Deadline passes

last updated 8 January 2015

Darfur, Sudan

The U.N. said this week that the government of Sudan had failed to crack down on the Janjaweed militias who have been raping and killing civilians in Darfur. More than a million people, mostly black villagers, have been driven from their homes by the Arab militias, and at least 30,000 people have died. Last month the U.N. gave the Sudanese government, which is widely believed to be backing the militias, 30 days to disarm them. But U.N. relief official Dennis McNamara said the Janjaweed were still raiding villages and refugee camps. “Attacks in whatever form on the displaced continue,” he said, “particularly sexual violence and rape.” Sudan now faces possible U.N. sanctions.