Sudan yields and arrests officials for Darfur atrocities

SUDAN has for the first time arrested military and security officials accused of raping and killing civilians and burning villages in Darfur, the country’s justice minister said yesterday, responding to the demands of the international community to bring to account those accused of committing atrocities in the region.

Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin said a government committee had arrested 15 members of the police, military and security forces in Darfur for human rights abuses and they would immediately be sent to court.

"They are military people ... from army, military and security," Mr Yassin said, adding all the accused were from these "disciplinary forces".

"[They are accused of] different crimes. It includes rape, killing, burning and other things - different kinds of atrocities," he said.

The United Nations Security Council is expected to vote tomorrow on a French-drafted resolution which would send those responsible for war crimes in Darfur to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Sudan rejects referring any of its nationals to a court outside its borders, saying its judicial system is able to prosecute those guilty of crimes.

"Now it is high time for us to prove ourselves and to prove how genuine we are and how seriously the Sudanese judiciary can do the job," Mr Yassin said.

"This is a start; it is not the end of it - they are progressing and doing a good job."

Mr Yassin said 14 members of the police, the army and security forces were under arrest in West Darfur state and one in North Darfur state.

"The objective of the commission is to investigate criminal offences. They are going to investigate rape crimes, human rights violations, crimes against humanity and war crimes," he said.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in a rebellion which has raged in remote Darfur for more than two years.

The UN says Sudan armed Arab militias known as Janjaweed to fight the rebels. The Janjaweed stand accused of a widespread campaign of rape, killing and looting in the region.

Sudan admits arming some militias to quell the rebellion but denies any links to the Janjaweed, calling them outlaws.

Sudan has arrested and convicted a small number of Janjaweed for crimes in Darfur but has not made significant steps to disarm Arab militias, as required by UN security council resolutions.

Thousands die every month in the makeshift camps housing the almost two million people who have fled their homes in the region, which is the size of France.

The United States calls the violence genocide. A UN-appointed commission stopped short of declaring it genocide, but said heinous crimes against humanity may have taken place.

The commission gave Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, a sealed list of 51 people it said should be sent to the ICC.

The African Union (AU) last week announced it is drafting plans to double the number of peacekeeping troops in Darfur, responding to UN calls for more security in the region.

The 53-nation bloc already has about 3,000 troops in Darfur.

UN officials have repeatedly said more troops are needed to protect civilians. On 7 March, Mr Annan said it was possible that UN peacekeepers could complement AU troops now in Darfur.

UN agencies have recently pulled staff out of some areas because of threats by the Arab militias.

Alpha Oumar Konare, the AU commission chairman, appealed earlier this month for African nations to provide more peacekeepers for hotspots on the continent. He said the AU wanted to deploy extra troops in Darfur as well as in Ivory Coast and Congo.