UNAMID chief told to avoid engagements with President Bashir

The UN/AU Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) head of mission Ibrahim Gambari has been told to avoid engagements such as a wedding last month where President Bashir was present.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) sent a letter to the Secretary-General of the UN Ban Ki-Moon last week to protest about the participation of Gambari at a wedding of Chad’s President Idriss Deby to the daughter of Musa Hilal, a leader of the Janjaweed.

The wedding was attended by President Bashir who is wanted by the international Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and genocide committed in Darfur. Sudan refuses to recognize the ICC.

UN guidelines state that officials should limit contact with people indicted by international courts to ‘what is strictly required for carrying out UN mandated activities’.

In its letter, HRW Executive Director Kenneth Roth said ‘discounting these guidelines brings the UN’s credibility in disrepute and sends a terrible message to victims of heinous crimes in Darfur,’ especially as the image of Gambari next to Al Bashir has been widely circulated.

Internally displaced camps across Darfur have rejected Gambari’s invitation as part of the Doha peace agreement to return home to their villages citing the continued presence of armed militias, insecurity and lack of infrastructure.

Many representatives also told Radio Dabanga residents will only return to their villages once perpetrators of crimes committed in Darfur are taken to trial at the ICC, and not to the special court set up by the government last month.

The UN/AU Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) head of mission Ibrahim Gambari has been told to avoid engagements such as a wedding last month where President Bashir was present.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) sent a letter to the Secretary-General of the UN Ban Ki-Moon last week to protest about the participation of Gambari at a wedding of Chad’s President Idriss Deby to the daughter of Musa Hilal, a leader of the Janjaweed.

The wedding was attended by President Bashir who is wanted by the international Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and genocide committed in Darfur. Sudan refuses to recognize the ICC.

UN guidelines state that officials should limit contact with people indicted by international courts to ‘what is strictly required for carrying out UN mandated activities’.

In its letter, HRW Executive Director Kenneth Roth said ‘discounting these guidelines brings the UN’s credibility in disrepute and sends a terrible message to victims of heinous crimes in Darfur,’ especially as the image of Gambari next to Al Bashir has been widely circulated.

Internally displaced camps across Darfur have rejected Gambari’s invitation as part of the Doha peace agreement to return home to their villages citing the continued presence of armed militias, insecurity and lack of infrastructure.

Many representatives also told Radio Dabanga residents will only return to their villages once perpetrators of crimes committed in Darfur are taken to trial at the ICC, and not to the special court set up by the government last month.