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U.S., Allies Demand Accountability in U.N. Inquiry Into Crimes in Darfur

The missions of the United States, France, and Britain have each told the United Nations that they are "disappointed" by the report on crimes against civilians and blue-helmet peacekeepers in Darfur because it didn’t hold anyone accountable for withholding information from the United Nations, two diplomatic sources told Foreign Policy. The final report on the ...

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Getty Images
Getty Images

The missions of the United States, France, and Britain have each told the United Nations that they are "disappointed" by the report on crimes against civilians and blue-helmet peacekeepers in Darfur because it didn't hold anyone accountable for withholding information from the United Nations, two diplomatic sources told Foreign Policy.

The final report on the African Union/United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur, also known as UNAMID, found that the U.N. mission and the Sudanese government withheld evidence that Sudanese government forces or their proxies are culpable in crimes against civilians and peacekeepers. The entire report has yet to be made public.

The investigation into the actions of peacekeepers was initiated after a three-part series by Foreign Policy in April found the U.N. failed to report crimes in Darfur. It was prompted by whistleblower Aicha Elbasri, a former U.N. employee who provided thousands of documents detailing the mission suppression of evidence of crimes by Sudanese soldiers.

The missions of the United States, France, and Britain have each told the United Nations that they are "disappointed" by the report on crimes against civilians and blue-helmet peacekeepers in Darfur because it didn’t hold anyone accountable for withholding information from the United Nations, two diplomatic sources told Foreign Policy.

The final report on the African Union/United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur, also known as UNAMID, found that the U.N. mission and the Sudanese government withheld evidence that Sudanese government forces or their proxies are culpable in crimes against civilians and peacekeepers. The entire report has yet to be made public.

The investigation into the actions of peacekeepers was initiated after a three-part series by Foreign Policy in April found the U.N. failed to report crimes in Darfur. It was prompted by whistleblower Aicha Elbasri, a former U.N. employee who provided thousands of documents detailing the mission suppression of evidence of crimes by Sudanese soldiers.

The report issued last week concluded that there were five instances of officials from the U.N. mission holding back evidence of Sudanese culpability of crimes against peacekeepers and civilians. The report also found that Sudanese officials, fearing reprisal, self-censored their findings, which led to "under-reporting of incidents when government and pro-government forces were suspected to be involved".

Sudan’s mission hit back against these allegations in an Oct. 30 letter, calling the allegations baseless. However, Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, alleged again today that the Sudanese government was hindering access to parts of the country. 

"UNAMID … is calling on the Government of Sudan to grant UNAMID’s unhindered access to all of Darfur, especially to areas were alleged incidents affecting civilians have been reported," Dujarric said. "The Mission is making the call after a verification patrol was denied access to Tabit, in North Darfur, by Sudanese military at a checkpoint. The Mission is deeply concerned about media reports of an alleged mass rape of 200 women and girls in Tabit and is investigating the veracity of this information."

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