urgente - Bombardati civili a un volo umanitario sulle Montagne Nuba

["Yunan" <yunan@tiscalinet.it>]

Prego diffondere.
Giovanni

KOINONIA COMMUNITY
P. O. Box 21255, Nairobi, Kenya
Tel.: +254.2.576175
e-mail: koinonia@maf.or.ke


PRESS RELEASE
Khartoum bombs civilians and relief planes in Nuba Mountains

At 9 a.m. on April 16, 2001, a relief plane was on the ground and another
one was about to land on the Kauda airstrip in the Nuba Mountains, an area
controlled by the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Army (SPLA). Hundreds of
civilians were gathered at the airstrip, either to bid farewell to their
visitors or to prepare to carry the goods that had come. Suddenly, an
Antonov bomber, the noise of which was masked by the plane about to take
off, arrived unnoticed by the large crowd and started dropping bombs. The
pilot of the approaching aircraft decided to abort the landing, and while
the Antonov was coming back, the plane on the ground took off in a hurry
with its passengers.

The Antonov came back twice, dropping a total of about 14 bombs. Three hours
later, another aircraft was able to evacuate the remaining visitors, which
included the two writers of this release and officials of Italian NGOs. The
delegation’s aim was to visit Koinonia Educational Centre, a centre that
will provide education for 500 children and for 50 teachers every year. The
relief aircraft was carrying educational materials, soap, salt, medicines,
and seeds.

One person was killed and two injured in the attack, a surprisingly low
death toll considering the large crowd on the ground when the attack took
place.

Abdel Aziz Adam al-Hilu, the SPLA commander responsible for the rebel troops
on the ground, expressed the opinion that the attack was aimed at destroying
the military defence that the SPLA is stepping up around the airstrip.

The Khartoum government’s bombing of an airstrip that is a vital link for
civilians and the SPLA has to be seen in the context of a genocidal war
against the Nuba and the idea of self-determination they stand for. We are
no longer surprised that Khartoum carries out military attacks when and
where civilian presence is very high.

What is totally unacceptable is the passive attitude of the United Nations.
For a long time, relief organisations, human rights groups, and churches
have been pushing to gain access to the Nuba Mountains to deliver food and
other relief supplies. In spite of this campaign, the United Nations has not
been able or willing to negotiate with the Khartoum government to set up an
effective humanitarian access.

Moreover, when incidents such as this latest bombing take place, the United
Nations never gives a word of protest.

The United Nations must ask the Khartoum government to stop such military
actions against humanitarian intervention and must push for guaranteed
humanitarian access to the Nuba Mountains.


Fr. Renato Kizito Sesana, Comboni Missionary, President of Amani
Stephen Amin, Koinonia Community Project Co-ordinator

Nairobi, 17 April 2001

For more information contact Fr. Kizito: kizito@maf.or.ke, or +254.2.571072,
or +254.72.516836