China 'trying to block publication of UN Darfur report'
The report says bullet casings from China were found at the site of attacks against peacekeepers Beijing is trying to prevent the release of a report which says Chinese bullets have been used against Darfur peacekeepers, unnamed UN diplomats say.
The report is being discussed by a United Nations committee which monitors sanctions against Sudan, including an arms embargo on Darfur.
Beijing says it is vaguely worded and full of flaws.
Ceasefires and peace negotiations have failed to end the conflict in the volatile western Sudanese region.
The report says that a dozen different brands of Chinese bullet casings have been found in Darfur, some at sites where attacks on UN troops took place.
The BBC's Barbara Plett at the UN in New York says the allegations are controversial, but adds that China has the right to sell munitions to Khartoum as long as they are not used in Darfur.
The report, prepared by a panel of experts, was intended to be published after being formally presented to the UN Security Council.
The panel has previously claimed that large amounts of foreign arms and ammunition are being trafficked into Darfur and fuelling the conflict between the government and rebel groups.
After a meeting of the UN committee on Wednesday, Chinese diplomat Zhao Baogang said his government strongly objected to the report.
"Where did they get the informed sources? No evidence is given," he said, adding that the report "lacks confirmed facts".
He added: "How can we agree on those recommendations? We ask them to improve the work of the methodology."
The UN says that about 300,000 people have been killed and more than 2.6 million displaced by fighting since rebels took up arms in the region in 2003
Q&A: Sudan's Darfur conflict
Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir could still face charges of genocide in Darfur.
International Criminal Court appeal judges have reversed an earlier ruling which said prosecutors had not provided enough evidence for such charges to be brought.
Some 2.7m people have fled their homes during the seven-year conflict in the western region of Darfur and the UN says about 300,000 have died.
How did the conflict start?
It broke out in early 2003 after the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) began attacking government targets, accusing Khartoum of oppressing black Africans in favour of Arabs.
Darfur, which means land of the Fur, has faced many years of tension over land and grazing rights between the mostly nomadic Arabs, and farmers from the Fur, Massaleet and Zaghawa communities.
How did the government respond to the rebellion?
It admits mobilising "self-defence militias" following rebel attacks.
But it denies any links to the Arab Janjaweed militia - who are accused of trying to "cleanse" black Africans from large swathes of territory.
 | KEY REBEL PLAYERS  SLM: Minni Minnawi's faction SLM: Abdul Wahid Mohammad Ahmed al-Nur's faction Jem: Khalil Ibrahim, one of the first rebel groups  |
President Omar al-Bashir has called the Janjaweed "thieves and gangsters".
But refugees say air raids by government aircraft would be followed by attacks from the Janjaweed, who would ride into villages on horses and camels, slaughtering men, raping women and stealing whatever they could find.
The US and some human rights groups have said genocide is taking place - though a UN investigation team in 2005 concluded that war crimes had been committed but there had been no intent to commit genocide.
Trials have been announced in Khartoum of some members of the security forces suspected of abuses - but this is viewed as part of a campaign against attempts to get suspects tried at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
What has happened to Darfur's civilians?
The United Nations says more than 2.7 million have fled their homes and now live in camps near Darfur's main towns.
Darfuris say the Janjaweed patrol outside the camps and men are killed and women raped if they venture too far in search of firewood or water.
Some 200,000 people have also sought safety in neighbouring Chad, but many of these are camped along a 600km (372 mile) stretch of the border and remain vulnerable to attacks from the Sudan side.
Chad's eastern areas have a similar ethnic make-up to Darfur and the violence has spilled over the border area, with the neighbours accusing one another of supporting each other's rebel groups.
Many aid agencies have been working in Darfur but they are unable to get access to vast areas because of the insecurity. Several were banned from northern Sudan after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Bashir in 2009 for alleged war crimes.
How many have died?
The United Nations says up to 300,000 people have died from the combined effects of war, famine and disease.
 Janjaweed gunmen are accused of prowling outside refugee camps |
President Bashir puts the death toll at 10,000.
Accurate figures are difficult to research and have made no distinction between those dying as a result of violence and those dying as a result of starvation or disease in the camps.
The numbers are crucial in determining whether the deaths in Darfur are genocide or - as the Sudanese government says - the situation is being exaggerated.
Is anyone trying to stop the fighting?
Yes.
There are thousands of peacekeepers in the region under the auspices of a joint African Union-UN peacekeeping mission, Unamid.
Last August, the UN's outgoing military commander General Martin Agwai said the conflict was effectively over and isolated attacks and banditry were the region's main problems now.
Peace talks between Khartoum and Jem are being sponsored by Qatar, the United Nations, the African Union and Arab League.
