Sudanese Women’s NGOs to Protect the Rights of Women in DarFur
SHRO-Cairo
Active Representation of the Sudanese Women’s NGOs to Protect the Rights of Women in DarFur
Throughout the escalation of the DarFur’s Crisis, SHRO-Cairo expressed continuous concerns for the failures of the government’s security plans, including the announced efforts by state-selected high level committees to investigate the crimes committed against women in DarFur.
On November 22, 2003, the Organization issued a statement on the women’s right to movement and social development that emphasized further the need to abrogate all restrictive policies and legislations that seriously curtail the full enjoyment of women’s rights. In several other appeals, SHRO-Cairo asked the government to ratify the International Agreement on the Eradication of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which is a real vehicle to ascertain the empowerment of women in key aspects of contemporary life.
With the escalation of rape crimes against the women in DarFur, the Organization issued a direct appeal to the government to:
– Include the Human Rights Commission, DarFur indigenous human rights groups in and outside the country, and Bar Association representatives as active members of the Fact Finding Committee;
– Guarantee observer status to international, regional, and national human rights’ representatives in the Committee.
– Ensure effective representation of women from non-governmental sources, especially women related to the DarFur victimized ethnicities, to participate fully in the Committee activities.
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Despite the appointment of two professional women in the Government Fact Finding Committee, it was clear that the volume of cases and the need to observe the personal, cultural, and religious settings of the women required closer cooperation with local women’s groups, as well as full consideration to the psychological suffering of the victims of rape with its life-lasting traumatizing shocks beyond the Committee’s plan of action.
The Organization is aware that the Sudanese women, individuals or groups, have unrelentingly exerted desperate efforts to voice their willingness or plans to participate in the national as well as international efforts to support the victimized women of DarFur.
In this connection, SHRO-Cairo commends the Women Waging Peace Conference (Washington: October 9-15, 2004) which, composed of women NGOs from South and North Sudan, strongly addressed the United Nations Security Council to “Ensure that the newly-appointed UN Commission of Inquiry investigates reports of systematic rape of women and girls and includes reference to rape as a crime of genocide and a crime against humanity. In collecting information, the UN Commission of Inquiry should work with local women’s organizations to ensure culturally-sensitive approaches and to avoid re-traumatizing victims.”
– The Organization urges the UN Committee to cooperate closely with the local women’s organizations and leaderships, as well as the Sudanese women’s NGOs, and the other regional and international human rights groups to ensure the rights of the victimized women and their families.