Memorandum submitted by Amnesty International
UK
About Amnesty International
Amnesty International is a worldwide membership movement.
Our vision is of a world in which every person enjoys all of the
human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
We promote all human rights and undertake research and action
focussed on preventing grave abuses of the rights to physical
and mental integrity, freedom of conscience and expression and
freedom from discrimination.
Introduction
1. Amnesty International has followed the human rights situation
in Sudan and Darfur closely for many years. In January 2003 Amnesty
International delegates visited Sudan, including Darfur, and held
discussions with the governor in North Darfur State and leaders
of the police and judiciary. At the time, one month before the
formation of the opposition Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA) triggered
militia and government attacks on sedentary populations, Amnesty
International called on the government to set up a national commission
of inquiry into the deteriorating human rights situation in Darfur
and to implement its recommendations. It also urged the international
community not to allow the conflict to "escalate into all-out
war."[1]
2. In April 2003, as attacks on civilians increased, the organisation
called for an international Commission of Inquiry. In a report
in July 2003[2] Amnesty
International raised human rights concerns in northern Sudan,
including the deteriorating situation in Darfur. Amnesty International
also requested that the peace process, underway to resolve the
conflict in southern Sudan, address human rights issues in all
parts of Sudan. Without having received access from the Sudanese
government to visit Darfur at the height of the conflict, Amnesty
International delegates carried out research among Sudanese refugees
in Chad in November 2003 and May 2004 and published five reports
between February and August 2004 detailing human rights violations.[3]
3. When Amnesty International raised its concerns about rising
attacks on civilians in Darfur with the diplomatic community,
it was repeatedly told that Darfur was raised privately with the
Sudanese government but not publicly as this could jeopardize
the North-South peace process. It is only in February 2004 that
foreign governments started to voice their concerns over Darfur
publicly. Amnesty International thinks that international condemnation
and attention over the abuses in Darfur has come very late.
4. International attention has shifted from one area to another
in Sudan in a "fire-fighting" pattern rather than a
coherent, comprehensive approach to the overall situation in the
country. However, lessons must be learned and solutions developed
that offer timely, effective and long-lasting protection of human
rights. Similar patterns of attacks against civilians and forced
displacement have occurred and are still occurring in other areas
of Sudan. In order to break this cycle, it is therefore crucial
that respect for human rights is strengthened in Sudan as a whole.
5. Amnesty International views the crisis in Darfur Sudan
as a humanitarian, human rights and political crisis. Unless it
is addressed on all three levels it remains unlikely that there
will be a sustainable peace throughout Sudan. The key messages
of this submission are that:
· human rights abuses are
still occurring in Darfur
· protecting human rights
throughout Sudan should be a priority for the government of Sudan,
the armed opposition groups and the international community.
Human rights abuses are still occurring in
Darfur
6. An Amnesty International delegation led
by Irene Khan visited Khartoum and Darfur between 13 and 21 September.
The delegation met with a range of individuals, including senior
Sudanese government officials, members of civil society and UN
officials. They spoke to hundreds of displaced persons in camps
and towns in North, South and West Darfur as well as in Khartoum.
They found that civilians are still at risk of unlawful killing
and other human rights violations as conflict continues in many
parts of Darfur and as other areas come under attack.
7. The lack of protection for civilians remains Amnesty
International's overarching concern. There is a total lack of
confidence among the displaced populations in Darfur towards government
institutions. The Sudanese government has introduced new police
officers into Darfur yet the internally displaced populations
still do not trust the police. In addition there are multiple
testimonies that former government-aligned Janjawid militiamen
have been integrated into the formal government security forces,
including the army and the police.
8. Amnesty International delegates also received further reports
of large-scale rape and sexual slavery dating from the
period before the ceasefire of 8 April 2004. They were also told
of recent individual rape cases, usually of women gathering wood
or grass outside displaced camps, which had been inadequately
followed up by police. No one is known to have been convicted
of rape in relation to the conflict.
9. People continue to be detained without trial and often
tortured for giving information or for speaking out about
the situation in Sudan, and the government has failed to respect
international standards for law enforcement and for fair trial.
In some places, such as Abu Shouk camp in al-Fasher, scores of
displaced people were arrested in July and August 2004 reportedly
for speaking to foreign delegations or African Union monitors.
Some detainees were allegedly beaten or ill-treated. In Omdurman
and Khartoum in September 2004, two people died on the day of
their arrest, reportedly after being beaten. They had been arrested
with scores of members of the Popular Congress, an opposition
party said to be linked to the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM),
on suspicion of plotting a coup. A month later, none of the detainees
was known to have had access to lawyers. Arrests of civilians
suspected of links with the armed groups, often on account of
their ethnicity have continued throughout October 2004.
