South Sudan Women Network to Salva Kiir on refugees killing in Cairo
SSWEN Inc.
– January 13, 2006
To:
– H.E Koffi A. Annan
UN Secretary General
– H.E President Salva Kiir Mayardiit
Subject: Brutal Massacre of Innocent and Unarmed Sudanese Refugees in Cairo, Egypt.
His Excellency,
On behalf of Southern Sudanese women in the Diaspora, SSWEN, Inc. seeks your immediate
attention on the above mentioned matter. As you are already aware, a lot of Sudanese women,
including pregnant mothers, and children in addition to elderly people died in an “unjustified
killing” committed by ruthless police in Cairo, Egypt. We are morally bound to address this
issue with your office and hope to see your immediate intervention.
In retrospect of the tragedy, we would like to briefly explore the original dispute that triggered
the unnecessary killing of our people, namely the UNHCR resolution of June 2004 to stop
registering and interviewing all Sudanese asylum seekers for Refugee Status Determination
(RSD) in light of the current Sudan Peace Agreement, known as the Comprehensive Peace
Agreement (CPA), signed between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s
Liberation Army/Movement in January 2005. Due to this unfair decision, the Sudanese
refugees in Cairo decided to stage a non violent sit-in protest in a park in front of the UNHCR
office in Cairo since September 2005. The protest was to bring to the attention of the UNHCR
authorities the mistreatment, denial of protection and asylum status for Sudanese refugees who face harassment by Egyptian authorities and civil population on a daily basis. They were
neither welcomed by the Egyptians nor able to return home for fear of persecution. Hence, we
strongly believe the UNHCR decision to stop considering their cases and involuntarily
repatriate them was defective due to the following reasons:
– It is premature to assume that there is relative peace in the Sudan because there is
continued insecurity in South Sudan as a result of attacks by the Ugandan Lord’s
Resistance Army (LRA) and militia groups allied to the National Congress Party (NCP)
that was ruling before the agreement was signed. Not only that the agreement and its
protocols are yet to be fully implemented to give assurance to our people that it is now
safe and okay to return to their home areas in the Sudan.
– There is continued hostility between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and rebel groups
in Eastern and Western Sudan. The on going genocide in Darfur is a testament of the
insecurity that still exists in the Sudan.
– There are no prior considerable arrangements made to rehabilitate these refugees to
assist their settlement when they are repatriated given the fact that most of them, if not
all, have lost their belongings and wealth during the war.
– The roads and lands of South Sudan that were heavily mined have not yet been fully
de-mined. Thus, making it unsafe to travel and move freely and safely in that part of the
country.
– There is no proper sanitation and social services for returnees be them from Egypt or
any other country because the Government of South Sudan (GOSS) has just recently
been installed and is yet to prepare for the safe return and proper settlement of the
returnees.
In lieu with the aforementioned and other reasons, the Sudan Human Rights Organization
(SHRO) office in Cairo petitioned the UNHCR Chief, Mr. Antonio Guterres, against early
repatriation of Sudanese refugees from Egypt and recommended this decision be suspended
due to its inappropriateness. Ms. Sarah Leah Whitson, Executive Director of the Human Rights Watch for Middle East and North Africa also wrote a letter sharing the same concerns. We in
SSWEN, Inc. take upon ourselves the responsibility of addressing this issue with your office
too, because our people in Egypt are no less human beings and deserve to be accorded
protection and dignity.
On December 30th
, 2005, thousands of riot police and security forces in full gear brutally
started spraying hot water using cannons on the Sudanese refugees and asylum seekers. The
confrontation began in the wee hours of the morning when Egyptian riot police forces stormed into the camp wielding batons and sticks. This excessive use of force and violence led to the killing of over 200 protestors. Pregnant women, children and the elderly were among those mercilessly beaten to death. It is a great shock and disappointment that such an act would take place at the vicinity of the UNHCR premises, and under the watchful eyes of the international community and human rights organizations. Not only that, it was dumb founding to see such inhuman act meted on defenseless refugees by a nation that has experienced civilization for decades! There is absolutely no reason to justify such wanton killing of innocent people who have fled torture and oppression by a regime that is as brutal as the Egyptian police.
