Government yet to disarm Darfur militias - UN

The Sudanese government has neither disarmed militias in the western region of Darfur nor stopped attacks against civilians, as required by the United Nations Security Council, the UN special envoy to Sudan said. Jan Pronk told the Security Council on Thursday that no concrete steps had been taken to bring to justice or even identify any of the militia leaders responsible for attacks against civilians. Violations of human rights, he said, were allowed to continue in a climate of impunity. While some individual offenders had been arrested, he added, an active and systematic strategy to end impunity and to bring to justice Janjawid leaders and their associates did not yet seem to be in place, the UN reported. Pronk said, however, that Sudan had made some progress in improving security for internally displaced persons (IDPs), deploying extra police and lifting restrictions on humanitarian access for relief workers. Urging the Sudanese government to seek international assistance, Pronk said an expanded African Union mission was one way to improve security in Darfur. But he added that the humanitarian situation was still bleak, with major gaps in the provision of food, water and sanitation, and many IDPs still beyond reach. Pronk said the government had not met some of the core commitments it made. The Security Council had given Sudan until 30 August to show that it was making tangible progress in addressing the Darfur crisis or face punitive measures, including possible sanctions. In response, Sudan formulated an action plan aimed at restoring calm to Darfur. Last week, a team which included Pronk and the Sudanese Foreign Minister, Mustafa Osman Ismail, visited Darfur to assess the implementation of the action plan. Pronk said Sudan’s government had ceased military operations in Darfur - including offensive actions against rebel groups, was exercising restraint and had redeployed the armed forces away from direct contact with IDPs. But despite progress, there was still much insecurity and the number of people fleeing their homes was increasing. He said the situation in Darfur should be seen in the broader context of the search for peace in southern Sudan and he called for international pressure to be applied on Sudanese rebels as well. Details of the briefing can be found at: www.reliefweb.int Human rights groups, however, urged the Council to intensify pressure on Sudan. Amnesty International said in a statement on Thursday: "The Council must give monitors strong political backing to compel the Sudanese government to account for the gross human rights violations committed by its security forces and its militia, the Janjawid." Emphasizing that Sudan, contrary to its promises, had not disarmed the Janjawid, Amnesty said 300 militiamen who were disarmed in Al Geneina on 27 August were allegedly given their arms back. "A further obstacle to the effective disarmament of the Janjawid is evidenced by their progressive integration into the armed forces, the Popular Defence Forces and the border police," it said. "Amnesty is concerned that this makes it more difficult to identify those responsible for human rights violations." It said that the police force, sent by the government to restore security in Darfur, had been accused of sexually exploiting IDPs. "Women and girls continue to be raped in the vicinity of camps, and can only get medical treatment if they report rape to the police," it noted, but “members of the police force have refused to take women's accounts of rape." According Amnesty, IDPs and witnesses of human rights violations, human rights activists who speak out on Darfur, interpreters and journalists were being intimidated after talking to African Union monitors and international missions. Monitors were unable to guarantee the safety and confidentiality of witnesses, it said. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the Security Council had reached a critical moment to take strong action against the continuing atrocities in Darfur. "Thirty-four days ago, the Council told Khartoum that it had 30 days to end massive violations of human rights and rein in the Janjawid," Georgette Gagnon, deputy director of HRW's Africa Division, said. "For the Council to fail to deliver on its own strong demands sends the worst possible message." Gagnon said the Council should establish an international commission of inquiry to collect evidence of the atrocities committed in Darfur and impose sanctions on top Sudanese military and civilian leaders, including travel bans and asset freezes, and an arms embargo on Sudan as a whole, with enforcement mechanisms for all sanctions.