Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Fides Service)- The United Nations Organisation and US based Human Rights Watch, accuse the Sudanese government of serious violation of human rights civilians in Darfur western Sudan. In a report of the humanitarian situation in the region the UN denounced “a policy to starve” the people of Dafur, where, the UN said, 8 or 9 children die of hunger every day.
“ The Sudanese government is responsible for “ethnic cleansing” and crimes against humanity in the western region of Darfur”, Human Rights Watch said in a new report sent to Fides. According to HRW, “Government and Militia Forces have directly participated in massacres, summary executions of civilians, burnings of towns and villages, and the forcible depopulation of wide swathes of land long-inhabited by the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups.”
According to Human Rights Watch, pro-government militia Janjaweed, who are Muslim Arabs, “Janjaweed” Arab militias—,whose members are Muslim—have destroyed mosques, killed Muslim religious leaders and desecrated Korans belonging to their enemies”.
Human Rights Watch says “Villages have been torched not randomly, but systematically - often not once, but twice. Livestock, food stores, wells and pumps, blankets and clothing have all been looted or destroyed ”.
HRW said “ the Sudanese government has restricted international media access to Darfur and has limited reports about the conflict in the national press. Recently, the government has allowed minimal access to the region for international humanitarian agencies but has still failed to provide the necessary protection and assistance to displaced civilians.”
For some time Darfur has been the scene of tension among nomad Arabs and black African farmers, fighting over scarce resources of water and fertile land. The tension exploded into military combat in February 2003, and has intensified in the first months of 2004. At least 3,000 people have been killed and 670,000 are internally displaced and another 100,000 have sought safety in Chad.
The army troops use fighter helicopters and Antonov transport planes made into bombers. There are two guerrilla groups Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). Both claim they are fighting to obtain more attention for the region which they say the government marginalizes. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 7/5/2004 righe parole)
