FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 7, 2000
Contact: Jeff Drumtra
(202) 347-3507
Sudan Government Bombs Civilian Targets 113 Times This Year, According to New Research by Aid Workers
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Sudanese government military planes have bombed civilian and humanitarian targets in Sudan at least 113 times this year—including twice in the past four days—according to a review of bombing incidents by international humanitarian relief workers and local church organizations in southern Sudan. The bombing data has been analyzed by the U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR).
The aerial bombings have intensified this year. At least 65 bombardments were reported during 1999; at least 40 bombings occurred during 1998. Sudanese government planes have bombed civilian targets at least 240 times during the past four years.
The Sudanese government's deliberate aerial bombings kill innocent civilians, disrupt international relief efforts, and push families from their land. The aerial attacks are serious violations of international humanitarian norms, yet international leaders routinely ignore the bombings and their terrifying effect on the local Sudanese population.
U.S. President Bill Clinton issued a rare statement about the bombings last month, noting that they are "egregious abuses" and that he is "deeply concerned." Clinton stated that "the government of Sudan has bombed civilian and humanitarian locations more than 60 times during the past year."
In fact, the new research by agencies in the field and compiled by USCR indicates that nearly twice that many bombings have occurred this year. Even the new bombing compilation—113 aerial attacks in the first 10 months of this year—1remains incomplete and undoubtedly fails to include significant numbers of bombardments that were never reported in remote populated areas of southern Sudan.
The new bombing information for 2000 is based on research by three sources: the UN's Operation Lifeline Sudan, a consortium of more than 30 international aid organizations; international relief groups that operate in areas inaccessible to OLS; and research by John Ashworth, an analyst of aid programs operated by local church groups in southern Sudan.
"In cases where a town is bombed for the first time...the people sometimes do not react quickly enough and casualties can be high.... People are traumatized and often live in a state of fear," the new report by Mr. Ashworth states. "Many in the government of Sudan believe...that all southerners are the enemy.... Thus all are [seen as] legitimate targets. A similar argument is used to justify the bombing of clearly-marked hospitals. The government of Sudan says that these hospitals treat wounded soldiers. Neither of these arguments has any basis in international human rights law."
The Ashworth report notes that information about the extent of the bombings was previously scarce because "only in the year 2000 has the bombing of civilians become a major advocacy issue." The study states that "reports...of attacks on civilian targets were never collated and were still viewed as occasional random aberrations" until humanitarian relief groups began pressing for a stronger international response against the bombings.
The Ashworth report complains that attention tends to focus on bombing damage suffered by international aid programs more than on the suffering of local Sudanese bombing victims. "In the month of July, over 250 bombs were dropped in at least 33 incidents," the report says. "Only a handful of these targeted [relief agencies]. The rest were aimed at Sudanese civilians. It would be nice to see the international community speak out as strongly on behalf of them as it does on behalf of a few aid workers."
The Ashworth report states that the Sudanese government has used aerial bombing as a tool of "ethnic cleansing" and to disrupt normal life in the south. "The psychological and economic effects, as well as the deaths, injuries, and physical damage, are intended to reduce morale, weaken society, and make development more difficult for southerners..." the report says.
The Ashworth report states that many local church groups have called on the international community to counter the Sudanese government's aerial bombings by imposing a military "no-fly zone" in southern Sudan. The report concludes that enforcing a no-fly zone is tactically doable and "should be pursued."
An estimated 2 million people have died of causes linked to Sudan's civil war during the past 17 years. Some 4.4 million Sudanese have been forced from their homes—the largest uprooted population in the world.
