In a recent delivery to the Human Rights Commission, Kofi Anan declared; “Your voice has diminished because of internal dissent”. During the recent session the Commission refrained from examining China’s human rights violations, white washed Sudan, ignored Russia’s policy in Chechnya, was soft on Cuba and never even mentioned Zimbabwe. (Le Figaro; 04/25/03). As a reminder, 26 countries opposed the motion to sanction Sudan, including South Africa, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gabon, Kenya, Libya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal, and Zimbabwe. Uganda, Thailand and Venezuela abstained.

Uganda expelled the UNHCR’s highest ranking official when the representative disagreed publicly over a prospective site for the relocation of refugees saying that they would be as vulnerable to LRA attacks at the second site as at the original one (AP 14/04).

Fifty refugees registered with the UNHCR and Sudanese asylum seekers were imprisoned for illegal entry into the country by Lebanese authorities for periods up to two and a half years

Sudanese president Omar Beshir signed a decree not long ago ordering a committee to be formed in order to up-date Sudanese law to conform with international humanitarian law (IRIN). Hopefully the committee will be able to perform the deed efficiently.

North

The Press under hue and cry

The media department of the National Security Agency confiscated the April 19 edition of Al Sahafa. Shortly afterwards, a certain security officer by the name of Adam prohibited Khalid Fadel from publishing his piece which denounced the fact that essay topics had been revealed before examinations took place, saying that the article was too critical. The security officer also barred an article on human rights by journalist Abd el Gader Hafiz along with a piece on the Umma Party’s General Conference recognized as part of the authorized opposition. The newspaper had to replace the incriminated articles immediately. The following day; the same Adam phoned the paper’s editor asking him to report to the security branch. After he had waited there 6 hours, he was questioned about the contents of certain articles by journalist Lubna Ahmed Hussein, who was then forbidden to exercise his profession. Lubna filed suite in writing against the National Security Agency, which then withdrew all interdiction. (SOAT 22 04). Editions at Al Sahafa and Al Syassi were seized after publishing articles on the fighting in Darfour (Reporters Without Borders 7/9 May). 
Al Sahafa had already been shut down by court order August 5 and November 11 2002. In December 2002 the authorities closed the weekly Al-Watan.
On May 11, judgement was rendered following a complaint filed by the Minister of Religious Affairs. The Khartoum Monitor had published three articles: the first on the imprisonment of a priest when he had refused to demolish a church situated in an area harboring many of the displaced on the outskirts of Khartoum; the second when the title “Are Muslims Afraid of Christians” headed an article; and a third one which holded the view that Moselms are allowed to drink locally brewed beer. The paper and its chief editor were accused of inciting religious dissent and denigrating Islam, which he denied. Journalistic output was suspended for two months, and Nhial Bol, the paper’s director of publications was threatened with a four-month prison sentence if he did not pay a $400 fine. His lawyer appealed. Three days before the hearing, the authorities entered the premises, ordered all journalists to leave and arrested the chief editor. They made him stand upright for five hours, and prohibited him from using old printed copy as a mattress to rest on (Khartoum Monitor May 8). The chief editor told Reporters Without Borders that the State, “ wanted to destroy the newspaper with heavy fines and repeated shutdowns”.
The government had previously declared that it had ended all censorship of daily papers (Reuter May 9).

Arrested and held in secret:
On March 22, Fathi Mohammed al-Hassan, 41 years old, member of the Socialist Arab Baath Party and freelance journalist was tortured.
In order to force Lenin al-Tayeb, member of the Democratic Front to turn himself in, the security forces arrested his brothers, Khidder al-Tayeb, released December 16, Hashem al-Tayeb released January 15, and Al Shafi al-Tayeb, released in May. Khidder and Hashem were severely beaten. Lenin al Tayeb remained in hiding until he was apprehended on April 24. He is being detained incommunicado in Kobar prison, and has reportedly been tortured. He was tortured during his previous incarcerations in 1991, 1993, 1996.
Ahmed Dawah el Beit, holder of a translation diploma and member of the independent Student Congress was arrested in the street by persons from “the Investigation Unit of the Secret Police”. He was said to have been seen in Kobar prison.
The “ Student Behavior Law Code” of January 2002 explicitly forbids students to take part in political activities and serves to justify the suspensions or expulsions of countless students. Meetings manifestations, and other social or political activities may be forcibly broken up by the security forces and one of the largest student unions, the University of Khartoum Student Union has been forbidden to hold meetings since opposition candidates were almost sure of winning elected positions four years ago. (OMCT, AI).

