On the 22 September, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) held a Side Event in Geneva during the proceeding of the 18th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) about the situation in Sudan and South Sudan, in cooperation with Féderation Internationale des Droits de l’Homme (FIDH), Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International, the African Center for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS), East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project, Darfur Relief and Documentation Center, and Rencontre Africaine pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme (RADDHO).
Six human rights defenders from Sudan provided insights into the situation with specific attention to areas along the border between North and South Sudan, and they offered recommendations to the international community in the context of the ongoing discussions at the HRC about the renewal of the mandate of the Independent Expert on Sudan.
Mr. Osman Hummaida, Director of ACJPS, presented the overall alarming human rights situation, including the recent invasion of Abyei by armed forces, the resurgence of violence in Southern Kordofan, and the imposition of state of emergency in Blue Nile. In this context, he asserted that the Special Procedures mandate on Sudan should be renewed in order to ensure the full implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and to tackle remaining issues, such as unfixed demarcation and the displaced population.
Considering that the International Expert is the only emaining monitor of the human rights situation in Sudan, “removing this mandate would be a very bad signal to abusing governments,” said Hummaida. Mr. Ahmed Saeed, human rights activist from Southern Kordofan, supported this position and emphasized the need for clear benchmarking of the peace process.
On Darfur, Mr. Mohamed Badawi from ACJPS, reminded the audience that the United Nations estimated 2 million people had been displaced, and stressed that very few cases of human rights violations have been brought to the International Criminal Court (ICC) despite increase in violations, in particular extra-judicial killings. Immunity has been given by the President to army forces and militias, which stands in the way of justice, despite the Doha peace process.
Other specific human rights issues were also raised, such as the denial of citizenship by the authorities consequently to the partition of the South, which was addressed by Mr. El Gizouli, a Sudanese human rights lawyer.
Dr. Al Bakir Muktar, Director of Al Khatim Adlan Centre for Enlightenment and Human Development (KACE), explained that the hope for democratic change that followed the CPA and the referendum, has been undermined by decreasing freedom of speech and harsher media censorship. He noted the closure of all human rights monitoring organisations and repression of activists, and stressed that if the mandate of the Independent Expert is not maintained, “the government will enjoy total impunity and will do whatever violation it wants to do without any reporting”.
Finally, regarding South Sudan, Mr. Biel Boutros, Executive Director of South Sudan Human Rights Society for Advocacy (SSHURSA), asserted that in order to successfully face its human rights challenges, the new state would have to move past its mentality of war.
The speakers called for the HRC to live up to its responsibility and renew the mandate on Sudan. The defenders asked for close monitoring of the implementation of the peace process and strong international commitment to prevent the further deterioration of the human rights situation.
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