GENEVA, 13 March 2007 — The UN Human Rights Council yesterday accused Sudan of orchestrating human rights abuses and war crimes in Darfur, while also criticizing the international community’s failure to protect civilians.
Sudan’s government has “orchestrated and participated in these crimes,” said a long-awaited report by the council’s investigative mission to Darfur that was led by Nobel peace laureate and anti-land mines campaigner Jody Williams.
Measures taken by the international community have so far been “inadequate and ineffective” in the face of widespread rape, torture and other abuses, it added.
“The situation is characterized by gross and systematic violations of human rights and grave breaches of international law. War crimes and crimes against humanity continue across the region,” the report said. “Killing of civilians remains widespread, including in large-scale attacks. Rape and sexual violence are widespread and systematic. Torture continues. As violations and abuses continue unabated, a climate of impunity prevails,” it added.
The UN estimates at least 200,000 people have been killed in Darfur with a further 2.5 million displaced.
The conflict and influx of refugees has also spilled over into neighboring Chad, exacerbating existing tensions.
Williams and her team were unable to carry out investigations in Darfur itself, as Khartoum refused to grant visas, saying some of the team’s members were “biased” against Sudan — a charge repeated on Sunday by Sudan’s justice minister while en route to Geneva.
Last month, the International Criminal Court in The Hague named a Sudanese minister and a Janjaweed militia leader as the first suspects they want to try for war crimes in the Darfur conflict.
The report urged the international community to adopt a “fully unified approach” in addressing Darfur, and to help convene a national conference on peace, human rights and a common vision for Sudan.
It also called for the implementation of measures such as travel bans and the freezing of assets for those identified as rights violators.
Turning to actions on the ground, it demanded that Sudan “end the targeting of civilians in Darfur, cease all support for Janjaweed militia forces, and proceed with the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of such forces.”
