The Darfur Consortium

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Darfur in the News

U.S. and European Media

August 21, 2023

Reuters: Sudan Surrounds, Attacks Volatile Darfur Camp: Witness. Sudanese forces surrounded and attacked Darfur's most volatile camp on Tuesday to flush out rebels they say are behind recent attacks on police, an army source and camp residents said. The move on Kalma camp, home to 90,000 people, follows two attacks in the past week on police posts in South Darfur, one near Kalma and the other inside al-Salam camp. One policeman was killed and eight injured. "At 6 a.m. the government of Sudan moved 2,000 soldiers to surround the camp -- army, police and border intelligence," said Abu Sharrad, a spokesman for Kalma camp. Sharrad, who called Reuters from inside the camp, said government forces had opened fire but it was unclear if anyone was killed or injured. "We still cannot tell. They are still surrounding the camp," he added.

Reuters: U.N. accuses Sudan militia of mass abduction and rape. The United Nations' human rights office on Tuesday accused forces allied with Sudan's government of mass abduction and rape of women and girls in Darfur, acts it said could constitute war crimes. Its latest report, based on testimony from victims and witnesses, called on Khartoum to investigate reports that about 50 women were forced into "sexual slavery" after an attack on the rebel-held town of Deribat in South Darfur's Jebel Marra region last December. The abductees, who included many children, were held for about one month, and beaten and raped repeatedly, often in front of each other, the report from the office of U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said. "Witnesses indicated that the abduction, rape and other human rights violations that continued throughout the period were committed by the same group of men who conducted the actual attack," it said. The report concluded that the Sudanese government bore responsibility for the abuses committed by the official Popular Defense Forces militia and the Abu Gasim faction. Sudan's army had provided air and ground support for the raids which resulted in 36 civilian deaths. "A series of violations have been committed that constitute both violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. Some of these may also constitute war crimes," it said. "The government should issue immediate clear instructions to all troops under its command including PDF and other militias that rape and other forms of sexual violence will not be tolerated, that they constitute war crimes," it continued. On Monday Justice Minister Mohamed Ali al-Mardi said that reports by international rights groups on abuses were "criminal." "All reports ... about genocide and mass rape are frivolous and obviated by malice," he told Reuters. "They are executing policies of other nations like the United States ... against Sudan."

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