S/2005/240
I. Introduction
1. The present report is submitted pursuant to paragraphs 6, 13 and 16 of Security Council resolution 1556 (2004), paragraph 15 of resolution 1564 (2004), paragraph 17 of resolution 1574 (2004) and paragraph 12 of resolution 1590 (2005).
II. Insecurity in Darfur
2. The conflict that has plagued the three Darfur States of the Sudan since early 2003 did not ease during the month of March. Indeed, some positive trends that were evident in February have apparently stalled, or been slightly reversed, since my last report. Violent confrontations took place between the rebel movements and Government forces, who were operating jointly with armed tribal militia, or at least in the same area at the same time and towards the same general goals. Attacks and threats against humanitarian workers and supplies also remain a major concern. Members of the African Union Mission in the Sudan (AMIS) also came under fire. Banditry, looting and hijacking of vehicles increased during the reporting period, with consequences for the safety of all travellers and the delivery of relief supplies. However, although civilians continued to be targeted by armed groups, reports of attacks on villages decreased somewhat in March.
3. During the reporting period the principal rebel groups, the Sudanese Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), fought with the Government army and/or Janjaweed on at least seven occasions. In the most recent, on 26 March, Government troops and tribal militias attacked SLM/A positions near a cluster of villages roughly 80 kilometres north-east of Nertiti in Western Darfur.
4. The third armed rebel group in Darfur, and normally the least active militarily, the National Movement for Reform and Development (NMRD), was also involved in fighting with Government forces in Western Darfur following a Government ultimatum that NMRD withdraw from the Jebel Moon area north of Geneina to areas further north, near Tine on the border with Chad. NMRD, which is not a party to the Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement, refused, which prompted a violent response from the Government. The fighting continued for a number of days and resulted in an undetermined number of casualties, which included civilians. Since tensions and the prospect of renewed fighting remain high, a thorough assessment of the impact on civilians has not yet been possible.
5. The increased intensity of the fighting in Western Darfur raises concerns that the Government continues to pursue its objective of securing control over the Jebel Moon and Jebel Mara regions, despite the human costs such a campaign into the heart of rebel territory would entail. This disregard by the parties to the conflict for the ceasefire commitments they have undertaken in various agreements remains an obstacle to any effort to find a political solution to the crisis.
6. The month of March witnessed continued attacks on civilians, albeit to a somewhat lesser extent than in February. Reports of Janjaweed attacks against villages were received throughout the month. The first alleged raid took place on the villages of Sula and Bala Farak, 60 kilometres east of Geneina, during the night of 4-5 March and reportedly resulted in at least one civilian death. The last was the suspected Janjaweed assault on the village of Doli, near Zalingei, Western Darfur, on 26 March, which the African Union reports killed two and wounded three people.
7. SLM/A has likewise been implicated in a number of attacks against civilians in March, including its raid on the village of Haraza, south-west of Nyala, Southern Darfur, on 17 March, which resulted in three dead and six wounded. At the end of the reporting period, JEM reportedly attacked the village of Rahad El Fate in Southern Darfur, where AMIS confirmed two killed and one wounded in the course of the raid. SLM/A also attacked the village of Wazazen, also in Southern Darfur, leading to the deaths of two villagers and the wounding of three others.
8. One very important step that the parties can take towards offering the civilian population greater security would be to increase the number of locations where the parties withdraw or do not re-enter so that AMIS can establish a presence. As I reported last month, the Government withdrew from Labado, the first of four villages it had committed itself to vacating during the February meeting of the Joint Commission, and the rebels did not move to reclaim the position. Instead, AMIS deployed a small force, as requested by the parties, to act as a stabilizing, full-time buffer between the parties in that particular locale. That case has proved to be a positive development and AMIS will assume a similar role following the Government's decision to vacate Gereida. Nevertheless, I am concerned that AMIS is so overstretched that it will not be able to establish and maintain a full-time presence in even the small number of villages the Government has been willing to withdraw its forces from, or in additional areas in the near future.
9. I am troubled by the rash of attacks during March on international personnel operating in Darfur. Three incidents stand out because of the apparent intent to do harm to, or kill, those who have come to help the people of the Sudan. First, on 8 March, suspected Janjaweed fighters fired on AMIS troops guarding a military observer campsite in Sarifumra, Northern Darfur. No injuries were reported, but the perpetrators fired at least two shots that pierced a tent in the campsite. Second, on 22 March, two employees of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) suffered injuries, one of them seriously, during an apparent ambush on their convoy of clearly marked vehicles on the road from Nyala to Kass in Southern Darfur. The third incident occurred on 29 March when an AMIS patrol dispatched to investigate reports of a clash north-east of Nyala came under fire. One of the African Union military observers was shot in the neck and two other occupants of the vehicle suffered facial injuries from the shards of glass that filled the cabin after the bullet shattered a window. Early indications point to an ambush, adding to the growing fear that these are more than isolated incidents.
