|
WASHINGTON, D.C., Jul 20 (OneWorld) - Amid reports that the Islamist regime
in Khartoum may finally be taking some action to curb a "scorched-earth"
counter-insurgency campaign that has forced more than a million people from
their homes in the western province of Darfur, Amnesty International has
released a new report accusing government-backed Arab militias of using rape
"as a weapon of war" against their female victims.
The report, which is
based on the testimony of hundreds of victims and witnesses, said that girls
as young as eight years old had been raped and used as sex slaves in what
the United Nations has repeatedly called the world's worst humanitarian
crisis and what some other observers, such as the U.S. Committee for
Refugees (USCR) and Africa Action, have called "genocide."
"Women and
girls are being attacked, not only to dehumanize the women themselves but
also to humiliate, punish, control, inflict fear and displace women and to
persecute the community to which they belong," said the report, 'Rape as a
Weapon of War.'
"Rape has a devastating and ongoing impact on the health of
women and girls and survivors now face a lifetime of stigma and
marginalization from their own families and communities."
The report comes
as peace talks mediated by the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa between
Khartoum and two rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A)
and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), collapsed after the latter set
a series of preconditions for negotiations to go forward. Conditions
included the government's disarmament of the Arab militias known as
Janjaweed and the removal of militia members who have been absorbed into the
police and army.
They also demanded an inquiry into allegations of
genocide, the release of prisoners of war, and a "neutral" venue for future
talks which did not include Ethiopia. The government rejected the demands as
"unacceptable."
At the same time, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released
government documents which it said it had obtained from civilian authorities
in Darfur that show that senior officials in Khartoum have directed
recruitment, arming and other support to the Janjaweed.
"It's absurd to
distinguish between the Sudanese government forces and the militias-they are
one," said Peter Takirambudde, executive director of Human Rights Watch's
Africa Division. "These documents show that militia activity has not just
been condoned, it's been specifically supported by Sudan government
officials."
The government, which has been under increasing pressure from
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Secretary of State Colin Powell, both of
whom visited Darfur late last month, insisted Monday that it was taking
action to bring the militias under control, both by sending into the region
hundreds of soldiers and police and convening trials against selected
militia members.
It said that ten members of the Janjaweed had been
sentenced to six years in prison and amputations of their left hands and
right feet after their convictions for murder and robbery and said that more
trials were scheduled to take place soon. The trials are based on the
government's interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia.
How serious the
government is about curbing the militias, either through the deployment of
forces or through making examples of some Janjaweed members, remains
unclear. The Washington Post reported on Sunday, for example, that a top
Janjaweed leader, Musa Hilal, was living openly in Khartoum, apparently
unmolested by the government.
Indeed, one of the documents obtained by
Human Rights Watch alluded directly to Hilal, calling on "all security
units" in North Darfur not to intervene against militia controlled by him.
The document "highlights the importance of non-interference so as not to
question their authority" and authorizes security units in a North Darfur
province to "overlook minor offenses by the fighters against civilians who
are suspected members of the rebellion...."
The violence in Darfur has its
roots in the competition for land and resources between Arab tribes that are
mainly herders and the African population that consists mostly of peasants
living in settled villages and towns. In 2002, the Arab Janjaweed stepped up
raids on the African population. Angry that the government was not
protecting them against such attacks, the two rebel groups retaliated
against a government garrison, killing more than 70 soldiers.
At that
point, Khartoum launched its counter-insurgency campaign, much of which was
carried out on the ground by the newly supplied Janjaweed that were also
backed by government forces and warplanes. More than one million people,
were forced to flee their homes; about 200,000 of them crossed the border
into neighboring Chad, while the rest were internally displaced. Most of the
latter have now been herded into overcrowded and unsanitary camps that
adequate medical care, food supplies, and even physical security.
The U.S.
Agency for International Development (USAID) warned already in May that,
even if humanitarian agencies are granted complete and unimpeded access to
the camps and those who remain displaced, at least 300,000 people are almost
certain to die by the end of the year. More than 30,000 people are believed
to have been killed in the government's counter-insurgency campaign, and
hundreds more are reported dying every week from malnutrition or disease.
While neither Amnesty International nor Human Rights Watch (HRW) has yet
labeled the situation in Darfur as a "genocide" - a determination that would
require signers of the Genocide Treaty, including the U.S., to take
intervene with force, if necessary - both have agreed that war crimes and
crimes against humanity are taking place there.
While the government has
long insisted that it has no control over the Janjaweed, the Arab-language
documents obtained by HRW would appear to contradict that assertion. Dating
from February and March 2004, the documents include orders by senior
officials for recruitment and military support, including "provisions and
ammunition," to be delivered to known Janjaweed militia leaders, camps and
"loyalist tribes."
One document calls for a plan for "resettlement
operations of nomads in places from which the outlaws [rebels] withdrew."
This, along with recent government statements that displaced persons will be
settled in 18 "settlements" rather than in their original villages, raises
concerns that the ethnic cleansing that has occurred will be consolidated
and that people will be unable to return to their villages and lands, HRW
said.
Meanwhile, the latest Amnesty report which described the nature and
scale of the violence committed against African groups in Darfur as
"horrific" and apparently designed as "a form of collective punishment of a
population whose members have taken up arms against the central government."
"It may be interpreted as a warning to other groups and regions of what
could happen to the local population if certain groups decided to rebel
against Khartoum," according to Amnesty.
In many cases, women have been
raped in public or in front of their family apparently to humiliate them and
their community, according to the report. In other cases, girls and women
were taken into captivity, gang-raped and used as sex slaves by the
militias.
Many women who had undergone female genital mutilation were at
greater risk of injury and infection as a result of rape, according to the
report which appealed for the international community to immediately send
medical professionals to care for the survivors. "The international
community needs to take the issue of rape far more seriously and
strenuously," it said.
Girls and women living in camps in both Chad and
Darfur also need more protection from rape and assault, according to
Amnesty.
|
|