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UN sez Janjaweed's involved in war crimes
Mukesh Kapila, the United Nations' top official in Sudan, issued yesterday the strongest international warning yet about the conflict in the west of the country, saying government-allied militia were responsible for "war crimes" and acts akin to ethnic cleansing.
| Wowsers. Bet he gagged when he said that. |
At the same time Senator John Danforth, the US envoy to Sudan, warned the Khartoum government could not expect to normalise relations with the US until the conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan was settled. Mr Kapila, the outgoing UN humanitarian co-ordinator in Sudan, compared the situation in Darfur with that during the genocide in Rwanda 10 years ago, when UN member states failed to act on information confirming the targeting of one ethnic group by another. "All the warning signs are there," he said, accusing Arab militia allied to the government army and known as janjawiet, of carrying out systematic rape, murder, abductions and torture. He said the government in Khartoum was not doing enough to bring these militias to heel, and that "humanitarian staff on the ground have observed attacks on civilians while state and military authorities have been in close attendance". Villages were also being attacked by helicopters and other aircraft.
| "Not doing enough to bring them to heel"? They're the government's policy! |
"This is more than just a conflict. It is an organised attempt to do away with a group of people," said Mr Kapila. "Some people use the term 'ethnic cleansing'. I would say that is not far off the mark."
Posted by: Dan Darling 2004-03-20 |