The US envoy to Darfur, Scott Gration, is also involved in talks aimed at getting the rebel groups - of which there are many - to agree a common position so they can take part in broader peace talks.
Who is to blame?
The international community lays much of the blame on Mr Bashir.
 Omar al-Bashir says ICC charges reflect Western hostility to Sudan |
He has frequently been accused of supporting the pro-government militias.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant last year for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
However, he is unlikely to be detained as the African Union says it will not honour the warrant.
The Hague court's pre-trial chamber will now have to rule on whether to add three counts of genocide.
Rebel groups have also been held responsible for some atrocities.
Will peace return to Darfur?
With the signing of a ceasefire agreement between the Justice and Equality Movement and Sudan's president, the BBC's James Copnall considers if Darfur will find real peace.
For years the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) has represented perhaps the biggest military threat from Darfur to the Sudanese government.
Jem was the only Darfuri rebel group able to strike into the Sudanese heartland around the River Nile.
In May 2008, Jem fighters launched a daring raid on Omdurman, the city just over the Nile from the capital Khartoum, and the site of the parliament.
|   The deal with Jem also means President Bashir will get a tremendous boost in his campaign for April's presidential election  |
The attack failed, but it did show the daring and ambition of Khalil Ibrahim's rebel movement.
Now this framework agreement, which includes a ceasefire, will be a tremendous relief for President Omar al-Bashir and his government.
If the ceasefire is respected - and it is a big if - a major military threat will have been neutralised.
This is particularly important in the run-up to next year's referendum on possible southern independence, following a separate civil war which ended in 2005.
Aid agencies and human rights groups have warned of a possible return to north-south conflict.
Whether or not this happens, minimising the threat in Darfur will give the north a much stronger hand.
The deal with Jem also means Mr Bashir will get a tremendous boost in his campaign for April's presidential election.
Compensation
Jem has much to gain too.
The framework agreement, which sets out the topics for the forthcoming more detailed talks, includes a provision for power-sharing.
Jem would participate in "every level of government (executive, legislative…)", according to article 3 of the provisional agreement, which the BBC has seen.
The rebel movement should turn into a political party once it signs a final deal.
There are also articles on wealth-sharing, compensation and the safe return of displaced people and refugees.
Millions still live in rough camps, usually situated on the outskirts of big towns.
Small, temporary housing has pushed up haphazardly, like pimples on an adolescent's face.
Those fleeing the Darfur fighting have seen a temporary life made permanent: there are schools, commerce, the semblance of a life, however difficult.
But this provisional deal will certainly not solve all of their - and Darfur's - problems.
Camp politics
Firstly agreements have not been respected in the past.
|
Some commentators are already suggesting Jem is the most likely of the rebel groups to return to the fold.
Its leadership is made up of Islamists - like President Bashir's National Congress Party (NCP) - who have elements of a common political vision with those in power in Khartoum, however much else divides them.
Secondly - and crucially - this deal is with only one of the many Darfur rebel groups.
The Abuja accord of 2006 failed because only the Sudan Liberation Army's Minni Minawi, of the major faction leaders, signed up to it.
Several of the small groups may jump on the bandwagon.
But the SLA-Abdul Wahid faction, which possibly has the most support, in the camps for the displaced at least, has refused to enter into talks with the government.
| Whether it ultimately succeeds or fails, it will undoubtedly have changed the dynamic in Darfur |
If the Jem fighters are integrated into the Sudanese armed forces, the military position of SLA-Abdul Wahid could worsen considerably.
Equally, the new prominence of Jem could push other rebel groups to violence, to win their place in the sun.
Thirdly, some of the insecurity in Darfur now is not down to rebel groups.
Some of those responsible for car-jackings and kidnappings are simply armed gangs; it is sometimes alleged some of these have links to the government.
Finally, the Arab militias that fought on the side of Mr Bashir will need to be included in any truly comprehensive accord.
Whatever its long-term effects, the Jem-government deal has already had a profound impact on the political landscape.
Jem will presumably be awarded some sort of political power in Darfur at the end of the talks this framework agreement ushers in.
Jem is already suggesting the elections should be pushed back.
Some opposition politicians, perhaps worried about the power-sharing arrangements, or the electoral shot in the arm President Bashir will get from the agreement, are calling for this too.
The NCP has already said the polls should be held on time.
The next few weeks and months should prove fascinating.
Negotiations on a final settlement between Jem and the government are due to end by mid-March, an ambitious target.
The first real test of the value of this provisional deal will come on the ground, as the displaced, peacekeepers, humanitarian workers and ordinary Darfuris wait to see if the security situation improves at all.
Few people saw this deal coming.
Whether it ultimately succeeds or fails, it will undoubtedly have changed the dynamic in Darfur.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment