SPECIAL SESSION OF HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL ON DARFUR HEARS STATEMENTS BY NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

The special session of the Human Rights Council on Darfur this morning heard a series of statements by non-governmental organizations expressing concern about the grave violations of human rights and humanitarian law in Darfur.

Many speakers were worried about the serious deterioration of the situation of human rights in Darfur, with daily reports of grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. The Government’s failure to protect its citizens was highlighted, as was the fact that the violence was spreading to Chad and the Central African Republic.

Speakers said hundreds of thousands of victims had been raped, tortured and murdered in Darfur, and millions had been displaced. The atrocities had escalated since the signing of the Darfur Peace Agreement in May. The primary responsibility of the Sudanese Government to protect the civilian population in Darfur and to implement the Darfur Peace Agreement was emphasized. Some speakers urged the Human Rights Council to address the ongoing culture of impunity for crimes against women and civilians, and acknowledge that gender equality was essential for the advancement of development, peace, and security.

Speaking this morning were the following non-governmental organizations: International Federation of Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, United Nations Watch (joint statement), Femmes Africa Solidarité (joint statement), Amnesty International; Franciscans International, Consultative Council of Jewish Organizations, Worldwide Organization for Women (joint statement), Norwegian Refugee Council, World Jewish Congress, Association World Citizens, The Lutheran World Federation, B’nai B’rith International (joint statement), Union des Juristes Arabes, International Humanist and Ethical Union, Indian Movement Tupaj Amaru (joint statement), Interfaith International, North South XXI and European Union of Jewish Students.

The Council will reconvene at 3 p.m. to take action on draft resolutions pertaining to the human rights situation in Darfur.


General Debate

OUSMAN HUMMAIDA, of International Federation of Human Rights, said there was concern about the serious deterioration of the situation of human rights in Darfur. The United Nations Mission in Sudan daily reported grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Darfur. The Government’s failure to protect its own citizens, even in areas where there were no rebels, had been shameful and continued. The Sudanese stance brought serious concerns, as the conflict was being regionalised, spreading to Chad and the Central African Republic. All attacks against civilians in Darfur should be halted, and the grave violations of human and people’s rights be ended.

MARIETTE GRANGE, of Human Rights Watch, said that for more than three years the Sudanese Government and its militias had committed crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur with total impunity. That fact had remained central to the crisis the world was witnessing today, a crisis that was not confined to Darfur, but was increasingly a regional disaster affecting Darfur’s neighbours. If the Sudanese Government had not systematically violated international law in Darfur, the Council would not be meeting here today, several hundred thousand Darfur civilians would still be alive and 2 million others would not be living in fear in camps. Four million Darfurians would not require international food assistance to merely stay alive. Speaking the truth about these facts was essential to saving lives in Darfur.

LEON SALTIEL, of United Nations Watch, in a joint statement with several NGOs1, said the human rights and humanitarian situation in Darfur was dire, and it merited the Council’s serious and sustained attention. The Council should adopt a strong resolution. The Council could not send peacekeepers, but it could encourage the Government of Sudan to cooperate with the force the Security Council had authorized. The Council also should remind the Government that, although not the only party to the conflict, it had the primary responsibility to protect its population. Since 2003, Darfur had been rife with death, destruction, and suffering. Hundreds of thousands of victims had been raped, tortured and murdered. Villages and livelihoods had been destroyed. Millions were displaced. Despite the signing of an agreement in May, those atrocities had not only continued, but also escalated. The current session was just the beginning of the Council’s active engagement, not only on Darfur but also on all major human rights crises worldwide.

BINETA DIOP, of Femmes Africa Solidarité, in a joint statement with Association of World Citizens, said in spite of the many agreements, reports and recommendations acknowledging the dire humanitarian crisis in Sudan, there had yet to be a sustained international effort to address the ongoing slaughter of millions of civilians and the nearly 2 million internally displaced persons in the region. In particular, the unabated sexual and gender-based violence experienced daily by the women of Darfur was abhorred and condemned. The Human Rights Council should address the ongoing culture of impunity for crimes against women and civilians, and acknowledge that gender equality was essential for the advancement of development, peace, and security.

AISSATOU BOUSSOURA GARGA, of Amnesty International, said that Amnesty International wished to share testimony received from a Sudanese member with first-hand experience of the human rights situation in Darfur. Threats and the real threat of reprisal against that member had precluded that person from delivering the testimony directly. The member said that the situation for the people in Darfur had gone from bad to worse. As the human rights situation had deteriorated, the person had seen more cases of torture, rape and other violations. Events were neither under control nor getting better – even after the signing of the peace agreement. Protecting was one thing the people in Darfur needed, including humanitarian aid workers. Displaced persons were arbitrarily arrested and tortured by the very Government that was meant to protect them. Women and girls were raped, mainly by the Janjaweed, who would not get away with it if the Government did not allow it. The African Union Mission in Sudan was not able to protect them, there were not enough peacekeepers. The Human Rights Council should ensure that it stood by the people of Darfur and did not just engage in politics.

MICHAEL PERRY, of Franciscans International, said that the litany of lives lost, persons internally displaced, women and girls systematically raped, children abducted and conscripted into military service, refugees fleeing for safety – these events were attested by Darfur’s most vulnerable victims. Much energy had been devoted to attributing blame for the current wave of violence and destruction. According to the report of the International Commission of Inquiry, the Government of Sudan and the Janjaweed were responsible for serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law amounting to crimes under international law. Efforts by the Government in recent months to pursue and intensify a military solution had led to a dramatic increase in the number of displaced persons, number of sexual and gender-based crimes and indiscriminate bombings and other gross violations of human rights.

SARAH KAISER, of Consultative Council of Jewish Organizations, said innocent people were being killed in Darfur, and the Government appeared, at best, indifferent to their suffering. The situation was one of crimes against humanity. There could be no excuse for inaction - the crimes against humanity and war crimes being committed in Darfur demanded immediate and decisive international action. There should be immediate deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Darfur region, and the international community was duty-bound to urgently investigate the situation and collect evidence so that those accused of crimes against humanity could be brought to justice. An independent forensic panel should be sent forthwith to Darfur.

AFTON BEUTLER, of Worldwide Organization for Women, in a joint statement with several NGOs2, said that it was today and not tomorrow that the Council needed to have an action plan for Darfur and Sudan. The organizations called on the international community with urgency to implement United Nations Security Council resolution 1325. The action plan had to place women in the centre stage of implementation and it was vital that women’s organizations from Darfur participated in order to contribute their on-the-ground experience. The Government of Sudan had the primary obligation to bring to justice those responsible for violations of human rights in Darfur. The organizations offered their assistance in the assessment mission.

ARILD BIRKENES, of Norwegian Refugee Council, noted that Sudanese authorities had granted working permissions and allowed a wide range of humanitarian organizations to do their important work in Darfur. There were more than 10,000 aid workers in three Darfur states who had contributed significantly to mitigate the consequences of the conflict for the civilian population. The Norwegian Refugee Council also noted that regular fighting might on occasion be the main obstacle to access the affected population and a timely delivery of protection and assistance. At the same time, the Sudanese authorities imposed a multitude of untimely and unnecessary restrictions and bureaucratic procedures on humanitarian organizations. The Norwegian Refugee Council urged the Council to strongly and unequivocally call on the Sudanese Government to give humanitarian agencies and all organizations aiming at alleviating the suffering of the civilian population full support and unhindered access.

ABUBAKAR ABDURAHMAN, of World Jewish Congress, said the Janjaweed raped women, and tortured old people, whilst these were mostly villagers who had nothing to do with politics. The victims of the Janjaweed in Darfur asked, urged, begged the Council to stop the massacre, to do all in its power to protect the people of the region and to end the genocide. It should do so if human rights were to exist, and to save the lives of those living in Darfur.
EDIN ELGSAETHER, of Lutheran World Federation, expressed strong support for the urgent dispatch of an impartial, independent, professional and expert human rights mission -- of the type that had been mandated by other recent special sessions of the Council -- to assess the human rights situation in Darfur and to report back to the Council expeditiously. The signing of the Darfur Peace Agreement in May 2006 had offered a tenuous hope of peace for the people of Darfur. But today, it was the lack of adequate implementation of the agreement that provided the context in which the reported violations continued to take place. Greater efforts should be made, by the international community generally as well as by the signatories of the agreement, to ensure broader support for and implementation of the agreement.

KLAUS NETTER, of B'nai B'rith, in a joint statement with Coordination Board of Jewish Organizations, said if any human rights issue merited a strong resolution, it was this one in Darfur. The African draft resolution was an ill-concealed attempt to undermine the Special Procedures system. For any resolution adopted by the session to be a credible tool in promoting the most vulnerable, it should call for a mission by the Special Rapporteur and urge the Government of Sudan to disarm and neutralise the Janjaweed, accept an early United Nations presence on the ground, and allow the Special Rapporteur on Sudan to report on all parties active in the region. If the Peace Agreement was not to be utterly nullified by actions on the ground, the resolution should call for parties that did not sign to do so expeditiously, and those that did sign to implement their commitments subject to inspections.

