Sudan denies rape and torture of Ugandans in Juba
September 22, 2007 (KAMPALA) — THE Sudan government has described reports of harassment, sexual abuse, torture and murder faced by Ugandans in Southern Sudan as “isolated incidences which can happen anywhere”.
Al Mardi said “If there is any incident of killing or harm[ing], people should not escalate it,” the Ugandan Sunday Monitor reported.
“People every where are subjected to such offences, but not because of the policy of Southern Sudan. So please, make this quite clear to all”. The minister who was at the Sudanese embassy in Kampala said stiff regulations to curb the mistreatment of aliens in southern Sudan would soon be introduced.
“I want to assure you that the policy of the GOSS is that all Ugandans and Kenyans citizens are treated with respect and treated as brothers and friends,” Mr Mardi said.
Last week, Sunday Monitor broke a story of how Ugandan traders, especially businesswomen operating in eth South Sudan are being routinely raped by local security personnel in the provincial capital of Juba.
The victims named their tormentors as regular policemen, military police personnel and Southern Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) soldiers.
“The security men come with guns at night purportedly to patrol the markets. They demand sex whether you like it or not,” a businesswoman at Konyo Konyo market in Juba was quoted as saying.
There are now fears that the ongoing situation could dampen not only diplomatic relations between the two governments, but also the booming cross-border trade, the Ugandan weekly said.
(Sunday Monitor)