Human rights in Sudan

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Human rights organizations have documented a variety of abuses and atrocities carried out by the Sudanese government over the past several years.

Sudan

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Sudan

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Contents 1 Abuses in conflict settings 2 Ethnic cleansing 3 Slavery 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Abuses in conflict settings

Conflicts between the government and rebel groups--the civil war involving north-south tensions, the Darfur conflict involving Arab-tribespeople tensions in the Darfur region in the west--have resulted in rape, torture, killings, and massive population displacements (estimated at over 800,000 as of 2004), earning Sudan comparison to Rwanda in the press. There also have been several reported cases of crucifixions carried out in Sudan.

According to the Christian Science Monitor on March 25, 2004:

The Darfur region war boils down to this: African tribes have long been at odds with Arab groups in the region over access to good land. Then, last year, two armed African groups began a rebellion against the Khartoum regime. The government responded by apparently giving military support to Arab militias. There are reports of Sudanese military planes bombing villages, after which Arab militias go in and rape and kill survivors.

[edit] Ethnic cleansing

The conflict has been described by Mukesh Kapila, UN coordinator for Sudan, as ethnic cleansing, as Arab militias carry out systematic massacres of tribespeople in the Darfur region. According to Kapila, "The government has a close knowledge of what's going on - and can influence the [Arab] militia." The UN estimates that 10,000 civilians in the Darfur region have died thus far, and over 100,000 have fled into neighboring Chad.

[edit] Slavery

Enslavement persists in Sudanese society. Writing for The Wall Street Journal on December 12, 2001, Michael Rubin said:

...[O]n Oct. 4, Sudanese Vice President Ali Uthman Taha declared, "The jihad is our way and we will not abandon it and will keep its banner high." ...Between Oct. 23-26, Sudanese government troops attacked villages near the southern town of Aweil, killing 93 men and enslaving 85 women and children. Then, on Nov. 2, the Sudanese military attacked villages near the town of Nyamlell, carrying off another 113 women and children. A Kenyan aide worker was also abducted, and has not been seen since.

What's Sudanese slavery like? One 11-year-old Christian boy told me about his first days in captivity: "I was told to be a Muslim several times, and I refused, which is why they cut off my finger." Twelve-year-old Alokor Ngor Deng was taken as a slave in 1993. She has not seen her mother since the slave raiders sold the two to different masters. Thirteen-year-old Akon was seized by Sudanese military while in her village five years ago. She was gang-raped by six government soldiers, and witnessed seven executions before being sold to a Sudanese Arab.

Many freed slaves bore signs of beatings, burnings and other tortures. More than three-quarters of formerly enslaved women and girls reported rapes.

While nongovernmental organizations argue over how to end slavery, few deny the existence of the practice. ...[E]stimates of the number of blacks now enslaved in Sudan vary from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands (not counting those sold as forced labor in Libya)...

[edit] See also

• 1998 Sudan famine

[edit] References

• Special report: Sudan in The Economist May 15th 2004
• Islam's Dark Side - The Orwellian State of Sudan, The Economist, 24 June 1995.
• Sharia and the IMF: Three Years of Revolution, SUDANOW, September 1992.
• Final Document of the Synod of the Catholic Diocese of Khartoum, 1991. [noting "oppression and persecution of Christians"]
• Human Rights Voice, published by the Sudan Human Rights Organization, Volume I, Issue 3, July/August 1992 [detailing forcible closure of churches, expulsion of priests, forced displacement of populations, forced Islamisation and Arabisation, and other repressive measures of the Government].
• Sudan - A Cry for Peace, published by Pax Christi International, Brussels, Belgium, 1994
• Sudan - Refugees in their own country: The Forced Relocation of Squatters and Displaced People from Khartoum, in Volume 4, Issue 10, of News from Africa Watch, 10 July 1992.
• Human Rights Violations in Sudan, by the Sudan Human Rights Organisation, February 1994. [accounts of widespread torture, ethnic cleansing and crucifixion of pastors].
• Pax Romana statement of Macram Max Gassis, Bishop of El Obeid, to the Fiftieth Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, Geneva, February 1994 [accounts of widespread destrucution of hundreds of churches, forced conversions of Christians to Islam, concentration camps, genocide of the Nuba people, systematic rape of women, enslavement of children, torture of priests and clerics, burning alive of pastors and catechists, crucifixion and mutiliation of priests].

[edit] External links

• [1] - Respect (IHTIRAM), the Sudanese Journal for Human Rights’ Culture and Issues of Cultural Diversity
• Photojournalist's Account - Images of Sudan's displacement
• Living with Refugees
• Sudan Emancipation & Preservation Network (SEPNet)
• Amnesty International Annual Report 2005
• Human Rights Watch reports on Sudan
• Forced Migration Review
• International Christian Concern
• ColorQ 1996-1998
• 12 year old raped before her execution
• Human-induced famine: crops destroyed, food distribution centers bombed
• International Freedom of Expression Exchange monitors attacks on the press in Sudan