Government officials implicated in supporting Janjawid militias

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday it had obtained documents showing that Sudanese government officials had directed the recruitment, arming and support for Janjawid militias in the country's western region of Darfur. The confidential documents, obtained from the civilian administrations in Northern and Southern Darfur, implicated high-ranking government officials in "a policy of militia support", HRW added in a news statement. The government of Sudan has admitted arming the militias to fight a rebellion in the region, but has consistently denied supporting them with its army, and has never accepted responsibility for the widespread human rights abuses they have committed. It was not possible to immediately get a comment from the government on the HRW report. HRW and other groups have accused the militias and Sudanese government forces of being responsible for crimes against humanity, war crimes and ethnic cleansing involving aerial and ground attacks targeting civilians. President Umar Hasan al-Bashir has accused Western media of a campaign of lies regarding Darfur, saying that accusations of "ethnic cleansing" by some Western media were "sheer fabrications and baseless". "It's absurd to distinguish between the Sudanese government forces and the militias: they are one," said Peter Takirambudde, the executive director of HRW's Africa division. "These documents show that militia activity has not just been condoned, it's been specifically supported by Sudan government officials." A series of official Arabic-language documents dating from February and March 2004 showed officials calling for the recruitment of and military support for Janjawid, to be delivered to known Janjawid leaders, camps and "loyalist tribes", HRW reported. A February directive ordered "all security units" to tolerate the activities of known Janjawid leader Musa Hilal in Northern Darfur, it said. Hilal is one of seven Janjawid leaders and coordinators named by the US government last month. The documents "highlight the importance of non-interference so as not to question their authority" and authorised security units to "overlook minor offences by the fighters against civilians", HRW continued. Another document called for a plan of resettlement of nomads into places from which "the outlaws [i.e. the rebels]" had "withdrawn". Over 1.2 million people have been displaced by the militias and the army in joint attacks against civilians, many of whom share the same Fur, Zaghawah and Masalit ethnicity as Darfur's rebels. "This along with recent government statements that displaced persons will be settled in 18 settlements rather than in their original villages raises concerns that the ethnic cleansing that has occurred will be consolidated and that people will be unable to return to their villages," said HRW. "Sudan has launched a major public relations campaign aimed at buying more time for diplomatic initiatives to work," said Takirambudde. "But at this pint and without new evidence, Khartoum has zero credibility." Following a visit to Darfur by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, the Sudanese government committed itself to the following on 3 July: to immediately disarm the Janjawid militias and other "armed outlaw groups"; to ensure that no militias are present in areas surrounding camps for displaced; to deploy a "strong, credible and respected" police force in all internally displaced persons (IDPs) areas and others "susceptible to attacks"; to ensure that all movement of IDPs to their homes is done in a "truly voluntary manner"; and to undertake "concrete measures" to end impunity. Earlier this month, the Sudanese interior minister and the government’s special representative for Darfur, Abd al-Rahim Muhammad Husayn, told reporters that his "main duties" included securing and protecting the people of Darfur either in their camps or in their villages. He said he was deploying 6,000 policemen to maintain security "everywhere", and that he would disarm the Janjawid. "We will disarm them, we will try them so we can protect the people," he said. But an increasing number of reports suggest that the Janjawid are merely being absorbed into the new police forces, the paramilitary Popular Defence Forces and the army, all being deployed by the government to "protect" civilians in Darfur.