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	Sudan falling ‘far short’ on many of its human rights commitments – UN report by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Sudan   23 May 2006   Sudanese authorities are failing to uphold many of the human rights commitments made last year, especially in the Darfur conflict, where the Government is unable and unwilling to hold perpetrators of international crimes accountable, and the killing of civilians, raping of women and girls, and pillaging of entire villages continues, according to a United Nations report released today.   The report, issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in cooperation with the UN Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS) for December 2005 to April 2006, cited torture in detention facilities in Khartoum and Darfur as well as ill-treatment, detention, and harassment of human rights advocates throughout the country.   The 27-page document said it was particularly alarming that the Government had reverted to the use of helicopter gunships, and listed the reported use of an airplane to drop bombs on a village in Gereida in Darfur as recently as 24 April.   It noted obstruction of the work of UNMIS human rights officers, urged reform of the Government’s security apparatus to prevent it from committing human rights violations with impunity, and called on the authorities to continue initiatives they have taken to respect human rights.   “This should lead to the strengthening of a human rights infrastructure that is capable of ending Sudan’s history of gross human rights violations. At the centre of this project should be a strong, independent National Human Rights Commission that provides oversight of and impartial advice to the Government,” the report said.   “Almost one and a half years after the signing of the CPA, the Government is falling far short of many of the human rights commitments it made,” it added, referring to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in January 2005 between the Government and rebels who had waged a two-decades-long separate war in southern Sudan.   Regarding the western Darfur region, where a peace agreement was signed with one rebel faction in May, after the reporting period, OHCHR said the conflict had reached a new level of violence, both in intensity and frequency. Human rights violations continued as the conflict escalated and there was a failure to protect civilians from attacks that included sexual as well as to hold people accountable.   “As the killing of civilians, raping of women and girls, and pillaging of entire villages continued in Darfur, so too did a culture of impunity,” the report said of the desert region the size of France where scores of thousands of people have been killed and 2 million more displaced in more than three years of fighting.   “Domestic courts and other mechanisms purporting to address gross violations of human rights and international humanitarian law were superficial and inadequate. It appears that the ICC has a critical role to play in Darfur in bringing to justice State officials, and militia and rebel members alike,” it added, referring to the International Criminal Court to which a UN inquiry has already referred 51 as-yet undisclosed names for possible prosecution for war crimes and crimes against humanity.   An earlier UN inquiry found that there had been war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by both sides, but primarily by Government forces and pro-Government militias.   The report said that despite the establishment of three new special courts in June and November 2005 which have the power to try serious Darfur conflict-related crimes, such crimes were not being seriously investigated or prosecuted.   “It is especially important for the courts in Darfur to hold commanders responsible, as they are the ones either ordering the violence or have the power to stop unlawful actions by their subordinates,” it added.   25/5/2006   NGOs Statement during the 39 Ordinary session of the African Commission : Human Rights Situation in Sudan. (Cairo institute for human rights studies)   We have urgent concerns regarding the human rights situation in Sudan that we would like to bring to the Commission’s attention.   Firstly, we are deeply concerned about the ongoing humanitarian and human rights crisis that continues to unfold in the Darfur region despite the great effort expended by the African Union both in its role as the mediator in securing the foundations of a permanent peace agreement in Abuja and deploying its observers in the region. We also stress that any peace agreement that fails to incorporate and secure the full commitment of all the parties to the conflict is bound to fail. There are now 3.5 million people now reliant on humanitarian aid.   The government, its aligned Janjaweed militias and the rebel opposition groups have continued in their indiscriminate and vicious attacks and looting of livestock and foodstuff on civilian villages and on IDP settlements with impunity. The militias have frequently attacked several villages on the same day, ensuring maximum casualty and destruction. On 16 February, over 2000 Janjaweed militias attacked 8 villages surrounding Gereida, looting over 1500 camels and cows. Again on 15 March, militias attacked three villages and an IDP settlement in Jebel Marra killing 10s of IDPs. These attacks combined with the SLA attacks on humanitarian convoys have lead to thousands of people fleeing their villages, adding to the already large IDP population and forced humanitarian organisations to evacuate from these areas.   