagers who had fled from the area shown in the satellite images, and the experiences they had related "of death, destruction, rape and flight" had served to illustrate what the images depicted. According to AI, the Council should adopt a resolution for the deployment of "human rights monitors in sufficient quantity and adequately resourced, with a clear mandate to investigate ongoing human rights violations in Darfur and the protection of civilians in particular in the IDP [internally displaced persons] camps, and to make its findings and recommendations public." Meanwhile, the Sudanese government on Monday announced a number of steps it said would improve the situation in Darfur, according to government-controlled Sudanese TV. The measures, announced by Interior Minister Maj-Gen Abd al-Rahim Muhammad Husayn, include exemption from import duties of all humanitarian aid to Darfur, and the lifting of all taxes from agricultural produce coming from Darfur. The minister instructed Sudanese security forces to "strengthen security and ensure civilians are protected", as well as helping and facilitating the African Union monitoring team to be deployed in the region. He also instructed the Darfur state governments to "guarantee the flow of humanitarian aid and return the displaced and affected people to their regions".