U.N. rights body faces key test on Darfur: activists

By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA (Reuters) - The U.N. Human Rights Council must stand up to Sudan over violations against civilians in Darfur, activist groups said on Thursday, calling it a key test for the new international watchdog.

The 47-member body is due on Friday to examine a report by a United Nations team which blamed Khartoum and its allied Janjaweed militias for orchestrating and taking part in grave offences including killings, rapes and arbitrary arrests.

Some African states have signaled they will seek to quash debate on the report, which Sudan has dismissed as invalid. Peggy Hicks, global advocacy director of the New York-based Human Rights Watch, said it was essential that the Council back the mission's findings.

"Darfur is one of the most egregious human rights situations in the world today," Hicks told a news briefing in Geneva.

"This is a test of this Council's seriousness. They should not allow in any sense procedural issues to get in the way of taking action that will matter for the victims of human rights abuses in Darfur," she said.

Observers estimate 200,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million driven from their homes since a revolt broke out between rebels and government-backed Arab militias four years ago in Darfur, a vast western region of Sudan that borders Chad.

The Sudanese government, which denies responsibility for Darfur abuses, refused to give the U.N. team visas to access the region last month after objecting to one of its five members.

Justice Minister Mohamed Ali Elmardi on Thursday again urged the Council to reject the report, calling it "null and void".

"This is really aimed for media consumption, it is part of a campaign against Sudan," he told a separate news conference.

The U.N. investigators, asked by the Council in December to examine reports of abuse in Darfur, were forced to conduct their research from Chad and in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

GOOD REPORT

Amnesty International Secretary-General Irene Khan said the mission's report -- which found that war crimes and crimes against humanity continue to take place across western Sudan -- must be endorsed by the Council to keep pressure on the government in Khartoum.

"We believe it is a good report and can contribute to resolving human rights problems on the ground," she told journalists in Geneva. "The Council shouldn't dither or show itself to be weak in the face of pressure from one group."

Formed last year to give greater credibility to U.N. efforts to protect human rights, the Council is dominated by Asian and African states, many keen to prevent probes in their backyards.

The Organization of the Islamic Conference -- which has 17 members on the Council -- has backed Sudan in rejecting the report.