Sudan’s special prosecutor for crimes in Darfur has not charged or tried anyone, and the government must speed up trials or lose the confidence of the people, an UN-appointed human rights expert said yesterday.
Sudan appointed special prosecutor Nimr Mohamed in 2008 hoping his trials would delay the International Criminal Court which last year issued an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for war crimes in Darfur. Sudan rejects the ICC’s jurisdiction.
“He (Nimr Mohamed) informed me that investigations are continuing and that no one has been charged and tried as yet,” Tanzanian judge Mohamed Chande Othman told reporters.
“This is an issue of utmost importance in terms of accountability,” he added. “Because the more you delay the more the confidence of the people of Darfur will be eroded.”
Othman said 120 investigations were underway but that the prosecutor said he was facing problems accessing rebel-held areas and finding witnesses who had left the country.
He was speaking in Khartoum after a 17-day trip, his first visit since being appointed last year by the UN human rights council to review Sudan.
The judge noted a few positive developments with female police being deployed and human rights awareness training of security forces.
But he expressed concern at some legislation passed last year which “infringe fundamental rights”, including a law giving Sudan’s intelligence services widespread powers of arrest, search and seizure.
“I encourage the government to amend these laws and bring them in conformity with the constitution,” Othman said.
The ICC is reviewing genocide charges against Bashir and the government had hoped its trials could substitute for the ICC proceedings. A fair national judicial process would take precedence over ICC investigations.
The Justice Ministry was not available to comment.
The UN estimates some 300 000 have died in Darfur’s revolt after more than 2 million people fled their homes, sparking the world’s largest humanitarian operation until Bashir expelled 13 of the larger aid agencies working in the vast region.
Yesterday Darfur insurgents said government forces had bombed rebel-held areas in west and central Darfur.
A UN source confirmed Sudan’s army had begun “intense” clashes with rebels in the east of Jabel Marra on Wednesday. Sudan’s army was not available to comment.
Another UN official told Reuters a government bomb had fallen close to a patrol by the joint UN-African Union (UNAMID) peacekeeping mission near Jabel Moun on Feb. 9.
“The Sudanese Army reported there had been fighting between the government of Sudan and JEM in the area,” the official said.
Source: www.af.reuters.com
