UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon yesterday urged Sudan to allow peacekeepers to investigate allegations of a mass rape in Darfur after Khartoum blocked the probe for a second time.
The UN-African mission (UNAMID) team was barred entry to the village of Tabit on November 4 following a report that Khartoum troops had raped 200 women and girls there but returned five days later and found no evidence.
The mission vowed to follow up the investigation but was again denied access to Tabit on Sunday by the Sudanese foreign ministry.
“Only a full investigation by UNAMID will help shed light over these serious allegations,” Ban said in a statement.
He urged Sudan “to grant UNAMID unfettered access, without further delay, to Tabit and its population so that these reports can be verified.”
A local news website had reported Sudanese troops entered the village of Tabit on October 31 after a soldier went missing and raped 200 girls and women. Khartoum has denied the allegations.
An internal UN report said the Sudanese military had tried to intimidate villagers as the peacekeepers interviewed them.
AFP