Therefore, we in the South Sudan Women Empowerment Network and on behalf of
Southern Sudanese Women and Communities worldwide strongly condemn the Egyptian
police’s excessive use of force against unarmed and innocent women, children and men
whose only crime was to stage a three month peaceful sit-in protest in front of the UNHCR
in Cairo. This is an act against humanity and undiplomatic from a supposedly well respected government in the Middle East. The Egyptian government should be held in contempt of violating international diplomatic norms and worst of all in out rightly violating the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees, their right to liberty and asylum as per the 1948 UN Declaration on Human Rights. The fact that this massacre happened while UNHCR officials were simply watching leaves less to be desired. This reminds us of the tragic massacre in Rwanda in 1994. It also proves the fact that the Egyptian government has always collaborated with the oppressive regime in Khartoum to exploit continuous silence of the international community to treat the marginalized people of “New Sudan” inhumanely when ever an opportunity arises. It is our hope that this time they should not be allowed toget away with their barbaric and brutal act. They must be universally condemned and held accountable for their crimes. As Mr. Joe Stork, Deputy Director for Human Rights Watchcorrectly stated, “a police force acting responsibly would never have allowed such a tragedy to occur”.
Your Excellency, though we welcome your recent calling of the massacre as a “terrible tragedy
that cannot be justified”, and that of Mr. Antonio Guterres, UNHCR Chief that states, “there
was no justification for the violence and loss of lives”, we believe this falls short of any
practical or legal remedies to our people who were massacred and the plight of those in
detentions and in limbo in Egypt. The vulnerable Sudanese in Egypt should be rescued before
they are deported to face persecution or elimination. This will ensure such a tragedy doesn’t
occur again and save the credibility of your institution.
Henceforth, we in SSWEN Inc strongly recommend the following:-
1. Immediate treatment of the wounded in safe hospitals. We have received reports of
unlawful removal of body organs from Sudanese refugees for years making us
concerned of the safety of those who have been injured and are under the care of
merciless physicians in government hospitals who are known for organ trafficking.
The wounded and injured Sudanese refugees should be treated in credible hospitals
under the supervision of the UNHCR and given protection.
2. Sudanese refugee detainees who were arrested as a result of the massacre should be
identified and accorded fair treatment based on international laws on treatment of
prisoners and above all we call on their release being refugees and asylum seekers
not criminals. There are reports of torture and disappearance of some of the
detainees. Some of them, including children and women, have been taken to
undisclosed locations and denied access by the Egyptian government to meet with
UNHCR officials, human rights activists, and relatives. Their safety is of concern!
3. Many family members were separated from each other during the assault by the
police and others were picked from their homes. We request your office to work with
the International Committee of the Red Cross to locate the missing people and
reunite them with their families. We are particularly worried of children who have
been separated from their parents.
4. The Egyptian government is planning to deport about six hundred or more Sudanese
refugees. These individuals if deported will very likely face persecution by the
Sudanese Armed Forces and Military intelligence. Such persecutions could lead to
their death. Therefore, your office should immediately order a halt to these summary
deportations and offer protection to these refugees until long term solutions are
sought to secure their relocation to a third country.
Many of the refugees lost their documents during the commotion when the police
attacked them. If caught, they face the threat of being deported. The UNHCR
office should provide them with protection cards to avoid deportation.
5. We heard of disrespect and mishandling of the victims’ corpses by the Egyptian
health care providers as well there are many of very injured, wounded, dehydrated
people, facing looting of their internal human organs and it is done under the
pretext of performing surgery and medical care. These are testified by some eye
witness refugees who are currently experiencing the situation. It is a heinous crime,
against human lives and violation of medial care personnel ethics.
As difficult and painful as it sounds, the Egyptians have no respect for the dead. In
light of this inhuman attitude, we request your office to call upon the Egyptian
government to treat corpses of the victims with respect and send them for decent
burial in Sudan; all Sudanese are requesting no corpses to be transferred before
official investigation. Egypt government should bear the costs for embalming and
transporting the bodies to Sudan.
