Darfur, Sudan
A U.N. body ruled this week that the mass killings and destruction of villages by government-backed militias in Sudan did not constitute genocide. The five-member commission, appointed last fall by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to investigate the atrocities in Darfur, said that the murders and forced displacements were “crimes against humanity,” but that the Sudanese government did not appear to have “genocidal intent.” Rebel groups fighting the government were dismayed. Abdel Wahed Mohamed al-Nur of the Sudan Liberation Movement said the commission didn’t get to see the worst-hit areas. “I am sure that the international community will in the future gain access to these areas in Darfur,” he said, “and will realize that genocide has occurred against our people.”
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