The United Nations' principal human rights agency has accused the Sudanese government of unlawfully attacking civilians during a recent military campaign against rebels in West Darfur.
At least 115 villagers – including women, children and the elderly – were killed, women were raped and homes were pillaged.
The government’s actions were a violation of international humanitarian law, said a report issued in Geneva by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in cooperation with the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).
Government forces had failed to distinguish between military and civilian targets, the report said. “Moreover, 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 detailed an investigation into attacks in January and February on the villages of Saraf Jidad, Sirba, Silea and Abu Suruj in West Darfur. Armed militias and the Sudanese Armed Forces carried out the attacks during a campaign to regain control of the area from the rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement.
The JEM’s activities before the campaign, including an attack on government positions late last year and its justification of the use of force, had separately been judged by a ceasefire commission to have violated the 2004 N’Djamena Ceasefire Agreement, the report noted.
And when militia and government forces launched their campaign against the JEM, they “systematically pillaged, vandalized and/or set ablaze” homes, NGO clinics and offices, community centres, water structures, schools, food storage facilities, milling machines and shops.
They also stole livestock. In one attack, the government used helicopter gunships and fixed-wing aircraft to carry out aerial bombardments, while government forces and armed militia on horses and camels attacked on the ground. More than 30,000 people were forcibly displaced – some to Chad.
Read the full report, including eyewitness accounts of the attacks
