Web pages about "Military, Security And Police Equipment"

Amnesty International welcomes life sentences for Argentinean military officers

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:47:23 +0100

Two officers during Argentina's oppressive military regime were given life sentences for the kidnapping, torture and disappearance of former senator Guillermo Vargas Aignasse in April 1976.

Amnesty International said the sentences against former military general Luciano Benjamín Menéndez and his subordinate Antonio Bussi are further testimony that crimes such as torture and disappearances have no place in today’s world.

“The sentences against Bussi and Menéndez are proof of the steps Argentina is taking to deal with its past,” said Susan Lee, Americas Director at Amnesty International.

Amnesty International also called on the Argentinean authorities to take more effective action to protect witnesses and allocate all necessary resources to the investigation of the disappearance of Jorge Julio López – who has been missing since 17 September 2006, after he acted as a witness in a separate trial of the former Director of Investigations of the Buenos Aires Province Police, Miguel Etchecolatz.

Background Information
During Argentina’s military government (1976 to 1983) thousands of people were “disappeared”, extrajudicially executed and tortured. More than 9,000 people are officially listed as having disappeared during the military's systematic crackdown on leftist opponents; however, human rights groups have estimated the number of victims to be 30,000. The amnesty laws in Argentina which had protected the security forces from prosecution were declared null and void in June 2005.

Luciano Benjamin Menéndez (81) was the commander of the regional Third Army Corps in Córdoba and controlled one of the regime's most notorious torture centres. Antonio Bussi (82) led military operations in Tucumán and eventually governed the province after the 1976 military coup. Córdoba and Tucumán were among the most affected areas by human rights violations during the military regime.

Menéndez, six other former military officials and one civilian were also convicted in July 2008 for the kidnapping, torture and extrajudicial executions of four people in 1977.

Army’s so-called inquiry into cameraman's killing in Gaza a scandal

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:31:53 +0100

Amnesty International has described as scandalous the Israeli army's account of firing a tank shell that killed Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana as a "sound" decision. The army reached the conclusion as part of a so-called investigation into the killing of the journalist and three other unarmed civilians, including 2 children, on 16 April 2008.

The army’s so-called investigation lacked any semblance of impartiality and Amnesty International called for an independent and impartial investigation into the killing. The organization said that the army's conclusion can only reinforce the culture of impunity that has led to so many reckless and disproportionate killings of children and other unarmed civilians by Israeli forces in Gaza.

Fadel Shana worked for Reuters press agency and was in a car clearly marked as Press. He and his colleague left the car, wearing visible Press flak-jackets and he was killed by an Israeli tank he was filming. The tank fired a shell at Shana, which also hit the civilians, including children, and injured his colleague and others around him.

Shana and two children, Ahmad Farajallah and Ghassan Khaled Abu ‘Ataiwi, were killed by flechettes. Amnesty International has said that that flechette shells, which are notoriously imprecise and filled with up to 5,000 5cm-long steel darts or flechettes that spread over an area as big as a football pitch and are lethal, should never be used in or around populated areas.

The letter sent to Reuters by the Israeli Military Advocate General says that the tank crew did not spot any markings on the car and thought Fadel Shana was a militant aiming a rocket.

"Given the sophisticated optical systems in the two Israeli tanks less than a mile away, and the fact that the area is open and visibility was very good in full day light, it is extremely difficult to believe that the soldiers would not have seen the clear TV-Press marking on both Fadel Shana’s blue flak-jacket and the Reuter Mitsubishi Truck nearby " said Donatella Rovera of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme.

Independent investigations into killings of unarmed civilians by Israeli forces are virtually never carried out. Even in cases where international outcry forces the Military Advocate General’s office to look into the cases, the process is limited and lacks any independence and impartiality. In this case, as in virtually all such cases, witnesses were not interviewed.

No proper investigation was carried out into the cases of the 13 other unarmed civilians, including eight children, killed that day after Palestinians had ambushed and killed three Israeli soldiers.

The failure to investigate and to hold accountable those responsible for unlawful killings denies justice to victims and encourages further abuses. It ultimately also impedes prospects for a peaceful solution to the conflict, as it gives a message to Palestinians that there is no justice for them. .

