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SUDAN: HUMAN RIGHTS MUST BE AT CORE OF PEACE AGREEMENT, SAYS AMNESTY
Issue date: 2003-07-17
As Sudanese mark the first anniversary of the signing of the Machakos Protocol, which paved the way for the current peace process, Amnesty International is calling for human rights to be made a full component of any forthcoming peace agreement. "Unless human rights for all become a full component of a forthcoming agreement crucial for the future of Sudan, peace will not be sustainable," Amnesty International says in a new report entitled 'Sudan: Empty promises? Human rights violations in government-controlled areas'.
News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International
AI INDEX: AFR 54/058/2003 16 July 2003
Sudan : Empty promises - human rights violations in government-controlled
areas
As Sudanese mark the first anniversary of the signing of the Machakos
Protocol, which paved the way for the current peace process, Amnesty
International is calling for human rights to be made a full component of
any forthcoming peace agreement.
"Unless human rights for all become a full component of a forthcoming
agreement crucial for the future of Sudan, peace will not be sustainable,"
Amnesty International said today in a new report entitled Sudan: Empty
promises? Human rights violations in government-controlled areas (full
report online at http://amnesty-news.c.tclk.net/maabgaKaaZekHbb0iygb/ ).
The report, earlier submitted as a Memorandum to the government, details
the continuing human rights violations committed by the Sudanese security
forces in areas outside the south.
"While the world's attention has focused on supporting initiatives to end
the conflict between the government and the armed opposition Sudan
People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), people in
government-controlled areas continue to suffer violations of their human
rights, rooted in the same issues of discrimination and injustice that
fuelled the war in the south."
"The government of Sudan has made many gestures hinting at greater
openness and promotion of human rights in areas it controls. But too often
positive rhetoric has not been converted into concrete action in favour of
human rights," Amnesty International said.
An emerging conflict in Darfur, western Sudan, where a group of sedentary
farmers took up arms against the government in February 2003 because of
what they perceive as the lack of government protection of their people
and the marginalisation of the region, further illustrates the effects of
the government's willingness to violate human rights when facing problems.
Darfur has been the scene of attacks by armed groups on sedentary people
and the government has reacted to the situation by detaining incommunicado
community leaders and perceived government critics. In 2001, it
established Special Courts in Darfur to deal with murders, armed attacks
and banditry. These courts have handed down death sentences and cruel,
inhuman and degrading punishments after grossly unfair trials.
In other areas of Sudan, including in the capital Khartoum, incommunicado
detention of political opponents, students and ordinary citizens as well
as torture by the security forces remain common. Journalists are subjected
to restrictions imposed by the security forces and civil society activists
are routinely arrested, arbitrarily detained and harassed. Students and
internally displaced persons have been injured or killed as a result of
the use of excessive force by the police and security forces. Above all,
the lack of judicial accountability of the security forces for any action
they take, including acts of torture, is maintained in laws which are
inconsistent with international human rights principles.
"While the focus is on the horrendous abuses committed by both sides of
the armed conflict in the south, human rights violations committed by
government forces in areas it controls are being ignored. The Sudanese
government has failed to stop or investigate not only war-related abuses
by its armed forces and allied militia groups in the south, but also
abuses by its security forces outside the context of the conflict. This is
why human rights violations in Sudan continue unabated," Amnesty
International said.
Amnesty International is urging the Sudanese government to implement its
recommendations and now fulfil the promises it made to respect and protect
international human rights law, in particular to:
- abolish Articles 31 and 33 of the National Security Forces Act, which
allow the security forces to detain people incommunicado without charge
and give them immunity from prosecution;
- abolish provisions of the Special and Specialized Criminal Courts in
Darfur which contravene international standards of fairness;
- end harsh restrictions by the security forces on the Sudanese press;
- immediately stop arresting, detaining or harassing civil society
activists, including political opponents, human rights defenders and
women's rights activists;
- investigate impartially and independently reports of killings and
torture by the security forces and bring the suspected perpetrators to
justice;
- allow an independent and impartial Commission of Inquiry to investigate
the worsening situation in Darfur and human rights monitors into the
region.
The organization calls on international mediators of the Sudan peace
process, donor countries and other interested parties in the talks to put
the human rights of all Sudanese at the core of their efforts.
"A final peace agreement should not only put an end to the war in the
south, but also guarantee in law and in practice the basic human rights of
all Sudanese people," Amnesty International said.
Background
The Machakos Protocol was signed on 20 July 2002 in Machakos, eastern
Kenya, as a first step to end the 20-years old armed conflict in southern
Sudan. Since then, peace talks between both parties to the conflict have
continued, under the auspices of the regional body Inter-Governmental
Authority on Development (IGAD) and international mediators - including
Kenya, the United States, the United Kingdom and Norway.
The mediators are hoping for a final agreement to be signed at the end of
August 2003. Negotiations have been mainly about security, wealth-sharing
and power-sharing arrangements; although human rights were mentioned in
the Machakos Protocol, they are not addressed adequately in the peace
talks. The situation outside the southern war zones of Sudan is not
covered in the IGAD-sponsored peace process and civil society groups are
not allowed at the negotiating table.
****************************************************************
For a full copy of the report "Sudan: Empty promises? Human rights
violations in government-controlled areas", please see:
http://amnesty-news.c.tclk.net/maabgaKaaZekHbb0iygb/
View all documents on Sudan at
http://amnesty-news.c.tclk.net/maabgaKaaZekIbb0iygb/
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