The United Nations International Commission of Inquiry has presented clear evidence of serious human rights abuses in the Sudanese province of Darfur, an agency of the churches in the UK and Ireland said Tuesday.

"With alarming reports of aerial bombings on the village of Rahad Kabolong, in north Darfur and the continued constraints on humanitarian agencies to provide relief to the estimated 2.3 million people dependent upon aid, it is time for the world community to take action," Christian Aid said in its recent statement.

While the UN report stopped short of calling the violence in Darfur genocide, Sarah Hughes, head of Christian Aid’s Africa division, said "whatever terms are used to describe the violence, the fact is that grave human rights abuses have taken place and are continuing. These abuses must stop and those responsible must be brought to justice."

In their statement, Christian Aid said it supports the call made in the UN’s report to refer war crimes and human rights abuses by all warring parties to the International Criminal Court, and is also calling on the UN to apply targeted sanctions and extend the arms embargo to all parties involved in the conflict.

According to sources, tens of thousands of people have been killed in Darfur and as many as 1.85 million people are internally displaced or have fled to neighboring Chad. Those fleeing the violence have spoken of mass rape and systematic killings of thousands of civilians by proxy militias working with Sudanese security forces.

The UN has described the Darfur conflict as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.




Kenneth Chan
Ecumenical Press