November 25, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government said that it has documented cases of sexual abuse of Darfuri women committed by members of the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) that the latter has not taken any action to stop.
The Sudanese Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Abdullah al-Azrag said today that Khartoum’s decision to have the UNAMID depart was subject of careful review and was discussed with the United Nations previously stressing that it was not in retaliation to rape allegations in the village of Tabit.
On November 22nd, the hybrid mission said it received a verbal request from the Sudanese government to put in place a gradual exit strategy from Darfur.
Social media has extensively circulated testimonies of victims from Tabit, a village 45km south-west of North Darfur capital El-Fasher, claiming that 200 women, including minors, were raped by soldiers from the Sudanese army (SAF).
On November 9th, a UNAMID verification team investigated the rape allegations in Tabit and said it found no evidence proving the rape claims.
Sudan has refused to allow the mission access to Tabit to conduct another investigation despite repeated calls from the UN chief and the UNSC.
Al-Azrag said in a roundtable with newspaper editors on Tuesday that foreign minister Ali Karti discussed a UNAMID exit strategy with the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon three years ago and in several occasions most recently in the UN General Assembly meetings.
The UN Security Council adopted resolution 2173 on August 27 which extended the UNAMID mandate for ten months and called on the mission to draft recommendations for the future mandate, composition, configuration and exit strategy of UNAMID by 28 February 2015, at which time the Council would make the necessary mandate changes “fully and promptly”.
Al-Azrag recalled a memorandum by the ministry demanding UNAMID develop an exit strategy and speeches by Sudan’s UN ambassador when discussing the renewal of the UNAMID mandate all of which occurred before rape allegations in the village of Tabit surfaced.
He said that UNAMID departure is enshrined in the in the Status of Force Agreement (SOFA) and that demanding its departure is a result of significant improvement in security situation particularly over the last year which necessitated emphasizing the development of an exit strategy in light of the reluctance and lack of enthusiasm on the part of UNAMID, which raised suspicions and stirred tensions.
In response to criticisms by the UNAMD investigation team that Sudanese soldiers were present during their Tabit probe, al-Azrag said they have a document where the mission requests that the armed forces protect their camp.
He said that the Darfur special prosecutor found no evidence of the rape claims adding that they are aware of attempts by certain organizations to recruit women to make false testimonies and a video conference call arranged by a neighboring state with women from Tabit.
The Sudanese official added that they spotted sexual violations committed by UNAMID soldiers against Darfuri girls and women over the years in which the mission camps have become a haven for the perpetrators of crimes but could not prosecuted by authorities due to diplomatic immunity enjoyed by them.
Al-Azrag said that UNAMID never held anyone accountable nor expelled those implicated in these acts noting that they raised that issue through diplomatic channels and not over the media.
He argued that UNAMID is keen to stay in the region and does not adhere to SOFA and its personnel are living a luxury life on a $1.3 billion budget much of it was not spent on infrastructure and development in Darfur.
“The improved security conditions and the talks in Addis Ababa with the [Darfur] rebel movements are worrying some circles that do not want stability to Darfur because their interest [lies] in the continuation of the current situation to settle scores with the government," al-Azrag said.
(ST)
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