UNITED NATIONS, 8 October 2006 — Sudan’s UN ambassador accused the United Nations of using fabricated data from nongovernmental groups in reporting widespread rights abuses in Darfur, though he acknowledged that violations have occurred in the region. The ambassador, Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem, was largely dismissive of a report that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan sent to the UN Security Council on Monday saying that Sudan’s armed forces, as well as rebel factions and the militias, continue to violate international human rights law with impunity. The report said violence was on the rise and humanitarian access in Darfur was at its worst since 2004.
“These reports are not new. Many of these reports are fabricated by some (non-governmental organizations) whose intentions are very clear to us,” Abdalhaleem said Friday. “I can assure you that of course in any conflict situation, it is a very bad thing, you have violations of human rights, this is war,” he said. “It is very bad, this is why we would like to have it over.”
The United Nations denied the ambassador’s claims. Oliver Ulich, Sudan team leader in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the United Nations has 1,500 mostly Sudanese staff in Darfur as well as dozens of human rights officers whom it relies upon for information. He said the UN does receive some information from non-governmental groups but believes it is “highly reliable.”
“We double- and triple-check reports coming from a variety of sources and have a very high degree of confidence in the reliability of the information that we provide to the Security Council,” Ulich said.
In Khartoum yesterday, Sudan’s Foreign Ministry said that it stands behind a letter sent this week to dozens of nations warning them against volunteering troops for a proposed United Nations peacekeeping mission in war-torn Darfur. The letter drew the ire of some in the international community who considered Sudan’s warning a threat. “If any country believes it can send troops to Sudan without the consent of the government, yes, we consider this a hostile act,” Sudanese Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Ali Sadiq told DPA. Sadiq stressed that the letter only reiterated Sudan’s long-held position on a UN troops in Darfur.
The United States reacted angrily to the letter on Thursday, calling for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss a response. But several other nations called for calm, stressing that a reaction would only further provoke Sudan. The UN Security Council in August approved a resolution that envisions sending more than 20,000 UN peacekeepers to Darfur, where infighting among rebel factions has stymied aid operations and displaced tens of thousands in recent months.
Sudan has staunchly refused to allow a United Nations mission to replace the cash-strapped AU force currently monitoring Darfur, likening the international body to colonizers.
