A human rights group on Friday published a detailed list of the locations of what it claimed were 16 bases in Sudan being used by the Janjaweed militia that is largely responsible for the Darfur crisis.
Peter Takirambudde, executive director of the African division of Human Rights Watch, said: "The existence of these Janjaweed camps shows clearly that Khartoum is not at all serious about ending atrocities and providing security."
Human Rights Watch said the Sudanese government was not only permitting the bases to exist, but in some cases the Sudanese army was sharing the camps with the Janjaweed.
The Sudanese government promised the UN on July 3 that it would rein in the Janjaweed, which it has armed and supported. A UN security council resolution gave it until next Monday to do so.
More than 1.2 million people have fled their homes in the Darfur region, mainly out of fear of the Janjaweed.
Human Rights Watch, which drew up the map of the camps based on statements from refugees, said at least three new bases had been built since Sudan made its promise. The camps, which it said opened in July, were in Assalaya, (housing both Janjaweed and Sudanese government forces), Razallah Jawazat and Taisha.
Human Rights Watch claimed that in total, five of the 16 camps were shared by Sudanese official forces and the Janjaweed.
Several were just a few miles from refugee camps, allowing the Janjaweed to continue their campaign of terror. It said the bases must be put under guard and disbanded.
The UN envoy to the Sudan, Jan Pronk, was in Darfur yesterday before briefing the UN next week. He is expected to report that while the Sudanese government has lifted many of the obstructions to the aid effort, it has not done enough to ensure civilian security.
After such an assessment, the security council would be likely to hold back on sanctions, to see whether the Sudanese government ends operations by its own forces against civilians in Darfur and disarms the Janjaweed.
Pronk yesterday attended a ceremony in the west of the region in which 500 militia members supported by the Sudanese government handed in weapons. They insisted they were not members of the Janjaweed.
Sudan's minister for humanitarian affairs, Ibrahim Hamid, who is traveling with the UN delegation, said: "The security situation has improved greatly."
The Foreign Office says there is no evidence that Sudanese forces have been engaged in actions in Darfur since July.
Representatives of Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have been denied visas to go to Sudan, but the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, who visited Darfur this week, said he had obtained permission for them to visit.
Leslie Lefkow, a worker with Human Rights Watch, said yesterday that she was still waiting for permission.
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