Sudanese right activists condemn pre-election arrests, killings in Darfur

By Julius N. Uma

March 30, 2010 (JUBA) — Sudan Human Rights Organization (SHRO), a Cairo-based rights body has widely condemned the ongoing series of pre-election arrests, harassments and killings in Sudan’s western region of Darfur describing it as “violating the fundamental right to life”.

In a statement sent to Sudan Tribune, the rights body, which strives to enforce constitutional guarantees for the right to life, said Khartoum government-backed militias attacked a camp of displaced citizens at Kass, killing civilians and pillaging and harassing victimized families.

“The Sudan Human Rights Organization – Cairo condemns in the strongest terms possible the shameless aggressiveness by ruling elements against the Darfuri citizens and students,” the statement partly reads.

EMPTY PROMISES

Reacting to the recently declared presidential amnesty by Sudan government to Darfuris accused of attacking government forces in Omdurman over a year ago, SHRO described the development as “late-coming promises” that do not benefit citizens.

According to the Cairo-based organization, the commitment of the government of Sudan to the humanitarian needs of the country to prohibit death sentences has been lingering behind at the expense of the due process of justice and the rule of law, while state violence, it added, continues in Darfur and against Darfuris in Khartoum

CALL FOR NATIONAL CONFERENCE

“The organization [SHRO] requires the competent authorities to conduct urgent judicial fact-finding investigations on the attacks and the murders of Darfuri citizens in Darfur and the National Capital,” the statement advocated, while appealing to the United Nations, the US Government, and the African Union to convene promptly an All-Sudanese national conference on Darfur.

The proposed conference, further agitated SHRO, should provide full participation for all of the Darfuris’ civil society associations, political parties, and armed groups besides representatives of the existing Khartoum and Juba pre-elections’ governments, and the members of the Juba (September 2009) and the Tayba Azraq (October 2009) democratic conferences.

The conference will reportedly prepare an urgent action plan to enforce the constitutional rights guaranteed by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and the Interim Constitution for the tranquility, national participation, and well-being of the citizens of Darfur.

SHRO’s statement comes just days after Human Rights Watch (HRW); a US-based human rights body openly accused Sudan’s Government of National Unity and its Southern counterparts of grossly undermining processes for free and fair elections.

In a damning report released on March 22, HRW said political repression and other rights violations orchestrated by the Khartoum regime and the South Sudan government, ahead of the April general elections in Sudan threatens prospects for a free, fair, and credible vote.

“Conditions in Sudan are not yet conducive for a free, fair, and credible election,” said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at HRW, adding that, “Unless there’s a dramatic improvement in the situation it’s unlikely that the Sudanese people will be able to vote freely for leaders of their choice.”

The report was compiled by Human Rights Watch’s research missions to Sudan from November 2009 to March 2010. Cited specifically in the March 21 report, were scenarios that involved violating rights and restricting freedoms, critical to a fair poll, including freedoms of expression and of assembly.

According to the US-based human rights watchdog, Sudanese authorities throughout the country were allegedly failing to uphold standards agreed with the African Union in March, which are based on the African Union Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance.

DARFUR SITUATION

Frequent clashes in Sudan’s troubled western region of Darfur, said the HRW, were likely to undermine efforts to achieve free and fair elections in April. To-date large areas of Darfur reportedly remain inaccessible to election officials and candidates, and insecurity caused by banditry and ongoing conflict has restricted candidates’ freedom of movement.

As a remedy, HRW called on the national and southern Sudanese governments to take urgent steps to uphold and enforce key civil and political rights in the remaining period before the April 11 polls.

It also appealed to international election observers, currently in the process of deploying around Sudan to monitor and report on the wider human rights context in which the elections will occur.

“The Government of National Unity and the Government of South Sudan should respect the rights to freedom of expression, association, and assembly enshrined in the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, the African Union Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” the March 21 report added.

(ST)