Darfur: Ongoing violence

Ten years after the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, first spoke of the situation in Darfur as a genocide, there is still not enough protection for the civilian population in western Sudan – as reported by the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) in Göttingen on Wednesday. Thus, the violence of the pro-government forces in Darfur continues. The STP registered 149 cases of rape of women and girls between July 1 and September 22, 2014, in the five provinces of Darfur – committed by pro-government militiamen during 73 raids. 35 of the victims were minors.

"The actual number of violent crimes is surely much higher," said the STP's Africa-consultant, Ulrich Delius. But many women decide to keep silent for fear of being excluded. "We demand the UNAMID peacekeepers of the United Nations and the African Union to provide better protection for the women and for the civilian population in general." Nowadays, most of the victims are assaulted while working as farm hands – not so much while searching for firewood any more. In most cases, the perpetrators remain unpunished.

"We are eagerly waiting for an internal UN-report to be published. It focuses on investigations to clarify whether UNAMID* soldiers tried to play down attacks on civilians, if false or distorted reports were issued, and whether the troops failed to protect the civilian population adequately. Should the allegations be confirmed, even in part, this must have consequences for future UN peacekeeping missions. Peacekeeping forces that are ordered to protect the civilian population lose their credibility if they primarily try to protect themselves."

During a hearing at the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US Senate on September 9, 2004, Colin Powell had first spoken of a possible genocide in Darfur. Human rights organization such as the Society for Threatened Peoples had already warned of a genocide about one and a half years before. "The international community still ignores the ongoing violence in western Sudan. There were no credible attempts to disarm the militias or to finally put an end to impunity," said Delius. Although, according to UN Information, 398,550 Darfuris have fled since January 2014, there are fewer aid workers than in 2013. Due to ever-new restrictions, the number of helpers in Darfur was decreased from 6,850 to only 5,540. They have to take care of about 2.3 million IDPs in 46 official and 68 unofficial camps.

"Instead of solving the serious safety problems, the UN and the EU are talking about reconstruction and development," criticized Delius. "This is euphemistic and cynical." Qatar just recently announced to have provided 88.5 million US dollars for the "development" of Darfur.

* UNAMID is the accronym for the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur