Rights envoy hails Sudan positive steps but says concerns remain
June 4, 2009 (KHARTOUM) – After underscoring positive steps undertaken by the Sudan, UN rights experts stressed that many areas in human rights and public liberties remain source of concern in Sudan.
Sima Samar, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Sudan, held on Thursday a press conference at the end of a visit that begun on May 25.
The independent expert noted positive developments as Sudan’s ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the passing of the Human Rights Commission Act.
One of the “most notable” developments in Sudan has been the creation of Human Rights Forums for Darfur and other areas, she said. The Forums’ co-chairs include the UN peacekeeping mission in Sudan (UNMIS) and the hybrid UN-African Union force in Darfur (UNAMID).
However Samar said concerned about “a number of human rights issues in the country” she cited cases of arbitrary arrests, detention, and allegations of ill-treatment and torture by security forces, including the National Intelligence Security Service (NISS).
The National Security Forces Act, which gives the NISS its powers of arrest and detention, are also cause for concern, she noted, calling on the Government to improve and facilitate the access of human rights officers from both UNMIS and UNIMID to detention centres across Sudan.
Reports of ill treatment and torture of human rights defenders are also extremely worrying, as is the ongoing newspaper censorship and restrictions on freedom of expression for journalists and the political opposition, the expert stressed.
“In view of the upcoming elections in February 2010, it is imperative that restrictions on freedom of expression and association be removed to create a conducive environment for free and fair elections,” she said.
With regard to Darfur, Samar pointed out, the “fluid and unpredictable” security situation is having a “direct bearing” on the human rights situation in the region, which remains a “zone of conflict.”
During her visit to the Kalma camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs), she heard the uprooted voice concern over the expulsion of international non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Immediately after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for President Omar Al-Bashir in March for alleged crimes committed in Darfur, Sudan expelled 13 aid groups, who were aiding nearly 5 million people, from the region,.and banned three Sudanese rights groups.
“The revocation of licences of the Amel Centre for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, Khartoum Centre for Human Rights and Environmental Development, and the Sudan Social Development Organisation has weakened human rights protection and reduced national capacity for monitoring and reporting.”
The Government and the UN have tried to fill the humanitarian gap left in the wake of the NGO expulsions, but the Rapporteur, who last visited Sudan last March, said that they alone do not have the required capacity.
During her visit to Khartoum, she met with the Inter-Ministerial Committee convened by the Ministry of Justice and its Advisory Council for Human Rights, members of political parties, National Assembly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Special Prosecutor on Darfur, civil society, and the diplomatic community.
In Darfur states, she visited Zam Zam IDP camp and Siwillinga village in North Darfur, and Kalma IDP camp in South Darfur. She also met with the Walis of North and West Darfur, Deputy Wali of South Darfur, respective state officials, and civil society.
(ST)