The reasons behind the resignation of the spokesperson of United Nations Mission in Darfur



Aisha Elbacri, spokesperson for the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur /UNAMID who announced her resignation in public after eight months after her appointment. Elbacri met with a group of Sudanese people on 27th/04/2014 in Washington DC; during the event Aisha Elbacri has revealed that the main reason for her resignation was the unwillingness of the Mission “to tell the truth about what happens in Darfur and the current situation. She said that the mission covers crimes committed by the government of Sudan and the Janjaweed militias, who are officially affiliated with the Sudanese government.



Since I was appointed on August 2012, violations have obviously increased in Darfur region, many reports about serious human violation including rape of young girls and women in Darfur were habitual, along with complaints about UNAMID failing to realize its mandate to protect the civilians/ displaced people and the UNAMID peacekeepers. Albacri Said
At the same time, serious violations against the civilians have happened in Darfur, which UNAMID couldn’t handle it properly due to obvious access restrictions imposed against the mission.



She also said that the Mission “does not want to tell the truth”, contending that “it avoids honest reporting on the events in Darfur because this would reveal the failure and weakness of the Mission”.
She confirms that the mission is aware of the extent to which the Sudanese government and Janjaweed have committed atrocities (attacked, raped, burned and bombed villages and camps where the IDP leaves). Even the UN Security Council knows that the mission does not have the ability and the capacity to protect the displaced people in Darfur, nor the entire population”.



She also revealed that the peacekeepers are facing hostile attacks and harassments from Sudanese government, which is supposed to be protecting them”. She wondered how UNAMID could be considered to fall under the protection of the Sudanese government, while at the same time, having a mandate to protect civilians against that same government
She said the most shocking part for her the cover of what is happening in Darfur by the UN Secretary General, the Peacekeeping Department, some UN agencies operating in Sudan, and top officials of UNAMID is a major problem”.
According to the former spokeswoman, the Mission observes government forces indiscriminately bombing entire villages, targeting civilian and military targets alike.



However these observations are never publically reported in the regular updates by the UN Secretary General to United Nations Security Council.

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