Al Jazeera English - News - Sudan 'Targeted Darfur Civilians'

UPDATED ON:
THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 2008
21:25 MECCA TIME, 18:25 GMT

NEWS AFRICA





Sudan 'targeted Darfur civilians'

About 2.5 million people have fled their homes in Darfur since the fighting began in 2003 [File: EPA]

The United Nations has accused Sudanese forces of deliberately targeting civilians during air and grounds attacks on the western Darfur province earlier this year.

In a report released on Thursday, human rights officials and the UN-African Union mission in Darfur said 115 people had been killed and 30,000 driven from their homes in the attacks.

Among the dead were elderly and disabled people, women and children, the report said.

It also said there was extensive looting after Sudanese attacks and listed "consistent and credible accounts" of rape committed by uniformed men during and after an attack on the village of Siraj.

There was no immediate response to the accusations from Khartoum.

The report was issued in Geneva by the office of Louise Arbour, the UN high commissioner for human rights, and the UN-AU mission in Darfur, Unamid.

Military push

The attacks, three on the village of Saraf Jidad in January, and others on the villages of Sirba, Sileia and Abu Surouj on February 8, came during a major military push by the Sudanese government against rebels in the area, it said.

"The scale of destruction of civilian property, including objects indispensable for the survival of the civilian population, suggests that the damage was a deliberate and integral part of a military strategy," the report said.

The report said homes, clinics run by relief organisations, community centres, water towers, schools, food depots and shops were systematically vandalised.

The buildings were "in many cases burned to the ground, sometimes with their occupants still inside," it said.

Unamid said it had been unable to investigate reported ground and air attacks on the town of Jebel Moun and nearby areas in late February in which civilians were also reported to have died because the Sudanese authorities refused it access.

Experts say that 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have fled their homes since non-Arab rebels took up arms in 2003.

Khartoum says the scale of the fighting is exaggerated and that only 9,000 people have died.

Source: Agencies

Related:
	Chinese 'arming Darfur conflict' (13 Mar 2008)
	UN expresses concern over Darfur (12 Mar 2008)
	UN criticised over 'Darfur silence' (28 Feb 2008)
	Thousands flee Darfur after attacks (10 Feb 2008)
	UN warns of 'full war' in Darfur (09 Feb 2008)

Tools:
	Email article
	Print article
	Send your feedback