This week the UN Security Council is considering a US-sponsored draft resolution on Sudan that places travel bans and freezes assets of the leaders of the janjaweed militias in Sudan. Numerous observers of the situation suggest that this is ludicrous because it pretends that the janjaweed are independent of the government. Essentially, a diplomatic deal was worked out last week between the US, the UN and Sudan to (at least temporarily) let the Sudanese government avoid blame in exchange for that government stopping (its own) terrorizing militias.
The Human Rights Watch letter addresses this matter clearly. What follows is an excerpt--read the full letter here.
"Disarming the Janjaweed would be a crucial step in protecting civilians in Darfur, but Khartoum has flagrantly broken its earlier promises to neutralize them," said Jemera Rone, Sudan researcher for Human Rights Watch's Africa Division. "The Sudanese government continues to use these militias to carry out 'ethnic cleansing.' Now the Security Council must be prepared to intervene with more muscle."In Darfur, Sudanese government forces and Janjaweed militias are responsible for crimes against humanity, war crimes and 'ethnic cleansing' that have driven more than one million civilians from their homes since the conflict began in February 2003. While more than 150,000 people have taken refuge in neighboring Chad, the vast majority of the internally displaced civilians remain in Darfur, where they are confined in camps and settlements under government control, and continue to be raped, attacked and preyed upon by government soldiers and Janjaweed militia attacks alike.
Although the Sudanese government continues to deny its role in arming and supporting the militias, the evidence of hundreds of eyewitnesses and government documents testify to official responsibility for their recruitment, arming and coordination with government troops and air support.
"Sudanese government officials should also be subject to travel and arms sanctions," said Rone. "The Janjaweed are not an independent body, but a tool created by the Sudanese government. The Security Council must place the responsibility for the crimes against humanity and humanitarian disaster squarely with the Sudanese government."
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