ELIAS KHOURI, of Union des Juristes Arabes, said that the news and reports on violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law in Darfur was worrisome because it destroyed peace and disrupted the socio-economic harmony in the region. It was necessary to find just solutions, but the Union had misgivings when they looked at Iraq, and saw how countries were at first scrambling to issue resolutions against the former Government there, but not any longer. The Union also had misgivings about the selective and partial approach to the protection and promotion of human rights, in particular with regard to the Middle East. That was particularly true with regard to the actions of one of the Security Council’s permanent members. Now they could smell the natural gas and oil in the region, as if a new era of colonialism was taking over, using noble slogans like democracy based on rigged elections. As to the real elections undertaken by the Palestinian people, there was a war being waged on that election.

ROY BROWN, of International Humanist and Ethical Union, said the full cooperation of the Government of Sudan would be necessary to give the assessment mission a free hand to visit Darfur. The conflict between pastoralists and herders over resources was not unique to Darfur. It arose whenever the population grew faster than the available resources. The International Humanist and Ethical Union urged all parties concerned to seek long-term solutions to the conflict by taking into consideration the impact of increasing population pressure on competition for resources, and to include in their work consideration of how best the problem might be addressed.

LAZARO PARY, of Indian Movement “Tupaj Amaru”, in a joint statement with World Peace Council, said there was a dramatic situation of human rights in arfur, Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq, and a cold and objective analysis of cause and effect made it clear that these had their origin in the deep wounds of colonialism and racism, which had not yet healed. Democracy and human rights had developed in the ups and downs of neo-colonial and colonial policies, and corresponded to their interests - hence, the western powers had responsibility for the tragedy of the Sudanese people. The political and humanitarian crisis in Darfur required of the international community, through the Human Rights Council, that it give concrete replies to concrete problems that had arisen due to hostilities, and find a peaceful solution to the conflict.

ABDULLAHI ELTOM, of Interfaith International, said that the situation in Darfur was so acute and so urgent that it deserved more than one special session. What counted was a strong signal from the Council to the parties to the conflict that the ongoing ethnic cleansing in the region could no longer be tolerated. Little had changed on the ground since the signing of the Darfur Peace Agreement. In fact, the situation had deteriorated many fold since then. The Government-sponsored Janjaweed militiamen now used sophisticated weapons to inflict as much damage as possible among the civilian population. The Darfur Peace Agreement had all but collapsed. Interfaith International wished to draw the Council’s attention to the credibility gap between the Government accounts of events in Darfur and the situation on the ground. Under the circumstances, Interfaith International suggested that the international community no longer consider the Government of the Sudan as a responsible member of the international community.

ALI EL SADIG, of North South XXI, said that he had been to the area in Darfur and understood the suffering that the people were being subjected to. The people of Darfur had been under heavy military oppression by the Government of Sudan and other armed groups. In order to postpone any action with regard to the Darfur crisis, some speakers were diverting the attention of the Council by invoking that the information did not reflect the facts on the ground. Some African countries had taken an honourable position with regard to the conflict in Darfur. It was essential that all African countries speak in one voice and resolve the crisis in Darfur.

GENEVIEVE JOURDAN, of Association of World Citizens, said the recent opportunity to access oil had changed the status of Sudan to a high-status country. Such countries in Africa were easily prone to armed conflicts. Exploitation of oil and mineral resources increased the risk of violence and human rights violations. A wide variety of international companies and countries were involved in oil investigation in the region. The distribution of oil revenues was an important factor in the conflict in Sudan, and this should be recognised in the Council. Recurrent and appalling human rights violations reflected the price paid by Darfur for being the strategic epicentre of the country.


1Joint statement: UN Watch, Freedom House, The Transnational Radical Party, International Multiracial Shared Cultural Organization, France Libertés, Hope for Africa International, B'nai B'rith International, Coordinating Board of Jewish Organizations (C.B.J.O.), International Federation of Social Workers, Federation of American Women's Clubs Overseas, European Union of Jewish Students, Agir Ensemble pour les Droits de l'Homme, Women Environmental Program (WEP), Coordination Française pour le Lobby Européen des Femmes (C.L.E.F.), Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, International Association for Religious Freedom, 3 HO Foundation (Happy, Healthy, Holy Foundation), Liberal International, Women's Federation for World Peace International, Ligue Internationale Contre le Racisme et l'Antisemitisme (LICRA), International Alliance of Women, World Jewish Congress, Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic, International Federation of University Women, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, International Volunteerism Organization for Women Education and Development, Women's International Zionist Organization, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, International Council of Jewish Women, American Psychological Association, and International Council of Psychologists.

2Joint statement: Pan Pacific and South East Asia Women's Association, Women's World Summit Foundation, International Federation of University Women, Association of World Citizens, Women's World Summit Foundation, and Interfaith International.


For use of the information media; not an official record

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