KHARTOUM, Sudan (AFP) – A top UN envoy expressed serious concern yesterday about the “critical” human rights situation in the strife-torn Darfur region of Sudan despite a peace deal signed in May.

Sima Samar, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on human rights in Sudan, called for the prosecution of perpetrators of human rights abuses as she wrapped up a six-day visit to the region.

“I was extremely disturbed by the critical human rights situation in Darfur and the signs that there will be a further deterioration in the coming months if action is not taken to protect civilians from attacks and to end the conflict through peaceful means,” said Samar.

She said that despite the ceasefire provisions, “there has been an upsurge in violence in the region resulting in killings of civilians, rape and displacement.

“Where impunity prevails, the protection of civilians will remain elusive,” said Samar, an Afghan doctor who served as deputy president in the post-Taliban interim administration before death threats prompted her to resign her post.

Sudanese efforts to establish accountability and ensure justice and reparation for the victims and survivors of the three-year conflict in Darfur have so far proved inadequate, she added.

Samar called on the Khartoum government to “fulfil its obligations” by taking actions to prevent attacks against civilians, disarm the Arab militia and strengthen the criminal justice system in Darfur.

She expressed concern about forced relocations of Darfur residents who had found refuge near the capital, an incident in which, according to the UN, the police used force and bulldozers to move people against their will.

“I would like to express my serious concern about recent forced relocations and human rights violations connected to those incidents,” she said of the incident at a camp inhabited by people who fled drought in Darfur in the 1980s.

Despite a peace accord between rebels and Sudan’s government, violence involving rebel factions continues to claim lives and hamper relief efforts.

Since the Darfur rebellion started in February 2003, war and famine have left up to 300,000 people dead and 2.4 million displaced.

The London-based human rights group Amnesty International called yesterday for the swift deployment of a strong international peacekeeping force in Darfur to protect civilians against continued human rights violations.