Sexual and gender based violence continues to be commonplace in Darfur. Women and girls, who venture outside IDP camps to fetch water and firewood, have continued to be subjected to rape and abductions. Many of the rape victims and their companions are subjected to severe beatings during the attacks, sustaining serious injuries. The whereabouts of many of the women abducted remains unknown.   Measures taken to address the impunity of government security organs and to provide redress for victims of gross human rights violations have been weak. In Darfur, the government has continued to dismiss the demands in the Commission resolution requiring it to cooperate fully with the international criminal court (ICC). The government has instead established a Criminal Court for Darfur’s Incidents. The court has been unable to hold any of its senior army personnel in Darfur responsible for war crimes or crimes against humanity, crimes that the UN Commission of Enquiry indicate are likely to have been committed in Darfur.   Secondly the situation of human rights defenders and civil society groups:   The government of Sudan via its security apparatus has continued to be hostile and inhospitable towards human rights defenders and civil society groups. Rather than arresting the perpetrators of human rights violations, the government has targeted those who publicise human rights violations. Many organisations including SOAT have been described as a destabilising force, and accused of spying as well as spreading false information. The government continues to use varying tactics to silence human rights defenders and humanitarian aid workers inside Sudan ranging from restrictions on their movement, refusals for visas for international NGOs, harassments to arbitrary arrests. g attacks on organisations and individuals culminated in the adoption of the ‘Organisation of Humanitarian and Voluntary Work Act 2006’ by the Sudanese Parliament on February 20, 2006. This Act imposes severe restrictions on freedom of association and has further entrenched the government control through its NGO monitoring body, the Humanitarian Aid commission over the activities of NGOs both local and foreign humanitarian and human rights organisations.   Thirdly, the continual violations of human rights law   Arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detention, inhumane and degrading treatment, enforced and involuntary disappearances remain widespread and systematic in Sudan especially in Darfur. Thousands of people continue to be detained in Sudan without being charged with an offence. Detainees are only informed of the charges against them after much delay and in some circumstances after being detained incommunicado for several days and are subjected to lengthy pre-trial detentions. The majority of arrests continue to be made by security forces in public places without warrant or probable cause, arrested persons are frequently detained for several days or weeks before transferring them to the police. Where the police made the arrests, detainees are held in detention indefinitely whilst the police undertake their investigation. Many prisoners are undocumented and are held incommunicado for extended periods as the security forces continue to abuse clauses in the draconian National Security Laws. The police in Sudan continue to use coerced confessions and torture as methods of investigation. SOAT has documented numerous cases police and security officers’ abuse and torture.   We are therefore call on the African Commission to hold the government of Sudan accountable for its violation of the African Charter on Human and Peoples'' Rights by obliging it to:   • Take all steps in partnership with AMIS, UNMIS to prevent attacks, threats, intimidations and any other form of violence against the civilian population in Darfur as required in the African Commission Resolution on the Human Rights Situation in Darfur during its 37th Session and as required by international humanitarian law;   • Commit to the voluntary return of IDPs, ensure safe passage, and compensate IDPs for loss of livelihood;   • Identify, investigate and prosecute all persons responsible for gross human rights violations including those in its security organs and its aligned government militias in Darfur and across the Sudan to fully reflect its obligations as required by UN Security resolutions and the international law to which Sudan is bound;   • Allow free access to all regions in the Sudan for national and the international human rights organisations and amend the NGO law to bring it fully in line with commitments under the African Charter, and to fully reflect the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders;   • Cooperate fully with the ICC;   • Take all necessary measures to afford all detainees in Sudan human rights protection accorded them in international law;   • Make public the findings of the African Commission’ Fact Finding Mission to Sudan in July 2004 further to its adoption by the African Union in January 2006.   Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)   Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)   Sudanese Organization against Torture (SOAT)