10. The concern that international personnel in Darfur might now be under an increasing threat of violence led, inter alia, to the decision to relocate all United Nations staff in Western Darfur to Geneina between 10 and 19 March. Information received by United Nations officials suggested that the growing tensions between various parties in the State would place humanitarian staff at risk of being caught in the crossfire or directly targeted.
11. Specific and implied threats made against international staff in Western Darfur and the first case of a United Nations vehicle being stopped and robbed, on 10 March, also in Western Darfur, are worrying enough on their own. But these apparently localized incidents can be interpreted in a more threatening light when placed in a broader context. Public statements made by high-ranking Government officials, on the risks to international personnel should the international community move to arrest and prosecute Sudanese citizens outside of the Sudan for war crimes, have linked the prospect of action on the report of the Independent Commission of Inquiry to an increasing threat to the safety of international staff throughout Darfur. The possibility cannot be excluded that those who may believe that they are on the Commission's sealed list of war crimes suspects will resort to direct attacks against the United Nations, international non-governmental organizations and other international personnel, or will try to destabilize the region more generally through violence. The United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS) will continue to monitor and analyse the situation closely.
III. Protection of civilians in Darfur
12. The protection of civilians continues to be a major concern in Darfur. Throughout March, there were cases of attacks on civilians in villages and on the roads, particularly in Southern and Western Darfur, ill-treatment of civilians, torture, sexual and gender-based violence and child protection concerns, including abductions. Security in and around camps for internally displaced persons remained unstable, with cases of harassment of civilians by armed militias, particularly of women and girls who ventured out of the camps.
13. Kalma camp saw continued harassment and intimidation of internally displaced persons, as well as random night shootings by the police. During the week of 31 March, a 17-year-old girl who had been raped was forcibly removed by police from the clinic where she had received medical treatment and transported to Nyala hospital against her will.
14. The gravity of sexual and gender-based violence in Darfur was highlighted in an important and thorough report released on 8 March by the non-governmental organization Médicins Sans Frontières. According to the report, 500 rape victims were treated in the region between October 2004 and February 2005. This figure is all the more shocking when set against the reality that many survivors of sexual and gender-based violence do not seek treatment, owing both to the social stigma attached to rape and fear of negative repercussions. Human rights observers have documented several cases of survivors, their family members and community leaders who came forward to seek justice only to face serious problems, including intimidation by various governmental entities. It was also shocking to learn from agencies on the ground that there is a widespread practice of counter-prosecution against rape victims. In Bindisi, for example, several pregnant victims of rape were detained on charges of adultery and, although eventually released, they were beaten and sexually assaulted while in detention. This not only discourages victims of sexual and gender-based violence and others from registering their complaints with the local police but adds to the climate of impunity characterizing this issue. It is unconscionable that further suffering is inflicted on women and girls who have endured such heinous crimes; it is all the more unconscionable when this suffering is inflicted by the very authorities who are responsible for their protection. I urge the competent Sudanese authorities to investigate these reports as a matter of priority.
15. The proposed establishment in Southern Darfur of a committee for combating sexual violence, announced in the Governor's decree of 6 March, is a welcome acknowledgement by the local government of the gravity of this problem and of the need to improve the authorities' response. The United Nations has raised concerns with the local authorities in respect of the mandate of the committee and has suggested ways in which the committee could work to ensure that issues related to sexual violence are addressed in a comprehensive manner. The United Nations has also agreed to participate as an observer in the committee, in order to bring concerns to the attention of the committee and to provide advice on improving the response, should the mandate be amended. The need to bring to justice the perpetrators of these crimes and to end the climate of impunity has been stressed repeatedly, and the United Nations stands ready to support all genuine efforts by the Government to do so.
16. A three-day joint visit to Darfur by the Government and the United Nations to disseminate and raise awareness of the amended circular on the treatment of rape victims was successfully concluded on 24 March. The mission clarified that survivors of gender-based violence are entitled to receive medical treatment, whether or not they have completed forms required by local courts that document a victim's injuries and serve as medical evidence of the injuries and/or rape. The mission further clarified that medical personnel in clinics or hospitals, including all clinics operated by non-governmental organizations, are entitled to provide medical assistance in the absence of this paperwork, known as Form 8, without any fear of negative consequences. The Government initially limited the number of medical clinics authorized to fill in the requisite legal forms, but in subsequent contacts the Government has shown flexibility on this issue.