Darfour

Attacks on Civilians
On April 23, nomads some of them  wearing militias uniforms attacked a group of men outside the Mosque in Mulli, 15 kilometers south of Geneina. Fifty-five were killed and at least 20 others injured. Domestic livestock was seized or destroyed. On April 25, a rally was held in Geneina to protest against the fact that no arrests had been made. The governor’s offices were set afire and the security forces killed one and took numerous persons into custody.
The village of d’Al Faki Salih Idriss, some 15 kilometers south of Nyala, was the scene of another attack. The village was burned 90 animals slaughtered and 4 Four killed (Diaspora). Meanwhile, the town of Koutoum is without telephone and under daily curfew. The roads to and from the town are under surveillance. Thousands of people have fled ever since the army and militias engaged the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) in heavy fighting on April 11 (AI).
The army and militias attacked the Massallit villages of Daltang and Goker on May 7. Plunder was carried off and 5 persons killed. The skirmish took place in broad daylight and officials from Geneina sent Massallit policemen to investigate. But the Arab militias lay an ambush and killed 20 of them. Sources say that the government conspired with local authorities to slay the Massallit policemen. Governmental officials and Arab militias frequently target literate members of the population and ethnic Massalit, Four, and Zaghawa community leaders. (Massallit Community in Exile).
Further armed attacks were perpetrated by the army and militias on the towns of Artala and Mukjar both subjected to aerial bombings, fire and pillage. In Artala, 4 lay dead and another 42 wounded. In Mukjar, 28 women, 24 men and 26 children perished (Diaspora 05 30).
For reasons of “security” close to half a million people once having access to humanitarian aid no longer can receive it, nor can the 30,000 newly displaced who have swelled their ranks (United Nations May, 15).

The Death Penalty/ Injustice in the Courts
On April 26, twenty-six men including a boy of 15 and two men of 71 and 76 were given the death sentence by the Special Court in Nyala. They were accused of slaughtering 35 people and wounding 28 others during an attack of on African farming village. However, witnesses say that the accused were singled out arbitrarily, and that the real assailants belonged to another group. Their authorized legal defenders (three given the task of representing 38 accused) could not confer with their clients until 5 days before the hearing, and when they did meet, the legal team were only permitted to ask each of the accused and material witnesses 4 questions, while the prosecution was allowed an unlimited number. Of the three judges, one was a policeman, one served in the armed forces, and only the presiding judge was a civilian. The accused had 8 days to appeal. The death penalty for minors under 18 is forbidden by international law (AI/ HRW).
A young unwed mother of 14 was sentenced to 100 lashes in Nyala for being nine months pregnant, even though adultery implies the state of marriage. If the judgement is confirmed despite the appeal, the sentence is to be carried out immediately. The defense has stressed her age to the Court. The Convention on the Rights of the Child which Sudan signed prohibits the flagellation of minors. A 25-year-old shopkeeper linked to the case was exonerated for lack of evidence. Already in November 2002, seventeen women from the same region were condemned to 100 lashes, while no man was indicted for wrongdoing. None of the women were allowed legal council.

Secret detention without accusation on the part of the National Security Agency and Military Intelligence Service and the risk of torture.

