- The United Nations today for the first time spelled out its "grave concern" over reports of ethnic cleansing and widespread human rights abuses occurring in the Darfur region of western Sudan. Several groups have warned about ethnic cleansing and possible genocide preparations in Darfur for years.
Eight UN human rights fact-finding experts have issued a statement saying they are "gravely concerned" by the reports of ethnic cleansing in the war-ravaged Darfur region, UN Headquarters reported today.
The experts - mostly so-called Rapporteurs who have been charged by the UN with monitoring issues such as torture, extrajudicial executions and the right to food - said in a statement released Friday that they have informed the Sudanese government about their concerns.
In just over a year, more than 110,000 Sudanese have fled across the border into neighbouring Chad and another 750,000 have become internally displaced within Sudan as a result of conflict in Darfur between the Khartoum government, allied militias and rebel groups.
In their statement, the experts said they were alarmed after the UN coordinator in Sudan, Mukesh Kapila, earlier this month told the media that an ethnic cleansing campaign was taking place that was comparable in character, if not scale, to the Rwanda genocide of 1994.
The experts pointed to reports that militias such as the Janjaweed, the Muraheleen and the Popular Defence Forces - which are armed and trained by the Sudanese government - are trying to forcibly remove the non-Arab segment of the local population in Darfur. These reports say the victims are mainly from the Fur ethnic communities of the Masalit, Dajo, Tunjur, Tama and Zaghawas.
According to recent reports, scores of civilians have been killed, children abducted, women and girls raped, dozens of villages burnt and looted and livestock destroyed by the militias, while fleeing refugees and internally displaced people have been attacked.
The eight UN experts urged all parties in the Darfur conflict to treat civilians according to international humanitarian and human rights law, and stressed the importance of "identifying the perpetrators" of human rights abuses and "ensuring that they are held accountable."
UN spokesman Fred Eckhard earlier this month tried to tone down the language when speaking to the press at UN Headquarters in New York. Asked whether the UN now was terming the Darfur situation as a "genocide", Mr Eckhard responded that the "word 'genocide' has not been used by anyone here at [UN] Headquarters to date," which he believed to be "intentional".
Exiled Darfur political activist however for a long time have warned about the preparation of genocide in the area, stemming from the traditional conflict between the region's black African resident population and the semi-nomadic "Arab" population. "Arab" militias are supported and armed by the Khartoum government, which traditionally has originated from the same ethnic group.
The UN warning of ethnic cleansing with genocidal characteristics comes just as the tenth anniversary commemorations of the Rwandan genocide are prepared. The UN and its Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, have assumed responsibility for not reacting fast enough to help preventing the Rwandan slaughter, where up to one million people were killed.
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