A leading human rights group accused the international community on Monday of not doing enough to deter Sudan from new attacks in Darfur, where it cited a return to ”scorched-earth” policies.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the United Nations Security Council should impose sanctions on Sudanese officials behind attacks on civilians in West Darfur in February and expressed concern about possible new reprisals after a rebel raid on Khartoum.
”The lack of consequences for past atrocities has emboldened Khartoum to continue to flout its international obligations, killing civilians in Darfur with total impunity,” said HRW Africa director Georgette Gagnon.
In a report based on interviews with witnesses and victims of attacks in West Darfur three months ago, the United States-based group said that February marked a ”vicious reprise of Khartoum’s ‘scorched-earth’ counterinsurgency tactics”.
HRW called on the UN Security Council to impose targeted sanctions on those responsible, enforce sanctions it has already imposed and ensure that UN and African Union peacekeepers have resources to effectively protect civilians.
The peacekeeping force is supposed to total more than 26 000 members for a region the size of France, but only about 9 000 are currently on the ground.
”In the three months since the attacks, the international response has been appallingly muted,” HRW said. ”Aside from initial condemnations, the UN Security Council has taken no serious action to address the abuses.”
Concerns are growing about the risk of fresh violence in Darfur after rebel group the Justice and Equality Movement attacked Khartoum on May 10, marking the first time that decades of regional violence came to the Sudanese capital.
More than 220 people were killed in that assault and clashes outside the city as the rebel force made a lightning approach from the remote west.
”As the government wasn’t condemned in February, what’s to stop them doing it again?” HRW Darfur researcher Selena Brewer asked.
The UN says the death toll from five years of war, famine and disease in Darfur may be up to 300 000. Khartoum puts the toll at 9,000. — AFP
