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Darfur
The Security Council’s referral of Darfur to the ICC is only
one of several approaches needed to stop and reverse the effects of crimes
against humanity and ethnic cleansing in Darfur.
International prosecution, and the commencement of
investigations, should deter some abuses, which have flourished because of the
Sudanese government’s guarantee of impunity for its forces and allied militias.
But insecurity persists, in the form of continuing violent displacement,
attacks on civilians in displaced persons camps or attempting to return home,
and sexual violence against women and girls outside the camps and on the road
to market. Some of these attacks are designed to prevent displaced persons
from returning to their land so that the attackers can occupy and use the land
for their own purposes, including grazing and farming. The Sudanese
government, which promised to prosecute the abusers and protect civilians in Darfur, has made no serious efforts to do either.
The U.N. 2005 Work Plan and Security Council Resolution 1590
(2005) state that a protection strategy for Darfur will be implemented in 2005.
We recommend that such plans include measures deliberately designed to reverse
the ethnic cleansing in Darfur and ensure the right to return for displaced
communities, voluntarily and in safety and dignity.
Donor governments and the United Nations must take immediate
steps to prevent consolidation of ethnic cleansing as it would guarantee
continued instability and retribution in Darfur, reward the perpetrators of
these crimes and leave some two million Darfurians without their homes, land
and property. It would also confine the victims to displaced person camps and
leave them entirely dependent on international humanitarian assistance.
In practical terms, reversal of ethnic cleansing means an
end to attacks on civilians in Darfur. Donors should pledge support for
civilian protection under an expanded African Union (A.U.) mandate and mission
in Darfur. None of the projects in the U.N. Work Plan, however, for protection
in Darfur include assistance to the A.U. Mission in Sudan (AMIS) and other
forces necessary to restore security before any other reconstruction work can
start. Physical protection is the foundation for any progress in Darfur. We suggest that a protection strategy include the following elements at a minimum:
Urgent and substantial increase in the number of forces in the
AMIS mission to ensure that the AMIS is adequately deployed throughout Darfur, has sufficient capacity to protect civilians and can undertake additional
responsibilities as needed.
Provide sufficient logistics to strategically deploy AMIS forces
in many more small towns and villages throughout Darfur and pro-actively patrol
and secure the main roads for humanitarian, commercial and civilian traffic.
Cooperate with the United Nations and human rights monitors from
the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to identify and
secure key evidence; deploy experts within the AMIS force with specific
expertise in ensuring witness and victim protection.
Women and girls who have suffered sexual violence have a full
range of health needs that donors should address. These include treatment of
injuries that may have occurred during the course of sexual violence,
information and preventative treatment for sexually transmitted infections, HIV
and hepatitis, information and access to treatment to prevent unwanted
pregnancies, and counseling to address the emotional and psychological impact
of sexual violence. As well, the social and economic consequences of the stigma
accompanying rape demand that economic security may be provided through other
means, such as income-generating activities. For further information on
sexual and gender based violence in Darfur and Chad, please see Human Rights
Watch’s briefing paper released on April 11, 2005.
The U.N. Work Plan for Sudan proposes protection in Darfur based
on the “protection by presence” approach for U.N. and nongovernmental agencies
working in Darfur and the operational plan outlines responsibilities at the
national and state level. But recently the Sudanese government has restricted
access to Darfur for aid workers who have been subjected to increasing
intimidation and attacks by government and rebel forces. International pressure
for improved access must not cease, and must be increased. See Human Rights
Watch press release Darfur: Aid Workers Under Threat dated April 7, 2005.
Human Rights Watch has expressed concern about the August 21,
2004 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) entered into between Sudan, the United
Nations and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on the voluntary
return of internally displaced persons in Darfur. The U.N. Work Plan states
that the returns process will be governed by the MOU through a Management
Coordination Mechanism (MCM) that is tasked with reviewing the voluntariness
and appropriateness of returns and relocations. IOM is responsible for the
returns process in North and South Darfur; UNHCR in West Darfur. Human Rights
Watch believes that the MOU lacks important fundamental legal standards, a
provision for the independent monitoring of conditions for displaced persons
after return, and provisions for enforcement and accountability. The IOM itself
does not have the mandate, expertise or capacity to carry out its obligations
under this MOU. Donors must ensure that the voluntary and safe return of
displaced persons is conducted in coordination with appropriate U.N. and
nongovernmental organizations.
Resolving conflicts over land in Darfur and ensuring that
the violent and forced eviction of farmers and others from their homes is not
permanent are also needed to reverse ethnic cleansing. Human Rights Watch
suggests the following measures be prioritized:
A temporary ban on land transfers in Darfur. Donors should
insist that no permanent land transfers or profit be made as a result of ethnic
cleansing in Darfur. Human Rights Watch has received reports that, rather than
redressing or reversing the ethnic cleansing in Darfur, the Sudanese government
may be moving to consolidate the illegal transfer of land and resources. We are
concerned that while a political solution is being negotiated, land grabs may
occur (informally and formally, through new decrees and legislation, forced
relocation, resettlement and allocations to powerful persons) that could make
ethnic cleansing very difficult to reverse.
The U.N. Work Plan proposes one project for reduction of
resource-based conflict between pastoralists and farmers, based on a study done
by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 2002. Donors should give
priority to U.N. involvement in this effort to redress the land and resource
conflicts which are among the key causes of the human rights and humanitarian
crisis in Darfur.
Donors should also require, in the context of the National Land
Commission (to be established under the terms of the Comprehensive Peace
Agreement), that a subsection be created for Darfur. This Darfur section
should employ respected historians, land use specialists, anthropologists,
linguists, and others, both Sudanese and foreign, giving priority to those who
have worked in Darfur and to findings of the UNDP study above. It should also
include representatives of each of the affected ethnic groups, as chosen by
each group. The Darfur section should be charged with mapping land use,
ownership and customary land rights prior to the conflict and arbitrating
disputes, devising mechanisms for regulating land use, and ensuring
reparations. This Darfur section should also be tasked with making efforts to
accommodate landless nomads and ensure that migration routes are respected.
Compensation to victims is essential: some two million persons
have been stripped of all their assets—livestock—and their household goods and
clothes have been looted or destroyed, along with their homes. They were once
self-supporting; they are now thoroughly impoverished with few prospects for
improving their economic situation because the campaign of massive ethnic
cleansing has also destroyed the economy of Darfur. The victims need
assistance to restart their lives. Compensation should be made in cash or in
kind (livestock, seeds and tools) through a compensation mechanism. We note
the recommendation of the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur that the United Nations establish an international compensation commission for payment of compensation to victims of crimes committed by
government forces, de facto agents of the government, and rebel groups.
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