Sudan’s army denies violating South Kordofan truce
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August 29, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan has downplayed allegations of
violating its own ceasefire in South Kordofan State, saying it had
merely "dealt with" attempts by the rebels to infiltrate certain
areas.
JPEG - 39.7 kb
Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir inspects the guard of honour
during his first visit to Kadogli capital of South Kordofan State
August 23, 2011 (REUTERS PICTURES)
The Sudanese president Omer Al-Bashir last week announced a unilateral
two-week ceasefire in South Kordofan State, where the country’s army
has been fighting rebels of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement
North (SPLM-N) since mid June.
At least 200,000 people have been killed, injured or forced to flee
their homes and land as a result of the fighting, according to UN
estimatesThe SPLM-N reacted skeptically to Al-Bashir’s truce, saying
it aims to conceal a military offensive in the making.
A couple of rights groups on Monday accused the Sudanese Armed Forces
(SAF) of violating the ceasefire, saying that SAF continues to
“indiscriminately” bombing civilian areas.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said in a joint statement
that their researchers led a week-long mission to the area in late
August and were able to establish that SAF had carried out 13 air
strikes in Kauda, Delami and Kurchi areas where at least 26 civilians
were killed and more than 45 others injured since mid-June.
According to the two groups, their researchers witnessed government
planes circling over civilian areas and dropping bombs, forcing
civilians to seek shelter in mountains and caves.
“The relentless bombing campaign is killing and maiming civilian men,
women and children, displacing tens of thousands, putting them in
desperate need of aid, and preventing entire communities from planting
crops and feeding their children,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director
at Human Rights Watch.
“The Sudanese government is literally getting away with murder and
trying to keep the outside world from finding out” said Donatella
Rovera, Amnesty International’s Senior Crisis Response Advisor. “The
international community, and particularly the UN Security Council,
must stop looking the other way and act to address the situation”.
The statement cited local organizations on the ground as saying that
the government had continued to bomb civilian areas that despite the
ceasefire.
On the other hand, SAF denied violating the ceasefire, accusing the
rebels of attempts to take advantage of the truce.
The army’s official spokesman Al-Sawarmi Khalid Sa’ad told Sudan’s
official news agency (SUNA) on Tuesday that a 200-strong force of
SPLM-N rebels had attempted to infiltrate Al-Fayid and other areas in
South Kordofan in a bid to exploit the ceasefire.
He added that SAF was able to detect their movement and dealt with
them accordingly, without giving details.
The spokesman also alleged that SPLM-N rebels staged an attack on
Al-Sabi area in Al-Dilling locality but SAF repulsed the attack.
Al-Sawarmi reaffirmed SAF’s commitment to the ceasefire but later
added that the army would respond strongly to whoever tries to exploit
the ceasefire.
UN reports accused SAF and its allied paramilitary forces of
committing a wide-array of atrocities during South Kordofan’s
conflict, including "extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and
illegal detention, enforced disappearances and attacks against
civilians.”
The UN said the allegations, if substantiated, could amount to crimes
against humanity or war crimes. Sudan labeled the reports as biased.
(ST)
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