Darfur is a pretty big place to occupy. Wonder how many will be needed
to do it effectively?
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Families 'burnt alive by Sudanese militia'
By Meera Sela and David Usborne
29 July 2004
Women and children are being chained together and burnt alive by
Sudanese militias rampaging in Darfur. The groups, known as the
janjaweed, arrived in villages on horseback, rounded up men, women and
children, and set them alight in the market-place.
One man, sitting in the devastated village of Dugu in south Darfur,
said: "The janjaweed came, they grabbed these people; men, women,
everyone and they burnt them. They even killed my son. He was only
eight. There was at least one other child there too."
Witnesses say they found between 10 and 15 bodies smouldering.
Observers from the African Union found similar burnings in Sulei and
Ehda in western Darfur, where "the entire village had been burnt and
deserted, except for a few men". The AU observers added: "This was an
unwarranted and unprovoked attack on the civilian population by the
janjaweed."
The international community is increasing pressure on the Sudanese
government to disarm the janjaweed, which has been accused of raping
women and girls, and massacring villages that are non-Arab.
The African Union, made up of all the African states, is considering
turning its military observer mission into a fully fledged
peace-keeping force, with particular emphasis on disarming the
Janjaweed. African leaders meet in Ghana today, to try to find an
"African solution" to the Darfur crisis.
But at the United Nations, an explicit threat of sanctions against the
Sudanese government if it fails to disarm the militias could be
dropped from a draft resolution today because of opposition from
several countries, including Pakistan, Russia and China.
Sources believe although Britain and the United States have strongly
favoured retaining the sanctions threat in the text, they were
preparing to back down as the only way to attain broad support on the
Sudan resolution in the Security Council. A vote on the draft
resolution is likely to be taken today or tomorrow. It is likely to
include a slightly less specific warning of "further measures" that
would be considered to punish Khartoum if it has not restrained the
militias within 30 days. Five countries, led by Pakistan, say the
Sudanese government should be given more time.
The British and American governments are also gathering evidence to
decide whether the atrocities can be declared a genocide, which would
invoke a legal obligation to intervene. But the British government and
the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, have said it is premature to
talk of military intervention.
The Sudanese government has said it is willing to disarm the janjaweed
but insists that will not be done until the rebel groups, the Sudan
Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement, also surrender
their arms. It claims the rebel groups have killed 1,460 civilians
since signing a ceasefire in April and are the main hindrance to
getting aid to the region. The information minister, Al-Zahawi Ibrahim
Malik, said: "Instead of using Darfur for electoral ends, as the
American administration is doing, the world should push those involved
to sit at the negotiating table."
The Sudanese government is jittery about threats of military
intervention. The Foreign Minister, Mustafa Osman Ismail, has warned
that Sudanese soldiers would fight if foreign troops are sent to
Darfur.
The World Food Programme is using all-terrain trucks to get food to
Darfur, which is being cut off by seasonal rains. Each truck will take
more than three weeks to reach Darfur from the Port of Sudan.
The fighting has claimed 30,000 lives, and one million civilians are
in refugee camps in Darfur. The Chadian government has asked for
international aid agencies to help it cope with 170,000 Darfur
refugees.
28 July 2004 18:06
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