Amnesty demands Sudan allow freedom of speech
LONDON, Aug 25 (Reuters) – World powers must press Sudan to guarantee the safety of people in Darfur who speak to journalists and ceasefire monitors, human rights group Amnesty International said on Wednesday.
Sudanese security services must stop “detention, intimidation and harassment” for giving information or expressing opinions, Amnesty said in a report titled “Sudan: Intimidation and Denial”.
Guarantees over freedom of expression must be built into peace talks now taking place in Nigeria, it said.
“The crisis in Darfur has been exacerbated by the clampdown on the right to freedom of expression in Darfur and the rest of Sudan,” the report said. “If news of the growing crisis had reached the rest of the world earlier and been properly assessed, adequate action might have been taken sooner.”
Darfur rebels began an armed revolt against the government in February 2003 after years of conflict between Arab nomads and African farmers over scarce resources in the arid region.
They are demanding a greater role for ethnic minorities of the Darfur region in government, which they say is dominated by northern Sudanese of Arab extraction.
More than one million have fled their homes in the past 18 months for fear of attack by the Janjaweed, Arab militia who were mobilised by the government as auxiliaries in a campaign to crush the rebels.
Khartoum denies supporting the Janjaweed and calls them outlaws but Amnesty rejected its claims.
“The Sudanese government continues to allow impunity to the leaders of the Janjaweed. Government authorities have spoken of various mechanisms of investigation but these mechanisms do not yet appear to be functioning,” it said.
The group listed a litany of abuses as an Aug. 30 U.N. Security Council deadline for Sudan to show progress in protecting civilians and disarming the Janjaweed, or face possible sanctions, looms large.
Amnesty said the Sudanese government had dismissed the U.N. estimate of 30,000-50,000 dead in the region.
Allegations that countless rapes were committed by government soldiers and the Janjaweed in Darfur have been mounting but Khartoum has failed to acknowledge their occurrence or take action, it said.
Some government authorities in Darfur have used intimidation to try to prevent the international community recording its failure to keep ceasefire commitments to stop violence and abuses, Amnesty charged.
“Scores of people have been intimidated, threatened and detained for speaking to foreigners and monitors,” it said.
Rwanda has sent 155 troops to protect African Union officials monitoring a ceasefire. Nigeria is due to send another 150 this week.