War crime suspect heads human rights inquiry

An indicted war criminal suspected of funding and arming Janjaweed militias who have killed tens of thousands of civilians in Darfur is now leading an investigation into human rights abuses in the province. His appointment by the government of Sudan is seen by analysts as a deliberate snub to the West and its attempts to bring to justice those responsible for the slaughter. It was announced as Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary-General, who was in Sudan, and President Omar el-Bashir, announced that the Government would meet Darfur rebels for peace talks next month. Human rights activists said that the appointment of Ahmed Haroun, wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for allegedly inciting Janjweed militias to kill civilians in Darfur, was the latest example of Khartoum thumbing its nose at the West. "The timing is no coincidence," said Elizabeth Hodgkin, Sudan researcher with Amnesty International. "It's a snub to the UN, a snub to international justice. It means that those in the leadership of Sudan don't care for justice and that impunity will continue for war crimes." Haroun was named this year by the ICC as a war crimes suspect. He is accused of recruiting, funding and arming Janjaweed militia while Deputy Minister of the Interior in 2003 and 2004. Prosecutors say that they have witness accounts of Haroun ferrying guns and ammunition into Darfur in his own helicopter. The militias were used in a scorched earth policy against villages, which were believed to back rebel movements. More than 200,000 people have died and more than two million people have fled their homes during four-and-a-half years of fighting. Since then Haroun has been appointed junior minister of humanitarian affairs and jointly chairs a two-year-old commission monitoring security between Sudan's north and south. Last weekend the commission's remit was extended to cover allegations of human rights abuses committed anywhere in Sudan, including Darfur. An analyst in Khartoum, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: "It's an attempt to say to the ICC that the government doesn't need anyone else to prosecute war crimes; we'll do it our way." The decision comes at a time of heightened diplomatic activity focused on speeding the deployment of a 26,000-strong international peace-keeping force. On Sept. 6, Ban met Bashir in Khartoum. Afterwards they issued a joint statement saying that a new round of peace talks would be held in Libya next month between government officials and rebel leaders. "The government of Sudan pledges to contribute positively to secure the environment for the negotiations, fulfilling its commitment to a full cessation of hostilities in Darfur," it said. But Salih Mahmoud Osman, a Darfuri human rights lawyer and opposition MP, said that Haroun's new role was a clear indication that Khartoum was not serious about peace. "This is a message to the victims of Darfur and the international community that the government of Sudan is still intent on not cooperating or complying with their demands to seek peace," he said by telephone from Khartoum. In June the Sudanese government agreed to the presence of UN peace-keepers in Darfur so long as they were part of a hybrid force with African Union soldiers. The agreement was hailed as a breakthrough in bringing order to the troubled region. Since then security forces have rounded up opposition figures, expelled two Western diplomats and told the head of the aid agency CAIR that he was no longer welcome in Sudan.