17. While attacks on women and girls collecting firewood remain of serious concern, increased cooperation between the humanitarian community and AMIS in March has led to improved protection. Patrols by AMIS monitors and civilian police along firewood collection routes, based on information provided by humanitarian agencies, have decreased the levels of harassment experienced by women and girls, for example outside the Zalingei camps. Similar patrols are conducted outside other camps in Darfur, and efforts to expand these patrols are ongoing.
18. The population displacements, breakdown in family and social structures and increasing poverty accompanying the Darfur emergency have left some children without the protection of their families and vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. In Riyad camp in Western Darfur, for example, United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations have created a temporary shelter for children without caretakers, who are living with elderly relatives without any income or who have been subjected to abuse, including involvement in prostitution. This shelter is a temporary measure until the children's families are traced or better family placement opportunities are identified. The number of abused and exploited children is likely to grow, and the risk of resorting to institutionalization for children without primary caregivers is increasing. Research is currently being conducted in Western Darfur in an effort to better understand how communities respond to the challenge of supporting separated children and elderly people living together.
19. It is also important to address property rights and related issues before greater numbers of displaced civilians voluntarily return to their places of origin. There are concerns, for example, about problems associated with non-owners squatting on land belonging to people who have been displaced, thereby making it more difficult, and potentially dangerous, for the displaced to return home.
20. The subcommittee of the Joint Implementation Mechanism on protection and human rights held its third meeting on 10 March 2005 and discussed the follow-up to the killings in Hamada, the detention of a prominent Sudanese human rights activist (who has since been released), access to detainees, and involuntary and inappropriate returns of internally displaced persons by the Committee for the Eradication of the Abduction of Women and Children. Although the Government launched an investigation of the killings in Hamada, no progress has been made so far in the investigation and none of those suspected of carrying out the attacks has been arrested.
21. Of 51 authorized human rights observers, 18 have been deployed to Darfur (with back-up from three additional monitors in Khartoum), in addition to 10 United Nations Volunteers. Fifteen observers are under recruitment and the search for suitable candidates for the remaining 15 posts continues. The human rights officers based in the Darfur region monitor cases of human rights abuses, liaise with local authorities including police and prosecutors, and monitor trials. By and large, local authorities have been cooperating with human rights monitors. The Government, however, continues to deny human rights officers access to certain places of detention. An agreement on access issues has not been formalized, although it has been requested both by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and in the meetings of the subcommittee of the Joint Implementation Mechanism on protection and human rights.
22. Human rights observers are documenting a number of cases of torture and ill-treatment of civilians who have been arbitrarily arrested by security forces and often detained incommunicado. There are shocking, but as yet unconfirmed, reports of an unofficial detention centre at the headquarters of the Sudanese army in Nyala. There has also been a case of death in detention through injuries consistent with torture in Al Fasher. The Government of the Sudan must ensure that the rights of detainees, particularly their personal and physical integrity, are upheld and respected. All unofficial places of detention should be investigated by the Government and if proved to exist should be immediately closed. All detainees must either be immediately released or charged with a recognizable offence.
IV. Humanitarian situation in Darfur
23. The number of conflict-affected persons increased slightly from 2.4 million in February to 2.45 million in March, owing mostly to new registrations and assessments. The population of the camps for internally displaced persons remained steady at 1.86 million as of 1 March. It is hoped that the Darfur-wide mass registration campaign spearheaded by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which commenced in Kutum town, Northern Darfur, on 1 March, will further improve registration and allow for better targeting of beneficiaries. The apparent stabilization of the number of conflictaffected persons reflects the concentration of serious security incidents in relatively small areas. However, the depletion of coping mechanisms has led to food shortages in more remote areas, particularly in Northern Darfur. As a result, rural populations are in some cases beginning to move into gatherings of the displaced. In March, a small but noticeable number of people - about 2,000 - arrived in Abu Shouk and Zam Zam camps, citing food shortages in addition to insecurity as reasons for their displacement. This is a worrying trend, suggesting that the drought could seriously affect the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people.
24. A somewhat mixed picture emerged in March in terms of humanitarian assistance and access to affected populations. Assistance is reaching an increasing number of conflict-affected persons in camps for the displaced. Agencies in all three Darfur States have started to engage with neglected nomadic communities, and access to remote locations has been increasingly possible.
25. Food assistance reached a record number of people, approximately 1.7 million, during the month of February. The release of the backlog of food stock that accumulated in Port Sudan in January owing to Darfur-wide insecurity largely explains this increase. After having reached 1.5 million people in December, food aid had reached only about 1.2 million in January.
