CAIRO: The Sudanese government and its armed forces are engaged in a campaign of indiscriminate bombing of civilians in the Southern Kordofan region while banning some aid agencies from serving those in need, a recent report by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said on Monday. The report was a result of a joint research delegation to the area in late-August by the two human rights groups. Researchers from the delegations investigated 13 cases of air strikes in Kauda, Delami and Kurchi which killed at least 26 civilians and injured over 45 others, including many women and children since mid-June. During their unauthorized week-long mission in the restricted area researchers witnessed attacks from government planes that dropped bombs in civilian areas and forced many to flee to mountains and caves for shelter. Donatella Rovera, Head of the Amnesty International delegation to South Kordofan and Amnesty International's Senior Advisor to Crisis Response told Bikyamasr.com that the bombings in the area were indiscriminate and not characteristic of guided or military precision missions in search of an actual military target. The observations made in the report are consistent with a recent August 15 report by the United Nations Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights which cited “extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and illegal detention, enforced disappearances, attacks against civilians, looting of civilian homes and destruction of property, as well as massive displacement” in the Southern Kordofan area. Rovera believes the international community needs to be more active in order to reduce the threats to civilian lives. “The international community up till now has done absolutely nothing. The United Nations Security Council has not even touched the issue, nor even issued a condemnation of neither the bombardment of civilians nor the fact the UN Agencies themselves are being prevented from reaching the displaced people. It's really important that the United Nations and the Security Council in particular stop looking the other way,” she said. The implications of a longer term impact on the injured and displaced civilian population were also outlined. The report describes the situation in South Kordofan as an “impending crisis” due to the ban on aid groups, a significant lack of access to food, water and medical supplies and an increase in diseases. “I sincerely hope that our call will be heeded because the situation of the civilian population, if left unattended will get immensely worse,” said Rovera. BM
