Human Rights Watch today expressed grave concern over the deaths of three men in Sudan government custody, and another four people in rebel custody. The two unrelated incidents highlight the continuing disregard for human rights by both parties to the sixteen-year civil war in Sudan.
The rebels, the southern-based Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army, took the four men into custody on February 18, 1999, when they strayed into SPLA territory not far from southern oil fields being exploited by the government and Chinese, Malaysian, and Canadian companies. Three were government employees; the fourth was a Red Crescent officer. An SPLA investigation concluded that the government employees, Ismail Edaam Ibrahim, Abdu Ahmed Tia, and Chief Maylik Chol Bilkuei, were "spies" and that the Red Crescent staff member, John Gatkoy, was not. The SPLA next announced that on March 31 all four died in cross-fire as a result of a failed government "rescue attempt." The SPLA has refused to release the bodies.
Human Rights Watch fears that the four men were summarily executed by the SPLA, a clear violation of international and domestic law. Meanwhile, the government of Sudan has used the SPLA's refusal to turn over the bodies as an excuse to delay the start of peace negotiations scheduled for mid-April and to block a United Nations relief assessment in the rebel-held area of the Nuba mountains.
"The refusal to release the bodies strongly suggests that the four men were executed by the SPLA," said Jemera Rone, Sudan researcher for Human Rights Watch, an international monitoring organization based in New York. "At the same time, the Sudan government should not be using it cynically to block much-needed relief to Nuba civilians, or to derail peace efforts."
The government has also covered up the deaths of three men whom Sudan Security reportedly tortured to death in late 1998. The three, Abdallah Chol, Hassan Abu Adhan, and Gladino (Sam) Okieny, were among more than twenty-six persons, including two Roman Catholic priests, detained in connection with an alleged conspiracy to bomb public buildings in Khartoum on June 30.
The trial of defendants, who are mostly southerners, has not conformed to the standards of international law. Six defendants are being tried in absentia. The court rejected several defense attorneys chosen by the defendants, whose access to counsel has been extremely limited. The trial is before a specially constituted military court (two of whose judges have no legal qualifications). There is no right of appeal. The court refused to investigate the sworn statements of nineteen defendants that they were tortured or otherwise coerced into signing false confessions.
The "ringleader" of the bombing conspiracy is alleged to be Father Hillary Boma, the Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Khartoum. He has been an outspoken critic of the government. His "confession" was coerced by the threat of further mistreatment of his colleague, Father Lino Sebit. Proceedings in the case have been suspended for five months, while the defendants remain in jail.
"This is not a trial, it's a disgrace and a mockery of justice," said Rone.
Human Rights Watch called on both the Sudan government and the SPLM/A to release the bodies for forensic examination by independent experts and to conduct and permit others to conduct full investigations into these deaths in custody. It also urged the Sudan government to bring the trial of the two priests and the other defendants into conformity with international law, or dismiss the case.
