The United Nations human rights chief, Louise Arbour, called on Friday for the Sudanese government to fully investigate rapes reportedly carried out by soldiers in several villages in Darfur in December.
The High Commissioner for Human Rights also called on Minni Arkoy Minnawi, the head of the rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), to disclose the fate of 19 men who disappeared after they were arrested by his forces last September.
Arbour’s office said in a statement that her monitors in Sudan had documented at least 15 cases of sexual assault including rapes in December 2006 in Deribat and eight other villages in the eastern Jebel Marra area.
The victims were as young as 13 years old and at least two pregnant women were targeted in the violence, it added. Some were raped on the spot while other were taken away, raped, and then released.
”The attackers wore military uniforms and were described by the victims as soldiers,” the statement said.
Arbour called for ”an impartial, timely, and transparent investigation” by Khartoum into the attacks.
”The investigation should aim to collect evidence to identify and prosecute those who planned, orchestrated, and/or conducted the attacks,” she said.
”The results of the investigation should be made public, legal action should be taken against those found to be responsible and the victims of the attacks should be compensated,” Arbour added.
In the other case involving the SLA, the UN human rights office said that 19 men from the Massalit minority were arrested by the group in Gereida in South Darfur on September 29 2006.
At least eight of them were found dead several months later.
Minnawi, the SLA chief, is chairperson of the Transitional Darfur Regional Authority following the fragile peace agreement with Khartoum. – Sapa-AFP