EL FASHER, Sudan, 16 August 2004 — Rwandan troops arrived in Darfur yesterday as the first foreign force here, mandated to protect observers monitoring a shaky cease-fire between the Sudanese government and rebels in the remote western region.
Some 155 Rwandan troops were being sent to troubled Darfur at the weekend as part of an African Union (AU) force. Rwandan President Paul Kagame said on Saturday his soldiers would also intervene to protect civilians in danger.
Rwanda says the world’s slow response to the Darfur crisis echoes its own experience during a 1994 genocide. The United Nations calls Darfur the worst humanitarian crisis in the world and says 50,000 people have been killed and at least 1 million more displaced since two rebel groups took up arms against the government in February last year.
Greeting the troops, the head of the AU cease-fire commission, Festus Okonkwo, told them to take their mandate as a protection force for the 118 AU monitors currently in Darfur “as a Bible”. But he added that on humanitarian grounds they could take action to protect civilians in danger.
“Your assignment here is to protect all AU personnel in the mission,” Okonkwo told the troops dressed in new, beige camouflage uniforms and green berets at the AU headquarters in El Fasher, capital of Northern Darfur state. “So at any time remember that is your basic assignment. Any other assignment outside that is on humanitarian grounds. That is not your mandate so ... make sure that every officer here understands the rules of engagement,” he added.
The comments again brought into question what role the initial 308 Nigerian and Rwandan forces will play in Darfur, a remote area the size of France.
Khartoum has rejected a peacekeeping role for any troops other than Sudanese. The AU has said it hopes to increase the number of troops to 2,000.
The Sudanese government has about two weeks to prove to the UN Security Council it is serious about improving the security situation in Darfur, or face unspecified sanctions.
Rights groups and the rebels accuse Khartoum of arming Arab militias known as the Janjaweed to loot and burn African farming villages as part of a campaign of ethnic cleansing. Khartoum denies the charge, calling the Janjaweed outlaws. Nigerian Okonkwo said Nigeria’s soldiers would arrive in Darfur on Aug. 25 to complete the initial deployment of 308 soldiers.
He added aid agencies working in the same areas as the troops would also be afforded protection. The AU has said the soldiers will be based at El Fasher, Geneina, Nyala, Kebkabiya, Tine and in Abeche in neighboring Chad. About 200,000 Darfuri refugees are encamped in Chad.
Rwandan Army spokesman Colonel Patrick Karegeya told Reuters in Kigali the Rwandan troops were well prepared for Darfur’s tough conditions.
“Our troops have lived through the worst and seen it all, so they will not be shocked by anything they encounter in Darfur,” he said, adding that Rwanda’s role in Sudan could counter much of the criticism it received for invading the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1996 and 1998 to root out rebels.
A Dutch plane flew Rwandan supplies and several armored personnel carriers and crew to Darfur on Saturday. The Dutch government is funding the airlift of troops to Darfur.