10. Armed opposition groups have also committed
human rights abuses. Amnesty International delegates visited
Musai camp, near Nyala, and heard testimonies from displaced members
of nomadic groups of killings and rapes by the SLA. JEM and SLA
forces have attacked humanitarian convoys and abducted humanitarian
workers, therefore preventing free movement of humanitarian aid.
Though most of those abducted have eventually been released unharmed,
some Sudanese civilians have reportedly been killed, including
two members of staff of the Committee for the Eradication of the
Abduction of Women and Children.
Protecting human rights throughout Sudan should
be the priority
11. The crisis in Sudan must be addressed in a comprehensive
manner that ensures the protection and respect of human rights
for all. Impunity for human rights violations, the lack of freedom
of expression or association, harsh conditions of detention, routine
torture, unfair trials and an unreformed judiciary, human rights
violations against women, the misuse of militias and arms proliferation
are all issues that need to be addressed urgently.
12. All parties to the conflict should commit publicly to
respecting international human rights and humanitarian law in
Sudan. The Government of Sudan, the JEM and the SLA should issue
clear instructions to all combatants under their control not to
kill civilians or use rape or other forms of sexual violence against
women. Human rights should be placed at the centre of the peace
talks and the international community should put its weight behind
the peace process to ensure that it is based on respecting, protecting
and upholding human rights.
13. Tackling the human rights crisis in Darfur requires concrete
action from all parties to the conflict and the international
community. The Sudanese Government should protect citizens
by:
· disarming
and disbanding immediately the Janjawid militias including
those members who have been incorporated into the Popular Defence
Forces, the People's Police and other paramilitary forces and
which have been involved in attacks on civilians
· removing anyone suspected
of violations of international human rights or humanitarian law
from a position where they could continue to commit such acts
· ensuring that
the Sudanese police are properly trained in international human
rights standards, and that they investigate promptly all allegations
of human rights abuses
· cooperating fully with the
monitoring missions of the African Union (AU) and the UN and other
international monitors
· allowing full and free access
for humanitarian and human rights organisations to all parts of
Sudan
· abandoning the concept of
"safe areas", as defined in the August Plan of Action
agreed by the UN and the Sudanese government. There is a risk
that "safe areas" will institutionalise the displacement
of people, and that government plans to extend existing "safe
areas" will lead to additional confrontations with the armed
opposition groups.
The armed opposition groups must stop human rights
abuses. The SLA and the JEM must respect
international humanitarian law. In particular they should refrain
from all attacks on civilians or civilian objects and humanitarian
convoys. Anyone suspected of violations of international humanitarian
law should be removed from positions where they can continue to
commit abuses.
The Sudanese government should reform the justice
system. The system of justice in Sudan
has failed to protect those who have suffered human rights violations
by the state and by government-supported militias. Reform of the
justice system in Darfur is essential to restore confidence in
the rule of law. The Sudanese government should:
release immediately and unconditionally all prisoners
of conscience, arrested solely for the non-violent expression
of their opinions
amend the decrees instituting the Specialized Criminal
Courts in Darfur to ensure fair trial without the possibility
of the death penalty or cruel, inhuman or degrading punishments
ensure that all detainees have prompt access to a
judicial authority, lawyers and families. Article 31 of the National
Security Forces Act, which allows detention without charge for
up to nine months, should be amended immediately as well as Article
33, which gives immunity to members of the security forces
ensure that all places of detention are registered
and inspected by an inspectorate service under the Ministry of
Justice. This inspectorate should have access to every detention
centre in Sudan; investigate promptly and impartially cases of
torture and other human rights abuses and bring perpetrators to
justice.
Impunity is a major impediment to the realisation
of human rights in Sudan. The Sudanese government should end
impunity. It should acknowledge its responsibility for the
crisis in Darfur. It should condemn attacks against civilians
and other grave human rights violations committed by armed militias,
government ground forces or the Sudanese air force during the
conflict. To date impunity has not been addressed by the Sudanese
government. A failure to tackle this issue can only result in
the continuation of human rights violations in Darfur and elsewhere.
Therefore the government should ensure that:
past and present allegations of human rights violations,
including killings and sexual violence, are promptly, thoroughly
and independently investigated, and that those suspected of being
responsible are brought to justice in trials that meet international
standards of fairness without the possibility of the death penalty
or other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishments
victims are protected and have access to redress,
including compensation and restitution.
If the national justice system is not able or willing
to bring those suspected of war crimes or crimes against humanity
to justice, the newly established UN international Commission
of Inquiry should consider other mechanisms of international justice.
