The United Nations Human Rights Committee on Friday called on Sudan to prosecute war crimes committed in Darfur and to ensure that no support is given to militias that engage in ”ethnic cleansing”.
It expressed concern that ”widespread and systematic serious human rights violations including murder, rape, forced displacement and attacks against the civil population, have been and continue to be committed with total impunity throughout Sudan and particularly in Darfur”.
The body of 18 independent experts voiced concern that Sudan had not carried out a thorough and independent probe into serious human rights violations in the country, especially in the western region of Darfur.
The committee, which monitors compliance with the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a cornerstone of human rights law, gave its conclusions on the records of three countries including Sudan after a three-week meeting in Geneva.
Referring to ”war crimes or crimes against humanity committed in Darfur”, the UN committee called on the Khartoum government to ensure that ”state agents, including all security forces and militia under state control, put an end to such violations immediately”.
Khartoum should also ”ensure that no financial support or material is channelled to militias that engage in ethnic cleansing or the deliberate targeting of civilians”, it said.
”This has been a major problem in Sudan, that more or less covert assistance has been given to certain elements that have been pursuing gross violations of human rights,” committee vice-chairperson Ivan Shearer told a news briefing.
International experts estimate 200 000 people have died and 2,5-million been forced from their homes in more than four years of revolt in Darfur. Washington calls the violence genocide and blames the government and its allied militias.
The UN committee also expressed concern at payment of ”diya”, or blood money, for murder in Sudan, as well as reports of widespread torture in prisons, persistent discrimination against women, and the use of child soldiers.
It told Khartoum to report back in a year on its progress in addressing the most urgent concerns, including the prosecution of war crimes and improving cooperation with the International Criminal Court.
”Serious crimes arising out of the situation in Darfur must be properly followed up and urgently prosecuted without amnesty,” Shearer said.
A Sudanese delegation defended its human rights record before the committee two weeks ago, faulting rebel groups for not stopping ”gross violations” in Darfur. – Reuters