Sudan Govt is fully responsible to rescue inundated areas – SHRO

August 30, 2009 — The unattended inundation of large areas of the Sudan’s largest cities, Khartoum, Medani, and their surrounding areas by the Nile floods is a catastrophic situation: thousands of families lost their homes in a few hours, many more took refuge in the high ways without food or medical aid, and hundreds of special groups, including children, the elderly and handicapped people continue to suffer starvation and destitution in dehumanizing conditions.

The authorities called on the International Community to relief the catastrophe. The worldwide strongly-condemned government’s rejection of all civil society assistance to help the war victims in Darfur has been extended, however, over victims of the Nile inundation of whom a majority are displaced peoples from Darfur and other marginal areas. Little effort was exerted by the central government or the state governments, especially the Khartoum and the Gazira governorates, to intervene: large public spending was wasted in security and administrative expenditures at expense of necessary safeguards on the river banks or provision of social services; besides, the government’s negligence of insistent calls by the natives for long months to approve available funds to curb the inevitable crisis. Strangely enough, the inundation destroyed completely a new installation of water services at the Soba locality in Khartoum for which the Khartoum authorities paid millions of dollars to private contractors only less than one year ago.

SHRO-Cairo is deeply concerned that the iron clad security measures the government permanently imposed to curtail the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms by civil society groups are strongly enforceable in the present time, regardless of the emergency situation that needs all-Sudanese efforts with both required government support and the expected external aid to ensure humanitarian services for the needy populations.

This last week, the NCP thwarted the exercise of freedoms of assembly and opinion by the opposition parliamentarians, including SPLM membership. Most recently at al-Shariqa Hall in Khartoum, as well as in the office space of the communist party in Geraif (Khartoum), NCP supporters intimidated party members with public statements that threatened to penalize secular activists or opponents of the ruling regime with takfeer, which carries with it extra-judicial death sentences.

Clearly voiced by people in the local press and international media coverage, the Government of Sudan is held fully responsible to protect the people and the land before and after the occurrence of crises or natural catastrophes. The Organization condemns the government’s irresponsible attitude toward the needs of people, and the authorities’ failure to create a climate conducive to the exercise of constitutional rights and democratic freedoms for all citizens.

– We ask the government to apply immediate emergency funds to provide essential assistance to the needy populations in Darfur and the Nile inundated areas.

We urge the government to end all forms of intimidation by NCP supporters against opposition activities.

– We require the government, by Constitution, to ensure public freedoms for all civil society groups to increase popular support to the victims.