Submission to the International Development Committee from the Darfur Centre for Human Rights and Development as Follow-up to 5th Report of Session 2004-05 HC 67- I

Darfur, Sudan: The Responsibility to Protect.

 

 

 

 

In March 2005 the House of Commons International Development Select Committee produced a devastating report on Darfur that took the government to task for deliberately downplaying the scale of the crisis. The report, which called for the active involvement of the U.K government in the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), also made clear that the situation in Darfur was untenable. It argued that the U.K government must make substantive efforts to exert pressure on the Khartoum regime if there was to be a lasting resolution of the crisis in Darfur. It also said that governments - in this case the British government - must be accountable for both their actions - and perhaps more importantly here - their inaction.

 

It has been more than 6 months since the publication of this report, yet little has happened to protect those suffering in Darfur. Inaction has spawned indifference as people on the ground continue to die, are raped, abused, mutilated and lose everything they own. This happens while the world stands by; while the U.K government sticks to a policy that is failing to protect the people of Darfur.

 

Genocides and crimes against humanity don't just happen; they are made. And the greatest ally of perpetrators of such crimes is international inaction. In recent months, we have witnessed terrible devastating natural disasters worldwide, for which little can be done except to pick up the pieces. And we must. But Darfur is different. It is a crisis perpetrated against human beings by human beings. It is something that we can stop. UN member states recently agreed that they have a responsibility to protect victims of genocide and crimes against humanity when their own governments fail to protect them, or are themselves the perpetrators of these crimes. Britain will chair the UNSC in December and should use the principles of 'Responsibility to Protect' to take further action in relation to civilian protection in Darfur and urge other UNSC members to do the same.

 

After Rwanda, the world said that genocide must never happen again. But we are watching a crisis of similar proportions unfold before our eyes. Over recent months the situation in Darfur has not improved, it has deteriorated markedly. Our informants on the ground fear a Srebrenica style massacre if they are not afforded greater protection. We can, and must take action now.

 

The following, in particular, should be noted by the International Development Committee:

 

· The AU mission in Darfur remains under-resourced and inadequate to meet the enormous task set it. With close to 6,000 monitors on the ground, it needs more logistical help, firmer support from the international community, particularly the EU. It needs enough political will behind it to hold its own against the government of Sudan. With an upsurge of banditry on the ground in the west of Darfur, the ongoing incorporation of the Janjaweed into the security services and the disarray of the insurgency movements, now is the time to show a serious commitment to resolve this problem.

 

· In light of continuing attacks on women IDPs in particular, the international community must put pressure on both Khartoum and the AU to allow the deployment of armed policewomen, seconded from African police forces, to specifically protect women in Darfur. In funding such a programme of secondment, the international community would be both building the capacity of police forces in the region, and facilitating and encouraging "African solutions to African problems".

 

· Pressure must be brought to bear on the Khartoum regime to restore a permanent media presence in Darfur. In the absence of any free press there can be no dialogue or accountability. Free media is also essential in documenting daily events that may provide the basis of investigations by the International Criminal Court, which has opened investigations in Darfur, but with whom the GOS refuses to cooperate. The regime knows this and has actively worked to ban or silence independent media. The U.K government must exert pressure to open Darfur up to both local and international media.

 

· Government of Sudan military aircraft continue regular offensive flights over Darfur breaking Security Council Resolution 1591 with apparent impunity. Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe, Special Representative of the Chairperson of the AU Commission on Darfur reported that:

 

"On 28 September 2005, some reportedly 400 Janjaweed Arab militia on camels and horseback went on the rampage in Arusharo, Acho and Gozmena villages in West Darfur. Our reports also indicate that the day previous, and indeed on the actual day of the attack, Government of Sudan helicopter gunships were observed overhead. This apparent coordinated land and air assault gives credence to the repeated claim by the rebel movements of collusion between the Government of Sudan forces and the Janjaweed/Arab militia. This incident, which was confirmed not only by our investigators but also by workers of humanitarian agencies and NGOs in the area, took a heavy toll resulting in 32 people killed, 4 injured and 7 missing, and about 80 houses/shelters looted and set ablaze."

As has been documented by the UN's Juan Mendez recently, the security situation has deteriorated dramatically in Darfur since the summer, with the Khartoum-backed Janjaweed, and Sudanese military and security services personnel implicated in ongoing attacks against IDPs. Recent reports from Reuters confirm the pattern of attacks on civilians on the ground:

 

"'Daily they come in and beat our people. But no one does anything,' said Darfuri Yehya Ahmed. 'They come on horses and camels. They rape our women and try to scare us away to force us to go home,' the elderly camp resident told Reuters. 'They (the AU troops) just come and write reports which don't go anywhere,' he said. 'They have been here now for more than a year and still we live in terror---we cannot go home.'" (Reuters dateline: Riyad Camp, West Darfur, October 6, 2005)

 

· In spite of these facts; in spite of the fact that the Sudanese military has taken to painting their vehicles white in order to disguise them as NGO or UN vehicles, nothing has been done to counteract their evident duplicity. The UN prohibition of offensive flights has not been enforced, nor have provisions for the imposition of travel bans and asset freezes on those who impede the peace process or who constitute a threat to stability or commit violations of international humanitarian or human rights law as described in Resolution 1591. The U.K must exert pressure to render these resolutions meaningful without further delay.

 

· IDPs and humanitarian workers in Darfur fear that if the international community's attention strays elsewhere, there is a real risk of a Srebrenica-style attack on IDPs. With the withdrawal of UN staff in the West of Darfur - especially around el-Geneina - there is a security vacuum. The local population, already abandoned to the militias, now amount to nothing more than 'sitting ducks'. This begs an inevitable question: Why it is acceptable to remove international staff due to security problems and yet leave the local population to fend for themselves?

 

· The response of the UN Security Council remains timid. Self-interest continues to determine how the world reacts to ongoing mass murder and ethnic cleansing. Although the SC approved selective sanctions, there is no evidence that any of the punitive measures agreed have been imposed or enforced.

 

· The UK government remains reluctant to put pressure on the government of Sudan over their continued support for the Janjaweed in Darfur for fear of jeopardising the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between Khartoum and Southern Sudan. However, the success of the CPA will rest on the willingness of the international community to hold the relevant parties to their commitments. So far there is a failure to insist that Khartoum fulfils its promises, thus risking the chances for long-term peace in the region. Unless a much stronger line is taken with Khartoum there is a risk the CPA will break down, compounding growing unrest in other parts of Sudan.

 

In conversations with the Darfur delegation to the Abuja talks, members of the Sudanese government freely admit to feeling no pressure to act on Darfur from either the international community or from their discussions with British officials or ministers in particular. The current British policy has therefore been a failure.

 

 

November 2005