“The need for a fully independent and impartial investigation into this killing is beyond question.” said Donatella Rovera

Amnesty International has repeatedly condemned and called for an end to rocket and other attacks on Israeli civilians by Palestinian armed groups, and for those who commit such attacks to be brought to justice. However, the organization has pointed out that these attacks by armed groups cannot justify the culture of impunity towards the killing of Palestinian civilians in the Israeli army.

In the first six months of 2008, some 400 Palestinians, including more than 50 children, were killed by Israeli forces. Most were killed in Gaza and at least half of them were unarmed civilians.

In the same period, 25 Israelis, including 17 civilians, were killed in attacks by Palestinian armed groups.

Cluster munitions treaty agreed in Dublin

Fri, 30 May 2008 11:18:48 +0100

110 states agreed a provisional text for a historic new Convention on Cluster Munitions, which is a treaty to ban the "Use, Production and Transfer of Cluster Munitions", in Dublin on Wednesday.

The agreement was reached after worldwide civil society campaigning and several international conferences of governments and NGOs, which started in Oslo in February 2007 and finished on Friday after ten days of intense negotiation in Dublin under Irish government leadership.

The provisional treaty text will be formally adopted in Dublin on Friday 30 May 2008 and opened for signature in Oslo in December 2008. As soon as the formal adoption takes place, over 100 participating states - including many NATO allies such as the UK, Germany, France, Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Spain and Belgium – will be committed to ending the use of these indiscriminate weapons. The treaty will become legally binding once 30 states have ratified it.

Amnesty International has joined with our CMC (Cluster Munition Coalition) campaign partners and allies across the world in welcoming this landmark agreement that will set new international legal standards on the prohibition of indiscriminate weapons and the protection of civilians in and after armed conflict.

Amnesty International believes that, while the new treaty is not perfect, it will enable states to significantly reduce the risks of civilian deaths and injuries in conflict and post-conflict situations.

Amnesty International has for several years helped expose the effects of cluster bombing, for example in Iraq and Lebanon, and has been an active member of the CMC since 2007. Several Amnesty International sections – especially AI Norway, AI Peru, AI New Zealand, AI Austria and AI Ireland - have played a part in the “Oslo Process” meetings, while many sections have lobbied their home governments. This included in producer states, such as AI Belgium, AI France, AI UK and AI USA. An Amnesty International delegation of experts also participated in the conference in Dublin.

Significantly, the text of the treaty enforces a categorical ban on cluster munitions. Despite stockpiler nations initially trying to protect their own stockpiles, no transition period and no exceptions are allowed.

Moreover, the text on humanitarian assistance for victims and affected communities, as well as obligations of affected countries and donors on clearance of contaminated land, go beyond what was agreed in the landmine treaty and build on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

However, the controversial new provision in the treaty on joint military operations with states that refuse to join the treaty is disappointing. Nevertheless, campaigners are insisting that the treaty must be interpreted to prohibit foreign stockpiling and intentional assistance with use of the weapons.

Cluster munitions are weapons that open in mid-air and randomly scatter dozens or hundreds of individual submunitions (or “bomblets”) over a large area. Cluster munitions pose severe risks to civilians’ lives and livelihoods both at the time of their use and after hostilities have ended. This is due to the wide-area effect of cluster munitions and the large number of sub-munitions they leave unexploded. Unexploded sub-munitions have a long-term impact. They cause human rights violations and hinder humanitarian assistance, peace operations, post-conflict reconstruction and development efforts. Unless practical international steps are taken, the hazards to civilians from cluster munitions will increase as cluster munitions continue to proliferate and the numbers being used rise globally.

Zimbabwe: No supply of arms until state sponsored violence ceases

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:27:10 +0100

All shipments of small arms, light weapons and ammunition ordered from China by the Zimbabwe Government must be halted as there is a real risk that it may lead to increased human rights violations in Zimbabwe, said Amnesty International.

“The international community must not supply small arms to Zimbabwe until state sponsored violence has ceased and the rule of law is re-established.”

Amnesty International extended its call to include a halt of sales to Zimbabwe of security equipment including tear gas, water canons and other anti-riot equipment which has been used in the past by the Zimbabwe Republic Police to suppress the right to peaceful protest. Since 2000, police have used excessive force against human rights defenders.

