Darfur: ‘Scorched Earth’ Tactics Warrant UN Sanctions

Darfur: ‘Scorched Earth’ Tactics Warrant UN Sanctions
Government Attacks Show Civilians Need Greater International Protection

WASHINGTON, DC - May 19 - The United Nations Security Council should impose targeted sanctions on Sudanese officials responsible for attacks against civilians in West Darfur in February 2008, said Human Rights Watch in a new report released today. Following an attack by Darfur rebels on Khartoum on May 10, 2008, Human Rights Watch also expressed concern about possible government reprisals against civilians in West Darfur.

The 35-page report, “‘They Shot at Us as We Fled’: Government Attacks on Civilians in West Darfur in February 2008,” documents how attacks on several towns in West Darfur’s “northern corridor” were a vicious reprise of Khartoum’s “scorched earth” counterinsurgency tactics. The report, based on interviews with more than 60 witnesses and victims of the attacks in West Darfur, shows how Sudanese armed forces and government-backed “Janjaweed” militia killed and injured hundreds of civilians and destroyed and looted property. The attacks occurred on February 8, 18, 19 and 22 in the towns of Abu Suruj, Sirba, Silea, and in the villages in and around Jebel Mun, a mountainous rebel-held area in northern West Darfur.

“The destruction of town after town in West Darfur shows that Khartoum has no qualms about committing the same atrocities that we saw earlier in the Darfur conflict,” said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “With no rebels to attack, army forces and ‘Janjaweed’ brutally targeted civilians and their property.”

Human Rights Watch said that Khartoum’s continuing violations of international law highlight the urgent need for the United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) to be fully deployed, equipped and trained to effectively protect civilians where they are most at risk. Read more >>>>>>>>>>>>>