SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Amnesty International – Sudan: Horrific attacks on displacement camps show UN peacekeepers still needed in Darfur
Ahmed Elzobier, Amnesty International researcher for East Africa, calls on the UN Security Council to “re-evaluate the security situation in Darfur,” as well as mandate and resource the new United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) to “protect civilians in Darfur until Sudanese military and civilian leaders prove they are willing and able to protect them.”
Noting the UN “recorded an alarming increase in inter-communal clashes in Darfur, with 28 incidents between July and December 2020, an 87% increase compared to 2019”, Elzobier argues “the failure of Sudan’s government to protect civilians, alongside the weakness or in some cases lack of justice mechanisms, and the premature withdrawal of the UN-African Union Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) have emboldened some tribal militia fighters in Darfur to indulge in gruesome acts of violence,” adding that UNAMID’s “premature withdrawal has created a security vacuum in Darfur and exposed civilians to violence”.