The organization has documented serious human rights violations committed by soldiers and police in Zimbabwe against opposition supporters after the elections held on 29 March 2008. These abuses assaults and torture by soldiers, police, so-called “war veterans” and supporters of the ruling party, ZANU-PF, against people who have been accused of not having voted “correctly.” Though some victims have reported these crimes to the police, no arrests have been reported and it appears that perpetrators continue to commit abuses with impunity.

Amnesty International welcomed the mobilization of civil society in South African and other southern African countries to stop the delivery of arms to Zimbabwe through legal and civil action taken in solidarity with victims of state sponsored violence in Zimbabwe. The organization welcomed the mobilization of the trade union movement which has appealed to its members not to offload the cargo if the ship docks at any African port.

“The mobilization of civil society has proved critical in view of the inaction of governments to put an end to arms trade to countries where there is a pattern of gross human rights violations,” said Amnesty International.

“All political leaders in southern African must urgently support the efforts of civil society and demand an end to state-sponsored violence in Zimbabwe and the return of the rule of law.”

The An Yue Jiang Chinese cargo ship carrying arms supplies to Zimbabwe, highlights the absence of a global treaty to ensure proper regulation of the conventional arms trade. Following a vote of 153 states in favour to one against, Members States of the United Nations are considering the feasibility, scope and parameters for a global Arms Trade Treaty that would prevent the irresponsible trade in conventional arms, and Amnesty International and its partners are appealing for such a treaty to contain provisions to fully respect international human rights and humanitarian law.

Amnesty International called on all states to support the early establishment of a global Arms Trade Treaty that contains robust provisions to reflect states’ obligations under international law and ensure these are incorporated into national law.

Background
On 10 April 2008 the arms shipment arrived aboard a Chinese cargo ship – the MV “An Yue Jiang” - in Durban, South Africa. The ship’s owner was the parastatal Chinese Ocean Shipping Company and it was carrying cases of weaponry and ammunition in six containers. The shipper of the arms was Poly Technologies Inc of Beijing China, the delivery address on the shipping documents was the Zimbabwe Defence Force, Harare, and the point of origin on the cargo manifest is Beijing, China. The cargo in question consisted of 3080 cases of arms contained in six containers. The Arrival Notification described the contents as follows:

    7.62 x 54mm Ball - 1000 cases containing 1 million rounds
    7.62 x 39mm Ball - 1331 cases containing 2 million rounds
    RPC7, 40mm Rockets - 250 cases containing 1500 rounds
    60 mm mortar bombs - 227 cases containing 2703 rounds
    31mm mortar bombs - 176 cases containing 581 rounds
    31mm mortar tubes - 93 cases containing 31 items

Legal action to stop this Chinese arms consignment was taken on 18 April by concerned South Africans with the support of human rights legal organizations in a bid to constrain the authorities from allowing transhipment of the arms through South Africa to Zimbabwe. The application was brought in the Durban High Court on the grounds of South African national law, which prohibits arms transfers that may contribute “to internal repression or suppression of human rights and fundamental freedom” or “to governments that systematically violate or suppress human rights and fundamental freedoms”. An interim ruling was issued on 18 April to confine the arms to Durban harbour pending a final court hearing but the ship sailed away. Currently many governments, including in the SADC region, and organisations worldwide are appealing for the arms transfer to be prevented to Zimbabwe, but it is feared that the arms cargo may be delivered to Zimbabwe through another route.

Call for investigation into killing of cameraman and other civilians

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:01:51 +0100

At least 18 Palestinians, including children and other unarmed civilians, were killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. More than 30 others were injured in attacks by Israeli planes and by ground forces using tanks in the Gaza Strip.

Those killed included Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana, who was struck by fire from an Israeli tank. He had travelled to the scene in a car clearly marked "TV-Press". He was killed as he started to film the tank.

Amnesty International has called on the Israeli government to immediately order a full and independent investigation into the killings of Palestinian civilians by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.

"Yesterday’s strikes, which the Israeli army launched after the killing of three soldiers in combat, appear to have been carried out with disregard for civilian life,” said Amnesty International. "There seems to be a culture of impunity within the Israeli forces which is contributing to routine use of reckless and disproportionate force."

Fadel Shana’s autopsy report and an investigation on the site of Fadel Shana’s death carried out by the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem showed that Fadel Shana had been killed by a flechette fired from a tank shell.

