Human rights in Sudan

Some human rights organizations have documented a variety of abuses and atrocities carried out by the Sudanese government over the past several years.

Abuses in conflict settings

Conflicts between the government and rebel groups--the civil war involving north-south tensions, the Darfur conflict involving Arab-tribespeople tensions in the Darfur region in the west--have resulted in rape, torture, killings, and massive population displacements (estimated at over 2 million in 2007), earning Sudan comparison to Rwanda in the press. There have also been several reported cases of crucifixions carried out in Sudan.

According to the "Christian Science Monitor" on March 25, 2004::The Darfur region war boils down to this: African tribes have long been at odds with Arab groups in the region over access to good land. Then, last year, two armed African groups began a rebellion against the Khartoum regime. The government responded by apparently giving military support to Arab militias. There are reports of Sudanese military planes bombing villages, after which Arab militias go in and rape and kill survivors.

Ethnic cleansing

The conflict has been described by Mukesh Kapila, UN coordinator for Sudan, as ethnic cleansing, as Black Arab militias carry out systematic massacres of tribespeople in the Darfur region. According to Kapila, "The government has a close knowledge of what's going on - and can influence the Arab militia." The UN estimates that 10,000 civilians in the Darfur region have died thus far, and over 100,000 have fled into neighboring Chad.

lavery

Some organizations, in particular Christian Solidarity Worldwide and related organizations, argue that Enslavement exists in Sudan and is encouraged by the Sudanese government. This is disputed by various organizations, and fraud has been carried out in the name of "slave redemption". As an example of such allegations, in "The Wall Street Journal" on December 12, 2001, Michael Rubin said:

:... [O] n Oct. 4, Sudanese Vice President Ali Uthman Taha declared, "The jihad is our way and we will not abandon it and will keep its banner high." ...Between Oct. 23-26, Sudanese government troops attacked villages near the southern town of Aweil, killing 93 men and enslaving 85 women and children. Then, on Nov. 2, the Sudanese military attacked villages near the town of Nyamlell, carrying off another 113 women and children. A Kenyan aide worker was also abducted, and has not been seen since.

:What's Sudanese slavery like? One 11-year-old Christian boy told me about his first days in captivity: "I was told to be a Muslim several times, and I refused, which is why they cut off my finger." Twelve-year-old Alokor Ngor Deng was taken as a slave in 1993. She has not seen her mother since the slave raiders sold the two to different masters. Thirteen-year-old Akon was seized by Sudanese military while in her village five years ago. She was gang-raped by six government soldiers, and witnessed seven executions before being sold to a Sudanese Arab.

:Many freed slaves bore signs of beatings, burnings and other tortures. More than three-quarters of formerly enslaved women and girls reported rapes.

:While nongovernmental organizations argue over how to end slavery, few deny the existence of the practice. ... [E] stimates of the number of blacks now enslaved in Sudan vary from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands (not counting those sold as forced labor in Libya)...

On the other hand, fraud has been documented before, as mentioned in the Independent on Sunday [http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article204708.ece] .

Child Soldiers

According to Rory Mungoven, spokesman for the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, Sudan has one of the worst child soldier problems in the world. ["Child Soldiers in the Firing Line." BBC News 8 Apr. 2001. 16 Apr. 2008 .] There are more than 17,000 child soldiers fighting on the government side or for rebel forces even after 20,000 former child soldiers had been demobilized from rebel groups in Southern Sudan in 2001. They carry AK-47s and M-16s on the front lines of combat, while serving as human mine detectors, participating in suicide missions, and acting as spies. Many are abducted or recruited by force, and often compelled to follow orders under the threat of death. Others join armed groups out of desperation or after being subjected to lies and brainwash. Many children are promised that they are going to attend school, which are actually military training facilities disguised as school. The facilities, despite being under the direction of the United Nations and international organizations, are where children were brainwashed to become ruthless killers. Improvements in technology have provided weapons which weigh less, cost less, and can be assembled, loaded, and fired by an illiterate child, adding additional appeal to child soldiers.

Prisoner abuse

Several hundred adults and children were imprisoned after members of the Justice and Equality Movement attacked Khartoum in May 2008, a disproportionate number from the Darfur region. Human Rights Watch criticised the Sudanese government for refusing to provide any information on their whereabouts. Evidence of widespread torture and abuse was found on released prisoners and was gathered in numerous interviews recorded by Human Rights Watch. [ cite web| url = http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2008/06/17/sudan19149.htm | title = Sudan: Account for Civilians Arrested in Khartoum | publisher = Human Rights Watch | date = 2008-06-17 | accessdate = 2008-06-22 ]

ee also

* 1998 Sudan famine

References

*"Special report: Sudan" in "The Economist" May 15th 2004
*"Islam's Dark Side - The Orwellian State of Sudan", The Economist, 24 June 1995.
*"Sharia and the IMF: Three Years of Revolution", SUDANOW, September 1992.
*"Final Document of the Synod of the Catholic Diocese of Khartoum", 1991. [noting "oppression and persecution of Christians"]
*"Human Rights Voice", published by the Sudan Human Rights Organization, Volume I, Issue 3, July/August 1992 [detailing forcible closure of churches, expulsion of priests, forced displacement of populations, forced Islamisation and Arabisation, and other repressive measures of the Government] .
*"Sudan - A Cry for Peace", published by Pax Christi International, Brussels, Belgium, 1994
*"Sudan - Refugees in their own country: The Forced Relocation of Squatters and Displaced People from Khartoum", in Volume 4, Issue 10, of News from Africa Watch, 10 July 1992.
*"Human Rights Violations in Sudan", by the Sudan Human Rights Organisation, February 1994. [accounts of widespread torture, ethnic cleansing and crucifixion of pastors] .
*"Pax Romana statement of Macram Max Gassis, Bishop of El Obeid, to the Fiftieth Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, Geneva, February 1994 [accounts of widespread destrucution of hundreds of churches, forced conversions of Christians to Islam, concentration camps, genocide of the Nuba people, systematic rape of women, enslavement of children, torture of priests and clerics, burning alive of pastors and catechists, crucifixion and mutiliation of priests] .

External links

* [http://sudan-forall.org/iht.htm] - Respect (IHTIRAM), the Sudanese Journal for Human Rights’ Culture and Issues of Cultural Diversity
* [http://www.ryanspencerreed.com/ Photojournalist's Account] - Images of Sudan's displacement
* [http://www.insightnewstv.com/refugees Living with Refugees]
* [http://www.sepnet.org/ Sudan Emancipation & Preservation Network (SEPNet)]
* [http://web.amnesty.org/report2005/sdn-summary-eng Amnesty International Annual Report 2005]
* [http://www.hrw.org/doc?t=africa&c=sudan Human Rights Watch reports on Sudan]
* [http://www.fmreview.org/sudan.htm Forced Migration Review]
* [http://www.persecution.org/newsite/countryinfodetail.php?countrycode=11 International Christian Concern]
* [http://www.colorq.org/HumanRights/ ColorQ 1996-1998]
* [http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/commission/country52/62-sdn.htm 12 year old raped before her execution]
* [http://www.colorq.org/HumanRights/article.aspx?d=Sudan&x=famine Human-induced famine: crops destroyed, food distribution centers bombed]
*International Freedom of Expression Exchange [http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/42/ monitors attacks on the press in Sudan] ....
* [http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article204708.ece]
* [http://www.johndaufoundation.org John Dau Sudan Foundation: Transforming healthcare in Southern Sudan]

Sudan topics