For Immediate Release

Sudan: Peace Accord in South, But Atrocities in Darfur

(New York, May 26, 2004)-The Sudanese government's signing today of a
peace agreement to
end the 21-year civil war in the south must not deflect criticism of its
ongoing campaign of "ethnic
cleansing" in the western region of Darfur, Human Rights Watch said
today.

As recently as yesterday, Arab militias attacked five villages 15
kilometers south of Nyala in Darfur,
killing 46 civilians and wounding at least nine others, according to
local sources. The militias, known as
Janjaweed, were accompanied by government soldiers in three Land
Cruisers armed with antiaircraft
artillery.

Human Rights Watch has extensively documented how the Janjaweed have
been armed, trained, and
uniformed by the Sudanese government.

"Ending the war in the south is a huge step forward, but in the western
part of the country the Sudan
government is taking a terrible step backward," said Jemera Rone, Sudan
researcher at Human Rights
Watch. "The government's campaign of 'ethnic cleansing' in Darfur raises
real questions about
whether Khartoum is really willing to comply with today's peace accord
in the south."

The framework peace agreement to be signed today in Naivasha, Kenya, was
negotiated between the
Sudanese government and the southern-based rebels, the Sudan People's
Liberation Movement/Army
(SPLM/A). It brings the parties significantly closer to ending the civil
war between the Khartoum
government and the southern-based rebels that since 1983 has cost 2
million lives, most of them
southerners. Negotiations on security arrangements and implementation
remain.

The peace negotiations were conducted for nearly two years under the
auspices of the
InterGovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and with the mediation
of the United States,
the United Kingdom, and Norway. Although the agreement includes
provisions on the structure of the
Sudanese government and oil revenue sharing during an interim
six-and-a-half-years' period, no other
rebel groups or political parties were included in the negotiations.

Human Rights Watch called on the U.N. Security Council to pass a
resolution requiring the Sudanese
government to disarm, disband, and withdraw the Janjaweed from the areas
they have occupied, and
to bring them to justice for gross human rights abuses perpetrated
against civilians. On May 25, the
Security Council issued a strong presidential statement on Darfur
expressing "deep concern" at reports
of widespread attacks on civilians, rapes, forced displacement, and
other violence, especially that
"with an ethnic dimension." It demanded that those responsible be held
accountable. It failed,
however, to identify any party responsible for the attacks, although it
did condemn "these acts which
jeopardize a peaceful solution to the crisis."

Until recently, the European Union and the United States have been wary
of pushing the Sudanese
government too hard on its human rights performance in Darfur, despite
the evidence of crimes against
humanity. They apparently feared that the Sudanese government would
react by balking at the peace
agreement.

"Darfur remains a cloud over Sudan," said Rone. "It would be
inappropriate for the U.S. to hold a
high-level celebration of the peace accord while the ethnic cleansing
continues in western Sudan."

For additional information on Sudan from Human Rights Watch, please go
to:
http://hrw.org/doc?t=africa&c=sudan

For further information, please contact:
In Washington D.C., Jemera Rone: 202-368-5414 (cell)
In New York, Georgette Gagnon: 416-893-2709 (cell)