6. We request the UNHCR office in Cairo reconsider cases of the asylum seekers for
resettlement in a third country. This we believe is feasible if your office can work
with the US, European and Australian governments. With the trauma and insecurity
they live in, we are convinced these refugees can no longer be safe in Egypt and it is
in their best security interest to be resettled else where.
7. Allow access to the detainees and wounded by the Government of South Sudan and
reliable humanitarian or human right organizations for care and safety as well as
assistance. Many of these victims currently took refuge in the churches and are
suffering from lack of food, medicine and medical care.
8. An immediate official investigation by international committee to be made into the
cause and aftermath of the massacre and culprits held accountable.
It is our hope you take these necessary steps to save lives and regain credibility of your
organization under these turbulent times. Autocratic regimes should not be allowed to
disrespect human life when the civilized world has the means and resources to prevent such
unnecessary killing of innocent children, women and the elderly.
Dear President of Government of South Sudan, Mr. Salva Kiir Mayardit
On behalf of the several Sudanese women who died in Cairo on December 30 th, 2005
and on behalf of south Sudanese women all over the world, SSWEN, Inc. appeals to the
government of South Sudan (GOSS) and the Government of National Unity (GONU),
To look unto the disgraceful statement of the GONU’ state minister on foreign relations
on the incident “these Sudanese have no cause…”, and the Sudan’s ambassador in Cairo
inaction to protect the refugees and asylum seekers and take measures to retain the dignity
of these victims as much as the dignity of the Sudan Government.
It has dismayed all southern Sudanese in Diaspora to be faced by the initial deafening
silence of the Government of South Sudan (GOSS) and above all, one of our own who is at
the helm of the foreign ministry for not condemning these unwarranted and unjustified
killing of our people yet was more keen to defend the position of NIF towards Chad. This
to us is very sad in deed as the welfare and security of all South Sudanese anywhere is the
responsibility of the Government of South Sudan, if not of the Sudan Government of
National Unity. We do not think it is fair for either government to simply watch their
people neglected, humiliated and now massacred without stepping in. It is a further insult
to the Sudanese Nation, not to take the strongest considerable measure in addressing this
open violence.
However, we reiterate the statement of the Sudanese petitioners “…that the Government of
South Sudan’s subsequent condemnation of Egypt is relieving…” Therefore, SSWEN Inc.
we would like to use the opportunity of this letter to appeal to South Sudan President
Salva Kiir Mayrdit to ensure that the following further measures are taken and followed
up:
– Dispatching of an urgent GOSS delegation from South Sudan to Egypt to
support , follow up on the bereaved and wounded, as well as facilitating visits to
the injured and deceased by their relatives and protecting our people there in
liaison with humanitarian organizations and helpful nations.
– To urge the Sudan Foreign Minister and President Omer el Beshir to also
strongly condemn Egypt over the undiplomatic violation of inter-countries’
diplomatic relations. In the light of recent arrangements between the two
government of “Wadi El Nile” mutual collaboration.
– Calling on Sudan GONU to equally take full responsibility with GOSS to safely
repatriate and accommodate refugees who are willing directly to return to their
home areas in Sudan, not to dump them in Khartoum. As well insure
rehabilitation measures to be considered in collaboration with the NGOs working
in the areas.
We appreciate and consider all efforts taken in regard to this grave incident. We would like to see positive interventions in this regard.
President:
Lilian Riziq
SSWEN, Inc USA
– CC: Hon. Mr. Antonio Guterres
UN High Commissioner for Refugees
– CC: H.E George Bush
President of the United States
– CC: H.E Tony Blair
British Prime Minister
– CC: H.E Salva Kiir Mayardiit
First Vice President of the Sudan
President of the Government of South Sudan
– CC: International Human Rights Organizations
– SSWEN Inc. USA, P. O Box 64322, Phoenix – Arizona, Zip Code 85082.
– Telephones: (507) 990-1374 / (602)487-6575 / (240) 475-1259
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