Related
Resources
http://www.crin.org/docs/OHCHR_Deribat_report_0807.pdf
21 August 2007 - The Government of the Sudan must protect women and children
from sexual and gender-based violence, says a new report from the Office of the
High Commissioner for Human Rights that details cases of abduction, rape and
sexual violence in South Darfur.
The report, a follow-up to one issued in April 2007, contains testimonies from
victims and eyewitnesses describing how women were abducted, kept as sex slaves
or subjected to other human rights violations in Deribat and surrounding towns
by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and affiliated groups. These and other
violations occurred in late December 2006 in the wake of air and ground attacks
on civilians in the area.
The report, prepared in cooperation with the United Nations Mission in Sudan
(UNMIS), stresses the Government’s responsibility for the actions of the armed
forces and other informal allied groups, notably the Popular Defense Forces and
the Southern Liberation Army/Abu Gasim faction. The report says the abuses may
also constitute war crimes, recalling that no investigation had been carried
out by the Sudanese Government. Local authorities have indicated that they have
forwarded the allegations to the Sudanese Armed Forces. Meanwhile, Sudan's
Advisory Council on Human Rights has informed UNMIS that it is proposing to
establish an investigation committee jointly with the African Union Mission in
Sudan to inquire into the allegations contained in the report.
Among its recommendations, the report urges:
- The Government and rebel factions to cease all attacks
against civilians, especially women and children;
- The Government to establish an independent body to
investigate abduction, rape and sexual slavery committed in the region,
and those suspected of being responsible should be brought to justice in
trials that meet international standards of fairness. The results of the
investigation should be made public;
- The Government to suspend immediately, pending
investigations, any member of the Sudanese Armed Forces suspected of
having committed or ordered rape, abduction and other forms of sexual
violence;
- The Government to issue immediate clear instructions to
all troops under its command including PDF and other militias that rape
and other forms of sexual violence will not be tolerated;
- The Government to undertake a review its legislation,
in particular articles 145 and 149 of the 1991 Criminal Code, so that
women are not deterred from reporting rape through fear that their claims
will be associated with the crime of adultery· The African Union to
maintain a presence in the area; this should be negotiated with the non
signatories of the Darfur Peace Agreement.
Further information
- Report
on the Situation of Human Rights in Darfur (Group of Experts
on Darfur appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, June 2007)
- Children's
Rights in the Sudan: An analysis based on the CRC reports (Save
the Children Sweden - Eastern and Central Africa Region, October 2006)
- Beyond
Firewood: Fuel Alternatives and Protection Strategies for Refugee Women
and Girls (Women's Commission for Refugee Women and
Children, March 2006)
- CRIN's page on Sudan