A/HRC/4/80 page 19 D. Development, economic and social rights 54. Gross disparities between the centre and other regions of the country, including Darfur, and unbalanced development policies have created a dual economy in the country, constituting one of the roots causes of the conflict. Disparities in the distribution of national wealth and public resources have repeatedly been identified by rebel groups and militia, (including non-signatories to the DPA) as one of their principal grievances, and an engine of conflict in the country. 55. While the centre has been the focus of economic activity, the periphery, including Darfur, has not benefited either from any substantial economic development activities, or from any re-distribution of income, including from oil exports. At the same time, local factors such as competition between communities and tribes for land and water resources, continued desertification, and environmental degradation, have contributed to increasing conflict between groups in Darfur. 56. Compounding and complicating these long-standing disparities, the consequences of the Darfur conflict have resulted in the disruption of food systems, the collapse of livelihoods and the disintegration of already limited basic services in Darfur. In addition, the widespread displacement, the massive destruction of villages, properties, and lands have resulted in increasingly precarious access to food and income. Insecurity, losses of physical infrastructure, reduced economic activity, rampant military expenditure, loss of assets and related vulnerabilities have all contributed to a critical situation of deprivation in the region. Today, the people of Darfur face a dramatic humanitarian crisis, and one which is further hampered by the obstruction of humanitarian access and a general shrinking of humanitarian space. E. Rebel abuses 57. Rebel abuses of human rights and humanitarian law also continue. Civilians have been targeted in armed rebel attacks, and acts of rape and torture by rebel forces have also been documented. There have been reports of attacks on aid convoys by rebel forces, putting the populations in these areas in a particularly precarious situation. Many of the violations committed by rebels relate to the fragmentation of rebel groups and intra-rebel fighting that first erupted in March and April 2006 in North Darfur, and the situation has been further exacerbated by increased acts of violent banditry by armed criminal elements taking advantage of the chaos. V. THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY’S RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT A. Efforts by the United Nations 58. The Security Council has been continuously seized of the situation since the crisis erupted. The Council adopted resolution 1564 (2004) on 18 September 2004 calling for an International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur to investigate violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. The Commission carried out it work in the final three months of 2004 and presented its landmark report in January 2005, establishing that the Government and the Janjaweed are responsible for serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law amounting to crimes under international law, and that these