WASHINGTON — The New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a report that Sudanese
President Omar Bashir and his leading aides either ordered or condoned the
killing and expulsion of civilians from Darfour.
The 85-page report, based
on government documents, said Bashir aides involved in Darfour included
military commanders as well members of the regime-backed Janjaweed militia.
The report was prepared for the International Criminal Court. In March
2005, the United Nations Security Council was assigned to indict individuals
responsible for the abuses, Middle East Newsline reported. So far, no indictments have been issued.
"The Sudanese government at the highest levels is responsible for
widespread and systematic abuses in Darfour," the report said. "The Sudanese
government's systematic attacks on civilians in Darfour have been
accompanied by a policy of impunity for all those responsible for the
crimes."
An estimated 300,000 people were killed in Darfour since 2003. More
than 1.2 million Darfour residents have been driven from their homes, with
many of them fleeing to neighboring Chad.
Entitled "Entrenching Impunity: Government Responsibility for
International Crimes in Darfour," the report said Bashir used Janjaweed as
part of a government campaign to drive two million people from their homes.
Janjaweed members were drafted into Sudanese security forces and paid from
the loot of raided villages.
The report said Bashir played a leading role in the offensive in
Darfour. Human Rights Watch quoted a commander as ordering soldiers to
attack civilians.
"Joint government-militia offensives were well-coordinated," the report
said. "The looting was not random; it was clearly organized and
premeditated. In many cases, it appears to have been organized by the
military commander and conducted in a methodical way. The troops and
Janjaweed used in attacks south of and around Kutum were told that they
could keep their looted goods if they 'fight well.'"
The report detailed battles in which the Sudanese Air Force provided
close air support for Janjaweed and army strikes on villages in Darfour.
Several pilots were said to have requested transfers to avoid missions that
targeted civilians. One pilot who refused attack orders was arrested.
HRW has called for a UN investigation of Bashir and his aides. The aides
included Vice President Ali Osman Taha, regarded as instrumental in
negotiating the end of the civil war in the south in 2004.
"Frequent allegations have been made that Vice President Ali Osman Taha
is the key government policymaker where Darfour is concerned -- and that he
was one of the primary instigators of the policy of militia recruitment and
use," the report said.
The report said Taha arranged for the release from prison of Janjaweed
leader Mussa Hilal in 2003. Hilal was identified as deputy commander of a
Sudanese force that targeted Darfour rebels and non-Arab villages.