In 2003, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected a petition calling for a ban on their use in the Gaza Strip. Amnesty International believes that flechette shells, which are filled with up to 5,000 five-centimetre-long steel darts or flechettes, each one potentially lethal, should never be used in populated areas.

"Fadel Shana appears to have been killed deliberately although he was a civilian taking no part in attacks on Israel’s forces," said Amnesty International.

"We condemn all attacks on civilians, including that by Islamic Jihad which killed two Israeli civilians at the Nahal Oz fuel terminal on 9 April. The continuing conflict between Israeli and Palestinian forces is having a disproportionate – and totally unacceptable – impact on civilians, in particular Palestinians in the Gaza Strip."

Amnesty International has repeatedly condemned and called for an end to rocket and other attacks on Israeli civilians by Palestinian armed groups, and for those who commit such attacks to be brought to justice.

Since the beginning of this year, 312 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces. Most of them have been in the Gaza Strip. In the same period, 21 Israelis were killed by Palestinian armed groups.

Campaigners launch Global Day of Action to ban cluster bombs in support of first ever treaty

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:34:21 +0100

Campaigners from more than 40 countries around the world, including Amnesty International, are hosting a Global Day of Action to Ban Cluster Bombs on Saturday 19 April 2008. This will take place a month before world governments meet at the Dublin Diplomatic Conference On Cluster Munitions from 19 – 30 May 2008 to negotiate and adopt the first ever legally binding treaty to prohibit cluster munitions.

The Global Day of Action to Ban Cluster Bombs aims to highlight 40 years of civilian deaths and injuries caused by cluster bombs. The appearance and size of cluster bombs make them look particularly interesting, and toy-like. It is estimated that 60% of civilian casualties are children.

Amnesty International said: “We welcome the attention cluster munitions are being given by a growing number of governments around the world, and call on world leaders at the Dublin conference to negotiate the strongest possible treaty to ban the use of these horrific weapons.”

Nearly 50 companies are now producing cluster munitions despite growing worldwide calls for such inhumane weapons to be banned. The companies are located in all world regions, particularly in the USA and Europe. Worryingly the number in Asia is increasing. One of the nine producer companies in Asia that is located in South Korea sent cluster munitions rockets to Pakistan, the shipload arrived on 19 March 2008. While, alongside the cluster munitions from the USA, Chinese 122mm Type 81 cluster munition rockets and MZD-2 submunitions for such rockets were found in Lebanon during the fighting between Israeli and Hezbollah forces in mid 2006.

At the Dublin conference governments from across the world will meet to negotiate the most significant disarmament and humanitarian treaty in more than a decade. The treaty will bring about a ban on cluster bombs, rapid clearance of contaminated land and an increase in the vital assistance to victims. The treaty aims to build on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities further assisting victims.

Amnesty International said: “It is vital that at the historic Dublin conference, states adopt a Cluster Munition treaty that aims to establish global standards to save the many thousands of lives blighted by these weapons. Governments must also provide humanitarian assistance to survivors, and resources to help clean up contaminated areas without delay.”

In February 2007 and leading up to this historic conference, governments from around the world launched an initiative in Oslo to ban cluster munitions. Forty-six states announced support for the Oslo Declaration. They pledged to conclude with a legally binding treaty by 2008 that would prohibit the use, transfer, and production of cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians, and provide adequate resources to assist survivors and clear contaminated areas. The commitment declared at the Oslo Declaration was reaffirmed in the Wellington Declaration of 22 February 2008, where states also pledged to conclude the negotiations in Dublin in May 2008. Some 85 states have so far endorsed this Declaration. The US, Russia and China have remained outside this ban process but agreed last November to put cluster bombs on the agenda of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).

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Background information

• A cluster munition is a weapon comprising multiple explosive submunitions which are dispensed from a container. An explosive submunition is a munition designed to be dispensed in multiple quantities from a container and to detonate prior to, on, or after impact. (Source - Definition of Cluster Munition by the Cluster Munition Campaign - CMC)

• Cluster munitions pose severe risks to civilians’ lives and livelihoods both at the time of their use and after hostilities have ended. This is due to the wide-area effect of cluster munitions and the large number of sub-munitions they leave unexploded. Unexploded sub-munitions have long-term impacts, hinder humanitarian assistance, peace operations, cause human rights violations, post-conflict reconstruction and development efforts. Unless practical international steps are taken, the hazards to civilians from cluster munitions will increase as cluster munitions continue to proliferate and the numbers being used rise globally.

