Thousands of people displaced by conflict in Kordofan State have sought refuge in an area secured by UNMIS. (PHOTO ABOVE) UN officials and the Security Council today called for a halt to the fighting in the Sudanese state of Southern Kordofan amid reports of aerial bombings of civilians and mass graves, and called on Khartoum to provide unhindered access for humanitarian assessment and assistance. Members of the Council “urge all parties to respect humanitarian principles and to allow humanitarian personnel timely and unfettered access to the affected civilian population,” Ambassador Peter Wittig of Germany, which holds the Council’s rotating presidency this month, told reporters at UN Headquarters. His comments followed a closed-door meeting of the Council with Valerie Amos, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, (ABOVE PHOTO with Undersecretary General Ivan Simonovic) who briefed the 15-member body on the situation in Southern Kordofan, where fighting continues despite an agreement signed last month between the parties. UN Denied Access: “I am increasingly alarmed by the mounting allegations of mass graves in South Kordofan, Sudan, and of reported disappearances of civilians, targeting of people on an ethnic basis, and extra-judicial killings,” Ms. Amos said in a statement released after the meeting. She said the Government of Sudan has repeatedly denied the UN access to the area since the skirmishes between its forces and those of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM-North) began in early June. No Current UN Mandate: Ivan Šimonovic, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, told a news briefing in New York that the UN has received “very disturbing” reports recently from Southern Kordofan that include indiscriminate aerial attacks, shelling, abductions and extrajudicial killings. “There are secondary sources, reliable secondary sources on the existence of mass graves,” he said. “I am saying ‘secondary sources’ because of reduced mobility we are not able to verify that.” Recent media reports said that as many as 100 civilians are buried in mass graves. Human Rights High Commissioner Sending Team: The mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in Sudan came to an end after the Republic of South Sudan became independent on 9 July. The Council has created a UN Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS), but the new mission does not have a mandate to operate in Sudan. Mr. Šimonovic said the loss of a mandate in the area was a “dangerous monitoring gap.”He added that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) will soon send an assessment mission to the area. “We do hope that they would be allowed by the government to access Kordofan,” he said. Related Reports - Related Reports – “War Crimes Justice” Channel - diplomaticallyincorrect.org/c/war-crimes-justice ARTICLE – Demilitarization Agreement for Abyei Region of Sudan” - diplomaticallyincorrect.org/films/blog_post/demilitarization-agreement-for-abyei-region-of-sudan-by-ambassador-mo/30136 ARTICLE – “Sudan-UN Reports Attacks on Civilians in Southern Kordofan”- diplomaticallyincorrect.org/films/blog_post/sudan-un-reports-of-attacks-on-civilians-in-southern-kordofan-by-ambassador-mo/28872 By Ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey Facebook Become a Fan at “Diplomatically Incorrect” Twitter – Follow at DiplomaticallyX