Massive arrests of the Zaghawa (OMCT).
On April 23, the following were arrested in Darfour: Abu Baker Nour and Youssouf Mohammed Faleh, both engineers; civil servant Mohamed Bashir; shopkeepers Ahmed, Bashir Bushara, Hashem el Yaheb, Abdel Rahman Ahmed, all of whom are Zaghawa (African); Four (African) photo-studio owner Ibrahim Mohammed Hassan and Abdel Shafi Issa Mohamed, director of a textile factory in Nyala, where arrested in Khartoum and in Darfour in connection with the current conflict there. Amnesty International fears torture (AI).
On May 2 the following were arrested in Darfour: Four shopkeepers Adam Mohamed Ahmed Mohammed Girba and Mohamed Karama; Four farmers Khalil Mohammedein and Mohammed Ibrahim Tyrab; Zaghawa teachers Omer Hussein Ali, and Adam Haroon Nour; the 50 year-old Zaghawa shopkeeper Adam Ahmed Abu Jamal; 25 year old Four Abdel Gader Salim Barakat (previously tortured); civil servant Mohamed Said Ahmed; Zaghawa business owner Saeid Bushara (member of the OMCT and Sudanese Organization Against Torture).
On May 15, the following were arrested: Yusuf Arkoi Minawa, 45; Sherif Ahmed Llaga 38; Ramadan Jabir Nahar 35; Dawood Mohamed, 55; Zakaria Mohamed, 70; Yunis Mohammed Bani, 25; and Mandi Mamoun, 55 (AI).
Add to the list the arrest of Umma Politburo member Adam Mussa Madibbu. His detention is thought to be in connection with his presence at a meeting where diverse political groups were present organized by the National Congress Party. His crime was to have “expressed his opinion”. The following day he was liberated from jail. 
On May 3, Nyala located Al Sahafa correspondent Yusif Al Bashir Musa was arrested for having reported on the fighting around Darfour. According to a physician who saw him, he was tortured. Despite the fact that he only has one leg, the sole of his foot and his shoulders were thrashed, his face and abdomen punched and he was constantly threatened with sodomy (OMCT). After being released on May 6, he was picked up the following day on orders from the governor of Darfour and facilitated by the current state of emergency rule. His sentence was a 6-month prison term.
Twenty-four students attending Zalingei University in Darfour were arrested 
May 1, in connection with a protest over allocation payments. Two of the students have been released, and two were severely beaten.

South

According to NGO Persecution Project Foundation, which toured the oil producing region in the Western Upper Nile between Tam and Mankien, its envoys found the terrain littered with human remains throughout their 6 hour patrol of the area, the result of massacres which took place only weeks beforehand (Report 04 23).
The NGO Servant’s Heart reports that attacks carried out by government forces occurred on ten villages simultaneously in the Eastern Upper Nile [Arab oil area]. No SPLA troops ware in the region. Many villagers were burned alive in their homes, including a Presbyterian minister, his wife and their four children. The toll was 59 dead, 15 wounded, and 10 children and 6 women abducted (Freedom Quest May 6).
***
Slavery in Northern Bahr el Ghazal/ nominal research results

Between 1983 and 2002, some 11,105 people were reported to have been abducted.
Over a 20-year period, 1862 slave raids occurred during which 5,148 people were slain.
Of the 11,105 human beings abducted, 528 persons are known to have returned home.
At the time of capture, 60% of the individuals enslaved were 18 years old or younger.
Most of those captured were male.
Ajok, lying in West Aweil county and the principal village concerned, 101 children and adults were carted away in one week.

The abductions cited above took place in regions controlled by the SPLA. Many of the children taken were too young to recall their place of birth.
The research was done by the Rift Valley Institute, an independent association based in London and Kenya. It was financed by the British International Development Department, the Open Society Institute and the J.M. Kaplan Foundation. The project was organized and directed by two experts who have dealt with the Sudanese dilemma for a number of years. John Ryle the current president of the Rift Valley Institute was designated as a member of the Group of Eminent Persons sponsored by the American government whose report on slavery was published last year. He also brought the widespread usage of ethnic cleansing in the oil zone to light. Jok Madut Jok teaches at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He is the author of War and Slavery in Sudan. Together they conducted the project with the help of 48 Sudanese researchers recruited from the area. Thousands of interviews were carried out over an 18 month period among community leaders and families whose relatives had been taken away. They traveled on foot and bicycle, carrying with them questionnaires and mosquito nets.
The Save the Children Fund now uses this compiled list of missing persons to track down the enslaved so that they may be returned to their families. “Because of international pressure,” John Ryle has said, “the Sudanese government gave us permission to conduct our inquiry. But those who were abducted years ago and those enslaved in Northern Sudan have no access to justice.”

*** MSF and Action Contre la Faim have warned that food supplies are running low because of drought across 2 counties in Bahr el Ghazal (AFP 04 23/ 05 28). “The situation is alarming.”
No new polio cases have been diagnosed in Sudan since 2001. But the UN is still collecting funds to continue the vaccination campaign (IRIN 05 13).
According to the World Health Organization at least 178 people have been stricken with fever, vomiting and diarrhea in the Imatong Mountains located in the South. Eleven have died. Samples have been sent to Kenya to check for an Ebola outbreak (Reuter 05 14).
The World Food Program has been able to use barges on the Nile instead of planes to transport food supplies thanks to the cease-fire and it accounts for a 60% drop in distribution cost.