Darfur activists reiterate call for UN probe into rape allegations

A researcher at the Cornell University in the United States has demanded the UN Security Council to hold an emergency session as soon as possible, to discuss the security and humanitarian situation in Darfur, and take the necessary measures to protect civilians in Darfur. “The situation in Darfur is a shame on humanity’s face.” Ahmed Hussein Adam, together with other Darfuri activists around the world, stressed the need for an emergency meeting after the Security Council’s statement two days ago that the UN-AU hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur (Unamid) failed to carry out its duties in accordance with its mandate. The Sudanese government has denied the Unamid access to Tabit for a second investigation round. “The Security Council’s call for the Sudanese government on Wednesday to conduct a thorough investigation was below the expectations of the victims and their families,” Hussein Adam said in an interview with Radio Dabanga. The researcher asked the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Secretary-General to “recognise their failure in providing protection for the people of Darfur”. He described the security and humanitarian situation in Darfur as “very dangerous and threatening international peace and security. It is urgently required that the Security Council orders the formation of an independent international inquiry committee, not through Unamid, to investigate the mass rape of women in Tabit.” ‘Sudan cannot investigate itself’In response to the government’s special persecutor of crimes in Darfur investigating the alleged crimes in Tabit, Hussein Adam stressed that the Sudanese regime cannot investigate its own crimes, or indict itself. “If the so-called persecutor of crimes in Darfur investigates the case, he should begin with President Omar Al Bashir, his Defence Minister, and others officials wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC),” Hussein Adam said. He demanded the ICC to immediately shoulder its responsibility, investigate, and add new charges. “The Security Council must assist the ICC in the enforcement of its previous warrants. Also, the Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other human rights organisations have to break their silence,” the researcher stressed. Finally, Hussein Adam claimed that the Darfuri armed rebel movements have to clean “the shame of their politically, legally, and diplomatically weak reaction to this crime”. He called upon the people in Darfur to boycott the government if it stays in power. File photo: Ahmed Hussein Adam, researcher at the Cornell University. Related: Sudan rejects Security Council request to investigate alleged mass rape Tabit (20 November 2014) ‘Time running out for probe into Darfur rapes’: former Unamid spokesman (17 November 2014)