New U.N. Panel Report Finds "Flagrant Violations" to Darfur Arms Embargo

Yesterday the U.N. Panel of Experts that monitors implementation of the Darfur arms embargo released its latest report that details flagrant violations to the embargo by all parties to the conflict. You can read the 93-page report by clicking on the link at the bottom of this post. Below is the statement issued by Human Rights First calling on the Security Council to take immediate action to enforce the embargo.

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Human Rights First Press Statement

Rights Group: Security Council Should Immediately Enforce Darfur Arms Embargo

New York, NY –In response to a new report from the United Nations Security Council’s Sudan Panel of Experts citing “flagrant violations” to the Darfur arms embargo by all parties to the conflict, Human Rights First called on the U.N. Security Council to take immediate and strong steps to enforce that embargo.

“Given the Security Council’s refusal to act on previous reports of blatant and widespread violations, no one should be surprised by the gross embargo violations described in this report,” stated Julia Fromholz, interim director of the Crimes Against Humanity Program at Human Rights First. “The failure of the Council to take robust action against violators of the embargo—the Government of Sudan, rebel groups, and their suppliers—aggravates the violations themselves by signaling to suppliers and belligerents that they may operate with impunity.”

Human Rights First is calling for more international attention to be paid to those countries supplying arms to all belligerents to the conflict in Darfur. The rights organization has reported that more than 30 countries have supplied the Government of Sudan with weapons or related material since the Security Council established the embargo. China and Russia—permanent members of the Security Council—are two of the largest arms suppliers to Khartoum. Governments that send weapons to Sudan with knowledge that Khartoum is violating the embargo are failing to comply with the embargo.

“The surest way to stem the flow of weapons into Darfur is to convince weapons suppliers to halt their sales,” Fromholz observed. “This aspect of the violence in Darfur—and in the region, including Chad and the Central African Republic—has received too little attention from the international community. That must change.”

The new U.N. report comes as peace negotiations in the region are stalled, while violence against civilians, humanitarian aid workers, and peacekeepers continues unabated. The unwillingness of belligerents to come to the table for serious negotiations cannot be separated from the continuing supply of weapons to them.

“It is difficult to imagine a sustainable peace in Darfur when other countries continue to supply the Government of Sudan and the rebel groups with weapons. Drying up the flow of weapons to Darfur will not ensure peace, but it would shift the political dynamics in the right direction,” Fromholz stated.

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Reports of New Weapons Deal Between Russia and Sudan

Recent reports in the media allege that the Russian Federation has sold 12 MiG-29 fighter jets to the Government of Sudan. Human Rights First has sent a letter to the Russian government asking it to clarify whether or not the sale was concluded and, if so, what steps the Russian government is taking to ensure that the fighter jets are not being used in Darfur in violation of the United Nations imposed Darfur arms embargo. You can read the full HRF press statement on the matter here.

Article Warns of Arms Race in Sudan

In today's Christian Science Monitor, correspondent Heba Aly explores the intensifying arms race between North and South Sudan, citing the new Human Rights First report on the 30 plus countries that have directly or indirectly shipped arms to the Government of Sudan since the Darfur arms embargo was put in place by the United Nations Security Council. Human Rights First has been calling for the Security Council to enforce the Darfur arms embargo and expand it to cover all of Sudan.

Over 30 Countries Risk Violating the Darfur Arms Embargo

Last week, Human Rights First reported that over 30 nations may be in violation of the UN arms embargo on Darfur.

Arms Sales to Sudan, 2004-2006 uses public data to track international arms sales and clearly shows that large amounts of arms continue to enter Sudan from dozens of nations around the globe. The unrelenting flow of arms into Darfur is fueling violence that has already resulted in hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths. Countries provide arms in one of two ways, either as direct importers (Category 1) or as manufacturers of weapons that eventually end up in Sudan (Category 2).

Category 1 consists of twelve nations, including China, India, Kenya, Iran and Russia that admit to selling arms directly to Sudan. In some cases, such as Spain, countries report selling small amounts of gun parts or ammunition. Others, such as China and India, report selling tens of millions of dollars in arms, tanks and military aircraft to Sudan. Sudanese government forces have used these weapons on attacks against civilians in Darfur.