Afghanistan arms fuel further abuse

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:24:45 +0100

The US and other NATO states are supplying arms to Afghanistan that could be used for serious human rights violations, warns Amnesty International.

At this week's NATO Summit in Bucharest (2-4 April), the organization is expressing its concern about excessive quantities of small arms, light weapons and munitions being supplied by member states of NATO and allied states to local Afghan security forces and police. There is a substantial risk that such equipment will be used for serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.

Amnesty International fears that civilians caught up in the armed conflict in the country are increasingly vulnerable to failures by all sides – including the Afghan government, international military forces and the Taleban - to uphold their international legal obligations.

Despite millions of small arms already being found within Afghanistan, 409,022 more small arms have been imported and redistributed since 2002, according to data received by Amnesty International. This is despite a ceiling for all Afghan security forces (including police, army and security services) of just 182,000 people.

This level of supply is disturbing, given that the population is already saturated and abused with small arms. Processes to reform Afghanistan's security sector are faltering. Vital safeguards regarding arms - such as stockpile management, human rights training, control of the use of force and transparent oversight - are still not in place.

Palestinian homes demolished without warning

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:46:11 +0000

The Israeli army demolished more homes in Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday morning. The homes and property of Palestinian families in the villages of Hadidiya, Jiftlik and Furush Beit Dajan, in the Jordan Valley area of the occupied West Bank, were demolished.

Amnesty International's researcher on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories witnessed the demolitions. Donatella Rovera described the scene:

"In all the places, most of the people are children. These homes mostly have three generations – the grandparents, parents and children. In Hadidiya, there were four families, in Furush Beit Dajan, five families.

"All of the people have had homes demolished before, but this time they had no warning. The people were very, very upset. They were running to get their things out of their homes, but the bulldozer just went on demolishing."

Soldiers of the Israeli army arrived early in the morning in jeeps accompanied by a bulldozer and then demolished the buildings where the four families were living. The destroyed properties belonged to Mohammed Fahed Bani Odeh, Mohammed Ali Shaikh Bani Odeh, Ali Shaikh Musleh Bani Odeh and Omar 'Arif Mohammed Bisharat and their families – at least 34 people, including some 26 children.

After destroying these homes, the soldiers moved on to destroy homes and livelihoods in Jiftlik and Furush Beit Dajan, where homes have previously been demolished in recent months.

"In Jiftlik, they are destroying a farm – it is one of the rare farms here and there is otherwise not much livelihood for the people. They first bulldozed the vegetable area a couple of months ago; then they bulldozed the home last month," said Donatella Rovera.

"The family of Mahmud Mat'ab Da'ish, his wife and seven children were given a tent by the Red Cross and they started planting vegetables again. Today, the army has been bulldozing the green plants.

"In all three locations the soldiers haven't allowed us to get near, I don't even know if they have a military order to destroy everything - we asked them but they didn't show us anything."

The families in Hadidiya have lived in the same area for generations, herding sheep and goats and cultivating land on the Jordan hills. They have come under increasing pressure from the Israeli army to leave the area. The same four families had their homes destroyed in February this year and other homes were demolished several times by the Israeli army in 2007.

The demolitions are part of intensified efforts by the Israeli army to expel Palestinians from the area of the Jordan Valley. Much of the Jordan Valley, including the Hadidiya area, has been designated by the Israeli authorities as a "closed military area" and the army has been exerting increased pressure on local Palestinian villagers to force them to out of the area.

For years, the Israeli authorities have pursued a policy of discriminatory house demolition, on the one hand allowing scores of Israeli settlements to be built on occupied Palestinian land, in breach of international law, while simultaneously confiscating Palestinian lands, refusing building permits for Palestinians and destroying their homes. The land vacated has often been used to build illegal Israeli settlements. International law forbids occupying powers from settling their own citizens in the territories they occupy.

The demolitions come one day after the Israeli government came under international criticism for approving the construction of hundreds of new houses for Israelis in the Givat Ze'ev settlement north of Jerusalem. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the government to "halt settlement expansion" in the West Bank. Javier Solana, the European Union (EU)'s foreign policy chief, said the EU opposed the move to expand the settlement.

