By Daphne Psaledakis
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney and world leaders on Thursday pleaded for more attention to be paid to the war in Sudan and for accountability in fighting that has killed thousands and displaced millions of civilians.
“There are survivors around the world who see robust and concerted action on Ukraine, and … they are no less deserving elsewhere,” Clooney said at an event in New York during the annual high-level United Nations General Assembly.
The event was hosted by the U.S., Canada, Gambia, Norway and the United Kingdom to bring attention to the Sudan conflict and ensure justice. The war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke out in mid-April when disputes linked to an internationally-backed plan for a political transition boiled over, four years after long-time ruler Omar al-Bashir was overthrown in a popular uprising.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said the United States supports the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor’s announcement that alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur region of Sudan may be subject to investigation and that his office has started investigating recent events.
Ethnically motivated attacks perpetrated by Sudan’s RSF and allied militia have killed hundreds in West Darfur, the United Nations human rights chief said this month.
In the early 2000s, some 300,000 people were killed in Darfur when “Janjaweed” militias – from which the RSF formed – helped the army crush a rebellion by mainly non-Arab groups. Sudanese leaders are wanted by the ICC for genocide and crimes against humanity.
“The international community has failed to hold those responsible for previous crimes to account. So, these guys think they can do it again. We’ve failed to secure justice for the people of Darfur. And that needs to change immediately,” Thomas-Greenfield said on Thursday.
The conflict has caused widespread clashes, looting and shortages of food and medicine in Khartoum and other cities, driving more than 5 million people from their homes.
“If we’re not outraged by what we’re seeing here, where’s our humanity?” ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan asked at Thursday’s event.
U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths said at a separate meeting on Sudan on Wednesday that 5,000 people have been killed, 12,000 injured and more than 6 million face acute food shortages.
(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis; editing by Grant McCool)