Arms sales by Category 2 countries are reported to public databases by Sudan, which reports the “country of origin” of any weapons that it imports. Twenty four countries are on Sudan’s list for 2004-2006 as the producers of weapons that entered the country, including France, Kuwait, Germany, and the United States.

Human Rights First asked all countries to explain their arms sales to Sudan, in spite of the Darfur embargo and the government’s association with atrocities in Darfur. Some of them, including the United States, denied authorizing shipments to Sudan and several have promised to launch investigations into the matter. Still others have given no reply.

The numbers don’t lie; the arms embargo against Darfur is quite simply not strong enough. Countries must take immediate action to stop all arms sales to Sudan and begin monitoring the final destination of all the weapons that they produce.

Along with the Report Card, Human Rights First has released A Three-Step Guide to Strengthening the Darfur Arms Embargo, listing three specific actions that will, if taken, drastically reduce the flood of arms into Darfur.

First, stop imports of Chinese A-5 “Fantan” attack aircraft to Sudan, including imports of any spare parts that will allow A-5s already in Sudan to remain operational.

Chinese A-5s on the ground in Darfur (Nyala airport)

The BBC has documented A-5 aircraft that are armed with heavy machine guns and have been used to attack civilian targets as recently as February 2008. This report and others belie Sudan’s claim that these planes are not being used in Darfur is false and the UN Security Council should take steps to see that A-5s no longer reach Sudan.

Second, stop imports of Russian Mi-24 and Mi-171 helicopters to Sudan and suspend any deal that includes maintenance or pilot training. Again, the UN Panel of Experts and other observers have shown that Sudan’s claims that the helicopters are not being used in Darfur are completely false.

Mi-24 helicopter landing in Darfur (El Fasher airport)

The Panel of Experts has shown that the helicopters are not only active in Darfur, but also that some have been painted white in order to disguise them as UN aircraft. Those white helicopters were then used as attack helicopters. These helicopters not only violate the embargo, they put UN peacekeepers in danger by their actions.

The third step is to stop military cargo flights to Darfur. Sudan needs private air cargo companies to transport its guns and tanks to remote areas. Those companies profits will suffer if countries come together and “blacklist” any plane that flies weapons into Darfur. Once profits suffer, they will be less inclined to undertake gun-running flights. Blacklisting has proven effective in enforcing other embargoes, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and could sever a vital link in the supply chain that brings arms into Darfur.

These steps, combined with a commitment by countries to cease arms sales to Sudan, would go a long way to reducing the prevalence of weapons in Darfur, and would send a strong signal to the warring parties that continued abuses will not be tolerated.

Senate Resolution Call for Expanding the Darfur Arms Embargo

In a clear bipartisan statement denouncing the flow of weapons to Sudan, Senators Bill Nelson and James Inhofe, along with sixteen other co-sponsors, called on countries to cease selling arms to Sudan.

Senate Resolution 660, introduced on Monday, September 16th, calls on arms suppliers—particularly China and Russia—to cease their sales immediately, as “continued sale of arms to Sudan under these circumstances violates the United Nations arms embargo imposed by Security Council Resolutions 1556 and 1591.” The resolution also calls for an expanded UN arms embargo on Sudan.

Human Rights First applauds Senators Nelson, Inhofe, and the other co-sponsors of the resolution for condemning the continuing sales of arms to Sudan. “That such a diverse group of senators came together to decry continued arms transfers to Sudan shows how important the issue of arms is to resolving the conflict in Darfur,” said Betsy Apple, Director of Human Rights First’s Crimes Against Humanity Program. “So long as Darfur is awash in weapons, there will be no peace for the peacekeepers to keep.”

Human Rights First joined these Senators in demanding that all countries immediately cease arms sales to every party to the conflict in Sudan. “Sudan President al-Bashir is under potential indictment for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court,” stated Apple. “No one should be arming a potential war criminal.”

World Food Program Threatens to Halt Aid to Parts of Darfur

On Sunday (September 7th) the World Food Program (WFP) issued a little noticed press release that should have set off alarm bells for diplomats at the UN and advocates alike. The WFP said that banditry has become so severe in Darfur that if things do not get better it will be forced to greatly reduce or end its food distribution in certain parts of the region. Each month the WFP feeds 3 million people in Darfur. You can read the WFP press release at the end of this post.

