Khartoum is continuing a campaign of ”ethnic cleansing” in the western region of Darfur, despite having signed a peace accord with rebels to end 21 years of civil war in the south, an international rights group warned on Thursday.
”Ending the war in southern Sudan is a huge step forward, but in the western part of the country, the Sudan government is taking a terrible step backward,” Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement.
”The government’s campaign of ethnic cleansing in Darfur raises real questions about whether Khartoum is really willing to comply with Wednesday’s peace accord in the south,” it added.
”As recently as Tuesday, Arab militias attacked five villages situated 15km south of Nyala in Darfur, killing 46 civilians and wounding at least nine others,” the statement said, citing local sources.
”The militias, known as Janjaweed, were accompanied by government soldiers in three Land Cruisers, armed with anti-aircraft artillery,” it claimed.
HRW has documented how the Janjaweed have been armed, trained and uniformed by the Sudanese government.
On Wednesday Khartoum and the southern-based rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) signed agreements on the last outstanding issues barring the way to a definitive end of 21 years of civil war.
The agreement came after marathon talks between Vice-President Ali Osman Taha and SPLA leader John Garang, which started in September 2002.
”Darfur remains a cloud over Sudan and it would be inappropriate for the United States to hold a high-level celebration of the peace accord while the ethnic cleansing continues in western Sudan,” HRW warned.
Late on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell praised both sides in Sudan’s civil war in the south for signing the accords, but tempered his praise by saying: ”Sudan will not be at peace until the problem of Darfur is resolved.”
Khartoum has faced mounting international anger over the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, and for backing the Janjaweed militia. The government has been accused of operating a scorched-earth policy in the face of the rebellion launched by members of the Fur, Massalit and Zaghawa minorities in February 2003.
At least 10 000 people have been killed and more than a million people driven from their homes in the Darfur conflict. — Sapa-AFP