Archive for November, 2006
Darfur Diaries on Democracy Now!
On Friday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights – Louise Arbour – warned that unless the Sudanese Government disarmed militias operating in West Darfur, there would be more attacks like those that occurred last month. Those attacks left over 50 people dead – including 27 children under the age of 12. Thousands more were displaced.
The United Nations said in a report last week that there were indications that Sudan’s military participated in the attacks. It said witnesses identified the 300 to 500 attackers as Arabs riding on horseback, wearing green camouflage military uniforms and armed with AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
More than 200,000 people have been killed – and 2.5 million displaced – in fighting between rebels and government-backed militias since early 2003. A 7,000-strong African Union contingent is conducting a peacekeeping mission in the region with logistic support from NATO. The U.N. Security Council voted in August to send over 20,000 peacekeepers to Darfur to replace the African Union force — but Sudan has rejected the decision.