	U.N.: New Rights Council must champion fight for Rights by UN News / Human Rights Watch   10 May 2006   New Human Rights Council must work in ‘global interest’ – UN rights chief.   United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour today called on the members of the new Human Rights Council, who were elected in a landmark vote yesterday, to work in the “global interest” and to act quickly ahead of the first meeting, set to start in Geneva next month.   “The signs from the election of the 47 members of the Council yesterday are very encouraging for the future of this new body,” the High Commissioner said. “The polls were not ‘business as usual;’ there were genuinely contested candidacies and all those elected made specific pledges and commitments expressing their concrete engagement to promote and protect human rights.”   “There is good reason to believe we are putting aside some of the difficulties we saw with the Commission on Human Rights,” she continued in a statement released in Geneva.   Ms. Arbour urged members to continue to work in the spirit shown in the election process and to be inclusive, cooperative and transparent, highlighting that a lot now needed to be done before next month’s meeting.   “Much remains to be settled in terms of organization in the five weeks remaining before the Council meets”, she said. “For the Council to make the most of its first meeting, members must meet and agree promptly on some basic governance and programmatic arrangements.”   “The Council belongs to the international community, including civil society. I call on the current membership to work in the global interest in building a strong, effective human rights body.”   In yesterday’s voting, all regions – Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Western Europe and Other States – obtained or exceeded the required 96-vote majority needed to fill their allocated number of members, except the Eastern European States, where only the Russian Federation, Poland and the Czech Republic won seats on the first ballot, while Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Romania were elected in a second round.   After the vote, Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed the election as an opportunity for a fresh start as the new body replaces the much criticized and now defunct Human Rights Commission.   With all countries taking part in the voting, Mr. Annan said that the high rate of participation reflected “a widely shared commitment to replace the previous Commission on Human Rights with a body that can work more effectively, and can embody human rights ideals with more credibility; and that the Council elected today offers the United Nations a unique opportunity to make a fresh start in its vital work of upholding the highest standards of human rights.”   May 10, 2006 (Human Rights Watch)   The 47 countries elected yesterday to the new Human Rights Council by the United Nations General Assembly represent a substantial improvement over the recent membership of the former Commission on Human Rights.   “The new council has better tools and a better membership than the old commission,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “It’s now up to the members to live up to the council’s potential in their actions and votes to curb rights violations and strengthen protection of victims.”   Human Rights Watch noted three factors that contributed to the generally improved membership:   * New membership standards and election procedures discouraged states with some of the worst records of human rights abuses from even running for election, including recent commission members Sudan, Zimbabwe, Libya, Syria, Vietnam, Nepal, and Egypt, and others of the worst violators, including North Korea, Burma, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Belarus, and Ivory Coast.   * A handful of politically powerful violators were elected, including China, Russia, and Cuba. But major oil producers such as Iran, which has a very poor human rights record, and Venezuela, which declared it was not bound by the council’s new standards, were defeated. While Human Rights Watch had expressed opposition to six of the new members on human rights grounds, they account for only six out of 47 seats on the new council.   * Countries campaigned for election in large part by highlighting the contribution they would make to the promotion and protection of human rights. While issuing human rights pledges and commitments was voluntary under the resolution creating the new council, all 64 candidates published written commitments for advancing human rights.   The disappointing election of certain violators, including Azerbaijan in a run-off round of voting, shows that candidates were not elected solely on their rights records, Human Rights Watch said. Still, the new standards improved membership overall. Cuba and Saudi Arabia came in near the bottom of their regional groups and Human Rights Watch urged U.N. members to make the human rights records of all candidate states the determining factor in future elections for the council.   Human Rights Watch further observed that all the new council members are required to cooperate with U.N. human rights investigators, they will be scrutinized under the new universal review procedures, and they can be suspended for serious rights violations.   The new council will have a greatly enhanced ability to address human rights violations. It will meet at least three times a year, can easily call special sessions, and is required to periodically review the human rights records of all U.N. member states, including the most politically powerful. The council also has the strong mandate of its creation by a near-unanimous vote of the U.N. General Assembly on March 15, 2006.   “The new members must seize this historic opportunity to shape a council that will make full use of these tools for the advancement of human rights and protection of victims,” said Roth. “Other governments too, including the United States, should also help build a strong council.”   Human Rights Watch noted that among the substantive issues facing the new council will be adoption of a new treaty against enforced disappearances (over U.S. opposition because of its current use of this practice), and adoption of country-specific resolutions on such dire situations as Darfur and Uzbekistan.
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