Banditry in Darfur is out of control. It is not clear in many cases who the bandits are, whether they act alone or are connected with rebel groups in Darfur or the Sudanese government’s proxy militia in the region called “Janajweed”. According to UN sources, more aid workers were killed in the first six months of 2008 in Darfur than the total number killed in all of 2007. Add that grim figure to the scores of aid workers who have been assaulted by bandits as well as aid trucks that have been hijacked and it paints a dire security crisis in the region.

A number of factors have influenced the rise of banditry in Darfur. At the most fundamental level, it is due to the fact that bandits have the means to commit these crimes and they can get away with it. More than three years after the Darfur arms embargo was established by the Security Council the region is awash with weapons. Access to weapons used by bandits points, at least in part, to the failure of the Council to enforce and enhance the arms embargo. Bandits can get away with their actions because the Government of Sudan has not implemented policing and legal mechanisms that hold the perpetrators accountable and UNAMID policing units are not fully deployed in the region.

The easy access to weapons that bandits in Darfur have and the lawlessness they enjoy are both urgent matters that the Security Council must address. Ignoring these issues will allow the conflict in the region to spiral further out of control.

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WFP News Release

7 September 2008

RAMPANT ATTACKS ON RELIEF FOOD CONVOYS PLAGUE OPERATIONS IN DARFUR

KHARTOUM - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned today that it will have to suspend food distributions in Darfur if the security situation does not improve.

WFP said that relentless attacks on truck convoys in Darfur are pushing to the brink the agency’s ability to feed more than 3 million people each month.

While WFP managed to recover three hijacked trucks and four fleet staff yesterday following the latest attack in South Darfur, 69 trucks and 43 drivers remain unaccounted for. Since the beginning of the year, more than 100 vehicles delivering WFP food assistance have been hijacked in Darfur, with many more shot at and robbed. Drivers are refusing to travel along certain routes, significantly slowing food aid deliveries to hungry people.

“Repeated and targeted attacks on food convoys are making it extraordinarily difficult and dangerous for us to feed hungry people,” said Monika Midel, WFP’s Deputy Representative in Sudan, saying that the agency was deeply concerned that the welfare and lives of personnel were being put at increased risk. “Should these attacks continue, the situation will become intolerable -- to the point that we will have to suspend operations in some areas of Darfur.”

WFP’s warning comes in the wake of the decision on 27 August by NGO partner German Agro Action (GAA) to suspend food distribution to 450,000 people in North Darfur because of insecurity.

Since the beginning of the year, WFP has been warning that banditry and attacks have been impeding its operation. The dramatic decline in security has caused a major reduction in food deliveries to Darfur. WFP started cutting rations in May when truck convoys could no longer deliver enough food, affecting three million people. In July, almost 50,000 people received no food assistance at all due to insecurity.

September is the pre-harvest, ‘hunger gap’ period when the rural population normally runs out of food from last year’s harvest.

“We urge other groups who have seized trucks and drivers to release them, unharmed. At stake are thousands of people in Darfur, who are reliant on the food lifeline the relief truck convoys provide,” said Midel.

New Attacks on a Civilian Camp in Darfur

The Sudanese Armed Force’s attack yesterday on Kalma Camp in South Darfur that reportedly left dozens dead is the latest example of the need to enforce and strengthen the Darfur arms embargo. Kalma Camp is home to some 90,000 people who have been left homeless as a result of the violence in Darfur. The camp has long been a hub of unrest and is “awash with weapons” according to a BBC report.

The continued flow of weapons into Darfur greatly complicates the work of the international peacekeeping mission in Darfur, known as UNAMID, and further hinders the ability for the dormant peace process in Darfur to begin again. Ironically, the attacks on Kalma Camp occurred the same day the new United Nations-African Union Joint Mediator for Darfur, Djibril Bassole, officially took up his new post in Sudan.

For too long the Security Council has stood by and let weapons continue to flow into Darfur in violation of the arms embargo it implemented on the region. This is irresponsible and shameful. The Council ought to react strongly to this latest round of violence in Darfur by taking steps to enforce the arms embargo and expand it to cover all of Sudan as well as rebel groups operating in or from Eastern Chad.