蘇丹政府被控在達爾富爾使用化學武器
Sudan's justice minister has refuted claims by displaced persons in the Jebel Marra area of Darfur that they suffered chemical exposure at the hands of the government of Sudan.
Amnesty International reported earlier Thursday that since January, people in Jebel Marra have reported blisters and rashes, skin falling off, eye problems including total vision loss, bloody vomit, diarrhea and severe respiratory problems.
Amnesty says these symptoms are due to chemical weapons used by Sudanese authorities. As many as 250 people, including many children, may have died as a result of chemical attacks, and hundreds more have been injured, says the rights group.
But Justice Minister Awad Hassan Elnour responded in a letter Thursday that government officials were "very astonished" to hear the allegations. He said it was the first he had heard of such events, which he said imply "a heinous humanitarian crime."
Elnour notes in his letter that members of a government fact-finding mission traveled to Darfur in February and met for three hours with people displaced by military operations in Jebel Marra. He said the people, who came from central Darfur villages, reported that they had left their villages to avoid the military violence and none had reported symptoms like those Amnesty describes.
Elnour also said Sudanese troops are in the area to defend against attacks by a rebel group. He said the armed forces are carrying out their constitutional duty in protecting the citizens and preserving the integrity, security and stability of the country and the people. He said they have had extensive training in humanitarian law.
The report released by Amnesty on Thursday states that Sudanese security forces have deliberately targeted civilians and their property, including the probable use of ‘blister agents,' a banned class of chemical weapons, in roughly 32 villages in the Jebel Marra area.
Reuters news agency quotes Sudan's U.N. ambassador as saying the Amnesty report was “utterly unfounded” and that Sudan does not possess any type of chemical weapons.蘇丹司法部駁斥了達爾富爾傑貝勒馬拉地區流離失所者的指稱，這些人說，他們在蘇丹政府的手下受到了化學品的傷害。
國際特赦星期四稍早時說，自從今年1月以來，傑貝勒馬拉地區的人們據報出現水皰和皮疹，脫皮，失明等眼疾，吐血，腹瀉以及嚴重呼吸問題。
國際特赦說，這些病症是由蘇丹當局使用的化學武器造成的。該人權組織稱，包括很多兒童在內的250人有可能已經死於化學襲擊，還有幾百人受傷。
但是，蘇丹司法部長埃爾努爾星期四在一封信中迴應說，政府官員聽到這些指控“非常驚訝”。他表示這是他第一次聽到這些事情，他說，這意味着發生的是“一個令人髮指的人道主義犯罪行爲”。
埃爾努爾在信中指出，政府真相調查團成員今年2月到達爾富爾，同傑貝勒馬拉地區因軍事行動而流離失所的人們見面三個小時。他說，這些來自達爾富爾中部的村民說，他們爲了躲避軍事暴力而離開自己的家鄉，當時沒有人提到國際特赦所形容的病症。
埃爾努爾說，蘇丹軍隊目前在該地區抵禦一個反叛組織的襲擊。他說政府武裝部隊保護公民，維護國家的完整、安全和穩定，這是在履行他們的憲法職責。他說，他們接受過廣泛的人道主義法培訓。
國際特赦星期四的報告指出，蘇丹安全部隊有意把平民和他們的財產作爲攻擊目標，他們在傑貝勒馬拉地區的大約32個村莊，有可能使用了一類被禁的化學武器－糜爛性毒劑。
路透社援引蘇丹駐聯合國大使的話說，國際特赦的報道“完全沒有根據”，蘇丹沒有任何類型的化學武器。
