United Nations (United States) (AFP) - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has blasted the UN-African Union mission in Sudan's Darfur for under-reporting crimes and for ignoring the press, his spokesman said Wednesday.
The United Nations in July launched an internal probe into allegations that its joint peacekeeping mission in the troubled Darfur region had been covering up crimes by Sudanese forces against civilians.
In a statement, Ban spokesman Stephane Dujarric said a special review team looked at 16 incidents but did not find any evidence to support allegations of crimes.
"However, it did find a tendency to under-report unless absolutely certain of the facts," Dujarric said.
In five of the cases examined, the mission did not provide full reports on the incidents, which involved possible wrongdoing by government or pro-government forces.
"The review team also found that the mission took an unduly conservative approach to the media, maintaining silence when it could have developed a press line, even in the absence of all the facts," the statement read.
The United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force UNAMID, which was established in 2007, is tasked foremost with protecting civilians and securing humanitarian aid for Sudan's Darfur, where violence has left nearly 300,000 dead and two million displaced.
The spokesman said Ban was "deeply troubled" by the findings.
"Keeping silent or under-reporting on incidents involving human rights violations and threats or attacks on UN peacekeepers cannot be condoned under any circumstances," Dujarric said.
UNAMID is tasked with protecting civilians and securing humanitarian aid in the western region of Sudan, where more than two million people have been displaced by 11 years of conflict.
The statement said UNAMID's media policy would be re-examined, and the mission will be expected to "follow up formally and report on government investigations into incidents where peacekeepers have been killed or injured."
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