UN envoy says world can't ignore Sudan's 'silent war'

Human Rights Watch alleges genocide was likely committed

- BEL TREW

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned that genocide is likely to have been committed in Sudan, as the UN’s special envoy to the country has said that global indifference to the civil war has led to a “silent” conflict and famine.

Tom Perriello told The Independent that the world “simply will not engage” with Sudan despite the fact that it has been in the grip of a year-long, vicious civil war. Last April, simmering tensions between its military, led by General Abdel Fattah alBurhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, broke out into street battles in the capital, Khartoum.

Ferocious fighting has spread to other parts of the country, especially urban areas and the Darfur region. There the World Food Programme (WFP) warned that people are living off grass and peanut shells and that at least 1.7 million people are experiencing emergency levels of hunger. HRW has called for sanctions over the situation in West Darfur in a new report released yesterday that alleged that RSF and its allied militias are committing crimes against humanity and widespread war crimes “in the context of an ethnic cleansing campaign”.

Mr Perriolo said that, despite the massive humanitarian crisis, soaring death toll and horrific violence, there had only been a “brief blip” in global attention around the anniversary of the conflict last month. Otherwise, interest had died down, with devastating effect.