26. Clean water was provided to 58 per cent of the affected population in February, compared to 56 per cent the previous month, while non-food items were provided to 80 per cent of the needy population. Sanitation interventions covered approximately 70 per cent of the needs in both January and February. Seventy per cent of the affected population had access to primary health care facilities and basic drugs in both January and February. Also, assistance resumed in some locations which had once been beyond the reach of agencies because of security concerns. Labado, Southern Darfur, which had been the scene of heavy fighting in December and January, saw the return of some 12,000 internally displaced persons and residents after the African Union established a presence in the wake of the Government's withdrawal.
27. Humanitarian workers have also gained access to several remote areas of Darfur to assist drought- and conflict-affected persons. Such interventions, in addition to meeting immediate needs, help prevent future displacement. Access to SLA-held Dar Zagawa, in Northern Darfur, which was halted for three weeks owing to the absence of a reliable SLA interlocutor to carry out the notification procedure, resumed after a meeting with a new SLA interlocutor on 18 March. In Southern Darfur, agencies travelled to areas around Ed Da'ein to assess the needs of the resident population. Initial assessment results suggest a poor humanitarian situation, as exemplified by the preliminary results of a nutritional survey conducted by Tearfund, a non-governmental organization, in four gatherings of internally displaced persons. This survey indicates global malnutrition rates of over 20 per cent and severe acute malnutrition rates of around 4 per cent.
28. Preparations have begun to conduct a World Health Organizationcommissioned mortality survey throughout the region following clearance from the Government. The survey, tentatively scheduled to commence towards the end of April, will provide important information on which parts of Darfur require additional support.
29. While the quality and quantity of humanitarian assistance has improved across Darfur, incidents targeting humanitarian supplies and personnel on major roads have rendered the movement of supplies erratic and inconsistent, affecting crucial assistance to beneficiaries. A peak in the number of attacks on commercial trucks used by WFP was reported in March, especially on the two major road routes into Darfur. A sizeable proportion of these security incidents have been carried out by SLA elements; the balance are attributable to bandits or militias. The United Nations is working with the African Union to address this problem. The Government of the Sudan also took steps to move in convoy from Ed Da'ein to Nyala a backlog of 250 trucks that had built up because of the insecurity. My Special Representative and his staff continue to engage with SLA, tribal leaders and the Government to ensure that they take active steps to support humanitarian assistance and ensure the safety and security of all humanitarian staff and supplies.
30. Government authorities at the national and local levels have increasingly been harassing humanitarian organizations and thus constraining the provision of humanitarian assistance. Of particular concern have been significant and increased delays in providing visas, especially for non-governmental organizations, who must sometimes wait six to eight weeks for single-entry visas. False and hostile accusations against humanitarian workers through national media outlets have been compounded by a series of arrests of humanitarian workers. March saw the arrest or detention of two more international staff working for an international nongovernmental organization. These detentions have normally been on specious grounds, and have followed attempts by non-governmental organizations to document the rapes of internally displaced persons, to follow up on protection incidents, or provide humanitarian assistance in SLA areas. While relations in Western and Northern Darfur between the local authorities and the humanitarian community are generally good, detentions of humanitarian staff have repeatedly occurred in Southern Darfur. This suggests a deliberate targeting and intimidation of non-governmental organizations in Southern Darfur by some local authorities. In Southern Darfur, four international non-governmental organizations now have international staff who have been detained and then released on bail, charged with "crimes against the State" or "aiding rebellion". These charges against humanitarian workers have not been substantiated. Such detentions should be considered as impediments to humanitarian assistance, and are unacceptable.
31. A series of highway robberies targeting humanitarian goods and personnel in several areas has also caused localized difficulties for both agencies and displaced populations. The suspension of movement on roads outside Geneina town between 10 and 19 March temporarily affected assistance to more than 330,000 beneficiaries. Although most of the roads were cleared on 19 March, all areas north of Sirba are still classified as no-go areas for United Nations agencies. This affects the provision of assistance to approximately 96,000 people. In Southern Darfur, the attack on a convoy of the International Rescue Committee and USAID that occurred on 22 March on the road between Nyala and Kass, resulting in serious injury to a USAID staff member, led to the closure of the regularly used Nyala-Kass road for United Nations traffic until further notice.
32. Funding requirements for the Darfur operations outlined in the United Nations 2005 work plan for the Sudan are 42 per cent covered. Of the total required amount of $675 million, an estimated $516 million was needed by the end of March to effectively meet the needs in Darfur. As of mid-March, $291 million had been provided towards Darfur activities outlined in the work plan, equivalent to 56 per cent of the estimated requirements by the end of March. Almost 88 per cent of the contributions were in the form of food aid, mostly in-kind cereals, leaving other food requirements and most other critical sectors heavily underfunded. I again appeal to donors to meet these requirements without further delay.
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