U.N. Report Details Renewed Violence in Darfur
Yesterday the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in cooperation with the United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur, issued a report on the renewed violence in Darfur. The report details attacks by the Sudanese Armed Forces in cooperation with Arab militia, known as Janjaweed, on the four West Darfur villages of Saraf Jidad, Sirba, Silea and Abu Suruj.
The report states, “As a result of the attacks, at least 115 persons were killed, including elderly people, women, and children, and more than 30,000 individuals forcibly displaced to other locations, including neighboring Chad. Civilian homes, NGO clinics and offices, community centers, water structures, schools, food storages, milling machines and shops were systematically pillaged, vandalized and/or set ablaze. Livestock were also looted.” The report also documents accounts of rape and other forms of sexual violence committed against women and girls—as young as the age of nine—by armed uniformed men in the village of Sirba. The report concludes that the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Janjaweed committed serious violations to international human rights law and international humanitarian law (or the laws of war).
The experience of one victim, who is reported to be about 80 years old, from the village of Saraf Jidad, captures the macabre nature of the Janjaweed attacks on villages in Darfur:
“I was in my house and Janjaweeds were in the village, looting and shooting at people. I could not run away because I am old. The attackers entered my house. They were four, in military uniforms. One of them hit my head with the butt of his gun. I fell down. He told me, ‘If you do not all move from here we will burn you alive.’ At that, they set my house on fire. I was inside, but managed to escape though I had my arms injured by the fire.” My two brothers died I the attack. One of them was shot in his head with a bullet. He was an old man. There were no Tora Boras [local term for rebels] in our village.”
The SAF maintains it attacked these West Darfur villages to retake them from the Justice and Equality Movement, a rebel group operating in Darfur that is also accused of committing serious human rights abuses. But the government denies that it coordinated its aerial and ground assaults with the Janjaweed, claiming that it is “…possible that tribal groups [Janjaweed] may have exploited the SAF attack in order act in their own interests and pursue their own agenda.” Such claims by the government of Sudan have been common during the six-year conflict in Darfur, but it is well known that the government of Sudan coordinates closely with Janjaweed and supplies them with the arms they need to carry out atrocities in Darfur.
While the violence in Darfur rages on, the government of China continues to deny the weapons it sales to the Sudanese government are used in Darfur. However, the latest public trading figures show that between 2004-2006 China was supplying approximately 90% of small arms purchased by Sudan, and Chinese made weapons have been spotted recently in Darfur.
China claims that through its diplomacy, it is working to champion peace in Darfur. While that may be true to an extent, China’s arms transfers are doing just the opposite: they are helping to enable continued atrocities in Darfur.
The report states, “As a result of the attacks, at least 115 persons were killed, including elderly people, women, and children, and more than 30,000 individuals forcibly displaced to other locations, including neighboring Chad. Civilian homes, NGO clinics and offices, community centers, water structures, schools, food storages, milling machines and shops were systematically pillaged, vandalized and/or set ablaze. Livestock were also looted.” The report also documents accounts of rape and other forms of sexual violence committed against women and girls—as young as the age of nine—by armed uniformed men in the village of Sirba. The report concludes that the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Janjaweed committed serious violations to international human rights law and international humanitarian law (or the laws of war).
The experience of one victim, who is reported to be about 80 years old, from the village of Saraf Jidad, captures the macabre nature of the Janjaweed attacks on villages in Darfur:
“I was in my house and Janjaweeds were in the village, looting and shooting at people. I could not run away because I am old. The attackers entered my house. They were four, in military uniforms. One of them hit my head with the butt of his gun. I fell down. He told me, ‘If you do not all move from here we will burn you alive.’ At that, they set my house on fire. I was inside, but managed to escape though I had my arms injured by the fire.” My two brothers died I the attack. One of them was shot in his head with a bullet. He was an old man. There were no Tora Boras [local term for rebels] in our village.”
The SAF maintains it attacked these West Darfur villages to retake them from the Justice and Equality Movement, a rebel group operating in Darfur that is also accused of committing serious human rights abuses. But the government denies that it coordinated its aerial and ground assaults with the Janjaweed, claiming that it is “…possible that tribal groups [Janjaweed] may have exploited the SAF attack in order act in their own interests and pursue their own agenda.” Such claims by the government of Sudan have been common during the six-year conflict in Darfur, but it is well known that the government of Sudan coordinates closely with Janjaweed and supplies them with the arms they need to carry out atrocities in Darfur.
While the violence in Darfur rages on, the government of China continues to deny the weapons it sales to the Sudanese government are used in Darfur. However, the latest public trading figures show that between 2004-2006 China was supplying approximately 90% of small arms purchased by Sudan, and Chinese made weapons have been spotted recently in Darfur.
China claims that through its diplomacy, it is working to champion peace in Darfur. While that may be true to an extent, China’s arms transfers are doing just the opposite: they are helping to enable continued atrocities in Darfur.
posted by Eric Sears at
8:22 AM
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