I. Summary
Sudan is entering yet another critical period in its political history, with human rights still under immense threat. In October, the Darfur peace talks are due to reopen in Qatar. In April, 2010, national elections, one of the milestones on the path of implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that brought civil war to an end in the South, are scheduled to be held. In a mere 17 months, the interim period outlined in the CPA is scheduled to end with a referendum on self-determination for Southern Sudan.
Rather than building trust between interest groups inside Sudan in this critical period, the Sudanese government, led by the ruling National Congress Party (NCP), continues to repress political opposition, stifle the free flow of information, and commit human rights violations and indiscriminate attacks against civilians in Darfur, where 2.7 million people are living in IDP camps and where new displacement and killings continue.
In Southern Sudan over the past year civilians have borne the brunt of escalating inter-ethnic fighting between armed civilian groups, clashes between the NCP-led government’s Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the southern Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), and attacks by Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels. In other flashpoint areas, such as Abyei and along the North-South border, the continuing failure by the parties to the CPA to implement agreements on border delineation and troop withdrawal and downsizing threatens to expose civilians to further insecurity and abuse.
The diverse political and human rights problems across the country are a complex inter-locking mosaic in which the common factor is the repressive practices of the NCP-led government. These include manipulation of local conflicts through supporting, arming, and commanding tribal militia that has further entrenched inter-ethnic tensions, making them ripe for exploitation. Addressing these repressive tactics, and restoring political freedoms and respect for human rights, is the pre-condition for a stable future for all parts of the country.
At this critical juncture, it is imperative that concerned governments and intergovernmental bodies recognize in practice that failure to act on one set of issues or on one geographical area contributes to further insecurity and human rights violations, potentially in other parts of the country. Those concerned about the civilian population should agree on a comprehensive approach to achieving respect for human rights, with coordinated, simultaneous actions on multiple fronts. Addressing human rights violations, protecting civilians, and reducing the acute risk of further abuses in potential political flashpoints throughout the country are necessary for the success of initiatives aimed at bringing peace and security to Sudan and should be the cornerstone of international engagement.
This report, based on research by Human Rights Watch in eastern Chad and Southern Sudan in July and August 2009, documents the most pressing human rights and civilian protection challenges in Khartoum, Darfur, and Southern Sudan and recommends actions to address them. Should the Sudanese government and international stakeholders take these actions now they will be taking important steps towards creating conditions for free and fair elections and a peaceful referendum.
International attention has tended to focus on the abuses perpetrated in Darfur and the serious inadequacies of civilian protection in the former war zones of Southern Sudan. These are matters of pressing concern, with ongoing violence and displacement in Darfur a clear indication that the war in Darfur is not “over” as the outgoing military commander of The United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) claimed in August. International attention should now also focus on the significance of the stifling of political freedom and the free flow of information in the heartlands of northern Sudan and its impact on the whole of Sudan.
In Sudan’s northern states and in Khartoum, the NCP-led government is perpetuating an atmosphere of repression by using state security forces to arbitrarily arrest and detain civil society activists and suspected rebels, and by violating the rights to freedom of expression and assembly. The suspension of newspapers and the harassment of opposition parties, human rights activists, and journalists is stifling reporting on the war in Darfur and human rights violations and political expression in the countdown to the elections. This deprives much of the country of news of abuses committed in Darfur and elsewhere, and undermines the freedom of information and opinion needed for free and fair elections. In late September President Omar al Bashir announced that the government would no longer censor newspapers prior to publication. But authorities have made such promises before and reneged, and the legal basis of repression and censorship—National Security Forces Act—remains intact. Supporting genuine freedom of expression and assembly as the elections draw nearer should be an important element to international engagement.
In Darfur, the authorities continue to obstruct the full deployment of UNAMID and to prevent it from investigating the consequences for civilians of outbreaks of fighting. In September 2009, after a lull in fighting that coincided with the rainy season, the SAF and rebels from the Sudanese Liberation Army’s Abdel Wahid faction clashed in various locations around Jebel Mara. The exact number of civilian deaths and the scale of displacement from these and other clashes is as yet unknown, as SAF has prevented UNAMID from investigating. Following the government’s expulsion from Darfur of 13 major international aid agencies in March 2009, there is little information on the humanitarian needs of many of the 2.7 million internally displaced Darfuris. Joint government—UN needs assessments have not been independent or comprehensive or included human rights concerns. Reports suggest that the risk of violence, including sexual violence, by soldiers and allied militia, remains a serious threat in and around camps.
The human rights situation and security of civilians in Southern Sudan also remains precarious. The Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) has so far not proven capable of protecting civilians from inter-ethnic fighting that has left over a thousand people dead, the vast majority of them civilians. Neither the NCP-led government in Khartoum nor the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM)-led GoSS in Juba have reintegrated former militia into their respective forces or disarmed and demobilized them, leaving them armed and dangerous to civilians. The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), the international peacekeeping force in Southern Sudan, is not present in or has restricted access to many flashpoint areas, including remote locations where inter-ethnic fighting occurs and areas close to the North-South border, which compromises its ability to protect civilians and monitor ceasefire violations.
Human rights violations and insecurity across Sudan threaten to intensify in the context of mounting political pressures in the lead-up to national elections in April 2010 and the southern referendum on independence in 2011. The NCP-led government, as it navigates multiple political processes nationally and in Darfur, looming CPA deadlines, and divergent international approaches to addressing Sudan’s crises, is once again at a crossroads. It can choose to make good on the many promises and commitments it has already made in the CPA and on Darfur, or it can allow the situation to deteriorate further through continuing repressive and human rights violating conduct. International actors concerned about the Sudanese people also have choices to make. They can put the protection of human rights at the heart of engagement with the authorities—in the North and South—and warring elements in Darfur, or risk watching piecemeal initiatives unravel and civilians in Sudan face even greater challenges than they do now.