UN calls for force to protect civilians

Human rights investigation seeks wider arms embargo

- JAMEY KEATEN

GENEVA UN-backed human rights investigators on Friday urged the creation of an “independent and impartial force” to protect civilians in Sudan’s war, blaming both sides for war crimes including murder, mutilation and torture and warning that foreign governments which arm and finance them could be complicit.

The fact-finding team, in their first report since being created by the UN’s main human rights body in October, also accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which are fighting Sudan’s army, and its allies of crimes against humanity, including rape, sexual slavery and persecution on ethnic or gender grounds.

“The people of Sudan have suffered greatly, and the violations against them must stop. This cannot be done without ending the fighting,” Mohamed Chande Othman, the chair of the team, told a news conference.

The experts called for the expansion of an arms embargo on Sudan’s long-restive western Darfur region to the entire country.