At its emergency meeting on Sunday to discuss the situation in Darfur, the Arab League should firmly condemn the gross human rights violations by Sudanese government forces and the government-backed Janjaweed militias in this western region of Sudan, Human Rights Watch said today. The pan-Arab group should also make public the report of its May fact-finding mission to the region.
At the request of the Sudanese government, foreign ministers of the Arab League—a regional grouping of 22 countries including Sudan—will meet in Cairo to discuss and state a common Arab position on the Darfur conflict.
“Allowing the Sudanese government to hide its crimes behind Arab solidarity would be an insult to more than one million Muslim victims in Darfur,” said Peter Takirambudde, executive director for Human Rights Watch’s Africa division. “The Arab League should stand behind the victims in Darfur and take concrete steps to ensure that civilians are protected from further crimes.”
In May, the pan-Arab group sent a commission of inquiry to Darfur. The investigation reportedly concluded that “massive violations of human rights [had been] committed by pro-government militias” in Darfur. However, after the Sudanese government vigorously protested the report’s findings at the Arab League summit in Tunis in late May, the Arab League report has not been made public.
The Sudanese armed forces and government-backed militias—internationally known as the Janjaweed—have forcibly displaced more than one million civilians and have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes in the ongoing conflict in Darfur.
Sudan has come under increasing international pressure in recent months in the face of mounting evidence of its responsibility for the abuses. On July 30, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution condemning the abuses in Darfur and called on the Sudanese government to disarm the Janjaweed militias within 30 days.
In response to this pressure, Sudanese government statements have increasingly invoked the possibility of unilateral Western intervention, such as in Iraq, and denounced international interest in Darfur as a western conspiracy.
“The Sudanese authorities are expert at the ‘divide and rule’ strategy, not only in their own country, but in the international community,” added Takirambudde. “Sudan’s government is trying to manipulate opinion in the Arab world to hide the massive crimes it has committed against Sudanese citizens.”
Human Rights Watch called on the Arab League to firmly condemn the atrocities in Darfur, and take serious steps to support efforts by the United Nations and African Union to stabilize the situation. The pan-Arab group should call for an international commission of inquiry into the crimes in Darfur, and make public the report of its May fact-finding mission to Darfur.
The chairman of the African Union Commission, Alpha Oumar Konaré, will also attend the Arab League meeting on Sunday. The official in charge of Sudan affairs for the Arab League, Samir Hosni, on Thursday said a number of Arab states were prepared to send military observers as part of the African Union mission in Darfur. Meanwhile, the African Union announced plans to expand the mission from 300 to 1,800 troops, and to give it a mandate to protect civilians as well as safeguard African Union ceasefire monitors.
“Arab League participation in the African Union’s mission in Darfur is an important step, but political pressure on Khartoum is just as vital,” said Takirambudde.