Amnesty International welcomes the establishment
by the Security Council of an independent UN international Commission
of Inquiry to investigate reports of violations of international
humanitarian law and human rights and determine whether acts of
genocide have occurred. The Commission of Inquiry has strong expertise
in human rights and international law. The international community
should ensure that the Commission is effective. The Commission's
specific terms of reference should include:
· an investigation into the
extent of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by
all parties, including through forensic examination of graves;
systematic documentation of sexual violence and rape; compiling
lists of people killed and mapping of villages that have been
destroyed
· the development of a comprehensive
plan for ensuring that perpetrators are brought to justice including
by examining the capacity of the Sudanese justice system to do
so and exploring transitional and complementary approaches to
ensure justice for the victims. As part of these transitional
and complementary approaches, the Commission should consider the
exercise of jurisdiction: before the courts of third states; or
by the International Criminal Court, either through a declaration
by Sudan under Article 12(3) of the Rome Statute, or by a referral
by the Security Council according to Article 13(b) of the same
instrument; and the establishment of mixed Sudanese/international
tribunals
· the development of a method
for eradicating impunity and achieving full reparations for victims
of the human rights abuses, including restitution, compensation,
rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non repetition
· a commitment to making public
its findings and recommendations within a reasonable period of
time
· ways to protect victims
of human rights violations and those giving evidence to the Commission.
The international community should commit to a
strategy to protect civilians. The safe,
voluntary and sustainable return of all displaced people to their
homes must remain the ultimate human rights goal to solve the
Darfur crisis. International agencies involved in the protection
of the internally displaced must coordinate their actions effectively
setting common objectives and clearly defined roles and responsibilities.
These agencies should:
develop a comprehensive inter-agency strategy for
the protection of the internally displaced population in Darfur,
which fully respects the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.
The Sudanese government, the Special Representative of the UN
Secretary General and the International Committee of the Red Cross
should all be involved in the development of this strategy
take into account the particular needs of vulnerable
groups, including women and children. Medical care including counselling
should be available to victims of torture and rape and other forms
of sexual violence.
The international community should also stress the
importance of the right to free expression and guarantees of safety
for people in Darfur who speak to others including those who speak
to international delegations, journalists and monitors.
The international community should increase its
monitoring presence. Internally displaced
persons, who have suffered so much at the hands of government-supported
militias and the armed forces, have a total lack of confidence
in government institutions, including the police and the judiciary.
They are relying on an increased international presence. This
requires:
the international community to assist the AU to deliver
on its extended mandate
the presence of AU monitors to be extended to every
administrative unit in Darfur. AU ceasefire monitors should monitor
not only ceasefire violations but also breaches of international
human rights and humanitarian law. They should report their findings
fully, and the consent of the parties to the conflict should not
be required for the public release of monitoring reports
UN member states to provide the support necessary
for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to
strengthen its monitoring capacity
the international police monitors that will support
the national police forces to be deployed rapidly and to reconstitute
confidence in the national police authorities. The international
policing body should not only provide advice and training, but
should also monitor the system of police recruitment in Darfur
to ensure that those who may have committed serious human rights
violations are not included in the police force, and are brought
to justice.
The government of Sudan is
responsible for the violations committed by its armed forces and
the Janjawid militia in Darfur. The UN Security Council arms embargo,
at present in place for non-governmental entities only, should
be extended to include a suspension to the Sudanese government
of all transfers of military equipment that are likely to be used
to commit human rights violations. A strong monitoring mechanism
should be established to investigate possible violations of the
arms embargo and report periodically on its findings. A suspension
on transfers of arms to the Sudanese government and all parties
to the conflict in Darfur, would help contain the conflict and
ensure that no further arms are used to commit human rights violations.
Such a suspension would also send a strong signal to the Sudanese
government that the international community can take decisive
action when massive atrocities are being committed.
October 2004
1 Sudan: Urgent call for Commission of Inquiry in
Darfur as situation deteriorates (AFR 54/004/2003, 21 February
2003) Back
2
Sudan: Empty promises? Human rights violations in government-controlled
areas (AFR 54/036/2004, 16 July 2003) Back
3
Sudan, Darfur: 'Too many people killed for no reason' (AFR
54/008/2004, 3 February 2004);
Sudan: Darfur: Incommunicado detention,
torture and special courts (AFR
54/058/2004, May 2004);
Sudan: At the mercy of killers -
destruction of villages in Darfur
(AFR 54/072/2004, June 2004); Sudan: Darfur: Rape as a weapon
of war - sexual violence and its consequences (AFR 54/076/2004,
19 July 2004);
Sudan: Intimidation and denial -
Attacks on freedom of expression in Darfur
(AFR 54/101/2004, August 2004). Back
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