The current dire humanitarian crisis in Darfur has been caused by massive, systematic violations of international human rights and humanitarian law constituting crimes against humanity committed by the Sudanese Government and its ethnic militia, the Janjaweed. These crimes have violently driven more than one million people from their homes; untold thousands have died or suffered grievously as a result of massacres, rapes, starvation, and disease.
Large swathes of Darfur that were well-populated by communities of Fur, Zaghawa, and Masalit ethnicity are now emptied of their inhabitants, most of whom have been forced into camps and settlements where the Janjaweed continue to attack, rape, and steal from them. In one massacre investigated by Human Rights Watch, 136 displaced men were singled out for execution on March 5 by the army and Janjaweed, and buried in two mass graves in West Darfur. Meanwhile the Janjaweed, drawn from cattle and camel nomads, have profited from looted cattle and other farm animals, leaving the displaced civilians desperately poor.
The emerging famine—that could kill up to 350,000 victims in the next nine months unless immediate action is taken—is a direct result of the Sudanese government’s policy of “ethnic cleansing” for counterinsurgency purposes. The government of Sudan has deliberately targeted civilian populations that share the same ethnicity as the rebels, organized and armed their ethnic “rivals” into militias to attack these civilians, and permitted the militias to commit crimes with impunity. Darfur’s economy has been massively upset and two million of its six million inhabitants are now at risk of starvation in this region the size of France.
Despite the government’s denial that it has recruited, armed, and organized these forces, the Janjaweed militias are an essential component of the government’s military strategy in Darfur. High-level Sudanese government officials are responsible for the conception and implementation of this strategy: they have provided aerial surveillance before and after attacks, bombed villages prior to attacks, and coordinated joint military-Janjaweed ground operations to clear hundreds of villages by killing civilians and looting and burning all their property and waterworks to make return impossible. The Janjaweed receive salaries and uniforms from the government, and their commanders drive government Land Cruisers and talk on government satellite phones.
There can be no doubt that this campaign against civilians is sponsored and encouraged by the government of Sudan. In the Nouri area of West Darfur, a witness told Human Rights Watch, “one helicopter gunship arrived, flying low, followed by Janjaweed in front and Land Cruisers behind. They burned the entire village and killed thirty-eight including four men who were praying in the mosque.”
Continuing abuses during the ceasefire
Despite a seven-week-old ceasefire signed by the government of Sudan and the two rebel groups, displaced Darfurian civilians have experienced little improvement in their conditions. Thousands of men, women, and children now live without any protection from rape, torture and other abuses and are entirely dependent on humanitarian relief which has been obstructed, limited, and often outright denied by the government of Sudan for months.
Unless the Janjaweed militia are disarmed, disbanded and withdrawn from the rural areas they occupy, from which they continue to prey upon displaced communities, there will be no possibility for displaced civilians to return voluntarily and in safety to their homes and plant this year’s harvest. Some local authorities are reportedly trying to force displaced to return to present a picture of “normalcy” to the international community, despite the continued attacks and occupation of their lands by the Janjaweed militias.
There are increasing reports of fighting and attacks on civilians, all of which violate the ceasefire agreement. On May 22, fifty-six people—most of them just outside their houses—were reportedly killed in a Janjaweed attack on a village in South Darfur. All parties allege that others are violating the ceasefire. Recent reports indicate that groups of Arab origin are moving into some of the lands that have been “ethnically cleansed” of Masalit and Fur—lands now under government and Janjaweed control. This trend paves the way for continued ethnic turmoil and threatens regional stability among the 110,000 Sudanese Masalit and Zaghawa refugees in Chad and the Chadian population. Chad has even complained of Sudanese bombing on its soil, in support of Janjaweed incursions pursuing Sudanese refugees into Chad.
The U.N. Security Council and future response
Human Rights Watch is deeply concerned by the failure to date of the Security Council to take concrete action on the situation in Darfur. Since early 2004, there have been numerous credible, independent reports from humanitarian agencies, human rights groups, United Nations staff operating in Chad and Darfur, and media representatives on the situation in Darfur.
The situation is urgent—not only because of the scale and gravity of the abuses—but because of the impending rainy season, which will render access and movement in Darfur extremely difficult for observers, ceasefire monitors and aid workers alike. The first rains fell in West Darfur last week.
While the Naivasha agreement—currently under negotiation to resolve the north-south twenty-one year war—might provide a framework for resolution of the long-term political issues in Darfur, there is no sure date for its finalization. The Security Council must act now to address the Darfur emergency; it cannot afford to defer to an agreement that is still not finalized, and whose main focus is not Darfur. The continuation of the Darfur conflict may even negatively impact on the finalization and implementation of the Naivasha agreement.
