Amnesty urges UN to send peace-keepers to Sudan

THE build up of Sudanese troops in the war-torn western Darfur region could lead to a human rights catastrophe unless UN peacekeeping troops are sent to the region soon, Amnesty International warned yesterday.

Witnesses in El Fasher in north Darfur have told the London-based group that Sudanese military flights have been flying in troops and arms to the region, said Kate Gilmore, Amnesty’s executive deputy secretary general.

“Displaced people in Darfur are absolutely terrified that the same soldiers that expelled them from their homes and villages may now be sent supposedly to protect them,” Ms Gilmore wrote in a statement.

The UN Security Council was to meet last night to discuss a draft resolution that calls for the transferring of peacekeeping from the financially strapped African Union troops, whose mandate in the region ends on Septermber 30th, to a much larger and better equipped UN force. The draft resolution is co-authored by the US and Britain.

Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir opposes such a UN force on Sudanese territory, and has said he plans to send Sudanese troops to Darfur to pacify the region.

Sudan rejected a final push made by a senior US envoy in Khartoum to win approval for the UN peacekeepers, on Sunday.

Ms Gilmore called the Sudanese government’s plan to deploy its own forces in Darfur a “sham” that the UN must reject.

“How can Sudan, which appears to be about to launch its own offensive in Darfur, realistically propose being a peacekeeper in a conflict to which it is a major party and perpetrator of grave human rights violations?” she asked.

More than 200,000 people have died in the remote Darfur region since 2003 when ethnic African tribes revolted against the Arab-led Khartoum government.

The UN and aid organisations have warned of a deepening humanitarian crisis there, saying violence has mounted since an agreement was signed in May by the Sudanese government and one the rebel groups.