[JURIST] A UN report published Friday found that the Sudanese government has failed to address human rights violations in Darfur. The report [text, PDF], based on information provided by the African Union-UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) [official website], details widespread human rights violations and “endemic impunity.” UNAMID reported that the police are unwilling to cooperate and have been involved in physical violence against citizens that has gone unreported due to fear of reprisal. UNAMID documented a total of 411 cases, including 127 cases of sexual violence. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein [official website] stated, “[m]ost victims have not received justice or any remedies for the wrongs that they suffered.” The report urges the government to take the report seriously and to investigate all attacks on citizens and help those responsible bring to justice.

In June Assistant Secretary-General for UN peacekeeping operations Edmund Mulet [official profile] said that the ongoing conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan is continuing to harm civilians [JURIST report]. Presenting a UNAMID report to the UN Security Council [official website], Mulet said an increase in violent attacks “by armed assailants against United Nations peacekeepers and humanitarian personnel” has made protecting and aiding civilians incredibly difficult. The report noted that at least 70,000 people have been displaced this year with additional reports of as many as 130,000 displaced. Aggravating factors in the region were listed as inter-communal fighting, conflicts over resources, broader political tensions, the actions of numerous paramilitary groups and militias, the proliferation of small arms and criminality, and the handling of insecurity by local authorities.