Deepest, darkest fears in Darfur

For the Sunday Scribblings prompt, "deepest, darkest," drawings by two young victims of the Darfur tragedy and news of a resolution adopted Friday by the UN Human Rights Council. Photos of children's drawings courtesy of Human Rights Watch. Click photos to enlarge.

Thirteen-year-old Mahmoud describes his drawing: "These men in green are taking the women and the girls. They are forcing them to be wife. The houses are on fire. This is an Antonov. This is a helicopter. These here, at the bottom of the page, these are dead people."

A description of his drawing by Mostafa, age eight: “We were running. From soldiers. Janjaweed. Planes. They were chasing us. These are men. These are women. We ran to the wadi [riverbed, or oasis]. Then we ran to Chad.”

According to Human Rights Watch, the government of Sudan is responsible for “ethnic cleansing” and crimes against humanity in the context of conflict in Darfur, on Sudan’s western border with Chad. Since 2003, the Sudanese government and ethnic “Janjaweed” militias it arms and supports have committed numerous attacks on civilian populations of the Fur, Masalit, Zaghawa and other ethnic groups perceived to support the rebel insurgency. Government forces have participated in massacres, executed civilians—including women and children—burned towns and villages and depopulated land long inhabited by the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa. The Janjaweed militias - Muslim like the groups they attack - have destroyed mosques, killed religious leaders and desecrated Qurans belonging to their enemies.

Countless women and girls have been raped. Hundreds of villages have been bombed and burned; water sources and food stocks have been destroyed; property and livestock looted. Mosques, schools and hospitals have been burnt to the ground.

The United Nations estimates that more than two million people have been left homeless in the fighting. Almost a quarter of a million refugees are now in neighboring Chad, one of the poorest countries in Africa. Abandoned villages have been destroyed. Even when villages are left intact, many refugees are unwilling to return to Darfur unless their security is protected. “If we return,” one refugee told Human Rights Watch, “we will be killed.”

The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) ended its fourth regular session Friday in Geneva, adopting a compromise text regarding the crisis in Darfur. While this was welcomed as "a small step forward," Human Rights Watch said UNHRC failed to address many of the world's most urgent human rights situations.

"The council again chose talk over action on worsening human rights situations in countries such as Burma, Iran, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan," said Peggy Hicks, global advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "The council's resolution on Darfur is a relatively bright light in an otherwise disappointing session."

The council adopted an amended Darfur text put forward by Germany, after extended negotiations involving a competing Algerian draft. The resolution establishes a group composed of six currently-serving independent experts on a range of abuses - including violence against women, extrajudicial executions and torture - and led by the council-appointed expert on Sudan. The group is charged with working to ensure follow-up and implementation of existing recommendations by the council and its experts, by the council's predecessor, the UN Commission on Human Rights, and by other UN human rights institutions. The group must report to the council in June. The text does not criticize the Sudanese government directly for its role in orchestrating and perpetrating violations of human rights and humanitarian law in Darfur.

African states played a key role in breaking the council's silence on Darfur. Cameroon, Ghana, Mauritius, Nigeria, Senegal and Zambia all called for action in response to a report on Darfur from a mission established in December by the council. These and other states, including Uganda and Mauritania, engaged in discussions over the German text. A key test for the council will be whether these and swing states such as India, Indonesia, the Philippines and South Africa will address abuses in other locations.

The UNHRC heard detailed reporting from independent experts on human rights violations focusing on issues such as torture or violence against women and on particular country situations. This segment of the council's agenda highlights violations in many countries, an act which could itself help to protect human rights. However, the council again failed to take specific action to follow up on experts' recommendations, often made in the face of massive violations, or to address the failure of many states to cooperate fully with the experts.

The UNHRC decided to end scrutiny of Iran and Uzbekistan. Both countries had been subject to council monitoring under a confidential procedure known as 1503 (after the resolution that created it). The human rights situations in both countries have significantly deteriorated in the past year, Human Rights Watch said.

"The council's decision actually rewarded Iran and Uzbekistan for their crackdowns on human rights and risks fueling further abuses in both countries," Hicks said. "Rather than worrying how repressive governments will respond to scrutiny, council members should think of the thousands of victims in Uzbekistan and Iran who are hoping the UNHRC will make a difference."

The council also adopted a resolution on defamation of religions, Human Rights Watch said. The resolution, put forward by Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), focuses on protection of religions themselves, particularly Islam, rather than the rights of individuals, including members of religious minorities. This approach, along with a provision which notes that free expression can be limited based on "respect for religions and beliefs," could be used to justify encroachments upon freedom of thought, conscience and religion, Human Rights Watch said. The council adopted an European Union resolution which addresses elimination of all forms of intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief. This issue is scheduled to be addressed at the Sixth UNHRC Session in June.

Led by Argentina, 57 states joined together to urge the council to address violations of the human rights of women and girls in a more effective and integrated manner than its predecessor, the UN Commission on Human Rights. More than 30 states also supported the new "Yogyakarta Principles" on sexual orientation, gender identity and human rights and urged the council to take action on these issues.

The common refrain of this session was the need to complete "institution-building" and the concern that excessive activity on pressing human rights issues would undermine that focus. A review of the council's system of experts and of the Resolution 1503 procedure is scheduled to be completed by June 18. In addition, the council was given a year to establish a "universal periodic review" under which the human rights situation in all states will be examined.

"A substantial backlog of work has piled up as the council focused on building the new institution this year," Hicks said. "Let's hope the council has the energy and political will to get down to business once the institution-building phase ends in June."