Sudan accused of chemical weapons use in Darfur clashes

A global humanitarian watchdog is alleging the use of chemical weapons by the Sudanese government in the troubled Darfur region.

In a report published Thursday, Amnesty International says it has “strong evidence” that Khartoum soldiers maimed civilians in the remote area of Jebel Marra in Darfur, this year.

Titled Scorched earth, poisoned air, the 109-page document is a collection of testimonies, photographs, satellite images and background accounts of the war in Darfur, but which AI says has involved banned chemical substances.

“Evidence strongly suggests that Sudanese government forces repeatedly used chemical weapons during attacks in Jebel Marra,” the report says.

“Based on testimony from caregivers and survivors, Amnesty International estimates that between 200 and 250 people may have died as a result of exposure to the chemical weapons agents, with many – or most – being children.”

Darfur has been under civil war since 2003 when rebels started fighting government forces.

The UN estimates that at least 300,000 people have been killed with millions others displaced, figures Khartoum has contested as too high.

In fact the conflict is the cause of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir’s arrest warrants at the International Criminal Court for allegedly committing war crimes by ordering his soldiers to cleanse certain ethnic groups in the area.

The accusation of chemical weapons could dent Sudan’s bid to convince the world that it was slowly taking Darfur back to law and order.

Amnesty International says Sudanese government Forces launched a large military campaign on Darfur this year with initial ground attacks.

The government forces were Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and militia groups referred to by the local population as ‘Janjaweed’.

They had been deployed to end a “rebellion” by Sudan Liberation Army/Abdul Wahid (SLA/AW), said to have fueled the war since 2003.

The strategy shifted to air during the rainy season and that is when bombs with “poisonous smoke” started falling on the area, witnesses told Amnesty International.

This is the second time Khartoum is being accused of using Chemical weapons.

CLAIMS DENIED

In 2004, Sudan denied usage of this kind of weapon following allegations that it had dropped poisonous gases on masses in Darfur.  

The Jebel Marra region is so remote that Amnesty International Investigators could not go to the ground to verify the type of chemicals used.

But in defence, the humanitarian group says it asked two “credible” experts to analyse the photographic evidence and draw conclusions.

“It is hard to exaggerate just how cruel the effects of these chemicals are when they come into contact with the human body. Chemical weapons have been banned for decades in recognition of the fact that the level of suffering they cause can never be justified.

“The fact that Sudan’s government is now repeatedly using them against their own people simply cannot be ignored and demands action,” said Tirana Hassan, Amnesty International’s Director of Crisis Research.

Sudanese government rejected the claims, insisting it was a signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention, an international treaty that guards against use of those weapons.

The 1993 law is fully known as and the 1993 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical weapons.

Their use is also banned in accordance with the 1925 Geneva Protocol for the Prohibition of Poisonous Gases and Bacteriological Methods of Warfare. Weapons and on their Destruction (CWC).