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UN:
ARMS CONTINUE TO FLOW INTO DARFUR, SECURITY COUNCIL EXPERT FINDS:
11/10/2007
(MaximsNews Network)
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UNITED
NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network /
- 11 October 2007 -
The Sudanese Government and rebel groups in
Darfur continue to violate the Security Council arms embargo, sending heavy
weapons, small arms, ammunition and other military equipment into the war-torn
region over the past year, a panel of experts set up to monitor the ban says in
a new report.
The
panel finds that the Government has shipped arms and equipment – including
military airplanes and helicopters – by air into the airports of Darfur’s
three provincial capitals, El Fasher, Nyala and El Geneina.
This
occurred even though the Government did not submit any requests for approval or
exemption to the Security Council committee set up in 2005 as part of the arms
embargo, the report states, covering the period from the end of September last
year to the end of August this year.
Government
warplanes also made numerous offensive overflights in Darfur, and engaged in
aerial bombardments, although the panel notes that the frequency of aerial
attacks has declined since April.
Several
non-State armed groups have also received weapons, including assault rifles,
rocket launchers and anti-aircraft guns, that were bought in an unnamed country
and then transported through Eritrea and later Chad to reach the rebels in
Darfur, which lies on Sudan’s western flank.
The
panel says it is still awaiting responses from several Member States concerning
that shipment, as well as other shipments to non-State armed groups.
It
reiterates its earlier recommendation to expand the arms embargo to cover
Sudan’s entire territory and issues a fresh recommendation calling for a ban
on the sale and supply of arms and related materiel to non-State armed groups
located in or operating from neighbouring Chad.
Turning
to the targeted financial and travel-related sanctions, the panel states that
the Sudanese and Chadian Governments have failed to fully implement the
resolutions relating to the ban, such as by monitoring the financial accounts of
individuals named by the Council.
The
panel also finds that both the Sudanese Government and Darfur’s major rebel
groups have impeded the peace process, whether by conducting ongoing
hostilities, placing lengthy pre-conditions on participating in peace talks or
by failing to disarm other groups under their control.
Several
rebel groups, including the National Redemption Front (NRF) and the Minni Minawi
faction of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) have also actively targeted the
African Union peacekeeping mission currently operating in Darfur.
For its
part, the Government had used white aircraft in many of its offensive
overflights in Darfur, including in at least one instance a plane with “UN”
markings.
All
sides, including local Arab tribal militia, are not enforcing any accountability
for breaches of the laws and rules of war, while the panel states that rape is
being widely used as an instrument of warfare.
~~~~~
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