The U.N. Security Council bears a special responsibility to address the situation in Darfur because of the scale and gravity of the crimes committed against civilians.2 The Council must break its silence in the face of such appalling crimes. Many speeches were made last month on the tenth anniversary of the Rwandan genocide and many regrets were expressed. Today the danger is in Darfur. The early warning system has worked: there have been repeated warnings from within the U.N. system itself. Yet Darfur remains in turmoil because of the ethnic cleansing pursued by the Sudanese government and its Janjaweed militia, which are now seeking to solidify the gains of their unlawful actions. It is a highly unstable and dangerous situation for two million people and the region, yet the Security Council has not even spoken out in condemnation.
The Security Council is the only international forum that can quickly and effectively wield the kind of political pressure needed to avert genocide in Darfur. It must take steps to ensure the ethnic cleansing that has occurred is reversed. The Janjaweed militia must be disarmed, disbanded and withdrawn from the areas they occupy. The newcomers who have moved into cleansed areas with the active or passive agreement of the Janjaweed and Sudanese government must be required to vacate the land.
It is crucial that the Security Council state clearly and unequivocally to the Sudanese government that the crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing it has perpetrated in Darfur will in no respect be countenanced by the international community—and must be reversed.
As a matter of international peace and security, it is the responsibility of the Security Council to act quickly and firmly. The African Union (A.U.) cannot be tasked with the entire responsibility for responding to the Darfur crisis. The A.U. is a recently-formed body without peacekeeping and other mechanisms that the U.N. has developed over fifty years. This situation is too urgent to await the trial-and-error development of new regional procedures and institutions.
The African Union is and should remain involved, forming a humanitarian ceasefire commission pursuant to the parties’ agreement. But the political lead must be taken by the Security Council to end abuses and reverse ethnic cleansing. It alone has sufficient political and other authority to bring these abuses to a halt in a timely fashion.
Recommendations
Adopt a resolution:
- Condemning the Sudanese government for its crimes against humanity and “ethnic cleansing” in Darfur, and calling on the government to promptly take measures to effectively end and reverse the cleansing, disarm and disband the Janjaweed militias, ensure the protection of civilians at risk, and create an environment conducive to the voluntary return in safety and dignity of all refugees and displaced persons within a specific timeframe, such as three weeks;
- Advising the Sudanese government that if no effective measures are in place within three weeks, the Council will contemplate the use of further measures to end and reverse “ethnic cleansing” in Darfur, ensure the protection of civilians at risk, create an environment conducive to the voluntary return in safety and dignity of all refugees and displaced persons, and provide for the effective and unrestricted delivery of humanitarian assistance, including through the imposition of targeted sanctions and other measures under Chapter VII of the Charter;
- Establishing an impartial Commission of Experts to examine the evidence concerning crimes against humanity, war crimes, and other violations of international humanitarian and human rights law committed by all parties in Darfur in 2003-2004, including the nature of the crimes, the identity of the perpetrators, and the role of authorities in the commission of crimes; collect and preserve evidence of the crimes; and make recommendations on appropriate action to ensure accountability for the crimes;
- Establishing an international human rights monitoring mission with field offices throughout Darfur and in Khartoum mandated to monitor and periodically publicly report on human rights and humanitarian law violations and protection afforded to displaced persons and other affected civilians;
- Calling on U.N. member states to contribute personnel, equipment, other resources and funding to the African Union-managed Darfur ceasefire commission;
- Asking the Secretary-General to provide a report to the Security Council within three weeks, and then every four weeks, reviewing the developments and recommending appropriate measures in response.
1. See Human Rights Watch reports: “Darfur in Flames: Atrocities in Western Sudan,” Vol. 16, No.5 (A), April 2004, and “ Darfur Destroyed: Ethnic Cleansing by Government and Militia Forces in Western Sudan,” Vol.16, No.6 (A), May 2004; Amnesty report “ Too Many People Killed for No Reason,” , February 2004, and the findings of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) team that visited Chad and Darfur in April-May 2004, as well as numerous other reports and media reporting from the region.
2. In its various resolutions on the protection of civilians and children and armed conflict (SC resolutions 1261, 1265, 1314, 1379, 1460 and 1539), the Council has made crucial commitments to protect civilians, hold perpetrators accountable, and guarantee humanitarian access.
Related Material
Sudan: Crisis in Darfur
Campaign Document, May 1, 2004
Darfur Destroyed: Ethnic Cleansing by Government and Militia Forces in Western Sudan
Report, May 7, 2004