Rights group says Darfur violence persists

LONDON — Sudan's government is gutting its pledge to improve security in the embattled Darfur region by barring international aid and taking militias blamed for atrocities into the police forces rather than disarming them, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday.

The report, "Empty Promises: Continuing Abuses in Darfur, Sudan," said Sudanese troops and government-backed militias of Arab nomads continue to attack the region's African farm communities, killing, raping and stealing with impunity.

"The Sudanese government insists that it is taking significant measures, but the continuing atrocities in Darfur prove that Khartoum's claims simply aren't credible," said Peter Takirambudde, executive director for Human Rights Watch's Africa Division.

"If the government were serious about wanting to protect civilians, it would welcome a greater international presence," he added.

But Sudan's ambassador to London, Hasan Abdin, insisted his government was taking action against Darfur's Arab militias, known as the Janjaweed.

"My government has promised to finish the job which it started a few weeks ago on disarming the Janjaweed. Practical steps have been taken already," he told Channel 4 TV.

On Tuesday, Sudan signed an agreement with the United Nations giving it 30 days to establish safe havens for African farmers. Sudan's foreign minister said he was confident the government could implement the plan on time and restore stability to Darfur, where U.N. officials estimate more than 30,000 people have been slain and a million chased from their homes.

"We are now optimistic that we can go through this phase, depending on cooperation instead of conflict," Mustafa Osman Ismail told reporters in Khartoum, Sudan's capital. "The implementation will take place in a transparent fashion."

However, a U.N. official in Geneva said Tuesday that the Arab militias were continuing to attack — even using helicopter gunships.

"There was some helicopter fighting, and because of that fighting more people were displaced," Elizabeth Byrs of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs told The Associated Press.

And Amnesty International said Tuesday that Sudan's government is pressing people not to report human rights abuses in Darfur. Authorities have arrested 49 people since June 30 for speaking out about rights abuses in the region, the London-based rights group said.