Civilians killed and displaced in Darfur clashes

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 16:06:13 +0000

Thousands of civilians have fled West Darfur’s Sirba region and an unknown number were killed as the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) moved to re-occupy the area, accompanied by uniformed Janjawid militias on horses.

The latest figures indicate that 12,000 people have crossed into Chad, thousands more have gone south to Jeneina and many, especially women and children, are believed to still be sheltering in the bush. Those remaining in the area are vulnerable to attack by militias and others.

It is still not known how many civilians died in the attacks. However, around 100 were said to have been killed in the three main villages in the area, Sirba, Abu Suruj and Silea, which were attacked on Friday (8 February).

The attacks on the area, which was occupied by Sudan’s Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), were supported by military aeroplanes from the SAF, described as being two MIG, two Antonov and four helicopters. The attacks started at 10am on Friday and were continuing at sunset. The SAF now occupies the area.

The JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim has said that African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) forces may enter the area, but not stay. He has warned that his forces will attack them if they stay.

A spokesperson for Amnesty international has said that the organisation is outraged at his remarks. "JEM should immediately and publicly withdraw their statement and undertake not to attack, or impede the work of, UNAMID forces," said Tawanda Hondora, Deputy Programme Director of the Amnesty International's Africa Programme.

Amnesty International has also received information that leads it to understand that the SAF may move to the Jebel Moon area, a JEM stronghold.

The number of civilians in the Sirba and Abu Suruj area has grown due to an influx of internally displaced people who fled there after earlier attacks elsewhere. As well as the population of the area, about 130,000 internally displaced people, who have not been reached by any food distribution since December, have been sheltering in the area.

Amnesty International spoke by phone to a person from the region, who said “The displaced are in desperate need of aid.” The World Food Programme (WFP) sent a rapid assessment mission to Sirba on Monday, with hopes that food can be distributed to those who need it over the next days.

The civilians in the area blame not only SAF and Janjawid, who failed to discriminate between military and civilians, but also JEM, who occupied the area and first used it to threaten attacks on West Darfur's capital Jeneina. JEM then used the area as a launching pad to move into Chad in order to support the Chadian government.

“The Sudanese government and Chadian armed groups they support and the Chadian government and the Justice and Equality Movement, which they support, systematically ignore the need to respect the life, wellbeing and safety of civilians,” said Tawanda Hondora.

This attack is a major test for UNAMID, which took over from the African Union Mission in Sudan on 31 December 2007 with a mandate to protect civilians in Darfur. UNAMID moved to investigate the killings and mass forced displacements on Monday.

Militia attacks West Darfur towns

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 16:09:20 +0000

A large army-backed militia force is carrying out attacks on the West Darfur towns of Sirba and Abu Suruj. Janjawid militia on horses and in vehicles, supported by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), began their attack on the two towns on Friday morning.

According to reports from people living in the area, nine military aeroplanes from the SAF were seen overhead, described as being two MIG, two Antonov and five helicopters. The attacks started at 10am and were continuing at sunset.

The number of civilians in Sirba and Abu Suruj has grown due to an influx of internally displaced people who have fled there after earlier attacks elsewhere. The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), an armed group in Darfur opposing the Government of Sudan, seized control of the area in December 2007. It remains unclear whether JEM fighters are still in the area.

JEM fighters often station themselves within civilian areas. Attacks by Janjawid and SAF almost invariably fail to discriminate between civilian and armed groups. On 24 January, Janjawid and SAF forces carried out an indiscriminate attack on the town of Saraf Jidad near Abu Suruj. Some 24 people, mostly farmers, including the Fursha (chief) of the area, were killed in the attack.

This attack is a major test for African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), which took over from the African Union Mission in Sudan on 31 December 2007 with a mandate to protect civilians in Darfur.

Amnesty International has called on UNAMID to act immediately to ensure the safety of all civilians in the area of Sirba and Abu Suruj.

"The Security Council, which is scheduled to debate UNAMID on Friday, should call on the government of Sudan to comply with international humanitarian law and ensure that civilians are protected at all times and call on JEM not to endanger civilians by stationing armed men within civilian areas," said Tawanda Hondora, Deputy Programme Director for Africa at Amnesty International.