Genocide Monitor: Sep. 25, 2008

• DARFUR: The Sudanese government bombs civilians near Tawila, North Darfur, even as it attempts to gain support for a deferral of the ICC's prosecution of President Omar al-Bashir.
• DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: The DRC government and the CNDP militia continue to fight in North Kivu as the UN works to enforce a new peace deal.
• SRI LANKA: Most NGOs pull out of the north of the country as low-intensity fighting occurs in areas not normally affected by violence.
• SOMALIA: Civilians continue to be affected by violence, as Mogadishu's Bakara market comes under fire again.

Spotlighted Conflict: Darfur

Situation on the Ground

The Sudanese government's offensive in North Darfur continues. Incoming reports accuse the government of bombing rebel bases and towns near Tawila, North Darfur.¹ According to a German NGO, Partner Aid International, the attack on the town of Khazan Tungur resulted in the razing of their clinic and the burning of four surrounding villages.² Similar attacks were also reported near the village of Helf.³

Thousands of civilians have been displaced by this latest round of fighting and many are unable to receive humanitarian aid due to increased insecurity in Darfur.⁴ Even before the latest round of fighting, the United Nations had classified large portions of Darfur as having limited or no humanitarian access.⁵

UNAMID Deployment

Alain Le Roy, the new head of the UN Department of Peacekeeping operations says that it is unlikely that more than 13,000 peacekeepers will be deployed in Darfur by the end of 2008.⁶ Originally, UNAMID hoped to reach 80% of its deployment threshold by the end of the year.⁷

The Sudanese government blamed the UN for the delays in deployment;⁸ however, its insistence on the 'primarily African' character of the mission, combined with other stalling tactics are chiefly to blame.

Peace Process

It is unclear what the effect of recent government attacks on Minni Minawi's SLM faction will have on peace in Darfur. Minawi, the only rebel leader to sign the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA), recently declared the DPA dead because of the government offensive against his forces in Darfur.⁹

ICC Update

Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, Luis Moreno-Ocampo said that he expects the judges to reach a decision on whether to issue an arrest warrant against Omar al-Bashir in October. Ocampo said "Normally, when the judges start to analyse [a case] they call us for hearing and they ask for more information. They have not yet done that."¹⁰

Contradicting earlier reports on a possible suspension of charges against Omar al-Bashir, both the French and British governments reiterated their support for international justice. British Minister for Africa, Mark Malloch-Brown said that the British government "cannot sellout the International Court or the justice system"¹¹ and the French Foreign Ministry said "France wants ICC procedures respected."¹²

Area of Concern: Democratic Republic of Congo

Fighting Continues

Battles between the government of the Congo and the CNDP rebels led by Laurent Nkunda were reported in North Kivu,¹³ even as the UN works towards creating a peaceful settlement in Congo's east.¹⁴ The UN has also fired upon CNDP militias to prevent them from taking control of a town in the eastern district of Masisi in North Kivu province.¹⁵ The fighting over the last few weeks has displaced over 100,000 people in the eastern Congo.¹⁶

The recent battles between the CNDP and the Congolese army have caused a further restriction of humanitarian aid in the area as aid organizations limit personnel movement and continued instability leads to looting of supplies by all armed parties.¹⁷

Area of Concern: Sri Lanka

UN Withdrawal

The UN completed its withdrawal from rebel-held areas,¹⁸ alongside multiple other NGOs. Few organizations, most notably the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), are still operating in rebel-held territory.¹⁹

The pull-out reduces the humanitarian aid able to reach the more than 160,000 IDPs who remain in Kilinochchi and Mullativu districts,²⁰ where the bulk of the current fighting between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan army is taking place.

Violence Elsewhere in Sri Lanka

There was another reported bombing in Sri Lanka's capital of Colombo, with four people injured in a bus bombing by a suspected LTTE operative.²¹ Additional fighting between a small LTTE force and the Sri Lankan military was reported near Yala National Park in the south of the country.²²

Area of Concern: Somalia

More Shelling

Fighting continues in Mogadishu as artillery attacks between Islamist rebels and the Somali government troops flared over last weekend.²³ Shells repeatedly hit the Bakara market area of the city during the crossfire, killing at least 30 people, mainly civilians.²⁴ This type of violence has become extremely common in Somalia in recent months, with all conflict parties being blamed for civilian casualties.

Peace Talks Continue

While violence is ongoing, peace talks between the government of Somalia and the moderate opposition forces continued in Djibouti.²⁵ Despite the continuation of talks, it is unclear whether June's peace agreement will be successfully implemented.

Transport Difficulties.

The Al-Shabaab, one of the Islamist militias operating in Somalia, threatened to attack any plane coming in or out of Mogadishu airport, further restricting the transport of food into Somalia.²⁶ With the restrictions on air travel, shipping food aid by sea takes on even more importance, even as it is unclear whether naval escorts of aid shipments will continue through October.²⁷