The United Nations Security Council must immediately increase the international presence in Darfur and impose an extended arms embargo to stop continuing atrocities there, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to members of the Security Council.
Human Rights Watch also called on the Security Council to establish an accountability mechanism and address serious concerns posed by “safe areas” proposed for the region.
In Resolution 1556, the Security Council demanded that the Sudanese government “disarm the Janjaweed militias and apprehend and bring to justice Janjaweed leaders and their associates who incited and carried out human rights and international humanitarian law violations and other atrocities.” The resolution also stated that further action should be considered in the event of noncompliance. In spite of its repeated pledges to disarm the Janjaweed, the Sudanese government has failed to do so. As Human Rights Watch research has shown, some Sudanese government forces share camps with the Janjaweed and continue to direct and support their atrocities.
“The Security Council must make good on its threat and impose further measures on Sudan,” said Peter Takirambudde, executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Africa Division. “The international community must demonstrate that it will not tolerate continuing atrocities committed by Sudanese armed forces and allied Janjaweed militias.”
In the letter, Human Rights Watch urged the Security Council to extend the arms embargo imposed on the Janjaweed in Resolution 1556 to the government of Sudan, and to establish a sanctions committee to enforce these measures. The Security Council should endorse the plans for a significant increase in African Union personnel on the ground in Darfur and give it a mandate to protect civilians, under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter.
“Given Sudan’s failure to provide security in Darfur, its refusal to accept help from international forces to stop the atrocities increases the likelihood that individual officials could be held responsible for the atrocities committed,” said Takirambudde. “The Security Council must make this clear.”
The Bush administration recently declared that the atrocities being committed by Sudan and the Janjaweed militias it supports amounts to genocide.
“The Bush administration has concluded that the atrocities in Darfur are genocide, but without calling for an arms embargo against the perpetrators, such talk is all bark and no bite,” said Takirambudde. “The bark is important, but now it’s time for some bite.”
Human Rights Watch is also concerned that the Secretary General’s report to the Security Council on September 2 failed to attribute responsibility for the atrocities in Darfur to the Sudanese government. The letter urged the Security Council to establish an international commission of inquiry to collect, preserve and examine evidence concerning allegations of crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide and other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed by all parties in Darfur since 2003.
The letter also charged that proposed “safe areas” could impede the return of civilians to their homes and consolidate forced displacement and “ethnic cleansing” initiated by Sudan. The “safe areas” would be selected and secured by the Sudanese government in agreement with Jan Pronk, the Secretary General’s special representative on Sudan.
Similarly, the Memorandum of Understanding entered into by Sudan, the United Nations and the International Organization for Migration for the voluntary return of displaced persons in Darfur lacks the necessary legal standards to protect human rights. It also lacks an independent monitoring mechanism to ensure that displaced civilians are returned voluntarily and safely. Human Rights Watch urged the Security Council to address these concerns and review the plan to establish “safe areas” and to ensure that, if they are established, they should not be controlled or secured by the Sudanese forces.
